United Solo Theater Festival

Who is Melissa Ritz?

I’m an Army brat. My father was in the military and although I was born in Fort Sill, OK, I’ve lived all over the United States and Europe.

I’ve always had an interest in the arts. When I was attending an American high school in Germany I learned of a local English-speaking theater called The Frankfurt Playhouse. I immediately signed up to audition for their first show of the season, Funny Girl, and I got cast in the chorus. My relationship with the community of artists was magical. It opened my eyes to theater, music, acting and rehearsing. Working with military spouses, German locals, and defense contractors I also performed in Oklahoma! and Hello, Dolly!

My family moved from Germany to Alabama during my senior year of high school, but after graduating from high school I longed to return to Europe. The easiest way was to join the military. This stunned my parents; I was the ‘artsy’ type and never had expressed any desire to go into the Air Force. I mean, I had purple hair!

I learned about a military entertainment program called Tops in Blue while working as a medical laboratory technician in the Air Force. The program is comprised of musicians, technicians, vocalists, and dancers who perform a 90-minute show at military installations around the world. I auditioned and was accepted for the program. My confidence burgeoned; I began to see the “big picture” and years later drew from my experiences to create a one-woman show, “Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story.”

Just after 9-11, I was working in a hospital in Germany. I was on a 24-hour standby deployment for a MASH unit in Baghdad City, and although I never deployed to Baghdad, many who suffered casualties from the Iraqi invasion were brought to the hospital. I reevaluated my life after seeing so many soldiers die at such a young age. Was I following my passion? Where was my heart guiding me? All answers led back to the theater.

I wanted to go somewhere new, somewhere that wasn’t as stressful and completely different from the military. I moved to Las Vegas, where I worked as a cocktail waitress in a major “Strip” casino. How’s that for different!

I used my GI Bill to get my BA in Dance, and MFA in Theater Performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. My training and experiences were empowering; I was ready for a move to New York City, which I did in October 2013.

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What are you working on at the moment?

My one-woman show, Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story. Ina Ray Hutton was a ‘female bandleader’ of an all-girl band, The Melodears, in the 1930’s. What started out as a novelty act became one of the most sought out and lucrative musical acts of the Big Band era. Ina was the first woman to conduct male bands; she pioneered women in jazz and often arranged women performers’ initial gigs.

Born on the South Side of Chicago, Ina had to deal with racial issues, which created a number of challenges in music and in the theatre during the early part of the 20th century. Ina’s life off stage was equally challenging: She was married six times but never had children. She was, however, in many respects, business savvy, including negotiating her own contracts and creating her own image.

After I arrived in NYC I volunteered at the United Solo Theater Festival. I saw a gorgeous show called Magdalen, by Artists Without Walls’ member Erin Layton and Erin put me in touch with her director Julie Kline. After meeting Julie, I asked her to direct my show.

During the show I highlight Ina’s career accomplishments through songs, tap dancing, and video projection. We debuted “Ina” at United Solo this past October and sold out all four performances. I’m very proud that I was honored as “Best Emerging Actress.” I hope to take the show to Las Vegas this summer. More info can be found at Journey of a Bombshell.

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 Do you have upcoming events you’d like people to attend?

I’ll be performing a scene from “Ina” at Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell Theatre on Tuesday, January 27^th. I will also be performing the full length show on Sunday, February 15^th, 9pm, at the Triad Theater/Stage 72. It’s located just above Seven’s Turkish Grill on 72^nd and Broadway. Tickets can be purchased at Brown Paper Tickets

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Who are the actors/writers / playwrights, past and present, you admire?

Playwrights: Tennessee Williams, Lynn Nottage, Shakespeare, John Patrick Shanley

Actors: Tilda Swinton, Cherry Jones, Anna Deavere Smith, Joaquin Phoenix, John Lithgow

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Who is your greatest inspiration and why?

WWII Veterans, WAC/WAAC’s, and war Vets. During my time in the military, I met many amazing people who changed the course of history including The Tuskegee Airmen, Medal of Honor recipients and the first women admitted to military. Their sacrifices and accomplishments inspire me to make the most of opportunities that become available.

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Name five things you’d like to do or accomplish in the next five years.

1. Visit Borobudur

2. Write a screenplay version of my show & have it optioned

3. Financially support myself as an actor

4. Speak a foreign language fluently.

5. Open my hips enough so I can finally do lotus pose in yoga!

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If you could dream of trying something in the arts you haven’t tried, but would like to, what would it be?

I’d love to play a musical instrument. Any instrument! Having the ability to play an instrument really well seems like a super power.

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What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Bikram yoga. I teach at Bikram Yoga NYC and Bikram Yoga East Harlem. Try it out!

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Melissa’s Facebook page

Melissa’s “Journey of a Bombshell” Facebook page. Click here to like her page.

Journey of a Bombshell website

Who is Renata Hinrichs?

I am a Midwestern girl. I was born in Dubuque, Iowa and moved five times before I was 12 years old, ending up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am the daughter of a Lutheran minister, and growing up in the church watching Dad preach every Sunday was like going to the theater every week.

My first acting lesson came from Dad when I was asked to read a lesson from the Bible for a Youth Service at age 12 or 13. He said breathe, understand what you are saying, follow the punctuation, say it like you are really talking to someone and remember to look up. I was painfully shy and hated speaking in public, but when he gave me tangible things to do, I did it without crumbling in terror. I was always most comfortable dancing. I can’t remember when I didn’t dance.

Mom must have noticed me dancing in the living room or in the backyard as a child. Of course I thought my cloak of invisibility made that impossible, but she saw me and took me to my first ballet when I was seven. It was THE NUTCRACKER at the McCormick Place Theater in Chicago. I was totally enthralled. I saw other children dancing for the first time and afterwards she said, “Would you like to learn how to do that?” And I said, “You mean they learn how to do that? You don’t just do it?” Thus began my journey with dance.

My first teachers were Russian, and the way they taught dance was another form of an early acting lesson. They first focused on technique, placement, and precision, but they also emphasized musicality and the character of the movement. They taught us to think of movement and music as phrases of speech. What is your intention? What do you want to communicate with this movement through this music?

When I arrived in New York after high school to pursue my dream of being a dancer, I got a scholarship with the Harkness Ballet School but, I found the ballet world to be very restrictive. I longed to be more creative than being one of 25 other girls in the corps de ballet, so I started exploring modern dance. Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Eric Hawkins, Phyllis Lamhut and May O’Donnell. Then I saw the first performance of Pina Bausch’s company in the United States at BAM. Her production of THE RITE OF SPRING changed my life. That piece completely transformed my perception of what dance and theater could be.

Around that time I met Annie B Parsons, a young dancer and choreographer at Columbia University. She used me in much of her early work. We continued to work together for the next 15 years. Then she and Paul Lazar started BIG DANCE THEATER. I am proud to be one of the founding members. That was the perfect way for me to explore my love of dance and theater. Working with Annie B Parsons and Paul Lazar has been a major influence on my work.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am working on a solo play called RANDOM ACTS an autobiographical piece about some of the events and circumstances that shaped who I am as a person and an artist. It is the first of a trilogy I am developing.

I was living in downtown Manhattan during the events of 9/11, and that experience unearthed some of my earliest childhood memories. One incident that happened on the way to school when I was 5 on the South Side of Chicago was the spark of the piece and everything followed after that. I have had a lot of support and encouragement from Lee Brock and Seth Barrish from the Barrow Group. Lee was the first person to suggest I develop a one- person play based on my experiences. I first performed it in a Solo Flights Festival for FAB Women of the Barrow Group and then as part of the Emerging Artists Theater New Work Festival.

Do you have upcoming events you’d like people to attend?

I am performing RANDOM ACTS, which is directed by Camille Saviola, in the United Solo Theater Festival at Theater Row, 410 W. 42^nd St.

The show is playing, October 12^th at 2pm and on October, 18^th at 6 pm. I have sold out the October 12^th date, but tickets are still available for October 18^th. If I sell out that date, they will give me another date. That would be nice, but we’ll see. Tickets can be purchased through Telecharge.

Who are the actors/writers/playwrights past and present that you admire?

Writers: Lidia Yuknavitch, Colum McCann, and James Joyce. Playwrights: Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Annie Baker, Theresa Rebeck, Alan Bennett, Rajiv Joseph, Sarah Treem, Lisa Kron, Laura Eason, John Guare, David Lindsay-Abaire, Stephen Adly Guirgis and Rebecca Gillman. Actors/Actresses: Deidre O’Connell, Anna Gunn, Janet McTeer, Eve Best, Julie White, Martin Moran and Kate Mulgrew.

Who is your greatest inspiration and why?

I am most inspired by random acts of kindness. Any time someone goes out of their way to help someone whether it’s holding a door open or in the case of my friend, Stephen, holding a woman’s head after a train crash, when he was also injured, until help arrived and in so doing saved her life. That inspires me.

The person who most inspires me is my mentor, Greta Schreyer Loebl. She passed away several years ago, but there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of her. She escaped the Nazis from Vienna in 1938 at age 18. She arrived in New York unable to speak a word of English and became a jewelry maker, fashion designer, painter and poet. We met through a mutual friend when I was writing my first solo show about a Dutch woman who died in Auschwitz in 1943. She thought I might learn something from her. Well, I started out as her model, then I became her assistant, and in the process, she became a dear friend and a grandmother I never had.

Greta created in some way every day. Her life was a work of art, whether painting or drawing or writing, planting flowers or making a beautiful meal for friends and sharing her amazing life stories. She was always curious and engaged. She never became famous and didn’t sell as many paintings as she wanted, but she did her work, practiced her art. She was true to herself and brought joy to the world. She encouraged me to create and trust my own voice and vision and for that, I am most grateful.

Name 3-5 things you want to accomplish in the next 5 years.

Finish the trilogy as part of the New Harmony Theater program and/or in The Sundance Theatre Lab and see them fully produced. Write a multi-character play. Develop a TV show. Continue to act in theater and on television and get better at surfing.

If you could dream of trying something in the arts you haven’t tried, but would like to, what would it be?

I would like to write and direct a film.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Cooking, eating and drinking red wine with my husband. Being by the ocean or a beautiful lake. Having lots of downtime to daydream. Being in nature, going to museums, listening to music and hanging out with my nieces and nephew.

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All photos from Renata’s show are by Maryann Lopinto.

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To find out more go to:

www.renatahinrichs.com and sign Renata’s mailing list.

Connect with Renata on Face book and Twitter http://www.facebook.com/renatahinrichsfanpage or https://twitter.com/#!/renatahinrichs

For tickets to RANDOM ACTS on October 18^th at 6pm here’s the link: http://bit.ly/1nuGzZT

Tag: United Solo Theater Festival

"SPOTLIGHT ON" ACTRESS MELISSA RITZ

SPOTLIGHT on ACTRESS and PLAYWRIGHT RENATA HINRICHS