Too Much Damn Theater

Finally giving Nan Kyle Ficca her Too Much Damn Theater appreciation plaque. Thank you Nan for all your support-- joining conferences, giving us rehearsal space, always welcoming us with open arms. We are forever grateful. This plaque is a small token of how much we care.

Love,
TMD♥️

Can you guess what this beautiful prop is for in our upcoming play “Chupachocolata” premiering in the Atlas Intersections Festival 2024!? We are suuuper excited about it and a few folks on the creative team will be baking for the show tonight and tomorrow.

If you want to support the show, we would love for you to donate to our Indiegogo. 100% of all proceeds go to our cast members (minus the TMD leaders volunteering because we want to support the artists helping us bring you amazing theater!) Here is the donation link https://igg.me/at/chupachocolata/x/21911179 #/.

Our Director Raechel Patrese in action!

Behind the scenes rehearsal pics from our new play “Chupachocolata” for the Intersections Festival 2024! In this scene we have our protagonist Jocelyn and her mother Yolanda. Curious avoid what their talking about? Remember Jocelyn is a chupacabra….

Links to donate to support our cast and to learn more about the show are in our bio.

Raechel Patrese, the Director of our new play “Chupachocolata” is excited for the premiere during the Atlas Intersections Festival 2024!

Links in bio to donate to support our cast and to learn more about the play!

We are immensely grateful to have Sophia Menconi (she/her) as our Stage Manager for the March 1 premiere! Here is the link to get tix --> https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/.

Sophia is thrilled to be making her TMDT debut! LOCAL: Pipeline Playwrights (Wednesdays in Mississippi), Nu Sass Productions (Finding Neil Patrick Harris, The Oreo Complex), and Flying V (Monstress - ASM). Other recent collaborators include: Folger Theatre, NextStop Theatre Company, and Spooky Action Theater. Sophia is a freelance stage manager, director, and theatre scholar based in Washington, DC. She is a member of the inaugural cohort of the MA in Theatre and New Play Development degree at Hollins University Playwright's Lab, where her research examines representations of postfeminist girlhood on contemporary American stages. You can find her on Instagram . Up next: Human Museum at Rorschach Theatre.

We are excited to share that our actor Zhara Edwards ( ) will be doing an Instagram and TikTok Takeover on Feb. 18 and Feb. 20! You can follow her posts on on IG and Instagram. Zhara is performing the role of Janet in our new play "Chupachocolata" that will premiere in the Atlas Intersections Festival 2024 on March 1! We hope you can see the show. Here is the ticket link --> https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/

Today we also get to shine the spotlight on Yereth Adorno (she/her). Yereth is our Understudy for Jocelyn and Yolanda and she will also be in our Ensemble as a Bakery Customer. You can get your tickets via this link --> https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/,

Yereth Adorno is a proud Puerto Rican Latina who just graduated from The Theatre Lab Conservatory School of Dramatic Arts. As such, art, theater, and music have been an integral part of her upbringing and helped shape her outlook on life. Yereth has always been fascinated with experiencing diversity and cultures, which are major aspects of why she loves theater and acting.

Next we have the pleasure of telling about Jacqueline Youm (she/her.) Jacqueline is gracing us with her talents again, this time in our Ensemble portraying a Bakery Customer. Click here to see the show on March 1 --> https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/.

Jacqueline Youm is a Senegalese American actor, lawyer, and French|English|Spanish|Mediation|Negotiation teacher who is passionate and insatiable when it comes to theatre & film. Past acting credits include: Ellen in The Actor's Nightmare (Laurel Mill Playhouse); Medea in MEDEA (JaYo Théâtre); Goneril in QUEEN LEAR (TQQ|ZommShakes); First Witch|Murderer|Apparition| Lady MacDuff in MACBETH (Theatre Mints); Archbishop of Canterbury| Lady in EDWARD II (The Show Must Go Online); Mephistopheles| Lechery|Duchess in DR FAUSTUS (The Rude Mechanicals), Nora in A DOLL’S HOUSE PART II (Silver Spring Stage), King Claudius in HAMLESS (The Rude Mechanicals), Miss Vida Levering in VOTES FOR WOMEN (Zenith Players & JaYo Théâtre), and Mary Stuart in MARY STUART (Zenith Players). You can find some of her virtual productions on Youtube (Cestjackie): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvd4LWK9h1msuj9oeFXHtng | IG:

“La langue est un théâtre dont les mots sont les acteurs.” Ferdinand Brunetière

We are thrilled that María Luisa Rohde (she/her) is joining us to perform the role of Yolanda - Jocelyn's strong, caring mother who wants what's best for her daughter. Yolanda has no problem sharing her thoughts and will protect her family and their secrets. Ticket link to see María perform in this show --> https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/.

María Luisa Rohde (Yolanda) is honored and thrilled to perform with a fantastic cast in TMD Theater’s Chupachocolata -A New Play in Atlas’ 15th Annual Intersections Festival 2024. Local D.C. credits include inaugural National Capital New Play Festival at Round House Theatre, developmental reading of Madre de Dios; Into the Woods, Tantallon Players; Sweeney Todd, The Arlington Players; The Wizard of Oz, Zemfira Stage; Quilters, Dominion Stage. María Luisa is a 24 year Army Veteran and Soldier Musician (MSG RET) having served in The United States Army Band, Pershing’s Own. Her Bachelor of Music degree in Flute Performance is from The University of Texas at Austin. María Luisa would like to thank her husband for supporting her in her ongoing creative career. María Luisa would like to thank her husband for supporting her in her ongoing creative career.

Today we have the pleasure of spotlighting Zhara Edwards (she/her). Zhara is playing the role of Janet, Jocelyn's good-hearted, boundary testing, keeps her on her toes employee. We hope you can see her awesome talents on March 1 --> https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/.

Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, Zhara Edwards is an ambitious newcomer to the D.C./DMV theatre scene. This will be her D.C. theatrical debut and she is so excited to make her acting aspirations become reality. Zhara performed as an ensemble member in her high school's production of "In The Heights." When not practicing her lines, she enjoys writing poetry, painting, and playing Skyrim!

IG:

Now we have the honor of telling you about our Dramaturg Santi Tonauac Castro (he/him). We feel incredibly lucky to have him on our team. Here is the ticket link to see "Chupachocolata" https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/.

Santi Tonauac Castro is an Indigenous Mexican-Cuban 2spirit maker. Santi writes doom jazz chaos bombs in shape of play, poem, and sculpture. His soul’s part bird, part warrior, destroyer+protector.

You can catch him working with youth teaching visual art at Mural Arts in Philly, PA. Most recently, his play Manflor won a BIPOC new work grant with Cannonball Fest and was produced in the Philadelphia Fringe fest. His play Black Lung And Also If was in the 24 Hour Plays Fest at Interact Theatre and his play Gente Del Sol was in PlayPenn’s 2022 annual new play festival. Santi is part of Playpenn’s Playwrights cohort. In 2023, Santi made the Kilroy’s list. He is a 2019 Youngarts Playwriting winner. Santi has worked with The Arden and Quintessence theatre, 1812 Productions, Taller Puertoriqueno, and the Philadelphia Art Museum. Santi has a BFA from UArts majoring in playwriting and minoring in sculpture!

IG:
Website: https://www.santicastro.art/

We love tooting the horns of our cast and finding all the ways to support their talents! We hope you can find it in your hearts to help us reward their hard work. Every share of this post, person you tell, and dollar is valuable!

As a small independent theater company we want to be as generous as possible with compensating our amaaaazing cast while ensuring we can keep our theater mission alive for this show and future productions. We cannot do this show without them. They are the heart of everything we do for the importance of theater and promoting women's voices and participation in theater.

And of course, please keep an eye our for more celebratory spotlights of the cast that bring you our next new original and magical play - heartfelt, comedic, and brimming with secrets.

Support strong female leads in magical new play! Join the production journey by supporting our outstanding actors in Chupachocolata! | Check out 'Support strong female leads in magical new play!' on Indiegogo.

We are having a blast at rehearsal and cannot wait to share this show with you! Here is the ticket link for the March 1 premiere --> https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/

Our next spotlight is the stellar Rebekah D. Mason (She/her). Rebekah is the script's Co-editor and she is performing the role of our protagonist Jocelyn - the owner of the Latin American bakery - Chupachocolata - sharing the name of the play. ;) March 1 ticket link - https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/.

Rebekah DeAnn Mason is a Mexican American poverty advocate, a writer, actor and playwright. She believes in the power of creating art to support and build community. Joe's Movement Emporium showcased her first one woman play, "They Don't Leave Veterans Behind, Do They?" in a virtual staged reading in 2021. Rebekah is a member of the Dramatist Guild. In 2023 she was honored to be selected as a semi-finalist for the Dramatist Guild Foundation's inaugural National Virtual Playwriting Fellowship out of a pool of 600 highly competitive submissions. Rebekah studied acting and playwriting with Martin Blank. She has done creative things with Rabble Crew Productions, MTC Adventure Theatre Company, the DC Theatre Lab, The Coil Project, Dog and Pony DC, DC Arts Center, Peter’s Alley Theatre Productions, and the Montgomery Playhouse. Rebekah and her partner Hadlee split their time between Germantown and Baltimore, MD hanging out with their adorable kitties and puppies. Rebekah studied Sociology and Theatre at the University of Houston and law at Thomas M. Cooley School
of Law.

It's time to celebrate our amaaazzzing cast, crew, and creative team members for "Chupachocolata"! First up we have Johana Vargas Arias! Link to support her and the team on March 1, https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/.

Johana Vargas Arias (she/her) is the show's Editor and one of the Playwrights. Johana was born in Bolivia and has lived in the D.C. metro area since childhood. She is a business immigration lawyer who has passion for the arts. She has participated in plays since elementary school, and found her way back into theater after law school. She loves being part of the art community in D.C. and building friendships along the way. In her spare time, she loves to go hiking with friends, family and her puppy Luna.

And here it is...the full cast & crew reveal! We're thrilled to have Jackie join the team too!!! Working with this team has been a wonderful pleasure! We cannot wait to see you on March 1 for the premiere at the Atlas Intersections Festival 2024 !
Ticket link - https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/

From top left to bottom right - we presented the wonderful and talented: Santi Tonauac Castro (Dramaturg), Rebekah D. Mason (Co-editor of script & Jocelyn, owner of la pastelería - Chupachocolata); Johana Vargas Arias (Editor & Playwright); María Luisa Rohde (Yolanda, Jocelyn's mother); Zhara Edwards (Janet, good-hearted, well-meaning, but mistake-prone bakery employee), Yereth Adorno (Bakery Customer/Understudy for Jocelyn and Yolanda); Marketa Nicholson (Playwright & Hiyan, supernatural hunter); Raechel Patrese (Playwright & Director); Dara Gold (Playwright and Various Bakery Customers); Jacqueline Youm (Bakery Customer); Sophia Menconi (Stage Manager). 😃

We are thrilled to finally reveal our "Chupachocolata" cast for the Atlas Intersections Festival 2024 on March 1! We will spotlight and celebrate our cast in the coming weeks and give you teasers about their characters.

From top left to bottom right - we presented the wonderful and talented: Maria Luisa Rohde (Yolanda, Jocelyn's mother); Rebekah D. Mason (Jocelyn, owner of la pastelería - Chupachocolata); Zhara Edwards (Janet, good-hearted, well-meaning, but mistake-prone bakery employee), Marketa Nicholson (Hiyan, supernatural hunter), Yereth Adorno (Bakery Customer/Understudy for Jocelyn and Yolanda, and Dara Gold (various customers).

Raechel Patrese is our director, Santi Tonauac Castro is our dramaturg, and Sophia Menconi is our stage director! (More on the them to come) :D

We cannot wait to see you on March 1!
Ticket link - https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/

We are soooo excited for our next production! Hopefully you can snag a ticket! The premiere is March 1. Here is the ticket link, https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/

“Chupachocolata” follows Jocelyn, an up-and-coming Latina pastelería (bakery) owner battling conflicting pressures to achieve her dreams. It is a story of identity and work-life balance.

See Too Much Damn Theater at Intersections Festival 2024!
atlasarts.org/events

GALA Theatre was hacked on January 11 and our bank account was emptied. We have not been able to pay the artists and crew working to bring audiences the world premiere of The Palacios Sisters.

The bank tells us the process to recover the over $250,000 stolen from our account may take up to eight months.

Despite this difficult situation, GALA is committed to continue working for the community and The Palacios Sisters will open February 1st.

We need your support now to pay our artists and open our production. Please consider donating to our Emergency Fund!

No gift is too small or too large!

DONATE HERE: https://ow.ly/FWRx50QrUa2

Thanks for your support!

We are seeking a stage manager for our next show "Chupachocolata" in the Atlas Intersections Festival 2024 at Atlas Performing Arts Center. To apply, please email your resume to [email protected]. We will accept applications on a rolling basis.

We are able to offer a $300 stipend for 15 hours of work to occur at the end of the rehearsal period (Jan. 28 - Feb. 28, 2024) and the premiere performance on March 1, 2024. The selected stage manager will finalize the rehearsal dates with the director.

The ideal candidate will have experience with QLab for sound cues, an ETC element light board, a projector for scenery images, and great on their feet for a quick production timeline.

Rehearsals are virtual and in-person in D.C.

Please visit our festival web page or our website to learn more about the show.

* Festival webpage: https://www.atlasarts.org/events/chupachocolata/

*Our website: http://tmdtheater.mailchimpsites.com/

We are excited to announce auditions for our next full production - "Chupachocolata"- and the performances will be live in person!!! We are seeking performers for 3 of the roles.

We will accept audition submissions until our extended deadline of 1/13/2024. Please see the Google Form for the submission details, requirements, and directions. Information on the roles are also in the Google Form, https://forms.gle/6gDyhGBdLmno9GHi8

Play Synopsis: “Chupachocolata” follows Jocelyn, an up-and-coming Latine pastelería (bakery) owner. To be successful she must balance crazy customers, frustrating employees, a suspicious health inspector, a caring and overbearing mother, and being a chupacabra. Jocelyn cannot let all these pressures interfere with her dreams. It is a story of identity, family, and work-life balance.

We are excited to announce auditions for our next full production - "Chupachocolata" and the performances will be live in-person!!! We are seeking performers for 3 of the roles.

We will accept audition submissions. Please see the Google Form for the submission details, requirements, and directions. Information on the roles are also in the Google Form, https://forms.gle/6gDyhGBdLmno9GHi8

Play Synopsis: “Chupachocolata” follows Jocelyn, an up-and-coming Latine pastelería (bakery) owner. To be successful she must balance crazy customers, frustrating employees, a suspicious health inspector, a caring and overbearing mother, and being a chupacabra. Jocelyn cannot let all these pressures interfere with her dreams. It is a story of identity, family, and work-life balance.