1968. New York. The Factory. The fabulous drag queen Candy Darling hosts a happening whodunit in which the famous—and infamous—denizens of Warhol’s legendary Factory all have motives to pull the trigger. But the pop art icon unravels an even bigger mystery as he confronts not only the prime suspects, but also his art and his own greatest creation: himself. In this wildly interactive staging, POP! explores just how dangerous (and fun) fame can be.
2ndStage is Studio’s playground for emerging artists, offering innovative and thrillingly eclectic programming with shorter rehearsal periods and smaller budgets than our other productions, with a spirit of exuberance and experiment.
The inaugural 2010-2011 season of new Artistic Director David Muse was generously underwritten by Jaylee Mead, and Robert and Arlene Kogod, with additional underwriting from The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Stanley and Rosemary Marcuss, and Vicki and Roger Sant.
The 2010-2011 Season of The Studio 2ndStage was generously underwritten by Don and Nancy Bliss and A. Fenner Milton.
This production of POP! was underwritten by The Meredith Foundation.
ORIGINAL WORKS: POP! (Winner of three Connecticut Critics Circle Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Musical); From a Childhood (music by Erato Kremmyda), Montclair State University, 2009. CURRENT PROJECTS: Sugarjuice, [a songwriting endeavor] with composer/lyricist Sean Mahoney; book and lyrics for Tristram, [an adaptation of Tristram Shandy] with composer Erato Kremmyda; libretto for Lost Things, [an original opera] with composer Jeffrey D. Smith; book for Lightning Man with Shoshana Greenberg and Jeffrey D. Smith; and untitled Radioactive project with Erato Kremmyda and Sam Pinkleton. OTHER: Artistic Director of RiFRAC Theater Collective (umbrella collective for alumni of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s training programs). INSTRUCTOR: Musical Theatre at the Summer Academy at The College of St. Rose in Albany, NY. EDUCATION: Ithaca College, B.A.; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, M.F.A.; National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Spring 2005. MEMBER: Dramatists Guild of America; New York City Opera’s Librettists Project: “Words First?”
(As of July 2011)
ORIGINAL WORKS: POP! (Winner of three Connecticut Critics Circle Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Musical); Stella and the Moon Man (Winner of the Helpmann Award for Best Presentation for Children). CURRENT PROJECTS: Teeth, a musical adaptation of the cult horror film; Harmony, Kansas, the story of a gay men’s a cappella group in rural Kansas (West Coast premiere in early 2012). REGIONAL: Yale Repertory Theatre, Yale Institute for Music Theatre, Pittsburgh City Theatre, Singing On Stage Productions, the Sydney Theatre Company and Theatre of Image, Pennsylvania State University New Musical Theatre Festival. WORK FEATURED: Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, Joe's Pub, Cutting-Edge Composers, National Alliance for Musical Theatre. COMMENDATIONS: 2010-11 Dramatists Guild Fellow; Artist in Residence at New Dramatists, CAP21, Goodspeed Musicals, Bundanon Trust, and Hotchkiss Summer Portals. INSTRUCTOR: On-staff Artist, Metropolitan Opera Guild. EDUCATION: University of Sydney, B.Mus (Honors I) in Composition; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, M.F.A. in Musical Theatre Writing. MEMBER: Dramatists Guild of America; American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
(As of July 2011)
STUDIO 2NDSTAGE: Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, POP!, Passing Strange, Fucking A, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Reefer Madness: The Musical! (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Musical), Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, Terrorism, The Who’s Tommy, Polaroid Stories, Nocturne, Wonderland Alice, The Wild Party, Kerouac, HAIR (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Musical), Goblin Market, 2-2 Tango, Alfred and Victoria: A Life, Road. AWARDS: 2008 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Director (Reefer Madness: The Musical!); 1998 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Director (HAIR); 1999 Mayor’s Arts Award.
(As of July 2014)
LOCAL: Muzungu, Doorway Arts Ensemble; Freud Meets Girl, Skywriter, Wayward Theatre; The Cloak Room, Mighty Theater; Klecksography, Rorschach; Black Comedy, Mask & Bauble. EDUCATION: Georgetown University, B.A. in Theatre and Performance Studies.
(As of July 2011)
THE STUDIO 2NDSTAGE: POP! REGIONAL: A Man With a Flower In His Mouth (director), New York University; Penelope (producer), New York University and Princeton University. LOCAL: National Smoke Signal Day, Source Theatre Festival; Northern Indiana Wildlife Preserve, Source Theatre Festival; Three Hotels, Theater of the First Amendment; The Woman In Black, George Mason University. EDUCATION: BA, George Mason University; MA, New York University.
(As of June 2012)
STUDIO 2NDSTAGE: Terminus (director), Moth (director), POP!. STUDIO THEATRE: The Wolfe Twins, The Invention of Love, A Number, The Pillowman. DC AREA: Affiliated Artist at Shakespeare Theatre Company, where credits include Design for Living, Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale, Major Barbara, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Folger Theatre, Arena Stage, Round House Theatre, The Hub, and Ford’s Theatre. REGIONAL: Seattle Rep, Missouri Rep, Provincetown Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, and eleven seasons at The Berkshire Theatre Festival, where he recently directed Design for Living. EDUCATION/TRAINING: Duke University, The Juilliard School, Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory.
(As of July 2015)
STUDIO 2NDSTAGE: POP! LOCAL: Imagination Stage, The Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, Wolf Trap. TELEVISION: HBO’s VEEP. AWARDS: 2012 Helen Hayes Awards, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Resident Musical. EDUCATION: Shenandoah Conservatory.
(As of July 2013)
THE STUDIO 2NDSTAGE: POP!, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Reefer Madness. LOCAL: The Comedy of Errors, Orestes: A Tragic Romp, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Folger Shakespeare Theatre; Brother Russia, Chess, See What I Wanna See, The Happy Time, Dying City (upcoming), Signature Theatre; Shenandoah, Ford’s Theatre. AWARD: Helen Hayes Nomination.
(As of June 2012)
THE STUDIO 2ND STAGE: Passing Strange, Fucking A. LOCAL: Little Shop of Horrors, Ford’s Theatre; Camelot, Big River, Olney Theatre Center; Rent, Beehive, Toby’s Dinner Theatre; The Winter’s Tale, Urinetown, To Be Young, Gifted and Black, Kay Theatre.
(As of July 2011
LOCAL: Hairspray, (Helen Hayes Award Nomination, Supporting Actress), Rent, Nunsense, Oklahoma, West Side Story, Grease, Toby’s Dinner Theatre; Annie, Joseph..., Olney Theatre Center; Rent (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Ensemble) Keegan Theatre.
(As of July 2011)
THE STUDIO 2NDSTAGE: Passing Strange. LOCAL: [title of show], Sweeney Todd, Show Boat, Signature Theatre; A Year with Frog and Toad, Adventure Theatre; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, No Rules Theatre Company.
(As of July 2011)
THE STUDIO THEATRE: The New Electric Ballroom (understudy). LOCAL: The Mousetrap, 1st Stage. REGIONAL: The Lost Colony. TRAINING: UEA, B.A. in Theatre; CSSD, M.A. in Musical Theatre.
(As of July 2011)
STUDIO THEATRE: Adding Machine STUDIO 2ND STAGE: Jerry Springer The Opera, Passing Strange, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Pop TOURS: Smoky Joe's Cafe (European & Korea) LOCAL: Olney Theatre (Associate Artistic Director) , Ford's, Round House, Signature, Imagination Stage, Adventure, Kennedy Center, Toby's AWARDS: 9 Helen Hayes Nominations, received the award in 2008 COMPOSTIONS include Home (for the re-opening of the ATLAS), Big Nate (Samuel French) and music for the Helen Hayes Awards and the Summer Hummer.
THE STUDIO 2NDSTAGE: Passing Strange. LOCAL: Founder & Artistic Director of EDGEWORKS Dance Theater. AWARDS: 2008 Pola Nirenska Award for Contemporary Achievement in Dance; 2008 and 2002 Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project.
(As of July 2011)
THE STUDIO 2NDSTAGE: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, POP!, Fucking A, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Reefer Madness, Dog Sees God, Terrorism, A Clockwork Orange, Kerouac, Hair. THE STUDIO THEATRE: Guantanamo, John Epperson in Rep. LOCAL: Photograph 51, Theater J; Ay Carmela, Lucido, Blood Wedding, Gala Hispanic; Macbeth, Medea, The Maids, WSC; Harlem Rose, Metrostage. INTERNATIONAL: Our Town, Waiting for Godot, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, National Theatre of Cyprus.
Colin K. Bills (he/him/his) returns to Studio where he designed the stage productions of Cock, as well as An Iliad, Lungs, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Year of Magical Thinking, Stoop Stories, Radio Golf, Contractions, POP!, That Face, Autobahn, The Death of Meyerhold, Tommy, Four, and Bat Boy. He is a Company Member and Board Member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, where he has designed over 50 productions, including the recent streaming production of Hi, Are You Single?, and is a member of the company’s EDI Working Group. He was a founding member of the devised theatre troupe dog & pony dc, serving as director, writer, actor, and designer for a dozen new works, including A Killing Game and Beertown. Colin is the recipient of a Princess Grace Award and three Helen Hayes Awards. He has taught design at Howard University and is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
(As of January 2021)
Erik Trester previously designed projections for the Studio Theatre productions of The Night Watcher, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Grey Gardens, A Number, This Is How It Goes, and The Long Christmas Ride Home. His Studio 2ndStage credits include The Rocky Horror Show, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Passing Strange, Fucking A, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Reefer Madness: The Musical, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, and autobahn. Mr. Trester is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin.
(As of January 2014)
Ivania Stack previously designed several productions at Studio Theatre including I Wanna F***ing Tear You Apart and Water By The Spoonful among others. Ivania designs for many regional and DC area theatres, including Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Company Member), Seattle Repertory Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Round House Theatre (Resident Artist), Kennedy Center, Center Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre, The Second City, Signature Theatre, Imagination Stage, Olney Theatre Center and Studio Theatre. She has an MFA in design from the University of Maryland and is an Adjunct Lecturer for Georgetown University.
(As of February 2019)
THE STUDIO THEATRE: POP!, Passing Strange (Assistant Sound/Projections). LOCAL: Five Variations on the Art of Aphrodite, Theater of the First Amendment; Hay Fever, George Mason University. EDUCATION: George Mason University, BA.
(As of July 2012)