Description
the cell presents Alice in Phallusland in Concert: A 20th Anniversary Cellebration
Conceived and Written by Nancy Manocherian
Music & Additional Lyrics by Joseph Hendel
Directed by Kira Simring
In the Dome, a last stronghold of humanity, women rule while men serve as reproductive objects. Alice, the prototype for a superior human, is the creation and prized possession of the powerful yet misguided Phal, female heir to the Dome throne. Sweet Alice never questions her world, until a shipwrecked stranger appears. With a glitchy robot nanny, an errant laptop, and the Four Whoresmen of the Apocalypse, Alice sets out to learn who she really is and what it means to be truly human.
Join us for this special one night only benefit concert as the cell celebrates 20 years of incubating new work that mines the mind, pierces the heart and awakens the soul.
Nancy Manocherian (Original Story, Book and Lyrics) started playing around with lyrics and writing while she was at home raising 4 rambunctious children and partnering with the incredible man who fathered them. Realizing she had other aspirations, she decided to start an art space for others with similar sensibilities. As an aspiring art-maker, she got involved in creating musical stories for the stage. Productions include SIN!; RIO, Directed by Tom O’Horgan (of Hair fame) and Nick Corley; Dinner and Delusion, with Michael Sahl; and several non-musical plays. Since 2006, along with her ‘artner’, Director Kira Simring, she opened the doors to the cell in Chelsea. She has been simultaneously perplexed and grateful ever since. She is a Buddhist, though born a Jew.
Joseph Hendel (Music & Additional Lyrics) is an American composer, playwright, director, and interdisciplinary artist. He cut his teeth directing experimental theatre in New York, combining political satire, absurdist comedy, electronic music, and digital technology. His works include Katzelmacher USA and the web series Tolerance Party at the cell, the AI-animated work Artificial (Man) Intelligence at the Exponential Festival, and The Tasty Karp Hotel (aka Jew Hotel) at Teatr Fredry in Gniezno, Poland. Hendel played trombone and keyboards with Gary Lucas’s psychedelic avant-rock group Gods and Monsters, alongside musicians from Television, the Modern Lovers, and Talking Heads, performing at BAM’s Next Wave Festival, Le Poisson Rouge, and the Holland Festival. He was also privileged to sit in on trombone with the Zappa tribute group Project/Object, performing alongside former members of Zappa’s bands. His musical experience spans big-band jazz, salsa, orchestral music, electronic composition, and 1930s Shanghai popular music. His recent performances include a participatory anti-TED Talk devised with ChatGPT for a symposium in Lithuania and an Irish university lecture that turned an arts-funding application into live theatre. He now lives in Kinvara, County Galway, Ireland, with his family.
Kira Simring (Director) has served as Artistic Director of the cell since its inception in 2006. Alongside Nancy Manocherian, she has launched dozens of new works into the world. Kira met Nancy when she directed her opera, Dinner and Delusion, right here at the Thalia in 2005. Other favorite credits include Communion by Matthew LaBanca, What Kind of Woman by Abbe Tanenbaum, The Women Who Rode Away by Natalia Zukerman (the cell and off the WALL), Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom (Irish Rep), Crackskull Row by Honor Molloy (New York Times Critics’ Pick) The McGowan Trilogy by Seamus Scanlon, McGoldrick’s Thread by Marianne Driscoll and Hard Times: An American Musical by Larry Kirwan (New York Times Critics’ Pick). Kira is a three-time Origin Theatre 1st Irish Award Winner for Best Director. She holds a BA in Anthropology from Smith College and an MFA in Directing Theatre from New School University. Her biggest accomplishment, through dumb luck, is having the best family a Queer could possibly get.
the cell (Founding Artistic Director Nancy Manocherian and Artistic Director Kira Simring) is a not-for- profit dedicated to the incubation and presentation of new work across all artistic disciplines that mine the mind, pierce the heart and awaken the soul. Founded as a “21st century salon”, the cell has provided a developmental home in the heart of Chelsea for performing artists, installation artists, choreographers, and more for 20 years. Central to the organization is the Residency Program, which has granted space and funds to hundreds of artists on a project-by-project basis, allowing for tailored support and creative freedom. Past performances include, The Charioteer (with Amanda + James), Beauty Freak (with What Will the Neighbors Say?) Arborlogues, The Trojans (with Loading Dock Theatre), Sheltered, Communion, The Tiger’s Bride,cryptochrome, I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire, The Final Veil, Elizabeth Swados’ Nightclub Cantata, What Keeps You Going?, Fruma-Sarah (Waiting in the Wings), Persou, Tolerance Party, Found, The Evolution of Mann, Bastard Jones (Drama Desk Award-nominated), Crackskull Row, HeyJude, Peter/Wendy, The McGowan Trilogy, Horse Girls, Hard Times: An American Musical (now the Tony Award-nominated Paradise Square) and Guilty, Blackout, and Dinner and Delusion. Work developed at the cell has been seen on Broadway, Irish Repertory Theatre, Arts Nova, The Tank, Southwark Playhouse, MCC, Rattlestick Playwrights’ Theatre, Joe’s Pub, New World Stages, Cherry Lane Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Portland Stage, Toyohashi Arts Theatre, Kino Theater, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Tank, Carnegie Stage, Carnegie Museum of Art, SoMad and Art Basel Miami.
Richard Urquiza Dramaturgy and Production Stage Manager
Lydia Funke Assistant Stage Manager
Calvin Hitchcock Music Director
Cole Abod Co-Music Director
Karl Ronneburg - Musician
Megan Gillis - Creative Producer
Rabiah Rowther - Assistant Line Producer
Julian Singer-Corbin - Production Manager
Bobbi René Fullerton - Lighting Designer
Brendan McCann - Costume and Prop Designer
