OUR EDUCATIONAL WING
Playwrights and Actors from the Final Session of our 2021 Fall Playwriting Workshop
(l-r, Standing - Playwrights: Stuart Ginsberg, Ted Thompson, Karen Crowe, Tim Barker.)
(l-r, Sitting - Actors: Richard Kent Green, Ben Sumrall, Valeria Terranova, Cinda Lawrence.)
(Foreground - Daniel Damiano, Instructor.)
In July/August 2017, we were thrilled to kick off our educational wing with our Summer Playwriting Workshop for Beginner and Early Stage Playwrights, led by our Co-Founder/Artistic Director, Daniel Damiano. The design of the workshop was to cover the basic elements of what makes a play, leading to our students engaging in various Monologue and Dialogue exercises, culminating in the creation of their own short plays which were read in our last session by professional actors (and fandango friends) which we brought in. The 7-week workshop proved enormously successful, in no small part due to the contributions of our talented playwright/students (Robert Baumgardner, Maryann Bertollo and Ted Thompson), our wonderful participating actors (Judy Alvarez, John Blaylock, Nanette Deasy Baumgardner, Ben Sumrall and Brooke Turner), as well as our dear friends and supporters Michael Frenchman and Karen Crowe.
In September 2019, we began our 9-week Solo Performance Workshop, geared specifically towards experienced performers looking to develop their own solo work. This culminated in our wonderful students having complete drafts of their solo pieces, which they presented in our final class for a small invited audience. In 2021, we hosted our second Beginner Playwriting Workshop and look forward to more in the future.
Interested in a future workshop? Hey, let us know by contacting us through our CONTACT US page.
In September 2019, we began our 9-week Solo Performance Workshop, geared specifically towards experienced performers looking to develop their own solo work. This culminated in our wonderful students having complete drafts of their solo pieces, which they presented in our final class for a small invited audience. In 2021, we hosted our second Beginner Playwriting Workshop and look forward to more in the future.
Interested in a future workshop? Hey, let us know by contacting us through our CONTACT US page.
STUDENT TESTIMONIALS
"Daniel is supportive of his students and genuinely enthusiastic in helping his students craft their best work. His workshop gets you to think about character and plot while giving constructive feedback that boosts your confidence in playwriting. He’s a very effective instructor who helps in constructing compelling narrative stories and characters."
- Stuart Ginsberg
“I’m a stand up comedian, and I’ve always wanted to write a one woman show. Thank you fandango 4 Art House! Danny Damiano is an amazing instructor! His experience and knowledge, both as an actor and a playwright is really impressive. He provides a safe, comfortable environment that is very helpful and encouraging. He teaches the basics terms and concepts needed to successfully write a solo performance piece, along with breathing and improvisational exercises, and monologue homework assignments, to stir your creativity. Through collaboration and feedback, you’ll make progress completing your solo play, each week, and will perform on stage and discuss stage direction as well. He’ll even walk you through copywriting and festival submissions. It’s challenging, fun, and very rewarding. It was a wonderful experience! Take your craft to the next level and contact fandango 4 Art House. Thank you Danny Damiano and co-founder Judy Alvarez! I had a blast!”
- Natalie Monarrez
"Dan Damiano's playwriting workshop was terrific. I'm an actor who has always wanted to write a play, but was never able to get to a complete beginning-middle-end type of draft out of my pen or computer. Dan's workshop got me through some mental road blocks, and I actually wrote a complete play! The whole workshop not only taught me how to write a play, but also gave me insight as to how challenging playwriting actually is. He begins with writing exercises covering the basic building blocks like monologs and scenes, and by the second half of the workshop, we're working on writing a short play. Dan has a great ear, and his insight and comments during the writing and rewriting process were invaluable.Along with Dan, my classmates were very supportive, and gave great feedback when we read each other's plays. For anyone interested in writing for the stage, and even budding actors and directors who want to learn more about the nuts and bolts of plays, I'd highly recommend Dan Damiano's playwriting workshop offered by fandango 4 Art House." --Robert Baumgardner
"I truly enjoyed the playwrighting workshop this past summer. The atmosphere created was fully conducive to all of us to grow and express our thoughts in dramatic form. The mentoring felt thorough and complete and very well planned. The actors who participated in our final readings were extremely talented and fully supportive of our efforts and I appreciated the selection of them. My fellow particpants in the workshop could not have been more gracious and encouraging. I hope that many more will be able to take advantage of future workshops both in writing and other creative fields." - Ted Thompson
"I recently studied with Daniel Damiano in his playwriting workshop and found him to be an exceptional teacher. His comments were insightful and precise, guiding me to practical re-writes. On the last class, Dan even arranged for students' plays to be read by actors, a great touch. I would highly recommend his playwriting workshop to any aspiring author." - Maryann Bertollo
"Daniel is supportive of his students and genuinely enthusiastic in helping his students craft their best work. His workshop gets you to think about character and plot while giving constructive feedback that boosts your confidence in playwriting. He’s a very effective instructor who helps in constructing compelling narrative stories and characters."
- Stuart Ginsberg
“I’m a stand up comedian, and I’ve always wanted to write a one woman show. Thank you fandango 4 Art House! Danny Damiano is an amazing instructor! His experience and knowledge, both as an actor and a playwright is really impressive. He provides a safe, comfortable environment that is very helpful and encouraging. He teaches the basics terms and concepts needed to successfully write a solo performance piece, along with breathing and improvisational exercises, and monologue homework assignments, to stir your creativity. Through collaboration and feedback, you’ll make progress completing your solo play, each week, and will perform on stage and discuss stage direction as well. He’ll even walk you through copywriting and festival submissions. It’s challenging, fun, and very rewarding. It was a wonderful experience! Take your craft to the next level and contact fandango 4 Art House. Thank you Danny Damiano and co-founder Judy Alvarez! I had a blast!”
- Natalie Monarrez
"Dan Damiano's playwriting workshop was terrific. I'm an actor who has always wanted to write a play, but was never able to get to a complete beginning-middle-end type of draft out of my pen or computer. Dan's workshop got me through some mental road blocks, and I actually wrote a complete play! The whole workshop not only taught me how to write a play, but also gave me insight as to how challenging playwriting actually is. He begins with writing exercises covering the basic building blocks like monologs and scenes, and by the second half of the workshop, we're working on writing a short play. Dan has a great ear, and his insight and comments during the writing and rewriting process were invaluable.Along with Dan, my classmates were very supportive, and gave great feedback when we read each other's plays. For anyone interested in writing for the stage, and even budding actors and directors who want to learn more about the nuts and bolts of plays, I'd highly recommend Dan Damiano's playwriting workshop offered by fandango 4 Art House." --Robert Baumgardner
"I truly enjoyed the playwrighting workshop this past summer. The atmosphere created was fully conducive to all of us to grow and express our thoughts in dramatic form. The mentoring felt thorough and complete and very well planned. The actors who participated in our final readings were extremely talented and fully supportive of our efforts and I appreciated the selection of them. My fellow particpants in the workshop could not have been more gracious and encouraging. I hope that many more will be able to take advantage of future workshops both in writing and other creative fields." - Ted Thompson
"I recently studied with Daniel Damiano in his playwriting workshop and found him to be an exceptional teacher. His comments were insightful and precise, guiding me to practical re-writes. On the last class, Dan even arranged for students' plays to be read by actors, a great touch. I would highly recommend his playwriting workshop to any aspiring author." - Maryann Bertollo
ABOUT DANIEL – Daniel is an Award-winning Playwright, Screenwriter, Poet, Novelist and Actor based in Brooklyn, NY. His plays have been performed throughout many areas of the U.S., as well as London, England and Sydney & Melbourne, Australia. His acclaimed play DAY OF THE DOG premiered with St. Louis Actors' Studio in 2013 and subsequently transferred to 59E59 in NYC in 2014. It was a 2013 St. Louis Critics Choice Best Play Nominee, and was published by Broadway Play Publishing in 2018. Other more recent productions of his work include HARMONY PARK ("4 Stars" - Detroit Free Press, with Detroit Repertory Theatre), THE LEPERS (Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC) and his acclaimed solo play AMERICAN TRANQUILITY (which has been lauded in both NYC and Washington DC). His new play THE WILD BOAR is a current Finalist for Dayton Playhouse's 2022 Futurefest, and was a 2019 Finalist for both the Woodward/Newman Award and the Janet & Bruce Bunch Award. He has been the recipient of the Christopher Brian Wolk Award for Playwriting, in addition to being a 2013 Nominee for the Pushcart Poetry Prize and a Finalist for the 2012 Arts & Letters Prize for Drama. His debut novel, THE WOMAN IN THE SUN HAT was published in March 2021 through fandango 4 Art House. His short story, "The Gift of What For" is included in Palm Circle Press' Short Story Anthology 2021. His poetry book, 104 DAYS OF THE PANDEMIC, was released in September 2021, by fandango 4 Art House. His poetry has been published in Crooked Teeth Literary Magazine, Newtown Literary Journal, New Voices Anthology, Cloudbank and HotMetal Press. His forthcoming novel is GRAPHIC NATURE, currently unpublished. In the Summer of 2022, fandango 4 Art House will release PLAYS BY DANIEL DAMIANO - Volume 1, the first collection of Mr. Damiano's full-length plays ("Harmony Park", "The Golden Year" & "The Dishonorable Discharge of Private Pitts").An acclaimed Voice-Over Artist, Daniel has lent his voice to a variety of projects; most recently Vanity Fair, the Conference Forum, Augmented Reality, RokkitPm.com, as well as various podcast series. He is also an adapter and editor for hire. A Pushcart Award-nominated Poet, his poetry has been published in the Newtown Literary Journal, Cloudbank, HotMetal Press, New Voices Anthology 2016 and most recently in Crooked Teeth Literary Magazine. Website: www.danieldamiano.com.
Daniel has led successful theatrical workshops with fandango 4 Art House, Brooklyn Public Library and Acting Out, and is a former Teaching Artist with the Boys' Club of NYC and the Knowledge Project. He was formerly on the Adjunct Faculty at The Acting Studio, where he taught Solo Performance. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Actors' Equity Association, The League of Independent Theatres, Mind The Gap Theatre Company, and is Co-Founder/Artistic Director of fandango 4 Art House.
Daniel has led successful theatrical workshops with fandango 4 Art House, Brooklyn Public Library and Acting Out, and is a former Teaching Artist with the Boys' Club of NYC and the Knowledge Project. He was formerly on the Adjunct Faculty at The Acting Studio, where he taught Solo Performance. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Actors' Equity Association, The League of Independent Theatres, Mind The Gap Theatre Company, and is Co-Founder/Artistic Director of fandango 4 Art House.