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| Hourglass
Group, Ltd. was founded in 1998 by Elyse Singer, Carolyn Baeumler
and
Nina Hellman with the mission to develop adventurous new plays and
reinvestigate neglected vintage American comedies. Hourglass
champions writers who experiment with
dramatic
language and innovative theatrical forms, including the use of
multimedia. We have a special interest in fostering
challenging works that explore the tensions between society and female
identity throughout time. Our vision encompasses both the radical
lyricism of today's most innovative voices and the crackling wit of
yesterday's. Hourglass’s new play development programs serve a vibrant, diverse and growing community of emerging and early career American theatre artists – particularly women playwrights. This community of new voices includes Ruth Margraff, Kirsten Greenidge, Kate Moira Ryan, Marisa Wegrzyn, Jake-ann Jones, Brooke Berman, Victoria Stewart, Mary McBride, Hillary Bell and Jose Rivera. We foster new play development from conception to full production through four distinct programs: the Summer Development Retreat at Choate Rosemary Hall, readings, workshop productions and full productions. The company also offers playwriting classes to the general public and, in 2005, inaugurated a writer/performer lab for women solo artists. Artistic
Director
Elyse Singer Associate Directors Carolyn Baeumler Nina Hellman Board of Directors Ivor Clark, Ben Feldman, Mark Hellman, Mary Ann Le Fort, Hillary Knill, Felice Neals Hourglass Icons
Since first collaborating on Ruth Margraff's play Flags Unfurled: 1976 in the summer of 1994, we have worked together on close to 20 projects. Prior to founding Hourglass Group in 1998, some of our projects included: Love in the Void (alt.fan.c-love), Care-less: Eva Tanguay and A Horse in the Moon. Company Bios:
In New York, Elyse has worked extensively downtown, directing and producing the premieres of new plays by writers such as Ruth Margraff, Neena Beber, Naomi Iizuka, Catherine Zimdahl, Aaron Mack Schloff and Debbie Isitt. Her work has been seen at the Public Theater, BAM, NYTW, Playwrights Horizons, P.S. 122, DTW, Dixon Place, HERE and the Culture Project. As a writer/director, she is perhaps best known for her 1995 multimedia play LOVE IN THE VOID (alt.fan.c-love), an adaptation of Courtney Love's Internet postings, performed by Carolyn Baeumler. It ran at HERE and P.S. 122 and has the distinction of being featured in 24 Hours in Cyberspace, the first Web site inducted into the Smithsonian [in a 1997 ceremony by Al Gore]. Other original works include Private Property (Edinburgh Festival), Care-less: Eva Tanguay (Dixon Place) and Frequency Hopping, which was commissioned by the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Foundation and was developed through the Drama League's New Directors/New Works Project and an artists residency at Yaddo. A Yale graduate, Elyse is a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop, an alum of the '95 and '96 Lincoln Center Theater Directors Labs and an Affiliated Artist of New Georges.
Carolyn originated the role of Lydia in Chuck Mee’s BIG LOVE directed by Les Waters at Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival and then continued to tour the production to Long Wharf Theatre, Berkeley Rep, The Goodman Theatre, and Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival 2001 for which BIG LOVE won an OBIE AWARD. Other Theatre Credits Include: Jane/Hedda in HEDDATRON (Les
Freres Corbusier); THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING directed by Joanne
Woodward (Westport Country Playhouse); RAG&BONE directed by Tina
Landau (Long Wharf Theatre); Regan in KING LEAR (Playmakers Repertory
Company) and Jean Tatlock in THE LOVE SONG OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER
(Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park) both directed by Mark Wing-Davey;
ALL MY SONS directed by Doug Hughes (Westport Country Playhouse:
starring Richard Dreyfuss & Jill Clayburgh); Marilyn Monroe in MISS
GOLDEN DREAMS (A Contemporary Theatre); THE EROTICA PROJECT directed by
John Gould Rubin (Joe's Pub and HERE); Tracey S. Wilson's LEADER OF THE
PEOPLE (HERE); Lolli in Bryan Goluboff's IN-BETWEENS (Cherry Lane
Theatre); A CLOCKWORK ORANGE directed by Terry Kinney (Steppenwolf
Theatre) and THE TRUE LOVE STORY OF MY PARENTS (Vital & Samuel
French Play Festivals). Carolyn understudied both Blanche and Stella
(appearing for 3 performances as Blanche) in the New York Theatre
Workshop production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, directed by Ivo Van
Hove. Film and Television credits include: Law & Order; Law &
Order: Criminal Intent; Gypsy 83 and Flightless Birds. Carolyn is a
Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop and a graduate of New York
University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
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Elyse
Singer
(Artistic
Director) For Hourglass, Elyse has directed
TROUBLE IN PARADISE, Mae West's SEX and PLEASURE
MAN, Ruth Margraff's
WELLSPRING and RED FROGS, Jake-ann Jones' MAGIC KINGDOM, her original
play FREQUENCY HOPPING, Brooke Berman's TRIPLE HAPPINESS, Kirsten
Greenidge's LIFE AFTER CURIOUS GEORGE and Deborah Swisher's HUNDREDS
OF
SISTERS
& ONE BIG BROTHER at
the Harold Clurman Theatre following runs at HERE, HBO Workspace in LA,
and Brava in San Francisco. For Hourglass's reading series, she
has also directed new work by Hillary Bell, Kira Obolensky, Kate Moria
Ryan, Marisa Wegrzyn and Erika Rundle. She is currently preparing
to direct an evening of new Suzan-Lori Parks plays as part of Hourglass
Group's featured week in the Public Theater's 
Carolyn
Baeumler (Associate Director) With Hourglass, Carolyn has
appeared in TROUBLE IN PARADISE; SEX (as Mae West); Jose Rivera’s
BRAINPEOPLE; Mary McBride’s THE NITPICKER and HOT BUTTONS: A Political
Vaudeville as well as countless other readings in our FLIRTING WITH THE
EDGE Series. She also co-stars in Douglas Bost’s film 
Nina
Hellman
(Associate
Director) With Hourglass, Nina has appeared in
TROUBLE IN PARADISE, Mae West's SEX & THE PLEASURE MAN, Ruth
Margraff's RED FROGS, BRAIN PEOPLE by Jose Rivera, THE TRIPLE HAPPINESS
by Brooke Berman, THE NITPICKER, by Mary McBride, and HOT BUTTONS: A
Political Vaudeville, and many other readings. In addition to her work
with Hourglass, Nina has acted extensively in Off-Broadway and Downtown
theatre with many companies , including, the Vineyard Theatre, New York
Theatre Worshop, Atlantic Theatre Co., Les Freres Corbusier, Mabou
Mines, The Civillians, Adobe, Soho Rep, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges,
Dixon Place, Ubu Rep, Target Margin, and Synapse Productions. Most
recently, Nina appeared in 