Rock WILK: NEWS

http://www.stagebuzz.com/

BROKE WIDE OPEN will be presented for 3 weeks as a workshop at The Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble from September 9 thru Sept 26th, in NYC. Check back soon for more info.......

Broke Wide Open by Rock Wilk (writer and performer), directed by Tamilla Woodard, chosen to be a part of playgroundzero - part of undergroundzero festival at PS122, curated by Saviana Stanescu, Saturday, July 24th, 3 pm

OK, getting prepared to slam on Dec. 18th at the legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe in their semifinals, winner goes to finals to make the team, an honor and a privilege to get to this point.
C'mon and holla 4 ya boy!

in the grand scheme of things.... well, to me, this was a big deal because when I first stepped into the storied Nuyorican Poets Cafe 2 weeks before Thanksgiving of last year, I set a goal of one day being invited to the Friday night stage. Seemed very far away, but after alot of hard work, and some public humiliation, I won my first slam last night. I am humbled at the accomplishment, real talk. Much appreciative of the opportunity from Mahogany Browne and the continued support of Jive Poetic, the 2 amazing hosts at Nuyo. These are 2 very special people, going way beyond slam poetry to make major contributions to the community at large, in New York City and far beyond, I am very fortunate to have walked into the club a year ago and to continue to have the opportunity to be around these great artists, and more importantly, great people. Thank you both.
WORD.

this past Friday I was honored to be invited to be one of the poets to participate in the slam hosted by Mahogany Browne at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Amazing experience, packed house, as it always is there, hopefully more nights like that to come.

So I was top 10 at Urban NYC, qualified for the runoffs at The Bowery Poetry Club for IWPS, The Individual World Poetry Slam in Berkeley, CA and I didn't make it, so I say all this to say it was an honor to share the stage with some of the best poets in the world, congratulations to Jeanann Verlee, the winner and fun was had by all! Great night.

the performance of BROKE WIDE OPEN at The Showroom in Asbury Park, NJ on August 15th was an incredible experience for me. It was really the first time performing BROKE WIDE OPEN as a full blown play, a real theater piece, and I have to thank Stephen Bishop Seely for that, the producing artistic director of The Revision Theater. We've been meeting pretty much every week for the past 3 months and he's been pushing me to go deeper with not only my story but the characters as well, and to get clearer with my script. To understand what exactly it is I want the audience to walk away with. Truly, he has guided me to make BROKE WIDE OPEN a play, instead of just a performance piece, so I'm very grateful for that. What's next? Stay tuned............... now that the script is getting close to being done, I will be able to go into memorizing mode, lock it all down and we have plans on bringing in a director [soon to be searching for the right person], a lighting designer, and who knows, perhaps even a live band, but to keep the integrity of the music, there will also be a DJ working with the live musicians. And probably the most exciting thing for me would be to get the technology out of my hands, which means I won't have to be running the video and music on stage myself while I'm performing. I will finally be able to just cut it loose and perform, with all the music, lighting, staged elements, video and whatever else is needed, being taken care of by our crew, and at that point, well.... get ready people, I'll be BREAKIN' THIS MOTHAF*CKER WIDE OPEN!!!
Anyway, that's all the news for today, folks, I'm 2 days removed from the reading and the most profound Q&A the other night, and I'm just taking it all in, enjoying these feelings, appreciating the moment, understanding the gift of working with Mr Seely, feeling very humbled, inspired and thankful by the comments and emails coming in after the other night, and preparing for the next phase. I'm ready. Come with me. Let's go!

great to be mentioned in the New York Times on July 31st in an article about The Showroom Theater down in Asbury Park, NJ, even though the author said I was running a "multimedia poetry slam". .Hmmm......... not something I would be doing, but I AM doing my play there, BROKE WIDE OPEN, and it's AWESOME to be mentioned in THE NEW YORK TIMES!
WORD

sorry I haven't been updating this much as of late, been very busy, been all over the place. Had the pleasure of performing at the legendary Saint in Asbury Park, NJ for the Wave Gathering Festival, did a performance up in The Berkshires in a beautiful small town called Pittsfield, Mass at the Micro Theater, an amazing experience, and have been working closely with the genius artistic director of the Revision Theater Stephen Bishop Seely developing my script for BROKE WIDE OPEN. There's gonna be an upcoming staged reading at The Showroom Theater in Asbury Park, see the homepage and calendar page here for details. I'm excited to be doing a Q&A after that performance, so come on thru and give me some feedback. Stay tuned for more, alot is in the works, BROKE WIDE OPEN is about to bust!!!!!!
Peace
Rock WILK

Thanks for the support, people, this show is completely sold out, if you would like to be put on the waiting list, call 212 592 4403 and if seats become available, you'll be contacted. No seats will be sold at the door.

Where have I been for the past 4 months??, among other places, hangin' at the legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and so I wanted to share some of my inspiration with you at the next performance of Ma'Plej, figured better than just talking about it, i would bring it to you in flesh and blood, BLOOD IS COLD, that is.....so.....It is my honor to introduce the amazing spoken word artist, Rich Story, we'll be sharing the stage on May 4th as he dazzles you with his words and massive presence...

"Rich Story, born and raised in Harlem, NY. A member of the Silent Poets and the Blood is Cold Gang a Finalist at the 2008 Soundbites Adult Slam and an emering voice of NYC spoken word.

He works as a counsoler for special needs children, volunteers a youth homeless shelter where he facilitates poetry writing workshops and also facilitates weekly small group lessons for youth offenders at Rikers Island."

Get yo' ass to UNDER ST MARKS on May 4th, at 6:45pm, and experience Rich Story doin' his thing, and of course, join me as my story continues with Ma'Plej.

Kickoff party on March 7th for the opening of the hip hop musical KINGDOM, produced by The Revision Theater in Asbury park, NJ.

the next performance of Ma'Plej will be May 4th, the performance on March 31st had to be postponed due to other commitments. Same place, Under St Marks Theater in NYC, people who hold tickets to the March 31st date can use their tickets at the May 4th performance.

Rock WILK's first spoken word CD AND Debut poetry chapbook,are officially released at www.rockwilk.com.

you can get it here at the "buy stuff" page.............

contracts signed, theater booked, special guest to be announced, get yo' ass to this show, it's gonna be dope! Tix available at the "buy stuff" page....

check www.soundbitesnyc.com , I'll be part of the team TEAM AIN'T NEVER SCARED, check back for more info...... Event happens on April 11th and 12th.........

look for the cd at the end of the February, iTunes, Amazon.com and all other digital outlets to follow shortly thereafter, and a chatbook of my poetry coming soon, as well............

Poetry events at an elementary school and a High School performance for Black History Month, inspiring and being inspired by students, special guest appearances with other artists, community events, an appearance at Borders Books and the next Ma'Plej experience, check the calendar page to keep up!!

check http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=89334024 or www.tribesmagazine.com .
Cool thang!!!

more on these performances later.....

www.returntothedream.com

check the interview here...
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/agsupreme/2009/01/31/TBA-

2 wins in 1 week!! again at Loserslam at the Inkwell in Long Branch, NJ, this was a conventional slam, mad fun, just going with this and taking it all in. Thanks to Chad Anderson, Connor Dooley, and Nicole Homer for their talent, hard work, committment and support, you guys are the best..
I'll keep bothering you down there.....