Coronavirus Shutdown Inspires New Series - The Building: Under Lockdown, Created Entirely on Zoom. Westside Rag and Art Paradise Agree: "The Show is Good!"
The new series is written by playwright and television writer Ed Napier with co-direction by Emmy winning television producer Jesse Green and actress/filmmaker Jodie Markell. The first episode was just launched. The Building 2020: Under Lockdown tells the story of a group of residents who live in a co-op on the Upper West Side of New York City and how they are coping with all the challenges and devastation surrounding their relationships and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York, NY, July 27, 2020 --(PR.com)-- The cast is comprised of some of New York’s most beloved stage actors: Pun Bandhu, Joseph Delafield, Laura Esterman, Kevin R. Free, Kathryn Grody, Robert Lupone, Jodie Markell and Alexandra Napier. The characters are a group of iconographic New York personalities living in their Riverside Drive apartment building. With the appearance of COVID-19, they have to navigate their new shut-down world and the complications it presents – while juggling the ongoing fights, feuds and intrigues of their neighbors.
The Building began as a stage play before COVID-19 ever existed. Author Ed Napier re-conceived it as The Building: Under Lockdown in the immediate days after New York shut down. The shooting began one week later. “For artists the need to create is just basic. We really needed a reason to get out of bed and do something,” says Napier. “Creating a show that could be shot entirely on Zoom was born out of my desire to create something now and in the moment.” “Our characters are sometimes insufferable and sometimes lovable, comically idiosyncratic and infuriatingly stubborn – but ultimately, they are extraordinarily human,” says producer Anne Hamburger. Building residents include an over-the-top controlling President of the Co-op Board, Gladys Pasternak (Kathryn Grody); an emergency room physician, Stephen Cho (Pun Bandhu) who Gladys refuses to allow into the building; Cho’s caring wife, Mallory Catalano (Alexandra Napier), a public-defender; a privileged former financier, Charlie Tuttle (Joe Delafield), who’s pursuing the Episcopal priesthood to the dismay of his wonderfully quirky actress wife, Chloe (Jodie Markell); and a violinist/music teacher, Midge Rivington (Laura Esterman), self-ascribed “last true Marxist on the Upper West Side,” who’s having an on-again/off-again romance with everybody’s favorite Jewish Uncle, Benny Weinstein (Robert Lupone), one of those menschy types who knows a little bit about every subject known to humanity.
The first episode of The Building: Under Lockdown premiered online July 1, 2020 via YouTube and Facebook. Thereafter it will live on the social media channels listed below. The Executive Producers are Ed Napier, Jesse Green, Jodie Markell and Anne Hamburger.
The Westside Rag says: "We’re no theater critics, but the show is... good! This is very tough to pull off but it flows." While most of the comments on the Westside Rag were positive, there was one critic who just said: "yawn." Another even appeared to take some delight: "Green screen fail!" Others seemed appreciative of the story with comments suggesting the show reflects the reality of the times as well as the quirky nature of people living in close proximity to one another.
Art Paradise, an art education and support center in West Hartford Connecticut says: "It's really good, we watch it while we are painting and making things out of clay and we really love the characters!"
Where to watch:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/thebuilding2020/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thebuilding2020
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw1uyIngviEg1WMhDudJXHA
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/thebuilding2020
Westside Rag:
https://www.westsiderag.com/2020/07/16/the-building-under-lockdown-is-a-new-show-set-on-the-uws-with-some-storylines-ripped-from-the-headlines
Social handle for all is:
@thebuilding2020
Link to press room with downloadable trailers/promos:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iBTTM53Z9WtQqr_ELTmYnWa_wKRFXKAV?usp=sharing
The Building began as a stage play before COVID-19 ever existed. Author Ed Napier re-conceived it as The Building: Under Lockdown in the immediate days after New York shut down. The shooting began one week later. “For artists the need to create is just basic. We really needed a reason to get out of bed and do something,” says Napier. “Creating a show that could be shot entirely on Zoom was born out of my desire to create something now and in the moment.” “Our characters are sometimes insufferable and sometimes lovable, comically idiosyncratic and infuriatingly stubborn – but ultimately, they are extraordinarily human,” says producer Anne Hamburger. Building residents include an over-the-top controlling President of the Co-op Board, Gladys Pasternak (Kathryn Grody); an emergency room physician, Stephen Cho (Pun Bandhu) who Gladys refuses to allow into the building; Cho’s caring wife, Mallory Catalano (Alexandra Napier), a public-defender; a privileged former financier, Charlie Tuttle (Joe Delafield), who’s pursuing the Episcopal priesthood to the dismay of his wonderfully quirky actress wife, Chloe (Jodie Markell); and a violinist/music teacher, Midge Rivington (Laura Esterman), self-ascribed “last true Marxist on the Upper West Side,” who’s having an on-again/off-again romance with everybody’s favorite Jewish Uncle, Benny Weinstein (Robert Lupone), one of those menschy types who knows a little bit about every subject known to humanity.
The first episode of The Building: Under Lockdown premiered online July 1, 2020 via YouTube and Facebook. Thereafter it will live on the social media channels listed below. The Executive Producers are Ed Napier, Jesse Green, Jodie Markell and Anne Hamburger.
The Westside Rag says: "We’re no theater critics, but the show is... good! This is very tough to pull off but it flows." While most of the comments on the Westside Rag were positive, there was one critic who just said: "yawn." Another even appeared to take some delight: "Green screen fail!" Others seemed appreciative of the story with comments suggesting the show reflects the reality of the times as well as the quirky nature of people living in close proximity to one another.
Art Paradise, an art education and support center in West Hartford Connecticut says: "It's really good, we watch it while we are painting and making things out of clay and we really love the characters!"
Where to watch:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/thebuilding2020/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thebuilding2020
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw1uyIngviEg1WMhDudJXHA
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/thebuilding2020
Westside Rag:
https://www.westsiderag.com/2020/07/16/the-building-under-lockdown-is-a-new-show-set-on-the-uws-with-some-storylines-ripped-from-the-headlines
Social handle for all is:
@thebuilding2020
Link to press room with downloadable trailers/promos:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iBTTM53Z9WtQqr_ELTmYnWa_wKRFXKAV?usp=sharing
Contact
ArtParadise
Jim Hughes
860-233-3000
ArtParadise.org
Jim Hughes
860-233-3000
ArtParadise.org
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