Directed by Neil Casey & Brian Finkelstein

The UCB Theatre is thrilled to announce the creation of MAUDE NIGHT!

Much like Harold Night showcases the improv talent of performers who have completed classes at the UCB Theatre, Maude Night will feature sketch comedy written by students who have completed sketch classes at the UCB Theatre.

WHAT IS A MAUDE TEAM?

• Maude Teams will consist of six (6) writers each. These writers will have the option of being writers only or writer/performers.
• Maude Teams will meet once a week with an approved director to get feedback on their sketches and will put up a show at the UCB Theatre once a month featuring the material they have created.
• Maude Teams are meant to to create opportunities for sketch writers to improve by:
  • getting regular feedback on their material
  • getting experience in a “writer’s room”
  • writing for a deadline
  • seeing/performing their work on stage

• The longterm goals for Maude Team members will be to:
  • build their packets with solid material for future submissions to TV and movie jobs
  • write material that can potentially be turned into a show for the UCBT stage
  • find other writers and writer/performers they may want to work with on shows or in sketch groups.
• In order to give students the opportunities to work with different people, Maude Teams will be reorganized every three-four months.

WANT TO BE ON A MAUDE TEAM?

Maude Team members will be selected from UCBT student submissions. For this initial start-up, students who have completed any UCBT Sketch Class in the last year are eligible for teams. In the future, students will have to complete Sketch 101 & 201 in order to be eligible to submit for a Maude Team.

• If you are selected to be on a Maude Team, you must:
  • attend sketch meetings every week
  • write at least one (1) new sketch every week and bring it to the meeting
  • participate in the monthly Maude Night show
• If you are not willing/able to comply with the above requirements - DO NOT SUBMIT TO BE ON A MAUDE TEAM.
• If you miss more than two (2) meetings in a row, miss meetings on a regular basis, or fail to write the required quantity of work - you will be replaced on your team.
• Maude Team members will be expected to pay their directors for their time in weekly meetings (this should be handled in the same way (logistically and financially) that Harold Teams pay their coaches. Teams will select their directors from a pre-approved list.

HOW DO YOU SUBMIT?

• The submission deadline is Sunday, April 22.
• Submissions should be dropped off at the UCBT Theatre Training Center (145 W. 30th St, 4th Fl). There will be a box behind the front desk labeled “MAUDE NIGHT” to hold submissions.
• Your submission should consist of three (3) completed sketches. Each sketch should include a title and your name. Each sketch should be 3-5 pages. Show us your best stuff.
• All three sketches should be submitted in one (1) manilla envelope with your name, phone, email address, and sketch teacher(s) listed on the outside.
• Teams will be announced by the end of April. The first Maude Night will be at the end of May.

Good luck all you sketch writers out there. Get sketching.

New York City is a tough place to carve out your little slice of life. It’s an urban jungle full of weirdos, small apartments, bad bars, awful roommates, failed relationships, unobtainable goals, bed bugs, exorbitant gym membership fees, and a series of unlivable neighborhoods that have been made hip with catchy acronyms. It’s enough to make a grown woman sick… enough to make two grown women sick… enough to make two grown woman and an audience under a supermarket sick.

Photographs by Jodi Skersis

MEGAN & BRIDIE: Friends Without Benefits is one of those rare shows that totally surpassed my expectations. From the awesome preview skits I had seen at a few UCB Harold nights, I had pictured Megan and Bridie to be far more self deprecating and creepily dependent story line, but in reality the show is a wonderful mix of scenes documenting the meeting of two totally opposite women in the big city – one desperate for an apartment, one desperate for companionship.

It’s a classic tale of platonic city living.

Bridie Harrington and Megan Neuringer do a terrific job at creating characters that are both totally believable and ridiculously funny. Bridie plays a oblivious, fitness obsessed gal, whose search for the next big exercise leads her towards workouts that I know I have seen advertised at my local Crunch. Megan plays a neurotic Jewish gal whose life is filled with a series of problematic relationships that always seem to leave her unfulfilled. The two are thrown together in a co-dependent friendship, stemming from the need of an apartment, which begins to tear itself apart by their conflicting personalities.

Megan & Bridie: Friends Without Benefits is a terrific show filled with all the detritus that life serves up, viewed with refreshing candor and humor, with characters you can’t help but love. It’s like sex in the city, without the sex and with ladies you don’t want to strangle. The last show plays Wednesday April 4th 8PM at Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre (37 W 26th & 8th Ave). Make your reservations now.

Directed by Jason Mantzoukas