Review Fix Exclusive: Nicholas Linnehan Talks Sleeping Ugly And More

June 6, 2017 Patrick Hickey Jr. Theatre 0

Review Fix chats with Nicholas Linnehan who discusses his upcoming production of Sleeping Ugly. Breaking down the influences for the production and its goals, Linnehan lets us know exactly why it’s a special take on a classic.

About the Production:

Identity Theater presents Sleeping Ugly; written and directed by Nicholas Linnehan in a special showing on Sunday, June 11, 2017 at 7 pm at 215 East 99th Street @ The Underground Theater. Tickets: $12. RSVP to [email protected].

Nicholas Linnehan has reworked a age-old fairy tale to suit our modern world. The character formerly known as Sleeping Beauty wakes up in a world where warts are in fashion … and she has them. While she’s en vogue, she can’t wrap her brain around this drastic change, nor can anyone around her. “Sleeping Ugly,” as she has renamed herself, flees her village and bumps into the Ugly Duckling, who, like Sleeping Beauty/Ugly, is the subject of bullying for his appearance. The two become fast friends.

Meanwhile, the Ogress Queen, here called Malificent, is still obsessed with being the fairest of them all. She believes that Sleeping Ugly’s new fashionable warts hold the key to her problem. She strikes a deal with Sleeping Ugly to take her warts. As part of the deal the Ugly Duckling will get to become a beautiful swan. Malificent casts a spell and each character gets exactly what they want, or do they? They’ve all gotten what they want but will they live happily ever after? Sleeping Ugly examines the concepts of beauty and body image and social presences regarding them.

Identity Theater Company is a group of differently-abled artists devoted to exploring and challenging issues of the human condition. ITC strives to present works that cultivate understanding, promote tolerance, and engage its participants in meaningful discussions.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Nicholas Linnehan: It’s different every time and it depends on who I am working with but I like to be open and collaborative .

Review Fix: What makes this different or special?

Linnehan: This one is different because I wrote it. LOL!  Seriously, sleeping ugly tackles body image and the problems that we all go through when facing it.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?

Linnehan: I think I learned that I am more vain that I would like to admit.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of something like this?

Linnehan: Anytime you engage with others in a creative process it feels damn good!

Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?

Linnehan: My ultimate goal is to change the way people view themselves and others.

Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?

Linnehan: I think that this version has so many twist and turns in it that the audience will get a kick out of it. There is something for everybody including a magic talking mirror, LOL !

Review Fix: What’s next?

Linnehan: As my good friend and mentor said, “keep trying to change the world one play at a time.”

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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