Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Bleeding Love’

Review Fix chats with “Bleeding Love” director Harris Doran, who details the production and lets us know why its a special work of theatre during a tumultuous time in human history.

About Harris Doran:

HARRIS DORAN (Lyrics/Director) is a writer, director, producer and actor who wrote book and lyrics for the musicals Wasp Woman (based on the Roger Corman B horror movie) and the rock/R&B musical Salvage. He wrote, conceived and produced the political concert Broadway Blue Wave For NY directed by Rachel Chavkin, starring Taylor Shilling, Edie Falco, Laura Benanti, Cynthia Nixon, et al. Harris is filmmaker whose film Beauty Mark won awards at festivals including LA Film Festival, Woodstock Film Festival, Austin Film Festival and he was shortlisted for the 2018 Independent Spirit Awards’ Someone to Watch Award. His short film The Story of Milo & Annie featuring Alysia Reiner and Cathy Moriarty won the Indie Memphis Film Festival and he produced the short film Photo Op directed by Dave Salomon and starring Randy Harrison which won best LGBTQ short in SENE, and he was a writer on the Lifetime series I Love You But I Lied. Harris is an award-winning actor who has been seen in projects ranging from Claude in the Actors Fund concert of Hair to TV to indies including the Sundance premiering My Best Day. Harris trained as an actor at The Juilliard School, is an acting coach, and a professor in Columbia University’s MFA film program. He is currently in pre-production for his next film Atticus Brown Is Still Here. harrisdoran.com

Review Fix: What inspired this production?

Harris Doran: Bleeding Love is about a world where it’s too dangerous to go outside so everyone is cloistered in their apartments. When the COVID lockdown happened we realized how relevant the show was and so we put pedal to the metal and made it happen.


Review Fix: What was casting like?

Doran: We already had our cast from when we made the demos a few years ago. We reached out to each of the actors individually, some we already knew and some we contacted through mutual acquaintances. 


Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?

Doran: I’ve had people who love musicals and those who don’t love musicals who have been loving BLEEDING LOVE. People who love musical theatre will especially enjoy this during this period where they cannot go to the theatre, because if you close your eyes you can experience the entire show, because it is fully produced radio play style and fully lived by the performers. 


Review Fix: What have you learned?

Doran: I’ve learned how important art is in moments of crisis. The way many people are surviving COVID is by watching movies and tv and listening to podcasts. Art is how our society is surviving. More attention and funding should be put into the arts as it is clear that art is essential. 


Review Fix: Why is it special to you?

Doran: The piece is special to me because it is about how one small person can change the whole world. And I think that’s what we’re seeing right now with the BLM movement, how each individual voice adds up to making real change.  


Review Fix: How has COVID changed your perception of what is theatre?

Doran: It’s an interesting question that has arisen on a technical and functional level many times. Is this podcast theatre if there is no physical theatre? Which union is it under, theatre or film/tv? I am working on a couple filmed theatre projects that will be exhibited online – is that theatre? It lives in some hybrid of theatre and television. I think it is theatre because it is our only option for having theatre at the moment. I think theatre is a sensibility. Theatre is often long form in a way that film and tv usually is not. It’s a very good question, and I am not sure I have an answer yet; I just know it’s important to keep the flame of theatre alive so it can reignite when we move past this. 


Review Fix: What’s next?

Doran: I am working on making theatre for the Queens Memory Project, which documents voices from Queens about their experience during COVID. This will be a filmed theatre piece. And I am beginning to work with Rodney Hicks to create filmed theatre of a brilliant play he has written that deals with many of the issues pur society is currently confronting. For when film production comes back, I have multiple films in the works, as well as moving BLEEDING LOVE onto the stage. 

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 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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