Nicholas Santasier - Actor, Playwright, Fight Choreographer

Today I was brought in to do a days work on an upcoming television show for Left/Right Productions playing a famous mobster. More info will be posted when the piece is released. It was a very fun day despite having minimal time to learn my scene. The youtube exercises are working though and I was able to learn it overnight. 

Hitting up as many auditions as possible while scheduling various photography projects. The year is shaping up.

Enjoy spring!

It has been a very productive year so far for me. I am very focused and applying for gigs left and right. This has resulted in many auditions and a few projects. I just wrapped a live event for Virgin Atlantic which was performed next to the Flatiron Building in NYC. They also taped many aspects of it for a new campaign that should be airing in the near future. Once it's posted I will post links for viewing. This was all directed by Sam Cadman and the section I worked on was choreographed by Joey Spano. It was just a fantastic day.

I am also now working on various photography projects including headshots and production shots. All info on this new endeaver can be found here.

My youtube challenge continues, although at times I post a few days late due to other projects. It's helping me focus and work on craft which is welcome.

Happy New Year to all!

This year I am focused on expanding my exposure and career beyond off-off Broadway into more tv, film, and internet work, along with possible Off Broadway work. 

I have given myself a challenge on youtube to post a video a week. There will be monologues, readings (mostly of my own writing), and songs. I want to use these to get myself back in memorization shape and to get my voice back where it needs to be. Most videos will be one take and cut. Eventually I might go higher production value and shoot in different locations with multiple angles. You can view the intro video here. 

Just did a reading for Mim Granahan of her new play "Bromances of the Exes" where I got to read the roles of George and Will.

Also just finished a class with Jared Kirby studying stage combat for the stage and screen. The classes were aimed at unarmed, knife, and longsword.

I have had several photography gigs lately while performance gigs have been scarce. Here's to the new year and new opportunities.

Happy holidays to all!

Summer has been off to an interesting start. Been involved in several readings to help playwrights work on their pieces. Also had a few meetings about various possible fight choreography projects. Writing continues on my own piece - Ask Not (I swear I will finish it this year, preferably before October). 

And in other news, I have started a photo blog to showcase some of my photography. You can see it here.

Here's to a productive second half of the summer.

Just cast in a reading this week of Michael Roderick's latest play Beth. The reading takes place on Wednesday the 13th at The Players Club and is directed by Kelly Monroe Johnston. I get to play the Porter.

I started taking a class with Seth Duerr and Jared Kirby called Shakespeare's (S)words. It is a six week text and combat class that helps analyze the incorporation of violence in Shakespeare's plays.

Good start to the new year!

Some updates:

1. Put up a video of all the fights from MacBeth2011 which was performed back in February and March 2011. It's just the movement sections, showcasing my choreography and my excellent fighters kicking each others butts. You can see it on the Video page.

2. Shooting my episode of Scout & Maggie at the end of November, so prep work has begun. Should be a very funny shoot.

3. Work goes slowly but steadily forward with the draft of Ask Not. I might just be a slower writer than George R.R. Martin.

Some new gigs:

1. The House of Bernarda Alba, directed by Glory Kadigan. I will be fight choreographer for a few sections. The show runs November 5th through 20th at the Gene Frankel Theater.

2. The Empress of Sex, by Duncan Pflaster. Part of the Oberon Theatre Ensemble's Originals Reading Series. I will be playing the role of Petrus: a servant and cunning linguist. The reading takes place on September 26th at The Lambs. 

3. Two video projects to be edited: one Shakespeare Out of Context: Puck and a fight dissection from the producton of MacBeth I choreographed earlier in the year.

4. And writing continues on Ask Not, lots of mapping out new ideas and directions. Hoping to have this finished by the holidays.

5. I am also now freelancing as a photographer for untappedcities.com. My first article can be found here. 

Spent a day working on a new video project: Shakespeare Out of Context. Mostly working with friends who come up with their own scenario and perform a piece of Shakespeare. The first one is my piece of Benedict from Much Ado About Nothing. It can be seen here. I shot it and edited it all on my own (very proud of my editing job).

Moving forward with the first draft of Ask Not. For the first time ever, I went back to the beginning and started over completely as I kept writing myself into corners. Hoping to finish it by the fall.

Just finished a 2 performance run of a new piece titled "Random" by Michael Hagins and directed by J.J. El-Far. I played Det. Stuart, a corrupt policeman in a film noir land filled with murder. It was performed at The Producer's Club in NYC on June 11th and 12th.

Producers sent out press clippings of MacB this week. I got some nice reactions for the fights:

"...the play really gets started.  The energetic and cinematic fight scene which ensues is stylized and exciting.  The special effects and lighting add immensely to the beauty of the fight, but much credit is due to Nicholas Santasier, fight choreographer.  Throughout the show, one thing that never wavers is the excellence of the almost gymnastic fight scenes." ~Emily Hockaday (Read the full review here)

"There’s also a pretty sweet sword fight at the end." ~Kristin Skye Hoffmann (Full article at nytheatre)

Notches premiere is over. The four shows went very well. Lot of positive reaction from audiences. Cast and crew were a blast to work with and very professional. I can't thank everyone enough who supported this project.

Now it is back to the grindstone for me: auditioning, working on finishing a new play - Ask Not, and designing some possible video projects (including possibly turning Notches into an indy film as suggested by numerous people, including my co-producer, Phil Newsom). 

MacBeth is up and running. Very nice responses to the fights. Runs through March 27th at The Wings Theater.

I was recommended by my co-producer for Notches to the Gallery Players as a last minute fight choreography gig for their production of Jitney. Very nice people there and they picked up the brief moves very quickly. Show opens March 19th and runs through April 3rd.

Notches is up and running in rehearsals. We had some cast changes over the past few weeks but everything is running well. We raised enough funds for both the rehearsal rentals and theater rentals. Ticket info can be found here. Show runs April 3-5 at The Red Room.

Currently hip deep in rehearsals of MacBeth. Fights are going well. All of the actors learn very quickly. Can't wait to see it up on it's feet in the Wings Theatre.

We just had our first read through of Notches on Friday 2/4/11. Some tightening up needs to occur in several places, but overall I am happy with where the script is. Very talented cast as well. We had to change venues and the show will now be performed at The Red Room on East 4th street on April 3-5. Ticket info can be found here. I am co-producing this with Phil Newsom Productions and Hanging Hammer Productions. If you would like to contribute please visit our chipin page.

Hi folks. The site is up and running! A great deal of thanks go to Kyle Walters for all his work here getting me started.

Currently I am in preproduction for MacBeth presented by White Rabbit Theatre and Red Shark Productions. I am fight choreographing it and am in the early stages of research and design. The show will be in March 2011.

At the same time I have one of my own pieces, Notches, being performed in early April of 2011. We have a producer (Phil Newsom), director (Keith Dunn), and ad guru extraordinaire (Chris Cariker). Casting will occur in January 2011. Fundraising info coming soon!