Rock WILK: NEWS

WE ARE 136 STRONG AND HAVE RAISED OVER $4400 in just 3 weeks!!!!!!!!!!! Get with us, go to the 500 NAMES page here at the website and be a part of history!!!

THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7TH
St. John's University---D'Angelo Center
(2nd Floor Coffee House Adjacent to Starbucks Lounge)
8000 Utopia Parkway
Queens, NY 11439
(718) 990-2000
Time: 5PM-7PM
***FREE*** (w/ free coffee/tea/hot chocolate/donuts from Dunkin Donuts)
show up early to get on line.
WE 'BOUT TO ROCK IT IN QUEENS!!!

Monday night, October 24th, at 9pm.... put that date in your calendar now, an evolved BROKE WIDE OPEN is about to bust out on 42nd St in New York City as part of the United Solo Festival right in the middle of the GREAT WHITE WAY, Broadway can't be far behind. This production of BROKE WIDE OPEN will be directed by the amazing Stephen Bishop Seely, Rock WILK is about to get inside of you and never come out! Keep checking back for ticket availability, that information will be forthcoming soon, this show will sell out FAST, so secure your place in the theater QUICKLY and be part of the continuing journey with Rock WILK and his personal and universal story, BROKE WIDE OPEN. See you in October!!!!!!!!!

1-I am proud to announce that BROKE WIDE OPEN was accepted and will be presented in London, England for 6 performances, as part of the Camden Fringe Festival, from August 9th-14th, just a few months from now. More specific information to come regarding venue and times, but I am READY TO TAKE MY STORY GLOBAL NOW!!!!!

2-I will be doing a reading of a new play that I have been working on, [title to be announced] sometime late spring/early summer, so stay tuned for that, I would love for you to be in attendance, I am VERY EXCITED to begin the process of developing my second play. The reading will be somewhere in New York City.

3-I will be bringing BROKE WIDE OPEN "unplugged" to Shades Repertory Theatre this coming Saturday night, April 30th, at 8pm, in Haverstraw, NY, in beautiful Rockland County, my old stomping grounds, I'm very excited to share my story in this very special space. Shades Rep is at 64 New Main St, Haverstraw, NY 10927, phone number is 845 675 8044, tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

4-Very excited to announce a performance of BROKE WIDE OPEN "unplugged" at Backstage Productions Theatre in Kingston, NY on Friday, May 6th, at 8pm. Backstage Productions is at 323 Wall St, Kingston, NY 12401, phone number is 845 338 8700. For ticket information, call the theater.

As with all performances of BROKE WIDE OPEN "unplugged" and for as long as we are in this "developmental" or "workshop" stage, there will be a Q&A after each performance, so I hope to see you all there and we will continue to have these beautiful shared experiences, continuing what we've been doing all over the country for the past few years, this has been the most remarkable journey, the most amazing time of my life. And it's only beginning...

So finally, I have dived [dove? diven? diveded?] deep into my next play, a brand new script, and it has already been quite the journey for me, one of the most important stories living inside of me that has to come out, and so with all of me, I am on to the next project, my next full length play, BUT...I have the strength and stamina of a superhero, and so the development of BROKE WIDE OPEN is still in full effect, I have 2 performances coming up on April 30th and May 6th, [http://www.wilkmusic.com/calendar.html] and some other AMAZING OPPORTUNITIES coming up later in the year with BWO, so stay tuned for a couple of big announcements over the next few months. Also, look for BROKE WIDE OPEN "unplugged" coming to your city soon, a tour in the south is in the works as well as throughout the northeast, so we are VIRAL, GROWING, DEVELOPING and HAVING FUN!!!! Only in a real, tangible, you can come see me in person kinda way, and who does it like this besides me? So worry NOT, I'm coming to you soon, STAY CLOSE!! ***NOTE***Be sure to support the soloNOVA Festival in NYC, some of the most beautiful, evocative and important pieces of solo theater will be presented by the terraNOVA Collective, I know I'll be there supporting!! That is May 11th thru the 28th, more info here... http://www.terranovacollective.org/SoloArtsFestival.php.
OK, we're good for now, see you all soon!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU to The Crossroads Theatre and The Art Garage in Denver, The Sandbox Studio in Seattle, The Joyce Gordon Gallery in Oakland, Wordspace in Los Angeles and The Gorilla Tango Theatre in Chicago, my first run around the country complete, what an amazing experience, 5 cities in 10 days, and to all the people who came out to share my story with me.....none of us will ever be the same. THANK YOU. I am on to the next place now..........

so it's been a while since I updated this news page, but it's only because I have been SO BUSY, which means I am SO GRATEFUL, which means I am SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!! My experiences in Denver, Seattle and Oakland so far, have been amazing. Truthfully... I have to say that this feels like the most important moment of my life, a culmination of a lot of time, experiences and hard work, I'm just very happy to be here, I feel as if I am exactly where I am supposed to be at this time of my life. And so, if you want to get a feel for what has been going on, check out the homepage here, I'm always updating the "what they are saying" section, and the "your thoughts" page also is a good place to see how people are feeling about me and BROKE WIDE OPEN, and of course, you can always be my friend at FACEBOOK and follow me at Twitter. Ok, sorry to be late in sharing all things Rock WILK and BROKE WIDE OPEN on this news page, I promise to be better about that, so keep coming back, and THANK YOU ALL FOR YOU LOVE AND SUPPORT, this is always, for me, a beautiful shared experience, so let's keep taking this journey together. See you again soon.......
Peace and Mad Love
Rock WILK

sorry i haven't been keeping up with this page on the website, kickstarter campaign successful, I will be bringing BROKE WIDE OPEN "unplugged" to 5 cities in 10 days, March 10-20, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, LA and Chicago here I come, back with more news soon!!!!!!!

http://www.stagebuzz.com/

BROKE WIDE OPEN will be presented for 3 weeks as a workshop at The Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble from September 9 thru Sept 26th, in NYC. Check back soon for more info.......

Broke Wide Open by Rock Wilk (writer and performer), directed by Tamilla Woodard, chosen to be a part of playgroundzero - part of undergroundzero festival at PS122, curated by Saviana Stanescu, Saturday, July 24th, 3 pm

OK, getting prepared to slam on Dec. 18th at the legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe in their semifinals, winner goes to finals to make the team, an honor and a privilege to get to this point.
C'mon and holla 4 ya boy!

in the grand scheme of things.... well, to me, this was a big deal because when I first stepped into the storied Nuyorican Poets Cafe 2 weeks before Thanksgiving of last year, I set a goal of one day being invited to the Friday night stage. Seemed very far away, but after alot of hard work, and some public humiliation, I won my first slam last night. I am humbled at the accomplishment, real talk. Much appreciative of the opportunity from Mahogany Browne and the continued support of Jive Poetic, the 2 amazing hosts at Nuyo. These are 2 very special people, going way beyond slam poetry to make major contributions to the community at large, in New York City and far beyond, I am very fortunate to have walked into the club a year ago and to continue to have the opportunity to be around these great artists, and more importantly, great people. Thank you both.
WORD.

this past Friday I was honored to be invited to be one of the poets to participate in the slam hosted by Mahogany Browne at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Amazing experience, packed house, as it always is there, hopefully more nights like that to come.

So I was top 10 at Urban NYC, qualified for the runoffs at The Bowery Poetry Club for IWPS, The Individual World Poetry Slam in Berkeley, CA and I didn't make it, so I say all this to say it was an honor to share the stage with some of the best poets in the world, congratulations to Jeanann Verlee, the winner and fun was had by all! Great night.

the performance of BROKE WIDE OPEN at The Showroom in Asbury Park, NJ on August 15th was an incredible experience for me. It was really the first time performing BROKE WIDE OPEN as a full blown play, a real theater piece, and I have to thank Stephen Bishop Seely for that, the producing artistic director of The Revision Theater. We've been meeting pretty much every week for the past 3 months and he's been pushing me to go deeper with not only my story but the characters as well, and to get clearer with my script. To understand what exactly it is I want the audience to walk away with. Truly, he has guided me to make BROKE WIDE OPEN a play, instead of just a performance piece, so I'm very grateful for that. What's next? Stay tuned............... now that the script is getting close to being done, I will be able to go into memorizing mode, lock it all down and we have plans on bringing in a director [soon to be searching for the right person], a lighting designer, and who knows, perhaps even a live band, but to keep the integrity of the music, there will also be a DJ working with the live musicians. And probably the most exciting thing for me would be to get the technology out of my hands, which means I won't have to be running the video and music on stage myself while I'm performing. I will finally be able to just cut it loose and perform, with all the music, lighting, staged elements, video and whatever else is needed, being taken care of by our crew, and at that point, well.... get ready people, I'll be BREAKIN' THIS MOTHAF*CKER WIDE OPEN!!!
Anyway, that's all the news for today, folks, I'm 2 days removed from the reading and the most profound Q&A the other night, and I'm just taking it all in, enjoying these feelings, appreciating the moment, understanding the gift of working with Mr Seely, feeling very humbled, inspired and thankful by the comments and emails coming in after the other night, and preparing for the next phase. I'm ready. Come with me. Let's go!

great to be mentioned in the New York Times on July 31st in an article about The Showroom Theater down in Asbury Park, NJ, even though the author said I was running a "multimedia poetry slam". .Hmmm......... not something I would be doing, but I AM doing my play there, BROKE WIDE OPEN, and it's AWESOME to be mentioned in THE NEW YORK TIMES!
WORD

sorry I haven't been updating this much as of late, been very busy, been all over the place. Had the pleasure of performing at the legendary Saint in Asbury Park, NJ for the Wave Gathering Festival, did a performance up in The Berkshires in a beautiful small town called Pittsfield, Mass at the Micro Theater, an amazing experience, and have been working closely with the genius artistic director of the Revision Theater Stephen Bishop Seely developing my script for BROKE WIDE OPEN. There's gonna be an upcoming staged reading at The Showroom Theater in Asbury Park, see the homepage and calendar page here for details. I'm excited to be doing a Q&A after that performance, so come on thru and give me some feedback. Stay tuned for more, alot is in the works, BROKE WIDE OPEN is about to bust!!!!!!
Peace
Rock WILK

Thanks for the support, people, this show is completely sold out, if you would like to be put on the waiting list, call 212 592 4403 and if seats become available, you'll be contacted. No seats will be sold at the door.

Where have I been for the past 4 months??, among other places, hangin' at the legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and so I wanted to share some of my inspiration with you at the next performance of Ma'Plej, figured better than just talking about it, i would bring it to you in flesh and blood, BLOOD IS COLD, that is.....so.....It is my honor to introduce the amazing spoken word artist, Rich Story, we'll be sharing the stage on May 4th as he dazzles you with his words and massive presence...

"Rich Story, born and raised in Harlem, NY. A member of the Silent Poets and the Blood is Cold Gang a Finalist at the 2008 Soundbites Adult Slam and an emering voice of NYC spoken word.

He works as a counsoler for special needs children, volunteers a youth homeless shelter where he facilitates poetry writing workshops and also facilitates weekly small group lessons for youth offenders at Rikers Island."

Get yo' ass to UNDER ST MARKS on May 4th, at 6:45pm, and experience Rich Story doin' his thing, and of course, join me as my story continues with Ma'Plej.

Kickoff party on March 7th for the opening of the hip hop musical KINGDOM, produced by The Revision Theater in Asbury park, NJ.

the next performance of Ma'Plej will be May 4th, the performance on March 31st had to be postponed due to other commitments. Same place, Under St Marks Theater in NYC, people who hold tickets to the March 31st date can use their tickets at the May 4th performance.

Rock WILK's first spoken word CD AND Debut poetry chapbook,are officially released at www.rockwilk.com.