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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Pearson_(poet)

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Tom Pearson

Tom Pearson
[[File:|220px|upright=1]] Pearson c. 2017
Born	Thomas Edward Pearson Jr. (1974-03-31)March 31, 1974 St. Augustine, Florida, U.S.
Education	New York University (MA) Florida State University
Occupations	Poet choreographer artistic director, Third Rail Projects
Website	tompearsonnyc.com

Thomas Edward Pearson Jr. (born March 31, 1974) is an American poet, choreographer, director and filmmaker.

His books of poetry include Sandpiper's Spell and Still the Sky. As a founder and co-artistic director of the New York City-based performance company Third Rail Projects, he co-created the long-running immersive theater productions Then She Fell and The Grand Paradise among over 50 theatrical, dance, and site-specific works. Through Third Rail Projects, he established and serves as director of the Global Performance Studio.

Pearson has received several fellowship awards including two CEC ArtsLink Back Apartment Residencies (Russia), a Theater Fellowship from the Bogliasco Foundation (Italy), an IllumiNation Award from the Ford Foundation, and more...

With Third Rail Projects, he has received two Bessie Awards, a Chita Rivera Award, and a Drama Desk Awards Nomination.

Life and career

Early life and education

Pearson was born in St. Augustine, Florida in 1974. He studied dance, choreography, acting and music at the Florida School of Arts at St. Johns River State College, graduating in 1994, and holds an Master of Arts in Performance Studies from New York University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and Bachelor of Arts in Literature from the Florida State University, where he also taught as an adjunct faculty in the School of Dance.

Pearson moved to New York in 1999 and was a resident of Brooklyn for over 20 years, where he was named among the "100 most influential people in Brooklyn culture" in 2016 by Brooklyn Magazine. Pearson lives in Greenwood Lake on the traditional lands of the Munsee-Lenape.

Third Rail Projects

Main article: Third Rail Projects

Pearson is a co-founder and co-artistic director of the New York City-based performance company Third Rail Projects. The company creates site-specific, immersive, and experiential performances among a range of multi-media artistic works.

Their long-running, award-winning immersive show Then She Fell ran for over 4,000 performances and was named as one of the “Top Ten Shows of 2012” by The New York Times and one of the "best theater experiences" of 2013 by Vogue. Other major works include As Time Goes By in Staint Petersburg, Sweet & Lucky with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Learning Curve with Albany Park Theater Project in Chicago, Ghost Light with Lincoln Center Theater’s LTC3 at the Claire Tow Theater, Ikaros with La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls (WOW) Festival, and The Grand Paradise, which ran for 11 months in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Third Rail Projects has received two Bessie Awards, a Chita Rivera Award for Choreography, and a Drama Desk Award Nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience. The company was recognized as part of the creative team of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning virtual reality adaptation of The Wolves in the Walls and as contributors and featured artists in the Emmy Award-winning "IMMERSIVE.WORLD" series on WNET Group's ALL ARTS.

Global Performance Studio

Pearson formed and serves as director of the Global Performance Studio to co-create work through international collaborations and share the site-specific and experiential performances practices of Third Rail Projects. According to the website, the Global Performance Studio "cultivates opportunities to foster diplomacy through shared practice, dialogue, and community building, all within a framework of cultural listening and peer-to-peer artist exchange." To-date the studio has worked with artists in Hong Kong, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Germany, Italy, Russia and the U.S.

https://tompearsonnyc.com/globalperformancestudio

Written works

Pearson is the author of two books of poetry, The Sandpiper’s Spell and Still, the Sky.

Among non-fiction work, he

His has contributed text and dialogue to numerous works Third Rail Projects.

Poetry

Sand Piper's Spell

Still, the Sky Pearson published Still, the Sky in 20XX.

"evocatively described, immersive reimagining of Greek myth"

"The many symbols and themes explored within are powerful and work on an almost subliminal level as the reader travels further into the book."

"rich description and striking imagery"

"Pearson’s meticulous choice of words and his innate sense of narrative rhythm—coupled with his sublime use of multimedia art [...] make for an unarguably unique experience."

"fluid poetry and stunning visual multimedia pieces"

A bilingual edition (English with Italian translation) of Still, the Sky, Eppure, Il Cielo was published in XXX by XXX.

Non-fiction

In 2008, Hemispheric Institute https://hemisphericinstitute.org/en/hidvl/hidvl-int-native-theater/item/1366-ntfest-vkneubuhl.html

Performance

Tom’s performance works have been called “wildly imaginative” by The New Yorker and “haunting, hallucinatory, and profoundly intimate” by VOGUE. His debut poetry collection, The Sandpiper’s Spell, was heralded by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Books of 2019, calling the volume “vastly panoramic and deeply introspective” and proclaiming Tom “a startlingly intuitive new poet—one to watch.” His follow-up collection of poetry and art, Still, the Sky, published in 2022, received several book awards and has been called “a work of originality and power” by Publisher’s Weekly.

His work has been shown on PBS, NBC, and other networks.

Immersive and site-specific work

Tom’s work combines material culture and audience-centered narratives using theater, art, choreography, and poetry to investigate identity and belonging, loss and reclamation, exile and refuge. His mixed-media projects are often site-specific, immersive, and interactive, and he frequently collaborates with other artists through shared practice in-community.

Then She Fell

a project of the New York dance-theatre company Third Rail Projects Then She Fell—for which only 15 audience members are admitted at each performance—is directed, designed, written and choreographed by Third Rail founders and artistic directors Zach Morris, Tom Pearson and Jennine Willett. Based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass and the real-life relationship between Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell, the play is currently running through Sept. 29, with a possible extension, at a former parochial school in Brooklyn.

Each individual visitor to Then She Fell is led through the different rooms, spanning three floors, where the halls and lobby area are furnished like a period mental hospital. A nurse may lead you to a bedroom, where the White Queen will tuck you into bed and tell you a bedtime story; or you may paint the roses red with the White Rabbit; or you may brush Alice’s hair while she asks you about your first love. And you will also see the characters dance.

In intimate scenes such as these, performers need not play to the back of the house. “It requires us to have an ease that we would have in everyday life,” says co-creator Tom Pearson, who plays the White Rabbit, sans bunny suit. “It’s very cinematic. When the screen is right there in front of your face, it picks up everything. It’s the same when you’re in a room with someone.”

Pearson attributes the rise in popularity of immersive theatre to an increasingly digital world. “Our craving for intimacy, connection and real experience when we go out to an event is a direct result of the fact that our lives revolve around virtual stimulation all the time,” he says. “When we go out and pay for an experience, we want it to be real, authentic.”

Tran, Diep (July 6, 2013). "In Immersive Theatre, the Audience Members Are the Actors". American Theatre. New York, NY. Retrieved December 30, 2024.

Then She Fell, presented at the Kingsland Ward at St. Johns in Brooklyn, is inspired by the writings of Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass) as well as the life of Carroll himself (whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) and the real-life Alice, Alice Liddell, a young acquaintance of Carroll’s through social calls to the Liddell family. There are only fifteen audience members per performance at Then She Fell (compared with hundreds at Sleep No More); as patrons arrive, they’re greeted by hospital staff, who brief the audience as to what they’re about to experience. Each audience member gets a set of keys to open drawers and cabinets and rustle through props. There is to be no talking. What we’re about to experience draws its themes from the concept of “liminality,” or the ambiguous threshold between states, we’re told. Then we’re given a wine-based cocktail to sip and, one by one or in small groups, are plucked away by attendants to begin our evening. Patterson Richard Exeunt Magazine 2013-08-12 https://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/then-she-fell/ <-- Early but mixed to unvaverable review

"Like so many other businesses at this time, we are suffering the results of the pandemic shutdown, and we found ourselves unable to continue to pay the associated costs of holding a show in indefinite limbo without foreseeable income from ticket sales," said Morris, Pearson, and Willett in a joint statement. "Not wishing to compromise the design of the show or risk anyone's health, we have made the difficult decision to end this amazing run at 4,444 performances. We hope someday there will be another way to share Then She Fell again with audiences. We recognize the impact of this decision is great and affects many: the directors, staff, the many performers, designers, vendors, and partners, our audiences, and the culture of immersive theater at large."

Theatermania 2020-08-10 Long-Running Immersive Play Then She Fell to Close https://www.theatermania.com/news/long-running-immersive-play-then-she-fell-to-close_91294/

The Grand Paradise "'The Grand Paradise,' the latest and lushest of the many immersive theater spectacles to set up camp in New York in recent years, traffics in instant nostalgia. Created by Third Rail Projects, this interactive tour of an imaginary Floridian pleasure palace from the 1970s manages to summon romantic promise and regretful retrospection in a single, ocean-air breath. "The effect is of taking and remembering a wild vacation at the same time, the kind in which you drink too many pastel cocktails, smoke too much ganja and wake up in too many unfamiliar beds."

For “The Grand Paradise” — overseen by the company’s artistic directors, Zach Morris, Tom Pearson and Jennine Willett — the troupe drew from a kitschier and closer frame of reference. The Bushwick neighborhood warehouse it has taken over has been remodeled as a sybarite’s temple to the swinging ’70s.

The group of 20 performers who usher you through “The Grand Paradise”

UN-[TITLED] https://southseattleemerald.org/arts-culture/2023/03/18/un-titled-project-reflects-on-gentrification-in-cid-and-central-district

Awards, commissions and fellowships

Pearson received the Bessie Award as co-creator of Third Rail Project's Vanishing Point (2008) and Then She Fell (2013), the Kingsbury and Cody Harris Allen Awards for writing from Florida State University, an IllumiNation Award from the Ford Foundation and National Museum of the American Indian, an Indie Reader Discovery Award, three Reader Views Literary Awards, a Readers’ Favorite Book Award, and several international film festival awards for his collaborative experimental short film, The Night Garden.

He was a contributor and featured artist for the Emmy Award-winning series IMMERSIVE.WORLD by ALL ARTS.

His work with Third Rail Projects has been recognized as part of the creative team of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning virtual reality adaptation Wolves in the Walls, as a recipient of the Chita Rivera Award for Choreography for Ghost Light at Lincoln Center Theater’s LTC3 at the Clare Tow Theater, and with a Drama Desk Awards Nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience for Midsummer: a Banquet.

Pearson has received commissions for the creation of original performance works from: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, La Jolla Playhouse, Jacob’s Pillow, The Folger Shakespeare Library, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and National Museum of the American Indian, Dance Theater Workshop, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Danspace Project, i•ma•gine | e•volve (Berette Macaulay), On the Boards, BRIC, and more.

He has received fellowships and artist residencies from: CEC Artslink (St. Petersburg, Russia); The Bogliasco Foundation (Bogliasco, Italy); the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University (Middletown, Connecticut); DanceNOW SILO (Springtown, PA); the Swarthmore Project (Swarthmore College, PA); Topaz Arts (Woodside, NY); Dance Theater Workshop (New York, NY); The Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (Hong Kong); Ace Hotel New York (New York, NY); the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (New York, NY); Ziferburg Café (St. Petersburg, Russia); Governors Island (Governors Island, NY); and Olin College of Engineering (Needham, Massachusetts); among others.

Bibliography

See also

• [[]]

External links

{X{Commons category|Tom Pearson (poet)}}

• tompearsonnyc.com
• thirdrailprojects.com

{X{performance art}} {X{Authority control}}

Then She Fell

Then She Fell
Written by	Third Rail Projects
Setting	????

To date unpublished...

Then She Fell was an immersive theater work that combined dramatic text, dance and multi-sensory experiences, based on Lewis Carroll's life and work, in particular Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The production took place throughout multiple floors and rooms of a building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...

in which every alcove, corner, stairway and corridor served as an densely diesgiend space for various scenarios

designed world

was set at the XXX

it offered an "Alice-like experience" for only 15 audience members at time as they explored the rooms, often by themselves, in order to discover hidden scenes, encounter performers one-on-one, unearth clues illuminating a shrouded event, use skeleton keys to gain access to guarded secrets, and imbibe custom elixirs.

[[::Category:20XX plays::]]
{{::play-stub::}}

Then She Fell ran for 7 years with 4,444 performance in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

It received multiple awards and critical acclaim, including a 2013 New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Award for Outstanding Production.

The New York Times named it top 10 productions in 2012 and Vogue named it Best in Theater in 2013

featured as a Critic’s Pick in Time Out New York, he Village Voice, and others. To-date, it has become Third Rail Projects’ most recognized work.

The New York Times | Feature Article | August 9, 2013

Adventures in a Sinister Wonderland

"… a lush, if fragmented story arrives by way of the exacting, exuberant choreography." – Siobhan Burke

Brooklyn Magazine | Feature Article | March 1, 2016

The 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture

"... what better time to celebrate some of the many people who are shaping Brooklyn culture today, those people responsible for the words we want to read, the films we want to see, the music we want to hear, the art we want to experience, the spaces we want to inhabit... work that continues to make Brooklyn not just culturally relevant, but culturally vital." – Brooklyn Magazine

The New Yorker | Review | April 1, 2013

Goings On About Town

"wildly imaginative… an anxiety-provoking but exciting theatrical encounter… Wonderfully written, directed, and choreographed." – New Yorker Staff

The New York Times | Feature | December 16, 2012

Year in Theater: Ben Brantley’s Top 10 of 2012

"The immersive theater company Third Rail’s personal guided tour of Alice’s Wonderland, in a former outpatient hospital in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. A show that makes you understand — and takes you to, via a labyrinth of intricately arranged rooms — the place where Lewis Carroll was coming from.” – Ben Brantley

Vogue | Feature | April, 2013

Theater: People Are Talking About - Wonderland

BEST IN THEATER 2013:

"… haunting, hallucinatory, and profoundly intimate." – Adam Green

American Theatre Magazine | Feature | February 23, 2016

Dance or Theatre? Yes. By Kelundra Smith

The New York Times | Feature | January 7, 2016

Starring Me! A Surreal Dive into Immersive Theater

"... intimate and tightly choreographed… After a while, it felt as if we were dreaming, or mad, so febrile and charged was the atmosphere…You cannot feel more immersed than that." – Sarah Lyall

The New York Times | Review | December 1, 2012

Theater Review by Ben Brantley: “Lewis Carroll is in a Hospital”

CRITIC’S PICK: "This show occupies a dreamscape where the judgments and classifications of the waking mind are inoperative, and where the single self keeps splitting and blurring." – Ben Brantley

The Economist | Review | September 23, 2014

Return to Wonderland

"Then She Fell does what the best retellings set out to do: it offers a new framework through which to contemplate a familiar story." – D.S.K.

American Theatre Magazine | Feature | July, 2013

The Walls Come Tumbling Down

"It requires us to have an ease that we would have in everyday life, says co-creator Tom Pearson, who plays the White Rabbit, sans bunny suit. It’s very cinematic. When the screen is right there in front of your face, it picks up everything. It’s the same when you’re in a room with someone." – Diep Tran

Gothamist | Feature | March 15, 2013

Follow the Rabbithole To Williamsburg For The Best Show So Far This Year

"an enthralling theatrical spell is being woven… as unsettling as it is enchanting." – John Del Signore

Forbes | Feature | October 29, 2012

Feature Article - "Theater for the Video Game Generation"

"Secret rooms and passageways are the norm, as are sets that guests are encouraged to explore by sifting through drawers, pockets, and papers. Think of them as haunted houses that do more than just scare." – Seth Porges

The Wall Street Journal | Feature | October 4, 2012

Feature Article: “A Macabre Misadventure in Wonderland

"Then She Fell’ will offer a more deliberately crafted experience… to allow all of the guests to discover and accumulate bits of story until they leave with the satisfaction of having co-created, with the show itself, a narrative arc and resolution." – Lizzie Simon

Time Out New York | Review | October 8, 2012

Theater Review: “Alice gets a new Wonderland: an abandoned hospital in Greenpoint, Brooklyn”CRITIC’S PICK | 4 STARS: "Stunningly personal… When you peer into the looking glass, it stares right back at you." – Jenna Scherer

TIME Magazine | Feature | June 24, 2013

Total Immersion

"… this is extreme theater: fresh, fun, totally absorbing, a full contact sport with no rules and no boundaries." – Richard Zoglin

New York Daily News | Feature | July 17, 2012

Feature Article: “Go ask Alice: Theater group will turn old Greenpoint Hospital building into an interactive wonderland” by Lore Croghan

Broadway World | Review | November 30th, 2012

BWW Reviews: THEN SHE FELL: All Mad Here By Duncan Pflaster

Odyssey Works | Interview | April 12, 2016

TOM PEARSON ON DREAM LOGIC By Ana Freeman

Deep Media | Feature | June 10, 2013

Way-way-off-Broadway: How the immersive theater of 'Then She Fell' resonates with the digital world By Frank Rose

New Statesman | Interview | June 1, 2013

Feature & Interview with Zach Morris

"Third Rail has created something utterly strange, magnificently surreal: undoubtedly Wonderland." – Tara Isabella Burton

Imaginary Worlds | Podcast

Episode 42: Then She Fell By Eric Molinsky

Backstage | Review | March 18, 2013

“Topsy-Turvy ‘Then She Fell’ is Magical”"The lusciously and meticulously designed world, full of strange knickknacks and worn furniture, teases every nerve at the imagination’s disposal." – Jason Fitzgerald

TDF Stages | Review | March, 2013

“Your Private Trip Through Lewis Carroll’s Mind”

"… quite accessible and very visceral. It’s impossible to move through the scenes without becoming involved, emotionally and otherwise." – Raven Snook

Stage and Cinema | Review | March 26, 2013

“Review of Then She Fell”

"… the manipulation of perspective and the use of space is ever imaginative, and the intimate (and often one-on-one) scenes are wondrous.." – Sarah Taylor Ellis

NBC | Review | March 15, 2013

Review: “Then She Fell” at the Kingsland Ward in Williamsburg

"Attention to detail is mind-boggling… the experience is unlike anything I’ve had" – Robert Kahn

Zach Morris

{{::Theat-director-stub::}}

First Peoples Worldwide

First Peoples Worldwide is an American NGO dedicated to indigenous rights advocacy in the areas of business development, land protection, economic autonomy and individual and tribal welfare. Founded in 198X by indigenous economist Rebecca Adamson... is currently based at the University of Colorado, Boulder in partnership between the American Indian Law Clinic and the Leeds School of Business.

{{::nonprofit-org-stub::}}

FOR SAFE KEEPING:

QUOTE From The Director as Collaborator, Robert Knopf, April 7, 2017 Taylor & Francis: "We began as Third Rail Dance" in 2001, when Tom Pearson, Brian Weaver and I [Jeannine Willett] started self-producing our work and renting theater space to present our repertory dance concerts. Along the way, we met Zach Morris, a director who was making his own multi-disciplinary work in New York... In 2004, Brian moved to Milan and decided to stay permanently. In 2005, Zach officially joined our group in his stead and we changed the name to "Third Rail Projects"" https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315656946 Imprint: Routledge DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315656946 ISBN 9781315656946

AdvancedSpecial charactersHelpCiteHeading FormatInsert In addition to contributing scores to over 100 feature films and themes to television series, Danny Elfman has made a number of appearances in film and on television, typically as himself, in a singing role or as the lead singer of Oingo Boingo. For a full list of Elfman's compositions and discographies, see the List of compositions by Danny Elfman page, his film and concert music discography page and the Oingo Boingo discography page.

Year	Film/Show	Role	Director	Studio/Distributor	Notes / Accolades
1976	"The Gong Show"	Himself (uncredited)	Chuck Barris (Host/Producer)	NBC	Performed trombone with The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo; the group won the episode scoring 24 points out of 30
1977	I Never Promised You a Rose Garden	Drummer (uncredited)	Anthony Page	Shout! Factory	Appeared with The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, who performed music as "tribal members" in a dream sequence
	Hot Tomorrows	Singer	Martin Brest	American Film Institute	Appeared with The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo performing the song "St. James Infirmary Blues"
1981	Urgh! A Music War	Himself	Derek Burbidge	Lorimar	As lead singer/songwriter of Oingo Boingo
	Longshot (aka Long Shot Kids)	Himself	E.W. Swackhamer	Greentree Productions	As lead singer/songwriter of Oingo Boingo
1982	Forbidden Zone	Satan	Richard Elfman	Fantoma	Also composer/arranger/performer with The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo
1984	Good Morning, Mr. Orwell	Himself	Nam June Paik	WNET TV, NYC / Centre Pompidou, Paris	As lead singer/songwriter for Oingo Boingo
1986	Back to School	Himself	Alan Metter	Orion Pictures	As lead singer/songwriter for Oingo Boingo
1993	The Nightmare Before Christmas	Jack Skellington, Barrel, Clown with the Tear Away Face (voices)	Henry Selick	Touchstone Pictures	In addition writing and producing the score and ten original songs, Elfman provided the singing voice of main character Jack Skellington, among others
1996	Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheatre, Halloween 1995	Himself	Danny Elfman, Steve Bartek, Ellen Engel (producers)	A&M Records	Appears as lead singer of Oingo Boingo in live concert recording of their final shows as a band Released on VHS concurrent with the album and in 2001 on DVD; currently out-of-print Includes ten minutes of footage of Elfman performing with The Mystic Knight of the Oingo Boingo in the 1970s
2000	The Gift	Tommy Lee Ballard	Sam Raimi	Paramount Classics
2005	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	Oompa-Loompas (voices, uncredited)	Tim Burton	Warner Bros.	In addition to composing the film's score and songs, Elfman provided the singing voices for all Oompa Loompa characters.
	Corpse Bride	Bonejangles (voice)	Tim Burton	Warner Bros.
2006	The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	Himself	Tim Mancinelli, Brian McAloon	CBS Television Studios	Appears as the second guest on December 19, season three, episode 64 Discusses early career, scoring Charlotte's Web and his brother Richard, who gave Ferguson his first film role
2008	Proud Iza	Narrator	Anna Condo	Fern Films	In addition to providing narration, Elfman's music from Standard Operating Procedure was used for this short film
2010	DemiUrge Emesis	Narrator	Aurelio Voltaire	Self produced by Voltaire	Part of Voltaire's stop motion short film series "Chimerascope" featuring voice-overs by music icons including Deborah Harry, Richard Butler and Gerard Way
2015	Live from Lincoln Center: Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton	Himself	Andrew Carl Wilk, Jim Fagan	PBS	Performed songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas Won Outstanding Music Direction at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards, Elfman's second Emmy Award
2016	Score	Himself	Matt Schrader	Gravitas Ventures	Appeared among over 50 film composers discussing the craft of writing music for movies and influential figures in the business

Third Rail Projects

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Third Rail Projects is a multi-disciplinary American performing arts company that creates site-specific work, immersive theater, experiential performances and more.

Among more than 50 productions and projects, Third Rail Project's long-running show Then She Fell ran for 4,444 performances in New York City from 2012 until March 2020, when performances were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the co-direction of Zach Morris, Tom Pearson and Jeannine Willett, the company has received two Bessie Awards, a Chita Rivera Award for Dance and Choreography, and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience. Third Rail Projects was recognized as part of the creative team of the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning virtual reality adaptation of Wolves in the Walls. Morris, Pearson, and Willett were named among the "100 most influential people" in Brooklyn Culture by Brooklyn Magazine for their work with Third Rail Projects.

History

Founded as Third Rail Dance in 2001 by Tom Pearson, Brian Weaver and Jeannine Willett, the company was renamed Third Rail Projects following Weaver's relocation to Milan, and developed a more multi-disciplinary focus when Zach Morris joined the group as co-artistic director with Pearson and Willett in 2005.

In 2008, Third Rail Projects' Vanishing Point, an evening-length dance exploration of family histories presented by Danspace Project, won Bessie Awards for choreography and music.

In 2012, Third Rail Projects presented Then She Fell, an immersive, site-specific work that incorporated dance and theater, drawing from the life and work of Lewis Carol. It won a Bessie Award for outstanding production, was named as one of the “Top Ten Shows of 2012” byThe New York Times and acclaimed as one of the best theater experiences of 2013 by Vogue. As of 2019, it had over 4000 performances; production was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other notable productions include Sweet & Lucky, commissioned by Denver Center for the Performing Arts (2016); Learning Curve with Albany Park Theater Project (APTP) (2016); The Grand Paradise; Between Yourself and Me presented by Dance Films Association (2017); Ghost Light, which won the Chita Rivera Award for Dance and Choreography (2018); the Peabody and Emmy-winning virtual reality adaptation ofWolves in the Walls by Fable Studio and Oculus, for which Third Rail Projects provided the choreography (2019); Midsummer: A Banquet, which was nominated for a Unique Theatrical Experience Drama Desk Award (2020) ; and Port of Entry, also with APTP (2023).

Productions

Since 2005, First Rail Projects has produced over 50 shows and projects.

Highlights of productions and projects 2005-present

• True Love Forever (2025)
• Yours to Lose (2024)
• Calder Moves (2023)
• UN-[TITLED] (2023)
• Port of Entry (2023)
• The Night Garden (2022)
• Return the Moon (2021)
• Adventure Lab (2020)
• Ikaros (2019)
• Midsummer: A Banquet (2019)
• Confection (2019)
• Stanzas (2019)
• This Between Shadow (2019)
• Oasis (2019)
• Behind the City (2018)
• Medicine Show (2018)
• Wolves in the Walls (2018)
• Back Apartment Residency (2018)
• Libraría (2018-2019)
• Grove (2017)
• Between Yourself and Me (2017)
• Ghost Light (2017)
• Learning Curve (2016)
• Sweet & Lucky (2016)
• The Last Boat (2016)
• As Time Goes By (2016)
• The Grand Paradise (2016)
• Genuine Plastic Reliquaries (2015)
• Midnight Madness (2015)
• House No. 17 (2014)
• Yolk (2014)
• Anthem (2014)
• Recess (2014)
• Roadside Attraction (2014)
• Marrow (2013)
• Fountain (2013)
• Bathing Aiperi (2013)
• Then She Fell (2012-2020)
• Looking Glass (2011)
• Undercurrents & Exchange (2010)
• Drifting Encyclopedia (2010)
• The One You Love is Sick (2010)
• Beautiful Dreamer (2010)
• Steampunk Haunted House (2009-2011)
• Vanishing Point (2008)
• Strangers on Tong Chong Street (2007)
• Rub the Sleep (2007)
• REEL (2005)
• Screaming Shrubbery (2005)

Awards

Third Rail Projects has been the recipient of several awards, including two Bessie Awards, a Chita Rivera Award for Choreography; fellowship awards including two CEC Artslink Back Apartment Residencies (Russia), a Theater Fellowship from the Bogliasco Foundation (Italy); and an IllumiNation Award from the Ford Foundation and National Museum of the American Indian, among others. Third Rail Projects was recognized as part of the creative team of the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning virtual reality adaptation of Wolves in the Walls.

See also

• Site-specific theatre
• Postmodern theatre
• Site-specific performance
• Contemporary dance

External links

• Official website

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[::[Category:American artist groups and collectives]::] [::[Category:Performance art in New York City]::] [::[Category:Theatre companies in New York City]::] [::[Category:Performing groups established in 2001]::] [::[Category:2001 establishments in New York City]::] [::[Category:Site-specific theatre]::] [::[Category:Immersive entertainment]::]