“The setting is a game show competition and it appeals to me because . . . [I can] manipulate its elements to say something different about the cosmetic and destructive nature of competition in our culture.”
—Melanie Stewart, director of Kill Me Now

“Entertaining and tightly choreographed work.”
—Merilyn Jackson, Philadelphia Inquirer

You’ve seen Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance, now get ready for the newest dance-competition-reality-show-craze Kill Me Now. Playing with the live ammunition of real audiences voting for fictional characters, Kill Me Now blurs the line between art and reality, exposing the performers to the casual cruelty of the crowd. Kill Me Now is a fast-paced, comic experience with a different outcome every show. With the audience pulling the strings, the show becomes a ruthless examination of the performers' desire for an ultimate prize and all they are willing to do to get it.

Even before the curtain rises, you become familiar with the contestants though the videotaped confessionals playing in the lobby—and by reading their profiles on Facebook. The dancers range from Dexter Allen Anderson giving his 125,000 percent to Tina Marina's floor-licking routine, while judges like Sarah Manning with her pointless pontificating and Nigel Bruce Hancock with his oversexed ego battle for attention. Yell out to your favorite dancers as they alternate between contestants and judges while trying to win your heart and your vote—all under the whip of an MC whom some might call a dominatrix.

Melanie Stewart Dance Theatre's past Festival works include Claire (Philly Fringe, 2007) and Babel (Live Arts Festival, 2004). The show Kill Me Now was devised by the entire company. Hosting duties are performed by Catherine Gillard, co-artistic director of benchtours. The text is written by OBIE Award winner John Clancy.

Direction & Choreography: Melanie Stewart Text: John Clancy Lighting Design: Clifford Greer Jr. Costume Design: Stephanie Nichols Sound Design: David Cimetta Videography: Les Rivera Performers: Bethany Formica, Cassie Eckerman, Catherine Gillard, Scott McPheeters, Janet Pilla, Megan Mazarick, Les Rivera, Karl Schappell

Executive Producers: Karl & Linda Claus

Read blog articles about this show by clicking here.

Melanie Stewart (director/performer) is the artistic director and founder of Melanie Stewart Dance Theatre. She holds two degrees in dance: a BA from Webster University and an MFA from Temple University. An award-winning choreographer/director, her work has combined European physical theater techniques with American modern dance. Recent productions include Love After Death (2000), Hard Candy (2001), The Gathering (2003), Babel (2004), The Girl with Bees in Her Hair (2006), and A Simple Fact of Pain (2007). She has been a choreographer in residence at The American Dance Festival and Jacob Pillow’s Winter Pillow and a frequent producer in the Edinburgh, New York, and Philadelphia Fringe. Presently, she is the producing director of the nEW Festival and a professor of theater and dance at Rowan University.

John Clancy (writer/performer) is an Obie Award winning director and executive artistic director of Clancy Productions, Inc. He is the founding artistic director of Present Company and a founding artistic director of The New York International Fringe Festival. He has been honored with five Scotsman Fringe Firsts at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, two Best of the Festivals at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, a Glasgow Herald Angel Award for direction, and a New York Magazine Award for "creativity, enterprise and vision." In 2007, his company was awarded the inaugural Edinburgh Festival Award by the Edinburgh International Festival.

Stephanie Nichols (costume design), a California native, earned her MFA in costume design from Temple University. Recent designs include The Partita Project for Temple’s dance department, Lisa Kraus, Alpine Theatre Project’s productions of Godspell and The Full Monty, and productions for the Rowan University Department of Theatre and Dance, where she also serves as costume shop supervisor and adjunct professor.

David Cimetta (sound design) studied percussion at Rowan University. He teaches at the Haddonfield School of Performing Arts and is the accompanist and musical director for Rowan University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. He has performed in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and Dance Boom!, and toured to Scotland for the 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Paule Turner’s Dance Company "Court." He is the house accompanist for nEW and has composed scores for several local productions.

Catherine Gillard (host) is the co-artistic director and a founding member of UK theater company benchtours. Born in London, she studied at the Sydney Acting School before working as a performer and sign language interpreter with Theatre of the Deaf. After a year of study at the École Philippe Gaulier in Paris, she moved to Scotland and has since performed in or directed all benchtours productions. She previously worked with Melanie Stewart on the MSDT/ benchtours production of Babel (2006).

Bethany Formica (performer) performs with BoanDanz Action, Nichole Canuso Dance, and Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre (Poland). Her work has been presented in Philadelphia at Danceboom!, the Philadelphia Live Arts/Fringe Festival, and the University of the Sciences, and across the nation and world in New York City, New Jersey, Italy, and Poland.

Karl Schappell (performer) is a graduate of Temple University's dance department. He has performed with Philadelphia choreographers Terry Beck and Melanie Stewart, Belgian Theatre director Michel Laub, and Dutch choreographer Hans Tuerlings. He is a proud recipient of the Rocky Award for outstanding dance in 2008, for his one man show Karl Schappell's Idiot's Guide to Modern Dance.

Megan Mazarick (performer) received her BFA in dance from University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her MFA from Temple University. She has danced with BoanDanz Action, anonymous bodies, and DanceTactics. Megan taught for four years at Temple University and is currently adjunct faculty at Rowan University. She is also a dance filmmaker. www.mazaricknation.com

Les Rivera (performer) is core member of Philadelphia-based hip hop dance company Rennie Harris Pure Movement. He works with Philly’s dance community to both create and document work. He has taught filmmaking to at-risk youth through the Youth Opportunity Center (Department of Labor). He is a member of Clowns Without Borders, a worldwide volunteer organization that performs for marginalized children, children with disabilities, and refugee children.

Janet Pilla (performer) earned her BFA in musical theater from Syracuse University and her MFA in dance from Temple University. She is a soloist of Ann Vachon/Dance Conduit, a company dedicated to the Jose Limón style, and a company member of Jeanne Ruddy Dance and Dancefusion. She has also been a company member of Terry Beck Troupe and Ed Groff/Jin Wen Yu Dancers. She teaches dance to local students and holds an adjunct faculty position at Arcadia University.

Scott McPheeters (performer) moved to Philadelphia in 2005 after graduating from Dickinson College. He has worked for local performing arts companies including Melanie Stewart Dance Theatre, Headlong Dance Theater, Nichole Canuso Dance Theatre, Hotel Obligado Physical Theatre, Subcircle, and Enchantment Theatre. He is a company member of BoanDanz Action and Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers.

Cassie Eckerman (scorekeeper) was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, and began her professional training at the North East School of the Arts. She is pursuing her BFA in modern dance performance at the University of the Arts. She currently works for Melanie Stewart as an administrative assistant.