Featured Artist: Julie Congress
This is a series of posts featuring our artists who are making things happen in and around our great borough of Queens. Please check back weekly for new posts.
TitleOccupation
Co-Artistic Director, No.11 Productions/Actor
Where were you born?
Alexandria, Virginia
Which Queens neighborhood do you live in and for how long?
I’ve lived in Astoria for over 4 years now! I’ve spent the last 2 years off of the Ditmars stop. And my first apartment in the city was by Steinway, next to the dearly departed Time Cafe, off of what was then the V train.
How did you get involved in theater?
In 4th grade, I was in a class production of Oedipus (we had a very progressive teacher!) – I played the Oracle of Delphi and made a lot of crazy gargling sounds and have been hooked ever since. I majored in theatre at Skidmore College (with a stint abroad at the Moscow Art Theatre) and loved the ensemble-based approach. Immediately upon graduating from Skidmore, I co-founded No.11 Productions, a non-profit theater company dedicated to creating, developing and touring theatre as an ensemble (www.no11productions). As of this June, we will be at it 6 years and counting!
What do you love most about Queens?
I love living off of an elevated train line!
Your top Queens picks (food, entertainment, sights, etc)?
There are some really neat little bars near my house (Mosaic, Crescent & Vine) and I love wandering through Astoria Park. Oh and Materials for the Arts!
We are remounting our original play-with-music Coosje this summer. In this whimsical love story, inspired by artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, two sculptors learn to collaborate in life and art. Meanwhile, a pear falls out of a fruit bowl, gains consciousness and travels the world. We’ll be bringing Coosje up to Saratoga Springs this June and then heading to DC for the Capital Fringe in July.
