MELISSA MAHONEY IS A ROBOT Will Play New Venue, Super Secret Arts, on November 20th

Fresh off of her Rockwood Music Hall debut as a bass player, singing actress Melissa Mahoney prepares for a return to the stage of her most beloved creation yet: The Robot. The actress and educator known for her big voice and the intensity of performances dramatic, comedic and musical has played Manhattan rooms like The Duplex and Ars Nova as a singer, actor, and improv artist, but when MELISSA MAHONEY IS A ROBOT makes its return performance it will be at a brand-new performance space in Gowanus with a brand-new business model, the Super Secret Arts at 400 3rd Ave, 2FL, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

A member of the Atlantic Theater Company as both performer and professor, Mahoney picked up a guitar during the pandemic and taught herself how to play through internet tutorials, the net being a place where much happens for the gifted actress - it is there that her social media content has garnered her many fans by way of TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube where she and her real-life partner (and fellow Rockwood Music Hall alum) singer-songwriter Dan Tracy have a series of quirky music videos for children called THE BUG AND THE BEE. Directly after her Rockwood appearance in THE UNDERSTUDIES GET FOLKIN' SPOOKY, Mahoney doubled-down on her rehearsal schedule for the demanding one-woman Robot show of her own making.

MELISSA MAHONEY IS A ROBOT was created, directed, designed and performed by Mahoney at The Pit, The Tank, and Dixon Place with plans to play the Lyric Hyperion on Los Angeles in June of 2020, a plan removed from Mahoney's calendar when the global health crisis closed down show business. The unique piece of theater (co-directed by aforementioned Dan Tracy) was inspired by a comment a friend made during a rehearsal process during the summer of 2016. Mahoney details that "She said, 'You have a robot brain!', in reference to how easily I was able to memorize lines. This was up during my summer at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, where I had the chance to devise a clown show with my fellow conservatory company members (the non-equity company). I knew after that summer I had to find more ways to incorporate clown and physical comedy into my work, and that maybe, I should just make my own show that could showcase my abilities as a physical performer." Melissa took that idea and submitted to The Pit's 2017 SOLOCOM even though there was no show of which to speak, only a concept with basic plot and premise. Once accepted into the program, the actress sat down and created the hour-long show in one month. Since that series of solo shows in 2017, MELISSA MAHONEY IS A ROBOT has played venues in New York City every year until the pandemic hit. Now, with the opening of the Super Secret Arts venue, Mahoney (urged on by her social media followers) decided to resurrect the piece that has been called "fearless, funny, and smart as hell", "a tour de force", and "equal parts play, performance art, dance, sketch comedy, and clownery."

MELISSA MAHONEY IS A ROBOT is a high-voltage, jam-packed 60-minute piece of solo theatre, centered around a robot from a distant planet who crash lands into an abandoned trash heap on planet Earth after a mission gone awry. Upon discovery of some forgotten pieces of Earthly technology (namely, an iPhone SE and a MacBook Pro from 2011), the Robot is introduced to music and film. After becoming a fan of Mahoney's during her Ars Nova appearance singing the songs of Nate Weida, this writer investigated two different performances of MELISSA MAHONEY IS A ROBOT, reviewing it for a different outlet and proclaiming it to be "... an Olympic event in lip-syncing and impressions, one which had the audience howling with laughter, and applauding every few seconds." Think Charlie Chaplin meets WALL-E and you'll get MELISSA MAHONEY IS A ROBOT.

At one hour in length, the beauty of Mahoney's creation is that she could book the piece into any performance venue or festival, with the exception of a music series because her singing voice remains mute throughout the performance (sadly, because Mahoney is an accomplished vocalist). The Robot show could play solo performance venues, off-Broadway theater evenings, or a cabaret room (with a large enough stage). With this return to the theater, MELISSA MAHONEY IS A ROBOT will celebrate a four-year anniversary, joining a lineup of comedy, dance, theater and music acts as part of the Super Secret Art's soft launch. The Super Secret Arts organization is being described as a brand new theatre company and performance space based in Brooklyn, focused on live and digital performance, looking to redefine the "economic paradigm of theatremaking" with a membership model.

For information and tickets to MELISSA MAHONEY IS A ROBOT visit the Super Secret Arts website HERE and to read about Super Secret Arts on their homepage HERE

Learn more about Melissa Mahoney at her website HERE.

THIS is Melissa Mahoney's YouTube Channel.

All photos provided are by Marcus Middleton.

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