Tag: Symphony Space

2025 NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund

We are thrilled to announce that No, YOU Tell It! has received a grant from the 2025 NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund! Check out the other winners of the 2025 Creative Opportunity Fund here.

Our second story meeting is tonight for No, YOU Tell It! “Before & After” at Symphony Space on March 13 at 1 pm. The four storytellers will read each other’s revisions aloud and receive feedback on strengthening their true tales on the page.

Next week, they will swap stories on stage for the junior class at Global Learning Collaborative, who have been working with Kelly Jean on the stories they want to tell in their college application essays.

Thank you to NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund (A Statewide Theatre Regrant Program) for helping us make our first ever student matinee a reality. Here’s to what we hope is the first of many!

March 5, 2025 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , ,

Meet Our “Before & After” Storytellers

Our first story meeting for our first student matinee is tonight! But FIRST, meet our “Before & After” alum storytellers.

These four storytellers participated in four different NYTI shows over the past decade. They are meeting tonight to help each other develop their true tales inspired by the theme “Before & After” on the page.

On March 13, they will swap stories on stage for students and faculty from Global Learning Collaborative High School.

Meet our NYTI alums!

We’re excited to build our creative community by having alum storytellers return and trade tales with a new story partner!

These matinees for students working on their college essays are a dynamic example of how the No, YOU Tell It! collaborative process makes writing and performing personal narratives accessible, empathetic, and transformative.

We hope to do more student shows and are raising $2500 in March to make that happen.

If 50 people donate $50, we’ll reach our goal! Want to be one?

Donate $50 here via our fiscal sponsor, The Field, to get the ball rolling.

Want to see this special show at Symphony Space at 1 pm on March 13? Email noyoutellit@gmail.com for a ticket!

February 26, 2025 1 comment Live Shows Tags: , , , ,

Upcoming Shows

We are gearing up for two new 2025 shows, including our first student matinee on March 13 at Symphony Space!

This special show is for the junior class at Global Learning Collaborative and features all NYTI alum storytellers.

Kelly Jean has been working with the students on their college essays, and we can’t wait for them to experience the power of personal storytelling.

Student matinees with alum storytellers are a great way to make new connections within our NYTI community while inspiring the next generation of storytellers.

We hope this is the first of many!

Then, in May, we are partnering with Queens Memory and the Greater Astoria Historical Society to explore “My Place” in Queens!

What’s your Queens story? We will use the interactive Queens Name Explorer map to learn the stories behind the people’s names that grace Queens streets, parks, monuments, and more to inspire and trade our own true tales.

Follow No, YOU Tell It! on Bluesky for more on our first student matinee and how to share your story as part of our May “My Place” show.

February 12, 2025 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , ,

Celebrating “College Try”

One year ago, we had a very special show at Symphony Space! View this glimpse of how our shows work and highlights from the “College Try” story swaps.

Huge thank you to “Here & Gone” storyteller and friend Rosalie Chandler who created this fantastic featurette for us.

The show also raised funds and awareness for Bottom Line, an educational nonprofit that partners with thousands of degree-aspiring students from under-resourced communities as they get into college, graduate, and go far in life.

Learn more at bottomline.org. Want to support or attend Bottom Line’s HATS OFF! Spring Benefit on May 22 at the Tribeca Rooftop? Contact us at noyoutellit@gmail.com for more info.

Stories Highlighted:

  • A Trophy-Less Life by Brett Felder, Performed by Dion Flynn and Directed by Ellie Dvorkin Dunn
  • Buried by Dion Flynn, Performed by Brett Felder, and Directed by Ellie Dvorkin Dunn
  • The Pickles Pickle by Kevin Allison, Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad and Directed by Nicole Shawan Junior
  • When Billymackin’ Goes Wrong by Najah Imani Muhammad, Performed by Kevin Allison and Directed by Nicole Shawan Junior
March 16, 2024 Post Comment News Tags: , , , , , ,

BKBF Bookend Events!

Sep 28 2023 @ 7:00PM

Take a look! Our Queens “Fly By” Bookend Event is featured on the Brooklyn Book Festival website.

Click here to check out the plethora of BKBF Bookend Events that kick off Sept 24 and take place city-wide through Oct 2. Including a special Selected Shorts celebrating Willa Cather on 9/27 from our friends at Symphony Space!

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THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2023 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT.

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

This project is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

Event Information

Sep 28 2023 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (31-83 34th St, Astoria)

September 13, 2023 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , ,

Symphony Space Success

“No, YOU Tell It! is a treasure of a show. You have to witness it to really get how special it is. Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons assembled a team that puts so much heart and soul into guiding storytellers of different ages, races, genders, and backgrounds to swap stories, so that the performers are in each other’s shoes, as the saying goes. The result is hilarious and heartwarming, but also, such a profound experiment in fostering empathy. Everyone in the room, storytellers, show producers, and audience members, have an unforgettably moving evening of entertainment together, and that special sort of connecting of people going on in the show really is something to be cherished.”

– Kevin Allison, RISK!

Story partners Kevin Allison and Najah Imani Muhammad. Photo credit: Russ Rowland

What an incredible night at Symphony Space last week! We’re still on Cloud 9 and couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who made the night a success by attending in person, via the livestream, and/or donating. Check out more “College Try” photos on Facebook or Instagram.

Hey, while you’re there, why not LIKE or FOLLOW?

Special shout out to all who helped us provide free student tickets to high school juniors. We had a wonderful pre-show college essay jumpstart workshop, and the students loved the show!!

Want to help No, YOU Tell It! provide more opportunities for future storytellers and students? Click here to make a tax-deductible donation.

What’s next? So glad you asked. SAVE THE DATES:

I can’t think of a better way to kick off our 11th year! Thank you again from all of us at No, YOU Tell It!

March 23, 2023 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , ,

The College Try and Then Some!

Left to right: Dion Flynn, Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons, Brett Felder, Ellie Dvorkin Dunn, Najah Imani Muhammad, and Kevin Allison. Photo credit: Russ Rowland.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Thanks to everyone who came out or watched the show on the live stream.
We had a great time, and we hope you did too!
Thank you to our storytellers for sharing their words and those amazing performances.
Thank you to our host, directors, and creative team!
Thank you, Symphony Space, for the amazing space and for being an amazing host.
AND we raised $500 for Bottom Line, thanks to your generosity!
Didn’t win a copy of our anthology? Grab a copy here. Until next time, friends!
March 17, 2023 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Meet “College Try” Storyteller Kevin Allison

Mar 16 2023 @ 7:00PM

Two days until show day! We’re so excited for you to meet our final storyteller Kevin Allison!!

Buy your tickets here. Don’t live in NYC? Livestream tickets are available, so you can watch from anywhere.

As a writer and actor for projects on HBO, Netflix, and MTV, and the creator of the hit storytelling podcast and live show RISK!, now in its 14th year, Kevin Allison is an expert on the power of narrative in communication. Kevin is the editor of the book RISK! True Stories People Never Thought They’d Dare to Share, available from Hachette Books, and the founder of the storytelling school The Story Studio, where he has trained the staff of businesses such as Google, Pfizer, and Citibank.

Event Information

Mar 16 2023 @ 7:00PM

Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th St.)

March 14, 2023 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: ,

Meet “College Try” Storyteller Brett Felder

Mar 16 2023 @ 7:00PM

Rehearsals start tonight! The story partners have traded tales and will be working with a director to help embody each other’s stories.

First, let’s meet our next storyteller Brett Felder. Don’t forget to grab your tickets for Thursday’s show. In-person and livestream tickets are still available here but going fast!

Brett Felder was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio but has been happily adopted by New York and New Jersey, where she’s spent much of her career in the educational non-profit sector. For the past 15 years, she has managed College Board programs in support of AP expansion for underserved students and, currently, the customer service and test center management operations for the CLEP and ACCUPLACER programs. She served as an Ambassador for the AP African American Studies pilot, collecting feedback about and garnering support for the new course. She is a breast cancer thriver and avid traveler who was recently interviewed on Vented Uplift The Super Power Series by Vented in Brooklyn’s founder, Chrisie Canny, after they connected at the Pink Kickoff for Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Good Morning America. A hibernating multi-hyphenate, Brett is reawaking her creative side and has decided to jump in with both feet to take on the writing and performing challenge that is No, YOU Tell It! Prayers requested. 

Event Information

Mar 16 2023 @ 7:00PM

Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th St.)

March 13, 2023 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: ,

Meet “College Try” Storyteller Dion Flynn

Mar 16 2023 @ 7:00PM

Our next storyteller described No, YOU Tell It! as walking a “literary high wire.”

We couldn’t be happier to have Dion Flynn switch up his story at Symphony Space! In-person and livestream tickets available here.

Cited by Oprah Magazine as “one of our favorite creative thinkers,” Dion Flynn is a writer, keynote speaker, improvisor, comedian, actor, and U.S. Army veteran. He’s best known for playing Barack Obama and other characters, with over 100 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. If Dave Chapelle and Eckhart Tolle had a son, it would be strange looking — and so is Dion. He’s a master at using fun and innovative ways to help people connect with themselves and others, leading hundreds of business professionals, writers, storytellers, college students, sales people, recovering- and non-recovering folks through his dynamic Improvisor’s Mindset Workshops. www.ImprovisorsMindset.com www.DionFlynn.com

Event Information

Mar 16 2023 @ 7:00PM

Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th St.)

March 10, 2023 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: ,
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