Michael Witkes

Interested In reached crowdfunding goal of $15K on their Seed&Spark campaign and is officially coming back for Season 2!

‘Interested In’ Is Officially Coming Back for Season Two

​Gayety announced Interested In  is coming back for Season 2!

Queer Sh*t to Watch this Week

Interested In  was listed in NewNowNext's "Queer Sh*t to Watch This Week" column! 

Randy Harrison and More in Season 2!

​Broadway World announced that Randy Harrison and more are joining the cast for Interested In​​​ Season 2. Click below for full casting announcement.

Interested In​​​ is crowdfunding for Season 2!

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HOW TO HELP:
 

1. Make a pledge! Make a tax-deductible pledge (thanks to our fiscal sponsorship with From The Heart Productions) to our campaign today!

2. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Seed&Spark! If we reach 250 followers on our Seed&Spark page, we get some amaze perks. A follow goes a long way honey!

3. Share it! Like what you see, share it with your friends, right now! 

Interested In​​​ Season 1 is streaming on YouTube!!

Michael's series, Interested In​​​, is coming back for Season 2! To raise funds, we are launching a crowdfunding campaign on Seed&Spark on Oct 11. Be sure to follow on instagram for updates (@interestedinseries) and pledge when it's live!

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Playing Helena/Starveling

​​Michael is playing Helena/Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Kraine Theatre. 

​Michael Musto listed me as a stand out in NewNowNext "with standouts including Michael Witkes as the superficially slutty Kincaid"

Interested In was invited to be an official selection at Frameline43, San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival! We are screening at the Castro Theatre on Friday, June 21st at 1:30 pm with an amazing line up of other shorts.

Michael will make his Off Broadway debut at Playwrights Horizons this summer in the new musical, Camp Morning Wood. Previews begin June 7.

Camp Morning Wood is a new musical comedy about a gay couple who decide to escape the city for a weekend camping in the woods to reconnect and unplug... but who get caught up in an adventure they never expected. A weekend of temptations and freeing (naked!) encounters leads the couple to new discoveries about themselves and each other that just might lead them back together.

Directed Staged Reading

​Michael directed the staged reading of the new play, Since My Last Confession, by Donna Newton, at the Dramatist Guild on Friday, May 17 at 7:30 pm.

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Summary: Memory and memory loss collide when the estranged son of a noted gay novelist, afflicted with Alzheimer's, discovers his father's unfinished, scathing book about the Catholic Church child sexual abuse scandal.

​Interested In Series is officially streaming on Dekkoo through Amazon Prime.

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​Interested In Series was written about in Queerty!

Interested In Series was written about on Huffington Post! Click the article to watch our trailer and a sneak peek of the series.

March 20

So excited to announce that my series, Interested In, will stream on Dekkoo.com, a channel off Amazon Prime, on March 20!! 

DESCRIPTION

After a successful tour through the festival circuit, "Interested In" is finally making it's NYC premiere!! Join the cast and crew for a screening of the series, drag performances by Rosé, and a Q & A to follow. Co-hosted by drag superstar Rosé and Hamilton's Sean Green Jr.

DATE AND TIME

Sun, Jan 20th, 7:30-9 pm​

LOCATION

Liberty Hall at Ace Hotel New York

20 West 29th Street

New York, New York 10001

THE REGISTRY
a new play by Kate McMorran

directed by

When Kaitlin announces that she is planning a huge wedding, her sister Sarah has little patience once she realizes that Kaitlin plans to get married to herself. As Kaitlin insists on protesting traditional marriage, the sisters' argument takes the concept of self love to the next level.

DATES:
January 24th @ 6:15 PM
January 25th @ 6:15 PM
January 27th @ 8:30 PM

Acted in the music video for dark electronic queer musician, Tempustantrum. 

​I won best actor in a web series at First Glance Film Festival for my work on Interested In!

At FirstGlance Film Festival

I was nominated for best actor in a web series at First Glance Film Festival for my work on Interested In. Awards Ceremony on October 14th.

​​Interested In is an official selection at San Antonio QFest. October 12-14.

​​Interested In is an official selection at First Glance Film Festival in Philadelphia. October 14th at 3:30 pm.

​​Interested In is an official selection at Out on Film, Atlanta's LGBT Film Festival. September 28th at 3 pm.

Adapted and Directed by me

​​I adapted and directed "The Grey Boy," which is performing at Dixon Place on Sept 12 at 7:30 pm. 

About the show: When you’re raised to be ashamed of your sexuality, knowing what you want and what you don’t want can become messy. The Grey Boy is a pastiche of Tennessee Williams’ most famous plays (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Glass Menagerie). But this time, the gay subplots are put to the forefront. We remove the veil from Brick and Skipper’s relationship, we question where Tom goes when he’s “at the movies,” and we explore the life of Blanche’s late husband, Allan Grey… the Grey Boy. 

at Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs LGBT Film Festival

​​Interested In is PREMIERING as an official selection at Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs LGBT Film Festival.

Gay web series explores life after coming out

​Click to read article in Philadelphia Gay News about Interested In and our award from Best Shorts Competition Film Festival

'Interested In' Web Series Wins Award in Best Shorts Film Competition

​Click to read article in Philly Gay Calendar about Interested In's award from Best Shorts Competition Film Festival

Interested In won an Award of Merit for best LGBT at the Best Shorts Competition Film Festival! This is a private online award winning festival. 

Best Shorts Film Festival

So excited to share that Interested In is an official selection of the Best Shorts Competition Film Festival! This is a private online award winning festival. 

Understudying the male ensemble

Michael is understudying the male ensemble in Walnut Street Theatre's production of Mamma Mia! from May 15 - July 22. 

My web series, Interested In, is finally finished! Check back to see which festivals we get into!

by Emilyn Kowaleski

Michael is assistant directing this production as part of the Little Theatre festival at Dixon Place. 

 

Michael played Lady Serena in The Fop directed and written by Jack Shamblin (aka Mia Kunter) at Dixon Place on Feb 28.

Take a bawdy romp through the streets and saloons of Victorian New York with gangsters, trans folks, drag queens, hustlers, serial killers, widows, and urchins of Lower Manhattan’s immigrant clans. The Fop delivers a panoply of lusty adventures: watch the gender-fluid past come alive as a fabulous cast of LGBTQ stars strut their stuff.

Short Film

Michael was a lead in the short film "It's Not Me, It's You" at the New School. The story follows as Michael's character and his girlfriend as their decision to start an open relationship leads to their demise. 

Short Film

Michael was a principal in the short film "A Night in November," written and directed by Teddy Schaffer. Starring Dino Petrera and Arin MacLaine. 

In a Night in November, Oliver and Lena are found camping out in the bathroom while Lena’s brother throws a high school party downstairs. Oliver decides to join the party on his own, expecting to have a wild drug-filled night of romance and freedom. Oliver instead experiences a string of awkward and confusing moments with an outgoing older guy, threatening a tear between Lena and Oliver’s friendship.

That's a Wrap!

After an incredible weekend of shooting, "Interested In" is currently in post-production.

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Interested In is a coming of age story about a recently out college student as he navigates hook up culture in Philly's Gayborhood. Michael is the writer, producer, and lead of the series.

The Web Series

Michael's original play, "Interested In," is becoming a web series! Currently in pre-production. Launching a crowd-source campaign soon!

Michael is officially an associate member in the Stage Directors and Choreographer's Union!

Staged Reading

Michael will be playing Ben in the staged reading of Harbor on Six by Charles Gershman. 

Teatro Sea at the Clemente Space (107 Suffolk Street).

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June 26 @ 4:30 pm. Directed by Anna Strasser.

Michael is the SDCF Observer on Signature's Jesus Christ Superstar, Directed by Joe Calarco. 

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The icon. His traitor. The most famous story ever told. Experience Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s stunning award-winning rock opera in a sleek, modern, environmental production.

With the legendary songs “What’s the Buzz,” “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” “Everything’s Alright” and the title song, Joe Calarco (Gypsy) directs this dazzling and fiery epic of celebrity, passion, guilt and salvation.

Michael directed "Kissing Will" by Virginia Reynolds. April 21 to 23 at the Depot Theatre.

What does it mean to be a refugee in a world on fire? In this group of short plays, contemporary playwrights Carlos Castro, Penny Jackson, Charles Gershman, Sean E. Cunningham, and Callie Kimball tell powerful stories of refugees today. Conceived during the 2016 presidential campaign, these stories resonate even more loudly now.

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Michael is one of the leads in Charles Gershman's "Morning After." About a one-night stand between an American and a Syrian refugee.

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Dates/times:
Thu 2/16 @ 10:30 pm
Tue 2/21 @ 5:30 pm
Fri 2/24 @ 6:50 pm
Thu 3/2 @ 8:50 pm
Sun 3/5 @ 5:10 pm

Running time: 1 hour
Location: The Kraine Theater, 85 E. 4th St., NYC

Staged Reading

People love in different ways. People grieve in different ways. A play about depression, insomnia, and keeping the forward momentum.

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Written by Jonathan Phillips. Directed by Brendon Votipka. 

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Michael was the lead in the staged reading.

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January 30 at Theatre for the New City in the Cino Theatre.

Michael is directing two plays in an evening of one-acts. "In The Meantime" by Sharon E Cooper, and "Kissing Will" by Virginia Reynolds. February 17 to 19 at the Axial Theatre.

Written by and Starring Elise Arndt

Directed by Michael Witkes.

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Elise Arndt's grandmother, Bibi Osterwald, was a veteran of stage and screen whose dedication to performance was astounding - she was the original standby for Hello Dolly in the 1960's for the entirety of the 7 year run. She performed during the golden age of musical theatre with Broadway's biggest divas. Through the eyes of Elise, we experience Bibi's life, and the songs and stories that benchmarked her career.

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Admission is FREE

November 19 at 7 pm at the Dramatist Guild Fund.