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She is slinky, swanky, corruptingly delicious. She adds a touch of film noir to our too colorful times. She defies modern conventions, her persona and performing style rooted in the golden age of Hollywood, like a 1930's black and white movie come to life...and yet she writes a very modern erotic blog called Lust Life. “Lust Life” chronicles the erotic and romantic adventures of a New York City libertine. This is sex in the city from the refreshing perspective of a bisexual, polyamorous woman - not your typical Carrie Bradshaw! Formerly a sex and relationship columnist for New York Press, Stephanie now relates her adventures in her blog...with daily posts on her sexy love life as well as reviews of alternative erotic events/books/movies, performance listings, and insights into current sex trends. In addition to her "Lust Life" column and blog, Stephanie has written feature articles, restaurant and theatre reviews for New York Press and film festival reviews for Moviemaker Magazine. But she doesn't really consider herself a journalist. Once upon a time she was a poet, a playwright, and aspiring novelist. At present, she is a blogger, screenwriter, and up-and-coming memoirist. Whatever the genre, her preferred literary subjects are sex, relationships, travel, and art. After graduating from Gettysburg College with a BA in English and French, Stephanie moved to the Big Apple to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a Broadway star, jazz singer, the next Dorothy Parker, or all of the above, and instead became a loosely defined bohemian artist with delusions of maddening success. During this blue period, she worked as an art model and acted in off-off Broadway plays and short films, while exploring various singing styles (jazz, musical theatre, folk, opera). Her creative life took a turn when she wrote a one-act play, Twenty Minutes of Immortality, about the interactions between artist and model, and the love affair between Man Ray (artist) and Lee Miller (model / artist). This play was produced in 2000 by a theatre company that no longer exists. Following the suggestions of some audience members, Stephanie decided to turn the story into a film, and so began her debut as a screenwriter. Stephanie collaborated with director Mitchell Bard to make Twenty Minutes of Immortality the thirty-minute play, into Twenty Minutes of Immortality the five-minute film. Stephanie starred in the film as she did in the play. Somehow the film made its way to people at Independent Film Channel and several months later, IFC licensed Twenty Minutes of Immortality for three years. Twenty Minutes of Immortality appeared on IFC from 2003 through 2006. Alongside her entry into filmmaking, Stephanie's performing segued into the wonderful world of cabaret and jazz. She developed a sizzling jazz-cabaret act called Naughty Baby (and the sequel Naughty…and Then Some…), which she produced and performed at Danny's and the Duplex. She has also crooned at Kav'eh'az, Improv Cafe, Dempsey's Pub, Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland, Swing 46 and at numerous open mics--Lenox Lounge, Cleopatra's Needle, Don't Tell Mama and others. She is currently studying voice with Liz Russo and Mark Murphy. Often compared to the legendary Katharine Hepburn, Stephanie draws inspiration from Hepburn and other classic screen sirens like Garbo, Bacall, Mae West, and Veronica Lake. Her voice is captivating, whether she is skillfully swinging fast tunes, smoothing her vibrato to a Latin beat, or interpreting a ballad with quiet intensity. Her two and a half octave range varies from smoky jazz lows to Broadway belt to operatic highs, blending with a unique quality reminiscent of a 1930's torch singer. Recently Stephanie has been performing in a variety of readings. She co-created, along with writer / director / actor Celia Bressack, a Dorothy Parker reading series called The Potable Dorothy Parker: A Literary Cocktail. Featuring Stephanie as Mrs. Parker, the readings have taken place at Mo Pitkin's and Telephone Bar, where she is also a regular in the Biweekly Poetry and Prose series. She was featured in another reading series as well: Sex Scenes, (by erotica writers Polly Frost and Ray Sawhill), which has aroused audiences at Cornelia Street Cafe and in other cities as part of a national tour. And so we segue back to filmmaking...Stephanie recently worked with Polly Frost and director Matt Lambert on The Fold, an episodic erotic sci-fi film, in which she plays a lesbian FBI agent. Meanwhile she completed her second short film, Julie and the Clown, which she wrote, produced, directed, and starred in! Julie and the Clown was a 2007 official selection at Woods Hole Film Festival, DC Shorts Film Festival, and was part of the Short Film Corner at Festival de Cannes. That's not all...she started her own film production company: Immortality Productions, LLC. Current projects: finding investors for her feature screenplay On the Horizon and writing a groundbreaking erotic memoir--the story behind "Lust Life". Check out samples of Stephanie's work on the writing page. |