First Reads

Well, here I go with my first guest post.  The Talented and Vacationing Mr. Freeman has left his blog in the hands of David D. and myself,  and the pressure is intense.  Will we fuck it up.  In fact, I already have.  I accidentally posted about nine words five minutes ago, and then frantically scoured the "Help" menu for instructions on how to delete.  I fixed it, but not with a steady hand, not with a steady hand.  If this blog were a submarine and I was the new captain, there would be some sidelong glances amongst the crew right now.

Still, onwards!  

I just completed the first week of rehearsals for Boomerang Theatre Company's Central Park production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, opening July 19.  Very exciting.  Working with a totally new group of folks.  Of course, that always makes the first read a tad nerve-wracking.  First reads, the traditional kick-off to rehearsals, are such odd social and artistic interactions.  Folks that have worked together previously (and harmoniously) are always excited to see another and work together again, and are instantly chummy.  Others must then make the choice to start introducing themselves, or wait for introductions to be made to them, or try my tactic, which is to pretend to search for something in my backpack until the director starts talking to the whole group.  When As You Like It met for the first read, I didn't know a soul, except perhaps for the director Matt Johnston, whom I had met on a handful of occasions and at auditions.  I am just naturally shy at such gatherings.  I thought everybody else knew each other, but as Johnston later informed me, that was not the case.  The cast came together from many different paths and sets of connections; many more people were in my boat than I thought at the time. 

 It was a traditional table read, and started with introductions around the table, role and name.  Does anybody retain this information immediately?  Someone can say "I'm Joe, and I'm playing The King of Italy".  Joe, King of Italy, will then direct lines at me for the next two hours, and immediately afterwards I will only remember that the guy with the Decepticon t-shirt is the King of Italy; his real name will be a mystery to me even though I learned it at precisely the same time I learned he was The King of Italy.  

And then the reading begins.  Somebody's got the first line.  Somebody has to open themselves up to the keen ears  around the table.   Everybody suddenly sits up, shifts in their chairs, looks ahead to their first line, listens.  How high will the performance bar be set, for this, a simple first read?  Will everybody laugh at the funny lines?  Will everybody know which are the lines that are supposed to be funny?  Will everyone be oh-so-clever, without an ounce of heart?  Some actors are dyslexic, and reading aloud may be a evening-long struggle for them.  Others give as monotonously neutral a first read as possible, to process their words on their own terms.  Brando fell into this camp, it has been said.  Artistically legitimate, but it can certainly make for a long night.  

First reads, for me personally, are like exhibition games; they don't count, so why the hell not try to hit the home run?  You strike out, fall on your face, who cares?  Part of the fun of being an actor amongst actors is the sense of play and fun that is allowed; I don't see why that can't apply to first reads as well.   It follows then, if actors are allowed to actually try and play the scenes to the hilt at the first read, mistakes will happen, and the whole production, in fact, will not be cursed.  But it is hard to escape this fear.  No one wants to be the focus of the collective thought "He's not actually going to do it like that, is he?"  Shows are trepidatious journeys for everyone involved; we have all been on such journeys that have gone nowhere good, and it is impossible to not yearn for immediate assurance that will not be the case this time.  For the record, As You Like It is on the awesome track to Awesomeland.  (Blogger.com says "Awesomeland" is misspelled, but I've been there, Blogger.com.  That spelling is dead-on; can you handle it?)

I have been in shows that have discarded the table for the first read.  Mr. David D. directed such a show that was my first production in New York.  It was called...As You Like It.   David D. threw the first read up on its feet, the blocking got made up as the read went along, and it was engaging on a whole different level.  The playing field was leveled; good "readers" were on as unsure footing as those whose skills laid elsewhere.  Neutral readings were of little use when actors had to move to some degree as well.  It does allow less time for the actor to concentrate on what they are saying.  But the playful, experimental energy is palpable.  It also lessens mental distractions that are familiar to a first read; who's hot, who has a curious birthmark, who has comic books in their bags, who will be your mortal enemy, who will be your drinking buddy, etc.

How about you?  Actors, what do you go through with first reads?  Directors, how do you like to conduct them?  Playwrights?  Does anyone prefer a first read-less process, and go straight into scene work?   

Pouring Some Out...

Guest Post from David-

I have recently been thinking- perhaps under the larger heading of "Mortal Panic"- of how many theaters I have learned, performed and directed in that are gone.

All of the challenging, funky and lived-in spaces that Emerson College had at 69 Brimmer Street have been gutted and, I believe, have become luxury housing. The Actor's Workshop in Boston, where I directed SubUrbia for The Other Theater, (starring a young, still-acting Matthew Freeman as Jeff), is now a building with a lot of little medical offices in it.

That old Theater Row building, that was on the corner of 42nd Street and Dyer, was a big part of my life when I got to New York City. We rented out the old Abingdon Theater space on the fourth floor to do a production of As You Like It, and then Matthew Trumbull and I got involved with Pulse Ensemble, who used to do shows on the bottom and second-story level, as well as in the courtyard in front of the... was it the John Housman Theater? (Also, has anyone noticed that Wikipedia has thorough articles for every comic book character in the world, but no comprehensive listing for New York City Theaters? I could easily find out who all of Wolverine's old girlfriends are, but no entry for The John Housman Theater to let me know if that is the place I'm thinking of. Do the Theatre equivalents of comic-book geeks just not like Wikipedia?)

Well, anyway, that's all torn down. That corner will eventually have another big condo building on it, I believe.

So, risking mortal panic of your own, what are some of the theaters you worked in, loved or perhaps begrudgingly loved warts and all that are gone? Spill some out for us.

This weekend

Pam and I are off to Columbus, Ohio to see Tom Waits in concert. I'm also playing to meet Slay out there in person.

Should be a fine time.

A little extra blog for your buck

So lately I've been posting a little infrequently, as work and life and summertime have made things a bit more complicated for me. To remedy this appalling lack of content, I have invited my dear pals David D. and Matthew Trumbull to throw in a few postings here and there.

Both are fine actors and clever gentlemen. We've been friends since 1994. Too long, really. Perhaps this blog experiment will be the thing that finally ends our friendship. At long last.

For those who follow my work, David and Matt have been prominently featured in many of my plays, most recently "Trayf," "The White Swallow" and "When is a Clock."

Welcome guys!

The Bevolicher!

The guys and gal at Troop! have a YouTube video that f*cking a$4grab*s your ch&ad and grips it so tightly that you feel your n**dles go sla*nte. It will face you and tear you apart. It has NO eyes!


I went to Emerson College with these beautiful people. Worship at their black hooded hoods.




Oh Schnappp! REMIX!

Benefactors at Folding Chair Classical Theatre

On Sunday, I got a chance to see a Michael Frayn play at 78th Street Theatre Lab that I'd never seen before: Benefactors as presented by Folding Chair Classical Theatre.

The play is a dissection of class competition and generosity. The generosity in Benefactors is deceptively corrosive, and kindnesses, even those with good intentions, are performed with a roll of the eye, at least, or a twist of the knife. It's rare to see a perfectly constructed and well-acted play with no trickery to prop it up. The play never feels playful or clever: it feels smart.

It's playing for one more weekend and I heartily recommend it. The four actors (James Arden, Lisa Blankenship, Francine Margolis; and my good friend Ian Gould, who was featured prominently in When is a Clock) are fantastic, and Marcus Geduld's spare direction hits all the right notes of a deceptively complex piece.

Thursday is already sold out, so get your tickets for the last three performances here.

George Carlin Dies at 71

71 years old.

One of the great Americans is gone.

While I don't want the perfect to be the enemy of the good...

Obama supporting the FISA "compromise" and rejecting public financing is a double whammy of "dammit!" I can't say that I'm terribly shocked to see that a politician I admire would act with expediency (Clintons anyone?) and it doesn't reduce him to the level of, say, an evangelical neocon, it is disappointing.

A year without critics?

George Hunka today ponders what theater would look like with a moratorium on print criticism for a year.

"Given the place of the reviewing and critical community in the post-capitalist ideology that maintains journalists, the business community and artists as closely-

aligned participants in the discipline, maybe we should place a moratorium on criticism and reviewing as well. So long as we might think about "giving Shakespeare a rest," as Lyn puts it, perhaps our critics and reviewers could also use some time away from the theatre. Let's give the reviewers and theatre editors for the New York Times, Time Out New York, Backstage, the Guardian and nytheatre.com a paid one-year vacation and see what transpires."

Not terribly likely, of course.

But, in the interest of discussion...what do you think this would accomplish? Even as pure fantasy, what would your community look like without the major critics? Would it have little-to-no effect? Would is free you up? Would it effectively take theatre off the public radar?

What do you think?

My response to the Tony Awards

They happened again. August: Osage County and In the Heights won a lot of awards.

Playgoer Liveblogged it. You might find it interesting if you like the Tony Awards. He's the champ, that Playgoer.

I was playing Metal Gear Solid 4 all weekend instead. It is...wonderful.

Also, this is a video of Baby Sloths.

Articles of Impeachment from Kucinich

Dennis Kucinich presented these articles of impeachment against George Bush to the House.

It's been tabled, of course, by spineless leadership. The reason given, now as always, is that it would be divisive and time-consuming. One might wonder how time-consuming doing nothing for the environment has been. And how one might balance a concern for divisiveness with the impeachment of a President that performed countless illegal actions in bare view of the country, with no consequences except declining poll numbers.

Give it a read. It's damning.

Bravo, Dennis, for having principles.

Why, Freeman, Do You Post So Lightly?

Because, in fact, I am quite busy.

I saw How Theater Failed America this weekend. How's that for being late to the dance? I'll post about that shortly.

Am seeing Trujillo's play and Folding Chair's production of Benefactors this week.

I also have every intention of buying a Playstation 3 this week, in order to play Metal Gear Solid 4. It is important to me.

So, dear readers, how are you?

My Popular Culture Mind Buzzed with Affirmation

My brains happily co-exist.

Hooray!

Enough said.



And...

The Film Festival: A Theater Festival

Just wanted to take a sec and plug The Brick Theater's The Film Festival: A Theater Festival. Their annual summer festivals are always cleverly built and wonderfully subversive - perhaps none as genre upending than this one. I look forward to checking out as many of these shows as I can.

If anyone involved in the Festival wants to let readers know what they should expect, please comment away.

Over at nytheatre.com, they've got a full boat of YouTube clips to promote these piece. Check it out!

The Primary Comes To A Close...?

As all signs point to Hillary Clinton finally bowing out of this historic Democratic Primary, I would like to take a moment to laugh loudly at all the Clintonites and media that absorbed and parroted her argument about seating Michigan and Florida delegates. She couched her argument in terms of some sort of moral standard: how could we discount the votes of those in Florida and Michigan? This is a Democracy! One vote, one person!

Of course, this is absurd and it's always been absurd. That fact that she's making this argument gives me all the more reason that I'm secure in my vote for Obama. It's a shame that she's willing to pit the voters of Michigan and Florida against the rules of her own party...all it does is make winning those important states more difficult for the Democratic Party in November. It does...almost...nothing...else.

A primary is not a pure national election, is it a party nominating process that has specific rules made up by, essentially, a very big club. The rules are wonky and often counter-productive. But if the Democrats decided that their nominee should be decided by a dart board, they could. It would not make for a smart process, but it would be completely within their rights. The fact that Florida and Michigan's Democratic leadership chose to skirt the party rules and move their primaries up is what disenfranchised their voters, and that, in the end, is not the fault of the current leadership.

Fault aside, many voters probably DID NOT go to the polls when they learned their votes were not being counted and candidates were not running in their state. That fact alone should disqualify some high-minded talk of democracy being made mock of. Clinton wants states counted that benefit her, and because no one else was on the ballot in Michigan, and because name recognition was the only SORT of running going on in Florida, she received those votes.

If name recognition were the entire contest, Clinton could have been handed the nomination at the start, and moved on. She, in fact, came in THIRD in Iowa to begin the very long process of finally giving up the ghost. When all the candidates were in the race, she didn't win. When the primary is primarily uncontested, she did just fine.

She also did well where primaries were hotly contested. That shows just how tough she is. But in the end, she hasn't won, and wins only by intellectual slight-of-hand, and that has been true for a very long time.

It's time for her to stop doing damage to her legacy, to the party, and to the Democratic Nominee. Especially with smoke and mirrors and disingenuous outrage about "counting every vote." If she truly felt that way, her own math wouldn't start counting on February 19th.

Let's hope she makes the right move tonight.

OH NO

Jewel has a 7th Album!

According to the prophecy, the 8th shall end all Humankind! Repent!

George Lucas raises Darth Maul

Now who wants to say a bad word about George Lucas? Because his daughter is going to kick your ass.

I'd go and buy one more ticket to Crystal Skull if I were you.

Colorful World

I got to see Colorful World on its closing night. While this posting won't help the Nosedive Crew in terms of ticket sales (buy a ticket...oh...wait...) I wanted to take a second to say how much I enjoyed it, how well put-together it was, and that the acting was phenomenal.

James Comtois certainly wears his source material on his sleeve in this production, being Watchmen and a lot of the Dark Knight Returns stuff. But he diverges in a few key ways that makes the material his very own, and I truly found those departures rewarding.

The first was that Comtois removes the idea of flight entirely from the superhero genre. His characters, even the most powerful ones, are earthbound at their core, in more ways that one. With his main super-powered character Overman, Comtois blends Superman and Dr. Manhattan. But in the end, Overman is entirely new... a character who loses touch with his humanity because of actual experiences, not because he has mastery over all atomic structures (like Dr. Manhattan) or because he's essentially alien (like Superman.) He has telekinetic powers, he's nearly impervious to pain, he's an entirely new kind of human being. But he's also a son of a cop, someone who never wanted to go into law enforcement, who finds himself to pure embodiment of tyrannical law through power. And because he cannot fly, he never gets the bird's eye view that Superman or Dr. Manhattan are afforded. When he escapes, he escapes to a jungle. He can be found. He is not invisible. He is never freed entirely from being human.

Which is what makes Comtois solution to this all the more unique: he shows the importance of finding kinship. That being alone, lonely, or singular is essentially a dehumanizing experience, and the moment Overman meets his match, his response isn't the sort you'd see in the movies... he finds himself suddenly humanized.

It's the new place Comtois takes this material. Certainly there's a great deal in Colorful World that is said in its entirety in Watchmen or elsewhere. But this particular take on the material, that kinship is a humanizing force, is the sort of healing statement that makes this material not a product of 1980s nuclear fear (as is Watchmen) but a product of the current era. That in order to be citizens of the world, no matter how powerful we are, we need to see peers in the world, not challengers to our power.

If Overman represents, in many ways, the United States... a new and young nation with power far beyond its ability to maturely handle... then Overman enacts the very odd misanthropic fantasies that the US does. Better to wipe out what we don't understand, or wipe out what challenges us, than to seek understanding. Perhaps the best thing possible for the US, in this way, is the growth of other world powers, of peers, whose interests coincide with ours. That check our behavior, reflect on us, and make us a sibling, not an enforcer.

My congratulations to Nosedive and to James. Well done!

From the "Funny if it wasn't tragic" department

What the foo is this nonsense?

Storytelling

Question: As a writer, a director, an actor...do you consider yourself, first, a storyteller? How important is narrative to you?

The Honest-To-God-True-Discount

For readers of the blog... a discount for tickets to Dan Trujillo's new play.

Horse Trade & elsewhere present:
The Honest-to-god-true Story Of The Atheist
Thursday, June 12, 2008 through Saturday, June 21, 2008

written by Dan Trujillo directed by Isaac Butler

Featuring: Abe Goldfarb, Daryl Lathon, Jennifer Gordon Thomas
Lighting Design: Sabrina Braswell
Costume Design: Sydney Maresca
Original Music By: David Hanlon

Filled with twists and turns, mole people, black market Viagra, speaking in tongues, caricatures, songs, soft-shoes and three maybe-miracles, The Honest-To-God-True Story of the Atheist tells the remarkable story of an atheist trying to disprove God's existence by defacing a local nativity scene. But did any of this really happen? And do the actors believe the story they're telling?

TWO WEEKENDS ONLY!
Thursday-Saturday, June 12-14th and 19th-21st
All shows at 8PM. Tickets are $18.00
Or, if you order them through smarttix and use the code AVBLOG you get $12.00 tickets! That's a whopping 33.3% savings!

In loving memory of Dick Sutcliffe

"EVERYONE IS A CATCHER! WE NEED A PITCHER!"

If I want your opinion...

Isaac posts here about giving and receiving feedback/criticism. This springs from, in part, Don Hall's thoughts and these thoughts as well.

In Isaac's posting, he writes this:

I believe that if artists are interested in growing and developing they need to get used to "taking the hit", by which I mean accepting and listening to criticism when it is given. Sometimes "taking the hit" is confused with *agreeing with* all critiques offered. This would of course be deadly to our work. But even when it is a critique that to us is wildly off base, someone is still offering something: their opinion and impression of the work, and we should take what we can from it to help us.

I wanted to throw in my two-cents. Maybe I'll speak for someone else. Who can say?

Personally, I am one of those people that closely guards the way in which I take feedback, how I respond to feedback, and from whom I invite feedback. I may receive reviews and link to them, but you'll rarely hear me argue with or comment on the reviews in a public forum, like a blog. From friends and peers, though, feedback is an odd convergence of self-interested parties, and an open discussion can be just as corrosive to me, as a playwright, than one that is closed or cut off.

The assumption made in the above statement is that the growth of someone's art is a community activity, and by opening ourselves to different perspectives, we learn and grow. We become better by wrestling actively with outside perspectives, and it behooves us to be able to wrestle with even the most off-base perspectives.

I think there's a case to be made for that. I can't say that I see how it would help me as an artist to become better at listening to other people. There are certain feedback sources that I enjoy, celebrate, even seek out. There are certain individuals whom I trust to give me something useful. But those are very rare places.

That sounds, of course, preposterously self-protecting and suspicious of the motivations of my peers. It is, in fact, a way to maintain my own center and maintain the vision of my own journey. I don't want to write plays in relationship to the way in which the last one was received... I want to write plays that speak to something I feel is true or beautiful, with my own personal aesthetic fetishes expressed in their own idiosyncratic way, and then invite people to come and see what it is I've expressed. It is not a community activity in which I seek to become a better writer: it is an expression. The more pure that expression is, the more I am successful on my own terms. So a broad, open attitude towards feedback runs counter to that goal: it makes my work about discussion, about context, about satisfying others as opposed to simply speaking to them.

The other important factor here is that my audience is not, in fact, my peers. If your audience is YOUR peers, it might be worthwhile to think that over. I love and respect all the NY bloggers, and all the other writers out here banging their heads against the brick wall. But (and I'm sure many of you have experienced this) the most detached and clinical response ones work will receive will likely be from other writers or from peers. If I want to hit people emotionally, as opposed to do something "interesting," speaking to my peers is an uphill battle from the start.

Suffice to say, there are plenty who read this blog that I have asked directly for feedback. And I've certainly gone through that lovely dance of being reviewed all over the place. It's fun, it's part of the business, and we all need to come to our own peace with it.

As a writer, it is not understanding or a steel will or a sturdy self-image or the ability to grow that I most value: it is my own personal vision. Others may value my ability to receive their feedback with grace, and I certainly hope to have that skill. I may be able to learn something from others, but that's a process I have to control, and let no one's judgment of my ability to do so sway the way in which I act. First and foremost, I think of my own comfort and to reduce the number of voices that are talking to me as I try to work my way through a script.

In short: there will be countless points of view on my work, but only one of them is mine.

Light Posting

Hey everyone!

After closing When is a Clock, my good old money/support job became about twice as busy. So... I've been buried and my posting here has become, you might have noticed, less substantive and a little bit light.

Just a lull. Things will quiet down and I'll post here more often soon enough, I'm sure.

Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Just came home from the midnight showing. My assessment: pretty much a love letter to the series fans and made with a special appreciation for the 1950s and all the genre fiction that is associated with that era.

Had a blast!

WALRUS ARTICLE

How could you not love this article and give it a hug and blow in its face? HOW COULD YOU NOT?

Sulu will have same-sex marriage

Star Trek: truly a universe of acceptance.

We Feel Fine

You really must check out this piece of internet artwork created by Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar. They describe it as "an exploration of human emotion on a global scale." It is an ever increasing database of human feelings.

Make sure to read the mission statement, and then click on the application.

It's called We Feel Fine.

GO GET 'EM

Now this is fantastic!

It's a rare thing to see a Democratic Nominee not put on his or her heels by Republican attacks. Obama is showing why he's going to be a great general election candidate, and why he's got the clear-minded thinking to be Commander in Chief.

"I will win."

Hell yes.

Pathetic

Bush goes begging to the Saudis, who flatly refuse him. Because we are the most powerful nation on Earth, except when we talk to our heroin dealer.

Question ...

How much impact do you feel endorsements have on your own decisions politically?

One thing I've noticed is that there's almost no one I know that feels particularly swayed by political endorsements. I assume I'm atypical (don't you?) but I probably am not. The value of endorsements seems entirely symbolic at this point, a way to send signals to Clinton, more than to the voters, for example.

If you were an Edwards supporter, does his endorsement of Obama push you in his direction? What about the Naral endorsement of Obama? Or Maya Angelou endorsing Clinton?

Edwards to Endorse Obama

I guess John Edwards saw that he got 7% in WV and said "Enough is Enough! I'm out of the race!"

KILL THEM!

If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!

Great review of Colorful World

Congrats for this praise, Nosedive Crew!

The media continues to be shocked by the obvious

CNN today writes:

"After enduring a week of political obituaries, Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign proved Tuesday that it still has some life."

Apparently, all the polls that had her winning West Virginia by a large margin, the idea that Obama conceded the race well before it took place, and the fact that his delegate lead and popular vote lead are entirely unaffected is, if not entirely lost on CNN, a buried lead to say the least. Because, for the love of God, ratings are high, drama sells, and the illusion of a horse race is more accurate than an accurate analysis of the news.

Now she can go on to win Kentucky (don't bother to be surprised when this happens) and he can win Oregon and, finally, it'll be over.

We'll have to endure a see-sawing narrative by the national news media, despite that fact that Obama has actually had a delegate and popular vote lead for...months. That Pennsylvania, even, did not seriously change that math. That the race wasn't over after North Carolina, it's been over since Obama out dueled Clinton on Super Tuesday with a small state strategy and then won a series of contests afterwards. That the race has been in a holding pattern for a very long time.

Clinton's campaign consists of four things: a complicit media, a math that includes Florida and Michigan (which she's only dedicated to now that they matter to her election), the superdelegates overcoming the popular vote (won't happen, and in fact, he's won the lead in Superdelegates) and Obama imploding (which he has entirely failed to do for her).

Winning West Virginia only changes the national news media's coverage, and only briefly. But inaccurate and misleading statements like the one that leads that article are precisely why so many Americans believe she still has a chance. The media is perpetuating this fantasy.

Tony Awards

I am...not particularly interested in them. As usual. If you want to have a discussion about that sort of thing, try Playgoer. He's always got the good stuff.

When is a Clock Reviews

As I didn't do so as they came out, this post is to link to all the responses and reviews that When is a Clock gathered during its run.

The New York Times

Nytheatre.com

Time Out New York

Showbusiness Weekly

OffOffOnline

Curtain Up

That Sounds Cool

Abra Goes

SlowLearner

Anyhow, that's for the archives. Now... what's next?

The Stock Market as action movie device

I've now seen Speed Racer and Iron Man. Odd detail: both feature stock prices prominently as a plot device.

I remember how call options played prominently in Casino Royale's sequence at an airport.

And how Star Wars: Episode I begins with a trade dispute.

You half expect the new Indiana Jones to be called Indiana Jones and the Sub-Prime Credit Crisis.

Speed Racer

So I saw Speed Racer. I thought it was kind of...awesome. Sue me.

Coyotes

I think Blue Coyote Theater Group (my peeps!) and Coyote Rep should have logo and mission statement meetings. You know, for kicks.

When is a Clock closes

We played our final performance at the Access Theater of When is a Clock on Saturday night. Thanks to all of you that made it out to see the show and helped make it such a success. When I have my wits about me, I'll write some detailed post-show thoughts.

New play

I wrote a new play yesterday while at work. Maybe out of protest. Interesting short-ish tone poem about...cancer. Sort of. Who can say?

It's called...

In the great expanse of space there is nothing to see but More, More, More

I may simply re-title it "Ticket Repellent."

We'll see.

Leave me in peace

I'm excited about this. The supervising director was the guy responsible for Avatar: The Last Airbender. Clone Wars! Whoo hoo! August here I come!

Oxford University Press Blogs Tony Season

For those who love the Tony Awards -

Oxford University Press will be featuring a series of weekly posts by Thomas S. Hischak, author of The Oxford Companion the the American Musical, throughout Tony season.

The first posting is here: Tony, Tony, Tony - Beloved Losers and Disdained Winners?

What a lovely review for Me

Sorry. I couldn't help it.

Theatre Ideas Closing Up Shop?

For those that keep track of this sort of thing, Scott Walters has written a farewell. I suspect, honestly, that the good professor will return in good time. But I do think he's working hard to drive conversations about theatre forward, and it's fair to say that blogging has its limitations, especially for the passionate. Eventually, you have to go out and vote, if you know what I mean.

Theatre Ideas is not about Scott Walters (unlike my blog)... it is about conversation and challenge and a whole lot of anger. Good stuff, even when it got rocky. That sort of thing SHOULD be rocky.

It's too bad that his parting post sends a parting shot to those of us living in the cities. In the age of the internet, geography means less than ever. Or it could. Or it should.

If it does come to pass that Scott no longer maintains his blog, I'll say that he's contributed a great deal over the last two years, and will be missed.

But I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a quick return.

Final Week of Performances for When is a Clock

This week will be the final week of performances for When is a Clock. We're playing Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm at the Access Theater.

We've had a very successful run so far, and even our mid-week houses have been quite full.

So if you have been planning on seeing it, makes sure you get your tickets in advance. It might be dicey to get them at the door for our final four performances.

If you care to know...

Iron Man. Saw it. Dug it. Don't see what the super reviews are all about. This movie was perfectly acceptable summer fare. I am a summer fare whore. My happy place is watching summer blockbusters. I love that crap. But better (off the top of my head) comic book movies include: Superman I, II and Superman Returns; Batman, Batman Begins; X-Men and X-Men 2; Ang Lee's Hulk; Spider Man and Spider Man 2. Heck, even Unbreakable (in a way).

There's been a backlash, I think, against comic book movies that take themselves seriously. This movie is a clear example. Entertaining, tongue firmly in cheek, well-made B-movie, with a TV-movie script being jazzed up by some great actors, some great comedic moments and a lot of ILM. I wouldn't kick it out of bed for eating crackers or anything. But I'm looking forward to Dark Knight. Iron Man is fun, but it probably won't wind up on my DVD shelf.

Someday, I shall publish what IS in my DVD collection. Then you'll see what's wrong with me.

Bush most unpopular President of all time? Too late!

When I read shit like this, my thought is... too f'ing late.

Bush showed nothing but ill-promise before he was crowned by the electorate. Say what you will about Gore rightfully being President in 2000...the margin was razor thin. Close enough for the GOP to engage in the black arts. It should never have even been close, and then in 2004, after four years of transparent propaganda, and socially regressive policies, he is re-elected.

Now that he's on his way out the door, the American public finally sees gas prices at $4 a gallon and turns on him. Too late. The damage is done. He proved our Democracy completely corruptible, our laws flimsy, or our national willpower as substantial as silly putty, our memories shorter than a schoolroom ruler, our media cowed and pathetic and humiliating. He proved that brainwashing half the country is as easy as a series of talking points. He proved the most important rule that governs the Executive Branch is that of term limits.

Disliking him now is like waking up in 1985 and announcing your support for the Civil Rights Movement. Too late. Where were we when we NEEDED you?

How I feel today

Like I spent the night drinking a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.

The Answer is Simple

... underground cities.

How NOT to write about the recession

The agony of the food snob on Slate.

I like wine and cheese as much as the next guy. But the recession is driving up prices at Whole Foods? Kiss my bright white ass.

When Gross pretends that his anemic heart bleeds for the "so many others are genuinely struggling to pay for enough basic sustenance to get them through the day" I want to chop off my own head in humiliation. Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Accept that you're a culturally bankrupt asshole! Don't pretend to give a shit about other people!

Two more weeks!

The Devil and Tom Walker

I have failed entirely to mention this musical, now playing, that you should go and see. It's adapted by my good friend Dr. Pennino and the music is by Rob Kendt.

See it!

The Devil and Tom Walker!

Interview with Kevin Podgorski and Brian Olsen

Orange Hanky Productions will be presenting "F*ck Me B*at Me L*ve Me" at the Kraine Theater, opening on Thursday May 1st. I've known Brian for several years - from my days with Gorilla Repertory Theater. I got a chance to send a few questions to Kevin Podgorski, the playwright, and Brian, the director, about this upcoming play.

Check out their website here for ticket information.

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1. The title of your play is certainly going to grab some attention. What should people expect from a show called F*CK ME, B*AT ME, L*VE ME?

Kevin - A raw and honest glimpse into the lives of 4 characters who need something, but have no idea what it is or how to get it. They resort to sex, thinking that's the vehicle that will either help them out or allow them to escape. There is nudity and sexual situations. It's not gratuitous but rather necessary and understandable in the context of the characters and where they are in their lives.

Brian - Something provocative, I would hope. They may be expecting something that's just viscerally, physically provocative, but they'll come away with something emotionally and mentally provocative as well. The show has fucking, beating and loving, all of it is extreme, and none of it is gratuitous.

I would like to say that this play contains one physical act which I personally have never seen presented on-stage before. It's completely integral to the plot, it's about one character trying to get something he desperately needs from the other, but it certainly presented me with some unique difficulties in staging it. I'll just leave it at that...

2. I love how you treat Love in the title the same way you use Fuck.
As if they're both worthy of censorship...

Brian - They are! At least, to these characters they are. None of them know
how to properly deal with either. Words get censored because we
consider them dirty or dangerous, and "love" can be just as dirty and
dangerous as "fuck". More so, really, because love, misused, can be so much more manipulative and hurtful than fucking. In this play, for these four men, the fucking and the beating are easy and safe compared to the loving.

Kevin - I think people use one to get to the other and confuse one for the other all the time. I've done this and I know others have as well, think that, "Oh, if I let this guy fuck me, then he'll love me," or "he's fucking me, so he must love me." I think people self censor love or fucking all the time, telling themselves that all they want is sex when they're just too scared to admit they want to be fully loved by someone. And of course so many people think that just because they're naked and fucking that they're experiencing intimacy with another person when they might not necessarily be doing so.

3. How did the two of you come to start working together? What do you feel are some strengths of the partnership?

Brian - Kevin and I met in the Playwrights and Directors Workshop at the Actors Studio. I was new to it; Kevin had been with them for a while. I saw a play of Kevin's, "Mary Christmas", and I was really drawn to the writing, I thought it was very strong, very subtle, and I decided that the next time he needed a director I was going to pounce. Well, a few months later he needed a director, and I pounced. That play was what is now the first scene of "F*ck Me, B*at Me, L*ve Me", and I fell in love with it right away. It's an actors' piece, really – some people read it and don't get it, because the characters almost never say what they're really feeling; in fact, the characters almost never know what they're really feeling. But a good actor reads it and sees how much there is to be mined, and when a good actor performs it, it's just brilliant.

Kevin and I work together really well – we're both strong believers in collaboration, and we developed a great working relationship over the course of developing this play. I believe very strongly in this piece, and trust Kevin's writing implicitly; Kevin trusts that the choices I'm making in my direction are all working toward telling the story that he wants to tell. Our egos don't tend to clash – we don't fight (knock wood), and when we disagree about a line or a moment, we each listen to the other and try different alternatives until we find what works. Ultimately, my job is to make sure that every moment in the play tells the story that Kevin wanted to tell when he sat down to write it. What I enjoy about working with Kevin is that he takes what the actors and I do in rehearsal and brings that to his rewrites; even rewriting in rehearsal based on the discoveries that are being made. My favorite part of directing is helping to bring a playwright's vision to life, and the more involved the playwright is the better, so
working with Kevin is perfect for me.

Kevin - What I love about Brian is that "he gets it." He is so smart and knows how to really read and analyze a script. I write this stuff and half the time, have no idea what I'm writing, but once Brian works the play, he clears up so many things for me. I have constantly sat through rehearsals and had "aha…that's what that means moments." Brian is the intellectual counterpart to my subconscious writing. I can't speak for other playwrights, but I know for me it is horrifying to hand my words and my soul essentially to a director to play with. I fear that my vision, my intention, and my passion for the piece will be lost in his or her interpretation. With Brian, I have absolutely no fear of that happening. I know with utmost certainty he will get what I'm trying to do and will help me through directing get to my goal…he won't sacrifice my vision for his own, but will rather combine both into one concise vision. We're a perfect collaboration I think and complement each other's strengths and weaknesses very well.

Brian - I was nervous about whether our artistic relationship could translate into a business relationship as we became co-producers and co-artistic directors of Orange Hanky Productions, but that's working out as well. Neither of us has ever done this before, but we seem to have found our roles and split up the duties without having to discuss it all that much. Even now, as opening approaches and the tension builds, I find we're able to rely on each other completely.

4. Tell me a bit about the cast and crew. Who's involved?

Kevin - Brian, I'll let you answer.

Brian - We've got four great actors involved: Felipe Forero, Jeff Goldfisher, Jim Halloran and Jason Romas. They all really get the subtleties of Kevin's dialogue, how much there is simmering beneath the text. Kevin hates when I use the word "brave" – he feels, rightly, that actors tend to be called brave for playing a gay role when they wouldn't for an otherwise-identical straight role – but the bravery of these actors has nothing to do with playing gay. All four actors have to go to some very dark places, and make themselves extremely vulnerable, emotionally and physically.

Our design team has done some amazing work as well –I'll name-check them, because they deserve it: Arnulfo Muldonado is our scenic designer, Ben Tevelow is our lighting designer, Ben Ridgway is our costume designer, and Mike Allen is our sound designer. The Kraine is a great space, but we are limited by the fact that we have to share it with other productions; everything has to be set up and put away before and after every show. Our design team has really taken this limitation as a challenge, and have created the world of the play far better than I would have thought possible.

5. There are countless shows every day Off-Off Broadway. The question is always...why should someone choose to see this particular play? What are you offering that you passionately want people to see or hear?

Kevin - I believe to the depths of my being that this play is something most people have never seen before. We present issues that affect gay men in a way most plays do not. The play is honest and raw. It doesn't try to come up with solutions but rather depicts rarely discussed topics in a frank manner. I didn't censor myself…I went to the limit of where I thought I needed to go. I wanted to show a real gay relationship with all its flaws and perfections, dirty, truthful, and unapologetic. There is nothing in this play which does not come from a place or truth. I wanted to treat this love relationship as just as important and on the same level as a heterosexual relationship. I defy anyone to leave the play without having some reaction. Some might hate it…some might love it, some might be offended…either way, people WILL have a reaction. I know that as fact.

Brian - This play is about how what we want may be different than what we need, and how we very rarely can tell the difference. I hope that people will come away from this questioning the patterns that they themselves may have fallen into, and ask themselves whether those patterns are really what they want for themselves, and whether they have the courage to break them.

What I'm very proud of with this play, and what has inspired the mission statement of Orange Hanky Productions, is that this play takes being gay for granted. The characters are gay, they're fine with being gay, that's not their problem. Even the closeted teenager's issues aren't about being gay. Coming out stories are important, there's still a place for them, but that's not what we want to do. I hope that this piece will challenge some people's preconceptions about what "gay theater" can mean.

But mostly, I hope people will choose to see "F*ck Me, B*at Me, L*ve Me" if they want to see a challenging, provocative, smart, funny, moving evening of theater.

Kevin - I think it captures who I am as a writer and defines what stories I want to explore with my writing. Brian, the actors, the designers, everyone who has worked on this production has done an amazing job and they have sacrificed their time and energy for this production. I want people to see their work, their professionalism, talent, skill, and bravery. As a playwright, I sit in my room and imagine these stories and write this dialogue. To have a director and actors take my story and characters and to fully commit to it with the same love and compassion I have is the greatest gift I can imagine. I am amazed and eternally grateful for that gift.

Must be doing something right

Sorry for the light posting lately. Obviously, we've been getting reviews, audiences, and working our way through the tumult of this production, especially one that seems to get such strong reactions.

One way I know we must be doing something right: no one, not reviewers, not audiences, not even those in the production, have a mild opinion about both the play and the production.

It's wonderful and a little exhausting for me. But I'm proud of the play and I do encourage you to see it. We're open until May 10th...plenty of time for you to work us into your schedule.

For those with an eye on the price of tickets...our tickets are $18. Our top ticket price would be cheaper than the discounted tickets for a lot of other options you might have. That's true of a great many productions in the city and I think it's worthy of mention.

Tickets for When is a Clock can be reserved here.

There's also a lot of great work coming up or currently running elsewhere.

Rapid Response Team has their final show of the season on Sunday April 27th. Lots of great people involved. Read all about it here. Should be a kick. $10 tickets at the door, Bowery Poetry Club. Isaac writes about it here.

James Comtois and Nosedive Productions are set to open "A Colorful World" which I will be seeing early and often, no doubt. It opens May 8th. Tickets can be reserved here.

My good friend Brian Olsen will be directing a play called F*ck Me B*at Me L*ve Me at the Kraine, opening May 1st. I'll be hopefully posting more about it soon. I'm excited to see it and Brian's a very talented guy.

The Brick has a cast of thousands shoehorned into Billyburg for Babylon Babylon. Hell yes, everyone should see this. I will be seeing it soon. Tickets? Here.

Go see all of these!

And don't forget about When is a Clock while you're at it. I'd love to see you there.

Mike Daisey in Gothamist

Great interview with Mike Daisey in Gothamist today.

New York Times...

...reviews "When is a Clock."



Also, Martin Denton responds to the play here.


Reserve your tickets here.

Edmund Freeman

I am a descendant of this man.

Respect me.

Bully Dance Reading Tonight

Reminder: reading tonight at the Access Theater of Bully Dance by David Valdes Greenwood. RSVP here.

The Blueprint Project

Take a gander. Sounds like a fine night at the theater. I certainly hope Catherine Trieschmann spent yesterday eating chocolate cake.

______

Gideon Productions presents The Blueprint Project, a unique spin on that beloved old workhorse, the evening of short plays. We picked four brilliant playwrights (Mac Rogers, August Schulenburg, Crystal Skillman & Catherine Trieschmann) with distinctive voices, styles and predilections, and we provided them with this plot:

A Body lies on a bed. A Longstanding Friend surreptitiously examines the body. The Spouse enters and confronts the Friend. They argue until the Coworker enters to announce that the Medium will arrive soon. One of the three tries very hard and almost succeeds in convincing the others to stop the Medium from coming. Two of them have a confrontation that injures the third. The Medium enters and animates the body, which reveals the secret. Someone tries to leave. Others try to stop the departure.

Even though the writers all worked from the same blueprint, the results are astonishingly varied. We've got a modern reimagining of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, a Sci-Fi thriller, a comedic reunion of the "Fab Four of Psychictry" and a blank verse exploration of a messianic cult. Each piece is wonderful on its own merits and the evening as a whole is a fascinating glimpse into the writers' process.

Directors John Hurley and Jordana Williams have assembled an amazing cast, featuring Clay Adams*, Claire Alpern, Jason Howard*, Erin Jerozal, Tom Knutson, Anna Kull, David Ian Lee*, Rob Maitner*, Michelle O'Connor, Alex Pappas*, Vinnie Penna*, Zack Robidas, Vanessa Shealy*, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Jennifer Gordon Thomas and Cotton Wright*

*appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

We hope you'll join us! Seating is limited, so we recommend purchasing your tickets in advance:

The Blueprint Project, Part I: The Medium

Wednesday April 30-Sunday May 4 @ 8pm
Total Running Time: about 90 minutes

Tickets $15-http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/143351

The Puffin Room-435 Broome Street

R/W to Prince St., 6 to Spring St., B/D/F/V to B'way/Lafayette

www.blueprintplays.com

Pennsylvania Primary Prediction

Hillary Clinton will win, but the margin of victory will be narrower than she'd like. Both will declare victory.

Which is exactly what everyone expected to happen a month ago.

Mike Daisey Day

There's a review up of Mr. Daisey's new monologue in the New York Times today, and there was a Sunday feature about reactions to How Theater Failed America.

Also, over at the Artsjournal "temporary blog" Program Notes, Jason Grote speaks on audience surveys and does not leave out a mention of the monologue either. Grote's posting is pretty great. Take a look.

It's good to see all these questions raised. So what happens next?

A great play and an open bar

The BCTG Reading Series continues tomorrow night with David Valdes Greenwood's Bully Dance. It's not only a wonderful play, read by wonderful actors.... but there is an open bar. All you have to do is RSVP.

Bully Dance

by David Valdes Greenwood
Tuesday, April 22nd, 8p

with Frank Anderson, Michael Bell, Samantha Desz, Sean Fri, Nell Gwynn, Jonna McElrath, Adam Rihacek, and Jane Titus

in the Access Black Box Theater
380 Broadway, 4th Fl.
New York, New York, 10013

Seating is limited - please RSVP at bluecoyote - at - bluecoyote.org

Opening Night of When is a Clock

Tonight we open officially. Apparently we've already sold a fair number of seats, and I expect a full house. If you're coming tonight and haven't reserved tickets, you might consider doing so.

Tickets here.

Website here.

I'll see you there.

HOLY CRAP!

Atheist Viagra!

Isaac Butler announces his next project, a production of Atheist Viagra by Dan Trujillo. Sounds kick-ass.

Oh... and they have a blog for the project!

When is a Clock items of interest

Carl Jung wrote that he received information from visions and dreams that that he could not have known prior.

33 is, among other things, the atomic number for arsenic and an important number in numerology. So I'm told. There's also that Jesus thing. It also sounds good, at least to me, on paper.

Prima materia, in alchemy, is the basic substance of all matter before it takes on a form.

I learned most of this from Pam.

A night off

Well tonight we take a break from When is a Clock and then we open, officially, tomorrow night. Previews have been extremely exciting, as they would be, and I'm proud of the play and the work being done.

Thanks to George Hunka, who stopped by to check it out and has nice things to say here. I appreciate it.

Now, I am going to watch Battlestar Galactica, do the dishes, and lie down.

I hope to see you on opening night!

Onwards and upwards

When is a Clock has now played twice, and I'm thrilled by how it's going. But I am, of course, tired. I'll be posting lightly a bit. Suffice to say, thanks to those of you that have already said some very kind things.

Tickets are here.

When is a Clock First Performance is Tonight

Tonight is the first preview of When is a Clock and our first public performance. I'd love to see a crowded house tonight, so if you're making decisions about your time for tonight, think about including our play in them.

Tickets can be purchased here.

New York Times Shines a Light on the OOB Budget Survey

This is an article that I am very, very glad to see.

The Showcase Code reform argument has now hit the blogs, the Village Voice and the New York Times.

I hope Equity is paying attention.

Micael Feingold: This is our Youth

Feingold compares Adam Bock and Itamar Moses to Edward Albee.

A quote - "The idea that what affects the play's people cumulatively should have the stature to affect us, the audience, as a group seems to have drifted out of the playwright's consciousness."


h/t isaac

If you haven't heard...

...let Michael Casselli tell you, over at Ecotheater.

Not a pretty picture. NYTW fires it production staff and closes the department.

Of all the jobs in theater, production always seemed pretty safe to me. I know nothing except what I'm reading on blogs, so I won't comment too much on it. Mr. Casselli seems to speak for himself.

Rehearsing When is a Clock # 7

A few thoughts:

Been a busy week. The first stumble-through came and went, but I stayed out of it and went to see Paul Simon with Pam. I was there last night and watched some excellent work being done, adjustments and staging all coming together.

Kyle and I took an early morning trip just over the PA border and filmed some footage of Route 11 near Easton and on Route 78. Also, we ate at The American Grill. We were the only two people there. Service was excellent (coffee poured repeatedly and eagerly) and we had some top-notch scrapple. Kyle's first scrapple, which he tried with maple syrup. All of this is a good and joyful thing.

We're using some footage we shot in the show. Also heard some of the music options, all of which I thought were groovy.

We have tech and dress this weekend, and then the first of three Previews (the Off-Off Broadway version) on Tuesday. Lots to do. Props and logistics and costumes. Lots of figuring out where "The Book" is on-stage at any given time.

I saw the clock in question yesterday for the first time. I like it. It's a pretty little thing.

A few trimmings of lines here and there this week, but nothing too momentous. We added a bit that includes a name-check to Mr. Boston. The booze of champions.

I hope to see you and your friends at When is a Clock, at the Access Theater. Blue Coyote Theater Group is doing tremendous work, as always.

Read about the show here.

Listen to the podcast interview here.

Purchase tickets here.

Free Tickets for Download - Women's Project

You heard about this, right?

Want to encourage this type of thing? Participate. It's free.

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For the preview period (April 11 through 19) of Women's Project's new show, Catherine Trieschmann's comedy crooked directed by Liz Diamond, 1000 free tickets will be downloaded from the Women's Project web site, www.WomensProject.org.

Paul Simon at BAM

Last night, Pam and I went to see Paul Simon's Under African Skies concert at BAM. David Byrne did "You Can Call Me Al."

Yes, it was perfect.

When is a Clock's first performance is in 5 days

Yesterday Kyle and I were up at 5 am to drive around and record some video for the play. That's right: We're modern.

Tickets to When is a Clock can be reserved here.

Babylon Babylon opens April 11th

I wanted to mention to my readers that Babylon Babylon sounds friggin' cool and I recommend you check it out.

The description from their website:

Undoubtedly the most arrogant, grandiose theatre project ever attempted! Experience the Fall of Ancient Civilization in an intimate Brooklyn performance space as a cast of dozens recreates the Temple of Ishtar, home of ritual prostitution, gyrating priestesses, doomsday prophets, grasping plutocrats, undercover lovers, displaced Jews, seekers of bloody vengeance, invading Persians, and a lion.

And look at the talent involved:

Written and Directed by Jeff Lewonczyk

Created with and Starring

Gyda Arber, Fred Backus, Aaron Baker, Ali Skye Bennet, Eric Bland, Danny Bowes, Katie Brack, Lily Burd, Michele Carlo, Hope Cartelli, Maggie Cino, Michael Criscuolo, Katherine Cudney, V. Orion Delwaterman, Siobhan Doherty, Marguerite French, Melina Gac-Artigas, Adrian Jevicki, Gavin Starr Kendall, Kamran Khan, Angela Lewonczyk, Jeff Lewonczyk, Toya Lillard, Roger Nasser, Robert Pinnock, Robin Reed, Iracel Rivero, Heather Lee Rogers, Alexis Sottile, Adam Swiderski, Elizabeth Hope Williams & Rasha Zamamiri

Assistant Director: Jessica McVea Stage Manager: Lindsay Vrab Choreographer: Amantha May Fight Director: Qui Nguyen Costume Designer: Julianne Kroboth Lighting Designer: James Bedell Video Designer: Jason Robert Bell Sound Designer: Dave Shim Technical Assistance: Chris Connolly

Here's details and how to get tickets.

Here's the Babylblog Blogbylon.

Is it just me...

Should this article, about Richard Jenkins, be given to all actors who feel daunted by questions like "NY or L.A.?"

NYITF OOB Budget Study Released Today

Survey results that are a step in the right direction, especially in terms of talking realistically about the cost of doing business...

Download the PDF here.

Here's what their press release says...

Groundbreaking Off-Off Broadway Budget Study

New York, NY-April 7, 2008: The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, a not-for-profit organization supporting the Off-Off-Broadway community, released the findings of their statistical analysis of Off-Off Broadway's budgets today. Questions for the survey focused exclusively on production budgets. The results prove that the OOB community is actively producing high-quality productions at affordable prices with paid actors and production value. The survey is the first in a series that will help raise awareness of the contributions of the OOB community.

Some of the highlights of what the Foundation learned are:

* 67% of the community is spending between 1k-20k on their productions
* Over half of the community is paying their actors
* THE COMMUNITY SPENDS OVER 31 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR ON PRODUCTIONS!

"I found some the results to be very surprising," said Shay Gines, co-founder of the IT Awards. "It is important for our community to have this kind of baseline statistical information. Whether a company is trying to get a good deal on a space rental or trying to obtain sponsorship from a local restaurant, knowing the standards within our community will prove to be very helpful."

____

So...what do you see here, dear readers?

For example...paying their actors...how much? The stipend? Seems like if 85% of all Off-Off Broadway productions are 16 performances and under (at least according to this data) that most productions are working either non-Union or within the Showcase Code.

This also shows just how many companies are directly affected by the Showcase Code and its cap of numbers of performances.

I'd be curious what non-New Yorkers think of what they see here too. In fact, especially.

Mark Penn

I'm actually starting to feel bad for the guy.The press just wants to eat him. He can't be, you know, evil.

He's not Karl Rove, the pigf*cker.

When is a Clock - Discounted Preview Tickets

When is a Clock will have three preview performances, April 15th, 16th and 17th, and on those nights tickets will be $12. That's $6 cheaper! A whole beer! HOLY CRAP WHAT A GOOD DEAL!

You might find yourself wanting to come to see the show on one of those nights. You should, then, do so.

Here is where you can order tickets online.

Here's the Blue Coyote website.

Now here's a TWIST that I swear I totally wasn't expecting...

August: Osage County wins Pulitzer.

GASP!

Freeman - Now with 99.9% more snark.

Phantasmaphile

As a closing thought for the week... all of you read my girlfriend's absolutely kick-ass, totally non-theater related blog-of-amazing-things Phantasmaphile don't you? It's on my blogroll, but I wanted to take a second and highlight it.

It's awesome.

For example...here's an interview she did with artist Lori Field.

Anyhow...take a look. Inspiring, beautiful work is all over it. She's got it going on.

Rehearsing "When is a Clock" # 6

Watched some scene work last night. Good work being done. I haven't given everyone the easiest time with some of the monologues and scenes, but it's wonderful to see good, smart actors and a smart director getting into it and figuring it all out.

How I personally tell the difference between good scene work and counter-productive scene work: one looks like a conversation, the other looks like a game of questions.

Lots of good conversation last night.

Blurted out, by accident, a glowing personal review of someone's performance when they asked their director: "What do you think?"

I must learn to keep my mouth...shut. At least, more often. No one asked me.

Also last night I spent a fair amount of time pushing Shadowfax (Kyle's car) with his girlfriend Lindsey, so the thing would start.

Shadowfax is the Lord of All Horses.

Isn't nice when someone shares a little common sense?

"Just drink when you're thirsty."

What a concept!

BSG S4 Begins Tonight

I just wanted to mention it. There hasn't been better Science Fiction on television in years. Maybe ever. I'll be sad to see the series go.

David Cote: Jesus

It's true. The man has a Savior-esque quality.

Building and Dismantling

Although I've been primarily focused on my upcoming production lately (plug!), I've been reading all sorts of semi-related thoughts around the theatre 'sphere. Playgoer takes notice of the salaries of Artistic Directors in New York; Scott Walters at Theatre Ideas seems to think this indicates that the non-profit model is far too corporate. (Don't tell that to commercial Broadway Producers, who think that non-profits are practically subsidized, take on less risk, and shouldn't be eligible for their Tony Awards...)

Related, in my mind, is Jaime Green's endorsement of lower ticket prices in order to perhaps attract a new or younger audience (as I noted here as well) and Scott's call for Decentralization of the American Theater (notice the capital letters!) which can be seen in any number of his blog posts, which are based primarily on the assumption that American Theater is too focused on major markets, that it's biased against regional sensibilities and too, again, structurally corporate.

A lot of this seems to have been inspired, in all honesty, by Mike Daisey's The Empty Spaces which sparked it's very own conversation right there and then.

All in all, a rather dire view of the state of play in America.

So I wanted to take a second to respond and react to the overall discussion. Just for my own gratification, and maybe some food for thought.

We blame ourselves.

It's one thing that Philadelphia Eagles fans have in common with lovers of American Theatre: we hate our team. Our team lets us down. Or team gets to the big game and drops the ball. Our team does ok sometimes, but we know they'll eventually cock it up.

We ask for the press to acknowledge writers who are younger, then they do christen the next big thing, and we think they picked wrong. We want a vibrant economy of regional theaters, but if they do plays that were produced in New York, they're not regional enough. We do not want theater to die (theaters shuttered, audiences gone, no pay for anyone), but they charge too much money for tickets and pay some people too much and other people too little.

Certainly some of the concerns are valid. We should be skeptical and critical. It's a virtue. But the tone tends to be one that gives little room of the realities of the market, and leaps to the terminal failings of theater within the system. There are lots of people toiling away in these big and small institutions for little to no pay for the love of our art, who work to find artistic space and battle with financial constraints and realities every day.

I don't hear a lot of praise for their hard work. Just observations at what they aren't doing.

You have to build, not dismantle.

Listen, I sympathize with people that think the Industrial Revolution was a bad idea and that we should all go back to living in small agrarian communities. I'm not a huge fan of the inherently corrupting nature of an unregulated free market or a culture that views unfettered, ubiquitous advertising as par for the course.

But we can't go backwards. It just doesn't work that way. New technologies are coming at breakneck speed (note: Blogs. Where were they 10 years ago?). Even corporate models that have been foolproof for years are unsure how they will sustain themselves in an economy where media and entertainment can be easily stolen, shared, copied, and bought without a physical product. Television advertisers are worried that no one is watching advertising anymore; video games are encroaching on the ratings of sporting events; the newspaper industry is in dire straights: this is reality.

I hear concern about the salary of the Roundabout's Artistic Director as almost amusing: in a world where television advertisers pay the amount he makes in a year to show a 30 second spot on some television show on ABC... its clear we're focused on the very small picture.

Artists, and people who work in arts organizations, are not all small "c" communists. I don't relish living in a collective where I share my food with a bunch of other actors and playwrights or what-have-you because I no longer believe in the "corporate" theater. I don't believe that my work should be given away for free, and I do, yes, like to have my own apartment and go to the movies and download music and go out to eat at restaurants. I didn't leave my consumer card at the door when I said "I want to write plays and get a BFA."

I bet most of the people who work in subscriber sales, or box office, or marketing or development for NYTW and MTC or the Guthrie (and hey...I don't mean to speak for you...this is just a guess) don't want to stop what they're doing, sell their cars, and hold up a torch next to a field so someone can do Hamlet without having to beg for corporate sponsorship.

So...what would I LOVE to see? Theaters become more successful. Sell more tickets. Receive more government subsidy and support. More patronage and donations. I want audiences to become excited by new writers and exciting new work. Effective marketing and advertising of really fucking great plays (including mine! plug!) that help everyone become more successful, make more money, feel artistically more free, and do the sort of work they want to do.

We can build that. We can excite audiences, we can sell more tickets, we can pay everyone more effectively, we can get better deals with the unions, we can make our case and win our case.

But we can't dismantle the system, and we can't be successful by pulling away from it, simply pointing out its already terribly obvious flaws, or just hiding in a hole of artistic distance.

Everyone has different values.

I am not of the opinion that the truth is of equal distance between two points. That's a weird fallacy of the current American discussions. I think there are some prescriptions being written out there that are true, and some that are false. But I do not think we all have the same goals, or perspectives, or values.

Some people might read my dismissal, above, of full on rebellion against the system as self-serving or, worse, conciliatory towards something broken.

As a writer in New York City, I can only pretend to relate to those who work outside the major cities and how they feel as if their work is not acknowledged, perhaps, as it should be.

Anyone outside of New York City likely doesn't give a hoot about the Showcase Code debates and discussions.

Those who have never worked in the media, written reviews or articles for magazines, likely have a very different point of view on the responsibility of the media to write a certain way, as opposed to those who may read this, as critics and editors themselves, who know the pressures and concerns of simply making it to print.

I say this because I need to remind myself that my direct interests do not necessarily translate into truths about the "American Theatre" as a whole. Which is, of course, perfectly ok.

Everyone is in this together.

On the other hand, there tend to be small efforts in isolated places to do good works or make changes, and the entire community does not seem able to come together (in any way I notice) to put forth major initiatives. For example... some for-profit industries will literally promote their industry. ("Got Milk?") We need a bit of this. We need to say "Theatre... come see it" in some unified way.

And the only way to get initiatives like that to happen is to use this new wonderfully democratizing force, the 'net, bring people together, and look up from the short term concerns, briefly, of individual programming needs and look at each other as partners.

If New York Theater Workshop and Manhattan Theater Club and the Roundabout and the Guthrie and Southcoast Rep and whomever else thrive individually, that's wonderful but localized. If they thrive together, we all thrive.


So.

That's a few thoughts. For you. From me.

Now back to plugging my show. Which is called "When is a Clock." It opens on April 15th.

Have I linked to 99seats yet?

If not, I am now. Good stuff.

NEWS ALERT! ACTRESS PLAYS CHARACTER!

"Amelie" isn't REAL?

Life is a cruel mistress!

National Performing Arts Convention Blog

Jaime will be blogging (in addition to her regular duties) in this new and lovely location: The National Performing Arts Convention . Her first post is entitled "The Value of a Cheap Ticket." Check it out, add to your bloglines, comment, and be generally aware of this great stuff...

"The fact is, there are people who will buy tickets to daring, weird, new work. But usually, those people are young, and usually, those people do not have a lot of money. The math is alarmingly simple.

Here's what we know:
Current audiences are old and rich.
Current audiences like safe programming.
Younger audiences are more likely to support adventurous work.
Younger audiences don't tend to have a lot of money."

Obama takes in $1 million a day

So Obama's March haul was $30 million, or a million a day. Sure he's a national candidate, but the people who are giving to him aren't necessarily billionaires. Heck, I've given him like $75. Not a ton of money, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Which makes me think...

Does your theater company accept donations online? And does it ask, often enough, for donations? Let's say you get an average of (with big and small donations) $10 a day per month. Or $300 a month. Or around (give or take a day or two) $3600 a year in donations. Let's say you just make that your goal for online donations, barring any additional fund-raisers or ticket sales or selling t-shirts or bake sales or free donated booze parties.

Is that huge? No. Will it help? Yes. How much work do you need to do? Sign up for Network for Good and send out some e-mails.

You are doing this already. Right?

Question for You

Do you think a playwright should approach his or her work from a certain defined theory (their own or one they learned)?

Does it hurt or help the playwright to do so?

Honestly curious...

Rehearsing "When is a Clock" # 5

Had a full weekend of rehearsals, after we recorded the podcast. Postcards are ready. They look great to me. Weird stuff.

Not much that I can say about rehearsal. It's going well. I had a moment that I do not recommend to any playwright: I revealed my soft underbelly in public. I had a self-conscious moment about a line and jumped up to say "Cut that line." Kyle informed me, rightly, to shut up and sit down and that I should let the actors perform the line.

We proceeded to hear versions of the line sung, in the style of Kabuki, as if delivered by Sam Spade. It was exactly what I deserved.

Added note: In "When is a Clock" I talk a bit about the "cuisine" of the Pennsylvania Dutch. I was delighted to read this on the New York Times about the food on the road for Barack Obama. So terribly validating.