The program

I spent last night working on the program insert. It worked out pretty well. I was going to use a photo on it, but couldn't get the size just right, I might play around with it a bit more. At any rate, I was happy with how it looks. It's mostly just my bio and Wallace's bio, with a short note about the gestation of the play. I enjoy doing that kind of thing . . . it sparks all kinds of memories of the long and dusty trail to get to wherever I am now. Wherever it is, I'm here! It's a curse being an optimist sometimes. But it's a good curse. If I didn't think things would work out I never would have left the safehaven of West By God in the first place; let alone start writing plays and such. So one thing leads to another . . . there are disappointments, but it's always nice when something wonderful happens.

How's that for a seque to our most recent rehearsal? Wed. night, I was zapped. Tired tired tired. I had run thirteen miles or so getting ready for a big half marathon this weekend, and then scrambled all over the place after that and then went into the city to rehearse for three hours! Funny how that theater thing makes you forget all your petty woes and exhaustion . . . sure you're whipped after it . . . but you're whipped in a totally blissed out way ... euphoria is not too strong a word. So Wed. I suggested running the thing from start to finish, which we did, and it went pretty well. Wallace was happy. Then he said, "Now we get to play". And we went into some scenes to explore how to get the most out of them. Exploring the various characters, who they are why they're doing things. Wallace is really good with notes, he has shed a lot of light on this piece for me. He's always saying 'You wrote it', but it's funny how some aspects of the situations or encounters don't seem so clear until after he points them out.

He keeps saying 'You're doing wonderful work' and I keep correcting him with: 'No, we're doing wonderful work'. At any rate, it feels like a good partnership and I, for one am having a blast.

We were going to rehearse twice this week, but he remembered a concert he had tix to last night; so we are planning on three times next week, and then Mon/Tues rehearsal the following week with Wed tech and Thurs perf!!!

This time two weeks from now I'll be in an interesting place. I hope a good interesting place . . . but that's sort of up to me isn't it. Anyway, the pedal is definitely to the metal now and it's not something I'm dreading.

I thought I had a shot at a stage managers gig at Penguin Rep this week. It was posted on Playbill.com as starting 5/19. I emailed Joe Brancato, who I have a pretty nice history with (he directed a reading of Where the Rain Never Falls, and I did some voiceover work for a play up there . . . plus we keep in touch . . . he's a sweetheart and has kept a theater in Stony Point running for 30 years! And it's Equity!!! No mean feat!). Anyway, the posting was wrong and the job started 4/19; which, for obvious reasons left me out of the running. We had a nice talk though and I sent him At Death's Door for consideration for their reading series. I'm always submitting stuff and never getting the nod, which is a bit of a sore point for me, but there you go . . . can't let that stuff bother you or take it personally . . . the nature of the business I guess. I will say though, that my play Family Matters, which is loosely based on my parents and which I wrote specifically to write a play in which nothing happens (but plenty does; sort of my tip of the hat to Beckett you might say) anyway, I sent it to Joe and the word came back to me that one reason for rejecting it was: guess what? Nothing happens!

All I can say is Bette and I did a couple of readings of FM and it worked like gang-busters. Maybe it needs to be acted, not read. Some plays are like that.

Enough. I have to go rehearse!