A few things

Since last we met a few things have happened with varying levels of significance. Most importantly is Old Hickory in NYC as part of the Snowballs Festival in January. Sounds like it could be a fun event; it's a one day event with a lot of stuff going on in a space on White Street with OH going up at 3 pm. It'll be fun and hopefully a warm up for the SoloNova festival in May, which I have also applied to. Speaking of festivals, thought I would have heard from now about One Man Talking. They did extend the submission deadline to Nov. 30th so I guess it'll be soon that I hear; hope so. It'll be my fourth consecutive appearance there. I've also been submitting to some other stuff with my longer plays, mostly in the city for logistical purposes. Wrote the first draft of another solo bit . . . so that's two currently simmering . . . have to figure which to spend the most time with . . . one is more daring than the other, hence, scarier . . . which means it's the one I should attack ... we'll see. I also have the new Beulah's play, which I heard and got feedback on at Woodstock Fringe . . . very encouraging but I have to figure out what exactly to do with it. More when I know it.

2012

Seems like maybe a bit early to look back at 2012, since there is still a month left in the year, but from a theatrical standpoint, not much new is likely to happen in the coming weeks with theater (though having said that, some of the things I have entered should be revealing themselves in the coming weeks). It has been an amazing year, though things have slowed a bit since August. The year started at such a manic pace that it was too much to ask for that pace to continue. Starting with Old Hickory in Nyack and then turning around and moving right into the One Man Talking ten days later (including learning the lines). Old Hickory was work, but I had a framework for it and it wasn't too stressful . . . picking up Like a Sack of Potatoes with a couple of weeks to learn it and mount it . . . a lot of work. Then a breath for a month and the reading in the city of Letter of Resignation. So Jan - April was pretty busy . . . and then the Fringe Festival and acting in Wallace's play. At the end of all that, it was difficult to get revved up again. Though I did work on a new solo piece and have since started another new one . . . I remember Arthur Miller being quoted as saying that every time he finished a play he assumed it was the last one . . . That's how it feels for me to . . . and then something happens . . . the switch gets flipped and you're back in . . . establishing a groove and working on new stuff. So now I am back into a bit of a rhythm . . . which is good. My piece about the posing needs work but I was kind of afraid of it . . . because the easy part is getting the original draft on paper ... once you have that the real work starts, the rewriting and structural work . . . it can be intimidating looking at a piece and seeing the work that needs to be done and that there is only one way to get it done and there are no short cuts. So starting on my new solo piece has gotten me back into the habit . . . the writing habit. Funny how readily you can slip back into it . . . you get up, do what needs to be done and then every day, at least a little time for what matters most. Because I do think the writing matters most or at least is one third of the trident that comprises my life right now today. Writing is the expression of whatever I'm expressing and it is the thing that makes me feel the most whole when it's flowing and the most hollow when it is not. I think hollow is a good way to put it . . . without the writing, there is some edge there that colors everything with a layer of guilt (should be writing) like dust accumulating on furniture. Then, just as quickly as the malaise sets in, the clouds can part and a new something emerges and you're back at it . . . it's no wonder that many writers are such wrecks! At least at my current level I don't have the weight of expectation hovering over me as well. There is no one judging what I do or expecting me to produce . . . to have that whip cracking must add a dimension that isn't so pleasant. Things are good at home, we are safe and secure (relatively). We love each other and respect each other, so that foundation keeps me structurally sound. As for work? Work is work, and it is nice that I like my job and the people there and might actually be about to make some money there (about time!) So looking forward is promising . . . good stuff can happen if you let it . . . I'm starting to send out Old Hickory DVDs to people . . . might bear fruit and might not, but it can't if I don't get it out there. 2013? I'm ready.

Writing?

I'm starting to feel that urge to get going on something again. I've been wasting a lot of time recently. I admire writers who do it every day. I do it every day, but not all the time, if that makes sense. When I'm in the groove and working on something and it's just coming easily, that is when I try to eek out a little time every day for writing. But sometimes I hit these periods where nothing seems to be flowing and all the ideas are iffy, or stuff that doesn't really excite me, so I find other things to do. Though I love my job it does leave me a tad depleted at the end of the day so if the muse is with me it usually happens in the AM. Sometimes the guilt at wasting time by not writing builds up to the point where I have to get back to it . . . eventually it's like, another day gone, no writing, what are you doing? Shouldn't be too hard on myself . . . it has always been peaks and valleys of activity, and I do have two new pieces that are in the first-draft- done-now-what stage. One is a new solo thing and the other a four character bit. And I scribbled down some ideas for something new this morning. So. I have entered a few competitions recently, One Man Talking of course, then a festival that accepts solo shows in the city and a developmental thing that is also in the city, to which I sent a couple of scripts. So it's not like there is no activity . . . OMT will be fun . . . a lot of work for one performance, but I have enjoyed the experience every time I've done it . . . it is such a hoot to be on stage doing my own stuff . . . just wish I could find a way to get something cooking via a showcase in the city or something . . . I guess the bottom line is: if I want to do it . . . I'm going to have to just do it.

Rambles

I've been taking the Beulah piece into the Fringe this fall and it is being well received. This is always good but then the part that is perhaps hardest: going back to it and ruthlessly rewriting. That's what separates the hacks from the rest of us. I really like the characters in the piece and spending time with them is fun, so it actually might be fun! I also recently read my new solo piece, the one about posing for a painting and such, for Bette and she liked it with reservations; her reservations were actually insights that were very helpful regarding structure and focus . . . I knew it wasn't ready to roll, first drafts seldom are, but I am intrigued by the idea and what I can maybe do with it. Heck, the first draft of Old Hickory had our hero talking about how many women he had killed, he was a serial killer! There was some wonderful imagery at the end of it, but it lacked the impact that it eventually achieved by sticking with a more simple story of one guy and his problems dealing with one woman ...it's come a long way, and I can only assume that the new piece, as yet untitled, is at the initial step or two of a very long journey. Of my solo pieces I think Like a Sack of Potatoes had the shortest gestation period, with the fewest rewrites . . . would that they all just sprang into existance so readily! I also keep coming back to an idea for a suspence piece about people waiting out a storm (it tends to come to mind while I'm waiting out a storm). Don't know if I can or will pull it off or even attempt to, but I haven't written a Damage Control kind of thing for a while.

Marketing

It occurred to me the other day, that if I put the same effort into selling my plays as I do selling in my job, it would be an amazing thing. Now not necessarily eight hour a day effort, but consistent sending stuff out and follow through on that. Gotta get revved up to do that.

Chipping away

Progress is being made on my new solo piece. After my final session posing for the painting I took Bette to see it. She told Diego and Emma and Victor that I had the idea to write a solo piece of someone sitting posing and what goes on in their head. I hadn't mentioned it, but her putting it out in the world sort of made it so. I had taken my camera to get a picture of the painting and we actually took one of me in the chair posed, with the painting in the foreground .. . I said 'Ah, there's the postcard for the solo piece' . . . so there you have it. the die is cast. I have been working on it and it seems to be taking shape in my head and I hope to be able to pull off what I intend . . . which is really honest writing, not camoflaged by a make believe story. I'm not sure that conveys what I'm thinking and I'm not even sure how to express it, but I hope the piece gets to where I think it can go. We shall see. I also took a few more pages of my newest play into the Woodstock Fringe this week. That place seems like family to me . . . it's so comforting to be there among friends, working on theater. the piece was well received, though writing in a kind of appalachian patois doesn't make it any easier for the people reading it. The people there were split between the 'something has to happen' and the 'something is happening under the surface'; in fact, Wallace even invoked Chekov, which was a real shot in the arm . . . more on everything soon.

An aha moment

Funny how these things creep up on you. One thing just sort of leads to another, or maybe not even leads, but you see connections and everything falls into place . . . or at least points in a direction. Wondering where the next solo piece will come from and working on other stuff when I see a photo on Facebook of my cousin from Memphis posed with the mascot of my alma mater (Marshall University). He mentions a place in Kentucky with shared roots . . . which I have never been to. Seems his connection with the place goes a lot deeper than mine as I have never been there. So that gets me thinking about digging a little deeper into that side of things. Then there's jury duty which brings up some stuff I had never even shared with my wife (on the day after an audition for August Osage County which is about a very troubled family)AND then there is A Thousand Acres, which is a phenomenal book which slowly but surely exposes the nerve endings . . . I put the book down yesterday and sat on the porch with my dog (it was my birthday and I took the day off) and my mind was so blown by that book . . . which I haven't even finished yet . . . and the realization that despite all my work with the writing and performing . . . I hadn't really gotten into the deep personal shit . . . I do fold little autobiographical tidbits into everything . . . but to really dig deeply into what I feel and who I am? Hasn't happened . . . yet . . . and the question becomes: do I have balls enough to confront myself in that way in public . . . to be really honest. And if so will that take me to another level or will it end up being a brief detour . . . nothing really horrendous in my family backgroud . . . that I know of . . . but maybe the journey to dig into my shit will be enough . . . worth experimenting a bit to see where it goes. In any event . . . this whole aha moment unfolded slowly and slapped up side the head yesterday afternoon . . . the sign is pointing 'This Way' . . . I guess you go this way.

Meanderings

Had an interesting time auditioning for 'August: Osage County' last week. I felt ready and the parts are all wonderful and nearly all the men are in my age range. The audition went ok, not tons of laughs and it was on the stage in a 400+ seat theater, with two people in it . . . so it was all very workman like. In any event I didn't get a call back. Probably for the best really. Trying to make money at work and rehearsing would have been a delicate balance to say the least. But I have plenty to keep me busy. The Fringe Playwrights Unit starts up again on Tuesday and I am diligently working on getting my new piece typed into the computer (diligently except for today as I'm blogging instead of typing!) It will be great to have that third piece of the puzzle done for the 'miners trilogy'. I've taken some stabs at it before, kind of knew that it would take place in Beulah's; but my previous version was about Beulah's shutting down, which was kind of not that universal alongside the first play (miners on the picket line) or #2 (miners trapped in a roof fall). So in working on this one it's more about the declining fortunes of miners as the mining jobs dry up. We'll see what happens with it. On another note: entered Letter of Resignation into One Man Talking. AND I have the possible beginnings of a new piece about my family history, which is starting to take an interesting turn as I find things out about my shared history from my cousin in Memphis, could be something to explore, especially when it comes to universal themes and such . . .

Post show discussion

Everything went well at the Fringe. 'It Can't Happen Here' was well received, and a lot of fun to do, though the commute could be a tad daunting at times. It was a real joy to work with everyone, no head games, no divas just a group of people cherry picked by Wallace to bring his play to life . . . we were pretty simpatico. Bette and I had two scenes together and it was just so much fun to let it rip as the troubled parents of a troubled teenager. Bette and I ended our involvement for this year with readings. I read my newest solo piece, Letter of Resignation and Bette read Next. It went very well. Nice turn out, warm response from the audience . . . all in all a nice way to end it (though we're going up on Sat. to see the readings and Rain Pryor). So 2012 has been an amazing theatrical year for me. From Old Hickory in Nyack to Like a Sack of Potatoes at the One Man Talking then Letter at the Fringe (unless my calculator is broken, that's three solo pieces this year . . . I need to figure out how to package them as an evening) No idea what comes next, but I'm ready for it. Actually I do have an idea what comes next: back to the writing. I've been negligent in the last few weeks (can't imagine why) but I need to go back to work on the Beulah piece, which is part three of my miner's trilogy, and I have some ideas for a new solo bit that might gestate into something. But it's nice to take a moment to reflect and appreciate. My daughter is safe in Peru (though Isaac disrupted her getting there) and all is well on the home front. And last but not least on the artistic front as well! In fact I just completed my application for New Dramatists, haven't done that for several years, but they made it easy - all electronic so you don't have to print and mail and all that daunting stuff! So . . . a day or two to be lazy . . . and then the great work continues!

First week at the Fringe

Today is the final performance for this week of It Can't Happen Here at the Woodstock Fringe. It has been going remarkably well. Audience response has been good and the performances seem to grow with everyone finding new stuff all the time. To be honest, I was a little wary of how this would turn out. This time last week we had yet to move into the theater which of course means that NONE of the technical aspects of the play had been addressed. It could have been a real disaster. But thanks to the vision and patience of Wallace (director/author of the piece and Artistic Dir. of the Fringe) it all came together beautifully. Of course, it involved lonnnnnggggg rehearsals (3p-10p Mon-Wed) but it was worth it. I worked half days on top of that, so my days were really long (didn't want to chew up too much of my remaining vacation days at work). At any rate, the set is about 16 boxes which are moved around during transitions, so the first order of business was choreographing that, and there are major sound and light cues along with projections . . . and . . . oh yes, we did rehearse the play a bit too. The first time we ran it in a stumble through on Wed. night I didn't expect much but it went very very smoothly . . .amazing how these things pull together. A great group of people to work with as well. The cast is pretty special (not to mention getting to do my scenes with Bette - my wife for those of you who don't know - it is just an incredibly cool moment for us). My daughter came with her fella last night and she was a tad freaked, that she was watching her parents play the parents of someone else her age . . . but she liked the production over all and said nice things about her acting! At any rate, one more today for this week, then three next weekend with the last one followed by my reading of Letter of Resignation (I found a bow tie to wear yesterday, now I need to learn how to tie it!) and Bette's reading of Next. More on all that soon.

Last Rehearsal in the City

Last night was the final rehearsal in the city. I'm very excited about working in Woodstock again; and though I won't be able to stay up there this time, the commute is just about the same, time-wise, as getting into Manhattan and when you're at Byrdcliffe everything just sort of tumbles off of you. It is a wonderful place to be. Wallace (for those of you not paying attention: Wallace Norman, producing artistic director of Woodstock Fringe and director of Old Hickory) has assembled his 'dream cast' (his words not mine) and it is a very very simpatico bunch of people. Victor Truro I know from the playwrights unit and he is a pro, been around a while and a sweet sweet man, Michael Bergen has been to the workshop a few times and I saw him in a play in last year's Fringe, he's doing wonderful work as well, and Alessandro Ciari, who plays my son is just a really deep young actor. He has a lot on his shoulders carrying this play but he's doing an excellent job. Bette and I play Alessandro's conflicted parents. Bette is a force of nature. Our scenes together with Alessandro (and later with Victor)call for a lot of colors and are very challenging, but being on stage with Bette is always special. We've worked together, three times I think, always memorable but being in the same play doesn't mean having scenes together necessarily but this time we do. We did a lot of scenes together in Ed Morehouse's class, which were always highlights (especially when Ed referred to us one time as the Lunts . . . that kind of praise does not come easily from him; I think that was a scene from Come Back Little Sheba). And I can't say enough about working with Wallace. An amazing person who wants nothing more than to make the experience of working in theater the deep pleasure it should be. He's a pro and he treats you like one (and is loving and funny to boot - he keeps thing tight and loose at the same time . . . no mean feat!) All he has to do is ask and I'm there. He is a lover of theater and of people in it . . . which is one of the things that makes us a 'dream cast' for him . . . we're all on the same page. Keeping the Fringe going for ten years is quite an accomplishment! I have to mention our two hard working interns as well . . . Clarisse and Stephanie. Can't be easy being an intern, but they seem to be having fun and they will both get acting credits out of this as well. So now a few days off and then we start intense work in Woodstock. I can't wait!

Rehearsals and writing

Time sure flies don't it? It's been over a month since I posted and for a while there I was doing it every day . . . life intrudes that's for sure, plus I don't want to post and say the same thing every time and the news right now is rehearsals for 'It Can't Happen Here' and poking around the ice on pond of my wrtiing to see on which piece the ice is thickest right now (which translates to, what do I want to work on). I did some work on Letter of Resignation, which I will be reading at Woodstock and I think it may be better for it. Nothing major, just cleaning it up a tad. I need to practice tying a bow tie, but I keep forgetting. Bette says he could wear a clip on but I don't think so; people who wear bow ties, wear bow ties . . . not clip ons. Though it woould be easier . . . I just need to get some reps in . . . Rehearsals for Wallace's play (It Can't Happen Here) are going well and are a lot of fun. For one thing I love Wallace and working with him is always rewarding; and Bette and I are having a lot of fun doing it too! We are the parents of a teenage boy with some issues and our first scene with him confronts him when he comes home drunk. The scene was really crackling Wed night when we worked on it . . . A bit of a pause on the Beulah play and there is another solo piece that I'm thinking about . . . we shall see . . . nice to be back to blog land . . . I've missed it!

An incredible year just keeps on getting incredibler!

After a brief hiatus from the mania of the first quarter of the year, the next couple of months is gonna rock! Bette and I will be acting in my friend and conspirator Wallace Norman's 'It Can't Happen Here' at the Woodstock Fringe Festival this summer, August 16-26. (Wallace is the visionary who saw promise in 'Old Hickory' and directed it) On top of that, on the 26th Bette and I will be reading the pieces we read this past May in the city after the final performance of Wallace's play. I always love doing my stuff at Byrdcliffe. The audience is supportive and it's just such a nice place to be. Can't wait! I'm also chipping away at a new piece (not a solo one this time). What's more: I'm having fun with it! Should be finding out in the near future about OH in the United Solo festival. If it is accepted for that, that's two more opportunities to live with that for a while ... I love doing that piece and I really want a chance to do it in the city again (it has come a long way from two years ago in One Man Talking!)

Keeping up

Despite the fact that I haven't posted for a while there is a ton going on. I have two new plays in various stages of disrepair, and there's work of course. The year that started so amazingly busy with Old Hickory and Sack of Potatoes back to back followed by the reading of Letter of Resignation, is going to heat up again soon. This summer Bette and I are going to do Wallace Norman's new play together at the Woodstock Fringe Festival in August. Shoud be fun! Then in the fall it's back to Old Hickory with performances at Arts on the Lake and (I hope) in the United Solo festival in the city . . . but I have to be accepted in that one first and I should know in mid-June. Of nearly equal importance is the fact that we went to see some new plays this past Saturday: a matinee performance of Other Desert Cities and that evening Clybourne Park. ODC was ok, but I had some problems with the script. CP was stunning. The script was outstanding and the ensemble was perfect. I'm just glad we saw them in the order that we did, if we had seen CP first we would have not wanted to follow it up with anything!

The new piece

Working on a new play. Basically going back to the third installment of my miner's trilogy to see what I can make of that. I'm at the stage right now where I'm having fun finding the characters and their interactions. Kind of loose undisciplined stage where anything goes. Toughest part is sitting down and doing it! I do have a first draft from a long time ago, which I may have to print and see how it fits with what I'm doing now. The basic idea is bringing the whole thing home with the closing of Beulah's, a bar that has been mentioned in both previous plays. I haven't gone back to that earlier version yet, but I probably should before too long!

Further reflections

My previous post was a tad light on the reflection, and contemplation of the horizon. Looking forward is always tricky, because there is what you hope will happen and then everything else that gets in the way. I do look forward to doing a play at the Fringe this summer (acting in one of Wallace's plays, not my own); and in the fall a few more performances of OH and maybe even performances of my newer pieces as well. We'll see. Old Hickory is tentatively scheduled for some time around Halloween with Blue Horse Rep; and I spent yesterday morning getting an application together for the United Solo festival in the city . . . And of course there is the writing . . . it's always there lurking under the surface waiting to give me a nibble to remind me I'm not spending enough time with it . . .I am working up to something . . . making notes here and there . . . might spend a bit of time with it today. And there is still the corner I've painted myself into with my hillbilly-gothic-environmental-disaster-comedy . . . So far the first half of 2012 has been pretty darned amazing so far, a hard act to follow.

A tad of reflection . . .

2012 is shaping up to be quite a year theatrically. Already I have performed three of my solo pieces (one of those performances was a reading but still) and fall promises more performances of Old Hickory . . . and who knows what else is to come. The activity already so far has been quite gratifying and nearly enough to keep me happy for the entire year . . . and it's only April . . . well May for all intents and purposes . . . so more to come and all I can say is bring 'em on! Need to get out and see some plays though . . . I miss that!

Letter of Resignation reading!

Looks like LOR is ready for its big night. Bette and I read our plays to each other on Saturday night and they both seem to be in good shape. And we're both reading on the same night, April 26th in the city; that's a pretty special thing to share. Bette has been getting very good response to her piece at the Fringe workshop and is nervous about unveiling it but she'll be fine. one thing is for sure, you never really know what you have until you put it up in front of people.

For my part, I have been distilling and tweaking LOR for a while now and it seems to be right about where it needs to be, maybe some modest adjustment here and there, but according to Bette it seemed to work quite well. One of the bonus points for LOR is that it is sufficiently different from both Like a Sack of Potatoes and Old Hickory that it could make a nice opener for either one of them.

I'd have to go back a ways to see when I started LOR, but the earliest version I took to workshop last year I think; and it was received ok, but it didn't have the focus it does now. It started as this guy with an employment agency talking about some of the weirdos who come to see him, but it didn't really have an arc; it was more of a this happened then this happened and only after I had let it sit for a while and I came back to it did I see what the real story is . . . it was all in there, I just had to find it.

So a lot of stuff I really liked got jettisoned, but I ended up with a very nice piece. We'll see what everyone else thinks on April 26!

A good writing weekend

I got some work done on two fronts this weekend: the hillbilly-absurd-environmental-disaster-comedy and the new solo piece. In the former I got caught up with the new stuff, typing it in from long-hand to computer; with Letter of Resignation progress on a couple of fronts, including a major breakthrough.

LOR had started as a comedy about a guy with an employment agency and the weirdos who come to see him. There was a dog-whisperer type and a deranged vet . . . it had its moments but I wasn't sure what it added up to and it sort of was all over the place. Then I did a lot of cutting (out with the dog-whisperer and the deranged vet) and started getting to a more focused story about the guy and how he got where he is and his dealings with a problematic mother and women in general.

But it wasn't really kicking it for me . . . it was a character I liked and the story was humorous . . . but there wasn't a real arc to it, sort of ambled along . . . and in the rewrites I started to get somewhere, in that it wasn't a story about how to deal with his mother . . . but specifically what happened to make him want to tell this story now/today.

Then something of an ah-ha moment this weekend. I was getting close when I came up with the Letter of Resignation conseit, but this weekend I sort of closed the deal. For now. I think. Instead of starting all light an general and autobiographical (of the character that is) I started with a hint of what is to come, that maybe this guy is saying what he is saying in the form of a 'letter of resignation' rather than getting to it on the last page or so. And the mother is less of a character and more of a problem, if that makes sense.

We'll see. I still have to type it in and do the reconstructive surgery, as it were, but it was a huge relief to get there. The reading is coming on up . . .

He who hesitates is lunch

So I got a tad bogged down and didn't get the environmental disaster play done in time for the competitions I mentioned in my last post. But I figured that there are plays I can enter into these competitions on my metaphorical shelf . . . and I look at the resource directory again to confirm the March 31 deadline today then check the web site of the Barter Theatre . . . guess what: according to the web site the deadline for their contest was March 1!

I sent an email to the theatre to see what's up but I don't anticipate much in the way of flexibility . . . maybe . . . we'll see. Had I entered sooner this wouldn't have been an issue, but now that I think of it I was hoping to have the new piece ready . . . alas . . .

All else is going just fine . . . not writing that much but I did ask Wallace about doing Sack of Potatoes in Woodstock this summer . . .and I need to get the word out there about OH. I now have the dvd of the Nyack performances and I can say I have a version that is something I can send out and be proud of (unlike the Woodstock version that was on a very stormy day complete with banging doors and all!)

This weekend I need to get the new stuff typed into Hillbilly Absurd and get cracking on the new solo piece for the reading . . . it's less than a month away now!

Funny how these things come together . . .

Sometimes you just get pointed in a direction . . . bit by bit things fall into place . . . I heard a news story recently that got me thinking about my hillbilly-gothic-aburdist-environmental-disaster play again. So I started looking at it yesterday and enjoyed it . . . so figured . . . what the heck? (Working title is Hillbilly Absurd, but that could change)

Today I looked at the Dramatists Guild Resource Directory and there are two Appalachian play competitions with entry deadlines of March 31.

So guess what: my plans of placidly taking a month or so to work on my solo piece for my April reading are shelved for a mad dash for the finish line for these two competitions, one at the Barter and the other is the Appalachian play festival in Ashville, NC. I've entered them both before but with kind of straight ahead dramas . . . this one is a bit off center so maybe it'll get some traction . . . either way . . . the gauntlet is down and I'm off to the races . . .

Were I starting a new play from scratch there would be no way of getting it done in the time alotted, but since I have the characters and basic structure in place . . . it ain't impossible. More on this later.

Also, I entered the WV Writers Conference competition for the first time. Sent in 'Where the Rain Never Falls'. We'll see.

This 'n that

Looks like end of May for the next performances of Old Hickory. That isn't a definite, as there are still 'issues with the space' but that is the latest as of yesterday. Whenever it is, I'll be there with bells on; and knives sharpened!

I spent a little time with my next project, the reading of Letter of Resignation (not 100% sure about that title). It will be interesting to see where it is in a month and a half; I could read it now and it would be fine, but there are some things that occur to me that might be ways to give it more oomph. It's about a lonely guy who owns a successful employment agency, who has just crossed a line/breached a trust and in telling his story is sort of coming to some self-awareness as to how to deal with the disappointment . . .that description may or not do it justice, but he does have life-long issues with his mother . . . and he has had lifelong issues with women as well . . . at any rate . . . it is what it is, but not yet what it will be. So that is my assignment, should I choose to accept it . . .

2012 so far . . .

I feel like reflecting a bit about what has happened so far this year. It's been a bit of a blur, things moving fast and gaining momentum and then . . . stopping.

That stopping is the big adjustment. You get so revved and work so hard for so long, or in the case of Like a Sack of Potatoes, not so long but so intensely, that it sort of takes your breath away. It was predictable though. You can't keep up that pace forever and once a show is up and running you get into a rhythm . . . or again, in the case of LSP: it's up on its feet and then you're done.

At any rate, the sudden stop can give you whiplash!

It has been a wonderful year so far, I have to say! Working on Old Hickory again to present it in Nyack was a joy (though I still don't know why some of the people that didn't show didn't show) and the fact that it was better and richer than before was a real surprise . . . felt like an old friend who you haven't seen in a while, but when you do you pick up right where you left off. Jumping right from that to LSP was daunting, especially since we had a bit over two weeks to get it done! Well we got it done and the result was very satisfying . . . but I do want more life for both of these pieces. Well, one of the beautiful things about both of these pieces is that I will never necessarily get too old to play them; especially LSP, so as long as I can be propped on a stage and remember the lines I'm there!

Oh, remembering the lines brings up an interesting point about Sunday's performance: I left out almost a whole page early in the piece. I knew I had done it the minute I did it, but there was no way to go back and recover without screwing up everything else, so I just kept going. No one knew the difference. Funny how many things you can process: I'm on stage in front of twenty or so people, saying the lines, creating the character and all the while trying to figure out a way of salvaging what was left out . . . it was a flash of a moment but while that was going on I was still in the moment. Couldn't be happier with the audience response. No one knew where it was going, they thought it was gonna be a family comedy, but then the screw turns and you have them right where you want them . . . you could have heard a pin drop in there . . . magic.

So a pretty good start for the year. And next? A reading of a new piece in April. Old Hickory again in May, no dates yet however. And in August is the Woodstock Fringe Festival, which I hope to be part of again this year. And who knows what is out there that I don't even know is coming . . . one thing I do know . . . after however many weeks away from writing (you can only do so much as I do have a job on top of everything else) I need to get those muscles in shape again . . . looking forward to it all!

One more day!

I guess you could call this 'Like a Sack of Potatoes' eve! At any rate tomorrow we put it up in front of people, come what may. We have been working this thing and working it hard. Now it's to the point where it's starting to feel like a real good fit. No more little demons lurking in the back of your head saying - you don't really know what comes next do you?

It's starting to feel organic, like something that should look easy. The only bummer is one performance and out, but this is gonna be a spring board to other things I think. I do think LSP and Old Hickory would make a satisfying evening of theater. After the reading of LSP last spring people thought the two characters were too close but after working on the piece this guy has grown into his own person. He's smarter than Jimmy in Old Hickory, for one thing. Also, Jimmy is acting out of a sense of desperation kind of, seeing only one way out of his problem; where this guy is much more intelligent, in an intuitive kind of way.

I think an evening opening with LSP and then following with OH would have a good trajectory too. LSP ends with a certain level of intensity and the OH opens with humor . . . before the worm turns . . . it would be a great one-two punch. That's what I was hoping for, to find something to have as a curtain-raiser for Old Hickory . . .

But ... we have to get through tomorrow's performance first!

May I say something about my director on this piece? Bette (my wife of course) has really taken what I thought would be a guy sitting in a chair telling a story and helped me give it more life in many ways. We have found some physical life that I think adds so much to the piece and we've basically treated rehearsals as a laboratory for exploration, for seeing what works and what doesn't. Almost all of her ideas have been good ones, and while I may have been resistant to some, I usually came around to seeing the wisdom in most of them. No surprise in any of this of course; she is a theater person and knows if as well as anyone I know. I'm in good hands and trust her . . . otherwise I'd have never asked her to do this. She has directed me before of course, so I knew what to expect . . . I'm going to go on that stage with a very strong foundation.

Would I have liked more than two weeks to learn the piece and work on it? Yes. But we put the hammer down and have gotten it done!

I've been very very lucky with these solo pieces. Wallace and Bette are very different in many ways; but they both share a love of theater, more than that really, a reverence for theater; and it means more than I can say to have people like that in my corner. Theater is a temple for all of us, the place we feel most ourselves and at home.

One of the images from the rehearsals up in Woodstock when we were working on Old Hickory, was the first day in the Byrdcliffe Theatre, when Wallace just wanted to take a moment to sit quietly in the space. You gotta love someone who loves this stuff as much as that.

That love of theater is one of the first bits of glue that bound Bette and I in the first place, way back when . . . it's a wonderful thing to be able to share, and to carry on stage with me.

Like a Sack of Potatoes - the saga continues

We're in a good place with rehearsals. It's work but as my character says in the piece 'work never scared me none'. In fact, there is not much I'd rather be doing. Now, if you asked me if I would rather had more time to get the piece together so we could go about it at a more leisurely pace, the answer would be a resounding yes. But you take the hand you're dealt.

I really think the performance on Sunday has the potential to be phenomenal. It is a very good story and when I hit it on all cylinders it should be funny/chilling in just the right way. I alway think in terms of 'the story of Jerry and the dog' from the Zoo Story, or even the entire play the Zoo Story. It sets you up with humor, yeah the guy's an unknown quantity but there are a lot of laughs at the beginning, and then the screw starts to turn and the intensity level goes up and by the time the play is over . . .wham! It has smacked you upside the head. At least that's how it was for me the first time I read it, and it's how if felt when I performed it on stage. Anyway, the story of Jerry and the dog is quite an amazing monologue and it takes the audience on a funny/dark journey into the mind of an amazing person. Had I never performed that piece I don't think I would have had the guts to start with the solo work . . . maybe . . . but we'll never know. Up to the time I started doing solo pieces it was absolutely the one and only time that I have had the pleasure of working an audience in quite that way . . . you can feel them start to change . . .

At any rate, Like a Sack of Potatoes, has the potential to be a real knock out. All I have to do is nail it! Rehearsals are good prep for that, you lay the foundation and if that foundation is solid . . . you're ready for anything.

Under three weeks to learn and rehearse a twelve page piece is a bit more of a cram than I might have liked, but I felt like the focus had to be on Old Hickory until it was over and then I could transition to the next one. And then after this Sunday I can focus on the reading in late April which, thankfully, gives me plenty of time to work on the script.

So exciting stuff. I went to a Self-Production Boot Camp at the Dramatists Guild last weekend. A very good program. Most of the people weren't doing solo pieces so the money they were talking about was a bit more than it would take me if I decide to go that route, but it is one more step in the process of wrapping my head around what exactly it takes to put up a show . . . there is a lot to consider.

I'd write more but guess what . . . I have to go work on my lines while I can!

First rehearsal of Like a Sack of Potatoes!

Started rehearsing with my director last night . . . that'd be Bette (my wife for those who don't know). It was exciting to start working on Like a Sack of Potatoes . . . and really nice not to have to drive home afterwards!

I have been working very methodically on learning the lines, shooting for a page a day and while I could do more, this way it isn't driving me so crazy. I should be off book by this weekend, and then it's off to the races.

We had a real good rehearsal last night. Finding the nuance in the piece, the light parts where the dark starts to creep in. Sometimes you come to these things with certain assumptions and you find that . . . well . . . sometimes those assumptions are just wrong! I have found that staying open to input from others can lead to finding great things that you might not have known were there . . . yes . . . even though you created the damn thing!

I can't wait to get this up and running . . . as of right now I have about two and a half pages yet to learn so I feel like I'm in good shape. And I am certainly in good hands as far as directors go. I've been lucky so far, I've never had a director who was an ass or who tried to impose his vision on my work (with the notable exception of the guy who was to direct a film of Damage Control . . . what a nightmare!)

Wallace set the bar incredibly high with his insight, vision and love. And Bette, who has all those things in spades (and of course directed me in Thirty Odd Years some time ago) is right up there with him. Our first rehearsal last night was smooth sailing and fun . . . work yes . . . but what would you rather be doing?

How's this for a schedule?

So now that Old Hickory is off the boards (albeit temporarily) it's onward with Like a Sack of Potatoes, which goes up on March 4th at 1 pm - two weeks from tomorrow. I am now into a rhythm with learning the lines, my goal is a page a day minimum and that has been going very well. I've always been a pretty quick study, the hardest part is setting your mind to it and setting aside the time for it. When I was learning OH I was unemployed, so I could spend three hours a day . . . every day . . . on learning lines; and I did just that. Now things are different, but I have committed myself to making it part of my morning routine and it gets done.

Something has to give however, and for now that something is the writing. That will change after March 4th when I will go back to working on my newest piece, which I will be prepping for a late April reading. And then hopefully some time in May Blue Horse Rep will be presenting OH.

Next weekend, in the midst of all this madness, I am going to participate in the Self-Production Boot Camp in the city; it will either increase my resolve to present my work myself . . . or it will show me just what an idiot I'd have to be to get into this .. . and . . . next weekend are also the final two performances of the Black History Month readings at the Nyack Village Theatre.

And oh, yes . . . we take my daughter back to school tomorrow . . . and I have a job that, though I like it . . . is pretty intense!

Things are popping and I hope to keep it that way!

Some reflections

It was so wonderful to perform Old Hickory again. And in Nyack! Best part is how far it has come since performing it a year and a half ago. The piece has deepened and I continued to find new things right up to the 'final' performance. Of course, there won't be a final performance . . . at least as long as I'm kicking! There is the promise of a couple more in May up in Kent (rescheduled from March 2011) under the auspices of Blue Horse Rep.

The audience reaction to OH was very gratifying. People said very nice things and the enthusiasm was heartfelt. From my perspective, I felt like I was in control and found the rhythms in the piece like never before; I felt at home and strong . . . like it was where I was meant to be . . . of course, that's only because it is!

Old Hickory is in fine shape. I'm participating in a 'Self-Production Boot Camp' that the Dramatists Guild is presenting next weekend (25th) and I'm sure that will lend clarity to what it actually takes to put something up and whether or not it is within the realm of possibility for me to do. At any rate, there is more life in Old Hickory and I want to build on the momentum from the Nyack performances.

Next up is 'Like a Sack of Potatoes' at One Man Talking on March 4th. Now that I have had a day off, I need to get back to learning the lines for that one. It's only twelve pages, but still, I have a couple of weeks before putting it on stage!

Then in April the reading of 'Letter of Resignation' and in May the Blue Horse Rep performances. All in all it is going to be a very busy spring!

Opening night!

Old Hickory opened last night and it went about as well as it could go. One or two hiccups on the lines but since no one noticed but me I guess you could say they didn't happen. The audience was warm and responsive and said some lovely things after. First thing I saw on Facebook this morning was a wonderful note from Joanie Hampton, a former co-worker from the Journal News . . . that really made my day! Saturday night has some big shoes to fill!

One thing that amazes me about the show now, two years down the road, is how much I continue to find in there. Just yesterday a different take on a moment occurred to me and I tried it last night and it got one of the best laughs of the evening!

So onward! One down three to go. I love this piece!

Hell week!

It has been busy. Which is why I haven't posted much. I guess I kind of forgot what 'hell week' was like, especially when you work for a living. The last time I was prepping a show for an opening (also Old Hickory as it happens) it was in Woodstock and if that was hell week then that's where I want to go when I die.

Living in the housing provided by the festival, getting up in the morning and walking to rehearsal in that beautiful spot . . . it was a profoundly happy time for me. Hell it was not.

This week isn't all that bad either, but I have been a little sleep deprived. Teching Sunday night and then running the show after a cue to cue on Monday then getting up for work in the morning and driving into the city last night for the WF Playwrights unit . . . let's just say I haven't been getting up at 5 am as per usual.

Things will settle down a bit though. We rehearse tonight at 9 then tomorrow at a normal time; and Friday night we open. This time next week OH will be a happy memory until we rev it up again, which may not be too long. The Blue Horse Rep folks are talking about a May date perhaps . . . and I am bound and determined to do a showcase in the city . . . either with OH as a stand alone or with some companion piece as yet TBD.

For now though I have some fun to look forward to over the coming nights. It's a heck of a lot of work, but what could be more worthwhile? There is just no feeling like being in the theater with folks you care about with everyone working toward the same goal . . . and that goal is to put on your play! I mean. Really.

It reminds me of a story about Edward Albee sitting in the theater as the workmen built the set for Virginia Wolfe, and Richard Barr, his producer approaches him and says, 'You see all those people up there working? They are here because you wrote a play!'

What a feeling!

Rehearsal in the city

We rehearsed last night at the Night Owl Studio in NYC. Working on my piece with Wallace is such a rush . . . that doesn't really do it justice, but it's a feeling beyond description. Whenever I think that I'm overburdened by doing this show and prepping another and trying to keep all the balls in the air and I must be crazy, I think about the days when I dreamed of something like this. Before I moved to New York and I had that dangling in front of me, teasing me . . . it's there if you want it.

When I finally made the move I knew I'd done the right thing. Hard to leave family and friends? You bet. But I never ever thought about moving back. This is my path, I've known it all my life, it just took me a while to get the balls to do something about it.

Of course, when I moved to NY, it was for acting. Though I had chipped around at writing before I had never actively pursued it; but once I started in earnest, and once good things started to happen, it sort of took a life of its own . . . and here we are. Writing solo pieces and performing them. With a wonderful director and people interested enough to come see them (I hope).

What a crazy ride. I'm loving it.

At any rate the rehearsal went great. Peeling the onion to get at the layers, finding new things, new beats. A great exploration!

First rehearsal in the theater!

Wallace came up to Nyack today and we spent a couple of hours on OH. It was great to get back at it! It's a tad of an adjustment getting used to a much smaller space (about a third the size of Byrdcliff)but it was such fun! Actually, I think the intimacy of the smaller space works in the play's favor; the communication is much more immediate, I hope so anyway. It was getting frustrating just running and running and running the lines, but the work paid off because I was ready to rip! Tues. and Thurs. in the city then back up here for Sunday through the run . . . I'm so looking forward to this.

New things coming up all the time, and that is pretty amazing considering how much we worked on it before! I guess that's what taking a fresh look will do for all concerned . . . a total blast! And with an audience there? Oh boy, this should rock!

Got notification this week on a couple of the competitions I have entered. The New Works Project at T. Schreiber Studio said nyet, as did the Jewish Play Competition.

The New Works was a disappointment, but then 'Dead Authors' did make the top seven out of a hundred and thirty some entries, which is nice affirmation. I always thought that 'Words of Fire' was a stretch for a contest looking for Jewish plays, but you never know. Anarchist Russian Jews plotting murder might just hit someone's switch!

There are a few others out there still pending . . . we shall see.

Can't get hung up on this stuff . . . you do what you can and then do it again!

I have plenty on my plate from now through mid-March anyway, with four performances of 'Old Hickory' and learning and performing 'Like a Sack of Potatoes'!

Back to back solo performances . . . interesting year so far!

Letter of Resignation

No I'm not quitting anything, that's the title, at least for now, of my newest solo piece. We'll see if it sticks. I got it to the point where I can let it sit for a while and come back to it with fresh eyes. My goal is to have it ready for a reading in May for Voices of the Fringe.

I was in a quandry for a while with it because I really like the character and couldn't really figure out the piece . . . I think it's in a semi good place right now, and when I come back to it I can sand off the rough edges. For right now I can concentrate on OH and learning the lines for Like a Sack of Potatoes (read it last night for Bette, Laurette and Billy, Laurette's boyfriend, first thing out of his mouth was . . . does this predate me? I guess threatening daughter's boyfriends with shotguns and killing son's in law is a touchy subject . . . for a daughter's boyfriend).

OMT 3

Got word yesterday that Like a Sack of Potatoes is invited into the One Man Talking fest. This should be fun. It's a good deal earlier this year, which could have been a problem . . . but I requested the latest possible dates in March, which are the weekend of the 16th. That will give me plenty of time to get OH done and out of the way and then I will have a month to focus on LSP.

I'm looking forward to it. The piece was well received in readings last year and I'm sure it'll go over well for this . . . it will be a slop learning the lines but hey, no one is making me write these things!

So 2012 is off to a good start. There is also the possibility of two more perfs of OH of course in Kent, originally scheduled for last March, and then my mom died ... hopefully that will be this spring some time as well.

My new piece I want to have ready for the Voices of the Fringe readings, so that's another thing, but it's in decent shape and I think I know where I'm going with it . . . we shall see.

All in all pretty sweet stuff.

A month from tomorrow . . .

A month from tomorrow is the next opening of Old Hickory. Looking forward to it. Should have a few rehearsals in the intervening weeks and I'm looking forward to that as well.

The lines are in good shape, and as an added benefit it's also getting me back up to four mile runs as that is almost perfect as far as running the show - though people might wonder what the deal is with this maniac running around talking to himself. At least I don't carry the knife!

Still no word from Schreiber or OMT. Have to just chill on that, I just hope the Schreiber reading isn't the same weekend as Old Hickory! But if it were Sunday night or Monday night of that weekend it would be manageable.

I have now landed on which of the three new solo pieces I want to focus on. No title yet, but I started it last year and even read it for the Fringe folks. It was a bit all over the place but I think I have figured how to focus it . . . at any rate, it's the guy who owns an employment agency . . . sort of a milk-toast with woman issues . . . I was looking at it this weekend and came to a rather startling moment of clarity: it is the one piece of the three that was distinctly different from Old Hickory. Not the guy-from-a-holler-bent-on-murder/revenge, but a troubled soul looking for . . . what . . . that is the question I have to answer for myself now . . . this is the fun part . . . peeling back the onion to see what's in there.

On a completely different topic: saw Matewan yesterday, boy did I look young! I guess that's what happens in twenty five years! I should blog about that soon . . .

Choices

So to further complicate things: I started a new play the other day, a multi character thing. Don't know for sure where it will go but it just gives me one more thing to have to deal with in the morning. So now I have three monologues in various stages of development and a new piece that is only about three pages in AND working lines for OH .. . a full plate that's for sure.

I better get stuff done though because if I get the opportunity to do the One Man Talking this year then that will mean spending time learning lines . . . Ah yes the artists life! I wouldn't trade it for anything.

2012: Looking ahead

Now that we're here, 2012 that is, it might be a good idea to look ahead and see what lurks in the bushes.

In the immediate term, I have kind of heated up with a new solo piece, it has caught fire and I'm having fun figuring it out . . . we'll see what happens with it but after several weeks of indecision it's nice to be working on something; I have another idea as well, for a two or three hander, that is intriquing me. I also have umpteen unfinished pieces to come back to so my plate is heaping to say the least.

Out there but unresolved? In the near term: One Man Talking is pending with Like a Sack of Potatoes and Terry Schrieber is pending with Dead Authors. Longer term (meaning probably hear in spring ie April/May): Not So Much to Ask is in the running for the Yale Drama Series, Playwrights First at the National Arts Club and Abingdon Theatre; Words of Fire is in the Jewish Play Series competition, as I have said before, though the principal characters (Emma Goldman/Alexander Berkman et al) were Russian Jews, I will be pleasantly surprised if anarchists plotting murder will win over some kitchen sink dramedy; perhaps a better chance for Where the Rain Never Falls for the John Gassner Award at Stony Brook University; and there are a couple of companies I've submitted Damage Control and That Lonesome Valley to . . .

I also plan to be much more on the ball as far as submitting my work this year . . . I have been remiss lately and want to keep balls in the air . . . nothing can happen if you don't let it.

Of course I have Old Hickory at the Nyack Village Theatre in my back pocket too. There are four performances in February, and it may be the start of a wonderful theatrical relationship between Richard and I and Woodstock Fringe. It's certainly off to a good start. Also on the OH radar is the possible reschedule of the two performance for Blue Horse Rep.

Then of course there is the continued involvement with Woodstock Fringe, which has been and continues to be very fulfilling in many ways, both in performance and workshop. Whatever form the festival takes this year, I plan to be part of it.

So much to look forward to and much to work toward, and as always I'm open to being surprised!