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!