It's not like I've not had anything to report . . . it's just that who has time for updates . . . sorry to anyone looking to follow.
Happy Days is going very well. It's a lot of work especially for Bette, but it's gonna pay off in spades. The tech team is all in place; and they are all people who worked on Old Hickory six years ago! How cool is that. The set designer is going to have much more to do this time around that's for sure. We met with him after rehearsal on Sunday and talked about his ideas .. . he owns a lovely place in the Catskills and we met in a room with windows on three sides all overlooking mountains . . . it was the most striking room I've ever been in . . . absolutely beautiful.
We're doing full weekends every weekend up in Woodstock and then on August 1 we move up there for two weeks. It won't be play time but it is going to be an unforgettable experience . . . and how do I know that? Because it already has been!
It's almost exactly a year since we started this baby and we're kind of at that stage where it seems like it'll never end, but it's going to get real crazy now as time accelerates and we get there before you even blink . . . or that's how it will seem.
Can't wait.
I sent something off to a competition in Chicago. They wanted plays under the theme 'Killer Instinct' so I sent my solo piece (which until yesterday didn't have a name) about the guy who leaves his love in bed while he goes to buy bread and wine . . . only we find out she is chained there . . . and when he gets home she has escaped! Anyway, I called it The Rumpled Man and sent it off. We'll see what happens.
Still thinking about new pieces . . . things are starting to fall into place, but more on that later (possibly much later).
Ciao for niao.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Thursday, June 2, 2016
June update
Here we are in early June. Hard to believe that in two months we'll be rehearsing in Woodstock full time, leading up to an August 11th opening!
Pretty exciting stuff indeed. Wallace worked his ass off last weekend on posters and mailers, and they look phenomenal. Tickets are on sale and people are buying them so, while we have a ways to go yet I'm sure it'll be here before you know it.
I called the props master at Yale Rep the other day to pick her brain about some of the technical aspects of the show. She was incredibly helpful and would have stayed on the phone as long as I wanted to talk . . . very nice lady. I asked about what they were doing with the props, but they are boxed up awaiting word on a possible move into the city. I'm guessing that if they weren't spoken for Jen (the props master) would have let me borrow what I needed, but so much for that! That production deserves the move. Diane Wiest was excellent and the overall production values were top notch, which I guess is what you'd expect from one of our better regional theaters. It would be interesting to know if they were planning/hoping for a move; that's a big expectation for the play, but with Wiest playing Winnie that sure don't hurt. Good for her if they do it. It's first class all the way.
Last year's production with Tony Shaloub and Brook Adams was a travesty so maybe NYC is hungry for a good production.
I don't see how that'll impact our production. People who don't want to shlep into the city to see it won't have to, and our production will rock on its own merits.
Ideas are popping for me from a writing standpoint. I now have landed on one of my older, unfinished plays that I liked the idea of but could never really pull off . . . I had an idea for it today that might add something pretty stunning to the mix . . . so it's something I'm gonna have to start working on in the coming days/weeks.
This weekend we are going to Woodstock for an early rehearsal on Sunday, and the weekend after that we are starting to go up for overnight weekend long rehearsals. Then August 1 off we go!
It is going to be a dynamite summer! And the doggies are gonna love Woodstock (and Wallace and Scott are gonna love our mutts!)
Pretty exciting stuff indeed. Wallace worked his ass off last weekend on posters and mailers, and they look phenomenal. Tickets are on sale and people are buying them so, while we have a ways to go yet I'm sure it'll be here before you know it.
I called the props master at Yale Rep the other day to pick her brain about some of the technical aspects of the show. She was incredibly helpful and would have stayed on the phone as long as I wanted to talk . . . very nice lady. I asked about what they were doing with the props, but they are boxed up awaiting word on a possible move into the city. I'm guessing that if they weren't spoken for Jen (the props master) would have let me borrow what I needed, but so much for that! That production deserves the move. Diane Wiest was excellent and the overall production values were top notch, which I guess is what you'd expect from one of our better regional theaters. It would be interesting to know if they were planning/hoping for a move; that's a big expectation for the play, but with Wiest playing Winnie that sure don't hurt. Good for her if they do it. It's first class all the way.
Last year's production with Tony Shaloub and Brook Adams was a travesty so maybe NYC is hungry for a good production.
I don't see how that'll impact our production. People who don't want to shlep into the city to see it won't have to, and our production will rock on its own merits.
Ideas are popping for me from a writing standpoint. I now have landed on one of my older, unfinished plays that I liked the idea of but could never really pull off . . . I had an idea for it today that might add something pretty stunning to the mix . . . so it's something I'm gonna have to start working on in the coming days/weeks.
This weekend we are going to Woodstock for an early rehearsal on Sunday, and the weekend after that we are starting to go up for overnight weekend long rehearsals. Then August 1 off we go!
It is going to be a dynamite summer! And the doggies are gonna love Woodstock (and Wallace and Scott are gonna love our mutts!)
Thursday, May 26, 2016
uh-oh . . . a new idea
Don't hate me for this: a new idea for a play fell into my lap this morning . . . but I won't tell you what it is! I know I know, why even bring it up . . . and I'll tell you why: that's what this blog is for! It's as much for me as for you, to track progress of things. I started it in the first place when I was working on Old Hickory in 2010, as sort of a production diary . . . so now we can track this new piece together and see what comes of it. It may be nothing but it may be something wonderful . . . who knows. I have had ideas in the past that went nowhere. I go back to them occasionally and find a way to make them work (Brother of the End of the World is a prime example of that), so who knows. I have at least a half dozen plays that were really good ideas that I couldn't end up bringing to fruition . . . a couple of them keep raising their hands and saying 'Hey what about me', and at least one of them I'm very interested in exploring again . . . but for now I've gotten the first breath of a breeze of a new piece . . . wrote down some ideas/impressions/thoughts, and it may come to something . . . or maybe not.
One thing that I find endlessly interesting: in the couple of periods when I have been unemployed in the last ten or so years, when I have had all the time in the world to write, very little has come of it . . . I've written plays but they aren't even the ones that I'm at all interested in revisiting . . . my best work is when I'm cramming writing into whatever little time I have between running and work and flopping in the evening . . . wonder why that is.
One thing that I find endlessly interesting: in the couple of periods when I have been unemployed in the last ten or so years, when I have had all the time in the world to write, very little has come of it . . . I've written plays but they aren't even the ones that I'm at all interested in revisiting . . . my best work is when I'm cramming writing into whatever little time I have between running and work and flopping in the evening . . . wonder why that is.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Happy Days and Last Request
What a pleasure to see Happy Days at Yale Rep yesterday! Dianne Weist was fabulous as Winnie. And it completely wipes the slate of the abysmal Tony Shaloub/Brook Adams version we suffered through last year. The trap with Happy Days is to make it a cartoon; but where the play really lives is in reality. It could be people sitting at the kitchen table talking, or the wife chattering away while the husband sits with coffee and his newspaper, it just so happens that in the play Winnie is buried up to her waist in Act One and up to her neck in Act Two . . . it's a stunning play visually and a real tour de force for the actress playing Winnie.
I think it is the fourth production of the play that Bette and I have seen; and easily the best. While the Gate Theater's production at Lincoln Center may have been its equal in a lot of ways, it was in a space way too large for it. You need intimacy, and Yale Rep had that. It also had Ms. Weist who was nothing short of stunning. The fellow playing Willie was fine. But he didn't really do so much to make it his own. He did what Willie is supposed to do in the script, but I can't say he brought anything special to the part.
I had never been to Yale Rep before, and enjoyed it thoroughly, and also enjoyed what little we saw of New Haven as well.
In other news I had occasion to dust off Last Request and submit it to someone today. The piece is nearly twenty years old and I had a hard time actually finding an electronic file of it! I was able to, finally though and did some cleaning up of it from a layout perspective. Didn't spend a lot of time with rewriting it, didn't want to go down that rabbit hole just yet. If the people I submitted it to have an interest then I can have a closer look.
Last Request was my first full length play, in about 1998 or so! I saw a posting the other day for two handers, and wrote to see about whether they'd consider a three character piece, since there is a ghost character in act two. They said they would so I sent it. My other two handers either are older characters or aren't a man and a woman.
We'll see. I think it's a good piece and the reading we did of it in '99 was very well received so hope springs eternal!
I think it is the fourth production of the play that Bette and I have seen; and easily the best. While the Gate Theater's production at Lincoln Center may have been its equal in a lot of ways, it was in a space way too large for it. You need intimacy, and Yale Rep had that. It also had Ms. Weist who was nothing short of stunning. The fellow playing Willie was fine. But he didn't really do so much to make it his own. He did what Willie is supposed to do in the script, but I can't say he brought anything special to the part.
I had never been to Yale Rep before, and enjoyed it thoroughly, and also enjoyed what little we saw of New Haven as well.
In other news I had occasion to dust off Last Request and submit it to someone today. The piece is nearly twenty years old and I had a hard time actually finding an electronic file of it! I was able to, finally though and did some cleaning up of it from a layout perspective. Didn't spend a lot of time with rewriting it, didn't want to go down that rabbit hole just yet. If the people I submitted it to have an interest then I can have a closer look.
Last Request was my first full length play, in about 1998 or so! I saw a posting the other day for two handers, and wrote to see about whether they'd consider a three character piece, since there is a ghost character in act two. They said they would so I sent it. My other two handers either are older characters or aren't a man and a woman.
We'll see. I think it's a good piece and the reading we did of it in '99 was very well received so hope springs eternal!
Monday, May 16, 2016
No morning pages
So much for morning pages. Since I wrote my last post nearly a week has gone by with nothing from the likes of me . . . ah well . . . best intentions and all that.
I have been bapping around some ideas for a new play . . . we'll see if anything comes of it, but stuff has been occurring to me and I write it down . . . and try to remember not to toss it . . . therein lies the challenge!
We had a very nice rehearsal yesterday and came up with a schedule for the rest of the rehearsal period . . . most weekends will be multi-day affairs up in Lake Hill, taking the dogs and all . . . should be a lot of work but should also be a lot of fun.
The majority of the burden of this play, for those who know the play, is on Bette. It's heavy lifting but she is absolutely going to rock in this.
So onward. This is a short note because I'm pretty f'n tired . . . but while hanging with the bunny it's a nice way to turn it inward a bit.
This weekend, in addition to rehearsal on Sunday is a trip to New Haven, on Saturday, to see Happy Days at Yale Rep, with Diane Weist. Should be interesting. Wallace said Weist would be his second choice for Winnie, with Bette being number one . . . the love and warmth that fills the room when we rehearse is really something else . . . what an experience this whole endeavor is . . . and if we can pull it off . . .
Here's a hint: we can.
I have been bapping around some ideas for a new play . . . we'll see if anything comes of it, but stuff has been occurring to me and I write it down . . . and try to remember not to toss it . . . therein lies the challenge!
We had a very nice rehearsal yesterday and came up with a schedule for the rest of the rehearsal period . . . most weekends will be multi-day affairs up in Lake Hill, taking the dogs and all . . . should be a lot of work but should also be a lot of fun.
The majority of the burden of this play, for those who know the play, is on Bette. It's heavy lifting but she is absolutely going to rock in this.
So onward. This is a short note because I'm pretty f'n tired . . . but while hanging with the bunny it's a nice way to turn it inward a bit.
This weekend, in addition to rehearsal on Sunday is a trip to New Haven, on Saturday, to see Happy Days at Yale Rep, with Diane Weist. Should be interesting. Wallace said Weist would be his second choice for Winnie, with Bette being number one . . . the love and warmth that fills the room when we rehearse is really something else . . . what an experience this whole endeavor is . . . and if we can pull it off . . .
Here's a hint: we can.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Morning pages
It just entered my brain pan that I could use my blog for morning pages, when I'm not hot on the trail of a play that is.
For the uninitiated, morning pages were a suggestion of Julia Cameron in A Writers Way as a way of working your way out of being blocked, sort of a way to keep writing when you don't feel the impulse necessarily. Her thing is ninety minutes, but since that's not going to happen anything at all is a way to work those muscles a bit. So who knows maybe I'm going to get regular with this stuff . . . which might or might not be a good thing.
So no particular topic for today. We took a few days off from rehearsing Happy Days because we were feeling a bit under the weather. Actually we were planning to rehearse on Sunday, but since it was Mother's Day and Laurette came out and surprised Bette by showing up . . . we haven't done it for a while. But now that we're back on track we should be able to get with the program.
We're all set for the summer, have our places to stay and are really looking forward to this. It is gonna be work, and it is going to be living on the edge to do Beckett, but this should be a really nice production. It sure feels good I'll tell you that.
Can't imagine what we'd rather be doing . . . 'cause there isn't anything we'd rather be doing.
Ok, off for breakfast and spending a few minutes with the Karamazov brothers . . . then . . . to work!
The only updates regarding Writer's Block are that, I finally registered it with the Library of Congress and now I'm sending it around . . . so far to Penguin Rep and Playwrights Horizons . . . maybe a couple of other people as well . . . then some competitions . . . and then . . . who knows . . . maybe I'll get an idea for another play!
For the uninitiated, morning pages were a suggestion of Julia Cameron in A Writers Way as a way of working your way out of being blocked, sort of a way to keep writing when you don't feel the impulse necessarily. Her thing is ninety minutes, but since that's not going to happen anything at all is a way to work those muscles a bit. So who knows maybe I'm going to get regular with this stuff . . . which might or might not be a good thing.
So no particular topic for today. We took a few days off from rehearsing Happy Days because we were feeling a bit under the weather. Actually we were planning to rehearse on Sunday, but since it was Mother's Day and Laurette came out and surprised Bette by showing up . . . we haven't done it for a while. But now that we're back on track we should be able to get with the program.
We're all set for the summer, have our places to stay and are really looking forward to this. It is gonna be work, and it is going to be living on the edge to do Beckett, but this should be a really nice production. It sure feels good I'll tell you that.
Can't imagine what we'd rather be doing . . . 'cause there isn't anything we'd rather be doing.
Ok, off for breakfast and spending a few minutes with the Karamazov brothers . . . then . . . to work!
The only updates regarding Writer's Block are that, I finally registered it with the Library of Congress and now I'm sending it around . . . so far to Penguin Rep and Playwrights Horizons . . . maybe a couple of other people as well . . . then some competitions . . . and then . . . who knows . . . maybe I'll get an idea for another play!
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Puttin' it out there
After taking my new pages into the workshop on Tuesday night, I feel like Writer's Block is ready to meet the world. With any luck the world is ready for it as well!
I took Playwrights Horizons up on their offer to submit it to them! Nice opportunity to have them see the work. I had invited them to the reading, they responded in the negative but offered to read it when it's ready. So I sent it. Also have sent it to Penguin Rep and Burning Coal as well. Both of these I have relationships with so we'll see what happens. Right now I'm angling for readings, but I just want to get it out there. Feedback is good too.
I'm going to continue to submit the piece as much as I can . . . all the usual places . . . and hope for the best. I like the piece a lot and hope that the twist of it being sort of insider look at creating a play might get some traction.
This is a short post . . . more later . . . stay tuned!
I took Playwrights Horizons up on their offer to submit it to them! Nice opportunity to have them see the work. I had invited them to the reading, they responded in the negative but offered to read it when it's ready. So I sent it. Also have sent it to Penguin Rep and Burning Coal as well. Both of these I have relationships with so we'll see what happens. Right now I'm angling for readings, but I just want to get it out there. Feedback is good too.
I'm going to continue to submit the piece as much as I can . . . all the usual places . . . and hope for the best. I like the piece a lot and hope that the twist of it being sort of insider look at creating a play might get some traction.
This is a short post . . . more later . . . stay tuned!
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