moving on

Another Athol Fugard for me. With under four weeks of rehearsal (if I can get it cast before the holidays) and an opening on January 30.

First show for my (mission-less, structure-less) theatre company (vicious trap) and my first major directing gig in Denver.

The Immorality Act was an apartheid law making interracial sex illegal. Love-litigation seemed relevant to me again in light of prop 8 (and others across the country). So here I go, already in an Athol Fugard rut. This should be fun. And darker than the last one - if that’s possible.

It’s Boulder International Fringe Festival time. What a busy summer. This is following the (decidedly uninteresting) Theatre Communications Group and National Performing Arts joint convention and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference (which only Michelle can report on appropriately, if interested). All here in Denver.

Next week is the DNC, which will be crazy. We have Arturo Ui going back up, as well as the San Francisco Mime Troupe using our space, and possibly more - All part of our own Artistic | Political Convergence 2008. Who knows what else might happen.

But this week is Boulder Fringe, so Julie and I went up for two shows last night. The second, advertised as a Butoh piece, was a sloppy bit of performance resembling improv-style exercises more than anything. You win some, you lose some. The first piece, however was brilliant (and also butoh-influenced).

Performed by One Continuous Mistake (founded in Chicago by two MFA students of Naropa University here in Boulder), it was a Two-man production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, as de- and re-constructed with help from Shakespeare, Beckett, Sacher-Masoch, Sophocles, Genet, Camus, and Hitler.

It was the perfect mix of Three Sisters and Waiting for Godot (or Masha, to be accurate), to bring the dark subtlety of Chekhov’s piece into it’s absurd and broken proper light. Absolutely beautiful in conception and performance, with live sound/music from a third performer and an overall precision I haven’t seen in a while.

Inspired once again to create something, Julie and I decided there was no better time than the present to start a (third) theatre company. And thus: Vicious Trap, a theatre collective without a mission, vision, leadership, venue, budget, structure or plan for the future (save the whims of two “executive suckers”) is preparing to announce it’s first ever production. We are reading two scripts, and will start rehearsal on one of them as soon as we can get the Democrats out of our city and the hippies out of our warehouse in a few weeks. You’ll be the first to know what we decide on.

I’m back from tour in time for tech week on Brecht’s Hitler-analogy play. Looks like I’ll be Tech Directing (or some such) for this show as well. Good thing I have a whole week to build the ’set’ (15 dress forms, 15 hanging practicals, and 15 large banners). Should be a fun show if I survive till opening.

Tomorrow morning we pick up a trailer at 7AM, load up our set and head off for Estherville, IA. The first leg of the tour is just over two weeks through Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and back to Denver. After a day to relax, we’ll be at it again with a west coast schedule that isn’t settled yet.

The point is, we’re coming to you (unless you are Nicole or Kyle). We will be in Chicago all next weekend, with a performance on Sunday night. Then we will be based out of Goshen for the next week, performing in Fort Wayne on Tuesday and Goshen on Thursday.

Now I am going to go back and build the set. It seems about time to get that done.

So a friend of mine and I want to start a play reading group with some people that we work with (so we can more easily get together)–something to just keep us up on our theater life and get to know plays that we might not otherwise have read.  Does anyone have any suggestions for plays that must be read?  Honestly, I’m not much of a play reader when I don’t need to be reading them; I think she’s a little more read than I am as far as the ‘classic’ contemporary plays go since she’s attending an acting conservatory right now.  So does anyone have any good ones that have come out more recently (last 10 years or so…) or others that are just a little bit under the radar/ones that wouldn’t really be taught in school settings?  Let me know!!  Oh, and I just saw August Osage County and if it comes back to Chicago or goes wherever you happen to be, you should go see it.  It’s incredible (although the original cast will soon be done).  I’m also hoping to see Rapunzel by Kneehigh Theater this week, so I’ll let you know how that is!

So, the report. Nicole mentioned that I had a big audition in Washington DC this past weekend. It’s true. The audition was for 1776, a musical that hit Broadway in the late 60’s and was made into a movie in 1972. It’s known for having an extremely strong book, while the music is less known. This particular production would be at the Ford’s Theater (yes, the theater Lincoln was shot in), and I know the director, Coy, from previous city interactions.

Coy seemed to think this would be a great chance for me to get my feet wet, as there’s a small part (the Courier), that would fit me perfectly. While the courier doesn’t have a ton of action, he does have a somewhat heartbreaking solo in the second act. Long story short, Coy brought me down for the audition and call back. I saw him last night - we went for sushi - and he told me the good (sort of) news. I had been cast in the role of the Courier! I was one of the first people cast, and rocked my vocal audition.

Then came the bad news. He had just heard from the artistic director that the show… is not happening. The theater is in a $4 million hole, and they’re finishing over $40 million in renovations on the space. 1776 was to be the huge expensive show next year (around $2 million), so they cut it. It’s not official yet, but barring a miracle it will become official this week.

Though it’s a bummer, it’s a nice boost to know that although I had the advantage of knowing the director, I got cast in a large scale production. Hopefully I can take that momentum with me as I re-start my auditioning motor.

I’m sitting in tech for a show I’m helping design in Colorado Springs. I’ve been downloading and editing sound, video and images all afternoon - making changes as we go. Fun times in a dark room full of people with too much sugar and not enough sunlight.

The plan was to take our tour as far as Indiana to the east, and then hit the southwest, but it looks like we might get as far as North Carolina, and come back through the south. There will be shows in Chicago and Goshen if the rights come through for them, but I’m afraid New York has been covered by other companies.

In other news, let me know what you wish you could do on this site that you can’t. I already have some ideas of changes I might make, but feel free to recommend more in the comments here.

Hey all, I’ll do some kicking off here too.

Things have gotten downright crazy ever since I left the safety of gtown this last time around. And oh how safe it was. I loved getting to see those of you I got to see, and double thanks for helping me out with a reading of my script. Next up: some sort of fairytale? Have you all started your research? I haven’t.

Now I’m trying to coordinate an extended tour of My Name is Rachel Corrie, leaving Denver on April 11. It’s a bit of a crazy time-frame for planning, but I’m excited about the response we’re getting.

What are you up to? I’ve heard rumors of interviews, tours, auditions, extended runs of shows and more. Tell me about it.

Anyone looking for web design clients? I’d be glad to send on a few jobs…