The Living Newspapers Workshop

For the past few weeks I've been writing (along with two other talented writers, Josh Koenisberg and Lindsay Gelfand)for the Living Newspapers Workshop.

To quote the press release:

"Using current events as its source material, with the aim of injecting social immediacy into the theater, The Living Newspaper is a live performance series that exposes a story's multiple angles and social implications."

You can read the entire press release here.

Emerging Writers Group on Novacast

Here's a video blog by Jason Eagan (Artistic Director, Ars Nova) about the Emerging Writers Group!

Emerging Writer

February 12 was possibly the best night of my life as I officially "emerged" as a writer at the Public Theater and presented an excerpt from my play RED FLAMBOYANT.

Here are some pics of my cast, who were all wonderful!

Thanks to all my friends who came, and thanks to Nora and Bonna for snapping these pics!

The Emerging Writers Group Evening of Excerpts

At long last we have arrived! I'll be sharing my excerpt from my newest full length play RED FLAMBOYANT on Thursday February 11, 2009.

Tommy, Can you hear me?

Amy and I attended the 15th Anniversary benefit concert of TOMMY starring the original Broadway cast. It was amazing! What a treat to see the original cast wailing away to the songs of the Who's famous rock opera. I directed a production of TOMMY several years ago for the Shelterbelt Theatre in Omaha, NE and I still remember everything single note of that music. The overture is simply sublime. During intermission I even got a treat while standing in line for the restroom. Des Mcanuff was standing right behind me. I immediately morphed into "pitiful little fan" and turned to him and told him what a great show it was and that I was big fan of his work. I'm such a dork. He was great, and patted me on the back.

Kicking a Dead Horse

I was invited to see the first preview performance of Sam Shephard's new play Kicking a Dead Horse at the Public Theater last night.

As I looked for a seat to sit in , Mr Shephard entered the theatre, and said "Hi" as he passed by me. It was surreal to say the least.

Out of respect to the play since it's still in previews, I will refrain from giving a critique, but I will say that I would definitely like to see it again once it's opened.

The photo is from the National Theatre of Ireland production.

The Harlequin Maneuver in Canada!

Just found out that my one act play The Harlequin Maneauver is going to be produced in Canada by the University College of the Fraser Valley theatre department for their director's festival.

Performance dates are April 23-27, 2008

The Harlequin Maneuver was originally produced by the Shelterbelt Theatre in Omaha, NE and was a finalist in the 2003 Strawberry One Act Festival at the Riant Theatre, NY

The play appears in an anthology called The Best Plays from the Strawberry One-Act festival, volume one.

The Drama Bookshop

I was at the Drama Bookshop last night looking for a couple of scripts, and as I was scanning the shelves, I saw a lone copy of "The Best Plays from The Strawberry One Act Festival Volume One" which my play "The Harlequin Maneuvre" was published in.

It was a little surreal to be in New York concentrating on playwriting and to stumble upon my play at the bookstore at that moment.

Public Theater Writers Retreat

For Sunday, all of the Emerging Writers had to write a short 3-5 pg play inspired by International folklore pieces that we randomly chose at our first meeting last Wednesday. At the meeting we also chose a director and three actors randomly out of a hat and Sunday we all met to rehearse for two hours and then performed a staged reading of our scripts. It was a lot of fun and the talent from the writers, actors, and directors just floored me. We had a good time laughing as we all got together on a Sunday afternoon for playmaking. I felt like a kid. I also have to give shout out to the administrative/artistic staff for the continued organization. Here's a link to some photos from our lunch, courtesy of one of our talented writers, Akin:

http://stanford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87004&l=656c7&id=803040011

I've been accepted into the Public Theatre's Emerging Writers Group!!!

I've known about this for several weeks now, but wanted to wait until the official press release was sent out to tell everyone my good news. I've been accepted into the Public Theater's Emerging Writer's Group, which is an inaugural program of the Public Writers initiative. All the info is below. I'm also directing a one act play called "Bonfrieg" for the Long Island City One Act Festival, so things have been quite busy.

Hope everyone is doing well in the New Year!

Here are some links to articles about the group:

Broadwayworld

Playbill

All That Chat

THE PUBLIC THEATER

ANNOUNCES MEMBERS OF

THE FIRST ANNUAL

EMERGING WRITERS GROUP

12 PLAYWRIGHTS SELECTED

FROM MORE THAN 700 APPLICANTS

FOR THE INAUGURAL PROGRAM

OF THE PUBLIC WRITERS INITIATIVE

Time Warner Is the Founding Sponsor of

The Public Writers Initiative

January 16, 2008 – Expanding on its 50-year history of developing new plays and cultivating new voices for the American Theater, The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Executive Director Mara Manus) has announced the 12 members of the inaugural Emerging Writers Group, a new program launching next month that targets playwrights at the earliest stages in their careers and nurtures their artistic growth by providing necessary resources and support.

With this new initiative, The Public hopes to create an artistic home for a diverse and exceptionally talented group of up-and-coming playwrights. The Emerging Writers Group is the first element of The Public Writers Initiative, a long-term program that will provide key support and resources for writers at every stage of their careers. Time Warner is the Founding Sponsor of The Public Writers Initiative.

The inaugural group of Emerging Writers was selected from more than 700 applicants. The 12 selected are Radha Blank, Leila Buck, Raúl Castillo, Chris Cragin Day, Christina Gorman, Ethan Lipton, Alejandro Morales, Nick Nanna Hadikwa Mwaluko, Don Nguyen, Akin Salawu, Alladin Ullah, and Pia Wilson. Each writer will receive a $3,000 stipend; participate in a biweekly writers' group led by Associate Artistic Director Mandy Hackett and The Public's Literary Department; attend master classes with established playwrights; receive career development advice and artistic support from acclaimed writers and Public artistic staff; receive complimentary tickets to Public shows and supplemental stipends for productions at other theaters; and have their work presented in at least one reading at The Public.

Artistic Director Oskar Eustis said, "The EWG is our effort to fling open the doors of the Public to talented young writers who haven't had access to the mainstream theatrical community. Writers are the lifeblood of the theatre, and the voice of the people – with the EWG we hope to give a new burst of diverse energy to the American theatre."

"As a media and entertainment company, we share the Public Theater's commitment to nurturing new voices," said Lisa Quiroz, Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Time Warner. "We are honored to partner with The Public to kick off the Emerging Writers Group—and the Writers Initiative—with these 12 gifted storytellers."

The Public Writers Initiative will foster a web of supportive artistic relationships across generations of writers that will influence the future of contemporary American theater. Many of today's most honored and recognized playwrights such as John Guare, Suzan-Lori Parks, David Rabe, Christopher Durang, Wallace Shawn, Ntozake Shange, Sam Shepard, Tony Kushner and Nilo Cruz have a long history developing their work at The Public. The Public has also produced some of today's most important plays and musicals, such as Hair, Sticks and Bones, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf, The Colored Museum, Topdog/Underdog, Caroline, Or Change, and A Chorus Line. The Public Writers Initiative will ensure that The Public's great tradition of supporting playwrights and playwriting will remain central to its future.

"We are thrilled to welcome 12 exceptionally talented writers to our home at The Public Theater," said Associate Artistic Director Mandy Hackett. "We launch this program with tremendous enthusiasm and look forward to nurturing new work from such a dynamic and promising group of young writers."

2009 Emerging Writers Group application guidelines will be available as of spring 2008. Check www.publictheater.org/artists/emergingwriters.php regularly for details on applying for the next cycle of this program.

BIOS OF 2008 EMERGING WRITERS

Radha Blank

As a writer, Radha Blank finds inspiration in the voice and rhythm of today's youth. In her one-woman 'dramedy' Kenya, which the Village Voice called "riveting...immediately alive," a teenaged b-ball phenom confronts womanhood, misogyny and loss through conversations with her dead mother. After successful runs at the Womankind Festival, Dixon Place and The Hip Hop Theater Festival, Kenya garnered numerous awards including New Professional Theatre's Annual Writers Award for Best Script, The NY Foundation For the Arts Artists Fellowship and Nickelodeon's Writers Fellowship. This New York native has since written for hit Nick Jr. T.V. shows "Little Bill" and musical series "The Backyardigans." Radha even spent a year developing "My Life Is A Joke," an original pilot about an aspiring female teen comic for Nickelodeon's sister network, The N. In 2008, Nickelodeon will premiere Papa Moco Jumbie, an animated musical tale she wrote about a Caribbean boy and his father who bond during carnival time. Seeing writing as a path to self-discovery and self-empowerment, Radha has instructed NYC youth in hip-hop, poetry and playwriting for over twelve years. She is a student of every child she meets and aims to use her writing to give greater voice to today's youth.

Leila Buck

Leila Buck is an Arab-American actress, writer and teaching artist. For the past nine years, she has performed her one-woman shows ISite and In The Crossing across the country and around the world. After five years training and working with Creative Arts Team, she is currently New York Theatre Workshop's teaching artist at the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn, and teaches dramatic storytelling with Al Bustan Seeds of Culture in Philadelphia. Leila has conducted workshops on storytelling, creating new work, and drama for cross-cultural engagement at conferences, universities, schools and cultural centers in the U.S., Europe and China. Her writing and performance work have been featured in Lebanon's Daily Star and The New York Times and on Brian Lehrer Live and WBAI NY public radio; her essay on Arab-American theater is published in Etching Our Own Image, from Cambridge Scholars Press. Leila is a founding member of Nibras and Mixed Company, and a Usual Suspect with New York Theatre Workshop.

Raúl Castillo

Raúl Castillo is a writer, actor and bass player (for the band Monster Rally). Born and raised between McAllen, TX and Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mex., he currently resides in NYC. A proud member of LAByrinth Theater Company, his plays City of Palms and Knives & Other Sharp Objects have been read at The Public as part of LAB's Barn Series Festival after being developed at the company's Summer Intensive in Bennington, VT. Raúl is a graduate of Boston University, where he studied with Derek Walcott, Kate Snodgrass and the poet Tino Villanueva. Raúl's plays Mosquito Street and a bill of one-acts under the title Border Stories were presented at the Kennedy Center-American College Theater Festival at Brandeis University. One of those one-acts - Death on my Mind - was published by Dramatic Publishing in "KC-ACTF Best Student One-Acts, Vol. 5." It was later presented by NOSTROS (L.A.), the Lark (NYC) and as part of the Cherry Lane's Alternation 2001 (NYC). Other past writing credits include Rebel Verses (NYC) and the Bloomington Playwright's Project (Bloomington,IN) with readings by Intar (NYC) and Teatro Luna (Chicago). As an actor, Raul works regularly on stage and screen. Recent credits include the world premiere of Jose Rivera's School of the Americas (Public/LAByrinth), a tour of Mando Alvarado's Throat, a lead in the feature film Amexicano (Tribeca Film Festival) and Cruz Angeles's feature Don't Let Me Drown (Sundance Lab Participant).

Chris Cragin Day

Chris Cragin Day joined the New York City theater community almost four years ago. Her childhood overseas is reflected in both her work and her hesitancy to answer the question, "Where are you from?" Though she certainly fits in the "emerging" category, she has had her plays produced at universities and small semi-professional theaters around the country. In New York City, her full length play Deadheading Roses was produced at the Lamb's Little Theatre in Times Square, and she's had numerous readings and workshops including Debutantes Anonymous at The Lamb's Theatre and A War in a Manger by Maeutic Theatre Works. Chris received her MFA in Stage Directing from Baylor University and has since gone on to commit all her time and energy to her writing. Chris currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband, director Steve Day, and their soon-to-be daughter, Kansas.

Christina Gorman

Christina Gorman's play Split Wide Open was produced at the Summer Play Festival in New York City and was developed with a fellowship at Ensemble Studio Theatre through its New Voices Program. The play was also runner-up for the 2005 Princess Grace Award. Her play DNA was produced at the Hangar Theatre as well as at the New York International Fringe Festival, where it received the award for Overall Excellence in Playwriting. Keep the Change, co-written with Joy Tomasko, was produced as part of Women's Project's site-specific extravaganza in the World Financial Center's 2007 Word of Mouth Festival. Christina is a member of The Torture Project Ensemble and with them collaborated on As Far As We Know, which was developed through a Drama League New Directors/New Works fellowship, produced by Uncommon Cause Theatre as part of the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival, and extended as part of the Fringe Encores Series. Christina's work has also been presented and/or developed at Women's Project, Lark Play Development Center, and The Juilliard School. She is a member of Women's Project Playwrights Lab. Her other works include Sacred Ground and Diary of an Adman.

Ethan Lipton

Ethan Lipton's plays include Goodbye April, Hello May (HERE, dir. by Patrick McNulty), One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (Ohio Theatre, dir. by Emma Griffin), Meat (dir. Ken Schmoll in NY, Tom Mansfield in Edinburgh, Steven Chabon in L.A.), and Hope on the Range (The Complex, dir. by Brian Kite). Ethan has worked with Clubbed Thumb, Buffalo Nights and Upstart theater companies and been a writer in residence at New York Stage and Film. As a songwriter and bandleader, Ethan and his band have released three critically acclaimed albums and played extensively in New York and beyond, most recently at the Prospect Park Bandshell and Joe's Pub.

Alejandro Morales

Alejandro Morales is the author of the silent concerto, sweaty palms, sebastian (2002 Whitfield Cook Award), expat/inferno (2003 FringeNYC Best Production), marea, and castle of blood (an adaptation of the 1964 cult film of the same name). His plays have been presented/developed at NYSF/Public Theater, INTAR, South Coast Repertory, Mabou Mines, HERE, New Dramatists and Packawallop Productions, a company he co-founded and runs with director Scott Ebersold. A collection of his plays was recently published by No Passport, a collective dedicated to diversity in the American Theater. His collected works is also available as part of a digital series on Latino Theater published by Alexander Street Press. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and an alumus of New Dramatists.

Nick Nanna Hadikwa Mwaluko

Nick Mwaluko was born in Tanzania but grew up mostly in neighboring Kenya. Mwaluko worked with Reuters News Agency in Nairobi and New York City. Mwaluko attended Columbia University under scholarship and attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop for a year. A Point Scholar, GLAAD COAD (Communities of African Descent) Fellow, recipient of several scholarships from Columbia University including the Helena Rubenstein Scholarship, J.R. Humphrey Fellowship for Dramatic Writing, Columbia University Fellowship for Playwriting, fluent in French, English, Kiswahili, KiChagaa and KiGogo, Mwaluko graduated Magna Cum Laude. Plays include: Waafrika (a trilogy), Are Women Human? Trailer Park Tundra, Ata, Asymmetrical Me, Basi Bwana, Once A Man, Always A Man and many others.

Don Nguyen

Don studied acting, writing, and directing at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. In 1999, Don became the Artistic Director of the Shelterbelt Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska and served until 2003. As a writer, Don's full length play Three To Beam Up was produced by the Shelterbelt Theatre. Don's one act play The Harlequin Maneuvre was a finalist in the Riant Theatre Strawberry One Act festival (2004) and was published in The Best of The Strawberry One Act Festival, Volume 1. Don recently worked with the Public Theater and Queens Theatre in the Park co-directing week 5 of Suzan-Lori Parks's 365 Days / 365 Plays with Rob Urbinati.

Akin Salawu

As a Stanford undergrad, Akin Salawu founded and ran Ergo student theater troupe which earned him the Sherifa Omade Edoga Prize for mounting culturally diverse theatre. In June 2006, he received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University's Film Division, where he was accepted with the Dean's Fellowship. He is also a two time Tribeca All Access Winner for his stage play You Dead Yet? and his screenplay Glory Masters (which also won the 2006 Columbia Screenplay contest). When not writing, Akin Salawu is a professional film and video editor and avid grassroots organizer.

Alladin Ullah

Alladin Ullah comes to the Emerging Writers Group after authoring and performing his one man show Indio, about his father's departure from Bangladesh during the 1940's in pursuit of the American Dream to an awkward arrival in Spanish Harlem. As a first time playwright, Ullah debuted Indio at the New Work Now! festival at The Public Theater. Additionally, Ullah wrote, The Halal Brothers which debuted at the Lark Theater. The Halal Brothers is a provocative story about two Bengali storeowners in Harlem at a crossroads in their sibling rivalry while battling their Islamic faith amidst the day of Malcolm X's assassination. Ullah has also developed shows for television - Showtime, Nickelodeon, and Imaginasian Network. He is a recipient of the Paul Robeson development grant.

Pia Wilson

Pia Wilson's Tree of Life was presented in a workshop production at The Red Room Theater in New York, and her short one-act Dressed In Your Dreams was a part of the Stagecrafter's "New Works Play Festival" in Royal Oaks, Michigan. Her play Do You Proud was a part of The Eclectic Theater Company's "Got a Minute?" play festival in Sarasota, Florida; while her play Whatever and Delicately was part of Groove Mama Ink's "Wonder Women Week II" play festival in New York. In 2003, Pia's short story "Dressed In Your Dreams" was published by The Summerset Review. The following year, a short film she penned, Blinding Goldfish, debuted at the New Zealand Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. It was also shown at the Pan-African Film Festival in Los Angeles and the Trenton Film Festival in New Jersey.

# # # #

THE PUBLIC THEATER (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Mara Manus, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 as the Shakespeare Workshop and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, productions of Shakespeare, and other classics at its headquarters on Lafayette Street and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through its extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, over 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public has won 40 Tony Awards, 141 Obies, 39 Drama Desk Awards and 4 Pulitzer Prizes.

# # #

Time Warner is the Founding Sponsor of The Public Writers Initiative, a program of

the LuEsther Lab for New Play Development.

The LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust provides leadership support for

The Public's year-round activities.

Bank of America is the Lead Sponsor of Shakespeare in the Park.

Major support is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The New York State Music Fund, The Booth Ferris Foundation, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Susan Stein Shiva Foundation, The George T. Delacorte Fund at the New York Community Trust—Fund for Performances at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and by Warren Spector and Margaret Whitton. Pepsi is the official beverage sponsor of The Public Theater.

Additional generous support is provided by Debra and Leon Black, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Starr Foundation, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Titan Worldwide, and The New York Times. Public support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; and the National Endowment for the Arts, an independent federal agency.

Cultural Partners include WNYC and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.

Pickle Press is the official printer, and Continental Airlines is the official airline of

The Public Theater.

August: Osage County

Tracy Lett's new play August:Osage County is currently playing on Broadway. I remember hearing about this play earlier this fall and wanting to go see it. Well, I finally got to see it over the weekend and it is one of the top plays I've ever seen in my life!

I had heard the running time was about 3 1/2 hours plus, which gave me some pause for concern, but then again Angels in America and The Kentucky Cycle are that long if not longer (and brilliant!), so I figured accept this since it has been getting rave reviews. Well, after the first act, I was a little worried. I thought "This is good, but nothing special." Then the second act started, and somewhere midway, I started to feel everything coming together, and the Genius that is Tracy Lett's came to the forefront. When the house lights came up after the second act, everyone in the audience roared with laughter and amazement after witnessing something truly remarkable on stage.

The third act served more as an extended denouement but even then, there were many secrets to be revealed and many times you could hear the audience gasping in disbelief and shock. Truly a great night of theatre. This is an alert for actors - especially actresses. Because of the Steppenwolf's belief in ensemble acting, there are lots of plum roles, and the complaint of there not being enough strong roles for women of (add age hear) years, well, the complaining should subside for a little while now. Tracy Lett's has crafted some truly amazing female characters of all ages.

Kudos to the Chicago cast for coming to Broadway and kicking ass!

Many people have speculated that this will be the frontrunner at the Tony's next year, and I have to agree. Time magazine just announced it as their top choice for best show of the year

Celebrity sightings at the show: Kevin Spacey, Paul Rudd, Julia Roberts, Bernadette Peters, John Stamos, and director Mike Nichols.

Terrance McNally Master Class Review

TERRANCE MCNALLY MASTER CLASS
Cherry Lane Theatre
March 5, 2007

It was a very informative hour and half meeting the man that I am a huge fan of. He is a soft spoken yet passionate man. He loves to write and he writes all the time. He started off by giving a short intro to New York theatre history and the Cherry Lane. Then it became a Q & A.

I've included snippets and quotes from him. Many of these are things one might already know or heard many times, but to hear it from a successful and famous playwright seems to hold so much more weight and authority than reading it from a book.

1. Producers do not like to read plays. They like to have them read.
This is why there are so many play readings in NY and why so many plays have multiple readings in the development process. It makes sense. Very little commitment from a producer. They just need to show up, sit and watch.


2. Make your own success and agents will want to work with you. The more success you have the more they will work for you.
When asked how a playwright goes about getting an agent.

3. You make your own success by doing the work. Work for tangible things.
Case in point: After Terrance McNally bombed with his first play on Broadway, he wrote another play for the famous character actor James Coco. James was a working actor that Mcnally admired greatly and asked him why he wasn't playing leading man roles? James Coco replied he did well and got very good reviews playing bit parts but no one was writing roles for him. So TM wrote a play for him but it was unproduceable. The odds were against them, with a role written for a specific actor that wasn't "leading man" quality and by a playwright whose was still trying to recover from his last bomb. So they shelved the script and worked on other projects. Than, as it happens in theatre, something always fall through. This happened at a theatre where James Coco was working and they producers said their next play of the season has been withdrawn by the writers for various reasons. James Coco was quick to give them the play TM had written for him, and it was produced and went on to great acclaim.

4. When asked about research, TM replied "I am greatly opposed to research. I would hope my writing made you believe I did the research"

5. People all the time say they want to work in the theatre, but I'm surprised by how many of them never go to the theater, and if they do, they only go to the big hits.

6. When asked what a young playwright should do, TM replied "A young playwright should form their own company to work and circle of peers so they can grow with each other. He then gave examples of many famous and growing theatre companies that started this way.

7. If the work is good, it will get done eventually. Your job is to get the play in the minds of actors, directors, producers, anyone that has a connection and interest.

8. Your life is your gunpowder, your spark - it is the quintessential bolt of lightning.
Case in point, TM wrote Master Class based on his frustrations as a playwrighting teacher at Julliard and he actually wrote the play while attending an event that was honoring himself.

9. On writing and directing, TM said his greatest teacher/mentor was Elaine May. She believed if the first 15 minutes of a play are perfect, than the train cannot derail.

10. TM also said Elaine May taught him to always ask "What is the purpose/action of any character at any given moment"

11. " Structure is what keeps an audience in their seats."


Terrance McNally concluded the night by reading some short passages from his upcoming play DEUCE, starring Angela Lansbury. The writing was, of course, wonderful.


:: www.thenuge.com ::

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting!

Belly Full of Anger: Filming day 1

It was cold today, but we all climbed into a little Corolla and headed to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for our first day of filming.

We filmed some wide shots of me and my costar John walking along pathways, talking, and training montages.

There was a beautiful little lake with a Pagoda and winding paths.





At one point I had to dive behind a bunch of rocks, which I did quite well, almost too well, as I slid into towards the creek on a layer of mud. Oh, the joys of guerilla filmmaking.

We shot on a combo of 8 and 16 mm film. Andre, our director prefers to shoot on this film stock instead of video, and he uses the older style windup cameras. There's something soothing about hearing the constant and consistent clicking of the camera gate, reminding you that you are being recorded.

The script itself, well, I haven't seen it yet but was promised one soon (after all changes are made) sound pretty funny and sounds like a

mixture of a typical 70's kung fu film and an Ed Wood picture. It also sounds bloody, as one scene calls for John to strangle an opponent with his own intestines! Nice. Till next time.

365 at the Public Theatre

Suzan-Lori Parks 365 Days/365 Plays festival Weeks 4-8 was held at the Public Theatre's Shiva Theatre last Sunday. We had our tech at noon - only 45 minutes. Luckily we only had 10 chairs for our set and our tech crew had already done preliminary work, so our tech went pretty smooth.

We had a fully company meeting at 2pm. There were five theatre companies total, and we pretty much filled up the entire theatre. It was great to see all these people involved in this project.

The day went very well. It was great to see what all the different theatre companies did with their pieces.




The audience for both performances (3pm and 7pm) really responded favorably to the plays Rob and I directed, and they loved our cast.

I was really very proud of them, since most of them were ESL students for Rob at Laguardia College, and most of them don't have any desire to pursue acting professionally, they were such pros during the peformances.



I think we were all a little surprised with how much the audience responded during our first peformance with lot's of laughter and such. What was great was the cast not pushing anything for the last performance. They just did what they had rehearsed, and not tried to push the audience for the same reactions. That's a trait that many seasoned actors still don't have.

My New York directing debut

Last weekend was considerably busy for me. Not only did I have the hong kong dragon boat festival, but the one-act play I directed opened at the same time. It was a good experience for me. My cast was great (three actors) and it was a pleasure working for Manhattan Theatre Rep. They have their own space on 42nd and 8th ave which is right on the edge of time square. The stage itself is no more than the size of my living room, seating about 30 people. That's the great thing about off-off broadway. The focus isn't so much on the production values as it is on the acting and the writing. I was pleased with how the show went and apparently so was Ken Wolf, the artistic director of manhattan rep. He has offered to let me produce and direct anything I want in the spring, as long as it's under 90 minutes. Right now I'm on a plane flying back to NE for the weekend to see family and friends and recharge my batteries from a very busy month. It doesn't look like it will lighten up when I get back, since I'm currently assistant directing a show called Foggy Bottom for the Abingdon theatre which opens in Sept. That same month I'm also taking a fight class with the vampire cowboys theatre, led by brotha nuge (Qui Nguyen) who wrote Trial By Water. In October I'm re-directing some stage readings of one acts that I directed last december for Queens Theatre in the Park. Busy busy busy. I'm not complaining.

Nuge

treonauts

treonauts
Originally uploaded by thenugespeaks.

Vera and shaka playing with their treos after our tech rehearsal today. Tech went well. We open in 4 days! This pic was taken with MY treo :)

ATW Director's Seminar

Today I went to the American Theatre Wing "Working in the Theatre" seminar on Directing. They had five guest directors there. Scott Elliot(Three Penny Opera, Barefoot in the Park) Doug Hughes (Doubt, Frozen), John Rando (The Wedding Singer, Urinetown), Leigh Silverman (Well, Wit), and Joe Mantello (Wicked, Assassins, Take Me Out). The seminars are televised, so when I got there they put me in the center about three rows back, to fill up the camera wide shots. The Recital Hall were it was taped is not that big by any means, and it was a surprisingly low turnout. Nonetheless, the seminar was very interesting and well worth the $10 to get in.

Doug Hughes reminded me very much like Orson Welles, just from his style and demeanor. He started off directing a series of original one acts at Harvard. He said somethig really profound which I liked. He said a director's job was to "force a consensus" He admitted it was a little militant and dictatorial, but he felt that's what a director does when dealing with actors, designers, producers, is to guide or "force" the entire group into agreement on ideas and concepts. He was very eloquent, and had an interesting accent that I couldn't quite place.

Joe Mantello started his directing career by acting at Circle Rep (now defunct). He said was was not happy with the shows there (I guess from a directorial standpoint) and so he basically stated he wanted to direct the next show there. He described Circle Rep as being a very nurturing theatre, and so they let him direct a show there which was very successful. That show then transferred to their mainstage (I think a year later?) and he said it was a disaster. Nonethless, they let him continue to direct, and the rest is history. One thing about Mr Mantello is that I can tell he thinks faster than he talks. You can see the wheels turning in his head as his mouth tries to articulate what he's thinking. His demeanor reminds me of John Gould Rubin, whom I assistant directed earlier this year. Consequently, they both come from an acting background.

Leigh Silverman, the only female in the group, was very articulate. She spent 6 years assistant directing and actually assisted Doug Hughes. Notably, Ms. Silverman worked with Doug Hughes at the New York Theatre Workshop. I think she was the youngest out of all the directors on the panel. She seems very saavy.

John Rando AD'd for many years as well, and couch surfed during those years as an assistant. He got to assist Jack O'brien (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels). John Rando is very unassuming and reminds me of a typical high school teacher. He's got a very trustworthy quality about him. Something about him puts me at ease.

Scott Elliot surprisingly started off as an actor doing broadway musicals for several years, in which he claims he hated it. That's when he became a director. He started his own theatre called The New Group Theatre and he states his first show he produced for $5000 and built all his own sets. Sounds strangely familiar. When talking about Assistant Directing, he had never done it himself, but has one that he always works with. She is 25 years older than he, and was a soap actress once, but she assists him on every single project that he works on, on and off Broadway.

The common themes of the director's early career moves was that they attached themselves to really good playwrights. Also, some served as assistant directors for many years before becoming a professional one themselves. It was also great to see Scott Elliot taking charge of his career by starting his own theatre and basically producing himself and creating his own opportunities, which is something I highly believe in.

Dinner at Sardis!

Hey, I get to have dinner at Sardis tonight.  Apparently a gentleman named James Chladek is taking the cast and production team out.  He owns several television and radio stations in NYC and Florida. He was introduced to Jorge (Exec Director of Ma-Yi) by Mark Druck, who is a drama critic, playwright, and member of the Dramatists Guild. They urged many of their friends to see TRIAL BY WATER and there is talk of giving the production another life and/or transferring into film.  At this point it's just talk and dinner.  But who knows, maybe something will come out of it.  As always, I will keep everyone updated!    ~ Nuge