It was a long meeting last night--almost three hours--but you wouldn't have known it from the energy and enthusiasm that was evident as we wrapped up our meeting. Okay, maybe people couldn't wait to get home, but I like to think everyone was still riding high on the excellent writing.
Seriously, all of the veteran writers have really stepped it up lately. And I know everyone was impressed with the two short plays that our newest writer Sue Bachman brought.
The only problem? Not enough guy actors! Buck Buchanan was the only one there, and with most of our plays requiring 2 or 3 males, we had to pull in some reluctant writers to read, including Phil Ginsburg, Jeff Schmoyer and myself.
So while we're open to all actors regardless of age, gender, experience level, etc., I'd really like to encourage any male actors out there to join our merry band. I can guarantee you'll get lots of opportunities to perform.
We started the night with a few scenes from Phil Ginsburg's full-length Women of the Book. The monologues by Rahab, Mary Magdalene and two other women from the Bible were well-drawn.
Next up were the latest pages from Tim Phillips' girl band drama The Decibelles. It was fun to get our first look at the girls' teenage selves.
After that we read the first of two short plays by Sue Bachman, Window of the Soul. This one was about an optometrist who's approached by a mysterious patient. The twist ending was quite clever and I'm sure it surprised everyone.
Next up came the end of David Overbey's internet drama 00:00. This play covers a lot of ground in its tale of a digital media professor who gets involved with a prostitute, especially in its discussion of the internet and how it has permanently changed the nature of relationships. I encouraged him to expand this 40-minute piece into a full-length play.
That was followed by the first part of my new full-length comedy, Butterfly Effect. The feedback was very useful in helping me delineate the personalities of the uptight protagonist and the boorish co-worker who threatens to ruin his meticulously planned cocktail party.
We finished up with Sue's second play, Fasten Your Seatbelts, a heartwarming comedy about an old married Jewish couple on a place who believe they're going to crash.
And I'd like to give a big welcome to our newest actors, Hannah Rockey and Tracy Hunziker.
More on the move. Jim Jackson told me that the MAT will be out of the Pecan Street building on June 1. That means our June 10 meeting will be our first at the new location in the former Ivywild Community Church, 1626 S. Tejon St. Jim cautioned that there will be quite a bit of construction for a while so we may need to get creative with our readings for the first couple months.
The good news is that the new venue is right across from the street from Bristol Brewing. So you know what that means.
That's right. A monthly post-meeting meeting to drink beer and talk theatre.
I can't wait.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Out in the cold
When I arrived at the Millibo Art Theatre for our monthly meeting last night, a dreaded feeling settled over me. The theater was completely dark.
Had I gotten the date wrong? Apparently not, because there, in front of the theater, were several intrepid writers and actors huddled in their cars.
No, good ol' Jim had forgotten about us (first time too!). Fortunately, I was able to get him on the phone and he zipped over from his home to open the door for us. Good thing too, because the temperature was in the single digits.
Things quickly turned cozy once we got inside though. I laid out the buttery cookies I brought from Boonzaaijer's (you really gotta try this place) and Jim promptly had a hot pot of coffee brewing. Better yet, we had 15 warm bodies to fill the place.
The meeting went fantastically well. We were delighted to welcome one new writer--the great Phil Ginsburg--who I've been trying to reel in for over a year, and one new reader, the equally great Ashley Crockett.
We started with Jeff Schmoyer's suicide piece, Back From the Dead. He was worried it would be too somber, but it got some of the biggest laughs of the evening. Jeff did a great job balancing the dark stuff with the light stuff. I know I can't wait to see more of his writing in the future.
Next we read a brief scene from Tim Phillips' edgy girl band drama The Decibelles. The characters are really starting to show some depth here, and the dialogue is taking on a fun, sassy tone. We even got a bit of a song. I can't wait to see the road this takes.
After that we read Crypto-Spam, a really innovative piece by Phil. In it, a family argues over an inheritance while speaking only in sentences Phil collected from email spam. There were lot of laughs here too.
We turned a little darker with a new section from Katherine Gee's full-length play Selkie, which is based on the Orkney myth of the seal-wife. Everyone found it quite beautiful and haunting.
Sadly, Katherine announced that she and her husband will be moving to Seattle in a couple months, but at least we'll get to hear the end of her piece before she leaves.
We wrapped up the evening with my 10-minute comedy, How Not to Behave at the Theatre. I wrote it as a fun way to communicate the "turn off your cell phones and pagers" warning at the start of a play. It turns out the play needs a lot of tightening, both in the length and the number of characters.
I also had a big announcement. I'm going to be producing a full-blown production of my backstage farce, Kill the Critic! We read it last summer and people really seemed to like it. It's got a lot of physical comedy, however, so it'll be quite a feat to pull off.
Fortunately, I can count on the very capable assistance of Drama Lab member Nancy Holaday, who has agreed to direct it. Believe it or not, she has cast a professional stuntman as the critic. The poor guy is also a trained fight choreographer, which will come in handy when we work through all the physical comedy.
Oh, and I can't forget the eminently talented Karann Goettsch, who'll play the cougarish diva Sylvia.
The show runs June 28-29 at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts in Palmer Lake. For more info, click here.
I also brought up one issue for discussion. We've been steadily growing over the last year, which is a truly wonderful thing. Unfortunately, it also presents a challenge: how do we fit an increasingly number of plays into our one-evening-a-month format?
I originally had seven writers scheduled for this month's meeting, but two had to drop out at the last minute. Still, it's only a matter of time before we have to come up with some solution.
I thought of four:
1) Meet twice a month. This gives everyone a chance to get read, but would be a lot to ask of Jim and may require us to cough up more rent.
2) Cut back to 10 pages per playwright per meeting. This was roundly rejected by the attendees as it would take forever to get through a full-length play, which more and more of our writers are tackling. It would also make it harders for audience members to follow the flow of the play.
3) Run the meeting as long as it takes. This also met with some resistance. Two and a half hours seems to be the limit for people's attention, and there just won't be any useful response to feedback after that point.
4) Limit each meeting to five or six plays. This seemed to be the most popular option, although it means that some people won't get read at a particular meeting. I would have to work out how to decide who gets in and who doesn't. First come, first served is the obvious answer, but then where would I fit in the mix (after all, I'm the first to let me know what play I'll be bringing!)?
Anyway, we can discuss this some more at future meetings. If you have any additional comments or alternate suggestions (please!), you can always email me.
See you all next month. And let's hope it's a whole lot warmer!
Had I gotten the date wrong? Apparently not, because there, in front of the theater, were several intrepid writers and actors huddled in their cars.
No, good ol' Jim had forgotten about us (first time too!). Fortunately, I was able to get him on the phone and he zipped over from his home to open the door for us. Good thing too, because the temperature was in the single digits.
Things quickly turned cozy once we got inside though. I laid out the buttery cookies I brought from Boonzaaijer's (you really gotta try this place) and Jim promptly had a hot pot of coffee brewing. Better yet, we had 15 warm bodies to fill the place.
The meeting went fantastically well. We were delighted to welcome one new writer--the great Phil Ginsburg--who I've been trying to reel in for over a year, and one new reader, the equally great Ashley Crockett.
We started with Jeff Schmoyer's suicide piece, Back From the Dead. He was worried it would be too somber, but it got some of the biggest laughs of the evening. Jeff did a great job balancing the dark stuff with the light stuff. I know I can't wait to see more of his writing in the future.
Next we read a brief scene from Tim Phillips' edgy girl band drama The Decibelles. The characters are really starting to show some depth here, and the dialogue is taking on a fun, sassy tone. We even got a bit of a song. I can't wait to see the road this takes.
After that we read Crypto-Spam, a really innovative piece by Phil. In it, a family argues over an inheritance while speaking only in sentences Phil collected from email spam. There were lot of laughs here too.
We turned a little darker with a new section from Katherine Gee's full-length play Selkie, which is based on the Orkney myth of the seal-wife. Everyone found it quite beautiful and haunting.
Sadly, Katherine announced that she and her husband will be moving to Seattle in a couple months, but at least we'll get to hear the end of her piece before she leaves.
We wrapped up the evening with my 10-minute comedy, How Not to Behave at the Theatre. I wrote it as a fun way to communicate the "turn off your cell phones and pagers" warning at the start of a play. It turns out the play needs a lot of tightening, both in the length and the number of characters.
I also had a big announcement. I'm going to be producing a full-blown production of my backstage farce, Kill the Critic! We read it last summer and people really seemed to like it. It's got a lot of physical comedy, however, so it'll be quite a feat to pull off.
Fortunately, I can count on the very capable assistance of Drama Lab member Nancy Holaday, who has agreed to direct it. Believe it or not, she has cast a professional stuntman as the critic. The poor guy is also a trained fight choreographer, which will come in handy when we work through all the physical comedy.
Oh, and I can't forget the eminently talented Karann Goettsch, who'll play the cougarish diva Sylvia.
The show runs June 28-29 at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts in Palmer Lake. For more info, click here.
I also brought up one issue for discussion. We've been steadily growing over the last year, which is a truly wonderful thing. Unfortunately, it also presents a challenge: how do we fit an increasingly number of plays into our one-evening-a-month format?
I originally had seven writers scheduled for this month's meeting, but two had to drop out at the last minute. Still, it's only a matter of time before we have to come up with some solution.
I thought of four:
1) Meet twice a month. This gives everyone a chance to get read, but would be a lot to ask of Jim and may require us to cough up more rent.
2) Cut back to 10 pages per playwright per meeting. This was roundly rejected by the attendees as it would take forever to get through a full-length play, which more and more of our writers are tackling. It would also make it harders for audience members to follow the flow of the play.
3) Run the meeting as long as it takes. This also met with some resistance. Two and a half hours seems to be the limit for people's attention, and there just won't be any useful response to feedback after that point.
4) Limit each meeting to five or six plays. This seemed to be the most popular option, although it means that some people won't get read at a particular meeting. I would have to work out how to decide who gets in and who doesn't. First come, first served is the obvious answer, but then where would I fit in the mix (after all, I'm the first to let me know what play I'll be bringing!)?
Anyway, we can discuss this some more at future meetings. If you have any additional comments or alternate suggestions (please!), you can always email me.
See you all next month. And let's hope it's a whole lot warmer!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
An avalanche of envelopes
When we stepped into the Millibo Art Theatre for our monthly meeting last night, we were immediately overwhelmed by envelopes. Great stacks of them everywhere. On the ticker counter. On the merch table. Covering a card table they set up for the day. I mean everywhere.
Turns out Jim and crew were sending out the annual newsletter to the 3000 people on their mailing list. And they had big news to share.
As part of this year's IndyGive campaign, they're trying to raise $10,250 to help them move into an expanded space at the new Ivywild urban development district. The new space will include a state-of-the-art theater with seating for 120 as well as dedicated rehearsal and classroom spaces.
Not to mention space for Colorado Springs' biggest and most exciting playwriting group.
If you'd like to contribute to this ultra-worthy cause, visit the MAT's IndyGive page.
Oh yeah. The meeting. We had 11 attendees, which isn't bad considering how busy everyone is this time of year, and 6 of those were writers (including the playwriting team of Mark and Lauren Arnest).
We started out with Charlie Ammen's 10-minute relationship drama Daddy. He revised it one last time to make the protagonist more active. But now he's done with the piece and wants to see it produced before he makes any more changes.
We followed that with the second part of David Overbey's full-length drama, 00:00. This one's hard to categorize, but it's about a media studies professor who's unable to relate to anyone except a wisecracking prostitute. It's been interesting seeing this one develop.
Next up was the end of Mark and Lauren Arnest's one-act comedy The Cafeteria. This dystopian view of corporate culture seemed polished already--and it should, as it's been produced before--but the Arnests came away with some ideas to heighten the tension at the end.
And we finished up with part 2 of my restaurant farce, Chef's Surprise. I still don't know where I'm going with this thing and still just taking it scene by scene. But there was a rather lengthy discussion of the proper pronunciation of bearnaise sauce and how to exploit it for the purposes of a (very bad) pun.
After the meeting, Jim mentioned that the MAT has had a good run of 10 minutes plays and would now like to try something different. That's why they're going to start looking for one-acts next year. If you have anything ready for them, they'd be happy to take a look at it. Just bring it by to one of our meeting.
Finally, if you're looking for something to see this holiday season, you might be interested in the Christmas drama A Candle in the Window, which runs December 13 to 15 at the University School of Colorado Springs. Drama Lab member Nancy Holaday is directing and Buck Buchanan is one of the leads. For more info, click here.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Slow but steady
They said it couldn't be done, but we did it. Last night, we read six scripts in 2 1/2 hours. And what a great lineup it was, too.
We started with Daddy, a 10-minute relationship dramedy by one of our new writers Charlie Ammen. Next up was the first part of The Cafeteria, a dystopian business comedy by our other new writers Mark and Lauren Arnest. After that came the third part of The Decibelles, the edgy girl band musical by Tim Phillips. We moved on from there to the beginning of Chef's Surprise, a one-act restaurant farce by me. Next we read the first part of Selkie, a musical drama which co-writer Katherine Perrone based on the Scottish folktale The Seal Wife. And we wrapped up with the first part of 00:00, an experimental drama about a lonely professor by David Overbey.
Whew! A lot of scripts--some moving, some funny--but all wonderful.
Of course, to get out of there by 9:30pm, I had to keep discussion to 10 minutes per play, but it seemed to work. The pace of the evening stayed light and brisk, and all of the writers got great feedback. It seems like all the best ideas come out in the first 10 minutes anyway.
And with all seven writers signed up to bring something next month it looks like it'll be another full night on December 10.
For this reason, I'll keep to the 10 minute rule. And I'd also like to cut back on the number of pages per play from 20 to 15.
Sure, it'll take longer to get through each play. But if you think about it, each writer will end up with more feedback because we'll be breaking each play into more bits.
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. We had a total attendance of 13, with one new actor, Katherine's husband Matt, who showed a real flair for accents as a gloomy Russian waiter.
Anyway, thanks to all who came. And thanks too for bearing with me as we manage our slow but steady growth.
We started with Daddy, a 10-minute relationship dramedy by one of our new writers Charlie Ammen. Next up was the first part of The Cafeteria, a dystopian business comedy by our other new writers Mark and Lauren Arnest. After that came the third part of The Decibelles, the edgy girl band musical by Tim Phillips. We moved on from there to the beginning of Chef's Surprise, a one-act restaurant farce by me. Next we read the first part of Selkie, a musical drama which co-writer Katherine Perrone based on the Scottish folktale The Seal Wife. And we wrapped up with the first part of 00:00, an experimental drama about a lonely professor by David Overbey.
Whew! A lot of scripts--some moving, some funny--but all wonderful.
Of course, to get out of there by 9:30pm, I had to keep discussion to 10 minutes per play, but it seemed to work. The pace of the evening stayed light and brisk, and all of the writers got great feedback. It seems like all the best ideas come out in the first 10 minutes anyway.
And with all seven writers signed up to bring something next month it looks like it'll be another full night on December 10.
For this reason, I'll keep to the 10 minute rule. And I'd also like to cut back on the number of pages per play from 20 to 15.
Sure, it'll take longer to get through each play. But if you think about it, each writer will end up with more feedback because we'll be breaking each play into more bits.
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. We had a total attendance of 13, with one new actor, Katherine's husband Matt, who showed a real flair for accents as a gloomy Russian waiter.
Anyway, thanks to all who came. And thanks too for bearing with me as we manage our slow but steady growth.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
All paid up
We had a small group last night, just ten of us, but we read some really good plays and heard some excellent performances.
I was especially glad to welcome Mark and Lauren Arnest back to our cozy group. Both have written for the Gazette (Mark was the arts writer for many years), and together they've written several produced plays. Their short comedy The Shrine of Blowbar was performed as part of FourPlay last year at the MAT and their full-length farce Maynard Dines In premiered a decade ago in Midland, Texas after being named runner-up in the McLaren Memorial Comedy Play Writing Competition. They promise to bring some of their stuff to next month's meeting.
Last night was a first of sorts: all of the plays were full-length. We opened with the start of Katherine Perrone's gritty child abuse drama Jade. We followed that with the start of Tim Phillips' rockin' girl band drama The Decibelles. And we wrapped up with the end of my backstage farce Kill the Critic!
There was some discussion of doing a full production of Kill the Critic!, if we can find someone willing to put up with all the physical abuse as the dead theatre critic. So keep your eyes open for developments on that front.
One big piece of news. I've now collected dues from 12 members, which means we've covered our rental cost at the MAT for a year. Any dues we collect from future members will be split between MAT and the Drama Lab and will go towards all sorts of edible goodies. Thanks to all for your prompt payments!
I was especially glad to welcome Mark and Lauren Arnest back to our cozy group. Both have written for the Gazette (Mark was the arts writer for many years), and together they've written several produced plays. Their short comedy The Shrine of Blowbar was performed as part of FourPlay last year at the MAT and their full-length farce Maynard Dines In premiered a decade ago in Midland, Texas after being named runner-up in the McLaren Memorial Comedy Play Writing Competition. They promise to bring some of their stuff to next month's meeting.
Last night was a first of sorts: all of the plays were full-length. We opened with the start of Katherine Perrone's gritty child abuse drama Jade. We followed that with the start of Tim Phillips' rockin' girl band drama The Decibelles. And we wrapped up with the end of my backstage farce Kill the Critic!
There was some discussion of doing a full production of Kill the Critic!, if we can find someone willing to put up with all the physical abuse as the dead theatre critic. So keep your eyes open for developments on that front.
One big piece of news. I've now collected dues from 12 members, which means we've covered our rental cost at the MAT for a year. Any dues we collect from future members will be split between MAT and the Drama Lab and will go towards all sorts of edible goodies. Thanks to all for your prompt payments!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Sarah rules
Theatreworks usually has interesting guests for their Prologue Lecture series, but next month's offering promises to be a blockbuster. They're going to host Sarah Ruhl, the Pulitzer- and Tony-nominated playwright of In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play, Eurydice, The Clean House and Dead Man's Cell Phone.
Unfortunately, they scheduled it for Monday, October 8, the same night as our next Drama Lab meeting (don't they check these things?). Sarah Ruhl is a must-see for our writers, and probably a large chunk of our actors, so I'm postponing Drama Lab until Monday, October 15.
I think it would be fun to go to the Sarah Ruhl talk as a group. The problem is that she's going to draw a TON of people. Kevin Landis of Theatreworks has already heard from one high school drama teacher in Denver who's planning to bring her entire class of students. He promised that everyone who wants to see Ruhl will see her, but I'm not sure how he plans to do that.
To be on the safe side then, we'll probably need to get there early. If you're interested in joining me, let me know. We'll figure something out.
For more info on the talk, visit the Theatreworks web site.
I think it would be fun to go to the Sarah Ruhl talk as a group. The problem is that she's going to draw a TON of people. Kevin Landis of Theatreworks has already heard from one high school drama teacher in Denver who's planning to bring her entire class of students. He promised that everyone who wants to see Ruhl will see her, but I'm not sure how he plans to do that.
To be on the safe side then, we'll probably need to get there early. If you're interested in joining me, let me know. We'll figure something out.
For more info on the talk, visit the Theatreworks web site.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
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