On The Right Track!

Tonight's meeting with Chuck went swimmingly well. He and Steve and I seem to be on the same page for this show, and that is a wonderful thing. We walked away with some semblance of a time line and a list of people we want to contact about availability for being involved in the production. Michael Slaymaker will hopefully be on board as our Fundraiser/Marketing Manager, he just needs to make a pitch at the next PRT board meeting.

You will notice the title graphic now includes dates because we are told they are now solid. Yay! I will probably change it when we solidify our poster design with our graphic designer Dave Womble.

Of interest to the public-at-large:
· We are hoping to have a director hired by the end of April
· Auditions will probably be the first week in June
· Rehearsals will most likely start mid-June

No conflicts with Fringe! Yay! Woo hoo!

A Snail's Pace...

We have managed to set a date for our first 'official' production meeting - next Monday. A week away, but thank goodness - for the moment - time is on our side. Maybe we'll have pinned down a director by then...?

And if the August dates are really-really-truly official as far as the Studio Theatre, I have yet to get confirmation of such. I am just flying on the assumption that it is (or will be) a done deal.

Wouldn't it be hilarious if we ended up having to do it in June after all! Ha ha ha ha ha.... huh... yeah.

Dress for Success

If you dream that Dustin Hoffman comes to see the premiere of Sons of the Revolution in a lovely Dior dress and matching hat, is that a sure sign of success?

I think it is!

Had this dream TWICE now!

**DAVID COMMENT**
I'll take anything as a good omen. Even if it's Estelle Getty hang-gliding naked over Mount Vesuvius wearing beagle-puss glasses.

I won't tell you HOW many times I've had that dream...

It's official! Sort of.

Just got word from John Goring by way of producer Chuck Dent that John DiDonna has told him that it looks like it is most definitely almost set that we will most likely be able to move the show dates to the middle two weekends in August. John D has to work out some details with another group, (I think it's the Jester Theatre Co.) but it should be manageable.

But they are not advertising it or making it public yet because it's not 100%. (So this is different from where we were earlier today how?)

Nonetheless, I am encouraged and feel that this is going to land as we want it to. And it is a good thing that, in spite of the continued lack of definiteness, Chuck has been keeping us in the loop and giving us updates. Things could be a lot worse.

So, the next step is that Chuck, Steve, and I will be having a meeting to brainstorm and start our list of potential directors and actors, plus secure a space for auditions.

Picture Perfect

I created an account at www.villagephotos.com to host the images for this blog, including that !#$%^&*@ graphic that has been giving me trouble. Now it's there and it's there to stay. Woo hoo!

The PRT Newsletter arrived by email today. I was glad to see that Ash was able to cast Welcome to the Family! for Fringe. The only entry about SOTR was congratulations that our play was chosen. I guess let's view the glass as half-full: it didn't say anything about being produced in June... but that is because it didn't list any dates at all.

The waiting continues...

Graphic Violence

So I am told that the graphic does work. And sometime at work I do see it. And other times at home it isn't there, just that sad little box with an X in it. What is the deal with that!? This stuff makes me wanna shove a fist through the screen. All I ask for is consistency, and when a fucking machine can't give it to you...

No word yet on the official new dates. We just wait... and wait... and wait...


EDIT from Schmacko* Nice post, David... And our play is on the prevalence of violence.... Hmmm...

Wha-Wha-What?

And now the graphic works. Sometimes. I think it's our mind-numbing, slower-than-dialup connection we have at my work. Let's just say I hope if you are reading this, you can see the stinkin' graphic. !#$%^&*()_!@

I, too, would love to see a Seth Kubersky involved in our show. Though I have concerns that giving a brilliant technical director this play in the Studio Theatre is like giving Julia Child a filet mignon to prepare in an Easy-Bake Oven. But I digress... the size of venue, while it is an obstacle, is one that I believe can be overcome. The original June production dates were an obstacle that I don't believe we could have overcome. And soon that concern will be gone...... (Right? Please Lord!?)

I agree with Steve that the naked graphic I posted is not as usable now that the nightmare sequence is gone. (Folks with scripts, some of you have it in there, some of you don't. I can't keep track.) I just thought it was a fun kick-back to way-back-when. It still boggles my mind that this play has been with us for SIX YEARS.

Speaking of cutting the nightmare scene, Steve and I do have a final round of rewrites that we need to do. Minor stuff. But I guess we'll do them after the production dates are nailed down and we need to start wooing directors. (Mike Nichols? Joe Mantello? Hal Prince?)

More Good News

Word last night from PRT President John Goring by way of our Producer Chuck Dent is that John DiDonna, Orlando director/actor/producer extraordinaire and our contact for the Studio Theater says he thinks that August is open. We will know for sure as soon as he checks with someone named Dorie. I replied that our dream times would be the middle two weekends in August. I checked with Steve that we were in agreement and Michael Slaymaker also confirmed that he would be available for hire as our Marketing/Fundraising Director at that time. I am optimistic...!

I also did up a cool graphic of the title of the play to be displayed at the top of this blog page. It looks awesome from home, but won't display at work. D'Oh! Back to the drawing board...

Any New News?

I’ll let David fill you in, but we’re still crossing everything we have two of that this thing can go up in August. Added bonus: Michael Slaymaker will be able to help us with publicity if we go with August. Since he is basically the lord and god of all things fund-raising and PR, I believe that everyone feels that he would be a boon to our production.

Throw that bone in and we’ll see what we get.

Soup.

On other subjects – Cathy’s “superhero” nudie logo for SOTR – OMG David, I almost forgot all about it. But now that we’ve cut the nightmare scene, I’m not sure it makes as much sense. It’s cool you still have it though.

And I have the original cast list of the workshop a couple years ago somewhere – when I find it I promise to publish it here.

Another inspiration moment that is in Sons. I remember back in my junior year in college, when the Persian Gulf War was going on and CNN had 24/7 coverage. It wasn’t the war that gave me nightmares, it was that damn theme song and logo they threw up (regurgitated) onto the television screen every 5 minutes! My small Iowa college had the giant projector screen in the Student Union perma-set to CNN. I wanted to scream because every time I walked through the main room, that damn theme song was playing and that damn logo was burning itself into my retinas.

I started to remember all the stuff about “mediated reality” that I had learned in Modern Media class. I grew angrier. I read 1984, and in there, Orwell describes the same sort of mediated brainwashing. I felt like I was being manipulated. I wanted to stuff my fingers in my ears and scream with my eyes shut every time I got wind of the media covering the “conflict.” Isn’t it sad that the media can kill any concern I should have had with their “Chinese Water Torture” method of “covering the news”?

I would love to get some techie involved who can really bring this ridiculousness to light in a very funny way in our play. Someone really impressive in the technical area like Seth Kubersky (director of Theatre Downtown's recent smash production of The Rocky Horror Show). I think whoever blesses us by being a technical director would really be allowed to be creative with the music and projection (I hope) and sound effects, but I think the Newscaster scenes would especially be a blast.



Another thing to put on our wish list, I guess.

Developments (and Lack Thereof)

A little birdy told me it looks good that the show dates will be able to be postponed until August. Keep the faith!

Julie Gagne of Valencia Community College's Theatre Department mentioned to me that she has some ideas for edits that we can make. I will be contacting her to get her input. I hope she doesn't suggest we cut the albino Albanian who eats poi on a pogo stick...

We are starting to drum up some interest in the play among our theatrical friends. Over the last several weeks, I have sent copies of the script to Matty MacDermid, Jeff Lindberg, Josh Geoghagan, Marcie Shwalm, Ashland Thomas, Kurt Jenkins, and others. Response so far has been very positive. We figure it couldn't hurt to plant some seeds casting-wise in hopes that our director - whoever s/he is - will sow and nurture them.

I am through with my commitment to Into The Woods at Valencia, so I am looking forward to several weeks (hopefully months?) of rest before we have to jump into pre-production of SOTR.

Also, I had a realization re-reading my previous blog in which I talked about how we conceived the play together, Steve birthed the play alone, and we have raised it together -- that makes him the "mother" and me the "father" of this play. Cause when you think maternal, you think Steve. And when you think of male role model, you think of me. Oy.

That's all fer now!

The Authors, Miller and Almeida, 1998

Logo Idea by Catherine Thompson, 2000