Happy Memorable Day Weekend

Still further activity:

I have been getting inquiries here and there from the flyers we gave out at Fringe, as well as the postings on Florida Acting and Central Florida Performing Arts Alliance web sites. I have sent out script excerpts and the pdf versions of the audition flyer to about 8 or 10 people.

I also put together our "wish list" email in which I sent all of the info to the list of about 30 actors who we imagine would be good in the show in some capacity.

Our dream stage manager has said verbally, "Yeah, I'll probably do it." I'm taking that as a yes, and so I am pleased to announce it will be... DEBBIE DEAN! Her work with the Civic and now the Rep has been superb, and she has got to be THE best SM in town. There is also talk that our friend CATHERINE GOODISON may be ASM'ing. That would also be a WONDERFUL thing. Yay!

We are throwing out times for a production meeting early next week - also hoping to kill multiple birds with one stone and meet with some of the actors who can't make it to the actual audition times due to other commitments.

Good times!

Moving Forward...

Many many back-and-forth emails yesterday about the play. Both Chad and Chuck, now at the mid-point of the Fringe Festival and more relaxed with their respective productions, are looking to move forward with pre-production for SOTR.

Audition dates and a location have been set. Steve designed a fab little flyer that we will start handing out and emailing to folks who we want to see at auditions. (I also posted it here, scroll down to the next entry to see it.) I have posted the audition info at www.orlandoperforms.com and www.floridaacting.com.

Meetings with Chad & Set Designer Tom Mangieri will be happening by next week.

Chad has spoken to our Dream-Stage-Manager and hopefully we will have a response very soon.

Chad is asking us to run him out more copies of the script for himself and for his beau Jason Donnelly, who we are led to believe will be doing Sound Design - yay!

FASCINATING FACT/ASIDE: Jason is originally from Easton, Mass., right next to my home town of Brockton. In fact, my family lived in Easton until I was 3 when we moved to Brockton. But Jason's and my paths would never have crossed because he's about a decade younger than I am (curse his soul). He would have been in junior high when I moved to Florida. Steve and I adore Jason - just like Chad, he is a sweetie and a cutie. And just like Chad, he is another one to add to the list of the many people that we have wanted to worth with and are finally getting a chance to do so.

I am totally jazzed. This show is gonna be great.

Auditions Are Set

Click the image above for all the necessary info.

Schmoozin'!

Steve and I have both been seeing a lot of Fringe shows this weekend. Shrewd little entrepreneurs that we are, we actually knew that scheduling SOTR post-Fringe would create a plethora of opportunities for us during Fringe itself:

TALENT SCOUTING: We have already found at least 2 new actors whom we would love to have read at the auditions.

ARTISTIC STAFF: As we waited in line to see The Miss Sammy Show, we made the acquaintance of Marcie Singhaus, sister-in-law to Miss Sammy and costumer to the stars. (She used to own and run Costumes Unlimited over by the old Mark Two.) So, just for fun, I said, "Hey, how would like to costume a drama about violence in American society spanning over 200 years all the way back to the Revolutionary War?" Her immediate reply, "You're going to need a heckuva budget for that." (Don't you love people who just tell it like it is?) She said, "Send me a script, I'll take a look at it." I honestly don't imagine we could afford her, though we would get amazing things from her. I forgot to mention this to Chuck, but I know he has some other folks who might be more in our price range. I also mentioned the show to my costumer friend and former Sleuths-mate Kate Singleton as she whizzed past me to catch a show. We need to nail some of this stuff down, but at the same time Chuck is deeply involved in Welcome To The Family! for PRT, and Chad is a maniac producing both Eye Candy and Pie-Face! The Adventures Of Anita Bryant. They're a little - preoccupied, so we're not attacking them on this stuff just yet. (Though, to his credit, Chuck has actually been working on securing a location for auditions and has been sending a round of emails to ask about costumers. You go boy.)

When we ran into Tom Mangieri he introduced us to a friend of his by saying, "These are my friends David and Steve. They have written an amazing play and I'm doing their set." WOO HOO! (Now the question is can we afford HIM?)

TALKING IT UP: It has been very nice and complimentary that so many people approach us with, "Are you guys doing something this year?" Each time that is asked, it is music to my ears because that means Utmost Productions made our mark these last two years. And that is a wide-open opportunity for us to reply, "No, but we have this great drama being produced in August..." Throw in a "Chad Lewis is directing," and you always get one of those raised-eyebrows-that's-impressive nods. Yay!

Any and all of the actors on our wish list that we ran into were reminded that auditions will be the second week in June (Todd Feren, Michael Colavolpe, and Nikki Darden come to mind).

Other buzz that was buzzing...

We went to say to hi to David Lee who kiddingly pulled us aside and said, "We need to talk about this director you've hired..."

John DiDonna came up and hugged me from behind and said, "Who did you get to direct your show?"

So, we're just out there doing what people in show business do: whoring ourselves and becoming well-oiled duplicitious creatures of self-promotion.

And isn't that what the Fringe is all about?

A closing thought from Dave McConnell's InterActions: "Some people say, 'There's no business like show business.' I'm all, 'Okay, and there's no surgery like ass surgery, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?'"

Ready, SET...

Well, I don't want to jinx it, but a certain set designer wants to help us.

It's very impressive folks.

Now to "set" him up with our wonderful director, Chad Lewis.

Wonderful News...

After a wonderful dinner/meeting last night with myself, Steve, and Chuck, we are thrilled to announce that the director of SOTR will be:

CHAD LEWIS!

And there was much rejoicing! Last night I was dancing around the house like Anne Reinking in Annie singing "We Got Chad!"

I've heard things... I've heard things...

I certainly don't want to jinx it...

But we have a certain meeting set up for this Friday to get together with a certain someone about a certain position we need to fill for a certain play.

We will certainly report certain details as soon as we are certain that they are... well, certain.

Blurb!!! (excuse me...)

The blurb is now on our blog. Is it now a blog blurb?

One man trained to kill. Another fighting to save his life. This compelling new drama explores violence and its impact on American history, culture, and lives.

Panning For Gold

Michael just sent me a note telling me that today he sent out 28 solicitation letters to various companies and businesses seeking donations and/or ad sales for the production. You go, Michael! He was able to squeeze this in before frantically packing his cases to take off tomorrow morning for a two-week trip to Egypt. God bless him! (And watch over him that he has a good trip and returns home safely.)
Amen.

Inching Closer

Depressing as it is to have missed our self-imposed deadline of having a director hired by April 30th, we do have something in the works as of earlier this week. I am optimistic. Continue to stay tuned!