...and Mike Nichols will be our Water Boy...

Chad has in fact secured the assistance of his friend / Naked Orange Theatre co-hort David Lee to help us with coordinating costumes.

I originally thought he was kidding... It was a little crazy to imagine one of Orlando's highest profile and respected actor/director/playwrights pulling costumes for us. Talk about overqualified! But it is in fact true. Add him to the list. The list of artistic staff which still just blows me away that we have working to make our little [!] play a success.

What's next? Elaine Stritch will be playing a silent rock in the corner of the stage?

Update 2005-06-28

An email from Allen: "I have completed a set of baseline drawings for the theater. Both a ground plan and a centerline section. The only data missing is circuit layout. I am hoping to get into the space during one of the days that it is dark in July to map out the circuits and update everything. I have prints ready for Tommy (and Chad if he would like a set) as well as a set to give back to the theater for future users. I have a rough list of cues for the first act complete and working thru the second. I'm looking forward to the designer's meeting......"

Allen is da bomb for volunteering to do this work so thoroughly and for giving something back to the theatre (since this is going to be the biggest thing that the space has seen to date).

And, we also are pleased to announce our props mistress: Joan Cohen! She comes to us with credits all over Central Florida, not the least of which is the Wekiva Players whom she has already gotten to agree to lend us any props we may need. I first met Joan when she helped with our backstage work, props, and box office for Baby Jane! the musical comedy last year (produced by The Hat Box Revue) It is so nice to see her shining face again and have her on board with this great team.

Tonight's first read-through was wonderful. The talent we have in this show is top-notch, and I am so proud to have each and every one of these actors involved. The actors names are now proudly displayed in the sidebar. I will be sending them invitations to join in this blog as soon as we are sent a cast email list.

Tomorrow night: EDITING THE SCRIPT WITH CHAD. This is where we will be doing our last re-write so that there won't be any concerns about changes during the production. I'm already trying to prepare myself to let go of things I won't necessarily want to... it's all a part of the process...

But with the actors involved, this is where it starts getting REALLY EXCITING for me. (Even when I have to read the part of the Rabbi in arguably my worst accent: Eastern European.)

So Near And Yet So Far

The show is almost set and ready to go.

The cast is almost there. Chad is still contacting a couple of folks to come in and read to fill roles that couldn't be filled by the auditioners. I look forward to posting the complete cast list when it is complete. Hopefully we will have all in place for Tuesday's first read-through.

The production team is almost there. I ran into a friend at the Orlando Gay Chorus concert on Sunday, and after I told her about the show, she said, "Well if you need help with props or anything..." I thought. Duh. She has done props before. And, yes, in fact, Chad does want a separate props person. This dear wonderful woman was emailed the props list last night and I am fairly sure I will have a commitment from her in a short time.

Costuming still taunts us! Through Debbie's connections at The Rep, their costume manager Virginia has graciously offered to open up their shop to us. That is wonderful, amazing, incredible... but we still need a person to actually pull and coordinate the things. The previously mentioned costumer is unable to do it, and once again it looks like fate may be intervening. A friend-of-a-friend (whom I had met only briefly earlier in the year) called me to say she read the script and fell in LOVE with it. She was so disappointed she couldn't audition for the show due to a conflicting commitment. But she loved the script so much, she read it FIVE times. (I don't think I have read it five times in the last couple of years!) And she has done some costume work in the past with the groups up in the Sanford-Leesburg-Mt. Dora area. With Chad's & Chuck's OK, I have sent her off the info, we'll see what she says. Again, the dream is to have everything in place and a complete COMPANY assembled at the first reading on Tuesday. Cross everything you have two of!

The biggest news is that at our urging, it looks like the run of the show is now going to be THREE WEEKENDS! Yay! In that small theatre which only hold 70 people, we (meaning Steve, myself, and Chad) believe that four extra performances will give more people a chance to see the work and it will also generate additional revenue. So now the performance dates will be:

August 11-12-13-14

August 18-19-20-21

August 25-26-27-28

Thursdays-Saturdays @ 8pm, Sundays @ 2pm.

Again this is all subject to change. Something tells me that 8/11 could be a tech night/invited dress. I have to firm that up before I change the dates at the header of the blog.

And speaking of the blog header, I look forward to replacing it with our poster design which is going to be quite fabulous. Chad had been nurturing his pop-art idea and the original "movie-drama-poster" concept has been replaced with something more abstract and consistent with the overall vision of the show. Steve did up a dummy-design, Cathy is now researching and in the process of making it into a reality.

The budget continues to evolve, and it looks like Chuck is working it out (with the generous approval of PRT President John Goring) that PRT may share the profits of the show with the volunteer staff as well as fortifying the small stipend we are already offering the actors. That is, of course, contingent on the show making any profit at all, and we are fairly optimistic it will. This isn't carved in stone 100% yet. More definites to come later.

That's all for now! More news as it is available!

Update 2005-06-16

Allen did a walk-through with the folks at the Studio Theater last night and he was pleased to find more instruments there than he recalled working in the space for Fringe 2003. There is a concern about enough cabling, but the folks at the theater have said they are willing to work with us. They are very pleased to have us putting on the space's first "full size" production.

Our potential costumer has a script and will be letting us know.

Callbacks for actors are tonight at the Lakewood Center. Some stragglers and add-ons will also be there. I plan to keep out of the way!

We are in the process of adjusting the budget for various reasons - as we are acquiring trade-out advertising and favors for sets, costumes, and printing, we are able to beef up the areas where there were expenses we didn't foresee. Chuck is hoping to work out something to pay the actors a little more than we planned. I applaud that and wholeheartedly hope that it works out!

New 150-Word "Blurb"

A first draft of a press release has been composed by Michael. It includes this new 150-word blurb by Steve, tweaked by everybody:

"Sons of the Revolution is a fictional account of an ex-Marine who is found guilty of a violent act of terrorism against the U. S. government. This soldier’s lawyer is committed to saving his client from the death penalty. During the sentencing phase of the trial, it is revealed that the soldier's family lineage has been involved in every major American conflict throughout the country’s history. Soon, the spirits of the soldier’s ancestors are interacting with the present day and affecting the final stages of the trial. This compelling new drama explores violence and its impact on American history, culture, and lives. Written by David Almeida and Stephen Miller (Leaving Neverland, Whipping Wally Wonker), and directed by Chad Lewis (Shakespeare's R & J, PIE-FACE! The Adventures of Anita Bryant), this play marks the first full production for Playwright’s Round Table, an organization that for seven years has been committed to developing new local works of theatre."

Chad is now finding inspiration from Tommy's set design: Tommy's intention was to paint the backdrop with a very 'pop-art' version of the American flag. Chad is looking to take the pop-art theme and build on it in both the costuming and the poster design. To which David thinks to himself - WOW! THIS ISN'T JUST GOING TO BE A PLAY, IT'S GOING TO BE ART! Steve did up a preliminary idea, and Cathy is already on board with creating something fabulous. Chad has contacted our to-be-named-hopeful costume designer and told her about his idea. If anyone can get somebody interested in a project and acquire their buy-in and commitment, it's Chad... I am further optimistic about getting this costume person.

Did you hear about my faux pas (among several) at Sunday's auditions? Somebody was running late, so I grabbed my phone to call them and find out where the heck they were. Before I got an answer, I realized Debbie was already making that call. Duh. Right. That's what the Stage Manager kinda does, isn't it? Sorry, I'm not used to that. With Utmost, we've always had to do everything ourselves - that's what producing for Fringe will get ya. All I know is that I have been more excited and thrilled about auditions than I can recall in a long time. I so jazzed and looking forward to callbacks! The actor in me is dying to see who will be the chosen ones to bring this show to life. After that I'll need to calm down. And remember we have people who know what they're doing - and it's probably best to get the hell out of their way.

Still moving...

No peace unto the wicked.

Back at the grindstone... I am actively wooing a Costume Designer/Coordinator. Will be getting a script to her this week.

That is the magical missing piece of the puzzle that we need to complete our Artistic Team. We are assuming props can be handled by Catherine in her ASM duties.

As always - send hopes, prayers, and happy thoughts our way.

Castin' Stone

Audition turnout was very good, and the talent was really superb. Callbacks are happening this Thursday, we look forward to seeing some more of the possibilities that we have with the exceptional people who came out to read for us.

Other developments from our production meeting this past Wednesday: Welcome to Allen Overlander as our official Lighting Designer.

Still seeking a costume coordinator... working on it though!

And the biggest news is that, depending on actor availablity, we have decided to schedule the show to run for a third weekend if at all possible. Not carved in stone yet, because it also entails budgetary adjustments. But it looks very very possible. We will see!

We have a production meeting planned for next Wednesday, June 8th, to assemble the artistic staff together and prepare for auditions. I can't wait. That we have so many talented people on board still gives me the warmest of warm-fuzzies.

Our friend Allen Overlander is interested in doing the lighting design, and once he & Chad have a chance to meet & talk, that will most likely be locked in. Allen ran the light board for Leaving Neverland, our first full-length play that was done at Theatre Downtown in October 1999. He was also our beloved sound-cue-God during My Big Fat Gay Wedding. It was an hour-long show with 20 songs and sound cues... we knew that would be asking a lot from one of the Fringe techies, so we came with. I remember being so amused at a rehearsal during tech week when I realized he was lip-synching our songs as we performed. He heard them so damned much, how could he not know the words by heart?

Speaking of which, Steve, I am starting to work on the lyrics for the "Love Theme From Sons Of The Revolution" that we're going to surprise Chad with...