Cocktail

I've only seen one show by Ping Chong but would have loved to have seen this one last year. This is a little of what we're going to b going for with 7 Minutes to Midnight, only the science we'll be dealing with will be nuclear power and the atomic bomb (and fear and death etc.). I hope to use some multi-media, as well. It's too early to tell where we'll go with the piece, but I've got plenty of ideas.

If Samuel Beckett were alive today

This film is BRILLIANT!

Funny. Interesting. If you like Samuel Beckett (especially his works like Ohio Impromptu and Play and other shorts which utilize gesture, silences and repetitions to the max potential), you are going to love this little gem of a movie.

Also, it's just fascinating watching Charlie Rose put that microscopic interview stare on himself.

Theater Folks Get Around (in more ways than one)

This is fun.




It shows you the states you've visited in a pretty color map.

As you can see, I get around.

(That's what two theater tours will get ya...)

The white areas are the states I have not been to, yet.

But I mean, seriously, is there anyone in a rush to get to the Dakotas? Or Tennessee (though seeing Graceland might be fun).

The Frames - Star Star **

I just really like this song...Swell Season played this when they did their show here months ago.

What was the big burning ball in the sky yesterday?

For that true Seattle experience, try this:

Take a sheet of gray paper. Could be dark grey or light grey, really doesn’t matter.

Put that sheet of paper in front of your face so that’s all you see.

For two weeks.

Then remove it for five minutes (if there is sunshine that’s an added plus).

Then put the grey sheet in front of your eyes again.

Repeat.

----

I say this because for the past two weeks it has been gray and gross out the window and then finally the sun came out yesterday afternoon! Everybody seemed very happy about it, saying "what a beautiful day!" as if that erased all the crappy days before it. Of course this weather didn't last long and it was back to the dreary old gray canvas the following morning.

But I'm like, people, c'mon...it's mid-JUNE!!! The sun showing its face for a copule of hours is literally the least that it can do. How about sunshine for an entire day? Is that too much to ask? The rest of the country has been having outdoor bbq's for a month already.

Which is why I’m looking forward to our much-needed vacation. We are driving down south, going to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We’re going to see Our Town, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a new play by Jeff Whitty called The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler (which is where that photo comes from).



I just love the logline: Does she need a bigger gun or a better author?

Nice.

Then it’s off to visit the family in Nevada. I’m looking forward to it (despite just reading the nightmare family that lives in the play August: Osage County).

But the weather there will be sunny and 80 degrees.

Every day.

Like the exact opposite of weather in Seattle.

And my golf shots will go farther because of the altitude. Gotta love that.

The desert never seemed so welcoming.

Pitch 'n' Putt with Joyce 'n' Beckett

I love this video. I have rediscovered it and must share...for all its glorious Irishness and literary-ness. And for lines like, "I love those little pencils, small, like the first pencils..."

WARNING: Some harsh language and literary allusions.

The Albatross at NPA reading in Tacoma

This Monday night I'll be heading down to Tacoma for a reading of my newest full-length play THE ALBATROSS, presented by the Northwest Playwrights Alliance. It will be directed by Darian Lindle (she who directed the bachelorette party play in 14/48) and will feature the acting talent of Erin Kraft, Chris Bell and Malcolm Womack.

Plus, there is wine for a small suggested donation and a cheerful discussion of the play afterwards.

http://www.northwestplaywrights.org/upcomingevents.html

It will be at 7 pm at Theater on the Square rehearsal hall, Broadway Center for the Performing Arts (905 Broadway).

Yes, I know its Tacoma but really its not that far...yes, traffic does suck so leave early, but it'll be fun. Come hang out and tell me what you think of the play. I really do want to know.

This is the same play that was read last month down in Portland. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I have yet to get cracking on the rewrites, of which there may be some substantial and some minor changes. But this reading will be slightly more rehearsed and directed (though the cold reading in Portland was pretty darn impressive, I must say--thank you Andrew!). And I'm curious to see if the feedback and discussion of this draft might garner different results.

Then, in the month of June and July, I will get to work on those rewrites. In addition to working on 7 Minutes to Midnight.

I'm going to be a busy boy. But then, aren't I always...?

Happy Anniversary!

So there are two anniversaries I will be celebrating this week.

The first is the one year anniversary of this blog.

Sure, I created the blog in April, but my first real post wasn't until June 2nd. That's when I decided that yes, I will in fact commit myself to writing something about writing and the theater in some serious way.

Yeah! Happy anniversary blog! Or birthday, or whatever.

This has been an interesting experiment in many ways. For years I have resisted the urge to publicly display my rambling thoughts, but have succumbed to the blogging trend and I must admit, it feels pretty good. There have been some good posts and some not-so-good posts, and many trivial ones in-between. Perhaps this year I’ll be more focused on actually writing about the creative process…like writing for stage and screen and other thoughts on the theater.

But most importantly, my wife and I will be celebrating our two year anniversary tomorrow.

Two years ago on June 3rd I decided that yes, I will in fact commit myself to this woman I love in a serious way.

Yeah, us! We totally rock!

It actually feels like only a few weeks ago that we were in western New York, surrounded by friends and family, and tying the knot on her folks front lawn in an elegant garden ceremony. It wasn't that odd of a wedding, but its interesting to note that the wedding party actually consisted of one broadway actor, two clowns, three black-belts, and an ex-costumer for strippers.

We thought it might've been fun to get the black belts drunk and have them do a face-off on the dance floor during the reception...but alas...that never happened.

But the clowns danced...a lot.

But you know what was really great? Other than the fact that we were surrounded by loved ones and finally getting hitched?

Waking up the next day as legal and spiritually bound "Mr. and Mrs."

As my old theatre professor would say...it was liminal.

And then we ate wedding cake and mimosas…yummy!


As celebration, I brought back some real champagne from Paris when I had my layover there from India.

We may not have enough left over for mimosas, though.