Theatrical Update

so just a few notes for those of you who hold some sort of interest in my theatrical endeavors.

as some of you know... i had submitted two short pieces for two separate competitions earlier this year.

the first was a 20 minute piece for theatre southwest's annual festival of originals. i have never submitted to this competition and i was really looking forward to breaking into something new. however, i was also conflicted over the piece i submitted and the rawness of the subject matter.

well, i was not selected. so i didn't have to stress over my conflicted emotions. but...it did bring up another emotion i hadn't experienced (theatrically speaking) in some time: rejection.

with modesty i submit to you: i've had a pretty good track record. the first year i submitted to albee (back in the mid 90's) - i was an alternate. the next year i was selected...not even the playwrighting class, but the production class. then the following year albee wrote me personally saying he would like to do another one of my plays, but felt he should give others a shot. then he selected another piece of mine the following year for his production class.

then i went on my loooooong writing hiatus. but when i submitted to the scriptwriters/houston 10x10 in 2006, i was selected. then i was selected again the next year and the next.

when i submitted to the wordsmyth reading series late last year... my play was selected for the march debut of this new series.

but then i hit a wall with the FOO. i'm actually quite happy with the play i submitted so my writer's ego was bruised when i wasn't chosen... and i found myself hit hard by the rejection. it actually took a week or two to heal the wounds. and others have made me feel better by letting me know who you need to know and what you probably need to do to get into the FOO... so i'm not as upset.

also helping matters... i was selected for a fourth straight year into the 10x10. i have officially impressed even the most seasoned of 10x10 activists.

and again... i was surprised to be chosen. the subject matter is a bit different for me... i mean...it's political... but different from my past three plays. and, i hope, funny.

it's interesting... i finally got the director i've wanted to work with for the past three years and, as it turned out, he completely missed the mark on my play (initially). my reputation must've proceeded me because my director thought...for some odd reason...that my characters were gay.

i told him, "no, i've purposely written them straight this year." and he said, "well, i don't know why i thought they were gay." and i answered: "probably because you saw my last three plays." and he smiled and said, "probably."

but he had precast my play and had some nervous nelly in the main role... i was not happy. and i went round and round for about three days wondering if i could compromise my original vision to make my director happy.

luckily...he recast and the latest conflict was put to rest.

and the cast has promise. we had our first rehearsal just about a week ago. the director has some nice ideas... he is a bit more concerned with "business" than i care for in a director... but i know actors like to have shit to do around stage. i'll never quite understand why they can't allow the words to do more of the work for them.

but anyway... one actor - he will be superb and will totally steal the show. he's hilarious and i really lucked out. the actress has also shown some nice insight and some very funny timing. i have no worries.

then there's the "lead." it really is an ensemble piece but one actor has more of the heavy lifting. we had trouble finding a replacement so a "natural" was recommended by the actress in the play. turns out... she's dating him and he's never been on stage before.

here i have some concerns.

my first play in the 10x10 was destroyed by a cast that couldn't really handle the comedy. this play has an even trickier subject matter and, therefore, a steeper comedy mountain to climb. i hope he can handle it.

he was very stiff during the read-through and the short amount of time we spent blocking. but after we finished the rehearsal and stood around chatting... he did some impressions and told some stories and was really very funny. so he has the ability. he simply needs to translate it to the show.

so....my theatrical calendar isn't as busy as i had hoped... but two out of three shows isn't bad. and i now have more time to fine-tune the two act and get it to a place where i can start submitting it again for a full production.

i've also been asked to read submissions for the wordsmyth fall reading series and have seven plays waiting for me to read. so it's not like i'm not busy.

in fact... i'm crazy busy.

i also have two ideas for the next full-length i'd like to act and i'm waiting to see which one fights to prominence in my head first. i hope to get a good first draft of that finished by year's end.

and i have seen some shows. including a string of musicals, oddly enough... three very fine productions of grey gardens, hedwig and the angry inch and cabaret).

so... at this point i feel a bit caught up on the blogging (if not with two truncated entries) but will once again attempt to be better about forcing my thoughts on you, my loyal readers.

hope you had a nice holiday weekend. and now, if you'll excuse me, i have some plays to read.

e.