mama said there'd be days like this

WOW. well kris and i are in agreement: this week was a hard week. there's just so much to keep straight and make decisions about. i think i'm becoming ADD because of this play. i start one thing and as i'm doing that thing, i remember i have to do something else. so then i stop the original thing before i finish it and move on to the new thing. as i'm doing the new thing, i realize i haven't done a third thing, so i stop the second thing and move on to the third. i continue this process all day long. never finishing anything, but always busily doing stuff. and underneath the surface of all this activity is the very real fear that i'm gonna totally drop the ball on something and look like i don't know what the hell i'm doing. and then, just for fun, there is the normal day-to-day life maintenance like jobs, showering, working out, sleeping, etc that have taken a serious hit by all this theatre activity.

and just to make things even more crazy, we started rehearsals this week so now 4 hours a night i'm rehearsing b/c i had the brilliant idea of casting myself as the lead. rehearsals are actually going quite well. the cast we have assembled is simply amazing (with the exception of that douche we got to play the lead) and it's fun to sit and watch everyone work the material and bring this thing to life. when i take a step back and think about the team we've assembled for this it really amazes me. everyone is working so hard to make this play happen and that makes the hard week a little softer.

Producer Boot Camp

first of all, having a blog about the steps to get a play up and running is almost antithetical to getting a play up and running.

Things are happening so fast that there has been no time to keep up with a blog.

Firstly, press kits and releases have gone out. That was awhile ago.

The branding and logo has been designed, postcards have been printed. The Writer's Block website was made.

here is the graphic



We have had our first successful FUND RAISER!!! Our Writers Block Mad Lib (and Darts) Challenge had a great turn out and we did clear some cash.

We will have another Mad Mad Mad Lib event at the Blind Tiger on Sunday June 29th from 11am to 6pm. Come and drink beer, play mad libs, and win prizes!

Lastly, if this whole experience was not boot camp like enough, I spent last weekend attending Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) Producer's Boot Camp. We had great speakers such as Cheryl Weisenfeld, tony award winning producer of Elaine Stritch: At Liberty and New York Magazine Theater Critic Jeremy McCarter.

I learned a lot. The biggest take-away for anyone looking for advice, is get familiar with the Actor's Equity Association Basic Showcase Code. Not knowing it could seriously jeopardize your production if you are working with equity actors. Also, PR & Marketing? There is no such thing as too many impressions.

If you are new to producing or are a self producing artist, I heartily recommend this boot camp and TRU. What a great resource and community!

the path to production is through the bowling alley

I feel sad that we haven't been able to chronicle the steps we have gone through with this production as was theoriginal intent with this blog. Frankly this whole thing is a whirlwind really and sometimes I feel like I'm holding on with my nails.

A band teacher of mine used to have a visual analogy he would throw out whenever the tempo would get ahead of us. He would say the tempo was controlling us and we were being dragged behind as if your finger was stuck in a bowling ball. Then he would pantomime someone trying to bowl and being dragged along behind by the ball.

hmmm. that was a long drawn out description of something that might not really make sense to anyone who didn't know Sal Smith, may he rest in peace. Loved that guy.

back to the bowling ball. sometimes the momentum of this play is like being dragged along behind the bowling ball. For newbies doing this in NYC however, I think we're kicking along pretty well. I never realized how far common sense and good friends could take a person.

speaking of friends, I need to send out a special word of thinks to our friend Jaye Maynard who has been working with us and guiding us from the beginning. Without her, we would have never got going. Well. We probably would but it would have been a hell of a lot slower with way more fits and starts. Without her there wouldn't be any bowling balls.