tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278897992024-03-13T09:03:26.999-07:00Mad TheatricsAdventures in Live EntertainmentAndrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.comBlogger383125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-19276147086600320722023-07-12T16:31:00.002-07:002023-07-12T16:31:17.145-07:00On the Importance of Comparing Notes<p>My wife and I were briefly involved in a group that has since become rather infamous for institutionalized abuse. It's a pretty sad commentary on the world in which we live that I've just described at least a dozen organizations.</p><p>While we were in the group, we never really compared notes. We wanted to think the best of this group that we joined. Although neither one of us suffered the worst abuse that has since been reported, we nevertheless paid witness to petty abuses that stood in stark contrast to the stated aims and goals of the group. What led to our departure from the group was finally, at long last, <i>comparing notes</i>.</p><p>Patterns of abuse emerge. "You saw that happen? Well let me tell you about this thing that happened!"</p><p>When you hold that stuff in, you can begin to doubt yourself. "Did that really happen?" "Am I overreacting?" "Am I just recontextualizing a memory of something that was benign at the time?"</p><p>I've been nursing a grudge for a little over thirteen years. It grew out of another group, one my wife and I started this time, rather than joined. I've come to <i>think</i> of it as "nursing a grudge," I should say. I was frozen out, bullied, yelled at, and ultimately bailed on a group I put a significant amount of sweat equity into. The grudge is completely justified.<br /></p><p>But years have passed. An ocean has flown under that particular bridge. And so I came to believe that, to some degree, the grudge was on me. Actually blaming myself for the way I felt.</p><p>As it turns out, you can still compare notes a decade later. You can hear about others who have suffered very similar (though not identical) treatment at the hands of a particular person. Someone who bullies, belittles, and bellows. Someone who will smile to your face while assassinating your character behind your back. Someone, it would seem, who may just get his comeuppance.</p>Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-65940556763999977352022-04-03T20:10:00.001-07:002022-04-03T20:10:04.707-07:00Echoing into Nothing<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgqTIyYZdtbE1fDMopjuPsxZmkM8jqkaVrD8A0PlaemnIwAI_JOWOXsxzGxzrebs9DcKTnF6V3qYsr_Qs9cYE6z80AJZDomH2SEH3irnGmZQD18GSgf0hFZKu3R6BentRIm5D6QzPYU-NNuL6Rlty--v7bmLs2c_YUIMKUfEAw6CtOiBnMw/s1800/pexels-marcelo-jaboo-696407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgqTIyYZdtbE1fDMopjuPsxZmkM8jqkaVrD8A0PlaemnIwAI_JOWOXsxzGxzrebs9DcKTnF6V3qYsr_Qs9cYE6z80AJZDomH2SEH3irnGmZQD18GSgf0hFZKu3R6BentRIm5D6QzPYU-NNuL6Rlty--v7bmLs2c_YUIMKUfEAw6CtOiBnMw/s320/pexels-marcelo-jaboo-696407.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: PlusJakartaSans, -apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; white-space: pre;">Photo by <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-wooden-armchair-on-brown-wooden-floor-696407/" target="_blank">Marcelo Jaboo</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table>One of the damndest things about theater happens to be its greatest strength: it lives and breathes in the moment. If you weren't there, you missed it. When I think about how many original works have faded back into the shadows, never to be heard of again, it makes my heart hurt. I recall so many nights, sipping cheap wine in storefront lobbies, looking at dusty framed posters of such shows. I have some such posters on my own walls at home (which reminds me, I need to do some dusting.)<br /><br />To quote the poet, "This isn't meant to last/This is for right now." It's just the nature of the beast, and like I said at the top, it gives live theater its particular strength. Our audiences are present witnesses to the creation of our art. Sure, we meet and rehearse and build sets and hang lights and all of that. But the whole thing doesn't mean anything until at least one warm body watches as it all comes to fruition.<br /><br />And when it's all over? It's all over. Unless some forward-thinking person took pictures at a rehearsal, or some packrat happened to hold on to a program, there is precious little evidence that anything magical actually happened. We have our memories.<br /><br />Oh yeah... and we have reviews.</p><p>Let's say you see one of those dusty posters. Maybe you recognize an actor's name. Maybe you just like the art. You whip out your mobile device and see what else you can find out about that show. You might find some archive on the theater company's website. But maybe that company went through a nasty divorce with some past members, and petulantly deleted all reference to them. Maybe you find a resume line on an actor's website. Maybe, just maybe you find a review.<br /><br />I'm somewhat inclined to rev Mad Theatrics back up, if only to keep a running record of productions that won't live past their original run. If only there were more hours in a day.</p>Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-57220374519520128952021-02-21T19:59:00.004-08:002021-02-21T19:59:28.938-08:00This is just to say...<br /><br />I have changed<br />the theme<br />that was on<br />this weblog<br /><br />and which<br />you were probably<br />annoyed<br />to look at<br /><br />You're welcome<br />this is much better<br />so dark<br />and theatricalAndrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-50246391850752402282020-08-25T18:39:00.004-07:002020-08-25T18:39:44.995-07:00'Tis Drama Tech*<p>My wife and I started this blog back in 2006. It was a place for our idle thoughts about theater, and eventually grew into a middling source of reviews and opinions of and about Los Angeles theater.<br /><br />We effectively killed it off in 2016, around the time we decided to move to Texas. I've posted a couple of times since then, mostly to direct folks to our "new digs" at Wordpress.</p><p>I haven't really done anything with the Wordpress site.</p><p>Mad Theatrics is staying up as an archive. Mostly for the reviews. Apparently my old design doesn't work on mobile, so I picked a boring design that does. Boy howdy, does the blog look like shit now. Yikes.</p><p> *(an anagram of Mad Theatrics)</p>Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-4358037371947381572017-03-09T09:20:00.001-08:002017-03-09T09:25:39.357-08:00"Acrobats of the Soul": A Revisitation and Review<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eu5bCIDppsY/WMGOaRAOMsI/AAAAAAAAEsQ/GlUOrIx8-sk_wQ3oQ2QbA7zXecT30CYlgCLcB/s1600/Acrobats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eu5bCIDppsY/WMGOaRAOMsI/AAAAAAAAEsQ/GlUOrIx8-sk_wQ3oQ2QbA7zXecT30CYlgCLcB/s1600/Acrobats.jpg" /></a>I recently revisited a book I haven’t read since college, Ron Jenkins’ <i>Acrobats of the Soul: Comedy & Virtuosity in Contemporary American Theatre</i>. It is a time capsule from the late eighties, each chapter sketching a portrait of a variety artist or circus. Performers such as Paul Zaloom, Penn & Teller, Spalding Gray, Avner the Eccentric, and the Flying Karamazov brothers; Circuses ranging from Cirque du Soleil's then-nascent techno rock show to the scrappy one-ring Pickle Family Circus.<br />
<br />
When I first read the book, I did so with the wide-eyed wonder of a teenager in Arkansas, amazed that such performers exist. Coming back to it about a quarter of a century later, as someone who follows in the variety arts tradition both as both a solo artist and as one-half of Mr. Snapper & Mr. Buddy, my appreciation for the performers and their acts is much deeper. Jenkins’ book is a great jumping-off point for further discovery, providing descriptions of acts and some script excerpts.<br />
<br />
Where it fails for me is in Jenkins’ attempt to politicize the performers and acts. Granted, he doesn’t have to read much into the politically charged work of Zaloom or Gray, but his analysis of Cirque (as a for instance) feels particularly contrived. Jenkins is attempting to make an overarching point about the resurgence of variety artists in the ‘80s as a reaction to Reagan conservatism.<br />
<br />
Without a doubt, opposition to the powers-that-be has always been and always will be a powerful motivator for great art. The fact that these same artists continued to thrive through the Clinton years and beyond speaks to a more fundamental quality, something that defies mere politics. And this is the greater lesson I take away from the book now: commitment to one’s craft, and active concern with audience engagement is more lasting than the heat of the political moment.<br />
<br />
It speaks to our moment, as well. One of my greatest pet peeves is when performers make a meal out of low-hanging fruit. Going for the obvious gag, playing fan service to an audience who already thinks the way you do. Low-hanging fruit is at best a light snack; a fun size Snicker bar that gives you a burst of endorphins but little actual sustenance. The acts in Jenkins’ book had and have staying power precisely because they provide sustenance.<br />
<br />
Off-the-cuff jokes about Reaganomics may have given audiences to The Flying Karamozov Brothers a jolt of delight; the mind-blowing synchronization of various and sundry objects passed between the “brothers” hits on something way deeper. The force of Zaloom’s stage presence, his lateral-thinking satirical observation is more resonant than the party affiliation of whoever is in the White House at the moment.<br />
<br />
The lesson I take from Acrobats of the Soul defies the political patina Jenkins washes over everything. Rather, it’s the dialectic between Jenkins’ approach, and the longevity of the performers he profiled that reaches the slightly less wide-eyed adult who read the book most recently. Focus on your act and focus on your audience with fierce dedication.
Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-64906643653292636742016-06-11T19:17:00.004-07:002016-06-11T19:19:48.293-07:00"... there of their own accord and acting from their own free will."<b><br /></b>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">"I think of the security of cages. How violence, cruelty, oppression,
become a kind of home, a familiar pattern, a cage, in which we know how
to operate and define ourselves …"</span></b><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: small;">- Eve Ensler, <i>Insecure at Last</i> </span></div>
Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-74544590984625638232016-05-03T21:12:00.001-07:002016-05-03T21:12:36.176-07:00Defined Through Its Effect<b><span style="font-size: large;">"Entertainment -- the cause -- is thus inversely defined through its
effect: a satisfied and happy psychological state. Yet, somehow, it
matters not whether the effect is achieved through active or passive
means. Playing the piano can be just as pleasurable as playing the
stereo." </span></b><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
- Harold L. Vogel, <i>Entertainment Industry Economics</i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Even when viewed through the cold lens of economics, it's about the audience.<i> </i></div>
Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-62377863704262613272016-04-30T08:09:00.000-07:002016-04-30T08:10:52.491-07:00Bring People Joy<b><span style="font-size: large;">"When I’m on stage, I’m trying to do one thing: bring people joy. Just
like church does. People don’t go to church to find trouble, they go
there to lose it." </span></b><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
- James Brown</div>
Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-35998275873790501382016-03-30T20:14:00.004-07:002016-03-30T20:14:55.874-07:00Why We Stopped Writing ReviewsFringe season is upon us, and with it a coming barrage of emails and Twitter messages inviting Mad Theatrics out to review anything and everything. We stopped publishing reviews in 2014 -- hell, we stopped publishing <i>anything</i> in 2015 -- but I <i>still</i> get review invites all the time.<br />
<br />
There are no plans to start up the ol' play review grindstone anytime soon, and so I thought I might try to head off some of those emails and messages with this post.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>WE DON'T WRITE REVIEWS ANYMORE</b></span></div>
<br />
So, that's pretty much it.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
So, uh, thanks for stopping by.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Yeah, yeah, I know. Why post something short and simple when I can navel gaze for a few hundred words?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>WHY WE STOPPED WRITING REVIEWS</b></span></div>
<br />
<b>The Visceral Company Broke Me.</b> I became a fan, and had to stop reviewing their shows. At the same time, I had no interest in going to see anything other than the quality of work I had found at Visceral (and Sacred Fools and Rogue Artists Ensemble.) If I'm only willing to review shows that I know I'm inclined to love, I'm no longer a critic. I'm a cheerleader.<br />
<br />
It really started with Sacred Fools. They are an extraordinarily good group of people. So good, in fact, that I would like to someday work with them. I can't very well do that if I'm "the enemy." My priorities changed.<br />
<br />
On a related note ... <br />
<br />
<b>Writing About Other People's Stuff Was Getting In The Way Of Writing My Own Stuff.</b> I was spending too much time consuming, thinking about, and writing about the works of other people.<br />
<br />
It was a very worthwhile exercise. When Paul Storiale first suggested that I start writing reviews, he said it would serve the dual purpose of exposing me to more theater in Los Angeles (thus improving my understanding of the scene overall) and would help me hone my story sense as a writer. He was correct on both counts.<br />
<br />
<b>I Got Tired Of Adding To The Noise. </b>Seriously. I think there are now more critics than theater companies.<br />
<br />
On a related note ...<br />
<br />
<b>No One Fucking Cares.</b> No one decides to go to a play based on the opinion of some random anonymous dude on the internet. You decide to go to a play because someone you know is in it. You decide to go because you're on the theater company's mailing list, and you really like the sound of <i>Troilus and Cressida</i> set in 1930's Chicago.<br />
<br />
The bulk of our traffic came just after informing a theater company PR person that the review of their show was up. Noting this, we focused on our actual audience: The folks involved in producing the shows we reviewed. Our reviews became more like notes and less like snark. I like to think that some of the people who read our reviews got something out of them, but I'm not fooling myself. The whole reviewer/reviewee relationship is not set up that way.<br />
<br />
Most likely, anything good we wrote was taken as a welcome ego stroke, and anything bad was brushed off as "misunderstood intentions" or somesuch. Like the blind prophet Tiresias, I've been on both sides of this situation. I know how it goes.<br />
<br />
<b>In Conclusion, </b>we do not write reviews anymore.Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-86207209688368014432016-03-24T18:53:00.000-07:002017-03-24T12:41:57.799-07:00Sympathy for the Divine<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>"Good bad taste is celebrating something without thinking you’re
better than it. You think it’s so amazing, and you could have never even
thought it up.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>
</b></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>"Bad bad taste is condescending, making fun of others.</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>
</b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>"So that’s the difference for me: if you’re celebrating something or you’re looking down on something."</b></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
- John Waters (<a href="http://www.rookiemag.com/2012/02/teenage-girls-assaulted-by-wild-animals-an-interview-with-john-waters/2/">source</a>) </div>
<br />
If you've ever seen any video of a live act, you know: You MUST be in
the room to really get the full effect. A video may sometimes look
pretty, but more often than not it looks horrible. It is impossible to
get an accurate video artifact of a live performance unless you're a
Martin Scorsese or Jonathan Demme, and even then the level of trickery
and control employed is well beyond the means of your average
videographer, no matter how dedicated or awesome that videographer may
be.<br />
<br />
To say something is "lost in translation" when a video or (god help you) photo of an act is chanced upon online is to engage in superlative understatement. You can't judge a book by its cover, and you most certainly can't judge a burlesque act by its fat suit.<br />
<br />
Brandy Snifter's Divine act is a loving tribute to
everything that Divine and the films of John Waters have come to
symbolize. Embracing the outsider, reveling in what "decent" society considers trash.<br />
<br />
Brandy doesn't do glib, dilettante work when she takes the stage. She is fully committed to everything she does onstage. She's not playing <i>at</i> Divine, she's <i>playing</i> Divine. Her Divine drag is perfect. She looks like Divine, and she fully owns the persona. Everything is on point, including the overall silhouette.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>She's not shaming fat people for being overweight. To say that would be to say she's shaming Divine for being overweight, and<i> </i>of course that is not what Brandy is doing</b></span><b style="font-size: x-large;">.</b></div>
<br />
And herein lies the controversy. Brandy performs a striptease, down to a "fat suit." On its face, it sounds bad. Still photos and video taken out of context may seem shocking. In context of the act, dismissively calling it a "fat suit" is a pejorative. When Brandy strips down to and out of the fat suit, she's not shedding layers of fat; she's shedding a specific silhouette. She's shedding Divine' s silhouette. She's not shaming fat people for being overweight. To say that would be to say she's shaming Divine for being overweight, and<i> </i>of course that is not what Brandy is doing. <i>Of course</i> it's not.<br />
<br />
Brandy is not propping up a caricature as a representation of reality in order to belittle others. Her act is not a metamorphosis of a fat person becoming skinny. In fact-- and this is some deep shit here -- Brandy is revealing something very personal about how she views herself by taking on the mantle of Divine. Brandy is stripping away the externals of Divine to get to the core of Brandy Snifter, as if to say, "This is who I am."<br />
<br />
Brandy Snifter's reveal is not a "fat suit." Her reveal is something deeply personal about herself.<br />
<br />
It's easy to get tripped up on the external, and that's rather the problem. Getting tripped up on the external is what the "straights" do to the heroes in John Waters movies. Tripping out on the fact that Brandy Snifter strips down to a fat suit is like tripping out that Glenn Milstead didn't really have tits. It misses the point by a mile while simultaneously proving the greater point. It proves the necessity of this kind of an act.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-align: right;">Brandy Snifter's reveal is not a "fat suit." Her reveal is something deeply personal about herself.</span></div>
<br />
Somehow we've gone through a wormhole where we have to remind people that it's okay to be weird and different. We're all weird and different now, all of us, all weird and different just exactly the same as all the other weird and different people. When a person stands up and presents something personal and genuinely outre, what do we do? The same thing society has done to the outre since the beginning of society. Shun. Ostracize. Make them feel lesser-than.<br />
<br />
That is the great tragedy in all of the hoopla that has surrounded Brandy's act. The reaction to it, the outrage and subsequent belittling of a performer who is honestly putting herself out there, is exactly the sort of thing that would piss off a person like Divine.<br />
<br />
If you are an injured party in all this and feel you have some legitimate claim to feeling offended, that's your prerogative. You are absolutely entitled to your opinions and feelings, and no one can say boo about that. But I would ask that before you go on a wrecking campaign against another person's reputation, at least try to understand where they're coming from.<br />
<br />
You may not like the art, but you might just come to respect the artist.Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-48408773203229051952016-03-21T11:14:00.000-07:002016-04-30T08:10:34.588-07:00Sink or Swim<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>"It is unfortunate and unacceptable what vile and lazy do-nothings are given unwarranted credence for mouthing such foul and mean cliches as 'rip-off' and 'sell-out.' They have no understanding of our economy and the time it takes society to go. Confess and shut up! Capitalism good or ill is the river in which we sink or swim. Inspiration has always been born of recombination." </b></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
- Gary Panter, "The ROZZ-TOX Manifesto"</div>
Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-41023899021863636972016-03-18T12:13:00.000-07:002016-03-18T12:14:51.674-07:00Time To Renew Your Passport<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">"From the start it has been the theatre's business to entertain people.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">"It needs no other passport than fun."</span></b> <br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
- Bertolt Brecht, <i>A Little Organum for the Theatre</i></div>
Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-47148571601004715932015-07-24T20:43:00.000-07:002015-07-24T20:43:00.055-07:00Give The People What They Want<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TxoL3uQbPoc/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TxoL3uQbPoc?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-63743437816726562532014-11-03T16:56:00.001-08:002014-11-03T16:56:17.454-08:00Curtains
<blockquote>
<div class="poem">
<i>If we shadows have offended,<br />
Think but this, and all is mended,<br />
That you have but slumber'd here<br />
While these visions did appear.<br />
And this weak and idle theme,<br />
No more yielding but a dream,<br />
Gentles, do not reprehend:<br />
If you pardon, we will mend:<br />
And, as I am an honest Puck,<br />
If we have unearned luck<br />
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,<br />
We will make amends ere long;<br />
Else the Puck a liar call;<br />
So, good night unto you all.<br />
Give me your hands, if we be friends,<br />
And Robin shall restore amends.</i></div>
</blockquote>
Good night, folks. Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-9832470072191990642014-09-13T13:14:00.000-07:002014-09-13T13:15:41.895-07:00Should You Insist on Starting a Theater Company ...Want to start a theater company? Take this advice from someone who has been there:<br />
<br />
Don't. Los Angeles, we are told, makes more theater per capita than New York city. There are more theater companies and producers in this town than you probably realize (I'm constantly discovering "new" companies that have been around for years), and many of them are doing astounding work that deserves the hard work and toil you might otherwise spend <a href="http://madtheatrics.blogspot.com/2010/10/first-principles-all-human.html">pushing a boulder up a hill</a>. Date. Be promiscuous with your theater love. Join a half dozen companies (but whatever you do, <a href="http://madtheatrics.blogspot.com/2011/10/death-to-dues-ive-been-meaning-to.html">DON'T PAY DUES</a>.)<br />
<br />
Should you insist on starting a theater company, be smart about it -- well, be as smart as you can about it. You've already decided to start a theater company, after all, which is not the smartest first step.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/">Seth Godin</a> dropped some wisdom on his blog yesterday, in a post titled "<a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/09/the-launch-meeting.html">The Launch Meeting</a>":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The <i>amateur's launch</i> meeting is fun, brimming with possibility and excitement. Everything is possible. Goals are meant to be exceeded. Not only will the difficult parts go well, but this team, this extraordinary team, will be able to create something magical.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
Possibility is in the air, and it would be foolish to do anything but fuel it. After all, you don't get many days as pure as this one. </blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-afBeG638afU/VBSdYEyUZLI/AAAAAAAAChM/6tDW4uRlDJc/s1600/picard-facepalm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-afBeG638afU/VBSdYEyUZLI/AAAAAAAAChM/6tDW4uRlDJc/s1600/picard-facepalm.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I've been there, and it was fun, brimming with possibility and excitement. And that's about it. Oh, raw talent, to be sure, and considerable know-how when it came to producing theater. Were we ever truly <a href="http://madtheatrics.blogspot.com/2011/10/death-to-dues-ive-been-meaning-to.html">on the same page</a>, sharing the same goals and management philosophy for the company? That might have been a better place to begin:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The <i>professional's launch</i> meeting is useful. It takes
advantage of the clean sheet of paper to address the difficult issues
before egos get in the way. Hard questions get asked, questions like:<br />
<ul>
<li>What are the six things most likely to go wrong?</li>
<li>What will lead us to go over budget? Over schedule?</li>
<li>How will we communicate with one another when things are going well,
and how will we change that pattern when someone in the room (anyone in
the room) realizes that something is stuck?</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
Those three bullet points will save you considerable trouble, if you're starting a new company. As Seth says, you need the amateur's enthusiasm and big think, but you will be lost without a realistic approach. Failing to hammer out such details before you file that fictitious business name will eventually lead to years of not talking to people you once considered cohorts. Again, speaking from experience.<br />
<br />
Because the internet is fueled by lists and pictures of cats,<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Mad Theatrics Advice For Starting A Theater Company</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_ko3pP4hmN4/VBSkcTelFnI/AAAAAAAAChg/AHrEAeu-0jY/s1600/Mission%2BStatement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_ko3pP4hmN4/VBSkcTelFnI/AAAAAAAAChg/AHrEAeu-0jY/s1600/Mission%2BStatement.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>WHY?</b> Ask this question <i>constantly</i>. "Why?" is your friend. I've quoted the passage so much, I should have it programmed as a macro, but here again is Peter Brook from <i>The Empty Space</i>:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="margin-left: 2em;">
<span id="ecxsearch" style="visibility: visible;">There is always a new season in hand and we are too busy to ask the only vital question which measures the whole structure. Why theatre at all? What for? Is it an anachronism, a superannuated oddity, surviving like an old monument or a quaint custom? Why do we applaud, and what? Has the stage a real place in our lives? What function can it have? What could it serve? What could it explore? What are its special properties?</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="margin-left: 2em;">
Are you filling a niche? Because if you're not, you're just adding more noise to an already noisy arena. Don't try to be everything to everyone. Find a community and <i>serve it</i>.</div>
<br />
(It's a pretty short list, but in my opinion, that's the most relevant thing to address.)Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-43865243822129452592014-07-02T13:33:00.002-07:002014-07-02T13:34:36.712-07:00Carla Rhodes, Cecil Sinclaire, and Defying Expectations in Art<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">"I think no matter what happens </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">with me in my life ...</span></i></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TpF5z3etQwM/U7NH0dgRWwI/AAAAAAAACdQ/MXPQLWJ844c/s1600/carla_rhodes_cecil_sinclaire_credit_hanna_toresson_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TpF5z3etQwM/U7NH0dgRWwI/AAAAAAAACdQ/MXPQLWJ844c/s1600/carla_rhodes_cecil_sinclaire_credit_hanna_toresson_01.jpg" height="277" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carla Rhodes with Cecil Sinclaire, photo by Hanna Toresson (www.hannatoresson.com)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">... I will always be doing </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">something artistic."</span></i></span></div>
<br />
My comedy partner and I were once paid a tremendous compliment. One night, after hosting a burlesque show in Hollywood, an audience member approached us and said, "I can't believe you guys are real." I took it to mean we were filling a niche, bringing to the stage a fresh take on the (sometimes hackneyed) comedy tropes we exploit. <br />
<br />
There is a constant tension between reality and our idealized hopes and dreams. We feel this tension on Christmas Eve, before walking into a new job for the first time, and in the darkened theater. The best variety acts thrive by traversing that tension, manifesting the impossible; by both satisfying the expectations the audience doesn't know it has and defying expectations of what is actually possible.<br />
<br />
I can't believe Carla Rhodes is real.<br />
<br />
I was hosting the Monday Night Tease the first time I saw Carla and Cecil. I love vent acts, but they are fairly rare. I was anticipating the act, but completely unprepared for it. Carla plays into vent tropes and subverts them. Ventriloquism is a musty, old art form? Well here's a musty, old vent figure named Cecil who exploits and explodes the audience's expectations. Carla bills as the "Rock 'n' Roll Ventriloquist," and it's apt: conceptually, her act is cranked up to 11. And she kills.<br />
<br />
Emily Sheskin and Veena Rao have put together a <a href="http://narrative.ly/">Narratively</a> video about Carla, entitled Secrets of a Die-Hard Ventriloquist. The video is short and sweet, and well worth your time. <a href="http://narrative.ly/how-to-make-it-as-an-artist/secrets-of-a-die-hard-ventriloquist/#">Click here to go watch it</a> or check it out in the embedded video below.<br />
<br />
Carla is based in New York, but she does get out to Los Angeles from time to time. Be sure to like her on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CarlaRhodes">Facebook</a> and follow her on <a href="https://twitter.com/CarlaRhodes">Twitter</a> to find out when you can catch her act live.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/98544347?color=c60651" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://vimeo.com/98544347">Secrets of a Die-Hard Ventriloquist</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/narratively">Narratively</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-90862704845040664462014-05-28T10:04:00.000-07:002014-05-28T10:06:51.993-07:00Life's What HappensI assure you, the rest of the <i>Juana</i> series is coming. I've been a little busy over the past few weeks. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-snXlX_W-52I/U4YLxQx52BI/AAAAAAAACbE/AeuLJxRvU_g/s1600/doodle+pillow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-snXlX_W-52I/U4YLxQx52BI/AAAAAAAACbE/AeuLJxRvU_g/s1600/doodle+pillow.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
For starters, our 8 year-old dog, The Doodlebug, was diagnosed with anemia some weeks back. She's doing much better now, but the vet bills are stacking up (blood tests, vet visits, prescriptions, etc.) To help cover the expenses, we're making <a href="http://www.snapperburlesque.com/doodle-repairs">Doodle pillows</a> (pictured above, with The Doodlebug.) The response has been overwhelming, and I've spent a pretty fair chunk of my time slaving over a hot sewing machine.<br />
<br />
This experience has inspired some thoughts regarding fundraising and social media, and I will share those in due course.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1KEBcSlg_2E/U4YNuaG7x8I/AAAAAAAACbQ/IGHwJ9vp724/s1600/Big+Success.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1KEBcSlg_2E/U4YNuaG7x8I/AAAAAAAACbQ/IGHwJ9vp724/s1600/Big+Success.jpg" height="182" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
We paid visit to Hot Springs, Arkansas over the weekend. It was time to see the families and share the stage with the lovely ladies and gallant gents of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheFoulPlayCabaret">Foul Play Cabaret</a>. I also spent a chunk of Saturday with my nephew-in-law (pictured above, on the left) putting together a set and busking at Adair Park on beautiful Bathhouse Row. The kid's a natural.<br />
<br />
I love performing in Hot Springs. It's where I graduated high school, where I met my wife (performing in <i>The Crucible</i> with a local community theater company), where we wed, and where we crashed for a little bit after college. The arts scene in Hot Springs is incredible, and its the thing I miss most about not living there.<br />
<br />
Arkansans have a distinct DIY ethos that I haven't encountered anywhere else; a combination of imagination, determination, and defiance that is yet grounded in modesty and community spirit. It is inspiring to be around artists who possess that DIY ethos. It makes me want to be a better person.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1l6hI0moaUk/U4YTk3p3PrI/AAAAAAAACbc/-Qq_DZoTWC8/s1600/Boobies+Postcard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1l6hI0moaUk/U4YTk3p3PrI/AAAAAAAACbc/-Qq_DZoTWC8/s1600/Boobies+Postcard.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a></div>
<br />
Peppered in around pillow-making and travel to Arkansas is a veritable cornucopia of projects, props, writing, performances, and Gorn-knows-what-else I've committed myself to. Oh yeah. Like that <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/537305673055148/">burlesque parody of <i>The Goonies</i> that will be playing Hollywood Fringe Fest</a>. I'm in that.<br />
<br />
In short, the rest of the <i>Juana</i> series is coming.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Oh yeah, while I'm thinking about it ...</h3>
I've never had any takers, but what the hell? I might as well run it up the flagpole again. If anyone out there is interested in reviewing some shows at HFF for Mad Theatrics, shoot me a line (madtheatricsATgmail.com) and we'll talk. We have a <a href="http://madtheatrics.blogspot.com/2012/07/we-won-count-you-out.html">specific approach to how we write reviews around here</a>, and we prefer our reviews to be written by folks who have actually been involved with producing theater. <br />
<br />
Someone once called Mad Theatrics "a refreshing, <span class="il">unrehearsed</span> and intelligent alternative <span class="il">voice</span> in the LA scene." It's certainly something I aspire to, and I'm always interested in bringing on more unrehearsed voices.Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-38024299430867712302014-05-05T12:59:00.003-07:002014-05-05T13:43:54.741-07:00Killing Juana (Part 2)<h2>
<span style="color: yellow;">
Puppets and Mortality</span></h2>
<br />
[<i>NOTE: I've redacted the names of the players, including the theater company that produced Juana. You could easily figure out who's who with a little bit of poking around, but I ask that you don't. In all likelihood, these folks would rather you forget they were involved in this travesty, and who can blame them?</i>]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://madtheatrics.blogspot.com/2014/04/killing-juana-how-not-to-produce-play.html">Part one may be found here</a>. To sum up: in 2007 I helmed a disastrous production of an epic piece of theater. I lived to tell the tale, which is exactly what I'm doing.<br />
<br />
The Theater Company's dedication to developing new works enticed me to join as a playwright. A week or two after they welcomed me into the fold, the Artistic Director took me aside. He had heard through the grapevine that I was a puppeteer. <br />
<br />
The Artistic Director wanted to bring <i>Juana </i>to the stage. It would be a huge undertaking: The action takes place across Europe, over a span of 30 years, with a massive cast (north of 70 characters), battles, and supernatural elements. The AD had a bold idea make this work: use puppets. Granted, at first blush, that's not much of an idea.<br />
<br />
I've worked professionally as a puppeteer, and I've designed and built puppets. Back in college, I designed and oversaw the build of a large cast of puppets for a production of Allen Partridge's <i>Rumpelstiltskin Revised.</i> Hell, our production budget for that show was miniscule -- the costume designer, set designer, and I actually pulled most of our raw materials from the massive stock of costume pieces the theater department had in storage.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dvp7oQukb-M/U2fQOunp7mI/AAAAAAAACVM/8zoSTz6pnYU/s1600/2253_47832562297_79_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dvp7oQukb-M/U2fQOunp7mI/AAAAAAAACVM/8zoSTz6pnYU/s1600/2253_47832562297_79_n.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the <i>Rumpelstiltskin Revised</i> puppets. Basically thrown together from bits and pieces of foam and fabric reclaimed from long-unused costume pieces.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZibhdxllLQ/U2fQpH-HQmI/AAAAAAAACVU/uHOcmO43qMQ/s1600/2253_47832572297_650_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZibhdxllLQ/U2fQpH-HQmI/AAAAAAAACVU/uHOcmO43qMQ/s1600/2253_47832572297_650_n.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A full-body, gorilla-looking puppet standing in front of a coral-inspired set design by Garrick Pass. The fabric covering the set pieces is also reclaimed fabric from costume storage.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
At first, the offer was simply to design and execute the puppets needed for the show. A little later (weeks) the offer was to direct the show AND do the puppets. Implicit in the offer was the promise that a play I was working on (a play set backstage at a burlesque theater in WWII-era San Francisco) would be produced the following season. <br />
<br />
I jumped on the offer. It seemed a tall order, but with the full support of Theater Company behind me, I couldn't possibly fail!<br />
<br />
I was given "the play." In fact, I was given a screenplay and a treatment for <i>Juana</i> as a television series. I emailed The AD, who in turn emailed the playwright, and before long I had a PDF of the play in front of me. It had issues -- it seemed little more than a loose adaptation of the screenplay to the stage -- but I also had assurances that the Playwright was more than willing to play ball, and make any needed revisions.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M5tGcInaiXs/U2fb_SK4KzI/AAAAAAAACW4/bhLdvLJnUOE/s1600/image%25282%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M5tGcInaiXs/U2fb_SK4KzI/AAAAAAAACW4/bhLdvLJnUOE/s1600/image%25282%2529.jpeg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working out the mechanics of how to make the puppets talk.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JSqPAVPMO-k/U2fcNAp6d4I/AAAAAAAACYA/3O0-2WeCEH8/s1600/image%25287%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JSqPAVPMO-k/U2fcNAp6d4I/AAAAAAAACYA/3O0-2WeCEH8/s1600/image%25287%2529.jpeg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Fortune Teller narrated the story. My idea was for a puppet fixed on a rotating set piece, operated from behind.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_V_ofBW6Ibo/U2fb-QQQHiI/AAAAAAAACWY/1Qk9W8j1OGk/s1600/image%25281%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_V_ofBW6Ibo/U2fb-QQQHiI/AAAAAAAACWY/1Qk9W8j1OGk/s1600/image%25281%2529.jpeg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rendering of what one of the finished puppets should look like. (Phillip was Juana's husband.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And so I set to work, studying the play, doing my research, writing up my director's analysis, and doing some preliminary design work on the puppets. A month after receiving the play, I met with the Playwright. He was a very warm man, emotionally connected to <i>Juana </i>in a way that was moving to me. He was very supportive of our plans to populate Juana's world with puppets, and showed an interest in my work as a playwright. <br />
<br />
We planned on doing a read-through of the play in April, when his health was a little better. He was down for doing rewrites, another draft -- anything that would help get his play in front of an audience.<br />
<br />
A few weeks later, he passed away.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Excerpts from Director's Pre-Production Statement for <i>Juana</i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
An epic play, a pageant that reveals the hidden truth behind history's most maligned and misunderstood monarch -- this is the story of Juana. Labeled "Juana the Mad" by her captors, this propaganda line has dogged her true story through the ages: That the death of her young husband drove her insane; that she inherited this madness from her grandmother.<br />
<br />
[Playwright]'s play reveals quite a different reality: A strong-willed, intelligent woman who was seen as a threat to the established patriarchal structure of post-Medieval Europe; an opponent of the Inquisition; and a champion of the common people. Juana embodied the spirit of the Renaissance in a country that was desperately clinging to the last vestiges of the Dark Ages.<br />
<br />
This November, we will tell Juana's story. Sixty-plus puppets, brought to the stage by twenty talented performers shall take the audience on an epic voyage through three kingdoms, over turbulent oceans, through the darkest of nights, and ultimately to the truth.</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h4>
The Puppets
</h4>
The puppet count is at 67, not including any toy theater or shadow puppets. We will be using a variety of rod-based puppets (pageant puppets, westernized bunraku-style puppets, etc.) performed out in the open (i.e. after the fashion of Julie Taymor/<i>Avenue Q</i>.)<br />
<br />
[Playwright]'s play is very cinematic. We cross continents in the blink of a scene change, cross vast amounts of time in mere moments. To help handle these transitions, I'm utilizing toy theater. (As it so happens, a few of these transitions involve large crowd scenes. Yet another reason to utilize toy theater.)<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img aligh="center;/" height="155px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/o0LFsMXKz88OXFMJgI1xdEMoKQJkee5957adzv-MIjHNaPBkzwyTWfIjPUm-xCvYSA8vQbRQ2SMnqumCAg428yynxCdkiCyt0U6VwmQR1xrP0bwwBkCj0B6BA6IaJO79GQ" style="border: medium none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="159px;" /></div>
<br />
A successful application of toy theater in contemporary theater has been to capture the performance with a video camera and project it on a screen for the audience to view. (See image from Redmoon Theater's production of <i>Once Upon a Time [Or the Secret Language of Birds]</i>.) <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img align="center;/" height="199px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/ZAOId5qwOLGiTcpStWE798az6Qepuhl5aUMBEqDEs8uQXveCzYVpdWOThDvR5WZHEinsdsPM-ARGH8DVFXj5pWbLNWQecTc0RlQlQ2Zr0ROm2v4MmHc0AtNQ8uWDcS6VTQ" style="border: medium none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="350px;" /> </div>
<br />
[Playwright] has postulated that Juana was able to keep up with what was going on outside her prison walls by way of extended or remote viewing. At the same time she was in Burgos, a group of Christian mystics were studying this phenomenon. In our play, Juana experiences two visions. We will play out these visions with shadow puppets, a form of puppetry uniquely suited to depicting dreams and visions. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img align="center;" height="181px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/VvZE9ceEGBXvDmYB_3223L-I_SFlWW7t3cYiMBTUvjHRhtFvyPzDR5jkZskzb0-n03Yz9LGysL2ry2KQdvsKu8qYEMDqwHbqYFz3X_QN3ikRfdQRXrZ56tzY2aPV7DuIrg" style="border: medium none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="159px;" /> </div>
<br />
Juana was was a threat to the establishment, and was removed from power. She was placed in the room without light "for her own good," and every attempt was made by her captor (the devious Marquis of Denia) to drive her insane. It was a nightmare scenario, and one that Juana briefly emerged from in 1520 when she presided over the legislative assembly in Spain, demonstrating a soundness of mind and intelligence as she attempted to transform Spain into a democracy.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">"The use of puppets in this production will enable an expressionistic
take on her story. The audience will experience the madhouse in which
Juana found herself: surrounded by monsters who meant to do her in."</span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The use of puppets in this production will enable an expressionistic take on her story. The audience will experience the madhouse in which Juana found herself: surrounded by monsters who meant to do her in. In the case of Fernando, he will be a nine-foot-tall pageant style puppet. (This particular point, how Juana perceived those around her and how this works with the puppets is a point I discussed with [Playwright]. He was rather excited about the idea, and took a copy of my initial sketches to show around.)<br />
<br />
Furthermore, we will be designing the puppets and creating an environment informed by the sort of things that would have served as nightmare fuel for a much younger Juana, growing up in the castles and cathedrals of the Catholic Monarchs. Specifically, Late Medieval and Early Renaissance religious art.
</blockquote>
Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-79877371869565607782014-04-28T10:56:00.001-07:002014-05-05T13:02:07.329-07:00Killing Juana (Part 1)<div style="text-align: center;">
- or -</div>
<h2>
<span style="color: yellow;">Follow-through, Sunk Costs, and Producing the Best High School Theater in Los Angeles: A Cautionary Tale</span> </h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
</h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0AGaW5_RZpE/U16P2yI196I/AAAAAAAACUI/Ydsh0bDENnw/s1600/Juana+Candle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0AGaW5_RZpE/U16P2yI196I/AAAAAAAACUI/Ydsh0bDENnw/s1600/Juana+Candle.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<h4>
Prologue</h4>
On September 30th, 2007, eight months after committing to direct <i>Juana</i> and two months before opening, I sent an email to the assistant artistic directors of [theater company name redacted] and my stage manager:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I feel a bit like Aeschylus. Only,
instead of an eagle dropping a turtle on my bald head and killing me,
it's the Fates dropping Cleveland steamers on my beautiful and full head
of hair. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I find myself in the position of saying "<i>Juana </i>can
still come off, so long as ..." and then listing off a dozen or so
things -- a list that grows longer each day. The more problems I work
on solving, the more problems pop up in their place. It's been a lot
like beheading a hydra. Or to paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson's character
in "Jurassic Park," we have all the problems of a major theme park and a
major zoo.<br />
<br />
Okay. To recap: I just this night lost the costume
designer. There's a lighting designer in the works, but I have no set
designer or sound designer. <br />
<br />
I still don't have the cast I need
(six actors short) after losing [Actress] in a Melrose-Place-like
display of drama. Of the company members who haven't quit or gone on
LOA, at least half
of them are taking a break -- from [Theater Company], if not from acting. Our
Now Casting responders were mostly females interested in the Toy
Theater. Of the three guys I saw, I was able to cast one. Planet <i>
Juana </i>needs men.<br />
<br />
The budget's still up in the air and we really
need to start the build, if we hope to build an ass-load of puppets in
eight weeks. This means some of the puppets wouldn't get into the hands
of the actors until opening (eight weeks). 67 puppets is a lot. I've
simplified the design down to something doable, and I'm thinking up ways
to eliminate extraneous characters, but it's still a shitload of work
(see point above about remaining company members who are taking a
break).</blockquote>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SABTFYD6BF0/U16MyIt81NI/AAAAAAAACT8/oqAyUItfs_M/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SABTFYD6BF0/U16MyIt81NI/AAAAAAAACT8/oqAyUItfs_M/s1600/photo+3.JPG" height="320" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The breakdown of the characters/puppets."Emphasis on the 'breakdown.'"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[Artistic Director] doesn't like the idea of going dark over
Thanksgiving, which means either opening after (and running for three
weeks) or somehow casting nineteen people who don't have plans that
weekend. I don't know what the hell this even means. If we start after
Thanksgiving, we run for three weeks. (Christmas is on a Tuesday this
year. Something tells me a "five day weekend" is going to be a popular
choice amongst the cast members I have, let alone the audience.)<br />
<br />
Three nights a week are completely shot as far as rehearsals go. (Even if I was not in <i>Midsummer</i>, most of my cast is.) <br />
<br />
[Deceased Playwright]'s not here to make any needed changes to the
script to make it more producible. There are certain staging problems
that I was willing to fix, but given the mounting issues around this
production ... well let's just say my optimism is fading (i.e.,
projectors, for a start) and time is running out.<br />
<br />
Ladies and
gentleman, I'm finally to the point where I can say with a clear
conscience, "This play is fucked." Another way to say it is, "This
project is officially out of my pay range." Another would be "Hold! Or
cut bow strings!" Still another would be "NO MAS!" (This is me just
being funny and softening the blow. I honestly don't see how we can do
the production with the given circumstances, and I'm supposed to be the
captain of this ship.)<br />
<br />
Let's just do it next year. Give
ourselves some time and space. Let everyone's batteries recharge so I
have a fresh, full company to play with. Let's give half the <i>Juana
</i>dates to the long-suffering Playwright's Labbers. With some of the
press stating that they won't review the same small theatre twice in a
row, this will get the new playwrights an opportunity to be reviewed.
With the other half, let's pick back up on something we were working on
earlier this year, and push it over the f-ing finish line -- and make
some damn money. I'll happily take the reins of it and see it through.
I even have a new name and face for it. [Asst. A.D #1] and [Stage Manager] heard the first
draft of the title today in the company meeting:<br />
<br />
"Uncle [Company Member]'s
Dirty Music Hall Review" -- [Company Member]'s dirtiest songs, a couple of crude
puppet shows, and a couple of burlesque acts. I'll direct and write
whatever is needed to fill out the show. <i>Midsummer </i>has proven that we
have some great dancers on our hands. We have the poles to do [Company Member]'s
"Pole Dancer" number. Let's have some fun, raise some money, and start
the planning for next season. (I'll even pay to reprint the outside of
our <i>Midsummer </i>programs to reflect the change.) $20 to $25 admission for
a bawdy evening of fun would be within the budget of our audiences. [<i>Ed. Note: We were actually in production on a "gala" show that had these elements in play. It was cancelled by the artistic director.</i>]<br />
<br />
I
hate this. Believe me, I was roaring about "doing <i>Juana </i>by myself with
finger puppets if need be" a couple of weeks ago. I don't have the
energy left at this point to do a one-man <i>Juana </i>production, much less
the flailing project I have in my hands right now. This sucks. But <i>
Midsummer </i>is a high point in our season that could extend if we focus
our efforts. The New Playwrights Series should be easy to tackle with
our available talent and will be great for the company. Making money
with dirty songs and half-naked women would be a great, simple and
delightful way to cap off the year.<br />
<br />
I don't know how to present
this to [Artistic Director]. You guys are the experts on that. I don't want to
half-ass a dead man's work. With <i>Midsummer</i>, I feel the company is
rounding a corner. I'd rather keep going onward and upward.<br />
<br />
-- Andrew</blockquote>
<h4>
And So We Begin</h4>
Let's go on a journey, dear reader. A journey into the room without light. A journey into attempting the impossible and failing miserably: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"But director Andrew Moore has made so many unfortunate choices and has
been saddled with so many unhelpful circumstances, the story of the
betrayal of Juana ... over 30 years by her father, husband, and son
feels exhausting." </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
- from the <i>Backstage West</i> review of <i>Juana</i></blockquote>
</div>
<br />
I'm going to take you on a journey through those many unhelpful circumstances and unfortunate choices.<br />
<br />
In 2007, I undertook to direct a play about Juana the Mad, a fascinating historical figure, for a local theater company. I approached the process full of enthusiasm, the best of intentions, and a real desire to share Juana's tragic story. The final product was, indeed, a tragedy. A tragedy, it turns out, that could have been quite easily avoided (but you'll have to wait for the punchline, folks.)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pst2A3-l3_k/U16RSBlK6yI/AAAAAAAACUY/wEWQr4LbtO8/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pst2A3-l3_k/U16RSBlK6yI/AAAAAAAACUY/wEWQr4LbtO8/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best of intentions: Pre-production art of what one of the puppets would look like.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sfor4yLMnh0/U16Sxb7z40I/AAAAAAAACUg/f7iBFNhnwbM/s1600/Juana+Pre+Pro+017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sfor4yLMnh0/U16Sxb7z40I/AAAAAAAACUg/f7iBFNhnwbM/s1600/Juana+Pre+Pro+017.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The final product.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The day after I sent my plea to postpone the production of <i>Juana</i>, after receiving emailed pep-talks from the assistant artistic directors and my stage manager, I sent another email. This one began as follows:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Guys - <br />
<br />
Okay, so I got a bit steamed up yesterday.<br />
<br />
I took a fresh look at the script today and ... uh, started rewriting it. </blockquote>
<br />
In the end, I have no one to blame but myself. I realized what I had gotten myself into, yet I fooled myself into believing I could somehow muscle <i>Juana</i> to completion. I hope that over the course of this series you will learn from my mistakes.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-78dflyVcfpo/U16UDymjbhI/AAAAAAAACUo/V0TZsOMPMpc/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-78dflyVcfpo/U16UDymjbhI/AAAAAAAACUo/V0TZsOMPMpc/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workshopping a dead man's script during production. Item one fifty-one on the <i>Juana </i>glitch list.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
A Few Notes</h4>
Before I dive into the gnarly details, a few notes:<br />
First,
I'm redacting all the names involved. This production of <i>Juana</i> is a matter of
public record, and a simple Google search could easily turn up the
details I'm omitting. I ask that you don't. I am certain the other people involved in
this project are happy to have it well in their rearview
mirror, and would rather have it forgotten.<br />
<br />
I have
nothing but lasting respect for my cast and crew. From the lighting
designer who most likely wanted to flay me alive as the demands of the
production maxed out the capabilities of the light board, to the actors
who remained dedicated to the farce despite every reason to run for the
hills, to the assistant artistic directors who were basically handed a
live grenade as the artistic director ran off to New York -- everyone
actively involved in this production came to it with the sort of <i>esprit de corps</i> that draws me to the theater.<br />
<br />
Finally,
if you were there, too, and wish to take me to task, correct my
misconceptions, or contribute to the public dissection of a long-dead
production, drop me a line. As always, I'm fascinated to know what other
people were thinking.Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-7528656672760815632014-04-12T10:47:00.001-07:002014-04-12T23:04:18.892-07:00Tales of Longing and Belonging<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s27-1S1cnis/U0ltOTCPYrI/AAAAAAAACTQ/1xiep146MCQ/s1600/Longing+and+Belonging.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s27-1S1cnis/U0ltOTCPYrI/AAAAAAAACTQ/1xiep146MCQ/s1600/Longing+and+Belonging.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>UPDATE, 11:00 pm</i>: I would like to acknowledge the artists involved by name. Their spirited performances really made the evening:<br /><br />
<div>
Rona Par (narrator); Deborah Dauda (dancer); Raul Cordona, Shamika Franklin, Beth Peterson, Ezra Behnen, Alexis, Aida, Vince and Luis (puppeteers); and Severin Behnen, Julio Montero and Najite Agindotan (musicians).</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Likewise, I neglected to mention how well organized and run this event was. The festival volunteers in particular were quite attentive, friendly, and on top of things. Kudos!</div>
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * </div>
<br />
Child-like wonder conveyed through a loving expression of art and puppetry filled the Elephant Stage's Lillian Theatre last night, as the colorful creations and talented performers of Beth Peterson's One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater took the audience on a journey of longing and belonging. <br />
<br />
The audience entered the theater to live music, courtesy of a trio of musicians: a percussionist playing what looked like clay bongo drums, an accordionist, and a guitarist. This magical musical overture, played in an improvisational style on folk instruments, was the perfect mood setter for what was to come.<br />
<br />
The show began with "Traveling Colors: A Suitcase Show," a simply narrated toy theater tale of a grey boy in a grey world, and his journey through all the colors of nature. This dream-like first act was a captivating stream of consciousness, which drew us further into the magic of the evening.<br />
<br />
A brief musical interlude followed, featuring well crafted, large-scale coyote and moon puppets. Accompanied by the vocal talents of Julio Cesar Montero, Jr. (the guitarist in the trio), this segment served as a breather between the major acts of the evening.<br />
<br />
"The Mysterious Case of the Missing Star Episode 3: The Nomad" began with a prologue of three children looking for a star in Los Angeles. A series of humorous events brought them to Watts, where we were told the story of Sobato Rodia, the artist who created the Watts Towers.<br />
<br />
This transitioned to the story of Dominique Moody, the titular nomad, an artist who overcame juvenile macular degeneration to create intricately crafted assemblage art. (Her first solo exhibition was at the Watts Towers Arts Center, thus connecting her story to that of Sobato Rodia.) Episodic, told through toy theater, mask work, shadow and large-scale puppetry, we were taken on an impressionistic survey of her life-story.<br />
<br />
At times, the evening's presentation seemed to lake a certain showmanship polish. Little adjustments would make for a more enjoyable audience experience: cleaning up entrances and exits, cleaner movement of pieces on and off stage, consistent attire among the puppeteers. (If you're wearing blacks, wear blacks. Not black tennis shows with white soles or colored t-shirts.) But what these artists lacked in polish they more than made up for in heart.<br />
<br />
At the end of the evening, the real life Dominique Moody was brought up on stage. It was an emotional, fourth-wall breaking moment: the recognition of the real, flesh-and-blood artist whose life story just played out before us. Beth Peterson then invited the audience to join the cast onstage and dance. In the end, <i>Tales of Longing and Belonging</i> was a celebration of life; an acknowledgement of our individual longing and universal belonging.<br />
<br />
This show is well suited for children, and I encourage parents to seek out <a href="http://artisvida.wix.com/bethpeterson">One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater</a>. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MOzntx2jGEs/U0ltcJCERwI/AAAAAAAACTc/RgR1gOtl1xk/s1600/Puppet_Fest_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MOzntx2jGEs/U0ltcJCERwI/AAAAAAAACTc/RgR1gOtl1xk/s1600/Puppet_Fest_Logo.jpg" height="118" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
LA Puppet Fest is going full tilt boogie through this tomorrow afternoon. There's still time to catch a show, panel discussion, or class. It all culminates in a veritable explosion of the puppetry arts at Skirball Cultural Center tomorrow. Visit the <a href="http://www.lapuppetfest.com/">LA Puppet Fest website</a> for details.Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-40769336784369650092014-04-08T20:55:00.003-07:002014-04-08T21:02:54.260-07:00LA Puppet Fest: Fringier than Fringe... and not just because some of the performers actually <i>have </i>fringe.<br />
<br />
As mainstream as puppetry can be -- from <i>The Muppets: Most Wanted</i> to <i>Avenue Q</i> to the puppety presence is ads for LendingTree, Jack in the Box, and who knows what else -- as a theatrical artform it remains very much outside the mainstream. Sure, puppetry is used to great effect by companies such as Rogue Artist Ensemble and The Visceral Company, but that rather proves the point. The companies that consistently avail themselves of this uniquely theatrical artform are the iconoclastic companies on the outermost limits of mainstream theatrical production. The outré ones. The fringiest of Los Angeles theater.<br />
<br />
For the second year, <a href="http://www.lapuppetfest.com/">LA Puppet Fest</a> is celebrating this artform with workshops and performances across the Greater Los Angeles area. The fest began on April 1st, and continues through this weekend, affording the opportunity to take in masterful theatrical puppetry, and learn a
thing or two about how to bring the magic of puppetry to your
stage.<br />
<br />
Here's the press release, so you know what's going on:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
LA Puppet Fest 2014 continues with Puppet Theater,
Workshops & Skirball Family Puppet Festival </h3>
<h4>
Friday: Evening of Puppetry and Song </h4>
<h4>
Saturday: Intro to Puppet Sketch; Wonder of Shadow Puppetry; Future of Puppetry; Minimalism Times Three Plus One Show </h4>
<h4>
Sunday: Skirball Puppet Festival, a family celebration
LA Puppet Fest 2014: City-Wide Celebration of the Art and Creativity of all things Related to Puppetry with Events for Children and Adults through April 13 </h4>
LA Puppet Fest 2014, back for its second year, is a city-wide celebration dedicated to sharing and promoting the art of puppetry through performances and workshops. Taking place from April 1 – 13, spanning from Santa Monica, West Los Angeles to West Hollywood and Hollywood, LA Puppet Fest promises to offer entertainment and educational activities with something for everyone. Over 25 events are scheduled, many appropriate for children and families, as well as adult only programs. www.LAPuppetFest.com<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Friday, April 11, 8 p.m.</u>:</span> Tales of Longing and Belonging: The Losing, Finding and Making of Place, an Evening of Puppetry and Song</b> – $15 or $20 VIP; All ages
<b>Elephant Stage’s Lillian Theatre</b>, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles 90038
- "Tales of Longing and Belonging" is an evening of giant and tiny puppetry and live music for all ages. "Hue - the suitcase show" is a young boy's colorful search to find a place where he belongs; songs of Cuñao explore the journey of history, loss and search for new place, and "The Nomad" features episodes from the life of Dominique Moody who creates beautiful assemblage from the shards of the past. Shadow puppets, Toy Theater, a giant puppet or two, and storytelling combined with live music to bring these tales to life. A One Grain of Sand Puppet Production.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L9V5g6B70zc/U0TDddNG9BI/AAAAAAAACSo/P-lDdzCASog/s1600/Sand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L9V5g6B70zc/U0TDddNG9BI/AAAAAAAACSo/P-lDdzCASog/s1600/Sand.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grain of Sand Puppet Theater, <i>Tales of Longing and Belonging</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b> </b><br />
<b>Cast Includes</b>: Gina Fields, Beth Peterson, Jamie Kim, Jonathan Alvarez, and Ezra, Vince, Luis, Aida and friends<br />
<br />
<b>Music</b>: Cuñao - Julio Cesar Montero, Jr.; Severin Behnen<br />
<br />
<b>Beth Peterson</b> created puppet shows, pageants and parades for over a decade and a half at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre in Minneapolis, MN and for the last ten years with One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater in Los Angeles in venues ranging from the lobby of Walt Disney Concert Hall and opening of Grand Park, to South Coast Repertory Theater, Inner City Arts, Skirball Center and LA neighborhoods including Highland Park, Koreatown and Leimert Park.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Saturday, April 12</u>:</span> Workshops, Roundtable & Show</b><br />
<br />
<b>Asylum Lab</b>, 1078 Lillian Way, Hollywood 90038<br />
<b>12:00 p.m.: Introduction to Puppet Sketch with Erik Kuska</b> - $25; All Ages<br />
Love puppets but having a hard time coming up with new ideas? Love sketch comedy but not really sure how its done? Need help finding the ‘funny’ in your work, or just need some motivation to get some writing done? Well this is the workshop for YOU.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-igPaTfkJ2c0/U0TEiRb3XmI/AAAAAAAACS8/_NdOAfGxg0s/s1600/Sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-igPaTfkJ2c0/U0TEiRb3XmI/AAAAAAAACS8/_NdOAfGxg0s/s1600/Sketch.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erik Kuska and friend, "Introduction to Puppet Sketch"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
These sketch writing techniques apply to ALL writing, whether its a feature length script or writing a monologue to start your show. The idea is, better writing gives you better puppetry. So bring a pen, paper, and get ready take the next step toward being a better writer. We'll examine sketch formats, discuss how to play to your puppetry strengths, and learn how to develop ideas more efficiently.<br />
<br />
<b>Elephant Stage’s Lillian Theatre</b>, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles 90038<br />
<b>2:30 p.m.: Exploring the Wonder of Shadow Puppetry with Leslie K.Gray</b> - $25; Ages 10+ <br />
Shadow puppets are an integral part of rituals and arts all over the world, but not so prevalent in Western culture. Come join theater artist Leslie K. Gray for a hands on workshop that explores the techniques of shadow puppetry, ancient and modern. Create your own shadow puppet presentations using light to create images from reflected darkness! This two hour workshop is designed to be an intensive for ages 10 and up. If you are able to bring a pair of scissors, a pencil, ordinary sheets of paper (office recycled is fine), and any items you think might cast interesting shadows, you will be onestep ahead in creating your own shadow puppet show!<br />
<br />
<b>5 p.m.: Future of Puppetry Round Table; </b>guests to be announced. Moderator: Eric Lynxwiler - $15 or $20 VIP; All Ages<br />
Young puppetry professionals share their perspective about where the art form is going and what they are doing to help it advance their way.<br />
<br />
<b>8 p.m.: Minimalism Times Three Plus One</b> - $15 or $20 VIP; Ages 12+<br />
The show opens with a preview of “206 - The Church of Bones” written and created by Sean T. Cawelti and Morgan Rebane. An original multidisciplinary puppet and media performance exploring the relationship between death and consumerism based on true events spanning a 700 year history at a single church in the Czech Republic.<br />
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Following that are three pieces in the Minimalist style. Each one tells a different story with a single object. The goal of this limitation is to foster a high degree of creative thinking while at the same time unearthing the emotional potential of the most common of objects. The thoughts and imagination of the audience are directed towards the formation of new associations for everyday objects and materials. It is these associations that give birth to the fun and entirely original puppetry images typical of a Minimalist Puppetry show. A MUST see. VIP tickets include priority seating and meet and greet with the cast.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Sunday, April 13, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.</u>:</span> Skirball Puppet Festival: A Family Celebration of the Wonders of Puppet Theater</b><br />
<br />
<b>Skirball Cultural Center</b>, 2701 North Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles 90049
$10 general; $7 Seniors/Students; $5 Children 2-12; Free to Skirball Members; all ages <i>Limited advance tickets: Available on site at the Skirball, online at www.skirball.org, or by phone at (877) SCC-4TIX or (877) 722-4849. Walk up tickets subject to availability. Advance tickets recommended. Free passes and discount coupons are not valid on festival day. </i><br />
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Join the Skirball for its third annual celebration of the art of puppetry, featuring interactive puppet performances, shadow puppetry, live music, art making, spectacular strolling puppets, an interactive display from the Los Angles Guild of Puppetry, and more. This campus-wide, daylong festival brings together some of Southern California’s most talented puppeteers and artists, working in a range of cultural and artistic styles. A day of imaginative storytelling and innovation sure to amaze visitors ages 2 to 102!</blockquote>
Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-42280110991849084532014-03-15T10:30:00.000-07:002014-03-15T10:30:05.575-07:00Fuck It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Writer Phil Jourdan's impassioned <a href="http://litreactor.com/columns/when-its-time-to-say-f-it">Fuck It Manifesto</a> is spot-fucking-on:<br />
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<br />
I would like to encourage you to say: Fuck it. Because the likely thing
is that everyone is telling you not to give up, without even asking what
“giving up” means. I’m not telling you to stop writing (and if you
stopped writing just because I told you to, you may be in particular
need of learning to say "fuck it"). I’m telling you, at the risk of you
calling me an asshole, to stop behaving like a frustrated, insecure,
socially oversensitive author, which is what you become when you buy
into the image of the author that we have created as a collective. </blockquote>
Go read the <a href="http://litreactor.com/columns/when-its-time-to-say-f-it">whole fucking thing</a>, and reflect on the fact that this advice is applicable to any artist, not just writers. Jourdan says, "Fuck the constant agonizing over everything except the writing."<br />
<br />
Or the acting. Or the directing. Or the production design.Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-49816935435117678012014-02-14T10:04:00.001-08:002014-02-14T10:04:19.169-08:00Dissecting Discouragement<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There's nothing like the sudden crash of discouragement that follows a period of solid, positive action. You've been doing all the right things, making great progress, and then suddenly find yourself in a blue funk, utterly depressed by the seeming futility of your actions. It's an emotional sinkhole.<br />
<br />
I find that increasing my understanding often gives me a feeling of control over situations that otherwise leave me feeling helpless. I'm going to start by defining the word, "discouragement":<br />
<div class="headword" id="headword">
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<h2>
dis·cour·age·ment</h2>
<span class="main-fl"><em>noun</em></span> <span class="pr">\-mənt\</span>
</blockquote>
<div class="ld_on_collegiate">
<blockquote>
: the act of making something less likely to happen or of making people less likely to do something<br />
: a feeling of having lost hope or confidence<br />
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: something (such as a failure or difficulty) that discourages someone</div>
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<br /></div>
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- <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discouragemen"><i>Merriam-Webster.com</i>. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014</a>. </div>
</blockquote>
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<br /></div>
<div class="bottom_entry">
The derivation is fascinating. It literally means "to lose heart." Kind of an ironic thing to be writing about on Valentines Day.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This is ridiculous, of course. You can't lose your heart. You still have it. It's still there.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="bottom_entry">
We forget sometimes just how alive we are. Setbacks, failures, reality adjustments -- these remind us that we are not superhumans. They are a kick to the ego-crotch. Of course we feel less alive and less vital. Of course we "lose heart."</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="bottom_entry">
The solution to discouragement, as near as I can tell, is to increase a personal feeling of vitality. Learn something new. Listen to exciting music. Get out and do something physical. Hell, just washing the dishes, accomplishing something as mundane as that can make you feel that much more vital.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The important thing is to remain active. To keep pushing, keep moving, keep on keeping on. And just like popping the clutch* on a car with a dead battery, you'll be fired up and racing off in no time.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="bottom_entry">
<i>*I realize this metaphor will be lost on most people. You know what? Google it sometime when you're feeling discouraged. Learn something new!</i></div>
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Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-31315374983749298142013-12-11T09:23:00.003-08:002013-12-11T09:23:44.292-08:00Determining the Cause of DeathThe show's over, we're all rested up, and we're eager to compare notes and find out how to improve on our efforts. We schedule a meeting.<br />
<br />
Must we call it a "postmortem?"<br />
<br />
Postmortems are conducted to determine a cause of death. Is the project/company/group dead? These meetings should be more like a doctor's physical than an ME's autopsy. <br />
<br />
There has to be a more positive way to put this, that doesn't infer dredging up all the negatives and ignoring the positives.<br />
<br />
What do you call these meetings? Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27889799.post-13182910038879246172013-12-04T14:10:00.002-08:002013-12-04T14:10:18.056-08:00No Permanent Ink This Year*<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" title="Attribution-ShareAlike License">Some rights reserved</a> by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/anxiousnut/">AnxiousNut</a>
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The Permanent Ink List, our list of the best original plays to debut in Los Angeles over the past year will not be published this year. Your mad genius is a bit busy and won't be able to put it together.<br />
<br />
If anyone cares to take up the mantle, have at it! <br />
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* the irony is not lost on me.Andrew Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12684769639772929411noreply@blogger.com0