Higher and Higher

As I watch my show climbing up the waiting list toward inclusion in the 2005 Fringe Festival, I hear Jackie Wilson singing in my head "...lifting me, higher and higher!" That's right! Commedia Beauregard is chillin' at #26 now. We started at 41 or 42. Last week we were at 32. Now, #26. That's a pretty good rate of ascension. I've noticed that some shows are already casting and searching for production people, and I have mixed feelings about that. It is a truism that regular theatre productions in this town are going toward casting earlier and earlier in an effort to lock in a cast. I'm not terribly fond of the trend myself, but just this past weekend I held auditions for the next show I'm directing, even though rehearsals don't start until the 18th of April. So, I guess it just had to happen that the Fringe Festival's shows would start moving earlier and earlier, too.

So, this next Monday, the day after Easter, for those of you of the Christian ilk, I'm planning on another excursion into the realm of "Thirst Theatre." I'd invite you all to tag along and hang out for drinks afterward. It'll be a chance for me to find out if you agree with me on the whole thing that evening.

Ready for something completely random?

• Thus far I've read five of the Martian tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I love them. John Carter is cool!
• I'm wondering what the odds are if you buy one of those tubs of 500+ buttons and you suddenly have need of a button on your jacket, let's just say one pops off and you can't find it-- what are the odds that within that tub there actually is a button that matches the others on your jacket?
• "You made me so very happy, I'm so glad you came into my life." -- Blood Sweat and Tears
• Todays snippet from www.hookedonfacts.com : "February 1865 is the only month in recorded history to not have a full moon." -- This explains why February 1865 is the outcast of Month society. She still has to sit by herself in the cafeteria to this day. Sad. really sad.
• I wrote a paper last night on the book The Isle of Pines by Henry Neville for a class I'm taking on Utopian and Dystopian Lierature. Interesting read, and the outside source material I found on it was great reading, too.

Movin' on up!

So, the Fringe witing list has gotten a bit shorter, and I am coming closer to actually producing in the Fringe again. I was originally number 41 or 42. Now, I'm number 32. A few more shows are in. I'm hoping that means that a new venue was added, and not that the 9 or 10 companies have already dropped out. I know that at least one production from last year's waiting list made it in after starting out in the #58 slot, but I'd rather have to wait until next year than have 42 people decide not to produce after all. One of the beautiful things that I noticed about the new way of show selection is that some of the Fringe regulars didn't get slots, while some new people got in. Variety is the spice of life and new people getting a new experience is a big part of that.

And now for something completely random:

• I'm house-sitting for my brother this week and next. He's in Sri Lanka.
• "The ink is black, the page is white, together we learn to read and write" -- Black and White, Three Dog Night
• When I use highlighters I normally choose blue, green, or purple. Yellow, orange, and pink annoy me when I'm looking at my script.
• I've had the song "If I had a Million Dollars" running through my head for the better part of the last week. It makes me think a bit though. Since it's tax season I keep thinking that if I had a million dollars I'd have to give half to the IRS, and then the song would be "If I had Half a Million Dollars."
• The obligatory fact from www.hookedonfacts.com: "Kilts are not native to Scotland. They originated in France." -- Hey, look! Another thing to blame on the French!
• The N-O on my baseball hat stands for New Orleans, not the word No. When people say "No" to me completely out of the blue it confuses me for a moment, and then I get irritated. It's akin to all those people who over the past 31 years asked me if I was kidding when I said my last name was Kidder.

Auditions and all that...

On Saturday I spent 8 hours at The Jungle watching folks bring out their A-game for the TC Unified Auditions. It was a great day! I've not been able to say that about past years' Unifieds, but this year... absolutely. Kudos go to Darcy at Climb for pulling together a very functional and useful cattle call. Also to David Lind of TC Theatre and Film for coordinating the web efforts and registration.

There were only a coupld of people who made it into the auditions that ought not to have. The quality of actors was up drastically. Now, that being said, there are plenty of people who are good enough to be there, but not right for the parts that I'm casting currently, so I still was selective as to who I'll be calling, but this was a good pool of folks to see.

I won't mention the names of either of the bad auditions, nor of the folks who I thought were wonderful. No names... not today. Instead, however, I want to relate one thought. If you are an actor and you're going into an audition of this ilk (meaning a cattle call), go ahead and throw out your preconceived ideas about what is a good audition. We saw people bring in props, we saw people who set all thei pieces around a theme, we saw a guy spend 15 seconds galloping around the stage snorting like a horse! Those are the people we remember without looking them up in the headshot book. Take a risk, have fun, and let us know that you'd be fun to work with. That being said, if you're auditioning just for a single show, don't do that crap... but for the Unifieds, or MWTAs, or UPTAs, or whatever... go for it! What a riot the guy was who announced "and for my second piece I'll be doing something from 'Equus!'"

I am currently looking for casts for three separate shows. The first is The Mandrake by Machiavelli, which I am directing for In the Basement Productions. After that comes Kakistocracy by David Schlosser for the Fringe (assuming we get off the waiting list), and finally, Burning Bright by John Steinbeck. Which should be really good. We'll be putting that up in the fall.

Boo! Did I scare you?

And now for this episode's random stuff:

• My daughter and I watched "Quest for Camelot" last night. It was a lot of fun. It was inconsistent, but all things considered, it was a lot of fun.
• The first thing I saw when I woke up this morning was the nose of one of my cats.
• My new favorite board game is "Deadwood" by the folks at Cheapass games. My favorite way to kill 30 minutes on the computer is now Adventure Quest, a cheesy little RPG game at www.battleon.com
• Random fact from www.hookedonfacts.com: "Only 55% of Americans know that the sun is a star." -- All right, I knew that there are a disproportionate amount of stupid people in America, and this just proves it. Nevertheless, it's sad, isn't it? My 5 year-old daughter knows that the sun is a star. They teach that very early on in the public schools, so it shouldn't be something less than common knowledge. Last night I was perusing an online slideshow called "Best of the Hubble" that featured pictures taken from the Hubble Telescope. Space is an amazing thing, and the stars that have exploded, the galaxies formed, and everything like that--just beautiful to look at. Beautiful.
• It is fundraising time again for TPT, and I hate that! Not because they are asking for money, that's actually fine by me (I used to do fundraising for a public radio station in Iowa). What's the problem is that they alter the kids shows in the morning, and I depend on those to let me know what time it is while I'm half asleep. My daughter watches the shows, and I know that when Clifford is done and Dragon Tales is coming on, that I've got to get up and take her to school. 15 minutes of awkward solicitation built in to every show throws off the rhythm of my morning, and quite honestly freaks me out a bit. I still got her to school on time, but Aargh!
• They should change the title of the book Best American Poetry: 2004 to One Good Poem and a lot of Crap: 2004. It would be a much more appropriate description of what is contained therein.

Mmm... Mashed Potatoes!

Hola! So, As you may know by now, the Fringe held its lottery a few weeks back, and I didn't get in as a producer. I am currently 42 on the waiting list. Now, show 58 got into the festival last year, and there is rumor that new venues signing on will mean that shows are about to rapidly move into the festival off the list, so I still have my fingers crossed. Especially since I now have a show lined up...David Schlosser's new work "Kakistocracy!" That's a word that's recently been put back into modern usage by sex columnist Dan Savage. The word has nothing to do with sex, however. It is by definition a society run by its worst citizens. You'll have to see the show if we get it up. More on that as we go on...

Now about last night. The real reason I'm writing this column today. I attended Thirst Theatre at Joe's Garage. This is a series of short plays that has been coordinated by Alan Berks, Chris Carlson and Tracey Maloney. The performances are on Monday nights, and they take place in the restaurant around those who are viewing the pieces. Each week the line-up is different, but five scripts are always seen, and they all feature actors who are members of Actors Equity Association. Since the entire evening is an experience...sort of a dinner theatre at a bar...I'm going to give you a rundown of the night from start to finish.

I arrived at the pub at 6:15, having been informed that I'd probably want to get there between 6 and 6:30 so I would have time to eat prior to the show. That was stellar advice! Get there early if you go, because the service is slower than death. In fact, after having been seated it was 20 minutes before someone took my drink order, and another 20 before they took my dinner order. I did eat prior to the show starting, but I also had time to write two poems for my Poetry Writing Workshop that I'm taking this term, and plenty of time to write part of my column, too.

Anyway, As you sit there in the restaurant, you have to sit and wonder what is performance and what is not. It that server who just knocked something over clumsy, or part of the performance? Just the act of having this performance in a public place such as Joe's made standard people-watching an artful part of the experience. As I sipped my Joetini (Stoli Vodka with a splash of pepperoncini juice), I noticed others walking in, sitting down, chatting about this and that, and most importantly constantly guessed at what was planned and what wasn't. Of course none of it was planned, the show started at 7:30 and not a moment before, but due to the setting and the nature of the thing, it made people-watching much more interesting.

The meal, when it came, was great. I had the Spinach and Lentil soup which was just about perfect, although I couldn't really tell that there was spinach in it. And then I had the Mashed potatoes topped with chicken, mushrooms, and sage gravy. You may not know this, but I consider the dish of mashed potatoes as one of the world's most perfect foods. It, to me, is like the hot dog. Both can be topped with just about anything and be a perfect meal. The Mashed Potatoes are why I go to Joe's on non-theatre nights, and I was naturally going to get them on this night.

Just shortly before the show, Eban Cooper (Executive Director Leah Cooper's brother) joined me at my table. I thought it was cool that Joe's had no qualms about sitting two strangers together for a theatrical event. We had great conversation and both enjoyed the show, and that was a nice surprise. I'd thought that I was going to be the only person sitting in the performance at a table by himself, but that wasn't the case once they appointed me a table-buddy.

So... Then the shows began:

#1 -- The Adventures of Corky and Dean, episode 2 by Dominic Orlando. This show starred Brian Goranson and Steven B Young, both of whom I've worked with before. To tell the truth, Steven is one of my favorite actors of his age set. The writing was rough to begin this show. It seemed that Dominic has forced the dialogue and that made for an unfortunate development. Brian Goranson tends to always sound the same. Now, Brian is a good actor, but the first part of this script had him sounding like he can't act. Once the script got on a roll it was no longer nearly as painful. Brian and Steven have a great chemistry that is fun to watch, and as they portray two friends who play an odd role-playing game, they suck you in. It seems like Domonic had something he wanted to say with this script, and he had to find a way to get into it. His attempt at entry was awkward, but the execution of the actors pulled it through and got into the rest of what was a solid script thereafter.

#2 -- Lucky byRosanna Staffa. This was the best of the plays of the night. It revolves around two homeless guys who come in and start bossing the waitress around. One is more bossy than the other. The second one seems to be a bit on the retarded side. The waitress character was a little convoluted at times with her dialogue, but when it comes down to it, that was very minor. The acting across the board was very natural, and energized. Unfortunately, I don't know the names of any of the actors who appeared in this show. The retarded homeless guy may have been Charles Fraser, but I couldn't really tell, given his glasses, hat, and otherwise obscurred position in relation to where I was sitting. I'd love to give kudos to all involved on this one, though.

#3 -- Real Life by Dominic Orlando. This show featured J.P. Fitzgibbons and Erin Anderson. J.P. was part of a Composer/Libretist studio that Dominic wrote for a little over a year ago, and so my hunch was that this play was going to have some singing in it, and by Jove, it did! The plot revolves around a guy who comes through town every couple of weeks and frequents a certain callgirl. They are out at dinner together, and he brings her a gift because it is their 5 year anniversary. Conflict ensues from the fact that he's treating the business relationsihp between hooker and john as something romantic. And then they start to sing. The a cappella song was pleasant, witty, and fun. I did wonder who wrote the tune, though... was it Dominic, JP, or someone else? The melody was not credited to anyone. A side note, for Dominic specifically: MAN! Stand still! If you're going to stand near where your play is being performed, think better of it and put your ass in a chair! There is nothing more distracting than having you incessantly rocking back and forth right in the line of vision of the audience as they watch your piece. I was enjoying this piece, but you made it hard to watch.

#4 -- Play by Alan Berks. This was the second best of the night. Carried by two terrific actors who yet again I'm not sure of their names. At the heart of the story was the fact that one friend was trying to save another from his addiction by leading him upstairs at a restaurant instead of taking him to their dressing room where he'd be able to get a hit of whatever drug he was doing. The dialog faltered from time to time when it was dependent on talking directly to the audience, but the back and forth between the characters was beautiful. I'll say more on this one in the description of #5, because it also was by Alan.

#5 -- A Dead Language by Alan Berks. It was interesting to see this one back-to-back with the other one that Alan wrote. It primarily featured Stephen D'Ambrose and Catherine Johnson. Christopher Carlson had a bit part and a 4th actor played a young man at the bar, but I didn't catch his name (my apologies to everyone who I didn't actually name). This script is an experiment in surrealism. Alan played with our sense of time, the possibilities of ghosts or hallucinations, and split-screen acting in a found-space venue. I found the show a little confusing and I don't think that was Alan's goal. I do think he was trying to accomplish something more profound, but I got stuck on my confusion, rather than gathering the meaning. There was an ending that seemed much like a moral at the end of a fable, that pointed out the meaning...which, although not terribly effective as an ending in my opinion, it did clear some things up in retrospect. The acting was stellar in this, but my confusion didn't allow me to fully appreciate their performances. It was fun to have Stephen spouting Latin phrases as a modern day Polonius to his "son." And there were some touching moments between Catherine's and Stephen's characters.

All in all, it was an evening worth the $10 I spent on it (not including price of food, which was also worth the money I spent on it). It is a good way to support the Fringe, and it keeps Equity actors off the streets on their night off, so that's a good thing, too.

I'll be headed back in a couple of weeks to check out another 5 scripts, and I'd suggest that you should, too.

Time for the random crap portion of today's column:

• I just yawned.
• Last night's box office chica was Caitlin, a fellow blogger from this past year's Fringe Festival!
• My cats have grown drastically more aggressive over the past two weeks. I'm wondering if it has to do with the weather, or if it is something else entirely.
• A little fact from www.hookedonfacts.com : "The leading cause of poisoning for children under the age of six in the home is liquid dish soap." -- this is the problem with lemon scent. Kids aren't apt to put it in their mouths if it smells like soap. If it smells like lemon or orange, guess what! It's going in their mouths! Big surprise! This reminds me of my first trip to the ER. As a child I got some of the white powder from my dog's flea and tick collar on my hands. It looked like powdered sugar, so my 5 year-old brain told me that it would taste good and I licked it off my fingers. it didn't taste too good so I told my mom about it... one quick trip to the hopsital and 3 blood draws later, I was declared okay, but I never licked flea and tick poison again.
• I'm getting excited about the potential of this upcoming year's Fringe. Looking at the list of who got in and who didn't, this'll be a completely different year from any other. I think I'll write about that on another day, though.