money for somebody

Good news for one playwright every year

200,000 for a mid career in Sept

50,000 for an emerging a year later

and so on every year.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a9BsRxLL0Qgc&refer=muse

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/theatre/story/2008/03/29/playwright-prize.html

NYTR 08

New York Theater Review 2008 at Drama Book Shop Friday, April 11, 6-8pm Free Readings and Reception The third edition of the New York Theater Review continues its celebration of downtown New York theater with the official release of the 2008 edition at Manhattan's Drama Book Shop Friday, April 11 from 6-8pm. Drawing from among the best and the brightest in contemporary NYC alt-theater, NYTR's 2008 edition contains three new plays, three original commissioned essays, an extended roundtable chat with six leading NYC theater and performance bloggers, and a sit-down give and take with that singular sonic performance onslaught also known as Reggie Watts. NYTR's evening at the Drama Book Shop will feature excerpts from the 2008 collection of new plays and essays. In plays, Taylor Mac's funny, deeply personal and visually stunning The Young Ladies Of ... seeks out the macho, Texas farm-boy father he never really knew; 2008 P73 Playwriting Fellow Tommy Smith's explosively visceral White Hot rips the calm exterior off a bourgeois couple's seemingly placid existence to expose the despairing core festering beneath; six Asian-Americans from widely different backgrounds share their stories of immigration, migration and cultural identity in Ping Chong & Sara Michelle Zatz' Undesirable Elements. In essays specifically commissioned for the 2008 edition, Victoria Linchong of NYC's Direct Arts, Zachary R. Mannheimer of Brooklyn's Subjective Theatre Co., and Marya Sea Kaminski of Seattle's Washington Ensemble Theatre contribute fresh takes on the NYC alt-theater of today, and a look back fifty years to where it all began. A reception will follow.

Alex Freeman talking about playing Barbara in Albion College production of F4F

http://asfreemanblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-barbara.html

a nice note from Ruben about Waldo in WI

http://avltheatre.com/ruben/2008/03/racinians_milwaukeans_yes_even.html

My short play Snow just won a contest in the UK. Read it here if you like. If you recall, this is the play that had a reading which starred Jon Bon Jovi and other heavy hitters last year. Details below for the upcoming show.

or in North Dakota

info here.

coming to Wisconsin

learn more here.

name the song

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/diversions/and_great_lyrics_quiz_rock_roll_the.php

this week's rapid response team can be heard here

http://parabasis.typepad.com/blog/2008/03/latest-rrt-podc.html

Albion College Department of Theatre and Dance

Here are some photos from the Albion College student production of Food For Fish. Photos by director Keith Medelis. The run starts tomorrow. Look at the size of that stage. Luxurious, no?

tommy

Tommy Smith

http://www.vimeo.com/user159246

h/t P73

http://www.p73.org/

please sign--stop global warming

http://wecansolveit.org/page/s/onemillion

two songs

1. for rapid response team this weekend.. “By some measures of economic performance, the United States has been in a recession since 1975” http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5622455.html 33 years Christ was a carpenter, lived to be thirty-three I work in an office and I have a pHD Now I’m not the son of God but sometimes I just don’t see What’s wrong with me Christ fed his disciples with bread and with fish Don’t ask me out to dinner. I can’t afford a dish Unless it’s made by chef boy ar dee What’s wrong with me? I’m two hundred thousand dollars in debt Last week I was so poor I had to eat my pet Next week I’m gonna have to sell the television set What’s wrong with me? All my life I’m feeling less than Now I know it’s been recession It’s not my fault I’ll quit my second guessin’ All my life it’s been recession I can’t afford to live here no more I don’t have enough money for my very own floor Nevermiond the walls or the heat. What’s wrong with me? All my life I’m feeling less than Now I know it’s been recession It’s not my fault I’ll quit my second guessin’ All my life it’s been recession 2. this is something I just wrote for Flux Theatre Ensembles' Midsummer project. I got Puck who I once played in 8th grade. It turns out he's sort of a dick. warning: explicit content. PUCK In the woods in the woods We play in the woods Where the wine runs like rivers And all the sex is always good. Where the dancing is delicious And prancing all auspicious It’s fine if you dine With the wine and the bitches Don’t sort it out too mortal With your head like an ass People make me chortle Always rolling on the grass First you loving that one Then you’re loving that Snap of my fingers You be switching dick for twat It’s systemical, chemical, Polemical It ain’t none of that I find you hysterical Your love is clerical, empirical Not a miracle Here one day then whereitgo? Don’t tell me about your love “It’s true as can be” Love’s not from above Ain’t no destiny Don’t mess with me I can put my finger on it Hell I’ll put in three You’ll forget who you love When you’re rubbing up with-- “Oh, Puck you so horny.” All the elves and the faeries Be staying up all night Oberon says bend over You say iz this right? You branded with Titania But you’re standing in the clover And if Oberon’s in the clover on you Then you better bend right over. And your lover Where’s your lover When your shins are in the grass? He’s under someone other With his dick in someone’s ass Is he thinking bout you? No, he’s thinking bout some lass But listen up I’ll school you And I don’t mean I’ll tool you But if you’re hot from this lot Hear me out, I’ll cool you Your sucks and your fucks are always in flux Get your rocks off on cocks Or your socks off with bucks but you know where flux stops It stops with Puck. Puck Puck Puck Get in the car. Lord what fools these mortals are

RRT this wekend--I wrote a song

Dearest Friends,

We're back for some Easter Sunday mayhem, and to sweeten the deal we
have totally rad Slam Poet Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz AND a special
2-for-1 coupon. If you present this coupon at the door!

http://www.rapidresponseteam.org/offers/032308_coupon.pdf

Here's all the info:

THE RAPID RESPONSE TEAM
Sunday, March 23rd
8PM
Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery (at First)
$10.00 at the door!

And don't forget to check out our website for archives, past shows and more!

Isaac

salaries

Ken breaks it down again

http://kendavenport.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/03/the-price-of-be.html

How much does the AD of your favorite theater make?

http://www.charitynavigator.org/

The $200 billion bail-out for predator banks and Spitzer charges are intimately linked This week, Bernanke’s Fed, for the first time in its history, loaned a selected coterie of banks one-fifth of a trillion dollars to guarantee these banks’ mortgage-backed junk bonds. The deluge of public loot was an eye-popping windfall to the very banking predators who have brought two million families to the brink of foreclosure. Up until Wednesday, there was one single, lonely politician who stood in the way of this creepy little assignation at the bankers’ bordello: Eliot Spitzer. h/t daisey http://www.mikedaisey.com/

value of theater

http://www.avltheatre.com/forte/2008/03/today_we_blog_about_value.html

WOW

If you only ever follow one of my links, let it be this one. A speech by Obama. But much much more than that. Someday your grandchildren will ask you about this.

Ken points us to this post by Marsha Norman An anonymous comment there struck me: I’m a playwright who has recently had a number of high profile productions. I’m considered a reasonably “hot” “emerging” talent. One play of mine was savaged by a reviewer in this this very paper just a few months ago. Not to be grousy or precious but I have in fact sacrificed an enormous lot for the American Theatre. I have virtually no security — financial or otherwise. I don’t have a permanent home. I live like a monk, basically. I endure routine humiliations in the development circuit, by Artistic Directors who foist lots of bad ideas on me - the list is pretty endless. So to finally get to the point where i actually GET a production — in a country that has virtually no support for the arts and a pretty paltry theatre culture overall — and then be flicked off like a bug by the only paper with “power” was enough to send me packing to L.A. — where critics actually have relatively little power, and you can make more than three thousand dollars per production (!). The critic may not be able to keep Journey’s End open, but he can sure disrupt the careers of the best and brightest talents out there: Itamar Moses, Rinne Groff, Anne Washburn, Francine Volpe, Lucy Thurber, Ann Marie Healy, Jason Grote, Jordan Harrison…and the list goes on and on. In another era or country these people would be the future of theatre — but we may never get to see their best works, because they’ll all be writing for movies and television. The system is broken and it is very sad. — Posted by X I can't help but agree. These people (and more) are the future of theater. And theater is a place where there is no longer even the hint of a living and where if you do finally get a play up, you are most likely going to be torn down in the paper of note. I have been very lucky in the reviews I have received, but I have not had a high profile production yet. I am hungry for such a production, but at the same time I'm dreading what I've seen happen over and over to playwrights, especially young playwrights. This is not something new. I've heard it said over and over. Playwright X could be almost anyone. And it is enough to cause you to pack it up and head to LA where it might be possible to feed and clothe yourself, maybe buy a house one day, have some money saved so you don't have to hustle forever.

finally!

House Rejects Eavesdropping Immunity

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/washington/14cnd-fisa.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

what economy?

Bush not making a good impression

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/opinion/15collins.html?em&ex=1205899200&en=4f3bd43ae3506781&ei=5087%0A

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/opinion/16dowd.html?em&ex=1205899200&en=2056931c3e3f8cd6&ei=5087%0A

recession since '75

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5622455.html

"But the most important step may be the first one: Recognizing that
the United States is mired in a 33-year-old quality-of-life recession
and that our continued national focus on growing GDP is blinding us to
the way out."

what I'm doing

rewriting a TV spec writing a novel planning a wedding taking Xyzal

the rise of the third theater

Jaime -- http://fishunderwater.blogspot.com/

points us to this:

http://www.mccarter.org/blog/?p=234

I recommend

U.S. Drag

Saw it last night. Smart, funny, substantial yet entertaining with an
all star cast and superb direction.

Go see it.

http://www.thestagefarm.org/shows-us-drag.htm

reading last night (LA)

Photos of the cast of Theater of Note's reading of Herbie: Poet of the Wild West

improv everywhere

Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same
second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central
Station.

http://improveverywhere.com/2008/01/31/frozen-grand-central/

h/t daisey

http://www.mikedaisey.com/

new blog

The Producer's Perspective

http://www.theproducersperspective.com/

Why I'm poor

"Most American households are still not earning as much annually as
they did in 1999, once inflation is taken into account."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/08/business/08recession.html?bl&ex=1205294400&en=23ba9f83b5ade3e6&ei=5087%0A

truth about British Petroleum from the Yesmen

http://beyond-petrol.com/index.html

On Friday, I had a great time at Qui's play. I don't know that I had ever seen a play like that before. It's basically a sci-fi comedy with lots of impressive fights in it. It's very funny but the thing that stuck with me most is the direction.

There is this thing directors do onstage that if you saw it in a film would be stupid but onstage looks amazing. I don't know how to explain it except to say it's a trick of imagination and feels like magic. This play is full of them. Not to mention a whole world of alien lifeforms created. Anyway, I recommend it. Check it out.

tonight

http://www.stu42.com/

one more

just finished writing a new play.

sunday

Rapid Response Performs tomorrow with special guests Obie-Award winner Kyle Jarrow and song writing wizards Aron Accurso & Steve Routman!

WHEN: 8PM

WHERE: The Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery (between 1st and Bleecker)

HOW MUCH: $10 at the door

WEBSITE?: http://www.rapidresponseteam.org for show info, bios, past shows and more!

THE TEAM THIS TEAM: Isaac Butler, Dan Trujillo, Kelly Dupuis, Trish Alexandro, Daryl Lathon, Brian Silliman and Bill Barclay

The Rapid Response Team performs new short plays, sketches and songs based on the week's news. We blend this material into a live radio variety show for your viewing and listening pleasure!

Stories we're working on this time: ***Huckabee Hearts God*** Will Primary Season Ever End? *** Snow Can Kill You*** The Death of Gary Gygax*** Advice Columns*** Prince Harry in Afghanistan *** Robot Dogs *** Teen Pregnancy *** The Death of Netscape *** And More!

plays with city in the title

Dead City The Drunken City Dying City Shining City The Fall of the City Angel City See Rock City Karima's City Scarcity Maybe my next play should have the word "city" in it. or "world" Colorful World The Busy World is Hushed The Creation of the World and Other Business The Coming World Ghost World Wonder of the World Around the World in Eighty Days Playboy of the Western World, The Fight Girl Battle World

an email I received

Dear Friend of Culture Project, Culture Project has experienced the urban office equivalent of a flash flood and we urgently need your support for our recovery efforts! On Wednesday, February 13, Culture Project staff arrived at 55 Mercer Street to find that a pipe on an upper floor had burst during the night unleashing a torrent of water throughout our theater and offices. All our computers were destroyed, as well as the floors in our office and backstage, and phone, lighting, sound, projection and production equipment. Culture Project staff have rallied to respond this crisis and to challenges that could never have been anticipated. As a result, we missed only one performance of our current production of BETRAYED, and our offices have been returned to a nearly workable space. Our unexpected, out-of-pocket costs are over $100,000. I ask you to please consider making a special gift to Culture Project at this time. Your gift, in any amount, will help to ensure smooth operations during this time, but a gift of $50, $100 or even $500 will make a significant impact. An insurance settlement is forthcoming, but it will take some time and there are some very real costs that cannot be quantified on a claim form. At the time of this crisis, we were fully engaged in our efforts to capitalize on the extraordinary reviews and audience response to BETRAYED, and to build the momentum necessary to sustain its success. Funds that were budgeted for advertising and promotion had to be spent on the replacement and repair of necessary equipment, and staff time that would have been devoted to creative development has been diverted to focus on insurance claims, equipment research and general efforts to restore order. Your support at this time would help us to regain the majority of our momentum and to refocus our efforts on BETRAYED. We cannot lose any more time in our campaign to create awareness of the difficult questions this play raises about the war in Iraq, the interactions and relationships between Iraqi citizens and U.S. Military personnel, and what is being left in the wake of an occupation that is entering its fifth year. Please go to www.cultureproject.org or call 212-925-1806 to make a special credit card gift to Culture Project to help mitigate the effects of the flood. You can also mail a check to: Culture Project 55 Mercer Street New York, NY 10013 Attention: Development With your support, Culture Project will continue to thrive as a theater and gathering place, bringing together acclaimed artists, writers and influencers, and actively engaging with our local community. All the best, Allan Buchman Founding Artistic Director

white people like plays

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/43-plays/

h/t daisey

http://www.mikedaisey.com/

guess the film

Joshua tagged me with this. Who wants to play? Look up 15 of your favorite films on IMDb and take a quote from each. List them below. When someone guesses the quote correctly, cross it off the list. (I'm not sure I know how to cross off, but I'll change the color or something. red have been guessed correctly. they are now all red. ) 1 Pier Angeli, 1971 or '72, also pills. Donald "Red" Barry, shot himself in 1980. Charles Boyer, 1978, pills again. Charles Butterworth, 1946, I think. In a car. Supposedly, it was an accident, but, you know, he was distraught. Dorothy Dandridge, pills, 1965. Albert Dekker, 1968. He hung himself. He wrote his suicide note in lipstick on his stomach. William Inge, carbon monoxide, 1973. Carole Landis, pills again. I forget when. George Reeves, "Superman" on TV, shot himself. Jean Seberg, pills, of course, 1979. Everett Sloane - he was good - pills. Margaret Sullivan, pills. Lupe Velez, a lot of pills. Gig Young, he shot himself and his wife in 1978. There are tons more. 2 What if I send it in and they don't like it? What if they say I'm no good? What if they say "Get out of here, kid. You got no future."? I mean, I just don't think I can take that kind of rejection. Jesus, I'm starting to sound like my old man! 3 I'd be unworthy of the high trust that's been placed in me if I didn't do everything in my power to keep our beloved Freedonia in peace with the world. I'd be only too happy to meet with Ambassador Trentino, and offer him on behalf of my country the right hand of good fellowship. And I feel sure he will accept this gesture in the spirit of which it is offered. But suppose he doesn't. A fine thing that'll be. I hold out my hand and he refuses to accept. That'll add a lot to my prestige, won't it? Me, the head of a country, snubbed by a forgein ambassador. Who does he think he is, that he can come here, and make a sap of me in front of all my people? Think of it - I hold out my hand and that hyena refuses to accept. Why, the cheap ball-pushing swine, he'll never get away with it I tell you, he'll never get away with it. 4 We don't have none of this stuff in the boy's room! Wait a minute! We don't got none of this... we don't got doors on the stalls in the boy's room, we don't have, what is this? What's this? We don't have a candy machine in the boy's room! 5 What's the Czech for "Do you love him"? 6 --Which of these two letters comes first, this one or this one? --The symbol on the left is not a letter, sir? --Damn, you're good. I was trying to trick you. 7 "My job consists of basically masking my contempt for the assholes in charge, and, at least once a day, retiring to the men's room so I can jerk off while I fantasize about a life that doesn't so closely resemble Hell." Well, you have absolutely no interest in saving yourself. 8 --Trains are really cool. --They are. --So are horses. --What? -- I was just thinking that. --Give me the joint, man. 9 --Okay, let's handle this thing logically. What exactly have you sworn? --I have sworn with my life's blood, none shall pass this way without *my* permission! --Well... May we have your permission? --Well I, uh... I... that is, uh... hm... Yes? 10 All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? 11 I never saw her in the daytime. We seemed to live by night. What was left of the day went away like a pack of cigarettes you smoked. I didn't know where she lived. I never followed her. All I ever had to go on was a place and time to see her again. I don't know what we were waiting for. Maybe we thought the world would end. 12 Don't underestimate the mentally ill. We know how to count. 13 Ladies and gentlemen, you are such a wonderful crowd, we'd like to play a little tune for you. It's one of my personal favorites and I'd like to dedicate it to a young man who doesn't think he's seen anything good today - Cameron Frye, this one's for you. 14 --Mr. Murphy, what attracts you to the leisure industry? --In a word: pleasure. It's like, my pleasure in other people's leisure. 15 Waiter, there is too much pepper on my paprikash. I tag Marisa, Michael, Johnna, Tdawg, and anyone else who wants to do it.

monday

New York: Mon, Mar 10 at 7:00PM: Studio 42 presents a reading of Adam Szymkowicz's DEFLOWERING WALDO. A wine and cheese reception follows. At Playwrights Horizons Rehearsal Studio, 416 W. 42nd St., 5th floor. $5. http://stu42.com/ Los Angeles: Monday March 10 5PM - HERBIE, POET OF THE WILD WEST (Adam Szymkowicz), curated by Jeffrey Emerson at Theatre of Note 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 323.856.8611 http://www.myspace.com/notewood

what to do

Don Hall's call to action

http://donhall.blogspot.com/2008/03/off-loop-freedom-charter.html