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Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The "Turn to Stone" Production Journal #1
Play it by Ear's Thrilling Days of Yesteryear company presents Good Evening, Anybody. A Celebration of the Comedy of the Henry Morgan Show! Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28, both shows at 7:00pm, $5 admission.
As the heading tells ya, Good Evening, Anybody happens on Friday and there's still work to do: programs to make, music and SFX to burn, and a dress on Thursday. The recession-proof price of $5.00 stays in effect. It's worked so far, so why fix it? If you find yourself in PG this weekend and you want to get out of the rain, have some coffee and laugh for an hour, we're open for business.
Also, the National Audio Theatre Festivals continues to branch out with a LinkedIn group and close to 150 members of the NATF groups page on Facebook. The MySpace is forthcoming, and yes, I'm actually looking into..."Twittering." I have been told by the always lovely Sonia James that registration forms should be ready soon, and in the coming weeks I'll have more info for you on the end-of-the-week live show, not to mention updates on workshops/round tables offered, who'll be teaching this time around, and so forth.
This past weekend, members of the Thrilling Days company who will be part in one way or another of the long-overdue "We Have Ignition" offering Turn to Stone got their first opportnity to read the script in a no-stress no-performance no-accent no-holds-barred reading. Years ago at Trinity Rep, one of my teachers had a policy with scripts: all of the stage directions were blacked out. If the playwright's done his or her job, the lines should tell you everything you need to know. You take out the stage directions, it frees up the director. With this reading, and untimately with the actual voice-over session, the SFX notes were taken out so that everyone could focus on the lines. People played with character voices, what felt comfortable, what didn't; the next obvious step is a southern dialect CD so we can get down a definitive Mississippi drawl.
So far, Mr. Tesher and I have six local actors in multiple parts. I may find myself bringing a few actors from San Francisco and San Jose, but only for one day of recording (fortunately I know just who to call).
As the heading tells ya, Good Evening, Anybody happens on Friday and there's still work to do: programs to make, music and SFX to burn, and a dress on Thursday. The recession-proof price of $5.00 stays in effect. It's worked so far, so why fix it? If you find yourself in PG this weekend and you want to get out of the rain, have some coffee and laugh for an hour, we're open for business.
Also, the National Audio Theatre Festivals continues to branch out with a LinkedIn group and close to 150 members of the NATF groups page on Facebook. The MySpace is forthcoming, and yes, I'm actually looking into..."Twittering." I have been told by the always lovely Sonia James that registration forms should be ready soon, and in the coming weeks I'll have more info for you on the end-of-the-week live show, not to mention updates on workshops/round tables offered, who'll be teaching this time around, and so forth.
This past weekend, members of the Thrilling Days company who will be part in one way or another of the long-overdue "We Have Ignition" offering Turn to Stone got their first opportnity to read the script in a no-stress no-performance no-accent no-holds-barred reading. Years ago at Trinity Rep, one of my teachers had a policy with scripts: all of the stage directions were blacked out. If the playwright's done his or her job, the lines should tell you everything you need to know. You take out the stage directions, it frees up the director. With this reading, and untimately with the actual voice-over session, the SFX notes were taken out so that everyone could focus on the lines. People played with character voices, what felt comfortable, what didn't; the next obvious step is a southern dialect CD so we can get down a definitive Mississippi drawl.
So far, Mr. Tesher and I have six local actors in multiple parts. I may find myself bringing a few actors from San Francisco and San Jose, but only for one day of recording (fortunately I know just who to call).
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
The Presidential Audio Theatre Library
Play it by Ear's Thrilling Days of Yesteryear company presents Good Evening, Anybody. A Celebration of the Comedy of the Henry Morgan Show! Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28, both shows at 7:00pm, $5 admission.
Kickin' off this entry with another announcement, this one for voice-over artists living in the San Francisco Bay Area interested in working in the animation field. On Monday, March 2 from 10am to 1pm, television/comics/animation legend Mark Evanier will be holding a class in animation voice acting at Voice One Studios, 665 Third Street, Suite 227 in San Francisco (415-974-1103). From Voice One's website: "You'll learn to feed off other actors, stop reading ahead, understand continuity of scenes versus lines, and ways to react to characters." Mark is in town for Wondercon at the Moscone Center, and is making a return appearance to Voice One as part of his trip up North.
When I say "legend," I mean it; this is not me trying to ingratiate myself. Mark Evanier has a long career in animation, one of the watermarks of his career being Garfield and Friends, not to mention Superman, Scooby Doo, Dungeons and Dragons and a whole bunch a' other stuff that will bring a tear to the eyes of those who are nostalgic for Saturday morning cartoons on network TV, a time-honored tradition that has now gone the way of the pet rock. Mark's had the opportunity to work with/know some of the greats in that field: Gary Owens, June Foray, Lorenzo Music, Frank Wexler.
In addition, he's had a storied career in comics going back to his days as an assistant to the King of Comics himself, Jack Kirby, and wrote for TV sitcoms (Welcome Back, Kotter) and variety shows (some of which I'm sure he'd like to forget...yes, Mark, I am very ashamed to say that I do remember seeing an episode of Pink Lady and Jeff, and am still trying to live it down). He's been a part of the entertainment industry going on a couple decades now with some great stories to tell, some of which appear on his POV Online blog. It's one of the more entertaining blogs out there, and one of my few faves. Take a look around my blog, and you'll see the link. The class is $90 for the day and will sell out (his last one did) so call for reservations. This is a rare opportunity, and one I hope a lot of you will take full advantage of.
You'll also find an abbreviated version of this announcement on the National Audio Theatre Festivals page on Facebook. Hey, speaking of which, the page has been up for less than three weeks and already 100 people have joined! I have no idea why something like this wasn't done sooner, but better late than never, right? So, I'm now part of the P/R/web committee for the NATF, and am already brainstorming. Yes, a MySpace page is in the works as well as a few other things I can't talk about yet. I do pose a P/R question to you, my loyal audiophiles: does anyone out there in cyberspace know the talent coordinators for The Today Show? I'm not kidding. Any names and numbers would be greatly appreciated. Mercy buckets.
Okay, onward: my West Highland Terrier, Robbie Burns, must have known how much I wanted to see Obama's inauguration, because we did our "walkies" early. I won't add to what's already been written about that wonderful day beyond that it was one of those rare "where were you when" moments that wasn't associated with a moment of disaster. It was equally wonderful watching the shrub get on the chopper and fly far far away; and I don't know about the rest of you, but didn't Cheney in the wheelchair remind you of Blofeld from the Bond movies? He really is Dr. Strangelove!!!
Anyway, in the wake of Obama's being sworn in, I found myself watching something I haven't seen in quite a while: the TV series The West Wing. Forgot what a truly great show this was, especially during the Sorkin years. The fifth episode from the first season was called "The Crackpots and These Women," the former referring to a tradition called "Big Block of Cheese Day" where the staff members take meetings with special special interest groups. Now while there apparently was a big block of cheese in the front room that visitors could nibble on during Jefferson's administration, there is no such thing as a "Big Block of Cheese Day." Right now, there are very important things to worry about then dealing with a bunch of people whose needs represent 0.000001% of the population. But on a brighter note, our new President is seriously considering appointing a Secretary for the Arts, a major change if ever there was one.
So, if there was such a thing as a "Big Block of Cheese Day," this would be the gist of my meeting with the Secretary of the Arts regarding the 0.000001% who know that audio theatre exists today (I say gist; I'm going to go through the whole spiel here):
Mr./Mrs. Secretary,
The golden age of radio as we know it ended in 1962 with the final broadcasts of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar and Suspense. At least, that's what most of America believes. In reality, a small group of producers kept the flame burning into the early 1970's, Tom Lopez, Charles Potter, The Firesign Theatre, and Yuri Rasovsky leading the pack. They understood that the death of the art form meant a little death to the imagination. I have said it before, and I'll say it until I turn blue, audio theatre is the most creative form of artistic expression there is. The canvas is bare; we provide the dialogue, the effects, the ambiance, the music, the silence. What goes on that canvas is completely up to you and what you hear. You can create billion dollar budgeted movies in your mind for a miniscule fraction of what it takes to make a Hollywood blockbuster.
We are inundated with visual images every day through movies, television, video games, the internet. The beast that is radio itself is experiencing its own metamorphosis, while the internet and new technologies provide us with more alternatives to the traditional model with every passing day. Where contemporary stage companies are falling victim to the economy, here we have a form of theatre that allows more acting opportunities, grander sets, and a greater though fulfilling challenge to any playwright, screenwriter, or director. Unfortunately we are coming into a generation that doesn't know or understand just how great this form of theatre is, much less that it existed before Playstation. What is needed is a separate arts grants program devoted to preserving and advancing the art form. The National Audio Theatre Festivals cannot do it on its own.
With that in mind, I'd like to presenting you with these compact discs, thereby comprising the first ever Presidential Audio Theatre Library. The stories and themes run the gamut of styles, from historical drama to comedy to science fiction and fantasy to mystery/thriller:
From Yuri Rasovsky and the Hollywood Theatre of the Ear: Craven Street, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Sherlock Holmes, Black Mask Magazine, The Maltese Falcon, Saint Joan, Sweeney Todd, and Seven Classic Plays.
From Charles Potter: the complete Louis L'Amour dramatizations.
From the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company: the Robert Heinlein and HP Lovecraft collections, The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, The Passion of Frankenstein, and Last Dragon to Avondale.
From Norman Corwin: 13 by Corwin, We Hold These Truths, On a Note of Triumph, We Hold These Truths 1991, 50 Years After 14 August, The Writer with the Lame Left Hand, The Secretariat, The Curse of 589, No Love Lost, Our Lady of the Freedoms and Some of Her Friends.
From Otherworld Media: The Wonderful World of Oz: A Centennial Celebration, Empire of the Air, War of the Worlds 50th Anniversary, Raymond Chandler's Goldfish, and the complete George Tirebiter collection.
From Tom Lopez and ZBS: the complete Jack Flanders and Ruby series, The Taj Express, Dinotopia, Dinotopia: The World Beneath, Stephen King's The Mist, 2 Minute Film Noirs.
From SueMedia: Jack's Last Call.
From Mind's Ear Productions: French Quarter, The Children's Zoo.
From the Rocky Coast Radio Theatre: Nightmares on Congress Street.
From Crazy Dog Audio: Infidel, The Last Harbinger.
From Play it by Ear Productions: the complete We Have Ignition series.
From Dirk Maggs: The Adventures of Superman, the Dirk Gently series.
The complete Firesign Theatre, Great Northern Audio Theatre, Anne Manx (Radio Rep Company of America), Star Wars, National Audio Theatre Festivals and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.
I hope that President Obama is able to take some time to hear some of these pieces. Share the children's stories with his children. Play pieces of Norman Corwin's masterworks at special events. Sit back in his chair, turn off the tube, close his eyes, and drift away with Jack Flanders or Jack Kerouac. The revival is here. Now it is time to take it to the next level: exposure over ignorance. Thank you.
Kickin' off this entry with another announcement, this one for voice-over artists living in the San Francisco Bay Area interested in working in the animation field. On Monday, March 2 from 10am to 1pm, television/comics/animation legend Mark Evanier will be holding a class in animation voice acting at Voice One Studios, 665 Third Street, Suite 227 in San Francisco (415-974-1103). From Voice One's website: "You'll learn to feed off other actors, stop reading ahead, understand continuity of scenes versus lines, and ways to react to characters." Mark is in town for Wondercon at the Moscone Center, and is making a return appearance to Voice One as part of his trip up North.
When I say "legend," I mean it; this is not me trying to ingratiate myself. Mark Evanier has a long career in animation, one of the watermarks of his career being Garfield and Friends, not to mention Superman, Scooby Doo, Dungeons and Dragons and a whole bunch a' other stuff that will bring a tear to the eyes of those who are nostalgic for Saturday morning cartoons on network TV, a time-honored tradition that has now gone the way of the pet rock. Mark's had the opportunity to work with/know some of the greats in that field: Gary Owens, June Foray, Lorenzo Music, Frank Wexler.
In addition, he's had a storied career in comics going back to his days as an assistant to the King of Comics himself, Jack Kirby, and wrote for TV sitcoms (Welcome Back, Kotter) and variety shows (some of which I'm sure he'd like to forget...yes, Mark, I am very ashamed to say that I do remember seeing an episode of Pink Lady and Jeff, and am still trying to live it down). He's been a part of the entertainment industry going on a couple decades now with some great stories to tell, some of which appear on his POV Online blog. It's one of the more entertaining blogs out there, and one of my few faves. Take a look around my blog, and you'll see the link. The class is $90 for the day and will sell out (his last one did) so call for reservations. This is a rare opportunity, and one I hope a lot of you will take full advantage of.
You'll also find an abbreviated version of this announcement on the National Audio Theatre Festivals page on Facebook. Hey, speaking of which, the page has been up for less than three weeks and already 100 people have joined! I have no idea why something like this wasn't done sooner, but better late than never, right? So, I'm now part of the P/R/web committee for the NATF, and am already brainstorming. Yes, a MySpace page is in the works as well as a few other things I can't talk about yet. I do pose a P/R question to you, my loyal audiophiles: does anyone out there in cyberspace know the talent coordinators for The Today Show? I'm not kidding. Any names and numbers would be greatly appreciated. Mercy buckets.
Okay, onward: my West Highland Terrier, Robbie Burns, must have known how much I wanted to see Obama's inauguration, because we did our "walkies" early. I won't add to what's already been written about that wonderful day beyond that it was one of those rare "where were you when" moments that wasn't associated with a moment of disaster. It was equally wonderful watching the shrub get on the chopper and fly far far away; and I don't know about the rest of you, but didn't Cheney in the wheelchair remind you of Blofeld from the Bond movies? He really is Dr. Strangelove!!!
Anyway, in the wake of Obama's being sworn in, I found myself watching something I haven't seen in quite a while: the TV series The West Wing. Forgot what a truly great show this was, especially during the Sorkin years. The fifth episode from the first season was called "The Crackpots and These Women," the former referring to a tradition called "Big Block of Cheese Day" where the staff members take meetings with special special interest groups. Now while there apparently was a big block of cheese in the front room that visitors could nibble on during Jefferson's administration, there is no such thing as a "Big Block of Cheese Day." Right now, there are very important things to worry about then dealing with a bunch of people whose needs represent 0.000001% of the population. But on a brighter note, our new President is seriously considering appointing a Secretary for the Arts, a major change if ever there was one.
So, if there was such a thing as a "Big Block of Cheese Day," this would be the gist of my meeting with the Secretary of the Arts regarding the 0.000001% who know that audio theatre exists today (I say gist; I'm going to go through the whole spiel here):
Mr./Mrs. Secretary,
The golden age of radio as we know it ended in 1962 with the final broadcasts of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar and Suspense. At least, that's what most of America believes. In reality, a small group of producers kept the flame burning into the early 1970's, Tom Lopez, Charles Potter, The Firesign Theatre, and Yuri Rasovsky leading the pack. They understood that the death of the art form meant a little death to the imagination. I have said it before, and I'll say it until I turn blue, audio theatre is the most creative form of artistic expression there is. The canvas is bare; we provide the dialogue, the effects, the ambiance, the music, the silence. What goes on that canvas is completely up to you and what you hear. You can create billion dollar budgeted movies in your mind for a miniscule fraction of what it takes to make a Hollywood blockbuster.
We are inundated with visual images every day through movies, television, video games, the internet. The beast that is radio itself is experiencing its own metamorphosis, while the internet and new technologies provide us with more alternatives to the traditional model with every passing day. Where contemporary stage companies are falling victim to the economy, here we have a form of theatre that allows more acting opportunities, grander sets, and a greater though fulfilling challenge to any playwright, screenwriter, or director. Unfortunately we are coming into a generation that doesn't know or understand just how great this form of theatre is, much less that it existed before Playstation. What is needed is a separate arts grants program devoted to preserving and advancing the art form. The National Audio Theatre Festivals cannot do it on its own.
With that in mind, I'd like to presenting you with these compact discs, thereby comprising the first ever Presidential Audio Theatre Library. The stories and themes run the gamut of styles, from historical drama to comedy to science fiction and fantasy to mystery/thriller:
From Yuri Rasovsky and the Hollywood Theatre of the Ear: Craven Street, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Sherlock Holmes, Black Mask Magazine, The Maltese Falcon, Saint Joan, Sweeney Todd, and Seven Classic Plays.
From Charles Potter: the complete Louis L'Amour dramatizations.
From the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company: the Robert Heinlein and HP Lovecraft collections, The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, The Passion of Frankenstein, and Last Dragon to Avondale.
From Norman Corwin: 13 by Corwin, We Hold These Truths, On a Note of Triumph, We Hold These Truths 1991, 50 Years After 14 August, The Writer with the Lame Left Hand, The Secretariat, The Curse of 589, No Love Lost, Our Lady of the Freedoms and Some of Her Friends.
From Otherworld Media: The Wonderful World of Oz: A Centennial Celebration, Empire of the Air, War of the Worlds 50th Anniversary, Raymond Chandler's Goldfish, and the complete George Tirebiter collection.
From Tom Lopez and ZBS: the complete Jack Flanders and Ruby series, The Taj Express, Dinotopia, Dinotopia: The World Beneath, Stephen King's The Mist, 2 Minute Film Noirs.
From SueMedia: Jack's Last Call.
From Mind's Ear Productions: French Quarter, The Children's Zoo.
From the Rocky Coast Radio Theatre: Nightmares on Congress Street.
From Crazy Dog Audio: Infidel, The Last Harbinger.
From Play it by Ear Productions: the complete We Have Ignition series.
From Dirk Maggs: The Adventures of Superman, the Dirk Gently series.
The complete Firesign Theatre, Great Northern Audio Theatre, Anne Manx (Radio Rep Company of America), Star Wars, National Audio Theatre Festivals and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.
I hope that President Obama is able to take some time to hear some of these pieces. Share the children's stories with his children. Play pieces of Norman Corwin's masterworks at special events. Sit back in his chair, turn off the tube, close his eyes, and drift away with Jack Flanders or Jack Kerouac. The revival is here. Now it is time to take it to the next level: exposure over ignorance. Thank you.
Friday, January 09, 2009
It's not about the money, and it's not about the fame
Play it by Ear's Thrilling Days of Yesteryear company presents Good Evening, Anybody. A Celebration of the Comedy of the Henry Morgan Show! Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28, both shows at 7:00pm, $5 admission.
A few days ago I watched the long-overdue season premiere of one of the only good shows on television, Damages, which interestingly enough has a connection to the “We Have Ignition” series. One of the actors chosen by playwright Elizabeth Benjamin for her piece The Field was a very nice guy who actually did a damn good job in the recording studio being a novice to voice-over acting. Years later he would co-create Damages. His name is Glenn Kessler. If you watched the Season 1 finale and the season premiere, you will have seen him as one of the FBI agents working in tandem with Rose Byrne. Before Damages, he was Gary, a college professor trying to deal with the strange events happening in and outside of his farm house. Glenn's come a long way from the farm house. He seems to be navigating through Hollywood with ease.
This post is not about Damages, though. Bear with me for a bit, or gorilla with me, or giraffe with me, or whatever animal you choose:
This show is also a favorite of my Mom’s. She’s amazed it’s still on the air, because every show she likes usually gets cancelled. Not because they’re bad shows, though; usually because they’re too good, or too smart for the general viewing public. Arrested Development is a perfect example of this. Producers, Network Execs, Advertisers, Theatrical Producers, cater to the lowest common denominator of society, and continue to do thereby increasing the speed of the vicious cycle that allows American Idol and the Real Housewives of Whatever Fantasyland They’re Living In to stay on the air.
The reasoning of course is simplistic. The Almighty Dallah. You know this god. We travel great distances in our bare feet with yokes on our backs to pray at the Dallah’s feet. Yet sometimes for all of our worship the Dallah gives us a good, swift kick up our asses to tell us that our priorities are completely backwards, and yet we still stand dumbfounded wondering what the hell just happened. How many millions are out of work? If money makes the world go round, then why was it damn near impossible to pay for a tank of gas to travel around it, much less drive a few miles to work or the grocery store? When we put so much of our faith in Dallah, society suffers. Nothing new there.
Now to put that into an artistic context, I give you another story. Bob and Rebecca, if you’re reading this, you know of what I speak.
I never did any Equity Showcases during my time as an actor in New York City. Rarely even saw ‘em. Whenever I go back to NYC I try to avoid those shows like the plague, simply because so many of them are being produced for all of the wrong reasons: it’s not about actors and playwrights and directors creating workouts for themselves, putting something on its feet in order to continue practicing their craft. No, what was off-off-Broadway ended decades ago. Caffe Cino is gone. Joseph Chaikin has passed on. Most Showcases are now done for the sole purpose of getting agents and casting directors to notice them. The work suffers. There’s nothing new to learn. The agents and the casting directors don’t come.
And yet when they should come, when audiences should be flocking to see those few quality pieces of work, they go see something else that costs more. Why? Because we also have trained ourselves to think that if does cost more, it has to be better, period. Now in 2002 I house-managed a damn good Showcase in NYC, produced by the aforementioned couple who wanted to put a good work on its feet and create work for actors who needed an outlet for their craft. Whether agents came or not was irrelevant. A few did show up, but while I know my friends would have liked bigger house numbers and even more industry people saying “okay, she knows what she’s doing, I want her in my office for an interview,” ultimately that wasn’t the point.
And yet down the hall in a bigger theatre was a show under an off-Broadway contract where the tickets were $50 or more, I don't remember exact figures, and audience members were turned away night after night, yet the overall quality was no better or worse than my friends’ show. But because it had a bigger price tag, it had bigger audience numbers. All hail mighty Dallah.
Yet I dishonored Dallah by choosing my friends’ show because fame and fortune is, and should always be, a by-product of the work. If you make something about the quality of the work first, and you market it well to those who are looking for great things to see or hear or read, the riches will come in one way or another. If you make something about the money first, or how famous you want to get, over the quality of what you are offering you’ve only failed yourself. Not financially, but spiritually.
Of course, sometimes the emptiness comes not in the soul but in the pocketbook. For some time now I have posted blogs in regards to the first project my AudioComics company was planning to record. You want to talk about false starts, for some time now I have posted blogs in regards to how this project kept getting blindsided for one reason or another. You've read about the trials and tribulations. Well we have since shifted to a new project altogether with an emerging comics publishing company. The original project is not happening. Will it ever happen, I don’t know. I’d like to hope it could, y’know, never say never. I mean, Christ, if Rod Stewart can finally reunite The Faces for a tour this year, then I guess anything can happen. And it is a great property with a lot of potential in the audio medium.
But right now my partners and I wouldn’t touch the ten foot pole that we wouldn’t touch the property with with a twenty foot pole. In fact, nobody will outside of a niche audience in the comics community. Why? Because without going into specifics certain people put the Dallah first, last, and in-between with absolutely no room for negotiation, and their asses were recently handed to them. Karma kicking Dallah’s ass? Inevitable. Whereas the company that we are now working with are composed of, and I’m not sucking up to them in any way, I’m being totally honest here, truly fantastic individuals who understand that the money is just one part of a larger picture and everything exists in relation to the other. I’m looking forward to a long relationship with them, and I can’t wait to introduce them to you in the months to come.
When I started Play it by Ear, I wasn't interested in making money. I was interested in making art. I still am. I try to keep the costs to downloads and compact discs down. Doesn't mean the work isn't great. One of the best pieces I have ever produced is The Love Song Of... (co-incidentally, the director of that piece, Eileen Myers, now writes for another show of rare quality, HBO's Big Love). I simply don't feel that you should have to pay an arm and a leg for quality audio theatre. Now AudioComics will be a commercial production company, so the goal there is to make money, but in this case we're making money by making great audio. It puts more pressure on us, we can handle it. Bring it on. And while we'll keep some of the money for ourselves, much of what we make goes toward the next project, toward the studio time, the musicians, the actors, so the bar will be set even higher. Good things can come from that. Great things, even, that can benefit everybody.
The Almighty Dallah has grown big and fat as of late. Time for a diet. And maybe, just maybe, my kind of thinking will catch on. Overly optimistic, definitely. But isn't it worth trying?
A few days ago I watched the long-overdue season premiere of one of the only good shows on television, Damages, which interestingly enough has a connection to the “We Have Ignition” series. One of the actors chosen by playwright Elizabeth Benjamin for her piece The Field was a very nice guy who actually did a damn good job in the recording studio being a novice to voice-over acting. Years later he would co-create Damages. His name is Glenn Kessler. If you watched the Season 1 finale and the season premiere, you will have seen him as one of the FBI agents working in tandem with Rose Byrne. Before Damages, he was Gary, a college professor trying to deal with the strange events happening in and outside of his farm house. Glenn's come a long way from the farm house. He seems to be navigating through Hollywood with ease.
This post is not about Damages, though. Bear with me for a bit, or gorilla with me, or giraffe with me, or whatever animal you choose:
This show is also a favorite of my Mom’s. She’s amazed it’s still on the air, because every show she likes usually gets cancelled. Not because they’re bad shows, though; usually because they’re too good, or too smart for the general viewing public. Arrested Development is a perfect example of this. Producers, Network Execs, Advertisers, Theatrical Producers, cater to the lowest common denominator of society, and continue to do thereby increasing the speed of the vicious cycle that allows American Idol and the Real Housewives of Whatever Fantasyland They’re Living In to stay on the air.
The reasoning of course is simplistic. The Almighty Dallah. You know this god. We travel great distances in our bare feet with yokes on our backs to pray at the Dallah’s feet. Yet sometimes for all of our worship the Dallah gives us a good, swift kick up our asses to tell us that our priorities are completely backwards, and yet we still stand dumbfounded wondering what the hell just happened. How many millions are out of work? If money makes the world go round, then why was it damn near impossible to pay for a tank of gas to travel around it, much less drive a few miles to work or the grocery store? When we put so much of our faith in Dallah, society suffers. Nothing new there.
Now to put that into an artistic context, I give you another story. Bob and Rebecca, if you’re reading this, you know of what I speak.
I never did any Equity Showcases during my time as an actor in New York City. Rarely even saw ‘em. Whenever I go back to NYC I try to avoid those shows like the plague, simply because so many of them are being produced for all of the wrong reasons: it’s not about actors and playwrights and directors creating workouts for themselves, putting something on its feet in order to continue practicing their craft. No, what was off-off-Broadway ended decades ago. Caffe Cino is gone. Joseph Chaikin has passed on. Most Showcases are now done for the sole purpose of getting agents and casting directors to notice them. The work suffers. There’s nothing new to learn. The agents and the casting directors don’t come.
And yet when they should come, when audiences should be flocking to see those few quality pieces of work, they go see something else that costs more. Why? Because we also have trained ourselves to think that if does cost more, it has to be better, period. Now in 2002 I house-managed a damn good Showcase in NYC, produced by the aforementioned couple who wanted to put a good work on its feet and create work for actors who needed an outlet for their craft. Whether agents came or not was irrelevant. A few did show up, but while I know my friends would have liked bigger house numbers and even more industry people saying “okay, she knows what she’s doing, I want her in my office for an interview,” ultimately that wasn’t the point.
And yet down the hall in a bigger theatre was a show under an off-Broadway contract where the tickets were $50 or more, I don't remember exact figures, and audience members were turned away night after night, yet the overall quality was no better or worse than my friends’ show. But because it had a bigger price tag, it had bigger audience numbers. All hail mighty Dallah.
Yet I dishonored Dallah by choosing my friends’ show because fame and fortune is, and should always be, a by-product of the work. If you make something about the quality of the work first, and you market it well to those who are looking for great things to see or hear or read, the riches will come in one way or another. If you make something about the money first, or how famous you want to get, over the quality of what you are offering you’ve only failed yourself. Not financially, but spiritually.
Of course, sometimes the emptiness comes not in the soul but in the pocketbook. For some time now I have posted blogs in regards to the first project my AudioComics company was planning to record. You want to talk about false starts, for some time now I have posted blogs in regards to how this project kept getting blindsided for one reason or another. You've read about the trials and tribulations. Well we have since shifted to a new project altogether with an emerging comics publishing company. The original project is not happening. Will it ever happen, I don’t know. I’d like to hope it could, y’know, never say never. I mean, Christ, if Rod Stewart can finally reunite The Faces for a tour this year, then I guess anything can happen. And it is a great property with a lot of potential in the audio medium.
But right now my partners and I wouldn’t touch the ten foot pole that we wouldn’t touch the property with with a twenty foot pole. In fact, nobody will outside of a niche audience in the comics community. Why? Because without going into specifics certain people put the Dallah first, last, and in-between with absolutely no room for negotiation, and their asses were recently handed to them. Karma kicking Dallah’s ass? Inevitable. Whereas the company that we are now working with are composed of, and I’m not sucking up to them in any way, I’m being totally honest here, truly fantastic individuals who understand that the money is just one part of a larger picture and everything exists in relation to the other. I’m looking forward to a long relationship with them, and I can’t wait to introduce them to you in the months to come.
When I started Play it by Ear, I wasn't interested in making money. I was interested in making art. I still am. I try to keep the costs to downloads and compact discs down. Doesn't mean the work isn't great. One of the best pieces I have ever produced is The Love Song Of... (co-incidentally, the director of that piece, Eileen Myers, now writes for another show of rare quality, HBO's Big Love). I simply don't feel that you should have to pay an arm and a leg for quality audio theatre. Now AudioComics will be a commercial production company, so the goal there is to make money, but in this case we're making money by making great audio. It puts more pressure on us, we can handle it. Bring it on. And while we'll keep some of the money for ourselves, much of what we make goes toward the next project, toward the studio time, the musicians, the actors, so the bar will be set even higher. Good things can come from that. Great things, even, that can benefit everybody.
The Almighty Dallah has grown big and fat as of late. Time for a diet. And maybe, just maybe, my kind of thinking will catch on. Overly optimistic, definitely. But isn't it worth trying?
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Knee deep in it
Earlier yesterday, the President of the United States pre-empted Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s economic report to Congress where he announced that America is in a recession in order to tell America that there is no recession. Typical maneuver from this administration.
Meanwhile stocks are tumbling, people are lined up around the corner not to see a blockbuster film but to get their money out of IndyMac bank, oil prices are outrageous, airlines are in a downward tailspin, the housing market is the worst it’s ever been and we still don’t have a health care system that works.
And that’s just the big stuff. Then we get to my neck of the woods: the arts. And I’m talking about theatre, music, literature. The independent bookstore is quickly going out to pasture, as stores left and right are being forced out by big chains and raising rents. Cody’s in Berkeley is gone. Dutton’s in Brentwood is gone. The College Hill Bookstore in Providence, where I purchased my first Neil Gaiman novel, is gone. All that’s left in the Central Coast is The Works (www.theworkspg.com), thank God for Robert Marcum’s tenacity. Don’t get me wrong, once in a rare while I’ll hit the local Borders if that’s what’s around and I have some time to kill. Nevertheless if my all-time favorite bookstore, the legendary Kepler’s in Menlo Park, ever goes under then I’ll know the apocalypse is fast approaching. When I went to New York City for the Winwood/Clapton/Blind Faith reunion, I took a walk down Bleecker Street to find some of my favorite indie CD stores gone. I wanted to find that 60's Mod rarity, that’s where I went. I wanted to find DVD’s featuring performances of Stephen Stills’ Manassas? That’s where I went. No more.
But this one really hurts: years ago during my Trinity Rep days, I was blessed to see a performance by Minneapolis’ Theatre de la Jeune Lune. I loved Yang Zen Froggs so much that I went back three times, and every time laughed my ass off. I loved their spirit, their mastery of movement; a bunch of us wanted to quit the Conservatory and move to Minneapolis to play with the “Loonies.” I recently read that the company is losing its space and ending its 30 year reign, and my heart broke once the shock subsided. Is the economy to blame? What do you think?
I’ve heard from friends and colleagues who plan to donate to Play it by Ear, and I don’t take their donations lightly. It means that they believe in what I’m doing and want to see it continue for many years to come. And in this economy that says a lot. I continually worry about the arts when those who are in control bleed conservative politics and conservative thinking. I’m still here. I hope to be doing this for a long time to come. And I look forward to the day when Bush gets the hell out of the Oval Office and the arts are returned to its place of prominence in America. I always say “it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.” Well right now we’re at our worst. No place to go but up. I hope.
Meanwhile stocks are tumbling, people are lined up around the corner not to see a blockbuster film but to get their money out of IndyMac bank, oil prices are outrageous, airlines are in a downward tailspin, the housing market is the worst it’s ever been and we still don’t have a health care system that works.
And that’s just the big stuff. Then we get to my neck of the woods: the arts. And I’m talking about theatre, music, literature. The independent bookstore is quickly going out to pasture, as stores left and right are being forced out by big chains and raising rents. Cody’s in Berkeley is gone. Dutton’s in Brentwood is gone. The College Hill Bookstore in Providence, where I purchased my first Neil Gaiman novel, is gone. All that’s left in the Central Coast is The Works (www.theworkspg.com), thank God for Robert Marcum’s tenacity. Don’t get me wrong, once in a rare while I’ll hit the local Borders if that’s what’s around and I have some time to kill. Nevertheless if my all-time favorite bookstore, the legendary Kepler’s in Menlo Park, ever goes under then I’ll know the apocalypse is fast approaching. When I went to New York City for the Winwood/Clapton/Blind Faith reunion, I took a walk down Bleecker Street to find some of my favorite indie CD stores gone. I wanted to find that 60's Mod rarity, that’s where I went. I wanted to find DVD’s featuring performances of Stephen Stills’ Manassas? That’s where I went. No more.
But this one really hurts: years ago during my Trinity Rep days, I was blessed to see a performance by Minneapolis’ Theatre de la Jeune Lune. I loved Yang Zen Froggs so much that I went back three times, and every time laughed my ass off. I loved their spirit, their mastery of movement; a bunch of us wanted to quit the Conservatory and move to Minneapolis to play with the “Loonies.” I recently read that the company is losing its space and ending its 30 year reign, and my heart broke once the shock subsided. Is the economy to blame? What do you think?
I’ve heard from friends and colleagues who plan to donate to Play it by Ear, and I don’t take their donations lightly. It means that they believe in what I’m doing and want to see it continue for many years to come. And in this economy that says a lot. I continually worry about the arts when those who are in control bleed conservative politics and conservative thinking. I’m still here. I hope to be doing this for a long time to come. And I look forward to the day when Bush gets the hell out of the Oval Office and the arts are returned to its place of prominence in America. I always say “it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.” Well right now we’re at our worst. No place to go but up. I hope.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Saying goodbye to Jack Kerouac
One of my closest friends and collaborators, AudioComics partner-in-crime Sue Zizza, recently completed work on quite possibly one of the best audio dramas I have heard in a long while. It's called Jack's Last Call: Say Goodbye to Kerouac, and as you probably haven't heard of it, now is the time to get educated.
Produced in conjunction with the celebrations surrounding the 50th anniversary of On the Road's first printing his was originally a stage play by writer Patrick Fenton, who spent over a decade researching Jack's life in Queens and Long Island, years after the publication of Road. The piece revolves around a Jack that few got to know, those few being the denizens of Gunther's Tap Room in Northport, LI, which is where part of the play was recorded. This was a Jack fleeing fame, watching the Beat-era '50's become the psychedelic LSD-driven chaos of the '60's (to his apparent dismay), drowning in drink. This was the turning point from which there was no going back, his final journey.
And did I mention his daughter Jan?
The cast features Tony-winner Len Cariou, Drew Keil as Jack, Ed Dennehy, Sue Anne Dennehy, Jack O'Connell, and Sonya Tannenbaum, leave us not to forget Master Sound Designer David Shinn, and Butch D'Ambrosio on foley.
But not only is it a testament to Jack, it's also a testament to a great director. I always felt blessed to have Sue (and David - don't worry, buddy, haven't forgotten you) as a mentor when I was first starting out on this journey, and even more blessed to have to her as a collaborator on this new venture called AudioComics, and that's because this woman is a consumate and passionate professional. Likewise kudos need to go to Patrick Fenton, who wrote a brutally honest look at a great mind and representative of a generation who turned his back on...well, everything.
Somebody once told me that I made the "how-to" of an audio piece sound like "walking through a minefield." Well, John, if you're reading this, to an extent, it is. One part falls flat, be it the acting, the sound effects, the editing, whatever, the whole piece falls flat. Here is a play where everything falls into place perfectly. So where can you find Jack's Last Call? Well, if you work for a public or community radio station, or know someone connected to one, go to (or tell him/her to go to) the Public Radio Exchange at www.prx.org where it is available for broadcast free to radio stations. Later this spring you can find it at The Content Depot online, and it will be available on compact disc later this spring exclusively through the ZBS Foundation at www.zbs.org. Truly, this one I can't recommend enough.
Produced in conjunction with the celebrations surrounding the 50th anniversary of On the Road's first printing his was originally a stage play by writer Patrick Fenton, who spent over a decade researching Jack's life in Queens and Long Island, years after the publication of Road. The piece revolves around a Jack that few got to know, those few being the denizens of Gunther's Tap Room in Northport, LI, which is where part of the play was recorded. This was a Jack fleeing fame, watching the Beat-era '50's become the psychedelic LSD-driven chaos of the '60's (to his apparent dismay), drowning in drink. This was the turning point from which there was no going back, his final journey.
And did I mention his daughter Jan?
The cast features Tony-winner Len Cariou, Drew Keil as Jack, Ed Dennehy, Sue Anne Dennehy, Jack O'Connell, and Sonya Tannenbaum, leave us not to forget Master Sound Designer David Shinn, and Butch D'Ambrosio on foley.
But not only is it a testament to Jack, it's also a testament to a great director. I always felt blessed to have Sue (and David - don't worry, buddy, haven't forgotten you) as a mentor when I was first starting out on this journey, and even more blessed to have to her as a collaborator on this new venture called AudioComics, and that's because this woman is a consumate and passionate professional. Likewise kudos need to go to Patrick Fenton, who wrote a brutally honest look at a great mind and representative of a generation who turned his back on...well, everything.
Somebody once told me that I made the "how-to" of an audio piece sound like "walking through a minefield." Well, John, if you're reading this, to an extent, it is. One part falls flat, be it the acting, the sound effects, the editing, whatever, the whole piece falls flat. Here is a play where everything falls into place perfectly. So where can you find Jack's Last Call? Well, if you work for a public or community radio station, or know someone connected to one, go to (or tell him/her to go to) the Public Radio Exchange at www.prx.org where it is available for broadcast free to radio stations. Later this spring you can find it at The Content Depot online, and it will be available on compact disc later this spring exclusively through the ZBS Foundation at www.zbs.org. Truly, this one I can't recommend enough.
Monday, March 03, 2008
February is the cruelest month
My intent was to post something every week or so; at least five posts a month. Stay disciplined. There were no posts last month. To say that February was an exhausting, emotional roller-freakin'-coaster would be the understatement of the year. What was going to be a fun getaway to New York City last month, my first visit since July 1, 2003, turned out to be a far more necessary excursion than I previously thought. I needed to be away from audio theatre, away from Monterey, and as far, far removed I could from the first half of the month.
Now, there's a great deal more to this story, things that I cannot discuss at this point. At some point in the future, everything is going to come out. But for today, I'm gonna keep my mouth shut. You have no idea how much I hate that, but for now it's what has to happen. What I will do is hit the high points. For the past year-and-a-half, AudioComics (and more specifically Bill Dufris and I) have been trying to find a home for one of our first projects. It was made apparent by the rights holders that they wanted the property to go to a big audio book publisher, that that was where the money was. So, Bill and I created short proposals for him to give out to his contacts within the audio book industry at the APAC Convention. And believe me, he's got a hell of a lot more clout than me and more contacts than you can shake a stick at. But while he made the initial contacts, it was up to me to keep it going; and he's right, no matter how many people are involved in something, there should only be one "point person."
In any case, we had found a company that believed in this project; they're one of the few companies willing to market full cast dramatizations. And there was talk back and forth and back and forth and budgets were drawn and talk back and forth and back and forth and the budgets were re-drawn and finally out of nowhere our contacts, and I should add that these two guys were true champions of this project, that they wanted this to happen, that it would promote a positive change in the industry, were ready to bring this character in all of his full-cast glory to the powers-that-be...who after deliberations back and forth and back and forth nixed the project. Our contacts at this company were incredibly disappointed, but not nearly as much as Bill and I, not to mention Sue and Dan (who joined the AudioComics family back in August). Bill and I were beside ourselves, not thinking clearly and emotionally exhausted.
And to that I add another word to the lexicon of words that should be abolished: "conservative."
The last week of February was spent in New York City. I visited friends who I hadn't seen in five years; one who I hadn't seen since 1991. Hit Drama Books, Forbidden Planet, the Equity Lounge, a couple of Broadway shows, and the last night of the reunion of Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at Madison Square Garden, which is now among my top five favorite concerts of all time (now if only Buffalo Springfield would do it again). And I met with my contact from said company, who lamented with me over a cup of coffee in Brooklyn how the project wasn't going through, and the general state of the audio book industry in general. It's shrinking at a rapid rate. As I said in a past post, there are those who fought to keep the industry as "books on tape." They don't know how to market new ideas; for a business, any business (be it not-for-profit or for-profit), to survive, it has to evolve. It can't stay rooted to one thing for years and years. The result is to become stagnant. And to lose the next generation of listeners. And what truly amazes me is how more and more businesses are moving in more conservative directions. IMHO, it's a bad place to be.
While we are not done with this project yet (three-and-a-half years worth of work go to waste? I don't f***ing think so), there will be some re-thinking on our part as to how it will proceed. I can tell you that we won't be heading in a conservative direction.
I should add that the one night of Make 'Em Laugh! on Feb. 17 wasn't enough; Make 'Em Laugh Some More! takes place Saturday and Sunday the 29th (8:00pm) and 30th of March (7:00pm) at The Works in PG: "Our Miss Brooks" and "Duffy's Tavern." Never never never give up.
Now, there's a great deal more to this story, things that I cannot discuss at this point. At some point in the future, everything is going to come out. But for today, I'm gonna keep my mouth shut. You have no idea how much I hate that, but for now it's what has to happen. What I will do is hit the high points. For the past year-and-a-half, AudioComics (and more specifically Bill Dufris and I) have been trying to find a home for one of our first projects. It was made apparent by the rights holders that they wanted the property to go to a big audio book publisher, that that was where the money was. So, Bill and I created short proposals for him to give out to his contacts within the audio book industry at the APAC Convention. And believe me, he's got a hell of a lot more clout than me and more contacts than you can shake a stick at. But while he made the initial contacts, it was up to me to keep it going; and he's right, no matter how many people are involved in something, there should only be one "point person."
In any case, we had found a company that believed in this project; they're one of the few companies willing to market full cast dramatizations. And there was talk back and forth and back and forth and budgets were drawn and talk back and forth and back and forth and the budgets were re-drawn and finally out of nowhere our contacts, and I should add that these two guys were true champions of this project, that they wanted this to happen, that it would promote a positive change in the industry, were ready to bring this character in all of his full-cast glory to the powers-that-be...who after deliberations back and forth and back and forth nixed the project. Our contacts at this company were incredibly disappointed, but not nearly as much as Bill and I, not to mention Sue and Dan (who joined the AudioComics family back in August). Bill and I were beside ourselves, not thinking clearly and emotionally exhausted.
And to that I add another word to the lexicon of words that should be abolished: "conservative."
The last week of February was spent in New York City. I visited friends who I hadn't seen in five years; one who I hadn't seen since 1991. Hit Drama Books, Forbidden Planet, the Equity Lounge, a couple of Broadway shows, and the last night of the reunion of Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at Madison Square Garden, which is now among my top five favorite concerts of all time (now if only Buffalo Springfield would do it again). And I met with my contact from said company, who lamented with me over a cup of coffee in Brooklyn how the project wasn't going through, and the general state of the audio book industry in general. It's shrinking at a rapid rate. As I said in a past post, there are those who fought to keep the industry as "books on tape." They don't know how to market new ideas; for a business, any business (be it not-for-profit or for-profit), to survive, it has to evolve. It can't stay rooted to one thing for years and years. The result is to become stagnant. And to lose the next generation of listeners. And what truly amazes me is how more and more businesses are moving in more conservative directions. IMHO, it's a bad place to be.
While we are not done with this project yet (three-and-a-half years worth of work go to waste? I don't f***ing think so), there will be some re-thinking on our part as to how it will proceed. I can tell you that we won't be heading in a conservative direction.
I should add that the one night of Make 'Em Laugh! on Feb. 17 wasn't enough; Make 'Em Laugh Some More! takes place Saturday and Sunday the 29th (8:00pm) and 30th of March (7:00pm) at The Works in PG: "Our Miss Brooks" and "Duffy's Tavern." Never never never give up.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Surge returns!
Just began the winter 2008 "Tune in Tomorrow" class at Pacific Repertory Theatre's School of Dramatic Arts, and at the overwhelming request of my returning students, we're doing a Surge sequel. In this "episode" from the newest "serial," Claire Moorer is back as team leader Sunburst, with Eli Tills as Mad Dog; joining the pre-teen team are Bailey Arredondo as the Speed Freek (the 1000 MPH kid), Cameron Poletti as Circuit (controls electricity), and Alex Poletti as Warp (warps reality), as they face against off against the time-bending Brit called The Time Tripper! Already this new class (all of whom are "grads" from previous sessions) is full of great ideas and scenes (including one that actually blew me away). I can already tell that this will be the best session yet. And they've got homework that no other teacher gives: read comic books. To my much-hated high school history teachers: TAKE THAT!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Odds and Ends
The year 2007 at a glance:
THOSE THRILLING DAYS OF YESTERYEAR at The Works Bookstore and Café, Pacific Grove (CA)
The Sunday Funnies: "The Adventures of Superman;" "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century;" and "Tarzan and the Diamond of Ashir "
Tales from the American West: "Have Gun, Will Travel" and "The Six Shooter"
Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel: two episodes of the lost Marx Brothers radio show
Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel! Encore! Encore!: two more episodes of the lost Marx Brothers radio show
Things That Go Bump: "The Shadow;" "Fall of the House of Usher" and "Three Skeleton Key" from "Escape!"
A Very, Very Merry Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel Christmashmuggah: two holiday helpings of Groucho and Chico
THOSE THRILLING DAYS OF YESTERYEAR: Life Care Facilities, Central Coast (CA)
The Many Lives of Harry Lime at Forest Hill Manor, Pacific Grove
Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel at Forest Hill Manor (Pacific Grove), The Park Lane Hyatt (Monterey), and Carmel Valley Manor (Carmel Valley)
Things That Go Bump: "Fall of the House of Usher" and "Three Skeleton Key" from "Escape!" at The Park Lane Hyatt, Monterey
Also, Play it by Ear continued its collaboration with the School of Dramatic Arts at Pacific Repertory Theatre, where kids ages 8 - 11 wrote and performed their own radio plays, recording them in professional studios, with a personalized CD of their play in the end. In the winter session it was Secret Agent 6 7/8, an homage to 1960's spy movies, and an original superhero adventure, The Surge, in the fall. Also, Play it by Ear worked with students from the International School of Monterey, performing scenes from British radio comedies for a private performance for students ages 11 - 13.
And I returned to West Plains, Missouri, for my third consecutive Audio Theatre Workshop with the National Audio Theatre Festival in June, working with major names from the audio book world in audio book narration workshops. Oh yeah, I also performed in three world premiere audio plays in the end-of-the-week live show: Histories, Mark Twain's A Fable, and the performance piece Sonic Force.
It’s the first blog entry of a new year. Let me start with this: I hate New Year’s Eve. Always have, always will. To me, it’s not a holiday; it’s just another day of the week. Because the next day really is just another day of the week. Maybe January 1 was something more to people decades ago, but today there are no illusions about it, no collective epiphanies, nothing earth-shattering occurs when the sun goes up; no, we go right back to where we were December 30 of the last year. Back to our lives, making plans, worrying about the future.
I’ve rarely done things of note on New Year’s Eve. One night back in ‘90/’91, it was a New Year’s Eve bash with most of my friends and fellow actors from the SFSU Theatre Department. Another year, a bash in San Francisco’s Embarcadero District with stand-ups and Santana. Two years in a row my family and I took in First Night Providence in near sub-zero temperatures.
That’s about it, though. Most New Year’s Eves were spent eating dinner with family, watching something on the tube (movies mostly; “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking Eve” is a really bitter cup of coffee for me). But with this New Year’s, I had more on my mind than in past years. And the next day was not just another day. It was the first day in what will be a big year audio theatre-wise.
I want to tell you a story: here on the Central Coast, it’s hard to make a decent living unless you are involved in one of two industries: health or food service, period, end of discussion. To make ends meet, I cater-waiter. A few other days a week I’m working a third shift at a life care facility (hence the odd hours in which I write the Play it by Ear blog). Anyway, my father tells me about a “Lodge” in Carmel Valley, which is a high-end winery/spa/lodge for the rich and shameless, and he recommends I interview there. Good tips.
So on a Friday morning in August, I drove to my interview, pulled up in the car, walked in, and after ten seconds...realized that I did not want to be there. I mean food service for me is a survival job and nothing more; a means to an end. As I have said before, the means to the end should never become the end. And yet for so many people living in this area, the means is all they do! I’ve worked with people and their mothers, brothers, girlfriends, boyfriends, children, all of whom cater waiter or work table service at Pebble Beach and they all ask me where else I waiter and I don’t know what to say to them.
I remember somebody once asking a catering captain I worked with (a very good guy named Brian) where else he worked at (food service-wise), and he told this woman that he didn’t; that he was an artist, a painter and photographer, he’s had some gallery showings, and she’s looking at Bri-guy like he was from another planet! It’s ridiculous; you’re either rich or you serve the rich, and here I was, going out for the latter again, and that’s when something inside me said, “enough. This is not why you went to school, you’re an artist and not a waiter.”
So I sabotaged my interview. For example, I was asked about one place I worked at and I totally ragged on these people. But I was being completely honest; I really felt abused at this one place in order to make a small group of über-wealthy people feel good about themselves. I mean I was coming home exhausted and many times on the verge of heatstroke. Suffice to say, I didn’t get the job at the Lodge; telling the truth was the best thing I could have done for myself. And now that my interviewer knows the truth, he should also know that I’m not apologizing for wasting ten minutes of his time! This was about honoring me. And I drove home and immersed myself into my art for the next few hours, doing the promotion necessary to be a working artist and producer.
But I knew I made the right decision when I turned on my computer: there was an e-mail from someone I had worked with at the National Audio Theatre Festival’s Workshop in West Plains with an update about my doing voice-over work on a video game his company was developing. I contacted some companies about corporate performances, they e-mailed back with interest. I booked time in a studio to record my audio book demo and the dates were free.
And there was a news announcement regarding the casting of the title character in a big screen superhero adaptation; a symbolic moment because this particular hero is also the subject of one of the first AudioComics projects. So yeah, the universe was agreeing with me: good things are on the horizon!
Now I want to be careful about segueing into extreme self-affirmation territory. Just saying that you’re ready for the fame and fortune and everything that goes with it over and over and over again only goes so far. You have to be willing to actually leave the apartment and go out into the world and make things happen in order for the fame and fortune and everything that goes with it to actually happen. Moreover, the fame/fortune/et al are by-products: better to be rich spiritually and emotionally by doing what you’re supposed to be doing.
What it all comes down to is this: over the course of the past three years, I have been working toward the completion of various projects involving Play it by Ear and AudioComics, and my career outside of these companies. I wish these projects could have happened last year or the year before that. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to quit telling people what hors d’oeuvres they’re eating or resume a normal sleep schedule.
But unfortunately, outside of simple things like grocery shopping, changing the oil in the car, or going to the movies, nothing ever happens on your schedule. However, this is the year that things are starting to come together, and projects long in gestation will come to fruition in recording studios in San Francisco, Portland, and New York. I mentioned in a past post that everything “will be in the stratosphere within the next five years.” Well, it starts here and now.
I am confident that “We Have Ignition” Series 2 will record at the end of this year. How do I know this? Because Play it by Ear has acquired half of Turn to Stone’s production costs! Huzzah! This is the result of individual donations and from the 2007 Thrilling Days shows, not to mention the 2005 benefit of We Hold These Truths. There are five more Thrilling Days shows to come, one per month at the Works starting in January: New York, New York; two different evenings of Make ‘Em Laugh (the first series of comedies in February, then a different series in March); sci-fi plays with Weird Worlds come April; and finally a Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel Summer Blowout (date TBA; either May or June). In addition, I have chosen a second work for Series 2; while Turn to Stone will record in NYC, the second piece will record near San Francisco.
I am starting what will most likely be my last class with Pac Rep's School of Dramatic Arts: The Surge are back, and this time the team's a year older, facing a mischievious time traveler. I'm working on the first series of scripts for the aforementioned podcast series, which will record in Monterey, not to mention a re-write of my first stage play, which will be Play it by Ear's first full-lengther. And I've just made plans to join Bill in New York this February for meetings with estate lawyers and audio book distributors, all of whom are as excited as we are about AudioComics.
One of the things weighing on my mind was the word promotion; in '06 I visited lovely downtown Burbank to visit with my new friends at Native Voices at the Autry. Bill Dufris was there, directing a radio serial. We decided to walk to the theatre from our hotel, talking audio theatre all the way, coming up with (if I may say so) brilliant ideas for projects. The question then arose: how best to promote these projects, especially in a world that is so used to visual entertainment (i.e. movies, TV, video games, YouTube)?
I remember an article written by Richard Fish, former head of the late and lamented Lodestone catalog, where he discussed certain realities about this aspect of the industry based on his experiences selling ZBS and Norman Corwin through Lodestone: one of those realities is that, if I may quote him, "Many people simply don't know where to find audio theatre." Someone would contact Lodestone looking to purchase something that he/she discovered through a broadcast or as a point of reference, and upon hearing that Richard had a full catalog of programs, the buyer would be pleasantly surprised: "I had no idea something like this existed!" Which? The catalog or full-cast audio theatre in general? I like to think both. So many people know of audio theatre through old time radio, but that's as far as it goes. How then to get the word out about ZBS and Norman Corwin, and, oh, what the hell, Play it by Ear Productions and AudioComics? Publicity and awareness beyond the occasional once-in-a-few-years blurb in a newspaper is necessary.
As I said earlier, many projects are finally happening, and I couldn't be more excited. All that's necessary is keep up the discipline and momentum. Having great collaborators who will kick my ass if I waver will certainly help. But in place of "when" is "how:" how to market these projects? And this is my New Year's Resolution. If I can get these completed CD's and downloads to as many people as possible through as many outlets as possible, GREAT. If that gets other producers noticed, EVEN BETTER. Time to make a FUSS!
THOSE THRILLING DAYS OF YESTERYEAR at The Works Bookstore and Café, Pacific Grove (CA)
The Sunday Funnies: "The Adventures of Superman;" "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century;" and "Tarzan and the Diamond of Ashir "
Tales from the American West: "Have Gun, Will Travel" and "The Six Shooter"
Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel: two episodes of the lost Marx Brothers radio show
Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel! Encore! Encore!: two more episodes of the lost Marx Brothers radio show
Things That Go Bump: "The Shadow;" "Fall of the House of Usher" and "Three Skeleton Key" from "Escape!"
A Very, Very Merry Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel Christmashmuggah: two holiday helpings of Groucho and Chico
THOSE THRILLING DAYS OF YESTERYEAR: Life Care Facilities, Central Coast (CA)
The Many Lives of Harry Lime at Forest Hill Manor, Pacific Grove
Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel at Forest Hill Manor (Pacific Grove), The Park Lane Hyatt (Monterey), and Carmel Valley Manor (Carmel Valley)
Things That Go Bump: "Fall of the House of Usher" and "Three Skeleton Key" from "Escape!" at The Park Lane Hyatt, Monterey
Also, Play it by Ear continued its collaboration with the School of Dramatic Arts at Pacific Repertory Theatre, where kids ages 8 - 11 wrote and performed their own radio plays, recording them in professional studios, with a personalized CD of their play in the end. In the winter session it was Secret Agent 6 7/8, an homage to 1960's spy movies, and an original superhero adventure, The Surge, in the fall. Also, Play it by Ear worked with students from the International School of Monterey, performing scenes from British radio comedies for a private performance for students ages 11 - 13.
And I returned to West Plains, Missouri, for my third consecutive Audio Theatre Workshop with the National Audio Theatre Festival in June, working with major names from the audio book world in audio book narration workshops. Oh yeah, I also performed in three world premiere audio plays in the end-of-the-week live show: Histories, Mark Twain's A Fable, and the performance piece Sonic Force.
It’s the first blog entry of a new year. Let me start with this: I hate New Year’s Eve. Always have, always will. To me, it’s not a holiday; it’s just another day of the week. Because the next day really is just another day of the week. Maybe January 1 was something more to people decades ago, but today there are no illusions about it, no collective epiphanies, nothing earth-shattering occurs when the sun goes up; no, we go right back to where we were December 30 of the last year. Back to our lives, making plans, worrying about the future.
I’ve rarely done things of note on New Year’s Eve. One night back in ‘90/’91, it was a New Year’s Eve bash with most of my friends and fellow actors from the SFSU Theatre Department. Another year, a bash in San Francisco’s Embarcadero District with stand-ups and Santana. Two years in a row my family and I took in First Night Providence in near sub-zero temperatures.
That’s about it, though. Most New Year’s Eves were spent eating dinner with family, watching something on the tube (movies mostly; “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking Eve” is a really bitter cup of coffee for me). But with this New Year’s, I had more on my mind than in past years. And the next day was not just another day. It was the first day in what will be a big year audio theatre-wise.
I want to tell you a story: here on the Central Coast, it’s hard to make a decent living unless you are involved in one of two industries: health or food service, period, end of discussion. To make ends meet, I cater-waiter. A few other days a week I’m working a third shift at a life care facility (hence the odd hours in which I write the Play it by Ear blog). Anyway, my father tells me about a “Lodge” in Carmel Valley, which is a high-end winery/spa/lodge for the rich and shameless, and he recommends I interview there. Good tips.
So on a Friday morning in August, I drove to my interview, pulled up in the car, walked in, and after ten seconds...realized that I did not want to be there. I mean food service for me is a survival job and nothing more; a means to an end. As I have said before, the means to the end should never become the end. And yet for so many people living in this area, the means is all they do! I’ve worked with people and their mothers, brothers, girlfriends, boyfriends, children, all of whom cater waiter or work table service at Pebble Beach and they all ask me where else I waiter and I don’t know what to say to them.
I remember somebody once asking a catering captain I worked with (a very good guy named Brian) where else he worked at (food service-wise), and he told this woman that he didn’t; that he was an artist, a painter and photographer, he’s had some gallery showings, and she’s looking at Bri-guy like he was from another planet! It’s ridiculous; you’re either rich or you serve the rich, and here I was, going out for the latter again, and that’s when something inside me said, “enough. This is not why you went to school, you’re an artist and not a waiter.”
So I sabotaged my interview. For example, I was asked about one place I worked at and I totally ragged on these people. But I was being completely honest; I really felt abused at this one place in order to make a small group of über-wealthy people feel good about themselves. I mean I was coming home exhausted and many times on the verge of heatstroke. Suffice to say, I didn’t get the job at the Lodge; telling the truth was the best thing I could have done for myself. And now that my interviewer knows the truth, he should also know that I’m not apologizing for wasting ten minutes of his time! This was about honoring me. And I drove home and immersed myself into my art for the next few hours, doing the promotion necessary to be a working artist and producer.
But I knew I made the right decision when I turned on my computer: there was an e-mail from someone I had worked with at the National Audio Theatre Festival’s Workshop in West Plains with an update about my doing voice-over work on a video game his company was developing. I contacted some companies about corporate performances, they e-mailed back with interest. I booked time in a studio to record my audio book demo and the dates were free.
And there was a news announcement regarding the casting of the title character in a big screen superhero adaptation; a symbolic moment because this particular hero is also the subject of one of the first AudioComics projects. So yeah, the universe was agreeing with me: good things are on the horizon!
Now I want to be careful about segueing into extreme self-affirmation territory. Just saying that you’re ready for the fame and fortune and everything that goes with it over and over and over again only goes so far. You have to be willing to actually leave the apartment and go out into the world and make things happen in order for the fame and fortune and everything that goes with it to actually happen. Moreover, the fame/fortune/et al are by-products: better to be rich spiritually and emotionally by doing what you’re supposed to be doing.
What it all comes down to is this: over the course of the past three years, I have been working toward the completion of various projects involving Play it by Ear and AudioComics, and my career outside of these companies. I wish these projects could have happened last year or the year before that. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to quit telling people what hors d’oeuvres they’re eating or resume a normal sleep schedule.
But unfortunately, outside of simple things like grocery shopping, changing the oil in the car, or going to the movies, nothing ever happens on your schedule. However, this is the year that things are starting to come together, and projects long in gestation will come to fruition in recording studios in San Francisco, Portland, and New York. I mentioned in a past post that everything “will be in the stratosphere within the next five years.” Well, it starts here and now.
I am confident that “We Have Ignition” Series 2 will record at the end of this year. How do I know this? Because Play it by Ear has acquired half of Turn to Stone’s production costs! Huzzah! This is the result of individual donations and from the 2007 Thrilling Days shows, not to mention the 2005 benefit of We Hold These Truths. There are five more Thrilling Days shows to come, one per month at the Works starting in January: New York, New York; two different evenings of Make ‘Em Laugh (the first series of comedies in February, then a different series in March); sci-fi plays with Weird Worlds come April; and finally a Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel Summer Blowout (date TBA; either May or June). In addition, I have chosen a second work for Series 2; while Turn to Stone will record in NYC, the second piece will record near San Francisco.
I am starting what will most likely be my last class with Pac Rep's School of Dramatic Arts: The Surge are back, and this time the team's a year older, facing a mischievious time traveler. I'm working on the first series of scripts for the aforementioned podcast series, which will record in Monterey, not to mention a re-write of my first stage play, which will be Play it by Ear's first full-lengther. And I've just made plans to join Bill in New York this February for meetings with estate lawyers and audio book distributors, all of whom are as excited as we are about AudioComics.
One of the things weighing on my mind was the word promotion; in '06 I visited lovely downtown Burbank to visit with my new friends at Native Voices at the Autry. Bill Dufris was there, directing a radio serial. We decided to walk to the theatre from our hotel, talking audio theatre all the way, coming up with (if I may say so) brilliant ideas for projects. The question then arose: how best to promote these projects, especially in a world that is so used to visual entertainment (i.e. movies, TV, video games, YouTube)?
I remember an article written by Richard Fish, former head of the late and lamented Lodestone catalog, where he discussed certain realities about this aspect of the industry based on his experiences selling ZBS and Norman Corwin through Lodestone: one of those realities is that, if I may quote him, "Many people simply don't know where to find audio theatre." Someone would contact Lodestone looking to purchase something that he/she discovered through a broadcast or as a point of reference, and upon hearing that Richard had a full catalog of programs, the buyer would be pleasantly surprised: "I had no idea something like this existed!" Which? The catalog or full-cast audio theatre in general? I like to think both. So many people know of audio theatre through old time radio, but that's as far as it goes. How then to get the word out about ZBS and Norman Corwin, and, oh, what the hell, Play it by Ear Productions and AudioComics? Publicity and awareness beyond the occasional once-in-a-few-years blurb in a newspaper is necessary.
As I said earlier, many projects are finally happening, and I couldn't be more excited. All that's necessary is keep up the discipline and momentum. Having great collaborators who will kick my ass if I waver will certainly help. But in place of "when" is "how:" how to market these projects? And this is my New Year's Resolution. If I can get these completed CD's and downloads to as many people as possible through as many outlets as possible, GREAT. If that gets other producers noticed, EVEN BETTER. Time to make a FUSS!
Saturday, December 08, 2007
...And a wonderful time was had by all!
A nice spread in this month's issue of the Pacific Grove Bulletin, our local local paper, regarding...a surprise birthday party. For the Mutch Brothers, that's who! It happened last month at The Works, our home for the Thrilling Days shows, and I'm proud to say that I was a big part of the deception (and believe you me, lying at the level I lied at was rather new to me), as Steve Kane and I drove Derek and Geoff to what they thought was going to be a television interview following a Flywheel performance at the Hacienda Carmel in Carmel Valley.
Why am I bringing this up: well, first and foremost, all of the major players from Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear were there: Steve Kane, Rob Eaton and his lovely wife Arden, Robert Marcum of course, and Mary Anne Anderson and her husband Ames, who also provided the surprise musical entertainment for the evening. Suffice to say, it was one of the best gatherings I've attended in a long while.
Also, this party was an aspect of something special, something that Robert Marcum envisioned when he opened The Works last year: he wanted his store to be more just a bookstore or cafe: he wanted The Works to be something that Pacific Grove was seriously lacking, and that was a meeting place where artists of all kinds could converge. Not just painters and novelists, but sculptors, musicians, poets, and us theatre folk. We are part of that community, as are our relatives who attend our shows and receive what we offer. And we came to celebrate the birthdays of two artists who are part of The Works, and eat and sing and impart words of wisdom from Groucho and Mel Brooks. We are very lucky to have The Works in PG, and I hope more of the town's residents will come and see what Robert's store really has to offer.
Why am I bringing this up: well, first and foremost, all of the major players from Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear were there: Steve Kane, Rob Eaton and his lovely wife Arden, Robert Marcum of course, and Mary Anne Anderson and her husband Ames, who also provided the surprise musical entertainment for the evening. Suffice to say, it was one of the best gatherings I've attended in a long while.
Also, this party was an aspect of something special, something that Robert Marcum envisioned when he opened The Works last year: he wanted his store to be more just a bookstore or cafe: he wanted The Works to be something that Pacific Grove was seriously lacking, and that was a meeting place where artists of all kinds could converge. Not just painters and novelists, but sculptors, musicians, poets, and us theatre folk. We are part of that community, as are our relatives who attend our shows and receive what we offer. And we came to celebrate the birthdays of two artists who are part of The Works, and eat and sing and impart words of wisdom from Groucho and Mel Brooks. We are very lucky to have The Works in PG, and I hope more of the town's residents will come and see what Robert's store really has to offer.
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