Seeking German Woman I'm in search for a German woman. Not just any German woman. This German woman. The brunette in the middle. Not the guy on the left. He's neither German nor a woman. A Bremen German Woman Back in 1996 I was cast in an industrial film for Evans and Sutherland. They're a computer firm and back then they sold killer simulators to the military. They don't sell them anymore and now the Evans and Sutherland website looks [...]
Village Theatre Opens Around the World in 80 Days Hey Seattle, pack your bags and head over to the Village Theatre in Issaquah, WA. The theatre is producing my play Around the World in 80 Days. The show opens tonight at the Francis Gaudette Theatre and runs through March 1. The show then moves to the Everett Performing Arts Center in Everett, WA. The Cast Here is the foolhardy group of actors taking on the play. Jared Michael Brown as Phileas Fogg. Chris [...]
Circle Theatre Company Produces Two of My Shows The Circle Theatre Company at the Circle Christian School in Winter Park, FL has become my new favorite theatre company. Not only did they produce The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge last month, but next month they're producing Around the World in 80 Days. Two of my shows. Back-to-back. That's only happened once before. Years ago Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, PA produced the same two shows back-to-back. The eye gouging scene from [...]
TheatreSquared Ends Run With a Magical Moment TheatreSquared ended its run of Around the World in 80 Days with an extraordinary moment. To me, theatre is an incredibly magical place where anything is possible. I've been working in theatre since I was 19-years old and the theatre still surprises and excites me. Every now and then there's a moment in theatre that defies explanation. If I were to write those moments into a script no one would believe they happened [...]
TheatreSquared and Me I just got back from a whirlwind trip to TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I had a brilliant time. TheatreSquared is currently producing my show Around the World in 80 Days. The theatre graciously invited me out to attend opening night, do talkbacks with audiences, and be a guest pontificator lecturer at a theatre MFA class. If you have never been to TheatreSquared, hop in the vehicle of your choice and hasten your bad self to Fayetteville, AR. Surprisingly, Fayetteville was [...]
Springfield Contemporary Theatre Opens Around the World in 80 Days My ever faithful Google alert tells me that Springfield Contemporary Theatre in Springfield, MO opened their season last week with Around the World in 80 Days. Woot. Springfield Contemporary Theatre Artistic Director Rick Dines directed the production. The show stars Ron Seney, Bryant Turnage, Cameron Carlton, Patrick Schuster, and Adie Williams. Rick said some very nice things about the script and me in an interview he did with KSMU. KSMU - Shizzin' the public radio scene [...]
Eastchester Players Club I got a Google alert that the Eastchester Players Club in New York will be doing my show Around the World in 80 Days this weekend. Yeah, I get Google alerts about my shows. I like to see is there's anything I need to know about my shows. Like whether I'm having an Off-Broadway production, or being awarded Outstanding Musical, or having a World Premiere. Was that shameless promotion noticeable? Anyway, when I found the kids at the Eastchester [...]
Tahlequah Community Playhouse opens The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge Tahlequah Community Playhouse's production of The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge opens this week. Celebrating their 40th season, the Tahlequah Community Playhouse, is located in Tahlequah, OK, in the foothills of the Ozark mountains and smack dab in the middle of Cherokee County. First time director Juliet Burk is at the helm of this production. She's also the local podiatrist. Can I say she's a chiropodist? Is a podiatrist and a chiropodist the same thing? Juliet, what's [...]
The Good and Bad of Being Published Getting your play published is thrilling and I get extremely excited when one of my publishers decides to publish one of my scripts. (I work with Dramatic Publishing and Samuel French). The reach of a good publisher is worth its weight in gold. Without a publisher I never would have had all the productions I've been fortunate to have. But one down side of it is you don't really know if people are reading [...]
The Last Ship Opening This week my buddy Sting opened his show The Last Ship on Broadway. Besides many differences between the two of us -- okay, too many to list -- here's one of the big differences between Sting and me when it comes to opening a commercial show in NYC. Here's a picture of Sting at the opening of The Last Ship. Here's a picture of me at the opening of Around the World in 80 Days. Can [...]