Best Christmas Songs -Merry Christmas Baby My famed "Twenty-five Days of Christmas" is back, baby. Each day I post a new song of what I consider to be the best Christmas songs. These are all songs that put an extra zip into my holiday spirit. This year I have a mix of returning songs and new entries. Let's get to the first one. Merry Christmas Baby "Merry Christmas Baby" is one of the best Christmas songs ever in the history of mankind. [...]
Hello Adele, Thanks for Being Fabulous Hello Adele, can you hear me? As if Adele couldn't rock my world any more, she did a kick-ass version of Hello with Jimmy Fallon and the Roots. But not any version, mind you. A version with classroom instruments. Among the instrument the band used are melodica, tambourine, wood block, toy xylophone, bongos, a banana shaker and kazoos. Adele isn't the first singer to sing with the classroom instruments band. Idina Menzel, Carly Rae Jepsen, [...]
Ocean State Theatre Hits 80 Days Out of the Park The good folks at Ocean State Theatre are killing it with their production of Around the World in 80 Days. “Mark Brown’s ingenious adaptation of the Jules Verne novel for the stage is a delight on stage in Warwick!” Ingenious? I like this reviewer already. My good friend Minita Gandhi is playing Aouda. This is her second time around with the show. A two-timer, as I like to call her. She [...]
Where to Get Veterans Day Freebies Hey Veterans. Hop in your M1117 Armored Security Vehicle and hit the town for your Veterans Day Freebies. Applebee’s Vets and active-duty military can have their pick from a special menu with options like three-cheese chicken penne, 7-oz. sirloin, and double crunch shrimp, free of charge (beverage and gratuity are not included). Bob Evans Hotcakes, brioche French toast, and the country biscuit breakfast are among the options available to veterans and active-duty military in a [...]
I'm Heading to the Tahlequah Community Playhouse In two weeks I'll be heading to Tahlequah, OK to the Tahlequah Community Playhouse for its production of Around the World in 80 Days. Last year the theatre produced The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge and the people running the theatre are foolhardy enough to do another one of my shows. When I was at TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AR last November for the opening of its production of Around the World in 80 Days, some people from Tahlequah [...]
The Season for The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge Now that Halloween has come and gone, it's time to turn our attention to the ultimate holiday season of the year. That time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. And what better way to celebrate that glorious time than with a copy of my play The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge. Start a new tradition by gathering the family by the fireplace and reading the play out loud. Your family will delight [...]
Get Some Halloween Freebies Knowing how much I love free stuff, my friend Christine sent me a link from The Penny Hoarder about 15 free Halloween deals. Fourteen are food deals. One is Bass Pro Shops. Really? Go figure. Here are my favorites. Krispy Kreme Get a free doughnut when you go in costume to Krispy Kreme. I'm going as a playwright. All day 10/31. IHOP Kids under 12 get a free scary face pancake from 7:00am-10:oopm. My mental age is [...]
Around the World in 80 Days Party Well the idea my friend Sharone and I came up with about having a big party for everyone who has ever done Around the World in 80 Days has certainly gotten a great response. I suppose it's never too early to get things rolling. So I think we should start collecting names and email contact info. If you're interested in this shindig, send your name, contact info, and what production you did to [...]
China's Five Year Plan Video is a Trip to 1973 How do you make China’s 13th five-year plan, a far too dense document laying out the country’s future economic strategy from 2015-2020, appeal to the masses? Make a crazy ass video that's the love child of Schoolhouse Rock and Joseph Goebbels. “If you wanna know what China’s gonna do, best pay attention to the shí sān wǔ.” Shí sān wǔ are the Chinese words for "13-five." So you better pay attention to it, man. [...]
How About an Around the World in 80 Days Soiree? I was having coffee with my friend Sharone O' Tannenbaum (Okay, I added the "O") and we got to talking about how we are connected to a bunch of people who have been in Around the World in 80 Days. Sharone said, "Wouldn't it be great if we could get together everyone who has done the show?" While I was pondering it she said, "Let's do it. Let's have a [...]
