Category Archives: PERSUASION

This is a pretty good illustration of my last few weeks. This past week, in particular, was a kind of crazy week on the island of Tahiti (made crazier by my day job helping babies be born but that’s another story that you can see details of here).

I think the best illustration of the insanity is the sheer number of projects/plays I have running through my head right now (some will not have titles because I haven’t made official announcements but you’ll still get the picture):

1) Full Disclosure – as you may have seen, I wrapped up Full Disclosure this past week by sending out the last of the RocketHub rewards. Although it didn’t require me to actually keep the show in my head, it is a project that I couldn’t put to bed until last week. (Speaking of which, if you are supposed to receive a RocketHub reward and you haven’t yet, please let me know. I sent out emails to settle the rewards but I didn’t hear back from everyone who was owed something and it’s very important to me that those rewards get fulfilled.)

2) Skin Flesh Bone – Did my taxes last week so there was discussion of both Full Disclosure and Skin Flesh Bone in the settling of the year end budget. But that too is now put to bed.

3) Cat Lady Without A Cat – as you all know, I am co-producing 3 performances of Carrie Keskinen’s Cat Lady Without A Cat. Tickets available here. Join us March 9th at 8pm or March 10th at 2pm or 7pm. It’s a fun show that’s still in development so the talkbacks we have after each show will give all of you an opportunity to give your feedback on what’s working and what’s not in the show. (see – you get to be more than just the audience, you get to be a part of the development of a show!)

4) Persuasion – Although the show is a bit of a ways off, I’m currently on the hunt for a performance space. No, no, no, don’t worry. There is no rift between Tahiti and The Secret Theatre. In fact our relationship is stronger than ever (see item 5). It’s just that The Big Theatre (the site of last year’s Skin Flesh Bone) at The Secret Theatre is booked for all of June with their own exciting projects and so it looks like for Persuasion we might have to temporarily relocate. Bummer, BUT, I am currently asearching. I saw a great space last week (part of my crazy week) and I’m currently running the numbers to see if we can book it. I’ll keep everyone posted.

5) The Day Job by Julia Blauvelt – This is the one-act that I’m directing for The Secret Theatre’s One Act Festival – The One Act Factor, which opens mid-March. Another contribution to last week’s craziness were the two rehearsals I had with my terrific cast and the one production meeting.

6) Fringe Festival Show – As I mentioned last week, I applied for the New York Fringe Festival this year. In order to apply I needed to put together a budget and a plan for what that show would be – which meant poring over a bunch of scripts and deciding what GTTP could reasonably put together within the time frame (should we get accepted, that is). I’m psyched for what we chose but it’s been another show cluttering my head.

7) The Fall/Winter show – This one is one that I’m very excited about and VERY close to signing an agreement for, but until papers are signed I can’t reveal what it is. That being said, the budget and the begining directing/producing have already begun so that I could apply for grants.

8 ) The Gala – I know, I know, it’s not a show, but for it to be the kind of Gala I want, it’s definitely a production. So, although it runs along similar lines as Persuasion, (Jane Austen themed event and all) it does have a different slant then the play and so, requires a different set of skills entirely.

9) 3 plays for a New Play Festival – I agreed to be a reader for a new play festival. So, on top of the other stuff I was doing last week, I read and evaluated 3 plays. It’s been a bit hectic, but I did turn in my evaluations! Yay…but yeah, those shows have been circling my brain as well.

10) unFRAMED – This is a terrific one-man show by poet, playwright and artist Iyaba Ibo Mandingo, that I’m interning on. It has it’s next showing at The InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia March 30th-April 1st (actually it’s next showing is at Sing Sing Correctional Facility but I’m pretty sure that one’s not open to the public). If you happen to be in Philly the last weekend in March or if you find another opportunity to see it, I highly recommend it. Details on the show’s booking schedule can be found here.

Yeah, I think that’s it, but seriously that’s 10 different projects zipping around in my head, (as Eddie Izzard would say, “[10 shows] in one head? No one can live at that speed” and that doesn’t even begin to cover the business stuff. The business stuff is always on my mind – budgets, marketing, audience growth, five year plan, strategic planning, but this week it’s been the artistic stuff – character, set, prop, sound effects, lighting, etc – circling like crazy…Oh, and the podcast. We recorded Carrie Keskinen’s podcast on Friday. It should be posted in the next day or so. Basically, I’ve become that person. That person who responds to the simple question, “how are things?” with something resembling the following:

“Oh, great. Busy, but great. I mean just this week I was at  rehearsals, a production meeting, a theater tour, a seminar on theater business, a podcast recording, a show that I was judging for The NY Innovative Theater Awards, and 2 births (day job). Not to mention the hours I sat in front of my computer trying to get folks out to see GTTP’s next show (It’s called Cat Lady Without A Cat and tickets are available here). Oh, and I totally have to finish a grant application. And, did I mention that I’m looking for in-kind donations for my Gala? Did I tell you I’m organizing a gala?…Oh, how are you?” Really I think the person who asked me the question was just making small talk but my head is spinning and I can’t seem to just answer, “fine. How are things with you?” Really, right now the only thing I can guarantee at any given time is that of all of the tasks I set for myself at the beginning of each day there will be at least 3 major things I haven’t accomplished by the end of the day. Not the least of which is catch up on like 3 episodes of Justified. I’m missing my shows, people! That is the level of dedication I have to my art. I’m missing enjoying the art that other people have put out there for me.