Going to Tahiti Productions » podcast

Another Opening, Another Show…

gttpftp — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:48:45 +0000

So, we open tomorrow – actually, by the time I post this it will actually be today that we open. But, before we do, I wanted to share some “day before opening” thoughts I had earlier today…

I’m sitting in an empty theater-no actors today since its equity day off-and I’m waiting for a few different crew members to arrive to take care of some last minute things before opening night. A couple of costumes that were being altered are getting dropped off, some finishes to the set are being, well, finished, the programs are being proofed…but in this moment of quiet before the storm, this pause for breath before the opening adrenaline kicks in, one thought keeps going through my head. And that is this – an empty theater is my temple, my church, my holy shrine. It is the place I’m most at home, most comfortable, most peaceful, and most me.

I remember when I was in college, my favorite place on campus was the theater. It was a massive 1500 seat auditorium but when no one was in it and there was just a bare stage with a ghost light, I could sit for hours and soak up the smell of backstage – that mixture of saw dust, residual hairspray and, yes, sweat–the remnants of thousands of shows, thousands of possibilities and oh how I loved it! I’m not a religious person but there I could pray.

And? It turns out it doesn’t have to be an enormous auditorium for me to feel it. In this little empty black box tonight, with our 36 seats, we’re about to create something (actually we’ve been creating it for 5 weeks) and now we get to show it to you. It’s a rush, it’s a thrill, but more importantly, for me at least, it’s the reason I’m here. Nothing in the world makes quite as much sense to me as this does and I’m pretty sure that’s how most of my cast and crew feel too.

You see, I was thinking the other day that working on a show, if you’re doing it right, is like being on the island of misfit toys. We, none of us, fit in perfectly anywhere as well as we fit in with each other. And we particularly fit in when we create something for you. So we gather in darkened theaters, turn on the lights, and try to make a little magic happen, try to take you, our audience, to Tahiti…or Regency England as the case may be tomorrow. So come on out to The Secret Theatre tomorrow night and for the next two weeks and take the trip with us. This particular misfit thinks you’ll be glad you did.

Jane Austen’s Persuasion opens tomorrow (or actually probably tonight by the time you see this post – either way June 26th) and runs until July 8th. Tickets and details available on the Show and Events Page above or you can buy them here.

Also, if you want a little glimpse of (or more appropriately a listen to) Jane Austen’s Persuasion, check out my interview with the cast and adaptor of the play on the latest episode of Tahiti Dispatches (GTTP’s Podcast Series).

Cat Lady Countdown…

gttpftp — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 03:43:27 +0000

Five days and counting until Cat Lady Without A Cat opens!

Now I’m really starting to get excited. It’s an interesting new perspective (for me) of producing a show that I’m not directing. Normally I’m up to my ears in the creative problems of a given show. I’m making decisions about set and costume and music and acting…every aspect of the project is under my control, but with this one, it’s a little different. For the first time, I get to just talk up a show (and post pictures of frakking adorable cats!). I get to sit back and enjoy the project like a regular audience member and at the same time, I’ve known about Cat Lady for years (I was lucky enough to be one of the first people that Carrie shared the show with when she was first writing it). So, I’m really in this new place of being intimately connected to a show and completely detached from it at the same time.

That being said, I saw a scaled down version of the show at the Emerging Artists Festival last Tuesday. It was great and Carrie was fantastic but I found myself wanting more and I was so excited to know that Carrie will be giving everyone more for the GTTP production. You see, the Emerging Artists Festival had an hour long time limit. And, though it’s only an additional 15-20 minutes that we’re getting with the GTTP production, you see really quickly that that extra 15-20 is crucial stuff. Suddenly, we’re getting more information about Snake Man, JT, the Mom with a Portal to Another Dimension, and the Dad with Control Issues. These characters that Carrie explores are literally the life’s blood of this project and when you limit how much we see of them (which, out of necessity had to be done for the festival) you limit the entire show. So, come Friday night, we’ll get to see all of these folks. Last week Carrie was telling me about her fear of having to cut Snake Man from the show (trust me, you want to meet Snake Man) and she was talking about how friends of hers were devastated at the thought that this bizarre and beloved character would go the way of the dodo. “You CAN’T cut SNAKE MAN! You just CAN’T!” Luckily Snake Man was saved and he will appear in all his Barry-Manilow-loving glory on Friday night. So please, join us for Snake Man, the Squirrel, Max the Super, The Spanish/Italian Exterminator, David, Mortimer La Fantasma, Nanette, Mike Hogue, Station Nine, Portland, Oregon, and Carrie, the wonderful, hilarious and all around amazing, Cat Lady Without A Cat.

My extremely talented little sister (who is getting her PhD in English suggested I leave you with this excerpt from 18th Century poet, and Cat “Dude,” Christoper Smart (there’s is no male form of “Cat Lady” by the way because, as Camilla (the aforementioned sister) said with disdain “men are allowed to be single”(seriously, I may have just found next week’s blog post – a manifesto on chauvinistic language and how it relates to society’s association of cats to single women))…and I agreed. So here you go:

“For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer.
For he rolls upon prank to work it in.
For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.
For this he performs in ten degrees.
For first he looks upon his forepaws to see if they are clean.
For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.
For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the forepaws extended.
For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.
For fifthly he washes himself.
For sixthly he rolls upon wash.
For seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat.
For eighthly he rubs himself against a post.
For ninthly he looks up for his instructions.

For tenthly he goes in quest of food.

For having consider’d God and himself he will consider his neighbour.

For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness.
For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance.
For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.
For when his day’s work is done his business more properly begins.
For he keeps the Lord’s watch in the night against the adversary.
For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.
For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.
For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.”

(for more of For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffrey… go to: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/for-i-will-consider-my-cat-jeoffry-excerpt-jubil/

And seriously? If you liked that poem and these pics? You have no excuse! Get thee to Cat Lady Without A Cat! Pronto!

Tickets and Details here.

Podcasts, One Act Factor, and Cat Ladies, oh my!

gttpftp — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:43:29 +0000

Wow, one week after the experiment began and I’m already late on my weekly blog post, BUT, I did post (separate from my weekly post) a couple of days ago so technically I’m ahead of the game. Exciting things a brewing in Tahiti Land!

1) You’ll see on the podcast page our January/February podcast is finally up (yes, I know, it’s a bit late, but it is still February so I’m still technically on time with it.) When you get a chance, give it a listen. In this month’s podcast, I sit down with, actor, writer, dance, choreographer, and movement coach Dana Boll, to talk about her project, Bella’s Dream and the life of an NYC artist. Also, this coming Friday, I’ll be recording our March podcast, a conversation with Carrie Keskinen about Cat Lady Without a Cat and her long career as a professional NY actor. Carrie’s podcast will hopefully be posted by March 1. To listen to our latest Podcasts, check out the podcast page or click here:

2) One Act Factor – I just agreed to direct a One-Act called, The Day Job, in The Secret Theatre’s One-Act Festival, OneActFactor. We just started rehearsals yesterday and are looking forward to a fun (and competetive) 3 evenings of One-Acts (there are 3 different series – a total of 22 plays – over 3 performance nights. My play is a part of series B and runs in the first round on March 16th and March 24th). The performances for OneActFactor begin in Mid-March and, since it’s an ajudicated festival, we’re hoping to do well enough to make it to the semi-finals and possibly the finals! For details and tickets, check out:

3) Cat Lady Without a Cat tickets are on sale now!!! Join us for Carrie Keskinen’s hilarious show about a “self-proclaimed cat lady cleaning house in every possible way.” Cat Lady… runs for 3 performances only at The Secret Theatre, March 9-10th. For tickets, go here.

4) GTTP has applied for the FringeNYC festival this August. For those of you unfamiliar with FringeNYC it is a month long festival in August where more than 200 plays are produced, for an average of five performances each, in 20 venues around Manhattan. Because of past scheduling issues we haven’t been able to apply in the past for this competitive and exciting fetsival, but finally, this year the timing worked out. It’s super competetive so I don’t kow if we’ll get in but as grandma always used to say, “you can’t win it if you’re not in it” (grandma was a big lottery fan) and you can’t be in it if you don’t even apply. So, dear readers, I’m calling out to all of you to put in a good word to the universe for us. We applied with a very strong project (which I don’t want to reveal here because I don’t want to jinx it) and I think we have a decent chance. Accepted productions will be notified in April/May so I’ll keep everyone posted.

See you at the theater!

New show, new campaign, new content, new, new, new…

gttpftp — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:22:37 +0000

So you’ve probably heard rumblings but we’ve got some new stuff happening over here on the island of Tahiti…

#1) NEW SHOW!!!! That’s right, we are currently in rehearsal for our next show. Full Disclosure by Ruth McKee is a comedic take on relationships, love, and life amidst the ever changing, volatile world of the NY real estate market. A one woman show, Full Disclosure showcases Tahiti’s own Kiwi Callahan as Sunny Smith a pregnant realtor who really really really wants you to buy the house she’s selling. Full Disclosure will run for 14 performances December 6th – 18th at The Secret Theatre in Long Island City. Tickets available here:

Join us for an open house! (There WILL be cookies!!!)

#2) NEW CAMPAIGN!!!! Yup, new show means a new RocketHUB campaign. Please consider fueling FULL DISCLOSURE. Your rocket fuel will help us soar. Even small donations add up quickly so please, be a part of the show (and get some nifty rewards in the process). Take a look here:

#3) NEW CONTENT!!!! GTTP has officially entered the world of podcasts. Our first monthly installment of Tahiti Dispatches is up and available here:. If you would like to listen to the podcasts in iTunes, open iTunes, go to the advanced menu, click “subscribe to podcast” and then type or paste this URL: http://goingtotahitiproductions.com/feed It’s as easy as that! Check us out and stay tuned for monthly interviews with GTTP folks and other theater artists making a statement in NYC.

#4) NEW PARTY!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who showed up to our Season Kick-Off Party! The party was a great success and those lucky party-goers got a little preview of FULL DISCLOSURE…In fact, they got to meet Sunny Smith, in person! You too can meet Sunny in person at the show in December (see item #1 on this list).

Phew…I think that’s everything for now. We hope to see you soon!