The musical Man of La Mancha serves as another example of a production that I consider very successful. With its prison set conjuring images of both Western and Eastern theatre, my flexible staging, and the imaginative creation of scenes by adding a few props or costumes, the show served as an excellent example of collaborationContinue reading “Strange (?) Inspiration Part 2”
Tag Archives: play
Strange (?) Inspiration Part 1
A few years back, the music director where I was working and I decided to present the Rodgers and Hammerstein revue, Some Enchanted Evening. For the first part of the process we held vocal auditions and cast the singers with the songs. I then turned to the task of how to stage the piece. NoteContinue reading “Strange (?) Inspiration Part 1”
Misplaced Religious Fervor
As I write this, we’ve just passed the Easter weekend celebration. That makes this an ideal time to once again reference the document mentioned previously that includes the note: “GI Joes crucified.” I mentioned this blog to my cousin a few weeks ago, but I have no idea if he ever looks/looked at it. IContinue reading “Misplaced Religious Fervor”
The Premiere Premiere
When getting a new theatre group started, the first thing you really have to worry about is, well, I guess, money. The second is having people audition for your performances. I decided to hedge my bets by starting with a one-person show, and casting a former student of mine in the role. Luckily he’s youngContinue reading “The Premiere Premiere”
An Assassin for What??
Years ago in Northeast PA (which does seem like a galaxy far, far away at this point), I had to walk to the end of the street to get my mail. As I exited my house and entered the road, two dogs across the way would bark at me from a badly-built enclosure. When IContinue reading “An Assassin for What??”
“Play, Play, Play”
Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you? I sometimes think of that moment in one of the Toy Story movies when Buzz Lightyear has to simulate playing, and he picks up a toy and says, “Play, Play, Play.” For some reason this amuses me greatly. Maybe it’s because I realizedContinue reading ““Play, Play, Play””
ChatGPT Writes Like My Playwrighting Students Did
I decided to try using ChatGPT to write a short script to see how it might do. I began with the idea of the Old King/Young King ritual that Sir James Fraser wrote about in The Golden Bough (1890), an examination of comparative religion that pre-dates Joseph Campbell. Frazer writes that the new king killsContinue reading “ChatGPT Writes Like My Playwrighting Students Did”
The Shape of It
Describe something you learned in high school. In past blog posts, and in my memoir, Immaculate Misconceptions: Tales of Catholic School, I’ve talked about how freshmen Biology ruined science for me, and then I had an inspiring teacher who turned me on to literature and art. So I don’t need to repeat myself. Again. SoContinue reading “The Shape of It”
Paperwork and Paperweights
The preparation for the show continues; I have created the beginnings of my prompt book, which I believe is a necessary part of pre-production for any director. I also created the rough rehearsal schedule, a character breakdown—which shows what characters are on which pages (it’s a small cast in a farce so by Act IIIContinue reading “Paperwork and Paperweights”
Not an Endless Summer…
The summer of 2021 has been all about cleaning out a house and a garage, arranging a tool sale, and doing other online selling. Now, however, thoughts turn to a last minute vacation and, immediately following, the start of a new semester and academic year. Notably, I will retire at the end of this year,Continue reading “Not an Endless Summer…”
MUSOFYR 