Another year, another kitten. Meet Lady Misti.
* * *
And a new blog. I am moving this one to another server.
If you wish to follow my new blog, please email me at StevenDenlinger@aol.com. In your title, just write SUBSCRIPTION REQUEST. You will be added to the subscription list.
This is the last and only notice you will receive from this blog.
Warmest regards,
Steven
That's Sydney Carton (Chuck Harlander) and Lucy Manette (Lauren Dunagan) in an early scene in A Tale of Two Cities. They're dynamite together.
So far, the show has garnered two raves on the LA Times website. One more of those, and we'll be a recommended show.
And the running time is down to 2:05 hours -- with a 15-minute intermission included.
Brava! to the cast and crew!
Oh, and watch Backstage West for its review on Thursday. They attended this past Sunday.
If you haven't seen Tale yet, the show begins the final week of its run this Thursday. There are performances on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 8 PM curtain.
If you'd like to reserve seats, please go to The Charlens Company and click on the Ticket Reservations.
I will attend with friends both Thursday (12/7) and Saturday (12/9).
Hope to see you there!
I wish all my readers a joyous Thanksgiving Day.
To celebrate this occasion, I offer you a one-minute, online film from Dove. Trust me. You don't want to miss this little number.
Enjoy.
* * *
The Hollywood Repertory Theatre's production of A Tale of Two Cities is finishing its second week of a five-week run tonight in North Hollywood, CA.
Ivy Snitzer, my stage manager, reports that the audiences "really like" the show. Well, there hasn't been a review posted yet, so I can't give you an unbiased perspective.
The show continues to run at the Whitmore-Lindley Theatre during the first two weekends in December. Both the LA Times and the LA Weekly list the show and its times.
If you'd like to reserve seats, please go to The Charlens Company and click on the Ticket Reservations.
* * *
I've seen the show twice since it began its run: Friday, November 10, and Saturday, November 11.
Although opening night felt like a dress rehearsal, Opening Saturday was incredible. As I sat there amidst a good-sized audience, I felt as if I were seeing it for the first time. I was on the edge of my seat. The cast was dynamite, the set was beautiful and well lit, and the story grabbed me and held me all the way through to the end.
Apparently, audiences since then have felt the same way.
* * *
NEWS FLASH: Myron Fink, the composer of my new opera Bloody Ground just informed me that he has finished composing the music.
He completed the entire piece in 2.5 months.
"The script made it easy to write the music," he said. Myron knows how to make a writer feel good.
Actually, I credit the process. Starting in July 2003, Myron and I spent three years creating the story, talking about it on the weekends.
In March 2006, I wrote an extended treatment at Myron's home in San Diego during my spring break -- Myron and his wife were incredible, supportive hosts.
Then in July 2006 I wrote the first draft of the script at the same place -- it only took me eight days.
In August 2006, the cast members of Hartland Theatre Company spent two weeks developing and producing a staged reading of the show in Green, Ohio -- including four of the musical pieces.
After that, Myron and I spent another two weeks of work revising it, and then I handed Myron the finished libretto on August 25, 2006.
Now it's November 18, and Myron has finished composing the piece.
Congratulations, Myron! You're an incredible collaborator!
Next step: to plan an investors meeting -- during which we will present some of the music and the story. Hopefully, an opera company will take on the piece and develop it as a production.
* * *
As director of A Tale of Two Cities, the bulk of my work is complete. As is traditional, I'll see the show during the first weekend in December to see how it has developed, to see where I can make cuts in the script next time around, and to make sure it's stayed true to my vision.
My co-writer, Steven Huey, reports that he will be going to see it as well. I'll be especially interested in what he has to say -- since he'll have the most objective point of view.
It's funny. Because Steven has stayed out of the rehearsal process, some of my cast members genuinely believe that I've simply invented my co-writer -- pulled a Charlie Kauffman, so to speak.
* * *
Over Thanksgiving week, the theatre will be dark. The actors get a break. Theydeserve it.
I dropped over yesterday evening before the show to chat with the actors and take cast pictures (I'll post them when they come in). I also took them peach cobbler -- homemade, more or less.
After the cast photo, I told this community of talent how appreciative I am for what they have given to the play that Steven Huey and I adapted. How grateful I am for the way they have loved Dickens' story -- and brought it to life.
* * *
Tomorrow, I continue to write grades.
On Tuesday, I fly into Cleveland, where a good friend will pick me up at the airport. During Thanksgiving week, I will spend time with friends and family . I return to Los Angeles on Saturday morning.
I'll spend part of my week working with the board of directors I am choosing for Hartland Theatre Company. We will begin shaping our new annual theatre festival -- to be held each summer in Northeastern Ohio.
Hartland Theatre plans to produce three shows in 2007: Romeo and Juliet, My Fair Lady, and a new untitled piece on the Amish Shooter that I am currently writing. Auditions will take place during the last two weeks of December.
* * *
I'll also spend a day with my three brothers, working on the old house of my parents. They've already moved into their new house which the family built for them. It's a nice retirement home.
Our stage adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities opens tomorrow at 8 PM and runs until December 10 at the Whitmore-Lindley Theatre. Tonight is dress rehearsal.
You can purchase tickets at the company's website: www.thecharlenscompany.com.
* * *
From my director's notes ...
Family (n): a collection of apparently disparate individuals linked by one unifying factor – for example, blood.
The Charlens Company prides itself in its feeling of family – in a city like Los Angeles, this thespian group takes the time to care about each other, to spend time with each other, to love and protect each other. Unique individuals linked by a common love for dramatic story.
It is for this reason significant that our first play this season is one that explores the meaning of community versus alienation – through the device of narration.
The lives of two women dominate this play. Both women have endured teen traumas of death and sexuality. But Madame DeFarge chooses the alienating embrace of Vengeance, while Lucy Manette creates a Golden Thread from her life – one that unifies her extended family.
The story of A Tale of Two Cities was both historical and personal for Charles Dickens. At 41, he was going through the trauma of a collapsed marriage within a Victorian society that revered stability. It was the darkest period of his life – relieved only by his meeting a 17-year-old actress while performing in a play by his friend Wilkie Collins.
Shortly thereafter, when historian Thomas Carlyle allowed his good friend to explore the original documents from the French Revolution, Dickens did what any good writer does – made it hisown story.
Torn between the expectations his world had for the literary star, and by his need for real companionship, Dickens forged three characters out of his own torment: DARNAY, the young man haunted by his family’s past; MANETTE, the healer recalled to life from his grave; and CARTON, the brilliant, dissipated lawyer who cannot find the courage to claim the woman he loves – except in sacrificial death.
This adaptation of Dickens’ play does not pretend to be historical fact – it is one woman’s perception. Confusing in time and place, we know only one thing: this is the love story of a woman abandoned by the man who loved her most – in order to save the life of her husband.
Thus, at the end of the tale, nothing has changed. We sit in a battered nursery, listening to an aged woman struggling to understand what the central story of her life could mean. Surrounding her – on colorful toy blocks of wood that they’ve used to help tell this story – sit the spirits of her family. They don’t try to explain the story’s meaning. All they can do is try to return her love – imperfectly, awkwardly, genuinely.
Perhaps that’s all one can expect from any family.
A cool, beautiful day of rehearsal in the park.
I stepped back today and watched -- having discussions with technical crew members, with actors who needed insight, with members of the stage management team -- as my stage manager ran the classic stumble-through.
I saw some exciting things happen today -- and we also identified some challenges.
We're very close.
I'm trimming the excess roles from the script -- cutting some of the unnecessary lines. Some of my best ideas have emerged from the cast members playing the roles.
Artists who are unselfish enough to give up moments because they are unnecessary or redundant. Actors who care about the impact of the whole script. Thespians who will do whatever it takes to create a dynamic show.
This cast is generous, and giving, and caring. I feel their love for the story, and for me, and for each other. We all share the goal of creating a tight, meaningful show that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
I applaud them!
What talent has emerged within this company -- both on the stage, and behind the scenes. This family of artists, this community of theatre lovers -- what a privilege it is to work with all of them as we move closer to opening night.
I was a little younger in 2000. Just before 9/11.
The grey in my hair isn't so apparent.
* * *
Mark this down on your calendar: November 10, 2006. 8 PM. Whitmore-Lindley Theatre Center in North Hollywood.
That's opening night, and the Los Angeles premiere of A Tale of Two Cities. Tickets are $18 for adults, and $12 for seniors, students, and vets -- with special prices for school groups of 15 or more who wish to attend together.
The show runs Thursday to Sunday each week until December 10 -- except for Thanksgiving Weekend, during which there will be a reading of A Christmas Carol.
On my next entry, I'll be posting an entry with a webpage address where you can go to reserve tickets.
* * *
You might want to attend?
You really do.
Listen. What if I told you that this show is playing with an incredibly talented cast. Directing them has been like working with the cast you've always dreamed of having -- but can't believe you'll ever get.
I'm not kidding.
Come. I promise -- you won't be bored. Not with this cast.
* * *
It is the lows of theatre that make the highs so worthwhile.
Over the past week, I've experienced my share.
Within three days, I had five actors -- all critical leads in A Tale of Two Cities (YOUNG JERRY, MRS. CRUNCHER, VENGEANCE, SEAMSTRESS, and MISS PROSS) -- withdraw from the show. They all had excellent reasons: financial, union, attendance, and serious illness within the immediate family.
As that manager says inPhantom,"These things do happen."
It's times like this that you lower your head to the head-butting, bull-in-the-china-shop, tuck-the-football-under-your-arm position -- and just keep moving towards the goal -- even when it looks like you're about to collide with the entire team of Massillon Tigers.
And then hopefully, like tonight, you realize they're actually the cheerleading squad dressed up to look like linebackers -- and you realize that you're in a nightmare, not actually a football game.
Enough with the metaphors. Here's the literal story:
I was a mite depressed tonight when I arrived for rehearsal, but I thought I'd pick up my normal triple cappucino anyway at the Indee Coffee bar below the NoHo Actors Studio, where we rehearse.
As I chatted with the barista behind the coffee bar -- she expressed great interest in the show. As did her friend, a singer. So I agreed to audition them after rehearsal, when the barista got off work.
I began rehearsal. My cast was simply wonderful, giving me props -- genuine emotional support.
Then during break, I walked out into the studio hallway and ran into a family of three adorable triplet girls, 7 years old, plus their brother, 12, and their mother. An acting family. They auditioned on the spot -- and I had MRS. CRUNCHER and YOUNG JERRY. The triplets were also eager to appear on stage, so I had them play marbles. They were brilliant. Thus, they'll play, respectively, the PEASANT BOY, the MURDERED CHILD, and YOUNG CHARLES.
After rehearsal, in the outside coffee bar after it closed, three of us auditioned the barista. When she read for the role of the SEAMSTRESS, I was moved to tears. I cast her immediately.
Following that audition, the singer auditioned. She perfectly captured the energy of the VENGEANCE. I make my final decision tomorrow, after I listen to another actress read for VENGEANCE or MISS PROSS.
The highs and the lows. It takes both.
This Wednesday, October 25, the cast is doing a preview of scenes -- from A Tale of Two Cities. This staged reading is being held at the The Bungalow Club in Hollywood (along with a scene from our upcoming production of Hamlet).
Tickets are limited to only 50 guests. With a $45 non-profit donation, you are paying for your meal, plus supporting the The Charlens Company, the non-profit parent organization of The Hollywood Repertory Theatre.
Our producer, Chuck Harlander, intends this to be a lively evening -- full of fun and good spirits.
If you'd like to attend the show, just email me -- you can pay when you arrive. First come, first served in reservations!
* * *
Friday, November 10 is approaching fast -- opening night of the Hollywood Repertory Theatre's production of A Tale of Two Cities.
We're about halfway through the blocking process, and we're right on schedule. That makes me happy.
Within the next week, I'll have a link that you can click to reserve tickets for the show.
* * *
A bright young man that I tutor pointed me towards a link from Sports Illustrated -- the amazing story of Dick Hoyt.
Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.
Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame ...
By the way, at the extreme end of the article about Dick Hoyt, there's a link to a Youtube video. Click on it.
I was moved by this story.
|
I'm in the midst of directing A Tale of Two Cities, which I wrote with my co-writer Steven M. Huey and developed in Ohio in July 2003.
The show will make its Los Angeles premiere on November 10, 2006.
I'll keep you posted about how to buy tickets for the show. It will then run in rep through January, alternating with Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
I'm still looking for three actors: STRYVER, 40s, (supporting role), LORRY, 78, (major role), and JACQUES ONE, 40s, (supporting role).
Rehearsals have affirmed my belief that I have been too long absent from the theatre. I'm blessed with some amazing talent.
* * *
Several days ago, I decided on some basic limitations for the new play I plan to write next summer.
This new play will be developed out of town in Massillon, OH -- it will be developed in Hartland's Laboratory Studio -- during the Hartland Theatre Festival next July.
The play will then move to Los Angeles, where it will be professionally staged by The Charlens Company, where I now serve as Writer in Residence.
Here are the creative limitations I am setting for myself:
1) The show will be set entirely in one room. I'm inspired by the simplicity of the Taper's production of Doubt, which took place within a principal's office, and the courtyard of the church.
2) The show will be limited to 4-6 characters. I've learned not to write plays with massive casts.
3) And finally, I've decided upon the subject of my play: I want to examine the last few hours of the Amish Shooter's life -- setting the play in his motel room the night before, and then ending the play as he picks up his gun to drive over to the Amish classroom.
My dear friend and composer Myron Fink has agreed already to write the incidental music for the show.
Of course, all of these original ideas will change, and the ultimate product won't look anything like this when I finish the first draft. I'm used to that. I've accepted the inevitability of the process.
* * * What would make a person murder innocent children, and then kill himself?
I don't know.
Writing this play means I'll be going to a dark place, something I don't wish.
But it's a story that needs to be told. * * * There are so many BAD ways of writing this play. Cliches abound.
* * *
I thought I'd share an article I got by email. * * * What the Amish are Teaching America
Published on Friday, October 6, 2006 by CommonDreams.org |
|
By Sally Kohn |
|
On October 2, Charles Carl Roberts entered a one-room schoolhouse in the Amish community of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. He lined up eleven young girls from the class and shot them each at point blank range. The gruesome depths of this crime are hard for any community to grasp, but certainly for the Amish — who live such a secluded and peaceful life, removed even from the everyday depictions of violence on TV. When the Amish were suddenly pierced by violence, how did they respond? |
|
|
|
The evening of the shooting, Amish neighbors from the Nickel Mines community gathered to process their grief with each other and mental health counselors. As of that evening, three little girls were dead. Eight were hospitalized in critical condition. (One more girl has died since.) According to reports by counselors who attended the grief session, the Amish family members grappled with a number of questions: Do we send our kids to school tomorrow? What if they want to sleep in our beds tonight, is that okay?
But one question they asked might surprise us outsiders. What, they wondered, can we do to help the family of the shooter? Plans were already underway for a horse-and-buggy caravan to visit Charles Carl Roberts’ family with offers of food and condolences. The Amish, it seems, don’t automatically translate their grieving into revenge. Rather, they believe in redemption.
Meanwhile, the United States culture from which the Amish are isolated is moving in the other direction — increasingly exacting revenge for crimes and punishing violence with more violence. In 26 states and at the federal level, there are “three strikes” laws in place. Conviction for three felonies in a row now warrants a life sentence, even for the most minor crimes. For instance, Leandro Andrade is serving a life sentence, his final crime involving the theft of nine children’s videos — including “Cinderella” and “Free Willy” — from a Kmart.
Similarly, in many states and at the federal level, possession of even small amounts of drugs trigger mandatory minimum sentences of extreme duration. In New York, Elaine Bartlett was just released from prison, serving a 20-year sentence for possessing only four ounces of cocaine. This is in addition to the 60 people who were executed in the United States in 2005, among the more than a thousand killed since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. And the President of the United States is still actively seeking authority to torture and abuse alleged terrorists, whom he consistently dehumanizes as rats to be “smoked from their holes”, even without evidence of their guilt.
Our patterns of punishment and revenge are fundamentally at odds with the deeper values of common humanity that the tragic experience of the Amish are helping to reveal. Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done in life. Someone who cheats is not only a cheater. Someone who steals something is not only a thief. And someone who commits a murder is not only a murderer. The same is true of Charles Carl Roberts. We don’t yet know the details of the episode in his past for which, in his suicide note, he said he was seeking revenge. It may be a sad and sympathetic tale. It may not. Either way, there’s no excusing his actions. Whatever happened to Roberts in the past, taking the lives of others is never justified. But nothing Roberts has done changes the fact that he was a human being, like all of us. We all make mistakes. Roberts’ were considerably and egregiously larger than most. But the Amish in Nickel Mines seem to have been able to see past Roberts’ actions and recognize hishumanity, sympathize with his family for their loss, and move forward with compassion not vengeful hate.
We’ve come to think that “an eye for an eye” is a natural, human reaction to violence. The Amish, who live a truly natural life apart from the influences of our violence-infused culture, are proving otherwise. If, as Gandhi said, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,” then the Amish are providing the rest of us with an eye-opening lesson.
Sally Kohn is Director of the Movement Vision Project at the Center for Community Change and author of a forthcoming book on the progressive vision for the future of the United States. |
Yup. That's most of the cast of Bloody Ground Ohio.
Who the heck is that guy waving his hands? He's ruined the bleeping picture.
* * *
In honor of my teaching colleagues around the world -- as they all prepare to go back to the classroom in the next few weeks -- I'm going to drop onto this blog a very smart, very old chestnut of a story.
* * *
The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the Problem With Education. He argued: "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminded the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers: "Those who can: do. Those who can't: teach." To corroborate, he said to another guest: "You're a teacher, Susan," he said. "Be honest. What do you make?"
Susan, who had a reputation of honesty and frankness, replied, "You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor and an A- feel like a slap in the face if the student did not do his or her very best. I can make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence. I can make parents tremble in fear when I call home.
"You want to know what I make? I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them write. I make them read, read, read. I make them spell definitely and beautiful over and over again, until they never misspell either one of those words again.
"I make them show all their work in math and hide all their work on their final drafts in English. I elevate them to experience music and art and the joy in performance, so their lives are rich, full of kindness and culture, and they take pride in themselves and their accomplishments.
"I make them understand that if you have the brains, then follow your heart...and ifsomeone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you pay them no attention.
"You want to know what I make? I make a difference.
"What do you make?"
* * *
And now, my friends, I intend to watch A & E's version of Emma, since I'm almost done reading the book, and since I'm teaching Austen this year in AP Lit.
* * *
The above story was taken from Pro Principal, 14313 Platinum Drive, North Potomac, MD 20878.
My goal this summer was to finish projects.
* * *
When I think about the summer, I'm kind of awed.
So much happened.
* * *
First, the people.
One of the most satisfying parts of directing Bloody Ground in Green, Ohio, was the chance to reconnect with a lot of friends, especially those connected to the theatre.
Yes, it was overwhelming to have to cast 25 people within three days -- and that involved a lot of phone calls.
But the conversations were actually the best part (although it destroyed my voice, temporarily). Because I probably spoke to about ten people for every one person I cast, the experience allowed me to connect, make, and develop a lot of friendships.
* * *
Just before I left for Ohio, I spent about a week doing rewrites of A Tale of Two Cities with my co-writer. Two of the principals for the show are now cast -- Lucy and Carton -- and I'll be casting the rest of the show over the next few weeks.
CASTING NOTE:
The Hollywood Repertory Theatre is holding company auditions in three weeks. If you are interested in trying out for the show, please email me at StevenDenlinger@aol.com. I'll forward your email to the president of the company -- and he'll arrange for your audition.
* * *
Yesterday, I handed the completed libretto for Bloody Ground to my composer, Myron Fink. As I write this, he has begun to compose the music -- which he expects to complete by December. Yes. He's fast.
I am now in the process of casting the best opera singers I can find for a development workshop and bare stage performance of the opera (using piano accompaniment only) here in Los Angeles this coming spring. The date and location has not yet been set.
The goal is to use the performance as a chance to interest opera producers in the work.
We'll be posting updates and audition notices on the Hartland Theatre website, so you can follow the development of this opera or get involved.
* * *
For me, the most powerful aspect of the theatre involves the feeling of family that emerges within a cast. Perhaps it's the atmosphere of crisis which helps everyone pull it off.
People fall in love. Develop lifelong friendships. Become addicted to the theatre.
That definitely happened this summer. We literally had six rehearsals to put the entire show together. There was no time to spare.
Granted, the show was performed, scripts in hand, but because the actors are performing, the audience quickly blocks out the sight of the scripts, and gives itself over to the story. Hard to believe, but it's true.
I blocked the show during five three-hour rehearsals, August 3-8: Thursday, Friday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday at the West Hill Baptist Church's gym.
On Wednesday, August 9, the company moved to Theatre 8:15 in Green, Ohio. Where we had ONE run-through -- which was also tech night and dress rehearsal. The cast had never been in the theatre before, and the run-through was a disaster.
But I remembered what a professor told me at Breadloaf in 1997. So I sank down lower and lower in my seat, let tech handle the problems, and kept my mouth shut. Afterwards, I told the company to get some sleep, and we all went home.
The next night, I swear, we had a show. Which opened in front of a paying audience. Where audience members cried because of the story's emotional impact.
* * *
I made some new friends. Fell in love again with the power of language. Restored an old friendship. Connected to my own family in a new way. Bonded deeply with several wonderful friends.
* * *
Jason Swank, a former student of mine, put it best: "Theatre accepts all kinds of orphans."
* * *
My composer and I learned so much by staging and watching the performances in Ohio. The three audiences responded so positively to the show -- we know the surprise ending really works, especially.
The musical pieces were especially satisfying. I didn't expect them to affect me so deeply, but they did. To hear words that I had written set to such beautiful music -- it really was awesome.
My casting director, Suzi Rohr, told me yesterday that the high school and college kids involved in the show -- who hang about her home in their spare time -- are still singing the drinking song: "The Smithtown Hero."
Nice to know an opera can have such memorable tunes.
* * *
The moment I'll never forget was watching the first performance of Bloody Ground, and reaching the hairbrush sequence.
I suddenly realized that the woman sitting beside me was crying. That's when I knew that I had tapped into something primal and universal -- from childhood.
I was prepared for many reactions, but not that one.
* * *
I made a commitment of love while I was in Ohio. To the theatre.
I'm planning to return to the Northeastern Ohio area for a month every summer to play the role of artistic director for the Hartland Theatre Company. Each summer, the company will produce three shows in rep: a drama, a musical, and a new play.
For example, next summer, the festival will produce Romeo and Juliet, The Music Man, and a new musical.
Essentially, the festival will be a development lab for new works -- supported by the revenue from the festival's more established shows. I will then bring the new piece to Los Angeles, where it will undergo the next stage of development.
This festival is actually a dream I had three years ago after developing A Tale of Two Cities at The Players Guild in Canton. But at that point, I didn't know how to put all the pieces together. Now I do.
* * *
Without question, the most seminal film I've seen this year is Natalie Portman's V for Vendetta, which is out on DVD.
Throw 1984, Brave New World, and The Matrix together -- and add a really wonderful script of words, words, words.
I saw the ending at the home of a friend in Ohio. So I picked it up at Blockbuster when I returned to LA.
I watched it the night before I left for San Diego to revise the Bloody Ground script, and V's images haunted me the whole time I was there. So I watched it again when I got back last night. It really was that good.
Maybe it has something to do with masks, and the impact they can have on the subconscious. Who knows?
That's Marlin Miller, the principal tenor soloist at the Gratz Opera House in Gratz, Austria.
As far as I'm concerned, Marlin's voice is one of the great gifts of our generation. All of us who grew up with him knew that.
Marlin and his wife Ingrid will be performing a duet from the developing opera on Friday, August 11, at the end of the show, and at a reception before the show.
Bloody Ground is being composed by the great American composer Myron Fink as a vehicle for a lyrical tenor (I'll let you guess who's going to be premiering that role).
* * *
Over spring break, I went to San Diego and wrote the final treatment, or summary, of the story. I'm now making this story of Bloody Ground available to you -- it can be found by clicking here.
The story within the actual script is somewhat different -- but not by much.
* * *
The opera is based on an historical event.
On the night of December 15, 1811, Thomas Jefferson's nephew -- Lilburne Lewis -- gathered his slaves in the smokehouse of his Kentucky plantation, and murdered one of the slaves.
At 2 AM the next morning, Lilburne and his brother Isham were in the midst of burning the body when the first of the New Madrid Earthquakes hit the plantation. The earthquakes continued for approximately nine months, until Lilburne committed suicide. That's a fact.
The odd thing was this: previous to the earthquakes, the great Indian chief Tecumseh had predicted to his braves that he would "stamp his feet" and "make all their houses fall down" -- and indeed, they did.
The opera Bloody Ground examines why the murder took place (it happens offstage).
* * *
Hartland Theatre Company will be using the next two weeks to develop this new opera, and prepare it for the next development stage in Los Angeles.
And if you'd like to place an ad in the playbill, or buy tickets early, please email the show's producer, Dick Gotschall: dg1965@sssnet.com ($12.50 for Adults; $10.00 for Seniors and Students $10).
* * *
I fly out of Los Angeles for Cleveland this Sunday at 6:30 AM. I'll be in rehearsal for the next two weeks, developing the script.
Although the actors will perform with scripts in their hands, it will be a full bare stage production, in every other way.
Auditions: Monday, July 31 - Wednesday, August 2.
If you live in the area and you'd like to audition -- most parts will not require musical training, since this is first and foremost a play at this point -- please email my stage manager, Amanda Swinehart, to arrange an audition: belladra27@yahoo.com.
Rehearsals: August 3 - 9. Potluck meals each evening so that the cast can spend time together. Work onstage from 7 - 10 PM. Short, intense, and meaningful rehearsals.
Three performances: Thursday, August 10 - Saturday, August 12. Shows will begin at 7:30 PM each evening.
The show should be short -- I hope to bring it in at well under two hours each evening.
* * *
The production is already attracting excellent local performers.
Todd Ranney has agreed to play Isham Lewis, baritone. Ranney is the artistic director of the Akron Lyric Opera.
Ken Kramer has agreed to play James Rutter, bass. Kramer is a director at Kent State University and has performed with the Ohio Light Opera for eleven seasons.
I'm really delighted to be working with these two. What an honor.
* * *
The fun of thisshow? Each night will be a slightly different experience.
Because this show is in development, sometimes the performance can change drastically from night to night. The actors will be carrying scripts in their hands, and will use them for the most unfamiliar scenes. Translate that as NEW.
And here's the kicker: the theatre in which we're working -- Theatre 8:15 in Green, Ohio -- only holds 80 seats.
And my producer is brilliant at filling seats with bodies. Both sleeping and awake. So -- audience members who wait to buy their ticket might find themselves out of luck.
Should be fun.
* * *
The primary goal of the production is to develop the opera itself.
The composer, Myron Fink, who is best known for his opera Jeremiah and The Conquistador, will join the cast in rehearsal, beginning August 7. He'll be seated at a Steinway piano. As I stage the production, he'll be working with the singers in the show, developing music for the opera. He'll also accompany the show, playing under and between scenes in the show.
This is Myron's seventh opera. Marlin's mentor, Peyton Hibbitt, co-founder of the Tri-Cities Opera Company, introduced me to Myron in 2001, suggesting that we collaborate.
What an amazing artist and perfomer Myron is. I knew he was gifted from the beginning, because Marlin immediately genuflected when I mentioned him. And Marlin has the best musical taste of anyone I know.
* * *
Another goal of this production is to develop a workable script that can move to Los Angeles this winter. We're going to be paying careful attention to the audiences and actors. Once we're finished with the production, I'll make changes -- based on the feedback I get.
They used to develop shows like this in the old days -- doing New Haven, they called it, in which you changed and developed the show before taking it to The City (where if it didn't meet the expectations of the critics, it died an efficient death).
Incidentally, the adaptation of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities (which I wrote with Steven Huey and developed with The Players Guild of Canton in July 2003) has been selected by the Hollywood Repertory Theatre for production this fall.
As challenging as this rehearsal process seems -- it really does work.
* * *
How did the writing go?
Cutting myself off from the world -- going to the desert, writers call it sometimes -- really works for me. I drove to San Diego on Saturday, July 1, set up my computer, and began work on Sunday, July 2.
For eight days, I ate, slept, and drank the script. When I was tired, I slept. When I was hungry, I ate. No email. Few phone calls.
Myron Fink, my composer, and his wife Bonnie, provided a quiet home in which to work, and gave me amazing support. Healthful meals. Inspiring conversations.
And Myron read and reacted to everything I wrote within minutes of my handing it to him. His feedback was specific and helpful. It was truly a collaborative effort.
By Monday, July 10, I was heading back to Los Angeles -- the first draft of the script completed.
* * *
Okay, the fact that we've spent the last three years -- about a weekend every two months -- working on developing the story itself didn't hurt.
The clear blueprint (treatment) we created together made it easy for me to write the scenes themselves.
There was only one day, when I was writing the last three scenes of Act Two -- I had to spend the day rewriting the treatment, reworking the scenes -- when I didn't reach my daily goals. So I had to write into the night.
The dialogue ofthe blue-blood characters (Thomas Jefferson's family) is written in blank verse.
I only realized how deeply I had sunk into the writing process when I called my mentor and friend, Walt Walker. I was talking about what it was like to write in blank verse when he suddenly stopped me.
"Steven, are you aware that in the last minute and a half, you've been speaking in blank verse?"
* * *
It's been over a decade since Marlin and I have actively worked together on a project. In that time, he's become well known within the opera world for his voice and his acting.
Besides being cousins, we've been close friends since high school. Music was our common bond.
We both attended the same little high school in a little Midwest town, Hartville, Ohio, located between Akron and Canton.
We had the same English teacher, Myrrl Byler, from grades 7-12. Other teachers accused our class of worshiping him. He was also our senior advisor -- he and his wife were our friends as well as our mentors. In view of the fact that our class was an impossible group to every teacher but Brother Byler, I don't blame them for resenting us. Or him.
Marlin and I began a men's quartet -- along with classmates Stephen Sommers and David Miller -- during our freshman year at Hartville Christian High. That quartet grew into a men's ensemble called The Harvesters, which performed from 1977-1989.
* * *
Did I mention that Marlin and I are both going home for our high school senior class's 25th Year Reunion?
So this will be interesting.
I have no idea how many of my classmates will attend. There were only 16 in our graduating class (I told you it was a small school).
I think I became a high school English teacher because I admired my own English teacher -- and the way he profoundly affected every one of us who had the privilege of attending his classes.
He taught us to question the way we lived -- for the first timeinour lives. Our classroom discussions were profound -- at least that's what we thought at the time. And he stayed an extra year in order to graduate us. We felt special.
* * *
That's right. Our English teacher left the classroom when we graduated. But he didn't leave the Mennonites, and he couldn't leave education behind. Instead, he spent several years with his wife in China as a missionary of sorts.
Today Myrrl Byler heads up the China Educational Exchange, sending other teachers to China. He has occasionally asked me when I plan to spend a year abroad there.
Perhaps, some day.
* * *
My English teacher's most profound impact on my life, however, came through his encouragement of my writing. He didn't overdo it, mind you. Just made sure I knew about a certain poetry contest. I sent three poems, and they were published in a book of high school poetry -- published nationwide.
One of the proudest moments of my young life came when I went to him in his office and showed him the letter that told me I was special -- that I was good enough to have people read something I wrote.
So I suppose the fact that I'm producing my latest play in Ohio at the same time my classmates are gathering to celebrate the fact that we're not punks anymore -- that probably means something. I guess.
"Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
How do you deal with the passing of a young person?
One of my former students, Dave Magoon, has moved beyond our reach.
He was only 24.
This evening one of my former teaching colleagues called me. In a sad little voice, she described for me in detail the funeral.
The crowds and the long waiting line. Courtney Howard's angelic solo "The Lord Bless You." Images of his classmates -- both from Hoover, and from college, and from medical school. I wasn't able to make it home for the funeral, but I felt as if I had gotten a glimpse.
I've heard from many of my friends in North Canton, Ohio. Voices of grief and pain -- colleagues, friends, former students. All trying to come to grips with hard fact, that someone with so much promise is gone.
These are the moments that you wish for answers. There are none that make sense right now. It's reassuring to see that even the writer of Job -- a biblical treatise on suffering and loss -- didn't try to offer easy answers to his friends.
If you've wondered recently whether Sir Knavely exists?
There he is -- looking up at me.
Such affection. Ain't he cute?
* * *
I'm packing up tomorrow morning. Heading for San Diego to write the first draft of Bloody Ground.
The dialogue, that is. The story is actually written.
* * *
I don't think I'll have access to email.
That's not a bad thing. Really.
That means my focus will be on getting the script done.
That's a good thing. Really.
* * *
I also have a real deadline.
I'm staging the new play during the first two weeks in August. Somewhere in Stark County.
That means there's a company of actors -- not cast yet -- who are depending on me to get the script done in time for them to read it.
That means I actually have to have the script finished when I leave San Diego.
About two weeks from today.
Yikes.
* * *
Wish me luck.
* * *
Sir Knavely will be fine while I'm away.
Thank god for the couple next door who have two cats themselves -- one of which is a spitting image of Sir himself. The two might be related. Who knows?
Anyway. No need to worry. They'll watch Sir and make sure he's happy while I'm gone.
* * *
I'm hosting a cookout when I get back.
I love the sense of community that emerges when you combine a group of people, a table, food, and drink during the evening hours.
The spirit that emerges comes from god, I think.
Communion -- the breaking of bread and the consumption of wine -- is such a fantastic metaphor. Stories rely on it to build relationships.
* * *
If you write to me, and I don't respond, it's not because I hate you.
I'm probably just not checking my email.
I'll respond when I get home.
Until then, warmest regards to you and yours.
A colleague just sent me an amazing music video link -- from Sarah McLachlan's Afterglow album: "World on Fire."
It's worth sitting through the 30-second commercial -- (smooth irony in the fact that this particular video opens with a commercial) -- in order to see the video.
The music video juxtaposes the value of the money spent to make the video with the value of what the money can do in the Third World. If you long for social justice in the world -- take a look at "World on Fire."
Kudos also to Warren Buffett for his decision to join Melinda and Bill Gates -- increasing the power of their philanthropy.
Critics say that his actions may "energize the nonprofit sector and possibly spawn a new wave of philanthropy."
* * *
Over the last three months, I've been working on the screenplay for a short film (25 minutes) that I intend to direct: Goldfish. Three former students have helped me create the story.
The film's logline: A young woman risks her academic future by confronting her father with a choice he made when she was a child.
The completed first draft will be in my producer's hands by Friday.
* * *
During the next few weeks, I will be living in San Diego, working with Myron Fink, the superb composer collaborating with me on the new American opera: Bloody Ground.
The play itself is actually written. I did that over spring break in March. Now, all I have to do -- as Hitchcock once said -- is add the dialogue.
Myron and his wife Bonnie have become dear friends of mine. Myron and I have been working on this story since July 2003, when I finished the staged reading of Tale.
From July 1 - 15, Myron and I will eat, drink, and walk to the story of Thomas Jefferson's nephew Lilburne Lewis, who killed his wife's personal slave in a maddened rage on December 15, 1811.
The question haunting us is not whether or not Lewis did the crime. That's an historical fact, along with the earthquake in Smithtown, KY, predicted by the great Indian Chief, Tecumseh, that interrupted it.
The real issue is this: what drove Lilburne Lewis to commit such an horrific crime?
And that's the question our story answers.
* * *
During the last part of July, I will be applying to film schools (to begin my studies in the fall of 2007), and submitting my tax forms. Yes, I know. I should have done it in April. But that extension is so easy to get, and I'm so busy with school in April, and blah, blah, blah.
* * *
On July 30, I will fly to Stark County, OH, to direct a staged reading of Bloody Ground, in one of the local theatres. Dick Gotschall is producer -- Amanda Swinehart is stage manager.
Auditions: August 1 - 3. Evening rehearsals: August 4 - 9. Three performances: August 10 - 12.
To do this, I intend to use the same company members I used to produce the staged reading of A Tale of Two Cities at the Canton Players Guild in July 2003.
Goal: to have a completed, workable libretto at the end of the staged reading. Then Myron can get to work
Oh, yes. Chances are good that a certain Stark County Native, who has made a name for himself as an opera performer in Europe, will be previewing one of the songs from the opera on either Friday or Saturday's performance. In addition, there will be a Gala before that show. More details to follow.
A second staged reading is being planned for Los Angeles in the fall.
* * *
In between the reading and the beginning of school, I'm planning to take a much-needed vacation.
How does that line go? All work and no play makes Steve a dull boy. Something like that. Any ideas for a destination? Someone suggested the Caribbean.
* * *
I received a thoughtful response to my comments about Al Gore's film on global warming: An Inconvenient Truth. Since my reader is a scientist and businessman whom I deeply respect, I took the time to click on the links he sent me. They were thought-provoking -- so I've included the letter and the links below, with the writer's permission.
Night. The balcony outside Denny Crane's office. Lights of Boston.
Crane reflects. Stares over his glass of whiskey at the streets below. He's just admitted in court to taking a drug NOT approved by the FDA -- in order to ward off his risk for Altzheimers.
A police siren is heard. Crane's friend, Alan Shore, joins Crane.
SHORE: That drug you’re taking is an amphetamine, with a dangerously high potential for abuse and addiction.
CRANE: And the shrinks are doling it out like candy.
SHORE: It might make you feel more acute. You’ll no doubt work like a demon. But certain pleasures will be gone.
CRANE: Like?
SHORE: Perhaps fishing. Perhaps sitting in a chair enjoying a football game. Standing on a balcony, appreciating the quiet joy of a friendship. There’s more to life than recognizing faces, Denny.
CRANE: You prefer me in my fog?
SHORE: I prefer you. Your perspective. Your humor. The acceptance and humility which perhaps can only come with age. I prefer you.
CRANE: I’ve stopped taking the drug. I kind of like my fog too. There’s a certain license that goes with it. Plus, I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. The answers in life – you don’t find them here (points to head). First, you look to God. And then –
SHORE: Fox News.
CRANE: Damn right (shakes his head). You Democrats.
SHORE: You Republicans.
Eat your heart out, Michael Moore. Stand aside and let a real teacher show you how it's done.
Al Gore.
Teacher of the Year.
Classroom: The World.
The film: An Inconvenient Truth. It's the best 80-minute lecture I've ever heard.
And, incidentally, a very fine documentary.
* * *
No, it didn't change my life -- no movie has ever done that -- but it certainly made me think.
And it helped me understand the crisis of global warming.
It made me mad that the same type of spinmeisters who said in the 60s and 70s that you can't be sure that cigarette smoking will kill you ... have successfully convinced you that global warming is kind of a theory.
Actually, it's a fact.
* * *
Did I mention that Al Gore is a really fine teacher?
That this film is his bully pulpit?
That he's been to the desert, and found his heart?
Our Arclight Theatre Emcee said: "Introducing the man who would be king, and by god, I wish he was!"
I belive that this message is the reason Al Gore was born -- to be the evangelist who explains the imminent danger to our planet called Global Warming.
He lays it out in terms that even a first-grader can understand.
Want more information? Check out www.climatecrisis.com.
* * *
If you want proof that Gore's film is going to flatten the box office competition -- which means you'd better go see it for yourself so you don't sound ignorant when people talk about it -- check out the excerpt below from Daily Variety.
The good guys may have finally produced a documentary for the masses.
Remember. You. Read it here. First.
* * *
During the second highest grossing Memorial Day frame ever, Al Gore's environmental docu "An Inconvenient Truth" also set several records, doing boffo biz in limited release.
"Truth" grossed a fantastic $365,787 at just four theaters in New York and L.A.; its $70,585 per play gross over three days is the highest average take for any pic this year, the highest average for any pic over Memorial Day weekend and the highest-ever average for a documentary.
Cume since its Wednesday opening is $489,336.
Paramount Classics will expand the heavily hyped Al Gore starrer to between 60 and 75 theaters in the top 10 markets next frame and continue to widen it throughout June.
* * *
After my last blog entry, Drew Hatter, a friend of mine, sent me the following message:
Interesting, just saw a documentary on Thomas Edison last night. While the combustion engine was being refined into a mass producable consumer product in the automobile package Edisonwas experimenting with electric storage for use in cars.
He was not only experimenting, he invented a way to store enough electricity to drive a car some distance at about the speed combustion engines at the time were driving them.
When they showed a picture of the storage device Edison came up with (a simple bay of about twelve 12 volt batteries) next to a picture of the latest in electric storage devices for cars, they were identical. We have made no progress in storing electricity portably for the purposes of propelling an automobile in 100 years.
Phenomenal.
