Histriomastix

"It" Girls & Guys

Just a quick note that tonight I'll have the honor of giving out an prize at the New York Innovative Theatre Awards, being held at Fashion Institute of Technology. The category: "Outstanding Performance Art Production." Yes, I know: Aren't "performance art" and "production" mutually exclusive on some aesthetic level? Perhaps not. I'm looking forward to the festivities and mingling with the tons of talented folks. In other news, Stefan Weisman and I are getting ready for the London premiere of our one-act opera, Fade (Oct 22-25 @ Hoxton Hall). I'll be flying out early to sit in on rehearsals, and to see as much theater as I can. The National is of course top of the list: Katie Michell's ...Some Trace of Her, War Horse and Ralph Fiennes in Oedipus. I can't see everything, sadly. But what shows would you Londoners or UK-watchers recommend?

Mountain retreat, anyone?

This just popped into my e-mail box. Playwrights, composers, directors, take note:

SUNDANCE INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES CALL FOR PROJECTS FOR 2009 THEATRE LAB

Park City, UT – Beginning September 15, 2008, the Sundance Institute Theatre Program will be accepting applications online for the 2009 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab set to take place July 6-26, 2009 at the Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah. The Sundance Institute Theatre Lab is a three-week workshop for playwrights, directors, choreographers, composers, solo performers and ensembles. The Lab offers the time, space and support to develop new plays and musicals, or to explore new approaches to existing scripts. Projects must be received no later than December 1, 2008. The application and guidelines are available online here.

Through an open online submissions process, the Sundance Institute Theatre Program selects up to eight original projects to participate in its Lab. Submissions are open to established or emerging playwrights, composers, directors, choreographers, as well as artists making a transition from areas outside of theatre. Beyond the traditional text-based projects, musicals, solo performers, projects for young audiences, dance/theater pieces and image-based works are also considered eligible for participation in the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab. Previous applicants may re-apply, but not with the same project. Artists may submit only one application.

Under the artistic direction of Philip Himberg, the annual Theatre Lab provides rehearsal space, artistic guidance, stage management and accommodations for the collaborative team working on each of the projects. Theatre Lab artists are supported by a team of creative advisors comprised of resource directors, dramaturgs and other artists who provide feedback on the material and stage direction. The Lab provides a protected environment, and an ensemble of professional actors, dramaturgs and mentors to help shape work, without the pressure of production. The process is tailored to each project’s individual needs and stage of development, including readings, text analysis, blocking rehearsals, music rehearsals, meetings with artistic staff and private presentations to the assembled artistic community.

Currently playing  productions developed by the Sundance Institute Theatre Program include SPRING AWAKENING (2000 Theatre Lab) by Duncan Sheik & Steven Sater on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and on national tour; WIG OUT! (Theatre Lab 2007) by Tarell Alvin McCraney at New York's Vineyard Theatre; and THE GOOD NEGRO (Theatre Lab 2006) by Tracey Scott Wilson and directed by Leisl Tommy, which opens on October 15 at the Dallas Theatre Center, Texas.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute has grown into an internationally recognized resource for thousands of independent artists through its Sundance Film Festival and artistic development programs for filmmakers, screenwriters, composers, playwrights, and theatre artists. The original values of independence, creative risk-taking, and discovery continue to define and guide the work of Sundance Institute, both with US artists and, increasingly, with artists from other regions of the world.

…and…we’re…BACK!

So it’s been 17 weeks since I blogged. More than four months of radio silence. Unforgivable. Reprehensible. What? Nobody noticed?! Why, you…!! Lots of personal changes and artistic activity, so I have my excuses. Suffice it to say that when you change your “in a relationship” status on Facebook to “dating,” everyone knows. Is that good? Well, it's efficient.

Without further ado, here are some newborns of which I am extremely proud.

Hey! I wrote an opera! Well, the libretto to one. It’s called Fade and the music is by the bewilderingly talented Stefan Weisman. Fade will get a three-day workshop production in Philadelphia’s Live Arts Festival courtesy of the wonderful folks at Center City Opera Theater. Lots of information here.

Stefan and I are heading down to Philly tomorrow to watch the first rehearsal. My nails are already bitten down to bloody ink-stained nubs. It should be very instructive though, and very helpful as we move into the work’s full production in London. The intrepid English opera company Second Movement will premiere the work October 22 at Hoxton Hall.

Also on the libretting front, I’m working on a full-length opera with composer Robert Paterson. We’re having a blast.

And then there’s THE PLAY. Commissioned by the Gingold Theatrical Group, that’s been occupying a lot of brain space over the last eight months and by jiminy, I have about 85 pages that represent a…dare I say it…first rough draft. This Sunday I’ll have some actors reading through it and resisting the urge to plunge pencils into my eyeballs.

In nonfiction news, I have an essay on David Harrower’s searing pedophilia drama Blackbird in the new edition of the Best Plays Yearbook (which features an essay on the 2006-07 Off-Off season by the inestimable Playgoer, Garrett Eisler).

And lastly but not leastly, I have a new Broadway companion book on the shelves. Spring Awakening: In the Flesh . It's a gorgeously designed and details-rich behind-the-scenes tome on the superb, kinetic,  heartbreaking, unironically rockin' Spring Awakening. Published by Simon & Shuster, the book is designed to look like a defaced 19th-century German schoolbook; it’s full of lush color and b&w photos and features my extensive annotations of the libretto. I’ll be interviewing book writer/lyricist Steven Sater and composer Duncan Sheik at the Lincoln Triangle Barnes & Noble Monday September 15 and we’ll be signing copies.