Monday, February 21, 2011

And more theatrical experiences.


We've been maintaining our active theatre-involved lives since the "All About Faith" reading wrapped up on Jan. 28th. Greensboro Fringe Festival 2011 had us back and forth to the GSO Cultural Center several times. We saw both "The Couch" and "Silent Pictures" there -- and then a very fun production of "Dearly Departed" at Twin City Stage.

I also was involved with the Evening of Short Plays #24, which occurs at the end of the Fringe Festival (this year, on the second weekend of February.) My short play "Communication Gap" was chosen as one of the 10 short plays. So I got to be involved in auditions/casting with Randy Morris, my director, and attended the first full rehearsal of the two-actor script. I was able to discern at that first rehearsal that Randy and both actors (Artemis Jameson, also one of the playwrights, and Skyler Whitfield) "got" the concept and the show just fine. I didn't feel any need to bother them further!

So on the 10th (Kathy and I) and the 11th (just me), we took in all 10 shows -- mine was the production opener each night. A lot of fun, and certain plays (as is usually the case) impressed us more than others. It was also fun to see Myla acting in one of our favorites.

It has been an intriguing and delightful five months since "Conversations" opened -- two full length and two short scripts found their way onto a stage. Exciting!

All About Faith reading -- success!

I'm pleased to report that our staged reading -- OK, somewhere between a stage reading and a staged reading -- went well at Theatre Alliance on Jan. 28. We had a decent sized audience, who were very attentive indeed. And virtually everyone stuck around for the talkback afterwards, which was a surprise. Good comments, good feedback and everyone seemed to take something away from the play. I couldn't have asked for more!

We then reconvened at the Village Tavern with cast, crew, friends and a couple of special guests from the "Conversations" cast as well. What an excellent group of people to work with!

So, where thanks are due (so many of them): Myla for directing, Kathy for stage managing, Mallorie for lights and sound. Cast: Cheryl Ann Roberts, Carson Elizabeth Gregory, Michael Shapiro, Cameron Williams, Kenny Gaylord and Angie Barnes. Plus all the help from Theatre Alliance, too. You are all the greatest! Now, we'll see if we can find someone who wants to produce it ....

Anyway, it was a great learning experience again -- and of course, working it out in rehearsal and on stage helped the script, too. So glad we were able to work this project out.