This week, we finish loading in ASF's next production, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. This post and the next few following will detail the audio components of the show - design and…

"Creative Crushes" is a new series featuring artists and companies that I loved working with, am loving to work with, or would love to work with. Like a middle school crush, these are artists that I kind of just wanna draw hearts around in my notebook, and gush mushy things about them at sleepovers because they're just SO COOL ohmigod. The inaugural crush: Trusty Sidekick, a TYA company located in New…

Automation controls can be complex beasts, and wrapping one’s head around the entire breadth and depth of the system can be both daunting and overwhelming. Even a simple system can contain a dizzying array of sensors, drives, controllers, human-interface devices, logic processors, indicator lights and data feedback devices. How do you keep it all straight? When designing a system, how do you even begin considering all of these various elements, and how they interact with each…

The North American Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference was held in New York City this last weekend (July 22-23, 2012). The event is held every four years and a corresponding event is hosted in Europe two years offset. This is a gathering of Theatre Consultants, Acousticians, Safety Specialists, Architects, engineers, and representatives from both fixed venues and touring shows. This mix of skills and…

Last week the online theatre world kinda blew up around the Nightingale casting controversy over at La Jolla Playhouse.

What casting controversy, you ask?

Well, La Jolla is currently workshoping a new musical by Spring Awakening Tony Award winners Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik. The new musical, The Nightingalebrings the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale of the same name to the stage.

It’s a…

Coming off of Nanta is anti-climatic in it's own right... but facing a musical on my own in it's wake is a new level of daunting.

And that's exactly what's next on my plate: the proverbial soup to nuts design and engineering of the next ASF production: Putnam County Spelling Bee.…

We all have them. Stories about how we got interested, involved, invested, in theater. That first time, first taste, first try.

Mine starts with a girl. (But don't they all, really?)

4th grade, Ms. Curtain's class. (yes that's her real name.) End of the day. An announcement from a girl who was a friend. Or rather, she was really a friend of a friend, but I wanted to be better friends with her. (Friendly friend friend friend friends)

She was…

While cavorting around various Playwright websites and Twitter accounts, I noticed a particular trend among some writers and that is to attach a location to their vocation such as: New York City Playwright! OK. And? So?

Yes I know, living in NYC affords you certain opportunities as a playwright such as...umm.. Ok yea, access to a plethora of independent theatre works, artists and other trendy inspirational fuel that setting up camp in Des Moines would not afford you.

All right, I…

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers!” – Henry the VI, Act IV, Scene III, by William Shakespeare

Good Samaritan laws exist because as a society we believe that people, in general, are good-hearted and want to help other people in a time of desperate need. Providing an attempt at first-aid, be it misguided, or not; be the administrator skilled, or not, usually will not result in…

Exercise, speed, endurance.

I’ve already covered the first two here, now for endurance. Yes, yes, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, we’ve all heard that. But here’s the thing. Marathons end, too. If you’re committed to the writing life--if you simply can’t imagine not writing--then we’re talking day in, day out, like breathing. Like life.

As with running, the first two parts of the equation--exercise and speed--are largely training for the third.

But endurance means more…

As promised, this week is a detail of my recent show experience...…

I hate telling people I'm an actor.

This is primarily true for me while I've been living in LA. Because when you say something like "I'm an actor," or even "I'm studying to be an actor," 9 times out of 10 the person you're talking to will answer with, "oh, so like, you wanna be a movie star."

(Telling people I'm a playwright's almost as bad--as everyone then starts telling me "great ideas for stories"--or their own life story.)

Set aside the fact…

A few weeks ago, I asked readers to submit suggestions for instructional outcomes to be covered in my control systems classes this coming year (Automation Systems and Instructional Outcomes). One of the outcomes I feel is strongly required for students completing a one-semester course in control systems is an understanding of and an ability to utilize Boolean logic, and I thought I’d explore that material here this week.

What is Boolean logic? A completely dry and uninformative answer…

Last week I blogged about ‘dead’ theatre, and this supplement is to discuss some other opportunities that can also provide a chance to show off your skills and have some fun doing it. Depending upon the region of the country where you work, there are numerous cultural events that dwell directly on the local history. All of these events involve costumes, make-up, sound, lighting, and props, so there are…

I have a dramaturg. That isn’t to say I’m the only playwright she works with. But after five years and three separate new plays, she and I have developed a level of trust and shorthand that makes her my dramaturg of choice.

But perhaps the best part about my relationship with my dramaturg is that she’s gotten to know my body of work. That she sees the larger patterns, literary motifs and themes that run through my plays—sometimes patterns, motifs and themes that I’m not even aware of.…

When this blog posts, I'll be in the thick of getting Nanta Cookin' on it's feet - with no idea if I'll have time for checking my…

Over the last six weeks, I've had the pleasure of both seeing and being a part of numerous readings of new works while at the Orchard Project. From reading short excerpts and rough sketches of plays in their earliest stage of development, to reading plays a playwright has worked on for five+ years, I got to experience a plethora of works presented in the staged reading format.

Through this, I found acting for a reading is exciting and challenging in many ways I wasn't…

We are often so focused on our work in ‘live’ theatre that we forget that ‘dead’ theatre offers opportunities to supplement our work and resume. Dead theatre probably isn’t the best term for this, maybe static displays, or artificial exhibits, would be a better term. Historic sites, museums, theme parks, and other public venues are all places where it is desirable to (re)create a scene depicting an important event,…

So it's an odd coincidence that I wrote about control systems last week, only to see this video yesterday:

[Ed note: For some reason, the video Rich planned on including isn't showing up, so we found this video instead. This video, however, doesn't explain context, so, just so you're up to speed...

On July 4th, San Diego's Big Bay Boom…

Sometimes, it feels like Keanu on the bus.

You’ve got your idea, some characters, maybe a roadmap for the plot. Now what? Do you sit down to write or do you put it in your notebook for later? Maybe you sketch out ideas for moments, scenes, lines. Do you doodle in the margins? Or do you grab the wheel, hit the accelerator and hold on for dear life until you’re done or the bus explodes?

Last time, we talked about exercise. This time, speed.

Me, I like speed. I can outline…