"Curtain Up…"

Well, if there were curtains in theaters anymore, Their Town's is officially up. We opened last night - good crowd, wonderfully receptive, thrilling that they actually laughed at the jokes! As one of the actors, Leah Klocko, and I discussed after the show, you get so close to the material and lose so much perspective during rehearsals, you forget that the play is funny.

Ok, there was some questionable set stuff ("I hate that lamp post!" the director Adam Kukic told me after the show - it's some sort of big ol' Christmas candle), but hey, this is theater on a shoestring. What's more important is that the ensemble was great - I feel like I know the script by heart at this point, and they had their characters and lines nailed. Particularly exciting to me is that the character of Thornton Wilder - a statue in Grover's Corners' park - really works. Todd Betker plays him with a lot of humor and affection, and his mugging made the audience laugh. Poor Todd wears a suit and hat painted gray, gray face makeup, and gray gloves, so he's pretty hot by the end of the play. But anything for art, right? Originally, the script called for Wilder not to look like a statue, and to play various other parts, too - a la the Stage Manager in Our Town. But it was Adam's idea to have him fully "statuesque," and it was a great call - I intend to write it into the script after the run.

"Two Weeks and Counting…"

Two more weeks until Their Town goes up, and I continue to tweak scenes and lines here and there. Nothing very serious, but a number of small things that need to be "touched up," rather like applying little dabs of concealing makeup rather than performing major cosmetic surgery. For example, I discovered at rehearsal last night that my main character, Margaret, doesn't have any reaction when the statue of Thornton Wilder tells her he's gay. All the times that I've heard those lines read over the past three years, and I never caught that - it only became apparent when I saw it staged. So I patched that up this morning. She's a polite New Englander, so luckily, didn't need much of a reaction.

The actors are a strong bunch, and since their names aren't on the promotional copy (there were too many to fit, and the play wasn't completely cast when the posters were printed), I feel the need to acknowledge them here: Todd Betker, Lou Bojarski, John Feightner, Diana Ifft, Leah Klocko, Jaime Slavinsky, Paige Spara, Joe Stitman, and Scott van de Mark.

"Promo Homo, Part 2"

Some promotional stuff for the Pride Theater Festival is coming up, which means we're getting even closer to the actual event.

On May 20, "The G Spod" will feature an interview with playwright Ryan McKelvey and his director, Jeff Simpson. The host is a Pittsburgh DJ named "G" whom I "met" on MySpace and who invited us to promote the festival on his podcast.

The June issue of Out (Pittsburgh's gay newspaper of long standing) includes a feature article about yours truly.

Also, I'm going to be interviewed for Rustbelt Radio, a local indie station - the actual taping is May 30, and I'll get back to you with the date it airs.

Rehearsals for Their Town continue at the ASH Galleries in Lawrenceville - I haven't attended any yet, but will be doing so soon (with some minor revisions of the script in hand…).

"Promo Homo"

Here's the brand new Pittsburgh Pride Theater Festival poster, which is very cool. Just click on it to make it larger and see all the details.

"Auditions!"

After the April 28 auditions, one of the plays in the festival is completely cast, and the rest are either partially or mostly cast. Here are some of the playwrights and directors making notes and waiting for the next actor:




That's playwright Ryan McKelvey in red (you can't see it, but his T-shirt reads "They're wild for vaginas in Pittsburgh," from a local performance of The Vagina Monologues); two seats to the right is his director, Jeff Simpson. Pretending she isn't aware that I'm taking pictures is playwright Carol Mullen. And at the upper right is Adam Kukic, Their Town's director, wondering how he got involved in a play that requires eight actors.

Also on hand were playwright/director/actor Wali Jamal and director Kim El. Wali isn't rehearsing a role here - he just had surgery on his knee and really does need the wheelchair. During some down time (of which there was a fair amount - even I considered auditioning), he mesmerized us all with a monologue from the play Pill Hill, opening at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh on May 11.

Last but not least, director/playwright FJ Hartland and playwright/actor AJ Tindall seriously (?) consider their casting options. What I want to know is, is anyone else curious about the fact that the director and playwright have eerily similar initials?


You can also see more photos at my MySpace page, by clicking on "Pics."

"Show Business"

The Pride Festival is getting seriously underway now. Last Saturday, we had a preliminary meeting of all the playwrights and directors with the production manager and the festival committee chair. This coming weekend are the auditions - always unpredictable. One memorable year a young actor sat on a chair on the stage to give her prepared monologue, and everyone in the audience could see that her jeans were split. Trying not to laugh like school kids and throw her off was rough.

I've been through this pre-production stuff a couple of times before with the festival, but it's still exciting. When I was writing fiction, it was a lonely process - you sweated and typed and maybe shared your work with a small group of writers and your editor and then you sweated and typed some more - on your own. Then you turned it in. In contrast, the collaborative "let's put on a show" feeling that you get with theater is really like nothing else I've experienced as a writer.

"His Town"

Today I posted an item at my other blog, "The Queerest Places," on Thornton Wilder's grave in Hamden, Connecticut - which is, coincidentally, the hometown of my brother-in-law. I'll have to ask him if he's ever been to Wilder's grave. So check it out when you get a chance.

Lots of activity coming up around the Pride Theater Festival - a meeting for all playwrights and directors this weekend, then auditions the following weekend. I'll have much more to report on soon, as we head into the real deal - rehearsals!

"Festival Notes"

The full lineup for Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company's fourth annual Pride Theater Festival has been announced!

Program A (one acts):

"And a Happy New Year!" by Aaron Jefferson Tindall, directed by FJ Hartland
"The Session," by Wali Jamal, directed by Kim El
"Beyond Dirt Knees," by Ryan M. McKelvey, directed by Jeff Simpson
"Call Girl," by Carol Mullen, directed by Wali Jamal

Program B (full length):

Their Town, by Paula Martinac, directed by Adam Kukic

A couple of personal notes: FJ Hartland and Carol Mullen are pals of mine (real pals as opposed to MySpace "friends") and regular participants in the festival. And Jeff Simpson, who often works with Pittsburgh Playwrights, gave a terrific interpretation of Charlie, one of the main characters in Their Town, at a reading we did at the theater in late January.

"Queer Theater"

In case you're interested (and since you're reading this, you probably are), I found this online listing of gay and lesbian-supportive theater companies called "On the Purple Circuit."

Of course, there are other theater companies that don't only (or specifically) do queer-themed plays, but that produce them occasionally. My research, however, indicates that these gay-themed plays tend to be the established, major-prize-winning ones - like Angels in America, Take Me Out, or I Am My Own Wife.

There are a handful of queer theater festivals out there, but I haven't located a concise listing of them. Interestingly, when I Googled "lesbian and gay theater festivals" today, I found one I'd never heard of - the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival.

So, if you're writing queer-themed plays, it definitely takes some sniffing around to find venues for your work.