PHEEEEW!

So, last week, as I'm sure you remember I posted about the most amazing play ever written and how my wife devised this play and how everyone should see it cause it's super good and ground breaking and something that you won't see around here any time soon.

Well, here's the thing:  I lied.

It's horrible.

no, just kidding, but could you imagine?!  I'm on my blog all like, "My wife's play sucks eggs! DON'T SEE IT!"  That would be super 'kward.

But here's the thing: I lied...or rather, I didn't know.  You see, when I posted last week, well, I hadn't seen it. How could I?!  It opened on Wednesday, I'm not magic! And so when I was pitching that YOU should see it, well, I was just being supportive, ya know, but I had no idea if this experimental, student written, high risk, wildly expensive (not Phantom expensive, but it blew the budget for my last ward road-show out of the water...'course that was 15 years ago and with the economy what it is...) play would be good, bad, fine, adequate, reasonable, turbulent, riveting, or dumb...I just had no idea.   But that didn't stop me.

I saw it this week.

Lisa Clark can tell you, as the spouse of a Director, you sorta only hear how things are crazy and what's hard and what's not working.  And Lisa Clark can tell you, any supportive spouse smiles and says, "That's just theater, honey.  It's always wild and scary and then, it's wonderful...or at least, fine."

But I gotta tell you, I was sacred.  This was a huge HUGE project and all that stuff I said about it being "experimental, student written, high risk" that's not me being funny...that's the real story, and what's worse my wife willingly laid her delicate neck on the chopping block in taking on this albatros and there were nights we both were lying in bed in the dark with four wide eyes playing out the flopping of this play.  SO OF COURSE I WAS SUPPORTIVE! What else was I going to be?!

I saw it this week.

I had a sick feeling in my stomach, I mean, at this point what was I going to do?!  I suppose I knew the songs, if things got real bad I guess I could jump up and lend my silky tenor to the cause, but even then what would it help?  Sure, people's lives would be changed by the gorgeous sound coming from my throat, but the real problem would be the same; I can't be there every night.  And so I hunkered down in my seat determined not to jump in unless a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y necessary.

When I was younger it was my greatest fear that I would marry a girl who thought she could sing.  I could just picture her enthusiasm and always trying to get us "gigs" to sing together and I would have to stand next to her and watch her with her eyes closed leaning right up against the pitch but never quite getting there.  And what could I do?!  I would have to love that tone deaf dope and so I would stand next to her and a try not to make eye contact with the grimacing faces in the audience.

However, my real wife does not want to sing duets with me.  She'll sing in church and has sung in a choir or two and, best of all, she sings to our kids, but she has a reasonable awareness to her vocal talent, just as I do...now where was I...oh yes, I was tamping down my golden godly voice to support the play...

The play... It was spell binding.  It was captivating.  I was both spellbound and captivated. The show is so good! It's all just storytelling, different people, different stories, spell binding, captivating, good.

But that's not what I want to write about (though you should click here and get yourself tickets before they are all gone...it closes and is gone forever on Saturday) what I want to write about is how hard it is to be married.  At first it's not hard, at first it is wonderful and easy and then after the 'at first' part, you move to the next part...what is that? And how long does that last? Until the 'last part', I guess.  So somewhere in that not beginning and not the ending you start to forget that this person sleeping next to you is this amazing creature, who is filled with hopes and aspirations and you start to see them as the person who forgot to throw your underwear in the dryer.  I know, I know, you still know that they are amazing, but you make them amazing for stuff they do around the house or their smile or how after all these years they still like you, and that IS amazing.  But you forget about the time before when you were two separate people and wanted to take on the whole world and you were pretty sure you would be done with that by 30 then you could retire and live off your interest because, really, that's all you need, you've never been greedy.

Anyways...I guess what I saying is that this week I got to see my wife accomplish something amazing and hard and thought provoking and new and it bubbled into this world through her brain and I was so proud and it reminded me of what an amazing person as a person she is and not just as my wife or the mother of my kids or housekeeper or science teacher or moral compass or pageant winner or party hostess or costume designer or sex goddess or short order cook or doctor MD or doctor PhD or pep talker or protector or comedian or Scattergories player or or or or...

Turns out, even with out my help, she is still amazing.

And I was amazed.  

     

You Gotta See This 2...or Too!

If you are following us on FB (that's what the cool kids call Friend Book) then you know I have sort of already pitched the following pitch, but this is my day to blog and I can shove any propaganda down any throat I want to, whether it be Democratic Bangs or my son's pink bib, so today is my day and your throat is reading this, so I choose to scream at you, "See this play!!"

Here's the deal, and it's a real deal and worth reading about and even more worth seeing.  So there is this theater group out in Brooklyn...that's NYC, kids, not your neighbor's 6-year-old (anyway that would be Brookelhynne, one of the O's is silent, but the other still makes the long O sound) and they do, what they call, "Investigative Theatre." What this means is that they pick a subject and then head out to NYC and they interview total strangers on that subject, they then scurry back to what I can only imagine is their red brick warehouse loft where they spend hours upon hours lounging about draped over chaise loungers eating cheeses and spouting off scenes, songs and monologs with their eyes rolled to the back of their heads playing bongos to the Katie Thompson version of "Eternal Flame."  (Believe me, I've written a play in New York, that's how you do it...never mind, you could never understand.)  So they take the interviews and create a play based on the stories they collected, sometimes a song, sometimes a monologue, however the thing comes to life.  Once, they went out and asked people to tell them about something they had lost.  They got lots of answers; a watch, a water bottle, keys, a mother, a friendship, hope, faith, pants.  And they created a play called "Gone Missing" using real people's real stories.

Out here on the other coast, (Provo, Utah) my wife, who knew of their work, was inspired to pitch an idea (last year) to bring out the Brooklyn Theatre Trope (they have a name, it's 'The Civilians') to BYU and have them workshop with students their methods of creating theater, then set those students loose on Provo and find out what Provo people had lost.

It was a good pitch.  It was a thought-out pitch. It was not, however, a pitch that was ever supposed to become a play.  But BYU was very excited about the idea and they snatched up Lindsay and her pitch and loaded her with resources and time and said, "Let's see it".  That was a year ago, and after some amazing collaboration with some amazing people at the school the finished product is something incredible.

The night begins with a cutting from the Brooklyn show, "Gone Missing"; Provo actors tell the stories of New Yorkers' loss.  Then you get 15 mins to do your business and get back to your seat for the second half of the show, "The Cleverest Thief."  This is the product created by BYU students after interviewing Provo losers (as in, those who have lost something).  Seeing the shows side by side is such an effective way to see both the similarities and differences between a New Yorker and a Provote (trademark pending).  There is music in both and "The Cleverest Thief" has what they are calling a "Lost & Found Orchestra" where the students make music using everyday found objects.

One of the best aspects of the show is that the students chosen were not theater students.  Because they would be creating a show from nothing they reached out to Playwrights, Animators, Graphic Designers, Songwriters, even the Mathematics and Film departments.  The end result has such a different feeling from what actors would present to you--don't be fooled, there are actors mixed in, it is a main stage show after all--but, after a semester of creating a play from interviews, it came to the  Playwrights, Animators, Graphic Designers, Songwriters, even the Mathematicians and Film Students to become the characters they had created. For some of them, this will be their first performance, but then, they were the ones sitting in a room hearing these stories first hand, they are not trying "Become" or "Create" they are just being what they saw, telling you the stories that were told to them.

A woman in Provo lost her hearing.  When she decided to have children there was push back, "What kind of mother could you be if you can't hear your children?" "Is that really fair to a child?" "What if they need you?"  In a filmed moment in the show, when children are playing in the snow, there is no sound as they play, no boots crushing snow, no snow suit swooshing, no screaming, no laughing, or rather, no sound of all those things happening. Then, just out of frame there is pain, and someone is hurt, the soundless mother is holding the camera and her daughter comes to her for help.  It's just a moment, one of thousands in their lives, but with a small brush of a mothers hand, her child is comforted and regrouped and rejoined. Somehow, she did it, she mothers without hearing. And we learn her loss, while defining, was not finalizing.

I love stories. I love new ways to tell them, I love different peoples version of the same story, and this show explores many ways to tell a story.  You love stories, too. You come to this blog, and likely others, to hear them.  I hope, this week or the next, you find yourself sitting in that quiet theater seeing stories of people you will never meet and of those you who may already know.

At the very least you will leave with a story of your own to tell.  



For ticket information click here: The Most Amazing Show on the Planet.            

you gotta see this

Piggybacking on Patrick's cultural recommendations from yesterday, could I entice you to come see Vincent at Brixton this weekend at UVU? Here's what it's about:

In 1873, at the age of 20, Vincent Van Gogh rented a room in a suburb of London while he was being groomed for a career as an art dealer in his family's business. This heralded play produced by Lincoln Center and London's National Theatre traces the transforming effects of love, sex and youthful adventure on Van Gogh's still unformed talent, portraying him as he might have been and supposing a poignant affair with his landlady that might have happened. (I copied this whole thing)

If you remember, we did the show last October. It had some super awesome reviews here and here and now we've been asked to take the show on the road. Just us, Mickey & Judy, and a giant wagon from the barn! Not really. But we are performing it in Los Angeles next week for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. It's a huge honor and we're so excited to do the show again.

So here's the deal. We're doing three more shows at UVU to prepare:

Saturday, Feb. 9th at 7:30
Monday, Feb 11th at 3:30
Monday, Feb 11th at 7:30

Please come. It's so sweet and tender and nobody cuts any ears off or anything. There's kind of a sexy part, so don't bring your kids (unless you're really "open" about things.)

You can get tickets here! I'll be there, so come say hello. I'm a bald guy with glasses and sometimes I wear a bowtie, because that's what the hipsters tell me to do.

starry night

I have a show opening at UVU this week. It's called Vincent at Brixton. It's about Vincent Van Gogh when he was twenty years old and living in London. Some people have described the play as "sexy" but you will have to come see for yourself. Do you think bare shoulders are racy? How about May-December romances? This is totally your thing.

I've learned a lot about Vincent Van Gogh from doing this project. I always thought he was a lunatic who severed his own ear and ate paint. But he wasn't always like that. In this play he's very young, very naive, and is just discovering his interest in art. It's really interesting watching him transition from an aimless boy into to someone who is slowly understanding his own mental disabilities. And then interpreting them through drawings and etchings.

This summer when I was in London I visited the house where this play is set. It's really not a fancy place. It's in kind of a rocky neighborhood and the majority of the houses are rundown and nondescript. But there was an interesting feeling to it; maybe it was just the spirit of the play ricocheting around my head, or maybe Vincent was there, sitting by me on the stoop. You know how I am about ghosts.

Here's a picture to prove I was there. Next time I might even open my eyes.

Please come see this show. It's beautifully acted, and the designs are amazing. Nothing blows up and nobody does any high kicks. But I think you'll love it all the same. I'm incredibly proud of it.


Vincent at Brixton plays Sept. 27-29, Oct. 1-6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Noorda Theatre. Tickets are available at the School of the Arts Box Office at the Noorda Theatre, at Campus Connection in the Sorensen Student Center, or by calling 801-863-PLAY (7529).

so you think you can act

I teach acting, or at least I used to. I became the department chair in July, so now my job is listening to everybody's problems. But before this I taught acting, and one of my classes was called "Auditions." There is no mystery in that title. I honestly taught students how to audition for shows, or anyway how not to. So I know a little bit about it.

It occurred to me recently that many people audition for community plays and theatre with no knowledge or training on how to audition. I'm sure in some places, rural folksy places, a badly chosen monologue is cute and a warbly song is endearing, but not in Utah. Utah, for whatever reason (MORMONS) seems to have a real knack for the arts. And we are a little competitive. And you can't just walk into an audition looking like some yahoo or Mammy Yokum with yer cutesy story and 16 bars of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart." No sir. We're out for blood. And in the world of Utah community theatre, there will be blood.

So maybe I can help. Hoping to nail that dream role? Looking to make some new friends? Ready to spend six weeks in the world of lip buzzes and back rubs? Here's a few things to consider before you walk into that audition room:

1. Don't wear crazy crap. I mean it. Seriously - not even stripes. Solid colors, always. Don't have crazy hair. Ever. Ladies, don't hobble in on high heels all spangled up like you came from trollop church. Gentlemen, crazy ripped top-stitched jeans or an ironic t-shirt do not help you. All we remember is your dumb outfit. You are fighting a losing battle. Be conservative. Dress like you were recently birthed from the loins of JC Penney. Ask yourself "is there any way my outfit can be more boring?" If the answer is yes, hit that. I wish I was exaggerating. If I can't remember your face but I remember your sparkly booty shorts (GUYS) then you lost.

2. If you are auditioning for a musical, it's a safe bet we'll need you to sing. So maybe you're not a great singer? I'm not - it's ok! Why not hold out for a straight play? And if you're determined to sing for us anyway, maybe it would be a good idea to get a little coaching first? LIFE COACHING? Also, if you are a marginal singer you better be an amazing dancer. You better be on the hot tamale train. Because most musical theatre people are great singers but not great dancers, or they're vice versa. So which are you? Neither? Hmmmm. Save yourself some pain and try out for that new Agatha Christie thriller they're doing down at the five and dime. You'll still make friends and memories and you won't deal with shin splints or judgy gay dudes.

3. If you are auditioning for, say, Oklahoma, don't pick a song to sing from Oklahoma. Pick a song from that genre. Here are some terrible songs to pick anytime:

Ladies:
I Dreamed a Dream from Les Mis
Castle in the Cloud from Les Mis
Anything from Les Mis
Send in the Clowns (boring!)
I Could Have Danced All Night (too high for you)

Men:
Anything from Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark
Anything from The Book of Mormon (we act like we're cool with it, but we really aren't)
Songs your Grandpa used to sing you when you were a kid (probably racist)
Cultural songs from your mission
Anything that indicates you should be dancing at that moment

4. DON'T DANCE DURING YOUR SONG.

5. You need to slate. You need to tell us who you are. Do you have a headshot? Great! Did your mom or roommate take it? Not great. You gotta spend money to make money in this biz. Save up, get some snappy headshots, zip yourself out a little CV and you are ready to rock! Do not list high school plays on your CV. I would rather see six inches of blank page than your high school reel.

6. Don't talk too much before your audition. Don't walk in and try to engage us in conversation. Think of yourself as a very, very special robot. If we ask you how you are, or apologize for the wait, or compliment your slacks, you may respond. But don't come in all chatty and casual and expect us to match that. We're probably grouchy because we've seen a million people wearing crazy crap and singing Les Mis. We'll say hello, you say hello, and then we all launch right into your audition. It's not personal. Actually, it is personal, but that's a topic for another time.

7. You are being timed, most likely. If you go over time, someone will say STOP. You should stop. Maybe you should time your pieces before you come?

um, that's all I can think of right now. Do you have any more questions for me? Go ahead and list them in the comments and I'll respond. I'm sure there are a ton of things I can answer. Also: there is no casting couch in Utah, so DON'T ASK. Also: don't chew gum. Sorry, I wish I had more do's than don'ts - it makes me sound so negative. Basically DO not do all those things. Contact me below. I want to help.

Friday Link Roundup: Sharks Are Like Serial Killers

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another compelling, heart-stopping post in the breakthrough series that is Friday Link Round Up. I have walked around in the Internet this week and found the easiest links from at least three online hotspots. Today we have Legend of Korra t-shirts, the Kahn Academy, a cute but cheesy rap video, the honest trailer for The Hunger Games, and some shockingly true news about sharks, the bane of the sea.

This week I just tried not to die from work stress and opening Arsenic and Old Lace at the Hale Center Theater in Orem so you get what you get. Yay!

Legend of Korra T-Shirts: Gorgeous shirts. This animated series is not just a good kid's show, it's really good television in general so we watch it as a family.

Kahn Academy: Unfortunately, it's not a training camp for Star Trek villains. But, you could learn or help your kids learn some awesome stuff like drawing or HTML or Animation. Looks promising.

Sharks Hunt Like Serial Killers: Enough said.

Daddy Skillz: Can something be cute, annoying, clever, and dumb and the same time? I submit that it can.

Honest Trailer for the Hunger Games: NSFW and NSFK and NSFARIWBH as there is some language and other inappropriate and/or inaccurate observations.

What did you find on the web this week? Was it better than these? I shall ask you, in the words of Patrick Livingston, to "prove it" by posting your awesomeness in the comments.

Laser Ponies

Before I post my regular post (and you're not going to want to miss it!! Two words: Bea Arthur) I wanted to do a bit of log rolling for a fellow contributor.

Topher, in addition to be a hilarious writer and Tumblr-er, is also a talented actor and director. Sometimes his plays are avant garde explorations of the relationships between cinema and theatre. Other times they are brave new imaginings of Shakespearean classics. And sometimes they are this:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Xanadu at Hale Center Theatre Orem. This play has it all: Lasers, short shorts, yoga swings, roller disco, Australian-accents, Centaurs, stilt-walkers, glitter and Two-man Pony Expressing (That's that thing where two guys dress up as a winged pony and carry a girl in roller skates on their back.) It is not a serious drama or an examination of the human spirit. It is a campy, hilarious re-visit to 1980 with the killer tunes to prove it.

Your grandma might not get this play (as evidenced by the 3 really grouchy looking old ladies sitting just across from us.) But you will love it. I was laughing and clapping and cheering and wondering just how much convincing it took to get those guys to wear shorts that short.

It runs through April 7th, so there is still plenty of time. So get your friends, kids, book club, whoever and make an evening of it. By the end you'll want to strap on your roller skates and join in the fun.