Histriomastix

GONE FISHIN'

Goodness knows I haven't been posting regularly in this space. What little blogging energy I have left over is devoted to work. However, for any lost souls who find their way here, be advised that for the next two weeks I'll be up at the MacDowell Colony third-drafting a play, putting together an opera libretto treatment and scratching out a pilot episode. Yes, it's been a busy past year-and-a-half and should get even busier.

The Opera and Me: An Ongoing Affair

In late 2003, Opera News contacted me to write a story on the Met's new production of Salome and an intense new interest was born. What little opera I had seen up to that point had left me with the impression: great music, bad theater. Sometimes that prejudice was reinforced; other times, it was completely dispelled. Anyway, this is all to say that I'm doing my part to create new operas with gripping stories, strong character-driven texts and rich theatrical possibilities.

First news: Tonight at 8pm American Opera Projects and Opera on Tap present the second installment of An Opera Grows in Brooklyn at DUMBO's bar/art space Galapagos. The night's final piece is my one-act opera with composer Stefan Weisman, Fade. I've directed this concert "staging" and we have a terrific three-person cast, not to mention fleet-fingered Jody Schum on piano and conductor Stephen Black driving the beat. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets here.

In other, long-term news: I'm working on a full-length American opera verismo with composer Robert Paterson. Based on R.C. Hutchinson's 1964 novel, A Child Possessed, and titled the same, it is a story about a broken family and a distant child. In May, Robert and I recorded a 24-minute demo and had it pressed into CDs with an attractive jacket containing all the synopsis and artist information. This little beauty is what we are sending into the world to see if any producers or major opera companies find the material as exciting as we do. You can read about the opera and listen to music selections here. Robert was recently up at Yaddo orchestrating the two scenes we have written. When I go MacDowell in August/September, my Child Possessed files and notes will come with me.

I don't know how far this journey will take me but the pleasure of hearing one's words set to glorious music--making sense, striking both head and heart--is rare indeed.

Around the blogs: Sarah Palin and Ariane Mnouchkine

Gee, those are two names you don’t often see in the same headline. Couple of blogs to pass the time on Monday: A preview/op-ed piece on the Guardian’s stage blog about Lincoln Center Festival and, for Time Out New York, a humor piece on Sarah Palin—possible Broadway star! Guardian piece here. Palin on Upstaged here. Enjoy.

My Opera Grows in Brooklyn - July 17

What are you doing Friday night, July 17? Heading out to chic performance space-cum-bar Galapagos to hear my one-act opera, silly! Fade, the 30-minute opera I created last year with composer Stefan Weisman is getting its New York premiere in a couple of weeks. It's part of a one-night benefit for American Opera Projects and Opera On Tap called An Opera Grows in Brooklyn. We're on a triple with David T. Little and OOT. I'll be staging the piece—minimally, since this is essentially a concert presentation. We have an amazing cast, including Amy van Roekel, Jonathan Hays and Pamela Stein. Jody Schum will tickle the ivories and Stephen Black brings it all home with his superior conducting skills. Advance story here. Read all about Fade and listen to the music here. Tickets here. Come for the delicious cocktails, stay for ear-tickling arias.

Blogging at the Guardian: Neil LaBute

I have a  new blog post up at the Guardian this morning about Neil LaBute and his supposed split with MCC  Theater. Read it here. Playgoer speculates about the matter, which came to light on Tuesday after David Ng's blog post for the L.A. Times broke the news. I take the opportunity (and the lack of ready news or gossip) to muse on a little-discussed problem in the nonprofit world: indiscriminate green-lighting of established writers by their informal home theaters. Teaser:

But the nearly exclusive arrangement LaBute enjoyed with MCC speaks more to safety and expediency than any sort of meaningful artistic union. MCC produces American and British plays with no clear aesthetic common denominator. But why LaBute? Could it be he needs a home for the dark, "gotcha" plays he relentlessly cranks out; and MCC needs the star wattage the film director brings?

RTWT here.

WOULD YOU LIKE SOME HAM ON THAT?

You may not know it, but between 1992 and 2000, I did a fair share of acting below 14th Street in some wacky experimental theater pieces. What I did as the Dramaturg in a heavily deconstructed and ubercamp version of Othello I don't want to say. Anyway, last summer, the brilliant kids at Piper MacKenzie Productions wheedled me into appearing in a short mock-silent film. I played a sleazy professor who tries to force himself on a pretty young maid. Fun stuff. Warning: My shameless schmacting and mugging may cause seizures. Never let it be said that I don't have the firsthand knowledge to criticize bad performance.

The Poison Kiss from Piper McKenzie on Vimeo.

My latest Guardian blog: History repeating

I just posted a blog at the Guardian. Topic: Why are we so lame when it comes to history plays and revivals of classics? Go, read, comment, and repeat. Tease:

The problem is three-pronged: we aren't writing historical plays, we aren't finding imaginative ways to stage our classics, and we rarely go beyond costume drama when handling the classics of other cultures. In the 2008-09 season, there were 18 play revivals; 11 of these were staged by English directors and one (Exit the King) by an Australian, Neil Armfield. Clearly, when a producer wants to do Godot or Hedda, they assume only a Brit can understand the material properly.

RTWT here.

SAN FRANCISCO (AND MACDOWELL) HERE I COME!

Well, as far as San Fran goes, not exactly. My one-act opera, Fade, is coming to that fair city later this month. San Francisco Cabaret Opera will present a concert reading of the work, which I created with composer Stefan Weisman last year. (It got its world premiere in London in October.) Meanwhile, I continue to work with Robert Paterson and Philippe Bodin on new operas.

This weekend, I finally get back to work on my first play, Vicarious, commissioned by the Gingold Theatrical Group. Draft: third. Progress: slow. Mood: tensely excited. Notes for revision: legion. I continue to think this could be a powerful and engrossing work, and extremely contemporary without being too trendily headline-ripped. My hope is to have a solid third draft by mid-June. Then another reading (with some kickass professional thesps, I must say) and a six-month development period with actors on their feet throwing furniture around. After that? Who knows…

Seems like a good time to share exciting news with loyal Histriomasticators: In August I'll be heading to the MacDowell Colony for two weeks of intensive work on a new play. Ah yes: A quiet cabin in my native New Hampshire sounds perfect right about now. I am overjoyed and stunned that they took me on my first application, and I hope it signals the start of yearly pilgrimage to writers' colonies around the country.

I bet you noticed it stopped raining. And the weather is lovely. I feel quite happy today.

PULITZER? I DON'T EVEN KNOW HER

The Guardian just published my thought piece on the race for this year's Pulitzer Prize in Drama. I hope it'll be the first of many pieces on that fine paper's website. Check it out and complain in comments below. I also wrote about the Pulitzer on TONY's Upstaged last week. Ruined (left) is the front-runner, but you already knew that. Any thoughts on what might also be considered—or what is being ignored?

ICELAND, ICELAND THE COUNTRY WHERE I QUITE LIKE TO BE

More freelance news: In the latest issue of Yale’s Theater magazine, I have a report from Iceland’s first-ever international theater festival, Lókal. I visited in March 2008 and filed the report later that month but—since the wheels of academic publishing grind exceeding slow—it hasn’t seen the light of day till now. (My earlier blog post is here.) Editor Tom Sellar did a bang-up job condensing and focusing my sprawling first draft (thanks, Tom!). The people in Reykjavik were absolutely lovely and their theater scene is varied and promising. However, given the ongoing Econolyptic horrors, I somehow doubt there’ll be a second Lókal anytime soon. The organizers of the festival generously covered airfare and accommodations for five days—for me, the Village Voice’s Alexis Soloski and my colleague Helen Shaw. A friend recently noted: “See? They pay for critics to fly over and the economy collapses.”