Friday

So here's my work day last Friday:

Morning shift, I was house manager for our children's show (a world premiere telling of the Bible story of Samson).  I really enjoy HMing at our children's theater for 2 reasons: 1) I love watching the children's shows, and 2) I love watching our audiences.  I like to catch the reactions of both the kids and the teachers/parents.  One of the great things about children's theatre is the fact that the audience is often just as entertaining as the show.  (Sometimes, more so)  Altogether, an enjoyable morning.

I was supposed to have rehearsal for some programming we'll be doing for a kids' church camp in about a week, but one of the other actors was sick, so that was cancelled.  Instead, I spent that time fine-tuning a script that I've written that I'll soon be directing for us to tour into grade schools in 2008-09 called Secret Identity.  Once that was done, I was putting together all the contact information and paperwork for our agreement with the booking agent that gets us into all those public schools who'll be seeing my show next year (http://www.yahouston.org).  Next, I got everything ready for my touring unit's performance in Kingwood on Sunday night.

I took a break in the afternoon because our theatre arts academy's summer I musical theatre class was having their showcase.  These kids were all high school age, and they'd worked for something like three hours a day the past four days to put together a miniature production of the musical Hairspray.  Of course, not everything went right, but an awful lot did, and it looked like quite a bit of fun.  I found out some of those kids had actually been pulling two of our classes that week, and this was their second showcase that day.  I think I would have jumped at the opportunity to spend five to six hours a day for a full week learning showcase scenes and songs when I was in high school.  Anyway, the parents naturally thought everying was wonderful, and I went back to my office to wind my day down.

And as I sat back in my chair behind my desk, I couldn't help but think, Dang, my job really rocks. 

So crazy, it just might work!

So I'm in the middle of a couple of writing projects now, but neither one is just clamoring for my attention tonight, so I'm a bit stuck.  To the rescue is Seventh Sanctum's story generator!!

My favorites thus far:
"The story is about an acrobatic dutchess who is dependent on medication. It starts in a star-spanning magical empire. A terrible monster and the need to stop it is a major element of the story."

And
"The story is about an agile occultist who loves children. It starts in a keep in a steam-driven country. The effect of magic on economics is a major part of the story."

I can only hope that, when I fall asleep tonight, I dream of one of these stories. 

You dented the Cup.

Morons.

In Texas, it's pronounced "Howdy"

Thoughts from a brochure

So, the A. D. Players' children's theater 2008-09 brochures are out, and they look fan-darn-tastic.  The whole thing looks like a party mixed with a psychadelic planetarium with some marshmellowy breakfast cereal thrown in for good measure. 

Let's have a look at the front flap.  Initial thought: I am all for anything that looks like shooting Ta-Daa, Marty, Laurie, and some small children out of a cannon.  (Okay, okay, it's a noise-maker, and that's cool, too)  (Side note #1: You see lots of tests that check to see if you know the proper use of "there" or "they're" and "its" or "it's", but you never see such scrutiny given to "cannon" or "canon."  Trust me, this is the proper use of "cannon", I checked.  Also, technically, I believe those commas should have been inside the quotation marks, but I don't really care enough to look it up, nor to fix them.  Blogs rock, because you don't have to be correct in anything--punctuation, spelling, facts, anything!)  Also, the kid at the very top, just under the 2008-09 is doing what I'll call the star-jump pose, where the child is in mid-air with arms and legs sprawling as far as possible in opposite directions, creating (with the head) 5-points, a la a star.  We'll return to the star-jump theme several times throughoug the brochure.

The first inner-inner flap gives us the box office phone number (A. D. Players Box Office: it's not just for buying tickets!) and the web site.  Sweet.  If you can't get a hold of us now, then you just can't be helped.  Immediately underneat the contact info is star-jumper #2.  And wow, look at that girls' socks.  It's just...they're just...wow.  Them be some socks, all right.

Next, we're hit with the first show of the season: Miss Nelson is Missing, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the book by Harry Allard and James Marshall.  It plays September 17-October 18.  I haven't read this book, but apparently everyone else has, so I did what I usually do when I'm interested in a book I don't really want to bother reading: I went to Wikipedia. (Wikipedia = the new sparknotes?)  Granted, I usually find Wikipedia story recaps and synopses are usually pretty poor at conveying the magic and wonder of the stories themselves; still, after reading Wiki's syopses for Miss Nelson is Missing, the first question that comes to my mind is: it took Harry Allard and James Marshall to write this?  Anyway, I'm pretty excited for this show; I've heard good reviews of the script from people who have read it, and the book has apparently been around since 1977.    (Side note #2: there is no Wikipedia entry for Miss Nelson is Missing, nor for the character of Miss Nelson.  To get the DL on these stories, you have to go to Miss Viola Swamp's Wikipedia page.  Strange, but true)

Final thought on inner flap #1: we really, really, really need to have a "Caption This" contest for that picture of Marty and Stephen on the bottom.  Winner gets free season tickets.  Or a free Ta-Daa t-shirt.  Or just a Ta-Daa bookmark, I don't care. 

Turn to the center inner-flap.  (Are these the proper names?  Probably not.  My apologies for my ignorance, but the Wikipedia entry for "brochure" doesn't address how each of the six flaps in a tri-fold brochure should be labeled)  This time, we hit you right at the top with another show, Cold, Frankin Sense, and Brrr! by Sharla Boyce, which is our Christmas show and plays from November 19th-Decmeber 20th.  The story is of a boy named Franklin, who "has a bad cold " and "has lost Christmas."  Losing Christmas seems to be a favorite theme of Ms. Boyce's, as the two other shows of hers I've read/seen (The Wintery Kingdom and Christmas Went That-A-Way) have had very similar premises.  Really, though, what Christmas story isn't about losing Christmas? Somewhere, there's someone who's forgotten the true meaning of Christmas, and in Christian art that means rediscovering Jesus, and in non-Christian art it means finding a long-lost relative or getting a boyfriend/girlfriend.  Or wait, am I getting "art" and "ABC Family original movies" confused again?  Nevertheless, that's Christmas. 

Immediately undernearth the show's box, we have star-jumping child #3. 

Moving down the flap, we find our winter 2009 show.  (Winter?  In Houston???)  It's The Hero Squad vs. The Princess Snatchers.  Yup, by me.  January 28th through February 27th.  It's a Texas Premiere, by the way.  For the brochure tells me so.  All I can say about this show is that the kid underneath the title box can not wait for this show.  I doubt he's going to sleep more than 80 hours total between now and January 28th.  It's a good write-up, too, and I need to find a place to insert Metro Valley, Iowa into the script, since I've decided that's where the Hero Squad universe finds its center.  (Proper use of "its")  According to Rex, who is rarely wrong when it comes to theatre, August Wilson was often asked why he didn't write his plays differently; for example, why weren't there more strong female roles, why didn't this character make this choice, etc.  His response would be to take a pen from his pocket and hand it to the critic in question and say something along the lines of, "Here you go, go write your own play."  Well, anybody who's (proper use of "who's") listened to me lament the lack of quality in many oft-produced children's theatre scripts over the past four years or so can attest, this is my "put up or shut up" time.  Much like the stoked child on the bottom of this flap, I may not sleep much for the next eight months.  I'm a bit nervous about this one, folks. In fact, ADP is going to be staging three of my scripts next season if you count the touring season.  It feels like I'm exactly where I want to be at this point as a playwright, but this upcoming season is going to be very "make-or-break" for me.  I've got a golden opportunity that I am profoundly grateful for; however, I've also got the opportunity to completely squander it, and I know chances like this are much harder to come by the second time around. 

Now we're on the right-inner flap, and the first thing that catches your eye is the fact that three girls are hanging upside down from the top.  Here's hoping they can hang on until spring 2009, when Charlotte's Web (based on the story by E. B. White and dramatized by Joseph Robinette) will close out our season.  (What?  Only five shows?  Holy sacrilege, Batman!) (Side note #3: "Holy sacrilege"?  Wow.  Not intentionaly, but that really makes me chuckle)  It plays from April 1 through May 30.  That's right, two full months.  I hope these actors really love Charlotte's Web, cuz they're going to be doing it a LOT.  This book is fifty-six years old, people!  You better recognize a classic!!!  Okay, so there's not much to say about Charlotte's Web.  It's Charlotte's Web.  You've seen it, you've read it, you know it.  Come see it.  That's pretty much what we're saying here.  (Once again, Wikipedia's plot summary is somehow lacking)

I love the picture on the bottom of Orlando, J-Hatch, and the kids.  This may be my favorite.

Turn to whatever you call the back of the inner-right flap.  Five cute kids hold up a sign that lets you all know that "We Love Groups!"  The information underneath basically says that the more people you bring, the bigger discount you get.  And not to forget to ask about our partnership program.  Come to think of it, I think I'll ask about our partnership program sometime, because I don't think I've ever heard of it.  New information: the email address for our group sales department!  You really ought to email these folks, kids, if for no reason than they're some of my favorite people around, and you could stand to get to know them. 

Finally, we hit you with information on our E.T.C. program (which stands for "Excellence in Theater for Children") which, according to the brochure, is a "dynamic way to delve into the wondrous worl of theater".  Plus sometimes our E.T.C. guides (seperate from the workshops, and more free, too!) have mazes and word finds.  Bonus!  This information isn't in the brochure; remember, you read it here first!

Then, at the very bottom, next to star-jumping child #3.5 (trust me), in very small font, we say that we can pretty much change our minds if we want to.  And this option has come in handy in the past, let me tell you! 

And the back flap is almost boring, as it's where we put the mailing address if we're sending this bad boy out in the mail, BUT, because we're the A. D. Players, we give you a multi-colored swash of stars, just so you don't get bored. 

So there you have it, folks.  It's bright, it's fun, it's colorful, and it's informative.  Don't you wish your brochure was hot like me?  Er, like ours?  Yikes.