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Harlequin Maneuver in New York |
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Update:
08/04/2004
The script is now published
and available for purchase! (Available
on Amazon.com, Borders.com, and IUniverse.com)
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Wow,
what a whirlwind of a weekend. I closed the King and I
at the Dundee Dinner Theatre Saturday night (2/21) and
was off on a plane Sunday morning at 6:30am. The final
performance was at 3pm that day. The hotel that I was staying
at was extremely close to the Producers Club II - so I
walked over there about 15 minutes prior to the performance.
As I walked in, I was greeted by many of the playwrights
and actors in the festival. All of them were exrtremely
friendly. I was shocked at the fact that most of them knew
who I was already, and they kept saying "Oh, you're the playwright who wrote Harlequin"
or "You're the playwright from Omaha." They all
definately made me feel welcomed. As I walked into the auditorium,
the place was just as I had imagined it, a cozy little space
seating about 50 people and a small stage.
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I have to admit
I was very worried as to how the New York audience would react to
my script. Since I'm used to directing my own pieces, this was the
first time I really wasn't in control of anything. From casting
to rehearsals to production. It felt weird, but also very nice.
I could come in as a spectator and just watch my play. Most of the
jokes played very well with this audience. The moment the lights
came up on Jezebel and Fabreze, I start laughing. The entire cast
was great - I couldn't have hoped for a better cast up here in NY.
I think the
cast was truly excited that I was able to make it up there to see
them perform. All of them were surprised to have made it this far.
Not that they didn't believe in the script, but there are so many
factors that go into a production, that it's very hard to predict
what pieces will do well. They informed me that Harlequin had been
chosen over many pieces that were very strong - pieces that they
thought would have definately made it to the finals. So the fact
that we're all here made it even more special. The fact that we
really didn't have anything to lose took a lot of pressure off of
everyone.
Well, we didn't
win the competition - but we did take second place. Also, it was
rumored that we only lost by one vote. Of course, that is not important.
What's important was that I made a lot of new contacts, saw some
good writing from other playwrights, and was able to expose my writing
to a different audience.
I have to thank
Joshua James for hooking me up with a director and cast, otherwise
this would have never happened. I also have to give kudos to my
cast, who came out like gangbusters and just totally kicked ass.
Especially to Courtney Jones for casting the actors. She did a great
job.
I also want
to take some time to mention the two different casts. First of all,
the Omaha cast was perfect. But the New York cast was also perfect
for different reasons. We made certain choices here in Omaha that
worked wonderfully and the New York cast made different choices
that worked just as well. The neat thing was seeing the differences
and seeing that it can still work, becuase both casts stayed true
to the piece. Harlequin is just a silly little play that has cheap
jokes, but also has a small core of sadness in it. At least that's
what I was aiming for - and I think both casts hit it right on the
bullseye. I couldn't be anymore happier with the outcome.
Van Dirk, the
artistic director did mention to me that there is a chance Harlequin
will be performed again in a few months. What the Riant does is
take all the pieces from the festival that they felt went over really
well with the audience and they present them for a couple of nights.
Sort of like highlights from the festival.
So there it
is. My first New York produced script. I've included some photos
from the trip for your viewing pleasure:
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