Friday, June 22, 2012

Location, Location, Location!

What is it that they say in business about location location location?

I spent today looking at theater spaces for the upcoming production of PRINCE, and it made me think about some things.

New York City is full of theater spaces. How do you choose the right one?

There's midtown: full of rehearsal studios with makeshift blackboxes dropped all over the place between Penn Station and 59th Street on the west side. Informal, often dark places with no foot traffic, but the appeal of being close to the "Theater District". Right, like people who couldn't get tickets to Book of Mormon are going to walk by and go, "Hey! I'll go see this play I've never heard of on the 16th floor of what looks like an office building!"

Needless to say, I didn't look at any theaters in midtown.

My play is youthful. The characters are young. There is an edginess to it. There is sex on stage. There is copious drinking and drug use.

This play needs to be done downtown.

Downtown Manhattan is the birthplace of the independent theater. Even the established companies like The Atlantic and New York Theater Workshop are producing new and often provocative works. But it's the independent companies and theater spaces where the best stuff is going on. I want my play to be a part of that community, that neighborhood, that kind of creation.

I found the space I want to perform the play in today. As soon as I talk to my producing partners and make a deposit, and make it official I will be making an announcement here on the blog, but until then, know that the project is continuing to grow, and every day coming one step closer to being seen on stage.

Check back soon.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

I wanna be a producer...

My newest play, simply titled "Prince", is about a twenty-five year old male's quarter life crisis as a member of the millenial generation. In one day, Prince, the young man in question, finds out that his father is dead of a heart attack, and that his roommate will be moving out and getting married. It is a cynical, dark comedy that asks the question, "What does it mean to become an adult in the twenty-first century?

Prince says it best in act one of the play: "I think the only way to really accomplish something on this planet is to never work for anyone else. Never take orders from anyone".

I am embarking on a journey to produce the play myself. So far, I have put together a preliminary budget, hired a stage manager and a casting director, brought on two associate producing partners, created a production timeline, set goals for myself, and am currently learning how to create a kickstarter campaign to raise money.

I have brought my writing blog back from the dead to document this experience from the ground up, and to see what I can accomplish without taking orders from anyone.

Updates to come soon.