Thursday, February 28, 2008

Spurn

Passing Strange Opens On Broadway Tonight.

Cheers to Spurney and ALL the people who worked on it the last several years.

The Real

Heard a rumor our man Jon Spurney may be coming back next year.....

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

a few photos of how the show is coming together

Dramaturg Julie Dubiner, Tracee Chimo, Patrick James Lynch, Matthew Dellapina, & Carly Mensch








Thursday, February 21, 2008

self diagnosis


We’re three days in – and although I’m a bit brain dead, I couldn’t be more delighted with everything.

Oh, and also we’ve all self diagnosed ourselves with Aspergers. Seriously I think we have it.

It’s one of those shows where we spend as much time laughing and breaking (ala Harvey Korman) as working,

Today we worked on the scene where Gordo wrestles his brother to the ground while wearing a football helmet. Comedy gold.

We spent a good hour with our fight director Lee on the finer points of ramming someone with a helmet. Lee knew exactly how to do it, and how to do it over and over again - perhaps a sign that he has aspergers also? I totally bet he does.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Matt and Bob



Newest cast member added, snickers will be playing the role of Bob, word is he's brilliant - also, the one picture that will be on our set wall. It's of our sound designer Matt Callahan and his brother Brian. They would pretend to be newspaper reporters and after a hard day go in the kitchen and have shots of water. Ah, the irish.

If anyone has GREAT same sex sibling stories, I'd love to collect them - one time my brother actually tackled me with a football helmet (just like in the play). I got it off of him and threw it back - of course he moved out of the way and it went into the wall, leaving a rather expensive dent. My brother retaliated by filling up a squirt gun with urine and spraying me. I responded by locking him out of the house - as the story goes, it was the first time my parents had been out to lunch and feeling like our move to Florida wasn't so traumatic on the family. They came home to one brother locked out, one covered in urine and a giant whole in our wall. This was why we couldn't have nice things. Got other great same sex sibling stories we can use for the show?

Monday, February 11, 2008

Pittsburgh loves us, and I may be fired





So, we had the most delightful workshop in Pittsburgh – apparently we give off some kind of pheromone, as the city seemed to be hitting us on the whole time. The first night some 20 year old waiter bought Julie and I drinks and tried to “chat her up”. I gladly took my free drink and nodded.

Two nights later a drunk girl in a bar actually tried to entice Matt D with the “I’m throwing a fishing line to you”, when that didn’t work she started to spank herself, and when that didn’t work she tried to “drop it like it’s hot” at which point she fell over and her friends had to help her away – maybe she was really just drunk, or maybe that’s the power of excitement our cast holds over the people of Pittsburgh.

Oh, right the play! Carly did smart good work on it – shorter, tighter, and started adjusting things to the actual actors that would be doing the play.

Also, on the set front, we’ve gone thru couple of colors on the back wall and have settled on a wonderful burnt orange – the idea is that the house was gorgeous in 1978 when they moved in – and from that moment, has only had things removed from it.

Here's a quick pic of them for costume purposes - they could totally be in a line-up couldn't they?

We were at the City Theater in Pittsburgh – which is Masterson’s old theater – and it’s just complete coincidence that we were there as our actor Matt was in a show (13th of Paris). Marc had hinted there somewhere in the building there was a picture of him with a serious mustache – we spent our time looking – and low and behold, there it was – in all it’s glory. Masterson and the circa 1980 stash. I’m sure that had he joined our mustached competition for Hedwig, he would have taken us and would have the “fireman ready” trophy that Bing Putney now holds.

Good times, good times.

Friday, February 01, 2008

All Hail Hurricane Gordo Music

Our delightful dramaturgical associate came up with a list of songs that the characters may be listening to, it's pretty fantastic. Knowing nothing about the show - see if you can figure out which character you most identify with - or which one you shamefully know all the lyrics to.

Chaz
Heart Shaped Box- Nirvana
And So it Goes- Billy Joel
Runaway Train- Soul Asylum
Undone (The Sweater Song)- Weezer
Bodies- Smashing Pumpkins
Everything to Everyone- Everclear
Sour Girl- Stone Temple Pilots-
Where the Streets Have No Name- U2
Monkey Wrench – The Foo Fighters
Ana’s Song (Open Fire)- Silverchair
Pearl Jam- Do the Evolution
Heroes- Wallflowers

Gordo
The Final Countdown- Europe
My Bologna-Weird Al Yankovic
King Tut- Steve Martin
Short People- Randy Newman
Kill a Kitten- Stephen Lynch
They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!- Napoleon XIV
Another one Rides the Bus- Weird Al Yankovic
Don't Eat the Yellow Snow- Frank Zappa
The Smoke off- Shel Silverstein
Super Hero- Stephen Lynch

India
Heroes- David Bowie
No Children- Mountain Goats
Absurd Hero's Manifesto- Arthur and Yu
Angels in Your Angles- the Decemberists
I'll Follow You into the Dark- Deathcab for Cutie
Roll the Credits- Pete Bjorn & John
La Pump- Smoosh
Common People- Pulp
Girls &Boys- Blur
Doll Parts - Hole
Not if You Were the Last Junkie on Earth- The Dandy Warhols
Nothing Better- The Postal Service
The Sweetest thing-U2

Oscar
Down on the Corner- CCR
Wish You Were Here- Pink Floyd
What Condition My Condition was in- Kenny Loggins
Eve of Desturction- The Yardbirds
Blowing in the Wind- Dylan
Knights in White Satin-The Moody Blues
There She Goes- Sixpence None the Richer
Lucky Man- Emerson Lake and Palmer
White Rabbit- Jefferson Airplane
Maxwell's Silver Hammer- The Beatles
The End- The Doors

Bob
Tiptoe Through the Tulips- Tiny Tim
The Tinker and the Crab- Donovan
The Unicorn Song- Peter, Paul and Mary
The Spectrum Song- Ludwig Von Drake
I Will Follow Him- Little Peggy March
Downtown- Petula Clark
Can’t Take My Eyes off of You- Englebert Humperdink
Misty- Errol Garner
Raindrops (Keep Fallin’ on my Head)- Burt Bacharach
White Rabbit- Jefferson Airplane