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WHAT I DIDN'T DO ON MY WINTER HOLIDAY BREAK:

There were a lot of things I had planned to take out over this long break from the rent-payer. There are several excursions from 2019 that still need recounting: the trip to New York City in May to see To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway, as well as the Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof, and my stop into The Met. There was Paul McCartney in Lexington a few weeks later, as well as some other cool things on that trip. There was my annual attendance at FutureFest at the Dayton Playhouse. And there was the Indianapolis Zoo toward the end of the summer. I also had plans to catch up on lots of TV. I still have to finish season 3 of Stranger Things and season 3 of Santa Clarita Diet. And now there's all of season 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel that I want to watch; plus several other shows I've wanting to hook into. Of course, I also had plans to get back to the play manuscript. A small amount was done on the script, but not much. So, essentially, my plans for the break did not pan out, because I got distracted.

If you've followed this silly blog recently you'll know that last week I wrote and recorded a Christmas rock ballad, "The Night Before the Night Before Christmas," and that I decided after it was originally posted that I needed to re-record parts of it, to get the version linked in this paragraph. Being on a roll, I have began another song, a rocker that at this point I have all, or most, of the rhythm tracks recorded. I actually don't have lyrics yet, or even a melody for said song. I had a couple initial ideas for words but I abandoned them as the rhythm section took shape.

The rocker, with the working title of "New Short Rocker," initiated something new for me as a bass player (which, of course, I am only now after a few decades in hiatus). I bought a capo, which is that little bar that you may have seen affixed across the fret board on the neck of a guitar. It changes the pitch of the open strings on the guitar. By using it I was able to fret some bass chords up high on the neck to do a really good job of impersonating a regular six-string rhythm guitar. I recorded two separate chorded bass parts that way.

There's also a song I wrote back in the late 70s that I can use the capo on. Back then I did something crazy; I tuned my D string up to an A, the A just a step up from the G string. I am surprised the damned D string didn't snap. With the capo I can get the same affect on the D string without risking damage. I only put the capo across the E, A, and D string, but not the G string (since I don't use the E and A strings in the song, those having the capo on them doesn't matter). I tried it when I got home from the music store the other day with the capo, and it works.

As for my "rhythm guitars" for the new rocker I'm working on, I am absolutely happy with the results. Along with the actual, regular bass line, the drum tracks, and the keyboards I've already laid down, I like what I have. I can't say when the song will be done, though I would guess it will be sooner rather than later. I'm also not sure that I will put this one out there as readily. I may hold off. I may not be publishing the new music so quickly on a regular basis. There are two new ones out there, right now. That may be it for a little while. I may share the new music privately, but not publicly, not until there's maybe a collection of, oh say, ten or so.......

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I also need to add the solo work and I have, again, composed some of it in my head; now let's see if I can translate that to my fingers. But I do have a strong direction for the solo work. Last night I did some production experimenting to see if I can get the sort of effects on the solo work that I want. I can, so that's good.


A new class series for the Ohio Playwrights Circle is in progress and I will be there as a reader. I have schedule myself for all sessions through the last on February 15, except for next week, where I have a scheduling conflict.

There will be a public reading on Sunday, February 16, at The Guild, and I will most likely be one of the actors. The reading will, of course, feature work from the just-concluded course.

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The "studio" setup in the corner of a room in my little abode.

More production tricks were involved. I played a main solo on my bass, high up on the neck, still employing the capo for both this and then the harmonic counter solo that I also recorded. That was again high up on my bass neck. I migrated the tracks from my Tascam DP-03 digital 8-track recorder onto my new Macbook Pro and into Final Cut Pro X. There, besides adding some distortion type effects to both tracks, I also processed them up an octave so they now sound like regular electric guitar licks.

I still only have the barest of a beginning on lyrics, but I have some concepts materializing in my brain. My idea for melody, especially for the chorus, has not altered. I'm still shooting for words to match what has already been gestating.

The "Dramatic" reader.

Stuart Spencer on Skype.

Saturday, I did the dramatic reading for the playwrights in the latest session of playwriting classes by the Ohio Playwrights Circle. It's always nice to lend a voice to new words for a playwright. I only played a character in one work; for the others I read for, I was the narrator, i.e.: I slated thise scripts and read the necessary directions during the performance.

Also, during the class time there was a guest, via Skype, the playwright, Stuart Spencer, who is the author of The Playwright's Guidebook, which is the textbook Michael London has been using for playwriting classes for the last decade. Stuart spoke to the room for about a half hour. Of the things he shared, what stuck out to me was his discussion of how all the dialogue should have action ‐‐ which, I believe could be translated to that dialogue should be somehow connected to the characters' wants or needs. I do believe I'll be picking up Mr. Spencer's book.

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My last attempt started with a word game where I systematically scavenged a dictionary to get semi-random word choices for a list. Then I tried using that list to spark a set of lyrics. That sort of game has worked for me in the past, for both lyrics and for prose fiction; it did not work this time.

PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

But, I'd like to have another table read before spring, so I need to get a move on. Probably ought to set a date for the table read, or at least a deadline to finish this draft.

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Thus far, this season, my batting average for getting clearance to use dialogue from the scripts in the promocasts for the plays has been a gigantic 0. The losing streak continues with Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting. I never received a response from either the playwright nor his agent to multiple attempts to contact them requesting said permission. That clearly means that once again there will not be a need for a special shoot with the actors specifically acting chosen moments for the camera. Principal photography will again be shot during dress/tech rehearsals with me getting candid shots from the sidelines, which will then be used MOS (no sound) with music under the footage. Of course, that's not my favorite way to do it, but, what-a-ya-gonna-do?


"New Short Rocker" is such a simple little ditty, why the hell can't I write a decent set of lyrics to it? I've been making the attempts, but nothing that has come to me has fit.

I'm keeping my eyes and ears open for anything that will spark the right flame, whether it's a concept, or a strong title idea, or some catchy phrase, anything that will jumpstart inspiration.

I'm thinking I may want to put this in the background, still being vigilant about it, but meanwhile, move onto to song #4. I think I may be digging back into the past to a song I wrote with my old music collaborator, Rich Hisey, a song we wrote together over forty years ago.

Jesus!: "Over forty years ago!"

First things, first: let me point out that this is K.L.'s Blog: A Diary of Artful Things. This isn't a news blog, or any sort of news-oriented web page. The expedience of getting the information out as soon as possible doesn't have the same import here as it would were this a news-reporting site. On the other hand, it's difficult to argue that recounting now, in January of 2020, a weekend in May of 2019 might be pushing it greatly in the opposite direction from timeliness. It's taken more than a half year; what can I say? Then I also have just missed my last goal to post this on December 31, because I got caught up in making music over my winter holiday break (see the January 1 post, above.) But, here I am now.

Finally. So, let's get started.

My seat at The Shubert: Right Orchestra, Row H, Seat 8.

The Sorkin Mockingbird, was the impetus for the trek to New York City last May. The other NYC events were add-ons. It was a year ago that I saw the significant ad for the Broadway production, I believe on facebook. I am a member of a couple of fan groups for The West Wing and I'm pretty sure one of the other members posted a promotion for the play with a "tickets are now available for May" message. A fellow Dayton theatre person had already gone to see it, in Previews, I believe. She raved about it. I'd also read a couple glowing reviews, both referred to from fan group members. I thought to myself, You keep telling yourself you should break your Broadway cherry; you might as well do it with this one. On January 6, 2019, I went on-line and bought the best seat available at the Shubert for the Saturday matinee on May 11: Right Orchestra, Row H, Seat 8. After fees and taxes, it was a $439.75 ticket.

Then, because it was much cheaper than I was anticipating it to be, I booked a room in the Theatre District at the Belvedere Hotel on 48th Street. It ended up being a $964 bill for three nights, tax, parking, and other fees. That was, seriously, less than I would have guessed for a down-town weekend stay in New York City.

Then, I started plotting other things to do, other shows to see. But first, let's deal with Mockingbird:

View out my window at the Belvedere

The New York Professional Performing Arts School, right across the street from the Belvedere.

Front of The Shubert

Jeff Daniels: nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor

Mockingbird attendees in Shubert Alley.

The famous Sardi's, almost directly across 44th Street from the Shubert.

The Barriers set around the stage door at The Shubert.

My playbill with cast autographs.

The cerimonial vacation ice cream ‐‐ this time from Ben & Jerry's.

My Blackbird actor's script, signed by Jeff Daniels.

The day after the performance, whilst still using my Belvedere hotel room as my base of operations, I wrote the following for the May 12, 2019 blog post:

In a nutshell, making the trip and spending the money to see this script performed by these actors was worth it. At curtain call the audience gave a standing ovation. Often when that happens, I don't stand. Such audience response needs to be earned, not by "good" work, but by extraordinary work. I stood. Sometimes the Standing O is appropriate.

I don't get to a lot of theatre productions with screenstars on stage. I have seen William Petersen on stage three times in Chicago, once at Victory Gardens (which we'll talk about later), then twice, after that, at steppenwolf. I also saw Sandra Oh at Victory Gardens, but must admit, I had not seen any of her screen work at the time, including Grey's Anatomy. I also saw Corbin Bleu in Michael Slades's Family Shots, here, locally, at the Human Race Theatre Company; but, again, I had not remembered seeing Corbin on screen, in the High School Musical franchise, which I definitely had not seen, nor in anything else from his screen résumé (though I'm betting I have seen some of his screenwork and just haven't made the connection). My point in mentioning this is that I have both read and have heard first hand accounts from those I know, of famous, fine screen actors who are not adept at stage work, and who have been disappointing in the latter. All the people I've mentioned here gave strong performances when I saw them on stage.

The Mockingbird Broadway cast was rife with screen veterans. Of course, there was Jeff Daniels in the role of Atticus. There were also other familiar faces to me, one of the other two most prominent to me being Frederick Weller, who's done a lot of great screen work, but will always have a fond spot in my heart as Mar. Marshall Mann on In Plain Sight. There was also Dakin Matthews, a fine veteran actor for decades who, unless you just don't watch TV or go to the movies, you have seen do some fine work. As much I've seen him over the years, I most associate him with his role of Headmaster Charleston in Gilmore Girls. In Mockingbird, Weller was Bob Ewell, Matthews was Judge Taylor.

Another actor who was quite familiar to me was Phyllis Somerville, who, again, has been on a lot of TV shows and in a lot of movies, but whom I remember the most for her performance as Det. Diane Russell's abused and fragile mother on a few episodes of NYPD Blue. Somerville played Mrs. Dubose in Mockingbird, the mean neighbor who riles Scout and Jem Finch, especially Jem.

Since this was a Broadway, Equity production, virtually, if not wholly, every actor in the playbill has an IMdB page. But these are all clearly actors equally skilled at stagework as they are at camera work. This was a strong cast, all the way around. Because of the controversial licensing debacle that hit not long after I had bought my B'Way ticket, the Dayton Playhouse had the limited opportunity to mount this Sorkin script, last fall, as a gesture from the Broadway producers who had instigated the blocking of DPH from mounting the orginal script in the late winter of 2019. Click here for more detailed writing by me on this particular fiasco. For the record, on the off chance you click and read that piece, I later came to believe that pretty much none of the blame falls on the Broadway producer, Scott Rudin, who was originally seen as the major bad guy in the story.

I mention the DPH Mockingbird here because I attended the local mounting of the Sorkin script and found it a worthy production that did the script justice. But several times I was asked to compare the Dayton Playhouse production to the Broadway one, a comparison I refused to give, because it would not be a fair fight between the two. There were several stellar performances in the DPH production, to be sure, but the Broadway production was a Class-A professional production where the producers had a rich pool of amazing career actors to cast from, and it was mounted by the highly skilled director Bartlett Sher, and utilized highly skilled designers, etc, etc.

Jeff Daniels was exactly as fantastic as one would expect him to be, so there was no surprise there. In case you haven't heard, however, the buzz has all been about the stand-out performance by Celia Keenan-Bolger in the role of Scout Finch. I am here to tell you that the buzz was dead-on correct. She was amazing! Hers was absolutely one of the best performances I have ever seen on a stage; it may be the best I've ever seen. And here's the part that I love, love, love:

I got to tell a Tony-award-winning actor that her Tony-award-winning performance was fantastic and amazing, before she won that Tony award for that performance!!

Keenan-Bolger was 41 years old when I saw her in May of last year, yet she spent the significant portion of the two-and-a-half hours as a twelve-year-old and she more than simply sold herself as the childhood Scout, she embodied the youthful Scout with such skill and acumen. It was a brilliant performance that will stay with me. I was in awe of her work, and am to this day. That she is a petite woman doesn't hurt, but it was her limber physicality and her savvy ability to exude youth in her persona that locked the performance.

LaTanya Richardson Jackson, who has a couple other impressive Broadway credits, was also quite strong as Calpurnia, a role that Sorkin has made more prominent than she was in the original playscript or in the screenplay. Sorkin made her the African-American voice of the story in a deeply relevant manner, and Ms. Jackson was up to the task, landing an impactful performance.

Dakin Matthews' Judge Taylor was fun, especially his bemusement at some of the ridiculousness from the young prosecuting attorney, (Stark Sands). Frederick Weller was disturbing as the ignorant, menacing, racist Bob Ewell; suffice to say that, that was not Marshall Mann on that stage. Just the whole cast was great. There was not a week performance in the Broadway production. So let's just repeat ourselves here:

In a nutshell, making the trip and spending the money to see this script performed by these actors was worth it.

Of course, I hung out at the stage door after the matinée to get my playbill signed. The very first actor out was Dakin Matthews, and, by-the-way, the only actor who signed my playbill with his full name, I might add. Dakin was quite nice. The rest gave autographs that were initials: Gbenga Akinnagbe (Tom Robinson), Stark Sands (Horace Gilmer), LaTanya Richardson Jackson (Calpurnia), and Celia Keenan-Bolger (Scout). All of them were very gracious. Ms. Keenan-Bolger was especially gracious. She was so appreciative of the good words about her brilliant performance.

One actor who did not come out was Frederick Weller (Bob Ewell). I later was told by someone that they had read that he was not coming out because of the negative response to Ewell being such a bastard. But, that is the only account of that I have so, take it for what it's worth, though it could make sense. I would have loved to have met him and gave him some positive response on his work, because, his Ewell was a bastard, just as he was supposed to be.

The other actor who did not come out after the matinée performance was Mr. Daniels. Beyond the fact that it's Jeff Daniels, the other reason I was disappointed was that I had in mind getting his autograph on something other than the Mockingbird playbill.

In August of 2009, I went to Chicago to see the David Harrower play Blackbird at the Victory Gardens, with William Petersen in the role of Ray. It blew me away. Everything about it blew me away: Harrower's script, the performances by Petersen and his co-star Mattie Hawkinson. I left the theatre that day promising myself that I was going to do that show, one way or another. It took a couple years, but in April of 2011 Blackbird went up for a weekend at The Guild with myself in the role of Ray and Heather Atkinson opposite me in the role of Una. Natasha Randall directed. Thus far it has been one of my favorite theatre experiences, one of the best I've ever had.

On the Equity stage, the first actor to play Ray in America was Jeff Daniels. He's, in fact, been in two productions of Blackbird, both in New York. First in 2007 at the Manhatten Theatre Club with Alison Pill (The Newsroom). Nine years later in 2016 he did it on Broadway at the Belasco, opposite Michelle Williams. Daniels wrote an essay in the New York Times, titled "Jeff Daniels on the Terror of Returning to ‘Blackbird'" about returning to the role.

When I knew I was going to see him in Mockingbird and then found out that he did indeed come out of the stage door to sign autographs, I knew I was taking my Blackbird actor's script to have him sign ‐‐ so it went into the suitcase for the trip.

But then, after the May 11th matinée, Jeff didn't come out to give autographs. I decided I'd drop by after the matinée, the next day, to try again. Only one problem: I realized, I had another show to get to on Sunday with a 6:00 curtain. The Sunday Mockingbird wouldn't get to final curtain until just about 5:30. It would be at least another fifteen minutes before Jeff or anyone else even would come out of the stage door. The theatre I needed to get to was a ten-minute walk away. It was clear that I risked not making that 6:00 curtain. I didn't want to risk it.

I had a ticket to see Curse of the Starving Class, by Sam Shepard that evening of the 11th, at the Signature Theatre, (just a block down the street from where I would be 6:00 next evening). Though I really wanted to see Curse of the Starving Class, getting the Blackbird script signed by Jeff was more important to me. I sacrificed Curse for another chance at getting Jeff's autograph.

In the evening of the 11th, I walked back down to the Shubert Theatre area to be at the stage door in plenty of time before the evening performance ended. Time Square is just down the street; I had some time to kill before the evening Mockingbird was over, so I walked around Time Square. I also took the opportunity to get my cerimonial vacation ice cream at Ben & Jerry's, pretty much across 44th from the Shubert.

Around 9:30 or so, about an hour before the show would end, intermittent light spinkles of rain began. Ahh, shit! I thought, It's gonna be raining when the show let's out and none of the actors are going to want to come out and sign anything! This damn sporadic, tease of a threat of rain kept insinuating itself and agitating the hell out of me.

However, somewhere around 10:45, it wasn't raining as cast members started to come out. Once again, as in the afternoon, Dakin Matthews was the first actor out. When he came around to me and reached for my script, I said, "I actually got you this afternoon."

"Oh, okay."

"But, I'm sure you were just as brillant this evening as you were this afternoon."

Dakin chuckled, then softly said, "Well, I don't know, I'm pretty tired."

Finally, Mr. Jeff Daniels came out of the stage door. He was pretty reserved. I got the sense that perhaps he's a little uncomfortable with this autograph-giving thing.

When he got to me I handed him the Blackbird script and said, "You and I have a role in common."

Now, I didn't expect him to invite me out for coffee to discuss the journey of playing Ray, but I was hoping for a little bit of a reaction, of a recognition that we had both had the opportunity to play a difficult role with an odd sort of moral ambiguity to it. He did not acknowledge at all that he even recognized the script. I was a little disheartened. I had gotten my hopes up ‐‐ so that's on me. He certainly wasn't out of line. I'd just hoped for a little moment, a little connection that didn't happen.

But, hey! Jeff Daniels signed my Blackbird script!

So

---

Fiddler on the street.

My Yiddish Fiddler seat: 5 rows back, 3 in from the aisle.

Bruce Sabath and me, back stage after the show. Me, still wearing my Narrator's beard for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

As I was planning my trip, it occurred to me that my old cast mate, Bruce Sabath was playing Leyzer-Volf (Lazar Wolf) in the Off-Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, in Yiddish, and that he was also understudy for Tevya. I looked up that show; tickets ran about $100. I was already dropping well over $1500, so I messaged Bruce to say that if I could figure out how to work it into my budget, I was coming to see his show.

Bruce messaged back for me to hold off getting a ticket, that he could probably get me a staff discount ticket. So, despite the fact that I'd already scouted out a couple really sweet seats open on the 12th, I weighed that against the discount, which turned out to be a better discount than I'd anticipated. I went with the discount because, really, with only 499 seats, the venue, Stage 42, doesn't have a bad seat in the house. I would have to wait until closer to the date to secure the exact seat through the staff discount, but, as it turned out, the better of the two seats I'd scouted earlier was still available, only five rows back, and that's the one I got.

Only about a week or two before I made my trek to New York, Bruce stepped into the role of Tevye for about a week of performances while the principal, Steven Skybell, was on vacation. I was kind of bummed. As much as I knew I would enjoy Bruce as Lazar (or, Leyzer), it would have been lovely to see him as Tevye. Then, earlier the Sunday of the show, while I was at The Met, Bruce messaged me:

BRUCE: "You're seeing my Tevye after all!!" K.L.: "Wow! Okay. So you'll have to fill me in! This is cool." BRUCE: "Steve is just sick today!"

Fiddler in Yiddish was nothing less than excellent, all the way around. I was quite impressed with Bruce as Tevye. The cast in general, was impressive. The vocals were all lovely and the Bottle Dance was executed flawlessly. The rest of the choreography was enjoyable, too. This was a cast chalk full of tripple threats. The whole production was top-notch. Kudos to the cast, the designers, and to Joel Grey, the director. It was another stellar production to make my "vacation in New York in May" a great weekend.

I have another spotting of a screen actor I recognized. In the role of Yente was Jackie Hoffman, whom I recognize from quite a bit of TV. Most recently I remember her from the "Summer" and "Fall" episodes of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.

As for watching a production only spoken and sung in Yiddish, with some Russian, it was not a problem. First of all, I've been in the show twice myself; I've also seen it several times, either on stage or the movie; lastly, there were supertitles on both sides of the proscenium. But, honestly, I rarely looked at the supertitles; I pretty much knew what was going on all through the show.

Over the course of the run, Bruce has posted quite a few back-stage pics of him with heavy-hitter, A-list actors who have come to see the show. Two that immediately come to mind are Mandy Pitinkin and Alan Alda. There have been a lot of others, but, I'm not recalling them. Bruce wrote that Pitinkin was so moved that he was in tears. When Alda was there, not too long before my visit, Bruce said they talked for something like 45 minutes about the history of Fiddler as well as about the acting craft in general. What a great experience that must have been!

As I sat in the audience before the show, I looked around to see if I could spy anyone. I saw no big-leaguers in the audience. After show, when I was back stage, there was also a family that had won back stage passes. The daughter revealed that Jerry Seinfeld and his family was sitting the row in front of her and her family. The PSM confirmed that she had also became aware just befdore curtain, but didn't say anything to the cast because she was pretty sure Seinfeld was not going to come back afterward.

Had I seen him, I doubt I would have approached him, but, it would have been cool to have actually laid eyes on him. It was already pretty cool to know I saw the show with him ‐‐ celebrity is weird.

---

As I asserted when I was blogging about planning this trip to New York, there was no way I was going to be in New York City, and in such close proximity to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) without paying it a visit. When I did the Google mapping of the Theatre District, where I'd be staying, I discovered that The Met was only a forty-five-minute walk from my hotel, through Central Park. There was my Sunday morning ‐‐ a stroll through Central Park to The Met and back, and I'd still have plenty of time to get to Fiddler by it's 6:00 curtain. There were some Central Park things I wanted to check out, Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial, being one of them.

I'd had tentative plans to meet up with a New York theatre colleague for brunch or lunch on Saturday, but, as it turned out, he had forgotten that he'd be out of town. So, fortunately I elected to go checkout Central Park Saturday morning, because Sunday it rained. I still walked to The Met on Sunday, but, going there, I walked up 5th Avenue, along side the park; though I did walk back through the park.

With my visit to The Met I ran into the same dilemma I had a few years back at The Art Institute of Chicago: I didn't have enough time to peruse and take in all that I wished to take in. In fact, with The Met, the ticket is good for three days, because you can utilize all three days and probably still miss something you'd rather not. I have plans to, at some point, go back to the Art Institute of Chicago when I can dedicate more time to a visit, and the same is now true for The Met.

I've set up a separate page to park the photos I took of Met artwork:

click here

---

My view from my patio seat at Amarone.

The sidewalk patio seating at Amarone Ristorante.

In between the two out of three shows that I did get to during my weekend, I did a few other touristy things.

I had a few good foodie experiences. Friday evening, upon the recommendation of the Belvedere desk clerk, I walked down to Amarone Ristorante around the corner from the hotel, on 9th Avenue, for dinner. Now that it's been more than a half-year, I'm not sure what I ordered. I do know that the meal was quite good, I just am not sure what I got. I probably got the Chicken Parmigiana.

If I ate lunch that Saturday, I didn't charge it to a card, and I have no memory of it. I am thinking I may have bought something from a vendor in or near Central Park, but I have no distinct memory of that. My Saturday dinner was at Ollie's Sichuan on West 42nd *(no pic of the spot). I got the Chicken with garlic sauce ‐‐ (Fingers tips to lips and then cascade them out while saying: "Mm-whah!")

Sunday lunch was at the Public Cafeteria at The Met, and who knows what I got, probably a chicken sandwich. But I do remember that I had a nice Massaman curry chicken dish for dinner at Yum Yum Too on 9th Ave., before I attended Fiddler on the Roof *(again, no pic of the location).

I have no idea why I find it relevant to recount my NYC trip cuisine, but, there you go....

The two big things, as this section suggests, were spending some time in Central Park and at The Met.

Since I wasn't able to arrange a breakfast, brunch, or lunch with any of my NYC theatre peeps, I decided to head over to Central Park, rather than just checking it out on my way to The Met the next morning. Workout well, too, because Saturday was a lovely, sunny day, but Sunday it was raining and chilly. But Saturday, I walked over and spent a couple hours strolling the park, people watching, checking out the buskers, and visiting a few featured sights. I actually thought about the Central Park Zoo, but I never made it in, mostly because I did need to get back to the hotel in time to get ready for the Mockingbird afternoon matinée.

Again, it's good that I went on Saturday. In fact, as I wrote above, Sunday, on the way to The Met, I didn't walk through the park, but rather walked around it and up 5th Avenue to the museum. But, as it was mostly only drizzling as I walked back to my hotel, I did walk back through the park, and there are a few photos below from that Sunday stroll.

So, here are photos of my time in Central Park over that weekend in May, some with captions and commentary:

Some sort of workout session taking place by the fountain square, maybe Pilates?	An attendee of that workout class, jogging the steps.
The John Lennon memorial, Strawberry Fields.	A busker sitting close by Strawberry Fields, doing Beatles songs. Susan Kesser, busking with her violin in the park	A Tolkien wizard busker, with his dragon puppet.
		One of my Sunday, raining in Central Park, photos. I really like this one. I do believe I'll be finding a significant future use for it.

Technically, these pics are more than just from the actual "Time Square"; some of them are from "Broadway Row" in the area of the Shubert all within close walking distance to Time Square, close enough that it's mention as a part of Time Square at the official website.

Most of these photos were taking Saturday evening as I was killing time around the Shubert, waiting for the evening performance of Mockingbird to get out so I could make that final attempt to get Jeff Daniels to sign my Blackbird actor's edition script, having sacrificed my ticket to Curse of the Starving Class, at the Signature Theatre to satisfy my autograph quest.

Here are some Time Square and Broadway District photos from my weekend:

Another of my favorite photos from the trip ‐‐ dudes playing chess in Times Square.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" CLICK HERE FOR DR. KING'S SPEECH IN ITS ENTIRETY

TALKBACK AFTER THE FEB 1 MATINÉE:

Director Rick Flynn has scheduled a talkback with the cast after the 5:00 performance on Saturday, February 1. It should start a little after 7:30.

More currently, I am shooting the principal footage for the promocast, tonight.

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THE PROMOCAST IS UP:

The promocast for Mr. Rickey was edited to final cut last night and is up at the DTG YouTube channel.

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Finally, I have a set of lyrics for the what was the "New Short Rocker," now with the official title, "Hammer Down." I started them Wednesday night and finished last night, though there's always the prospect of some tweaks or revisions. There has already been a bit of rewriting during the whole process of writing this draft as it is. Right now I have tentative plans to record the vocals this weekend. I may add some final instrumentation, as well. I'm thinking about a "horn flourish" at the end of the song.

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MORE WORK ON THE NEW SONG:

My plan for last night was to record the lead vocal, and possibly the backing vocals in the chorus sections, for "Hammer Down." But my focus instead was on the lyrics. Remember that I said that is was probable that there would be further tweaking to them, and there were.

Then, on further reflection, some lines, as they were, in what was the "finished" lyrics on Thursday lost their luster to me and I felt the need to either tweak them (change a word or two) or totally rewrite them.

The sticking point at the moment is a line that has the word "hegemony." It's not a bad use the of word, I don't even find the use pretentious, but it's not working as well as I originally thought it would. Plus, it's the last word of the last line that takes us into the lead break, and it doesn't have the bang that I want going into that section. So, I'm looking for a line with more bite for that spot in the song.

I could have probably started rehearsing the vocal, even with some lyrics that won't be in the recorded version, but I focused on getting the final draft of the lyrics locked. They still aren't totally locked just yet.

Still, there's some chance that at least the lead vocal will get recorded before I go to bed tonight.

MORE READING FOR PLAYWRIGHTS:

Yesterday morning I dropped in to again be a reader for the latest Ohio Playwrights Circle play writing class. I missed last week because I needed to stay for the entire Dayton Theatre Guild board meeting. But I should make all the rest of the OPC sessions.

I also assume I will participate in the public reading on February 16, as well.

ANOTHER DTG OPENING:

Mr. Rickey opened Friday, and I sing pretty much the same song that I always do about a Guild Opening Night: I was there, but was busy as a house manager so I didn't really see the performance, as per usual. But, as is another "per usual," the performance was well received by the audience and the cast and crew felt good about the show. So, we're clearly off to a good start with another good production.

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FINISHED LYRICS? ‐‐ NOT SO FAST:

We are now back to no lyrics for the song, and the song is back to the workshop title, "New Short Rocker." Perhaps some lines or phrases will be salvaged from "Hammer Down," either for the set of lyrics this song eventually gets, or for something else. Essentially, though, I'm starting over on the lyrics for this one. This new attempt will be the fourth set.

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

I had to stop and work on the story bible for some clarity and for some continuity running over any and all vehicles that stories from this universe might appear in.


It looks like I have a few gigs coming up for the U.D. School of Law. One of them will put my participation in the Ohio Playwrights Circle public reading on Feb 16 at The Guild because I might not be able to make rehearsal for that now. But, you know, as much as I love doing these OPC readings, a paying gig is a paying gig.


I had every intention of making the second night of auditions for Morning's at Seven, Tuesday, but the screenshot to the left, of my late Tuesday evening facebook post, shows: it didn't happen. C'est la vie.

THE CAST OF Morning's at Seven:

CHARACTER		ACTOR
Theodore Swanson		Dave Nickel
Cora Swanson		Dee Berdine
Aaronetta Gibbs		Tori Tuccillo
Ida Bolton		Margie Strader
Carl Bolton		Richard Young
Homer Bolton		Matthew Smith
Myrtle Brown		Susie Gutierrez
Esther Crampton		Barbara Jorgensen
David Crampton		Charles Larkowski

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NEW LYRICS AND A NEW TITLE FOR THE 'NEW SHORT ROCKER':

Song #3 is now back to having an official title: "Then I'll Sing." My hope is that this stays the title, or if it changes, it won't be because the lyrics were scrapped but rather that a better title came to me.

Technically, I suppose these new lyrics, which are almost but not completely finished, are pass number 5; I wrote a stanza that I soon scratched, which should probably be number 4. But, I'm considering these new lyrics as those of the fourth pass, since the previous was only one stanza that I quickly threw out.

This past Saturday evening, I wrote the first version of the first verse, during, what I must admit, was a borderline morose weekend. I was in the depths of a lusterless state. But I was also feeling a rather subdued anger, a muted frustration, that I wasn't finding a set of lyrics that worked with this music. So, to take a page from Bobby Lamm, of the legendary band, Chicago, I at least started off the song by writing about how I wasn't finding inspiration for the lyrics, which is the theme of Lamm's Chicago song, "25 or 6 to 4," and of which I make direct mention in, "Then I'll Sing."

Thus far, "Then I'll Sing" hasn't completely lost that theme, but it's married to the sense of melancholy that held on to me this weekend. I got back to the lyrics late Sunday and wrote several more verses and the words to the chorus section. Since then, I've tweak things and I'm not done with that. There are some verse stanzas left to write and I have a little interlude to put words to, as well.

As I mentioned in previous blog posts, I am going to add a "horn chart" toward the end of the song, as well. If I don't lay down tracks in the evenings this week, at least the lead and backing vocals, my current goal is this coming Saturday. I'd love for the song to be stereo mixed by this time next week. Whether that will be or not is another question.

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

I knew I was not permanently excising everything from after the point where I had deleted things for this new draft. It's simply much cleaner to have white* space to write on rather than try to keep track on the working draft of what will stay but be likely moved around and reconfigured.

The bulk of this ending section is still taking a different, and I certainly hope more interesting, route to get to those final words, which I am keeping. I like the very ending as it is, as I am sure I have stated before. Getting to that ending, on the other hand, was a little weak, more than a little muddy, and a bit of an energy drain in the previous drafts. Plus, the biggest problem about the ending, it almost comes out of nowhere. When you have a good ending that is coming off almost like a Deus ex machina, you know there is a problem.

Most of what has been added back now has shades of different motivations and purposes. There's still a lot of material that has been cut that I don't think is coming back, not in this play. However, I wouldn't say some or all of it would not end up in some other works about these characters and their universe.

*That's right, Final Draft users, I keep my FD background white, not blue, that which I know so many script writers prefer. And yet, I write html code on a light blue background....go figure. (Although, on my Final Draft iPhone app, it's a black background with white text).

Meanwhile, I have borrowed from the rent-payer, a copy of The Playwright's Guidebook, by Stuart Spencer, both book and author I was made aware of in a recent Ohio Playwrights Circle class where I was one of the readers. I haven't cracked the book yet. Let's see if I get to it before it has to be returned.

ANOTHER READING FOR PLAYWRIGHTS:

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AT LEAST THE LYRICS ARE DONE:

The lyrics are "done," save for possible little tweaks. The title did change, but it isn't because there is another new set of lyrics, it's because I wrote another line in the lyrics that makes a better title: "Into the Blue Dawn."

I would have recorded vocals last night but I've had a bit of a cold and I didn't want to lay vocal tracks until my voice is better. I'm going to give my voice a test run shortly after uploading this post, so I might be recording the vocals this morning.

PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

Nothing new has actually been keyed in since the last mention of the play manuscript, but I have made some decisions about things to throw into the mix, so, in all reality, some "writing" has been done, if only mentally.

A little piece that had been toward the end in the previous draft, the one that got a table reading, is getting added in close to the start of Act 1:Scene 1. I also have a good idea for some tension in the new ending. There certainly has been a strong setup for it and I think it's a tension that some in the audience will anticipate and might even feel is missing if it's not there. I think this new tension, this new conflict, will help build to the climax. Also, it gives just a little bit more dimension to one of the characters.

I'm still shooting for my next closed reading by early spring at the latest, and I hope before winter is over.

By-the-way, for those keeping score, I still have not opened The Playwright's Guidebook, by Stuart Spencer. Stuart, it's not you, it's me.

Directed by Rick Flynn Produced by Deirdre Root In a NYC hotel room, in the spring of 1947, Branch Rickey, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, meets with four prominent African-Americans to discuss breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. He wants support from their community to help with the controversy he knows will ensue. Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, Paul Robeson, and Bill Robinson, aka Mr. Bojangles, attend the meeting, but it isn't an easy fix. Concern about loss of jobs, as well as suspicion about Branch Rickey's motives come into play. The 2012 revival was nominated for three Jeff Awards for Play Production, Direction, and Ensemble.

The Cast of Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting (in order of appearance)

CHARACTER		NOTES
Branch Rickey		Saul Caplan
Jackie Robinson		Shaun Diggs
Clancy Hope		Robert Culpepper
Joe Louis		Robert-Wayne Waldron
Paul Robeson		Edward Hill
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson		Franklin Johnson

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NO VOCAL TRACKS YET:

I probably could have started work on the horn chart, but, for some reason, I want to get the vocals all laid down first.

PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

I incorporated the elements from the ending of Act 2 in the previous draft to the early part of Act 1 of this draft, as I said I would. I have not yet gotten to adding the element of tension at the end that I wrote of yesterday. That will happen soon.

I'm also thinking about adding something else. A big thing this play deals with is something that happened thirteen years earlier and the ramifications of that incident, which reverberate right into the present time of the play. It's quite literally material from my unpublished novel from the same universe. There have already been references to other, related events that happen toward the end of the novel. Most of those other references have been preserved in this latest draft. My dilemma is that something really monumental happens in the novel the same night as another event that is recounted in the play, and it might serve me to use it; it might serve me especially well.

Or, it could be the introduction of something so monumental at the ending of the play that it seems like a desperate device brought in by a playwright who's afraid that his ending is in trouble. I could end up trying to eliminate the appearance of a Deus ex machina by awkwardly adding in a new dramatic element that might come off as a cheap trick.

In some ways, however, I'm thinking Big Picture. I'm trying to strike a balance between serving the piece and serving the legacy of what I currently fantasize will be an amalgamation of multiple works dealing with these people and this universe, An amalgamation that has a decent audience out there. A legacy where someone watching or reading this play might say, "How could K.L.Storer have not even mentioned [THAT THING] that happened thirteen years earlier on the same night as [THAT OTHER THING]? Awful important occurrence to have ignored! I mean, it was a pretty profound event in [CHARACTER'S] life!"

There's already one Easter egg in the play that speaks to my hopes for a nice franchise, or whatever you want to call it, of stories from this universe. That one I'm willing to keep as an oblique reference because it is a vague reference one of the character's makes to something that character does not really want to fully share at the time the play takes place. But it's there for me; it's there to honor the universe; it's there for someone later, I hope, to be able to say, "Hey! I know what [CHARACTER] is talking about!"

It may be a little foolish, and certainly could be presumptuous for me to think in this Big Picture manner. That there will ever be a time when readers or viewers, whichever, would have enough background to recognize when something important from the over-arching story of the characters is missing, might be vainglory. That there will be a time when they pick up on planted Easter eggs might be ridiculous to anticipate. But why not proceed like these things will be? Why not think that big? If I end up being delusional, well, then I end up being delusional. But if it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, then the play and any other works become richer, at least for some people. Why not shoot for that?

Another dilemma for me is that the play has definite spoilers for the novel. Major, important events from the novel are revealed in the play. Things I'd rather those who will eventually read the novel won't know are coming, one event most particularly. And this other thing I am contemplating adding into the play? It's another big spoiler for the novel manuscript, something else I wouldn't want the readers to know was coming. Despite my angst, I'll probably at least try out dropping this other element into the play manuscript to see if I can make it work and not come off as a half-baked ploy. We're still in draft-mode. Things can get cut.


First off, apparently that @#$#@# gremlin was in the house for the Saturday show!

At one point, there was an inexplicable buzzing that shot over the PA speakers for a few seconds, seemingly out of nowhere.

When I was there yesterday, at one point we came to determine that a 35mm sound input may have been loosely connected and caused a ground hum.

There were no such gremlin shenanigans when I sat in the audience for the closing performance yesterday. This was the first time I saw the whole show run. I have to say, it was a mighty fine production with some stellar performances.

Hat's off to the cast (Saul Caplan, Robert Culpepper, Shaun Diggs, Edward Hill, Franklin Johnson, and Robert-Wayne Waldron), director Rick Flynn, and the production crew (Deirdre Bray Root - Producer & Properties, Michael Favors - Stage Manager, Chris Harmon - Set Designer, Scott Wright - Lighting Designer & tech, Sarah Saunders - Sound Designer & tech, and Carol Finley - Costume Designer).

A point of interest to me is the question of just how right the playwright got this imagined meeting. Mostly what interests me is how accurate were the points of view of the black men in that hotel room. The question comes to me because Ed Schmidt is a middle-aged white man. I'm not necessarily skeptical that Schmidt achieved something valid. I believe that writers can be smart enough, intuitive enough, observant enough, and empathetic enough to successfully get to the essence of a perspective that was foreign to themselves and their experiences. I believe women writers can successfully write from the point of view of men and vise versa, as example. Schmidt seems to have written something that is authentic and valid. But, that's my own middle-aged white guy's reception of the work. I'd be curious if African Americans, especially African American men, found the text authentic and valid.


Because I will not be able to attend the rehearsal for the OPC public reading on February 16, I am not primarily cast to be a reader. I am a back-up, or, I suppose you could say I'm an understudy. This doesn't exactly fit that term, but it's not horribly dissimilar.

The reading is this Sunday, February 16, 2:00 pm, at The Dayton Theatre Guild. Admission is free.

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

With the inevitable exception of the obligatory tweaks that anybody who knows me, knows I'm going to make, Draft 4B is finished.

*I actually tweaked a few things just after I wrote the sentence above.

That hope of another private table reading before the end of winter will certainly be realized. All I have to do now is compare schedules with my readers. I had, for about a minute, thought about having different readers, going with the philosophy that different readers will give you a different take on your characters. It's a valid point. But I decided I'd rather have the same readers judging differences they perceive in the characters, or the characters' parts of the story arch, whatever those difference may be. I already know one of the readers is on board, I'm just waiting for word from the others.

As I've mentioned before, I've liked the ending from the previous drafts, I just didn't believe it was journeyed to well. I have kept that ending with some adjustments due to the new buildup to it. But with the new overall last section of Act 2, the ending is earned now, so it's stronger.

At this point I am happy with both those new elements I recently wrote that I was putting into the ending section. One of them I am exceedingly confident about, the other, I think works, but I am prepared for others to say things along the lines of, "It's too much." It will depend on the strengths and merits of their arguments as to whether I contemplate cutting that element. It may not be too dfficul for the nay-sayers to make their argument, either. This element does serve well the purpose I brought it on for. And it is that element that, in the universe of these characters, has a strong historical import that my "big picture" side thinks can't be ignored. But, there is some chance it's not going to work overall in the context of this particular manuscript. But, for now I'm leaving it in to see what happens.

In terms of the "obligatory tweaks," I will be making a sweep through to see if there is any language in dialogue that I want to change. I've already done some of that, finding little phrases and wordings that I've realized don't feel right for a particular character. I want to make a pass through focusing on that sort of clean up.

Overall, however, I'm please with this draft. All the changes, I think better serve the story. The rewrites, the revisions, the rearranging, the fresh elements, have all improved the manuscript. Distance will likely alter some of my response, I'm sure. But still, now it's time for the next test run.


This Saturday morning I have the first of two Saturdays in a row on a particular gig for U.D. School of Law. This is a new case to me so I have material to get to know. Because of being on the last stretch of the latest draft of my play manuscript, I haven't yet sat down and started learning the information for this case. But, I will start that process tonight, and I have taken a vacation day from the rent-payer, tomorrow, to get the info into my head.


I still am a backup reader, (the poor man's understudy), for the public reading this Sunday at The Guild.

I have copies of all the scripts that will be read. I think most are essentially ten-minute plays, but one, I believe, is actually a scene from a full-length.

Again, here's the info on the reading:

OHIO PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE Public Reading
February 16, 2020 - 2:00-5:00 pm
Dayton Theatre Guild
430 Wayne Ave, Dayton, OH 45410
Refreshments will be served
ADMISSION IS FREE

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

Fortunately, this is one of the easier roles to replace. There are a many actors out there who can type into this role. In reality, one doesn't necessarily have to have actors who've been typecasted into a role for any sort of reading, but, I feel the need to at least come close for this manuscript. I've already started making a list of those I can approach about taking over the role. I'd rather not, but, you know, things is what they is. Type, on the other hand doesn't really need to be considered for the narrator.

And, but, of course, there's been tweaking of the text going on, pretty minor stuff, but tweaking all the same. I should probably stop and put the manuscript aside for the moment. I think that because I'm moving into the mindset of doubting and second-guessing the damned thing, or at least large portions of it. I think maybe this table read needs to happen as soon as it can.


This past Saturday I did the first part that one particular gig for U.D. School of Law. It went well. As I wrote before, this was a new case for me. It's a wrongful death, civil suit, where I played a psychiatrist for the plaintif and a provate investigator for the defense. The P.I. is a moron, by the way, with all sorts of holes in his testimony and a general ambience of incompetence in his reported investigation. It's clear this is by design. I've seen other cases where the particular witness or some part of their "facts" are weak or compromised. Using him as a witness is a challenge for the defense teram, but, again, I believe that's the idea.

As it turns out, I will not be doing the second part of this particular case exercise next Saturday. I will be attending the memorial service for the passing of the husband of one of my thespian colleagues, instead.

THE OPC PUBLIC READING, YESTERDAY:

The reading went well. Including three of the four playwrights who were there, there were about a dozen in attendance. Four pieces were read. I had initially thought that three were ten-minute plays, one was two scenes from a full-length play. It turns out I was mistaken about that last one; it is only intended to be those two scenes.

The plays presented were:

• Oh Yes, You Can, by James Gruza
• A Failure of the Will, by Adam Alonzo
• The Candidate, by Lee Huntington
• Homesick, by Steve Weaver

OPC/DRAMATISTS GUILD PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP:

On another note concerning the Ohio Playwrights Circle, OPC is holding a one-day playwriting workshop, in conjunction with the Dramatist Guild of America, and hosted by The Human Race Theatre Company, Sunday afternoon, March 1. It's billed as "A Playwriting Workshop and Producer's Q & A."

I have signed up to attend. I'm never able to free up enough of my time to commit to the OPC workshop series as other than a reader, because I never can be sure I'd be able to give time and attention to the required writing during the week. This stand-alone is something I can do, easily; and, I don't believe there is any actual writing involved.

It'll be 4:00-6:00 pm, at The Metropolitan Arts Center in the Human Race Theatre Company 2nd Floor Studio, 126 N Main St, Dayton, OH 45402.

At 4:00 will be a presentation titled, "Reworking for the Stage: Adaptation and Revision."

"This talk is all about making progress on whatever project is currently keeping you up at night. Whether you're daunted by the task of adapting an existing work for the stage, stuck on the draft between drafts of one of your plays, or maybe both, this talk is for you. Jeremy Llorence, Otterbein University's playwriting professor, will share personal stories of his creative approaches in adaptation, revision, and the rehearsal process, while providing some of his tools and exercises for taking that net big creative step."

At 5:00, it will be "A Producer's Perspective: Q and A with Cleveland Public Theatre's, Beth Wood."

"How do you get your foot in the door with a new theater? What are producers looking for? In what ways are the national conversations about new work changing? What's next? Join Beth Wood, Associate Artistic Director of Cleveland Public Theatre, as she shares her impressions and reflections on over a decade producing new work. Les Hunter, Ohio Regional Representative of the Dramatists Guild of America, will moderate this session."

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK ‐‐ THIS JUST IN: ALL THE ORIGINAL READERS ARE ON BOARD:

I heard back from reader #3, who gave a rounding "yes" to the next closed table read. Now I approach a particular actor about being the narrator. The last time I put a general "ISO" post on facebook for the narrator, which I will do here, if the actor I query can't do it or isn't interested. It's pretty much a casting move on my part, just as was picking the three readers who are portraying the characters, based on finding someone who can serve well the role of narrator (not all actors can). This actor has to not have one specific association, just as everyone esle who is privy to this manuscript cannot have that same association.

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

I originally had set out most other weekend days in March as alternative dates, but I had forgotten that reader #4 is in a show with production dates during many of those days, so the number of available alternatives was cut in half. I don't really want to do this, but, if push comes to shove, I might have to seek out another actor as narrator.

In the meantime, after some more tweaking ‐‐ didn't you know there would be? ‐‐ which included cutting a little bit here, a little bit there, I have saved a copy of Draft 4B in PDF form. That's my way of saying to myself, "Maybe you're done, or close to done, with the tweaks of this draft." This in no way means that the Draft 4B PDF won't possibly be overwritten by a new edit, but it probably means I'm winding down until after the table read.

STILL NO VOCAL TRACKS:

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK ‐‐ IT'S NOT "THROW IN THE TOWEL" TIME, YET!:

It's been impossible to successfully coordinate the schedules of my principal readers, at least for the potential dates in March. I'm not ready to give up on any of them, as of yet, so, it looks like March is a bust. Now I'm looking at some April dates. There are some variables for that far off that may be undetermined at this point, most especially work schedules, but I'm putting out some April dates.

It was first clear that the narrator could not make any dates in March that were potential for the other readers, so I'd decided that I would have to get another narrator. But I do not want to replace any of those who are reading characters unless it becomes absolutely necessary. No Sarah Chalke or Dick Sergeant, at this point. No Pete Bests! And, depending on the date, if we can find a date in April, I may be able to bring back that narrator.

Naturally, the odds of no tweaks between now and whenever the table reading happens are not very good. There have been some tweaks since last post about the play -- because, you know.....because.

LAST(?) SOUND WORK OF THE SEASON:

Yeah it probably is.

Mostly that would be because the Dayton 2019/20 season is pretty much over with this show.

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK ‐‐ THE READING IS SCHEDULED!:

Finally we have arrived at a date and time when all the original principal readers are free and can make it! That would be late morning on Sunday, April 5, which is six weeks away. That's not as soon as I'd like, but, that's the way it is. Unfortunately, I could not get back the narrator I had originally approached for this reading, due to the same scheduling conflict as before. I am now contemplating others to approach.

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Yep, Lexington is a horse town

my seat: Row G, seat 21

Mark & Barb, my fellow VIP-ers

My failed text message to Paul, which he never got to read -- as if there was a likelihood he was going to in any case

Rusty Anderson

Abe Laboriel, Jr.

Brian Ray

Paul Wickens

Hot City Horns

The band's main bass player

The McCartney Freshen Up Tour tote bag (AKA: "Swag Bag")

The McCartney Freshen Up Tour swag poster (AKA: the "Freshen Up lithograph")

The McCartney Freshen Up Tour swag towel

Front & back of the McCartney Freshen Up Tour commemorative ticket

The McCartney Freshen Up Tour swag Egyptian Station coffee cup

The McCartney Freshen Up Tour swag luggage tag

The bad swag hat

The good hat I bought earlier

Here we are again with another extraordinarily past-due recounting of a little artsy-style vacation. Last June 1, I saw Paul McCartney in concert for the eleventh time. The first time was forty-three years ago: Wings at Riverfront Coliseum on May 27, 1976, during the Wings Over America (i.e. the World) Tour. I was just a few weeks from my eighteenth birthday. It was another fourteen years before I saw him again. But, then again, it had been fourteen years since Paul had toured the states. That next time was the big world tour when Paul finally started playing more than just a small handful of Beatles songs. As I've done in the past, here again is my updated Paul McCartney concert roster:

1. WINGS OVER AMERICA TOUR - May 27, 1976, Cincinnati, OH (Riverfront Coliseum)
2. THE PAUL McCARTNEY WORLD TOUR - Feb 12, 1990, Cincinnati, OH (Riverfront Coliseum)
3. THE NEW WORLD TOUR - MAY 5, 1993, Cincinnati, OH (Riverfront Stadium)
4. DRIVING USA TOUR - Apr 29, 2002, Cleveland, OH (Gund Arena)
5. BACK IN THE US TOUR - OCT 10, 2002, Columbus, OH (Jerome Schottenstein Center)
6. US TOUR - Oct 22, 2005, Columbus, OH (Jerome Schottenstein Center)
7. ON THE RUN TOUR - AUG 4, 2011, Cincinnati, OH (Great American Ball Park)
8. OUT THERE! - July 14, 2013, Indianapolis, IN (Bankers Life Fieldhouse)
9. OUT THERE! - July 9, 2014, Chicago, IL (United Center)
10. ONE ON ONE - July 10, 2016, Cincinnati, OH (US Bank Arena)
11. FRESHEN UP - June 1, 2019, Lexington, KY (Rupp Arena)

I drove down to Lexington the day before. I spent the weekend in the GuestHouse Lexington, which is less than a fifteen-minute drive away from Rupp Arena. And here's what I discovered about Lexington that I had not really fully realized before: Horses are a big deal in Lexington, Kentucky. I had been vaguely aware that the town was known as "The Horse Capital of the World," but once you're there, I assure you, your awareness of this becomes anything but vague. There are paintings and sculptures and statues of horses permeating the city. It was the comprehensive theme of my hotel. Plus, there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 horse farms in the greater Lexington area.

I contemplated visiting a horse farm over the weekend, but that didn't come about. Instead, I drove over to the Rupp Arena area about mid-morning, parked my car, had lunch ‐‐ but for the life of me I cannot now remember where ‐‐ and visited an art gallery and the childhood home of Mary Todd Lincoln; the latter two to be discussed later in this entry. I should have taken some photos of this downtown area because it's really a beautiful downtown urban space.

As some reading this may know, for my eleventh time to see Sir Paul live, I decided to splurge and go for the VIP ticket. I went for the second from top tier, the Hot Sound Package, which after taxes and fees, cost me $1605.90, to the penny. If I remember correctly, the Front Row Package was $500 to $1000 more, but I can't remember exactly; I bought the ticket in September of 2018. What I got for my $1600:

• A premium ticket ‐‐ (7th row, just off center)
• Priority check-in and entrance
• Invitation to Sir Paul McCartney's sound check
• Pre-show hospitality reception
• Commemorative ticket
• Limited edition numbered lithograph
• Merchandise item designed and created exclusively for package purchasers
• Collectible laminate to remember the evening

Notice one of the perks is an "Invitation to Sir Paul McCartney's sound check." That would be the gold bounty of the package. The other stuff was great, especially my seat: Row G (7 rows from the stage), seat 21 (close to the middle), but attendance at the sound check was the big prize.

Check-in started at 4:00. Guess when I was there. Like I wrote above, I drove in that morning and parked in the arena parking, which turned out to be basic public parking that early in the day. As it happens, at Rupp Arena, if you get down there and park a half a day before an event, you don't have to pay for parking. So there was twenty bucks from my budget freed up. After some of the other excursions that are described below, I got back to the check-in point well before time. I was able to buy a t-shirt and a coffee mug, then those of us VIP-ers who gathered outside were able to get in a little before 4:00 and get to the check-in station at the North Rotunda.

After check-in, where we were given our VIP badge, in its lanyard, we were led into the banquet hall where we would later be served dinner. There was an open bar, and on one wall, a large image of Paul for us to stand in front of for photos. I settled at a table and got to know my fellow Macca fans there. At one point during the conversation I mentioned that I was an actor from Dayton, Ohio, and the wife of the couple sitting right next to me asked, "Were you at the Cincinnati concert in 2016?"

"Yes I was," I answered.

I had stood in line with this couple, Mark and Barb, before that show. I'd mentioned then that I was an actor from Dayton, Ohio, too. Wait a minute: is that some sort of pathetic equivalent to name dropping? ‐‐ "avocation dropping."

We at our table had some lovely conversation, dominated, of course, by the topics of Sir Paul, the Beatles, other solo members, and shows we've seen. As well, we all shared about ourselves, who we were, what we did, yadda, yadda.

A little before 5:00, we were led into the arena to witness the sound check. There were, I'd say, a few dozen of us. We were positioned standing in the aisle-way behind the last row of section 1 (which is the white section in the graph in the right column here). Although if anyone needed to sit, they were permitted to use the chairs in the first row of section 2, which we stood in front of. Mark, of Mark & Barb, who was in line pretty far in front of me, came and got me to take a good spot in the front of the group, which he had saved for me. So, Mark's a good guy!!!

On the big screens on stage was a pic of Paul playing his bass, and under it was the message: "Text me," and a local number for the text message. I attempted to do so, but, I got an error message, even after several attempts. Don't know what the problem was; maybe it was my carrier. To be honest, I wasn't terribly confident that Paul was going to see those messages, anyway.

The band shortly came out. They did a ritual group hug, situated themselves, then Paul came to his center mic and said, "Welcome to sound check." And then he went on to tout the fact that the Liverpool Football Club, his hometown soccer team, had just, not much earlier that very day, won the 2019 Champions League final, "Europe's biggest prize." He would repeat the boast at the concert proper in a few hours. I'm betting he mentioned at a few subsequent stops on the tour, as well.

The band was the same tour band that's been playing with Paul since 2002. They are on the majority of the recorded work since Driving Rain. Technically, they've played with Paul longer than John, George or Ringo did.

Here's the Freshen Up Tour band lineup:

• Rusty Anderson
  Backing vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
• Abe Laboriel, Jr.
  Backing vocals, drums, percussion
• Brian Ray
  Backing vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass
• Paul Wickens
  Backing vocals, keyboards, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bongos, percussion, harmonica, accordion
• The Hot City Horns
  Mike Davis (trumpet), Paul Burton (trombone) and Kenji Fenton (sax)

AND


• Sir Paul McCartney
  Lead vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, piano, electric guitar, ukulele, mandolin

There were no song fragments played. They did only complete songs, only one that would show up in the concert lineup. In the past I have heard Paul run just a section of a song during a sound check, when I've been at a venue early enough to hear the sound check from outside of the arena. Clearly that's been when something in performance or tech has been giving them a problem they needed to work out. I have no doubt had there been a need, we would have witnessed the playing of a trouble spot of a song.

The band opened by playing a bluesy jazz piece where each musician, including each horn player, got a few bars for some solo work. Paul sang toward the end of the piece, which turned out to be a bluesy country song titled, "Lucky in Kentucky." The function clearly was to get a good intitial sound level on everyone's instrument.

The sound check "show" was about 35-40 minutes. Of course, I noticed that as it progressed, the sound mix and clarity got progressively better. You know, 'cause it was a sound check.

A great little Paul moment happened maybe ten, fifteen minutes in, when he took off his jacket and quite a few of the women in the sound check audience wooed at him. Which has happened at every one of his concerts I've been to for a long while. At sound check he came to the mic and said, "What is it with that jacket off thing? Are you all excited by what kind of shirt I'm wearing?" Then he sang an a cappella bar or two from the chorus of Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

He definitely paid attention to the fact that we were there, and spoke to us as an audience seeing a show; after all, that is what we were. The set was a mix of old rock songs he likes, some that he's recorded at one time or another, as well as a couple Beatle songs and some things from his post-Beatle career, some quite recent. He ended the set with "Lady Madonna," the only song to reappear later that night.

The sound check set list:

Lucky in Kentucky
Honey Don't
Hi Ho Silver
Drive My Car
I Don't Know
C Moon
It's So Easy to Fall in Love
San Francisco Bay
Singing the Blues
Midnight Special
New
Lady Madonna

After "Lady Madonna," Paul looked back to the tech station behind us and asked his sound engineer, he said the name but I don't remember it, "Did you get what you need?" Then he put his thumb up, and then said to us, "See you at the show," and he and his compatriots exited back stage as we were ushered back to the banquet hall where we were served a respectable banquet. Not too surprising to me, it was vegetarian. The stuffed peppers were especially good. I wonder if the food was from Linda McCartney vegetarian recipes -- perhaps not probable, but not at all impossible.

We also, toward the end of dinner, got our swag bags. Now, this would not be a swag bag of the calibre of the Oscar swag, and I would not guess that much of the $1600 I paid covered the expense of this Macca swag.

• The bag itself ‐‐ a pretty nice tote bag, with some zippered compartments
• The Freshen Up lithograph
• The commemorative ticket
• An Egyptian Station coffee cup
• A monogrammed towel
• A Macca luggage tag
• A Macca cap, but it wasn't the style of cap that I like. Fortunately the merchandizers did have the style I like

Now, I gotta tell ya, Row G, seat 21 at a Paul McCartney concert is a nice place to be. We can debate whether the ticket price was too stiff, and I'm probably not going to be able to do a good job, at all, defending the cost. But, I paid it. I'm not sure whether you could get a ticket that close at a lower price, sans the sound check, etc. One might have been able to do so, I can't say for sure. Regardless, it's the closest I've been to the man in all my times seeing him. I was front row once for Ringo, and at one point was something like five feet away from him ‐‐ so there is that.

That seat, plus the rest of the Hot Sound Package, overcame the fact that the overwhelming amount of the concert repertoire consisted of songs I have seen him do live a lot. He makes set lists for the fans who are there for the first time, there's no doubt, and it's not a philosophy I can argue with. But, the set list I'd love is not one that will ever be a reality. That set would just not have enough of a universal appeal for Paul to ever consider. On this tour's set list, the only new songs to me, live, were the things off his latest album, Egypt Station: "Who Cares," "Come on to Me," and "Fuh You."

The Freshen Up concert set list for the Lexington show:

A Hard Day's Night
Junior's Farm
Can't Buy Me Love
Letting Go
Who Cares
Got to Get You Into My Life
Come on to Me
Let Me Roll It/Purple Haze Jam
I've Got a Feeling
Let 'Em In
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
Maybe I'm Amazed
*ACOUSTIC SET
   I've Just Seen a Face
   In Spite of All the Danger
   From Me to You
   Dance Tonight ‐‐ (Paul on mandolin)
   Love Me Do
   Blackbird ‐‐ (raised stage)
   Here Today ‐‐ (raised stage)
Queenie Eye
Lady Madonna
Eleanor Rigby
Fuh You
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Something ‐‐ (Paul on solo ukelele then acoustic guitar with the band)
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Band on the Run
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

ENCORE:
Birthday
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Helter Skelter


2ND ENCORE:
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End

Please don't misunderstand, it was a great show and I enjoyed myself immensely, even beyond the VIP package and the seventh-row seat, and despite it not really being a new show for me. Bottom line: Sir Paul is a great showman! His stage presence and command of the audience is a masterclass to watch and experience. The man has an instinct for report with the audience. Also, his musicianship seems so incidental to the event that its import to the evening is like a stealth element. It's not a focus, whatsoever, yet, the show would be greatly diminished without it.

That band is top-notch, too. All four are on their game. But, I have to say, one of the big joys of a Paul McCartney concert is watching Abe Laboriel play his drum kit. That dude just has a frickin' great time He's almost doing ballett up there. It's visual poetry.

One of the questions I have gotten the last several times I've seen Paul live is, how is his voice? Sometimes it's just a general question because Paul is in his seventies; sometimes it's from someone who saw him live in the near past. How's Paul's voice? I occasionally see comments on fan threads that say such things as: His voice is as good as ever! Sorry, but, no. It's lovely fan loyalty, but these people are hearing with a biased filter. Paul's voice isn't what it used to be, there's just no way around that. The man will be 78 years old this coming June, he doesn't have the voice of a 25-year-old anymore.

Beyond that, I have never gotten the sense that Paul has given his voice immaculate care. I was very happy to see him drink water during the show in Lexington. The three previous shows, Indianpolis in 2013, Chicago in 2014, and Cincinnati in 2016, he did not once take even a sip of water, or any other beverage, during the whole time he was on stage. That's simply not healthy for the vocal mechanism. I've seen several anecdotal accounts of him dismissing or ignoring vocal health advice, too. Granted, those were anecdotes, and I can't even cite one of them right now. But there's been more than one of them, and I have heard the measured degradation of his voice over the past thirty years. And, again, some of it is just that in 1990 he turned 48, and in 2020 he turns 78. But, some of it is vocal health care, or lack thereof, in my opinion.

I also wish he'd drop the key of a few songs. He could sing them better and it would wreak less havoc on his voice. Let's face it, "Maybe I'm Amazed" was a challenging wail when he recorded it in his late twenties, now days, it just is a major shredder for him. A step or a step-and-a-half down would be a good thing.

Yet, again, I have to go back to, despite this particular observation, and, frankly, concern, Paul is still awesome in concert. He puts on one hell of a show. I would not say at all that I'm done going to see him live ‐‐ providing there's at least some change-up in the show repertoire. I think we can pretty much be assured that "Live and Let Die" and "Hey Jude" will be the last two songs of the main show ‐‐ that's been the norm for the last several tours. It's also highly likely that the "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" medley will end the second encore ‐‐ again, the norm for a while. But Paul, you have an amazing canon to pull from, and a lot of pretty popular rockers (and ballads) from Beatles, Wings, and solo that we'd all love to hear live, but haven't. So.....

Well, anyway, below is one of perhaps several dozen different configurations of a playlist for a Paul show that I'd like to see, all those configurations with maybe half the songs being different than any other configuration. This one is what I came up with this time, based on my caprice for the day. There are quite a few deep cuts here that only true Macca fans will know, so, this is pure fantasy. There will never be a playlist resembling this, save for the obligatory songs that, you know, really kind of have to be there. You'll note I ended the main show and the last encore in perfect alignment with what Paul actually does.

One Capricious Version of My Wishlist McCartney Concert Playlist Possibilities:

Stranglehold^#
That Was Me^#
Helen Wheels^#
Rough Ride (at the original tempo, not the slower tempo from the 89/90 tour)
Take It Away^#
Band on the Run
Appreciate^#
Fine Line
Get On the Right Thing^#
Winedark Open Sea^#
Arrow Through Me^#
About You^#
She's Given Up Talking^#
*ACOUSTIC SET
   Little Lamb, Dragonfly^#
   Great Day^# ‐‐ (raised stage)
   Here Today ‐‐ (raised stage)
   Something ‐‐ (Paul on solo ukelele then acoustic guitar with the band)
   3 Legs^#
Come On to Me
Talk More Talk^#
Summer's Day Song^#
Heaven on a Sunday^#
Magic^#
The Pound is Sinking^#
Cafe on the Left Bank^#
I Can Bet^#
Monkberry Moon Delight^#
Let It Be
That Day is Done
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

ENCORE:
Maybe I'm Amazed
Get Back

2ND ENCORE:
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End

Cue the "Where's (insert title here)?" comments.

The songs with the (^#) symbol are ones I have never seen him do live. Most of those, I don't think he has ever done live.

click here

---

A horse head in the hotel lobby

Also in the hotel lobby

Dinner late Friday evening, walking distance from the hotel, after settling into my room.

With Lexington only being a two-and-a-half-hour drive from my humble little abode, I could have simply driven down on Saturday, then either spent just one night or driven back home after the show. I didn't much like either of those options. It was first, that I didn't want to be in a potential rush to get to my VIP pre-show in time, and then make the two-and-a-half-hour drive back home after the show. So two nights in a hotel was the attractive option just on those points. I also saw this as an opportunity for a mini-vacation. I knew there would be some other things to drop into the weekend down there.

For past mini-vacations, I have planned a little bit farther ahead. This time the only thing I was set on, ahead of time, was visting an art museum. I did google the area around Rupp Arena for a museum or a gallery and came up with one within walking distance, that distance being a goal. But other than that, I left my morning and early afternoon, and possibly my Friday evening after arriving, open to the caprice that would hit at the time. Though I do remember that while planning the trip I might have looked for a theatre production, that might have been up in Lexington, to attend on Friday evening, and didn't have success finding one.

Whatever extras, beyond Macca, that I was doing, it would have to be Friday evening or Saturday morning & early afternoon, because I was currently in rehearsal, as The Narrator, in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at The Guild, and I had to make it back to Dayton for Tech Sunday, which was that weekend. I'd scheduled the trip, including the two-night stay, before I'd even decided to audition, and was upfront with the director before auditions about the possibility I'd be late for Tech Sunday rehearsal.

As I wrote above, I drove over to the arena about mid-morning on Saturday -- (no Friday night event) ‐‐ and found the arean parking open; thus I ended up circumventing the $20 event parking fee through a legitimate technicality. I admit, I expected to possibly be stopped after the show, as I left, for the fee, but that did not happen. Once parked I walked around the area checking it out. Again, as I wrote above, I know I stopped somewhere to get brunch, but I still cannot remember where; I don't even remember what sort of food; and I must have paid cash because there was no charge on a card to help refresh my memory.

I, of course, checked out the entrance at the arena where I was to report for my VIP event later in the afternoon. Then I went searching for where the Macca tractor trailers and tour busses were parked. Then I just walked the urban area around the arena, which is close to The University of Kentucky (UK), whose Kentucky Wildcats play their home games at Rupp. That area of the city is really attractive and happening. Why I didn't take photos of the area is beyond me. The place was certainly photographable. Eventually, I made it to the art gallery I had found on-line a few days before.

---

The art gallery I visited was New Editions Gallery, on West Short Street, not even a ten-minute walk from Rupp Arena. It's a small gallery but there was interesting work on its walls, mostly, if not exclusively, at that time, from current and past art majors. Below are the four pieces that I was most enamored with, all of them, by the way, were for sale; I would assume by now sales have been made. Had I had the money, it's not unthinkable one would have gone home with me.

Connect the Dots ‐‐ oil on luan ‐‐ Stephanie McNeill, Morehead State University	Did You Hear That? ‐‐ oil on panel ‐‐ Kaitlyn Steward, Murray State University
Vulgar ‐‐ oil ‐‐ Samantha Neal, Morehead State University	Post Picking Up the Pieces ‐‐ wood sculpture -- Paige Stamper, Morehead State University

---

Earlier in the day, when I was on my customary search for the Macca tour busses and trucks, I stumbled upon the Mary Todd Lincoln House, which is maybe a five-minute walk from Rupp Arena, and sets just outside the arena complex's back premises, close to the corner of West Main and Tucker Street. I had spied the tour vehicles inside a fenced area a little south of this historical site. Then I came upon this historical site.

This was the kiss of the angel of caprice. I loved the idea that while on a trip to see one of the most famous icons of rock and roll, I would take in the childhood family home of the wife of a premier American president. I don't know that I think "irony" well describes it, but there is a wonderful, odd juxtaposition that I find delicious.

When I went in to check it out, I found that there were small tours that were led by docents, and that at that moment all the tours were sold out. But, there was an "extra" tour planned for a little later, in the early afternoon, that I could get a place in. This, as it turned out, had been an unusually busy day for the house; there were a couple extra tours added. I bought my ticket for later, and then I believe this is when I went to have the brunch, or lunch, of which I cannot remember the details.

There were about eight to twelve of us on the tour. We were, of course, given a lot of color, background and interesting information, most of which I couldn't tell you now if my life depended on it. A few things I do remember, though be advised, I'm reporting this from memory and not doing any on-line research to be sure I'm remembering correctly:

• Some of the furniture is original. Other pieces were procured to match as closely as possible what could not be preserved
• Some furniture and other household items are not absolutely known to have been in the Todd home, but, based on informed speculation, are likely a part of the house due to the Todd socio-economic standing
• The same goes for much of the wall paper and carpets/rugs. Those restoring the house researched what was common for a household like the Todds in the era and location
• Both the Todds and the Lincolns had family members on both sides of the civil war
• Mary Todd, in fact, had a sister who was married to a Confederate officer, and the two sisters were estranged for the rest of their lives

Going back to how busy the historical house had been that day: at some point early in the tour, our docent asked, "How many of you are going to the Paul McCartney show tonight?" I don't remember if everyone raised their hands, but most did. Our docent smiled, then he said, "Almost every one today and yesterday have been in town for the show."'

Following are pictures of the home and the backyard garden. I'm not going to even attempt to write captions about what is what. Some is self-explanatory; others, I just don't remember the details.

		Click on the picture for an Easter egg of a sort....

---

Another Paul McCartney concert/mini-vacation in the books. The time before it was Paul, The Newport Aquarium, and The Cincinnati Zoo. The time before that, it was Paul, The Art Institute of Chicago, Taste of Chicago, and three plays: Death and the Maiden at Victory Gardens Theatre, Brigadoon at the Goodman Theatre, and A Small Fire at Steep Theatre, the latter which featured one of my Chicago theatre friends, actor & playwright, Robert Koon. Okay, the Chicago one was more than just a "mini"-vacation, I was there for close to a week; and after the stressful, technical nightmare that The Dead Guy at DTG (in 2014) had been, a week of vacation was well deserved! But, I digress.

I make no assumption that I will not be seeing Sir Paul in concert again. It's highly likely there will be a Number Twelve. I hope there's another mini-vacation surrounding the show.

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

But I am impatient for April 5 to role around!

OPC/DRAMATISTS GUILD PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP:

This afternoon is the one-day playwriting workshop, I'm attending, that OPC is holding in conjunction with the Dramatist Guild of America. It's hosted by The Human Race Theatre Company, and is billed as "A Playwriting Workshop and Producer's Q & A."

It's 4:00-6:00 pm, at The Metropolitan Arts Center in the Human Race Theatre Company 2nd Floor Studio, 126 N Main St, Dayton, OH 45402.

At 4:00 will be a presentation titled, "Reworking for the Stage: Adaptation and Revision."

"This talk is all about making progress on whatever project is currently keeping you up at night. Whether you're daunted by the task of adapting an existing work for the stage, stuck on the draft between drafts of one of your plays, or maybe both, this talk is for you. Jeremy Llorence, Otterbein University's playwriting professor, will share personal stories of his creative approaches in adaptation, revision, and the rehearsal process, while providing some of his tools and exercises for taking that net big creative step."

At 5:00, it will be "A Producer's Perspective: Q and A with Cleveland Public Theatre's, Beth Wood."

"How do you get your foot in the door with a new theater? What are producers looking for? In what ways are the national conversations about new work changing? What's next? Join Beth Wood, Associate Artistic Director of Cleveland Public Theatre, as she shares her impressions and reflections on over a decade producing new work. Les Hunter, Ohio Regional Representative of the Dramatists Guild of America, will moderate this session."

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK ‐‐ OPC/DGA PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP:

This past Sunday afternoon, I attended the one-day playwriting workshop, "A Playwriting Workshop and Producer's Q & A," held by the Ohio Playwrights Circle in conjunction with the Dramatist Guild of America, and hosted by The Human Race Theatre Company.

There were two presentations. The first was titled, "Reworking for the Stage: Adaptation and Revision," and was presented by Jeremy Llorence, the playwriting professor at Otterbein University. Prof. Llorence talked about what an adaptation is and how it differs from a remaking or an updating of a previous work. He also spoke about revision of one's own work, in general, whether it is an adaptation or a completely new, original work. The latter was of more interest to me, at least for any time in the near future.

For Revision, one of the things Llorence talk about was the difference between "small order concerns" and "large order concerns." The difference should be pretty self-explanatory. Small order concerns are the sort of tweaks I've been doing on my manuscript here recently: choosing a better or correct word, adding clearly missing words, rephrasing a line so it feels more like how the particular character would say it. The large order concerns are such things as how the second part of my Act 2 wasn't working and didn't lead well into the ending I had and wanted to keep. Thus I had to totally rewrite that section, replacing what was there with new content that is a much stronger path to that same ending, which is now well earned.

In terms of those large order concerns, Llorence talked about understanding the difference between symptoms and causes. When someone tells you that a section of your play drags, that is a symptom. The cause will be something such as there is no action that is moving the story along, or the stakes don't seem to be high enough for the characters, or the conflict is weak or vague.

He brought up some questions we could ask ourselves and I found two of those questions most compelling:

• Has a character made a decision and can we either make the action of that decision more forceful or put up bigger obstacles?
• What's the character afraid of and, to create tension, if it makes sense, can we present him/her with what she/he fears?

He also gave us his personal "Hierarchy of Feedback," the order in which he puts weight on the overall credibility of the positive and negative responses to his work. It's a ranking that makes sense to me:

1. Those involved with a workshopping of a production of his work ‐‐ the director, the actors, perhaps the producers
2. Industry audiences ‐‐ fellow playwrights, producers, directors, actors, artistic directors of theatres, etc., etc.
3. General theatre audiences ‐‐ those who attend theatre on a regular basis, have an affinity for the craft, who have some understanding and knowledge of theatre and playscripts, even if only from the POV of the audience seats.
4. Most friends and family ‐‐ especially those outside of the theatre world. Of course, such are prone toward favorable biases and exaggerating their praise.
   • I would add that even close friends and family who are theatre colleagues may sometimes shy away from totally honest criticism, but they are less likely to unduly praise something.

The second presentation was "A Producer's Perspective: Q and A with Cleveland Public Theatre's, Beth Wood." Les Hunter, the Ohio Regional Representative of the Dramatists Guild of America was to moderate this session, but he could not be there, so OPC Founder and Director, Michael London stepped in. Ms. Wood, the Associate Artistic Director of the Cleveland Public Theatre, spoke in length about her own theatre in terms of what they are looking for in new plays, the process of submitting to them, how they choose what they choose, and her own approach, as director, to mounting a new play.

The salient point, regardless of what theatre is in question, is to know what the theatre produces and what the theatre's mission is. As both she and Michael emphasized: look at the theatre's current and recent past season of plays and ask yourself if your play would fit in to one of those seasons. If not, it may not be a good choice to submit your play.

Two items of particular interest to me were the suggestions to:

1. Become a member of the Dramatist Guild of America.
   At this point, I could not become a full member, as I have not had a play performed in front of a paying audience or had it published by an established/known publishing/licensing house, such as Dramatists Play Service. I am eligible to become an associate member since I have written a completed script. The bullet list at the DGA website of the perks for an associate member has some good stuff on it:
   • Review of unsigned contracts
   • Business advice and access to our Business Affairs Department
   • Free or discounted ticket offers
   • Special discounts
   • A searchable listing in the Member Directory on our website
   • Access to sample contracts
   • A free subscription to The Dramatist
   • Invites to all Guild events
   • Discounts to the national conference
   • Discount to DG Institute of Dramatic Writing

   This is probably going to happen. When I do it, that means I'm committing myself to those other plays that are in me.

2. Submit my new original play script to NPX: the New Play Exchange.
   I was at first on the fence about this one, but am leaning toward it more and more. I've pretty much contacted every playwright I know, as well as a few other industry people, for their personal pros and cons about the service. A few have already responded with either positive or neutral stances; thus far there's been nothing in the cons column.I've done a bit of on-line research for opinions on NPX and have run across a few article, etc., on it. These two are typical of the overall positive reviews it's getting:
   • a Back Stage article from 2015, "The Future of Playwriting Has (Finally) Arrived," by Jack Smart
   • "Take the New Play Exchange (NPX) Challenge" ‐‐ a 2015 post by playwright Donna Hoke on her blog.

   The on-line stuff I've found is all a few years old, but the feedback I'm getting from theatre colleagues is current. At the moment, of course, I'm still in the closed table read stage with my manuscript. but, when it feels ready, I am seriously considering this step.

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IT'S ONLY TWO HATS:

Monday and last night I was one of those who auditioned for It's Only a Play, by Terrence McNally, which is up at Beavercreek Community Theatre starting April 24. This is one of those times when I don't have to write, "And it's on to the next audition." I have been cast in one of the two roles that I went in shooting for. It's not the plumb of the two, but it's still a good role. I will portray Ira Drew, a New York theatre critic who has a rather vicious pen. There might be something else about him, too. You'd have to come see the show to find that out. I'm glad to say I got the role because one of the few times I read for Ira I stumbled all over one paragraph-long line pretty badly. I wanted to re-do that scene, and had director Debra Kent asked if anyone had anything they wanted to read, I would have requested such. But, apparently it didn't matter.

I was also read for James Wicker, the more plumb role that I had my eyes on. I did a decent read, but I was pretty sure that actor Jim Walker would get the role; he's pretty typed in for it, and I was not the least bit surprised when I saw his name in that role on the cast list. I was also read for the role of the playwright, Peter Austin, and I felt good about that audition, too, especially about my reading of his monologue, but that role has gone to Saul Caplan.

The Cast of It's Only a Play (in order of appearance)
CHARACTER		ACTOR
Gus P. Head		Maxwell Shafer
James Wicker		Jim Walker
Virginia Noyes		Lynn Vanderpool
Frank Finger		Brandon Shockney
Julia Budder		Melissa Ertsgaard
Ira Drew		K.L.Storer
Peter Austin		Saul Caplan

I've shared the stage several times with Saul, a couple of those time, professionally; Saul has also directed me several times. I've shared the stage once with Mr. Walker, last June in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at The Guild. I've also shared the stage with both women in the cast. Melissa Ertsgaard and I did A Case of Libel, again at The Guild, along with Saul as a castmate. Lynn Vanderpool and I had the leads in A Woman on the Cusp, by Carl L. Williams, one of the six finalist plays at FutureFest 2011. I've also worked in shows with all those actors where I was not a castmate but rather on the production staff, sometimes as producer, usually as sound designer. However, Maxwell Shafer and Brandon Shockney I have not worked with before at all.

Our table reading is next Monday evening.

Of course, I had already reported a couple weeks ago that I had signed on to design sound for the show. This will be the first time that I've done a sound gig at BCT.

PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

Speaking of the Manuscript ‐‐ Here's some par for the course, (or as my mother used to say, "power for the course"). Last night I re-wrote some lines and I'm probably not done doing that. I had considered adding a couple lines but decided they weren't needed, after all. I think I can pretty much guarantee there will be tweaking one sort or another until the April 5th closed reading is close enough that the actors need a copy. And there might be some tweaks between then and the reading. There was last time.

Idea for a New Play ‐‐ Also yesterday, I got an idea for a new play. I've jotted down some bullet points. I have a vague-to-half-formed idea of the general setting and situation and a nice idea for the driving conflict. Who knows when there will be a Final Draft document began for this one, but, at least there is a beginning.

Remember I wrote that "When I [join DGA], that means I'm committing myself to those other plays that are in me." Documenting an idea for a new play that has come to me just seems to make sense. If I'm going to put myself in the position to be called a playwright, then I have take the actions of one; this is one of those actions, I would say.

AND STILL NO VOCAL TRACKS:

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

In the meantime the tweaking, (the little revisions, occasional small cuts, and occasional small additions), continues.

AND SO IT BEGINS:

Beyond that, yesterday during my lunch break, I began the process of making my flashcards, using standard index cards, so I can drill myself on my lines, on demand, in that actor's necessary goal of getting off-book.

HOW I SPENT MY MONDAY LUNCH AT THE RENT-PAYER: Me in the break room at work, where I started creating the index flashcards to help me get my lines embedded in my brain toward the goal of getting off-book

I also need to create some flashcards for the U.D. Law gig I have coming up on March 30. It's a scenarion (a case) that I've done a few times in the past, including last year. But, I do need to refresh my memory. It would have been nice had I saved the flashcards from the past, but, I have looked for them and I don't believe I did. This time I won't toss them!

BATTING ZERO ON THE DIALOGUE CLEARANCE THIS SEASON:

Gregory, by-the-way, also took the stills used in the Decision Height promocast.

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

Yes, there's been more tweaking. The paragraph above is probably a bit of an exaggeration, but, still, there's been more tweaking.

Also, in light of the declared pandemic of the COVID-19 coronavirus, I have not yet decided to cancel or postpone the April 5 closed reading. The health threat is clearly expected to accelerate, and depending on how much, I might have to postpone the reading. That would be frustrating, but, you know: it'll be what it will be.


We are now officially in rehearsal. The table reading was Tuesday night. There was a rehearsal last night, but I was not called for rehearsal. I was called for costume measurements, but I was in and out in a few minutes, then went home and worked on the tweaks I wrote of above in the Playwright work entry. Monday, I am called for blocking.


I've signed up to be a reader for the current Ohio Playwrights Circle workshop. This one runs a little longer. I've scheduled myself for eight sessions, starting this Saturday. Although I may have to cancel the March 21 session, because I have a DTG board meeting. There are two separate readings that happen at each workshop session, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon. I may only miss the morning readings on the 21st, or they may may want me to bow out for the whole day.

THE GUILD'S OFFICIAL STATEMENT CONCERNING CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19):

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Of course, just like the rest of you, like everyone in my state of Ohio, in our nation, in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting, to one extent or another, pretty much everything in my life. All Ohio K-12 schools, public and private, are shut down as of end of the school day this coming Monday, until at least April 6. Wright State University, where my rent-payer is, has suspended all in-person course work until at least March 30. All course work will be on-line as of Monday. I spoke to a prof in the theatre department and asked how were things like movement classes going to work. His response was, "I don't now. It's a challenge." All official Wright State U. events and student activities are suspended "until further notice." None of these particular suspensions affect me to any extent, except that the campus gym is close "until further notice," which was no surprise and makes great sense since a gym is a high-risk place for the spread of communicable diseases. So, now I'm wishing I had some workout equipment beyond a few bar bells at the homestead.

Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine declared the three-week closure of K-12 schools Thursday afternoon in a press conference where he also announced the prohibition of public gatherings of 100 or more people without a definitive target enddate. This, of course, affects my personal theatre world. I wouldn't guess this isn't a state-wide, soon-to-be nationwide situation, but most theatre productions in the Dayton area are either completely canceled or have been postponed until April, sometimes later, or "to a date to be announced." You'll see below that my home theatre, The Dayton Theatre Guild is delaying the opening of our next show, Morning's at Seven for at least two weeks ‐‐ exact dates not yet determined.

We're all being hit with some inconveniences, at best, and some people are being hit with some serious hardships. Right now, I can't really think of any hardships I'm being hit with, but, you know, things have been changing in pretty quick cycles the last few days, so I guess I'll see what the near, or not-too distant, future holds for me. I guess we'll all see what that near future holds for us, collectively

The multitude of sports events and conferences being canceled or delayed, the concert tours, Broadway: the service industries are certainly going to a major hit, not to mention a lot of those directly connected with these functions ‐‐ I think specifically of the actors, production crews, and theatre staffs, some who may get compensation during the suspensions, most who will not.

I guess we all need to brace for the next few weeks, or longer. And the long-term financial and economic ramifications of this, not just domestically, but globally, who knows what those will be. It all drops back to:

• Be concerned but don't panic
• Follow the guidlines of health experts
• Don't do those things we've been told put the at-risk population in danger
• And wash your hands....a lot

As for all those out there who think all these actions being taken by governmental bodies, schools, and businesses are unnecessary and that this whole COVID-19 stuff is overblown, that people are over-reacting, well I just gotta say this: I'm over sixty; I have high blood pressure; I had a massive heart attack a little over four years ago and had major heart surgery ‐‐ a quadruple bypass. According to actual medical professionals, the CDC, and the WHO, I am in that at-risk population who can die if I contract COVID-19, for which there is no vaccine and no cure at the present time. So, you know what, think what you want to think about it being over-blown, but I am way okay with the "over-reacting."

PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

UPDATED DAYTON THEATRE GUILD STATEMENT CONCERNING THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

March 12, 2020 update

The Dayton Theatre Guild is actively following the news along with County, State, and Federal government recommendations with regards to the coronavirus (COVID-19). As a public venue we are acutely aware of the elevated risk of public gatherings. As of this afternoon, the State of Ohio mandated that any public gatherings with 100 or more people be prohibited. While we are a small venue and could limit ticket sales, we also need to consider the health of our cast, crew, as well as our patrons.

To that end, Morning's at Seven by Paul Osborn will NOT OPEN on Friday (March 20, 2020).

We are currently working with the cast, crew, and the company that owns the rights to the show to determine our options of postponing opening night and what duration of a run can be accommodated by all. We have suspended all ticket sales for the show at the present time. We anticipate an answer by Monday, March 16, 2020. At that time we will update our website. We will also be sending an email and broadcast message via telephone once we have the answers.

We will continue to monitor the situation and follow County, State, and Federal recommendations. If the situation changes, we will adjust or cancel performances as necessary and inform our patrons via our website, email, and/or broadcast telephone message. As always, our greatest concern is the health and well being of our cast, crew, and patrons. If you are sick, we wish you a quick and full recovery. If you healthy, we wish you continued good health. Thank you for your continued patronage.

Dayton Theatre Guild

Most theatre productions in the state have been canceled ‐‐ Broadway, too, if you're keeping score. This weekend I was planning to see The Man Who Came to Dinner at Dayton Playhouse, but it has been canceled. I was also planning to see Proof at Troy Civic Theatre, which is going on as scheduled (it's a small theatre with maybe two-dozen seats, or so), but I am not going to be able to make it do to other obligations. Jennifer Joplin's superb one-woman show, which she authored, The Milf Also Rises, has een postponed until early May, so I called the box office to change my ticket for that HRTC extra.

With the Wright State gym being closed, I have to figure out how to get my exercise in. My cardiologist wants me to get at least two sessions of rigorous exercise a week, and he'd prefer it was three or four.

As I said above, I wish I had some workout equipment beyond a few bar bells at home. An elliptical machine would be awesome. A resistance training machine, a Bowflex, or whatever, would be nice, too. Hell, even a bench press would do. Well, I do have the free-weight barbells, and a few other things. Guess it'll be those and a lot of hiking ‐‐ and really, I'm a big fan of hiking, so, there is that.

Well, isn't life in the COVID-19 world in a constant flux of change? Things are rapidly changing in this pandemic situation. Sunday, Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine ordered all dine-in restaurant services closed as of 9:00 pm that evening. It's looking like there's a strong possibility Ohio public schools will be closed for the rest of the year, and DeWine has warned parents to be prepared for daycare centers to be closed. At Wright State University, distance learning (on-line) for all classes has been extended until the end of the semester. Wright State is, of course, where my rent-payer job, at the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library is. As of today, I was supposed to be one of a few staff members working remotely from home, since I am in the higher-risk population. But the university has closed down the library, as of today, so I am one of many library staff members working remotely from home.

This was supposed to be primary election day in Ohio. The Governor wanted to postpone the in-person ballot day until June, and extend absentee ballots almost up to the day. He could not make that decree himself so he arranged for a law suit, Monday. The judge that heard the case denied the motion. So, last night, the governor decreed that the poles will be closed today as a health hazard. I did not vote early. I planned to vote today. Now, there is a chance that I will not be able to vote in this election. Supposedly the Secretary of State will use the courts to extend voting options to give those of us who haven't voted yet the opportunity. It'll probably work, but what if it doesn't?

Below are updates for much of what I wrote of in my last post. Obviously, any of these could changed from their current statuses to CANCELED in a heart beat.

PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

AS OF RIGHT NOW ‐‐ I still have plans for the closed table reading on Sunday, April 5, I have not canceled or postponed. I will be taking certain precautions, however.

I will be setting the room up so everyone can be at a safe distance from each other. I'll wipe down the tables and chairs before everyone arrives. There will be no refreshments provided ‐‐ it'll be a BYO situation (including water). I do have ring binders for the scripts, brand new ones that are still in the shipping crate, but clearly the readers can bring and use their own. Mine are vinyl, which is one of the "danger" surfaces for COVID-19. I'm not exactly sure how many people will be there but I didn't invite a whole lot of people anyway, so physical distancing should not be any sort of problem. I did make it as clear as I could that I will not take offense if any participants wish to bow out.

Clearly this is a fast evolving situation and it may be that by April 5, meeting could be a really bad idea, or things might be on the upswing; I guess we'll see.


It's Only a Play is still in rehearsal but the production dates have been moved to May 1-10. I had my first blocking rehearsal last night, however, we have moved rehearsal to The Guild for this week, which will include tonight and tomorrow night. We won't meet next week. BCT is physically connected to a seniors center and the city of Beavercreek has, quite understandably, closed all access to the building until at least April 6.


At this point the U.D. School of Law gig on March 30 is still on, but they are looking at a couple ways to make the mock trial remote. I may be at the Montgomery County Common Pleas Courts or I may be on the U.D. campus.


Meanwhile, at my home theatre we had to bow down to the inevitable and cancel the production run of Morning's at Seven. Sunday, on what was supposed to be Tech Sunday, the cast did a full run of the show in front of a few invited guests and some of our boardmembers. They were not in costume and the soundwork was not present. So, it wasn't a full-production performance, but it did give the cast some closure. They had weeks of rehearsal that was going to be for naught. At least they got one audience to see and appreciate their work. And I was there. Their work was worth appreciating.

Here is the official announcement about the cancelation:

Our Production of Morning's at Seven is Canceled March 16, 2020 update The Dayton Theatre Guild continues to actively following the news along with County, State, and Federal government recommendations with regards to the coronavirus (COVID-19). While we looked at postponing Morning's at Seven by Paul Osborn, unfortunately there were too many complications that eliminated postponing as a viable option. We therefore regret that we will need to cancel the entire production of Morning's at Seven by Paul Osborn. With the White House recommendation of cancelling any gatherings of ten or more, it is apparent that we cannot risk the health of our actors, crew, and patrons. As you might expect, there was a lot of time, money, and effort already invested in this production of Morning's at Seven by Paul Osborn. We purchased the rights for the show, scripts, actors spent weeks preparing, our set builder had nearly finished building the entire set, and our costumers had completed sewing all the costumes and were just about to tailor them for each actor. Not to mention all the lost revenue from not being able to present the production. Therefore, we would like to extend the option for you to help us cover some of these costs by changing your ticket purchase into a donation. If you would like to help by changing your ticket purchase into a donation, we would be happy to send you a donation letter. However, we will also offer a refund if you purchased tickets and would prefer a refund. Our email is contactus@daytontheatreguild.org and our phone number is 937-278-5993. We hope that most will take us up on the offer to change your purchase into a donation. Therefore, we will assume you would like to change your ticket purchase into a donation if we DO NOT hear from you. You only need to contact us with a message indicting you would like a refund. Thank you for your continued patronage and we wish you all good health. Dayton Theatre Guild

Oh, and also:

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AT THIS POINT IT'S STILL A GO:

The show opening has moved again. As of today the rescheduled performance dates are June 12-21. I think it's not unrealistic to not be shocked if the show ends up being canceled altogether; I, in fact, think it's reasonably likely. But, you know, this is a lesson in the journey having its own value outside of reaching the destination. I will still study my lines and prepare myself for the performances up until I know there is a cancelation.

Rehearsal scheduled for last Wednesday night was moved to Thursday night. We did rehearse both last Monday and Tuesday evening. Monday, director Debrah Kent finished blocking Act 1, the portion of that act that introduces my character, Ira Drew. Tuesday night we ran the whole act. Thursday we blocked Act 2. At this point, we will not rehearse again until May.

As for where I am in the development of Ira, I have just barely the beginnings of an idea about his voice, his persona. The other thing is that this is a comedy and comedy is absolutely not my forte. I've managed to be succesful at it before, so there is that.

VOCAL TRACKS TONIGHT?:

After a few weeks of my throat not being in good enough shape to handle the vocal for the third song of my recent recording sessions ‐‐ that have been spread now over a four month period ‐‐ I feel like I may be able to knock them out tonight. Which is good, because I want to clear out the tracks on my eight-track digital recorder and start on a new song that I just got the idea for earlier today. So the sooner I can wrap number three up, the better.

OUR LAST DTG SHOW OF THE SEASON IS CANCELED, TOO:

This morning we had our monthly Guild board meeting, via a Zoom virtual meeting, which may be the norm for the next couple meetings or more. It was not a special meeting, so we discussed general business-as-usual issues, but, of course, the disposition of our last show of this season, The Old Man and the Old Moon was obviously going to be on the agenda since the auditions were scheduled for this coming Monday and Tuesday. We made the inevitable decision to cancel the production, but are seriously considering resurrecting the production in the 2021/2022 season.

The official DTG statement:

The rest of the DTG 2019/2020 season canceled March 21, 2020 update The Dayton Theatre Guild regrets to announce that due to the COVID-19 virus, we will be cancelling the remainder of our season. Looking at the social distancing that is occurring overseas, we anticipate the US will alter its social distancing requirements two or three month after other nations that have been dealing with this longer alter their requirements. With that expectation, we are likely seeing a return to normal sometime in the Summer or Fall. As you might expect, there was a lot of time, money, and effort already invested in Morning's at Seven by Paul Osborn. We purchased the rights for the show, scripts, actors spent weeks preparing, our set builder had nearly finished building the entire set, and our costumers had completed sewing all the costumes and were just about to tailor them for each actor. Our loss for The Old Man and the Old Moon will be less. Fortunately, we were able to cancel auditions before they occurred. We do however, have the lost revenue from not being able to present both productions along with requested refunds. Therefore, we would like to extend the option for you to help support the Dayton Theatre Guild by changing your ticket purchase into a donation. If you would like to help by changing your ticket purchase into a donation, we would be happy to send you a donation letter. However, we will also offer a refund if you purchased tickets and would prefer a refund. Our email is contactus@daytontheatreguild.org and our phone number is 937-278-5993. We hope that most will take us up on the offer to change your purchase into a donation. Therefore, we will assume you would like to change your ticket purchase into a donation if we DO NOT hear from you. You only need to contact us with a message indicting you would like a refund. Thank you for your continued patronage and we wish you all good health. Dayton Theatre Guild

THE MILF WILL ALSO RISE LATER:

Jennifer Joplin's wonderful, self-authored, one-woman show, The Milf Also Rises, has been postponed from early May at the Human Race Theatre Company to an undetermined later date. Can't say that I am much surprised.

FIRST WORK FROM HOME WEEK, (OR 80% OF ONE), DOWN:

Yesterday marked my forth day working remotely from home, along with all my colleagues at the Wright State University Libraries. Most of the rest of campus is doing so by now, as well. Every WSU employee who can or needs to work remotely will do so as of this coming Tuesday because the university will be closed to all but essential personel as of then. My boss let me know that if I want anything, work related or otherwise, from my office, I have until Monday afternoon to retrieve such, then I will not be allowed on campus.

So Monday I enter my second week working from home. At first, I resisted the temptation to turn the TV on, but I gave in Wednesday, but it was programing I've seen a lot, episodes I where I can recite most or all of the lines ‐‐ background noise. If I were to watch programing new to me, the distraction would grab me and I would not be at all productive. But I have found that those shows I know so well not only don't distract but also are a little comforting to have on.

Usually when I post photos like this it's of me working on this blog, or a DTG promocast, or maybe it could be when I'm working on the play. These are COVID-19 Work from Home pics.

Workin' from home for the rent-payer.

That's hot chocolate in that mug ‐‐ I don't do coffee.

A bit dreary and overcast when I took this one, but there were moments of sunshine. I can't wait for the weather to break so I can move my work-from-home office to the patio.

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PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

With Gov. DeWine's state-wide stay-at-home order ending on April 6, the April 5 closed table read is obviously going to have to be postponed until a later time. Plus, as I wrote above, I'm willing to bet the order gets extended past Apr 6. Honestly, as impatience as I am to hear the new draft out loud, I was leaning heavily toward a postponement, anyway. I was just ignoring the voice in my head pointing out the inevitable.

I was going to take a lot of precautions. For one thing, the reading would have moved into the theatre space so the very few people who would be there would have a lot of room to distance themselves and I would have put the four readers in chairs with music stands, very separated. But still, I wasn't admitting to myself that I was 95+% on the verge of postponing anyway, based on how things have been evolving.

When the reading will now take place is, like so many things right now, a big unknown.


Posted on facebook, yesterday:

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NO VOCAL TRACKS YET, BUT...:

...My voice is in much better shape now. I rehearsed the lead vocal last night. I wasn't and am not quite ready to lay the track down for a couple reasons. First, my throat is not completely to where it needs to be; second, I've decided I need to work the melody out some more ‐‐ the melody I have at the moment isn't satisfying me. It needs some tweaking.

There will also be back vocals on the chorus section, at least three voices, if not more. I am also thinking about doubling the lead vocal, too, which is an old trick, that I believe was innovated by The Beatles and Sir George Martin, though I may be mistaken. I do know that they did it habitually during the Beatle tenure and that at least John and Paul have used the technique in their solo careers.


The U.D. School of Law gig on March 30 is still on, but will be done virtually rather than on site at the Montgomery County Common Pleas Courts. It's a mock trial that will be conducting proceedings the way some courts are right now, or are planning to start doing: the different participants conducting their questioning and testimony from separate locations via webcams.

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I am determined to lay the vocal tracks tonight and the last of the instrument tracks tomorrow with the goal of having the song mixed and mastered before the weekend is over.


With the new models that put the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic in Ohio in mid-May, I am more and more skeptical about the June 12-21 run dates for the show.

Despite my skepticism, I am still studying my lines and character development (the latter, as much as I can outside of rehearsal). Rehearsal is supposed to start in early May, but I fully expect that the stay-at-home order will still be in place.

I have to further say that I am doubtful the show goes up in June. If it happens, I strongly believe it's going to be later. But for the moment, I embrase the philosophy of "the journey having its own value outside of reaching the destination."