Back on the Boards Again

At long last, it looks like we're coming out of this mess we've all been in this over the last year and
change. I don't have to remind you of the effect all of this has had on the world. We're still in the midst of it, even though things are getting better. The abundance of vaccinations, the slow, but sure removal of masks and a return to, maybe not life as we knew it, but at least a reasonable facsimile until it all levels out.

There has been a lot of devastating loss of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness along the way and now is the time to start gaining some of it back. The Arts, thought of as non-essential and expendable, has been decimated to the point of near-extinction. Basically, whatever involved a gathering of people, namely an audience, has almost gone to the way of the Dodo. One has to merely look what it has done to the theater community, both professional and amateur. By sheer will and stubborn determination, it's ready to return. 

 So what happens going forward?

If theater groups have the freedom to a launch a full-scale production before a packed audience, more power to them. Unfortunately, that is not an option right now many out there and it still may be awhile before that can be a reality, a slower process than desired.

Several innovative theaters out there have been adapting to these weird times,  discovering new ways to get on with the show once again. Some have mounted productions with casts utilizing PPE face shields. Others have staged drive-in performances, utilizing the same technology used for drive-in movie theaters. Then of course, there have been productions on video conference platforms like Zoom, reader's theater and radio shows for podcasts. These can be monetized to bring in some necessary revenue. 

It's that "never say die" attitude, ignited by the passion for theater that will keep the spirit of live performances alive and kicking until the time is right to get back on the boards and get back to whatever the heck "normal" is supposed to be. 

After that long-winded prelude, I am proud to announce that the first show I ever shepherded as a playwright representative (or agent, if you will) is about to finally hit the boards. THE CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS CRAVAT, an interactive murder mystery written by the inimitable Michael K. Young, will be staged both outdoors as an afore-mentioned drive-in presentation and indoors on Sundays by the incredible Rogue Theater in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin on June 4-6 and 25-27. This same show was all set go last year at this time and had to be canceled at the very last moment because, well, you know. BUT, the Rogue still held hope they would produce CRAVAT one day...and now that day has come. The truly amazing thing is that it has the same exact cast as last year. What, were they kept in a cryogenic chamber or something?

I've written about theater angels I've had in the past, those that have given me chances and opportunities to continue down this path that has opened up for me. Lola DeVillers of the Rogue Theater is one of those people, being true to her word that she wanted to produce Mike's script makes her an angel in my eyes and I'll gladly share her with Mr. Young.

Speaking of which, a hearty congratulations to Mr. Michael K. Young on this, his sophomore production (after its debut with another terrific theater group StageCoach Theatre Company) of his original script. Cheers to you, Mike!

ROGUE THEATER WEBSITE

That's not all. I've just received word that my script, MURDER-THE FINAL FRONTIER is coming back as well with a possible three different productions and CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS CRAVAT may get a second go-around come Christmastime. Stay tuned.

The pause button, which had been deployed for the last year, is now off. Let's disconnect the bloody thing and keep moving forward. If there's one thing we've learned in all this is to recognize how both fragile and resilient we can be. As long as we recognize our strengths and work through our weaknesses, we're going to make it after all. (Thank you, Mary Tyler Moore)

For more information about CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS CRAVAT including performance rights, contact me: writtenbysc@gmail.com

MURDER-THE FINAL FRONTIER is now available from Off the Wall Plays

Corona My House

Ground zero?

In the words of the Wicked Witch of the West,
"Oh, what a world....what a world..."

Yeah, it's gone nuts out there alright. I should say it's already gone nuts and now it's just flat out insane. The pandemic they've been warning us about forever and a day is now upon us and what do we do? Hoard toilet paper. Yeah, we're fine. Lordy lordy, what is we gonna do?

I have two perspectives, not because I'm bi-polar or bi-coastal for that matter. I'm more BOGO as in Bi One Get One. I'm also spinning off the rails so bear with me as I attempt to put two thoughts together and come up with a blog.

On one hand, I have what is known as my day job, the one that pays most of the bills and that, my dear friends, is in the healthcare field. I am, as the main character in my book,
RED ASPHALT, a laboratory courier. That means I pick up and deliver, among other things, blood, urine and other bodily fluids for my employer's clinical lab. Naturally, we have been testing for Covid-19 at the hospitals and clinics in our network. Hooray. I'm on the front lines. Of course, we've been bombarded by tons of information regarding this outbreak and guess what? We still don't know what the hell we're doing, making it up as we go along. On Friday, I couldn't get that goddamn HBO mini-series CHERNOBYL out of my head. I began to feel like one of the first responders to that clusterfuck. "Boris, go down to the core and clean up. Take this mop. Hold your breath. You will be fine." The stress has just begun and my own melt-down is imminent.

My other job, actually my vocation, is an independent writer, a fashionable term for someone w/o representation. Among my works are pieces for the theater, though that's a catch-all phrase as well. I write melodramas and interactive murder mysteries which have been fairly lucrative for yours truly in the past decade. This year alone, the first six months in fact, I had four productions scheduled, one having wrapped up just last month in Texas. However, everything is on hold as of this moment in time that changes by the hour. Actors Studio Inc. has a scheduled benefit performance of MURDER: THE FINAL FRONTIER on March 21, the first in my adopted state of Oregon which was to be followed up by another the following Saturday. As of today, show #2 is cancelled. Another of the same show in the Los Angeles area is on hold while a production of SONG OF THE CANYON KID in Texas this May is up in the air, shall we say? Meanwhile, acting as another playwright's agent, I was able wrangle a production of Michael K. Young's CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS CRAVAT, a major coup, I felt. However, at this writing, a show set for two weeks hence is suddenly a big question mark. When it suddenly dawns on you that the survival of this particular art form is predicated on putting butts in seats, it's time to rethink your options. And in terms of survival itself, it's a lose-lose proposition. Social distancing. That's not entertainment.

(UPDATE: Actors Theater Inc. cancelled their March 21 show on 3/16. The next day, the Rogue Theater pulled the plug on THE CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS CRAVAT and, alas and alack, SONG OF THE CANYON KID is a no-go in Texas this year)

My problems, especially of the latter, are comparatively minor and I acknowledge that. People are sick and dying, businesses and facilities are closing left and right and the world is on lockdown. On the other hand, which I continually wash for twenty seconds at a time, the former, meaning that dreaded day job, is disconcerting because it also boils down to the same thing, spouted by that wise sage Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense of the good ol' US of A:

"There are known knowns; there are things that we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know."

What a soothsayer. That was 18 years ago. Match that up with anything that's been spouted in the last couple of weeks and you've got yourself The New Reality.

Tomorrow I head back into the void. It's another day and the sun will come out. Everything else is anybody's guess. Hopefully, the answer won't be blowing in the wind. I can only hold my breath for so long.

Take care, people. We'll meet again. Don't know where. Don't know when.