TGIF (Thank God It's Francois)

Famed bon vivant/amateur detective Francois Fibian has been away from the stage for far too long, but, glory hallelujah, he has returned!

State College Community Theatre in State College, PA presents the interactive murder mystery DEAD TUESDAY, its first production in this here decade, on February 24, 25 and 26 at the Arena Bar & Grill in State College. Ticket info can be found at:

https://scctonline.org/tickets/

DEAD TUESDAY tells the tale of international playboy Francois Fibian as he sets out to solve the murder of a New Orleans socialite during Mardi Gras. Unfortunately, he's got problems of his own. A voodoo curse is changing him into a frog.

Yes, really.

I've told the story of how this show came to be, most notably in the blog post CROAK AND DAGGER: A FROG BLOG. Please give it a read. It's a pretty good story in and of itself.

The script for DEAD TUESDAY is available as a download at SCOTT CHERNEY'S STORE 

To read an excerpt of DEAD TUESDAY, go to my website WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

Performances rights are available for DEAD TUESDAY, $40 per performance with all script fees waived for a limited time. Contact me at writtenbysc@gmail.com fo' mo' info.

For a show that I never thought would see the light of another stage after the first, it's pleases me to no end that there is still life left in this show after all. Francois is like the Eveready Froggy. he keeps hopping and hopping...well, you get the idea.

Francois Goes to Hollywood

This year, DEAD TUESDAY, the interactive murder mystery formerly known as THE PERILS OF

FRANCOIS, celebrates its 5th anniversary. And what a year it has been, having its fullest production slate since its inception back 2014. Three different theater companies across the country staged this opus o' mine, not bad for a show I didn't think would get past its first production. Apparently, Jann Harrison's creation, Francois Fibian, the man who would be frog as interpreted by yours truly, has caught on beyond my expectations. It's not that I thought it was an inferior product. Not at all. I'm proud of this script, but it was just that it's so...odd, a little quirky for the general public. Blissfully wrong again.

NASHVILLE ARTIST JANN HARRISON'S WEBSITE

Ending the year with a bang, not a croak, DEAD TUESDAY's third and final production of the year will also be its West Coast premiere courtesy of SanZman Productions down in La La Land. Technically, it's not Hollywood, but that's moot as far as I'm concerned. SanZman will stage DT in several locations in the L.A. area.

SANZMAN PRODUCTIONS FACEBOOK PAGE

To make matters even sweeter, my friend Melanie Roady, the producer who commissioned me to write this show in the first place, gave me yet another wonderful and generous gift. Previously, she sent me the the latex mask from that first show in Nashville, a full head that sits inside the front door of my apartment. Now she mailed me a framed authentic Jann Harrison original of Monsieur Fibian. Her reasoning was that he belongs with his "daddy creator". Aw, shucks. That woman is the best.
As I stated in the past, I have blessed to have an angel like Mel in my corner. She put me on this path that I've been on for half a decade now, helping me achieve a third act in life and making me find my way once again. I am eternally humbled and grateful. Love you, Mel.

THE FRANCOIS SAGA BEGINS HERE

So this month wraps up the Year of the Frog and it's been all Francois all the time. In 2020, I have three bookings at this writing including my first here in Oregon. Huzzah! More to come (fingers crossed) including an interesting side hustle and some honest-to-goodness new material (fingers uncrossed so I can write).

As a former boss of mine used to say-

Stay tuned.

Performance rights for DEAD TUESDAY are available. Contact me at writtenbysc@gmail.com

Francois Rules!

Call it a twist of fate, pure dumb luck or just the magic of Francois, but lightning has struck again in a

BRING ME THE HEAD OF FRANCOIS FIBIAN!

very significant fashion.  DEAD TUESDAY will have a one night only performance on June 1 in Delton, Michigan,  a benefit show for the Delton VFW produced by the Delton ACT (Amatuer Community Theatre). While that news is wonderful all by its lonesome self,this being the second of now 3 productions of DT this year, the story behind it makes it even more special for me.

I was contacted via e-mail by one of show's directors, Jordan Dimock  (Michael Moray being the other) a short time ago. She had read DEAD TUESDAY and asked if his theater could produce it. Even though it was a one and done performance, I don't take any offer lightly. I'm grateful that anyone would even consider doing my stuff. Sure, I'd like it if there were multiple shows because that means more royalties for moi. What can I say? I'm a stinkin' capitalist but also a starving artist. (By the way, I could use a snack.)

What makes this so swell for me is that Jordan found the script online, which exactly how I got started in this business to begin with. Back in the fall of 2013, the artistic director of the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville Theater in Oceano, California found my melodrama    SONG OF THE CANYON KID online and wanted it for their summer attraction the following year. Encouraged by this sudden interest in something I had written, I began my long journey and contacting theaters myself and sending out scripts across the country. This resulted in a segue into uncharted waters, that being a distant cousin of melodrama theater, interactive murder mysteries, thanks to my pal Melanie Roady of Mel O'Drama Theater in Nashville. (see post: CROAK AND DAGGER: A FROG BLOG). As a result of my efforts since 2013, my shows, including the upcoming Delton performance, now total 19 productions in 12 different states. And there's more to come. Not too bad for a one man operation, if I do say so myself.  I gotta own this 'cuz it keeps me going in good times and bad.

My scripts are on-line since I have yet to interest any publisher to take me on as a client, despite my minor success on the boards. Therefore, I went the self-publish route and with that great power comes great responsibility...and more time away from the actual task of WRITING. (Sorry. Didn't mean to yell.) But the main thing is, as Thomas Haden Church says to Paul Giamatti in the great film SIDEWAYS, "Just get your work out there, man." So, out of necessity, I took my unpublished (but not unproduced) work out of the dark and put it out in the world. While this has yielded only a few hits as opposed to my own solicitations, it was not only a starting point, but a means to an end. Stepping out of the shadows has done me a world of good.

My thanks to Delton ACT for choosing my show and everyone else who has done so in the past and plans to do so in the future.

And, of course, Francois sends his regards.

For more information about DEAD TUESDAY or any other piece o' writin' I done did, please visit my website: WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY
or if'n y'all wanna buy sumpin' go to: SCOTT CHERNEY'S STORE
or drop me a line at: writtenbysc@gmail.com (Ethiopian princes need not apply)

The Year of the Frog

Apparently, the Frog abides.

A few years back, a project fell into my lap, the strangest theatrical venture with which I've been involved, and one that I believed to be a one-shot wonder. Hence, the tale of Francois Fibian, a bon vivant from New Orleans that solves a murder mystery as he's turning into a frog (?!) Yup, that's the premise DEAD TUESDAY, formerly known as THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS began back in 2014.
(see previous post: CROAK AND DAGGER: A FROG BLOG) Thanks to an angel named mel Roady in Nashville, I got my first script commission for an interactive murder mystery, a genre I never attempted before.

While I am proud of the end result, I never expected FRANCOIS to see the light of day again. That
didn't stop me from submitting it to theaters here, there and everywhere, especially after Mel produced yet another original script STAR TRUCK: THE WRATH OF COMIC-CON (now re-named MURDER: THE FINAL FRONTIER) the following year. That show I felt had the most potential for future productions and I was (initially) proven right. LO and behold, the StageCoach Theatre Company agreed to stage FRANCOIS a second time. (WHUT?) Producer Jerri Wiseman asked my permission to change the name of the show to the more marketable title DEAD TUESDAY. I liked it enough to keep it. (see previous post: DEAD TUESDAY) A year later, a third production was mounted in Illinois which made me believe that this show is indeed legit. One production is a fluke, two, a blessing, three,no longer a bastard.

After a several dozen inquiries (and a few publication rejections which is why I done did myself), I heard from TWO separate companies on both sides of the country that wanted to mount productions in 2019.

First up, the Rogue Theater in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin has seven performances scheduled at various venues in their area beginning April 3.

ARTICLE IN GREEN BAY PRESS GAZETTE

This fall, Francois will hop across the country, SanZman Productions will stage the West Coast premiere of DEAD TUESDAY in the Los Angeles area beginning in October.

So to the Rogue Theater and SanZman Productions, I thank you, Francois thanks you and most of all...Break a flipper.

2019 is indeed the Year of the Frog.

As you can plainly see, croak happens.

DEAD TUESDAY is available at SCOTT CHERNEY'S STORE.

To read an excerpt of DEAD TUESDAY, go to my website WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

Performances rights are available for DEAD TUESDAY. Contact me at writtenbysc@gmail.com fo' mo' info.

Murder: The Final Frontier

I'm nothing if not flexible. (Well, some will agree with the first part of that sentence. The second part is no longer possible. Damn you, Father Time!)

Earlier this year, the StageCoach Theatre Co. produced my interactive murder mystery THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS (you know, the froggy play set in New Orleans I penned a couple of years back) with the stipulation that they could change the title to something more marketable. Producer Jerri Wiseman came up with DEAD TUESDAY. I had no problem doing so, especially since I was in the process of altering my melodrama SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE to SONG OF THE CANYON KID to coincide with the book o' the same name.In fact, I liked DEAD TUESDAY so much, I made the change permanent. (Thanks again, Jerri.)

I went next to my second murder mystery, STAR TRUCK: THE WRATH OF COMIC-CON first produced last October in Nashville, TN with the Mel O'Drama Theater . The title is an okay pun that has probably been done to death elsewhere (I haven't checked. Too depressing if it's true. I'm very sensitive.) I went instead with MURDER: THE FINAL FRONTIER, a rather obvious choice but a boy's gotta do what he's gotta do. (I have no idea what that means) 

And the plot remains the same...

BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MURDER HAS GONE BEFORE! At a sci-fi convention reunion of the cult TV series STAR TRUCK, there is only one question on everyone's lips: Who killed Captain Kork? Could it be First Officer Mr. Spark? Maybe it's Carrie Fishwich, the blowsy actress from the rival franchise, STAR BOARS? And that alien over there...is that a raygun in its pocket or it just glad to see me? MURDER: THE FINAL FRONTIER is an interactive, intergalactic murder mystery comedy play with a cast of 3M/3F. Perfect for dinner or community theater audiences.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

DEWEY OSGOOD-Organizer and host of Imaginacon, geek extraordinaire and proud of it.  Finds himself in the unenviable position of solving the murder, though he discovers his inner super-hero as a result.

WILSON CHADWICK-The one and only Captain James T. Curt of the Star Freighter Innerthighs from the cult TV show STAR TRUCK. He is brash, over-bearingly charming with a voracious appetite for life and everything else for that matter. Considers himself the center of the universe with everyone else as satellites orbiting about him.

JEAN RODDENREEL-Widow of STAR TRUCK creator/producer Dean Roddenreel. Hollywood royalty in exile (and denial) with champagne tastes on a beer budget. Had an illicit love affair with Chadwick during the run of the series that produced a long-lost off-spring.

LEON PORTNOY-The inimitable Mr. Spark, forever type-cast as first officer of the Innerthighs and second banana to Wilson Chadwick which has made him bitter beyond belief. Now works as Jean Roddenreel’s man servant.

CARRIE FISHWICH-Longtime nemesis of Chadwick, co-star of rival franchise STAR BOARS. Loose cannon with a hair trigger who blames Chadwick for all her personal failures. Social media maniac.

ALIEN-Supposed STAR TRUCK fan who may or may not be of this world, until Chadwick’s murder when it is revealed this she is actually rising starlet and current geek icon (with attitude to spare) NIRVANA NIGHTENGALE, star of the hit TV series BATTLESTAR GALLIFREY

MURDER: THE FINAL FRONTIER IS NOW AVAILABLE AT OFF THE WALL PLAYS

Performance rights are available!

And to read excerpts from my other scripts and/or books (including RED ASPHALT and SONG OF THE CANYON KID), please go to my website
WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

Y'know, I heard that HAMLET was originally named THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A DANE. So, if re-titling was good enough for Bill Shakespeare, it's good enough for me.

Two Finger Salute

In the words of Leon Russell, "Don't get hung up about Easter."  

This has never been one of my favorite holidays. I'm not religious, the buffets suck ass and I'm just not into pastel colors. Maybe my disdain for this holiday goes back to my childhood.

We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard of my cousin's house. I found the golden egg. This meant I got the special prize: My very own goldfish and a little can of fish food. We put him a bowl of his own when we got home and before I went to bed, I told him,

"When you live with me, you're gonna eat good." (Don't correct my grammar. I was six.)

I then turned the can of food upside and emptied at least a third of it into the bowl. The next morning, he was floating at the top of the bowl sideways. DOA. I wanted to name him Floaty, but I ended up flushing him instead. 

Fast forward to this Easter Sunday 2016, I hereby make the following proclamation. The interactive murder-mystery formerly known as THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS will officially known from this day forward as DEAD TUESDAY. (see previous blog post). This joins SONG OF THE CANYON KID (aka LONE PRAIRIE) as I reboot these projects for more exposure and marketability. Lastly, I have decided to change STAR TRUCK: THE WRATH OF COMIC-CON to MURDER: THE FINAL FRONTIER for the same reasons. The other plays-LA RUE'S RETURN and THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE remain the same with no other title changes in the works. I've had to do this with a long gestating project that originally had the name CHEAP THRILLS. As the years have gone by, some have other books and movies with same moniker (and similar plot devises...ughhh....) have popped up and basically gone away. Still I felt the need to convert this to a new 'un and golly gosh if it hasn't given me the gumption to actually get back to work and complete this 'afore I'm daid in the ground.  There are couple of more plays in the works too, one I finished a major re-write this last weekend and another down the line, so stay glued to your screens for these announcements. No. Seriously. Glued. 

This post was partially created usually voice to text technology which I am hoping will be an important tool in my immediate future. What keeps me from being more prolific as I should be is that I am one of the world's slowest typists. The creation of all of my works have been with two fingers. Yes, I still write in long-hand as well. I have dozens of notebooks from over the years that need to be transcribed in order for me to continue. I need all the help I can get and the clock is ticking. As it stands now, if I lose the use of either of my fingers for any reason, I am totally sca-rewed. Hopefully, nobody will punch me in the nose. (Wait for it)

Well, I've got eggs to open. Hopefully, I got some panty hose this year. 

Goddamn it, I'm old. And I still miss Floaty.

For more info about my plays, please visit my website WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY or my Facebook author also known as WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY because I am basically a one trick pony. (No, I'm not interested in a little pony play. The bridle is always too tight.)