The first evening of auditions for “A Little Murder Never Hurt Anybody” saw a very nice turnout, including a couple potential actors who have never been seen on the ABOB stage.
This is particularly great news to us. We have made an effort to bring theater to everyone in the area by keeping our prices low. We have also tried to encourage new performers from the area by being welcoming, flexible and fun. It’s been paying dividends. “Christmas Versus Carol,” our recently completed Christmas show, featured five actors new to the ABOB stage (and two were new to the stage, period).
The first night of auditions for our upcoming comedy saw three more talented people come out who have never done a show at the theater, plus some of our very talented regulars. The show has only six roles, so Director David Bucci has his work cut out for him. Too much talent is a very nice problem to have, though, and the show and audience will ultimately benefit from it. We make every effort to honestly evaluate the hopeful actors, putting the newbies on a level playing field with the veterans who’ve been in multiple ABOB shows. We hope that by doing this, we can avoid turning our acting pool into a club of “those who get cast” and “those who don’t.”
Come out and give it a shot…it’ll definitely be fun and what have you got to lose?
####
I was pleased to hear from Madison High School theater director Jocelyn Kilpatrick that the school will be using some of my one-act plays as part of its Jan. 26-27 production. In no particular order, they are using:
• ”The Meatball Says No” – A rags-to-riches story involving love, heartbreak and a talking meatball.
• ”Sartre’s Timeshare” – Meet the afterlife, same as this life.
• ”Set Dressing” – We don’t have a set, never saw the script and have no idea what we’re doing? Hey, it’s Hollywood…let’s make some magic!
• ”As Written” – A writer on deadline just can’t satisfy his characters, who have no problem letting him know.
Over the last few years, I’ve written thirty-some one-act plays, a couple dozen full-length murder mysteries and several full-length plays. The short plays have appeared locally at Edinboro University, Arlene’s Broadway on Buffalo, various wineries, the Ashtabula Arts Center and, in a couple weeks, at Madison High School. The murder mysteries have been performed at local wineries and the Conneaut Public Library and the plays have appeared at ABOB, in either live or video form.
I enjoy writing them, but enjoy even more sharing them with others. Which brings me to my point – I think it’s time to collate them all in one place and offer them to a larger audience. I’m not really interested in the potential financial benefits, just in getting the material out to a larger audience. And as licensing companies have been taking an ever-larger chunk of proceeds from amateur productions, I hope offering these pieces to the world at large at free/dirt cheap pricing will benefit everyone (except the licensing companies.)
So that’s the plan. Look for a website/Facebook page announcement within the next couple months, giving me time to update/edit/smooth out some of the rough spots. And in the meantime, go see Madison’s production…contact the school for information.