Far left: Carlo Fiorletta & Julie Kilzer shooting An Internet World
Near left: J City Theater's production of State of the Union
Below at left: The Crucible at Huron High School
It's been an interesting, artistic, and varied first half of November!It all began on a dark and stormy night...No, not really. The month started with a trip to Ann Arbor, MI to see my niece Caroline in the Huron Players' production of Arthur Miller's classic The Crucible. I was impressed. Seriously.
Not only were all of the actors excellent (Caroline had a good supporting role), but it was also well directed, including impressionistic modern dance during the scene transitions and notably good lighting. The theater itself reminded me of the layout of Second Stage Theatre in Manhattan, which is one of my favorite off-Broadway spaces. My only criticism is that the stage was steeply raked, which can be tough on even young legs.
Next up was J City Theater's production of State of the Union by Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse. This play is over 60 years old (!) but felt like it could have been written about recent politics instead of the 1948 Presidential election.
We had decided to go because (a) my husband had met one of the actors through a mutual friend and (b) it's only 6 blocks from where we live (the group has a permanent space at St. Michaels Church in Jersey City).
Once again, it was a delightful surprise. Sandy Cockrell directed as well as playing Mary Matthews (the candidate's wife). The pacing was brisk, the blocking took full advantage of the small, in-the-round space, and all of the actors were excellent - although I especially liked Stu Richel as James Conover. Plus, the concession stand had wine AND snickerdoodles. Life is good.
On the movie front, we shot about 75% of Larralley Productions' new dark comedy short An Internet World. Carlo Fiorletta wrote, directed, and stars with the excellent Julie Kilzer and Kerri Ford. It's about 2 people who meet playing an MMORPG (or massively multi-player on-line role-playing game, for the unitiated - like me). My niece Alice provided consulting assistance on just what these games are, but she has NO responsibility for our errors, omissions, or mash-ups of reality. She does, however, get our thanks for her help!
Sunday's location was in Landing, NJ (near Lake Hopatcong) - Doug Cronin provided the space and also makes his acting debut. And he served as part-time cameraman. His basement is pictured above - I can't imagine a better place to shoot. What really made it a great shoot, though, was the improvisation by all the actors - much of which, fortunately, we even got on camera.
We have a few more scenes to shoot over the next few weeks in NYC, with Rachel Caccese and Julie Johson. Keep an eye on the Larralley site (http://www.larralleyproductions.com/) for some teaser clips.
