Two plays and a movie shoot

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.

8 stalls, no couch, and 3 cheers for Playwrights Horizons

We saw Edward Albee's Me, Myself, and I at Playwrights Horizons on Friday night (416 W. 42nd St., between 9th and 10th Avenues). The play was vintage absurdist Albee, with a delightful Elizabeth Ashley - more on that below.

But first: oh, that women's room!! They have eight stalls (yes, I counted), ample sink space, and no space wasted on those dated sofas and easy chairs. So even with 2 plays running in the space (After the Revolution is the other), there was plenty of room to pee. With all the complaining that I do about the awful state of theater bathrooms, this was a delight.

OK, the play.... OTTO (Zachary Booth) announces to his mother (Ms. Ashley) that his identical twin brother otto (Preston Sadleir) no longer exists. Albee's plays seem (to me) to take a long time to set up, but once they do, all hell breaks loose. So for me, the terrific second act made up for a slow first act. But since it's already closed (Saturday the 31st was the last performance), you'll have to wait for the next production to find out for yourself.

But if you want off-Broadway theater without an insane wait to pee, Playwrights Horizons shines.

Follow up re "Time Stands Still"

The play Time Stands Still tackles - among other things - the question of whether taking photographs of war and other tragedies really makes a difference. This NY Times article about a similarly injured photographer suggests that - in at least some cases - it does.

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/courage-recognized-joao-silva-in-combat/?hp

A Terrific "Time," and More Lousy Restrooms

I had been wanting to see Time Stands Still (http://www.theatermania.com/broadway/time-stands-still_168028/) for quite a while, and finally did last night. This is exactly the kind of play that I like best: an interesting and intelligent story (a photo-journalist wounded in Iraq returns home to face questions about both her relationship with her long-time boyfriend and the relevance of her work); terrific writing by Donald Margulies; and great actors.

Our seats were in the front row, which is risky at best, but I wanted to see the actors' faces up close and was willing to sacrifice a better perspective on the stage. It was the right choice (for me, although maybe not for others). Laura Linney, Brian D'Arcy James, Eric Bogosian, and Christina Ricci were worth it - and Ricci's eyes were as big on stage as they look on screen, which I didn't think was possible.

I've been a fan of Laura Linney since You Can Count on Me with Mark Ruffalo (another of my favorites), and my husband & I are among probably 100 New Yorkers who saw James in a one man show called The Good Thief by Conor McPherson back in 2001. That play - more of a monologue even than a play - featured a memorable story about a guy who takes a bath while robbing a house, and we still talk about it fondly. Add renaissance man Bogosian and Broadway newcomer Ricci to the mix, and it's truly an outstanding cast.

Now on to my pet peeve of the year: Cort Theater management should realize that women DON'T lounge on safas and easy chairs when we go to a theater restroom - we just want to pee! Maybe 50 years ago things were different, but these guys (and I'm assuming they're guys) need to get to the 21st century. Three stalls, a VERY long line, and a large room of wasted space that could easily fit 3 more stalls: not smart at all.

One other point: my husband said that the men's rooms were ridiculously cramped as well, although there were no sofas for them.

Lyceum Theater: Worst Women's Room on Broadway?

We saw The Scottsboro Boys on Friday night at the Lyceum Theater on Broadway. First, let me say that the show itself is terrific. As the NY Times said in an article over the weekend (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/theater/17scottsboro.html?hpw), a notorious 1930s Alabama rape trial is a daunting subject for a musical. The fact that it succeeds - and isn't insanely depressing - is amazing.

But this isn't about the play. It's about the ridiculous women's restroom at the Lyceum Theater. Four stalls. FOUR STALLS at a Broadway theater. To say that the line before this show was long (it's almost 2 hours long and has no intermission)...major understatement.

What makes it all the more annoying (that's my polite version!) is the sheer amount of wasted space. We don't need a long make-up table and a chair. And the water fountain should be upstairs near the seats. With a few changes, they could certainly fit 3 more stalls without enlarging the room.

According to a recent Bloomberg.com article on the new play Lombardi (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-28/nfl-green-bay-packers-fans-boost-broadway-s-3-million-lombardi-drama.html), 2/3 of Broadway ticket-buyers are women. So I think we deserve a decent restroom.

"Foreclosed" and foreclosures

I started writing my short thriller Foreclosed last May. It's a story of love, loss, and revenge by a man who lost both his wife to cancer and his house to foreclosure.



As I always tell film festival audiences, I had just bought a small house - my first real estate - in Pennsylvania, in the Pocono Mountains. It wasn't a foreclosure, but I looked at many of them before I bought. I was always struck by the sadness of them - the lives interrupted, the families displaced.


We shot Foreclosed in July and August of 2009. The final editing - with music and sound effects - wasn't finished until April of this year. As our self-imposed December deadline slipped away, I found myself wondering if the movie would be dated by the time anyone had a chance to see it. Would the housing market be booming again? Would festival programmers wonder what they could do with such a movie?


We're having a terrific festival run, with screenings this coming weekend in Flint, MI followed by Philadelphia the following weekend, and Tennessee right after that.


As glad as I am that people like the movie - and I really am proud of it - I find myself wishing it were just a bit less timely.



http://www.foreclosedthemovie.us/

Vincent Pastore receives award & film fest wrap-up

Last weekend was the 4th annual GIAA Festival of Short Films and Videos (http://www.giaafilmfest.com/). It's taken me most of this week to catch my breath and take a (semi-objective) look back, but it was truly a success, and even better than I had hoped.

Friday and Saturday nights were near-capacity crowds, and the afternoon sessions weren't far behind. I'll be posting photos on the festival website over the next few days, but I thought this one of me with GIAA President Carlo Fiorletta (aka my husband) and our Best Actor award winner Vincent Pastore would be a great way to start.

I went over the photos last night, and we have at least 20 of Vince. I don't think he smiled in a single one of them. But in person, he was a (slightly nervous) delightful and engaging presence, and clearly delighted to win the award. He did a terrific job in Alienated, a sci-fi comedy directed by GIAA President Emeritus Paul Borghese, and I'd love to see him do more comedy in the future.

Other festival highlights included the presentation of the Best Movie award to Tick Tock,

a tale of forbidden love starring Tracey Birdsall-Smith and Stuart Smith; I'll have photos of that soon as well.

Viewers took their job of picking the Audience Favorite awards very seriously (one at each screening), and the winners were:

Friday night: Vinny Vino, directed by Bill Sorice

Saturday afternoon: Soundlabs People, directed by Raffaele Passerini

Saturday night: Alienated, directed by Paul Borghese

Sunday afternoon: With Anchovies....Without Mamma, directed by Thomas Justino

Onward to year 5...