PRACTICAL PLAYWRITING: How to Write for Commercial Production

In accord with its mission of helping producers produce, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents a new seminar that connects playwrights to the real world of commercial theater: PRACTICAL PLAYWRITING:  HOW TO WRITE FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION on Saturday, July 25 from 1-6 p.m. at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal St. (below W. 3rd Street), NYC.
 
"This is an important step in our ongoing effort to improve communication between artists and producers," said Bob Ost, president of TRU.
 
TRU has engaged Diana Amsterdam of The Drama Centre in a new position as program director for playwrights and this workshop is her brainchild. "What often holds playwrights back are that they rarely consider the person who will buy and produce their product: the producer,” she said.  “With all the work, hope and sweat they invest in considering character, theme and plot, playwrights rarely take into account produce-ability."
 
Segments of the workshop will be taught by Ms. Amsterdam; by presentation coach Grace Kiley who will help writers capture the essence of their piece in an effective synopsis and learn how to present themselves successfully; and a panel of commercial producers and marketing experts will analyze the potential markets for participants' projects.
 
Topics covered will include:
· WHAT IS PRODUCE-ABILITY?
The fact that producers always ask this question, and playwrights hardly ever do, causes a serious disconnect between the commercial producer and most playwrights.
· WRITING TO A MARKET
This intensive will raise questions that playwrights may have never before considered: Who is your market? Who is going to buy tickets? Who is this play written for?
· WRITING VIABLY
This segment will focus on creating writing that holds the attention of the audience with a strong storyline and defined events.This module will cover such primary writing elements as: arc, desire, motivation, conflict, and the clear delineation of theme.
· WRITING ECONOMICALLY
Number of characters, number of sets, extravagance of sets: all these are serious considerations for most commercial producers.  Does the play require a casting director, or can it be done successfully by seasoned unknowns?  Is there a chorus of thirty that can be pared down to two?  Are you kidding yourself when you think one actor can play eight parts?
 
THE CURRICULUM (subject to change)
1-1:15 Introduction
1:15-2:15 How to Write a Play that a Producer Can Love - taught by Diana Amsterdam
2:15-3:15 Getting to the Essence: A Good Synopsis and How to Pitch It - taught by Grace Kiley
3:15-3:30 Break
3:30-4:30 Identifying Your Market - an inter-active "pitch" session with feedback from commercial producers (to be announced)
4:30-5:30 Cost and other Commercial Considerations - taught by Diana Amsterdam
5:30-6 Open discussion and Q&A

The workshop fee is $175, with an early bird discount of $25 off for those who pay by July 15.  Payment by check may be mailed to Theater Resources Unlimited, 309 W. 104th St., 1D, NYC NY 10025.  On-line payment by Paypal or by credit card is available at www.truonline.org/store-new.html.
 
Diana Amsterdam is the CEO and Artistic Director of The Drama Center which originated at the Writers' Voice at the West Side YMCA, where she taught playwriting for four years, and founded the Master Playwrights Class.  She also taught an original and highly popular dialogue-writing class.  TDC's reading series was standing-room; and the development of the play The Prophet of Borough Park culminated in a showcase production.   Diana continues to coach playwrights through The Drama Center; and she is intensively developing plays with three outstanding student playwrights.  Diana is the originator of the Story Construction method which will soon go live at The School of Story Construction. More at www.thedramacentersite.org.
 
Grace Kiley, M.A. in Counseling Psychology, professional actress (SAG, AEA) has coached for over 25 years. She specializes coaching professionals in film, writers, performance artists in her Art of Pitching Workshops independently and for organizations. She also coaches business executives, investment advisors, managers, entrepreneurs, and freelance artists, guiding individuals and groups toward their highest level of potential and achievement. Ms. Kiley founded Vermont Actors Workshop, has directed, produced and developed original scripts. Currently on the faculty for NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Kanbar Institute of Film and Television and Trinity La Mama Urban Arts Program where she teaches acting and directing. As Chair of Psychology at Burlington College in Vermont, Ms. Kiley developed curriculum and taught courses in clinical psychology. Over a period of 10 years she was active in The Assisi Conferences in Assisi, Italy. Ms. Kiley is a member of the HB Ensemble at HB Studio in NYC and member of the board for The New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts & Media. More at www.gracekileyperformancecoach.com.
 
Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a not-for-profit service organization that provides educational and support services for the performing arts with a focus on the business side of the arts. In particular, TRU helps producers, theater companies and self-producing artists navigate the business of making theater in the New York area and beyond, as well as providing networking opportunities. Programs include Boot Camps about producing skills, monthly educational panels, a play and musical developmental reading series, producer mentorships, an annual combined audition event, free workshops for actor members and a community newsletter of services, good, opportunities, ticket discounts and more.  TRU also maintains a referral database of more than 6,000 arts professionals.
 
For more information about TRU membership, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.

Deanna Witkowski

Just received Deanna Witkowski’s latest CD, From This Place. If you love jazz and love sacred music, which I do, you’ll be touched by the way Deanna combines them in this stirring CD. I’ll be interviewing her when she gets back from her week-long silent retreat. So stay tuned, and in the meantime, get the CD. It will make your spirit soar!

Ann Hampton Callaway's AT LAST

Starting with the first number, “What Is This Thing Called Love?”, right through to the last, “On My Way to You,” vocalist and songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway creates a sultry, sexy world of cabaret favorites and original music in her captivating new CD, At Last.

Backed by dynamic musicians, Callaway evokes a world of jazz clubs and sophisticated New York nightlife. The recording is so sharp and the performances so rich I felt I was in the room with all of them.

Besides such lushly sung classics as the title track, Callaway includes a pop favorite of mine, Joni Mitchell’s “Carey.” It’s certainly not standard cabaret fare, but with Callaway’s interpretation it’s a perfect fit, and just right for a CD she describes as “love songs for grownups.”

In a press release, Callaway describes her approach to recording. “I always think of CDs like movies,” she says. “It’s really about creating an emotional journey that starts in one place and ends in a place that’s very different.”

That’s a good way to describe this CD. The complete song list is:

1.) What Is This Thing Called Love?
2.) Comes Love
3.) Carey
4.) At Last
5.) Spain
6.) Lazy Afternoon
7.) Landslide
8.) Save A Place For Me
9.) Over The Rainbow
10.) Finding Beauty
11.) On My Way To You

“As years go by,” she writes in her liner notes, “I am increasingly awestruck by the power of music. It seems to have the sneakiest way of reaching deep inside of all of us and making us human once more. Good songs remind us that there is more to life than headlines. We have heartlines too, and they are patiently waiting to bring us closer together.”

At a time when the headlines are so bleak, it’s a gift to have anything that nurtures the heartlines. This CD does. At last!

All-Star Reading of “ON THE WAY TO O’NEILL’S: JFK IN IRELAND” to be presented at Midtown International Theatre Festival

A reading of “ON THE WAY TO O’NEILL’s: JFK IN IRELAND”, a new drama by ANN G. BAUER and DAVID BECKETT that imagines the later years of John F. Kennedy, will be presented as part of the MIDTOWN INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL’S Reading Series.

Featuring the talents of Broadway vets WILLIAM PARRY (“Sunday In The Park With George,” “Passion,” “Assassins”), MAUREEN SILLIMAN (“Is There Life After High School” “Shenendoah”), CHARLES WELDON (“The River Niger”), along with The Acting Company’s David Foubert, NATASHA MALINSKY (currently on VH-1’s “Tough Love”) and playwright Beckett, the readings will take place on Thursday, July 23 at 3 p.m., Tuesday, July 28 at 3:30 p.m. and Thursday July 30 at 3 p.m at the JUNE HAVOC THEATRE, ABINGDON THEATRE ARTS COMPLEX, 312 W. 36th St .

Admission is free and tickets are available by calling (212) 560-2338 or by logging onto the official website at HYPERLINK "http://www.OnTheWayToOneills.com" www.OnTheWayToOneills.com.

“ON THE WAY TO O’NEILL’s: JFK IN IRELAND” is an alternate history play that imagines the later life of former President John F. Kennedy, who survived that fateful day in November 1963 but lost both his wife and the Presidency. The year is 1999 and Kennedy, now 82, has come to Wexford, Ireland, to mourn the recent death of his son. His reverie is interrupted by an interview request from Gemma O’ Leary, a local newspaper reporter with a voice eerily similar to Kennedy’s late wife Jackie. Somewhat shaken, he agrees to a meeting with Gemma, who helps him make sense of both his life and the losses he’s suffered. Meanwhile, a remarkable parallel to the Cuban Missile Crisis is occurring on the other side of the globe, and once again, Kennedy’s diplomacy is required.

Playwright DAVID BECKETT is an actor who’s appeared on television’s “Boston Legal,” MTV’s “Short Circuitz” and “The Young And The Restless,” as well as the National Tour of Lincoln Center’s “Anything Goes” and various productions at Circle Rep, Soho Rep and Riverside Shakespeare Company. Playwright ANN G. BAUER has a theatre degree from Arizona State University. and has worked with the Old Globe Theatre while continuing to act and direct regionally. She has written professionally for television and radio and teaches writing on the college level.

"Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men."
~ Gandhi

A Time to Think

"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible."
—St. Thomas Aquinas

Happy Fourth of July!