Holiday Lights

Holiday Lights - Broadway lights will once again shine brightly, after a crippling strike that kept more than two dozen shows dark for 19 days. This will certainly make the holidays brighter.
Holiday Cheer - During this busy holiday season, depression can hit, especially in seniors. One alternative to living alone or going to a retirement center is the roommate alternative. Pat Cook’s new comedy, “The New Kid on the Block,” offers a hilarious look at one such small group searching for a fourth -- and perfect -- roommate.


Strike -- Some Broadway lights are still shining, even though some 3,000 stagehands remain on strike closing many shows. According to an Associated Press story in the New York Daily News, the stalemate between the people who work backstage and the League of American Theatres and Producers has forced theatergoers, particularly tourists, to find other attractions. Yesterday in the theater district, flyers were passed out advertising many of the 48 off-Broadway shows, that is productions in theaters smaller than 499 seats. One man promoting an off-Broadway musical said some people think all theater is closed, not realizing off-Broadway is open for business. "They don't understand the difference," he said. (Posted 11/13/07)

Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night — The creators of our latest musical comedy, “Twelfth Night,” were recently featured in a newspaper article in the Boston Globe. The Eldridge team of Tom Large and Stephen Murray, who wrote the adaptation and created the music, are given some well-deserved kudos. While Tom is new to the Eldridge house, Stephen has many plays and musicals with us. Congratulations, guys!

Noodles

Our Spotlight play, “Noodles,” is not only hilarious but has a message. Playwright Don Swartz explains, “I want to say to the audience that we all have wacky families. Cut them some slack and embrace them and love them while you still can.” Read more about Don and the play’s creation. Remember your own family during National Family Week, Nov. 18-24, or, after the holidays you may wish to observe “Forgive Mom and Dad Day” coming up in March, 2008!

Millionaires

Millionaires -- While millionaire Mark Cuban is still in the “Dancing With the Stars” news, that other famous rich man, Donald Trump of “You’re fired!” fame is not forgotten. Check out our newest spotlight comedy, “Frump Tales,” where a certain tough businessman wants all the fairy tales in the world to make him big profit$. A hilarious one-act by Burton Bumgarner.

Christina Hamlett

Congratulations to Eldridge playwright Christina Hamlett -- In a soon-to-be released book, “Chicken Soup for the Chocolate Lover’s Soul,” she contributes the chapter, “Love at First Truffle,” the romantic story of how she and her husband first met. In addition to her popular Eldridge plays, Christina often contributes articles about the art of playwriting to such magazines as “The Writer,” and “Children’s Writer.”

Ahoy, Mateys!

Ahoy, Mateys! Start practicing now because Sept. 19 is Talk Like a Pirate Day (TLAPD)! If you’d like to present some high-seas fun on your stage this year, check out our swashbuckling one-act comedy now in the spotlight, “The Pirate Princess,” by James Armstrong. Other pirate plays in our treasure chest include JT and the Pirates,” “Lost in the Bermuda Triangle,” and even our “Space Pirates!” Fair winds, Mateys!

Playwright of Many Hats

Playwright of Many Hats -- Recently, British playwright Hilary Mackelden was asked to direct her own play, “Ashdown Lee,” which Eldridge published recently. We asked Hilary to chronicle the adventure in directing her own work. Click here to read part 1 of her 3-part article.

When a Playwright Becomes a Director
By Hilary Mackelden

Part 1: The Decision to Direct:
Writing “Ashdown-Lee” was only half the story. Next comes the production, but our regular director recently retired and there’s no one come forward to take her place. The committee’s eyes fall on me. I’ve directed a couple of small-cast plays before, and I did write the play, so I must know how I envisaged it. I squirm, offer alternatives, none of them any good. I frantically search and ask people from other drama groups to step in. They are all busy. I have no choice. If the play is to be staged, I will have to direct. How hard can it be? They’re right. I wrote it. And I’m about to find out that doesn’t mean a thing.
I’m lucky in that our drama group always puts a producer in with the director. The producer deals with publicity, venue hire, costume people, back stage help and all that, so all I have to concentrate on what’s on stage. If I had to do all that other stuff as well, I’d be in a straitjacket. So, here goes.
The Auditions:
We’ll have two. Make it easy for the actors to attend. The first takes place one Friday evening. I sit in the audition room and pray that they will attend. Of course, when I am writing something, I tell my characters to be somewhere, and they come. If I want 20 characters, they appear. If only I could guarantee actors in the same way. Six actors had expressed an interest beforehand, five of whom can make the auditions, so I’m not alone. I’m aware of what number six can do. A talented lady, she’ll get a part. Six actors. Only fourteen more needed.
Three new people turn up. The good news is, they’re excellent. One is a matinee idol in-the-making and good enough for the main role. The bad news is, the other two are children. However, it gives me an idea. Martin (the antagonist) needs a gang of followers. If those followers are mostly kids, it gives him a pathetic quality which adds to his character. It could work.
After both auditions, we have seventeen actors. Enough to start, and maybe some parts can double up, and we can get extras later. If necessary, I’ll take a small role myself. How do these other groups have hundreds attending auditions? What’s the secret?

(See Part 2, “The Rehearsals,” next week.)
Recently, British playwright Hilary Mackelden was asked to direct “Ashdown Lee.” We asked her to chronicle her adventure in directing her own play. Here’s the second of her 3-part series.

Part 2: Rehearsals
First rehearsal: A nightmare. Some actors see this as a social occasion and I have to remind them we are here to work as well as have fun. My characters always do as I tell them. It’s a shock to the system that actors have minds of their own. We’ve had a read-through, but I get the distinct feeling that some of these actors don’t know what happens in the play. That feeling will grow as rehearsals get underway.
The next morning, the nightmare really begins. Three leading actors pull out. Frantically, I look for replacements. If only actors were like characters, who exit when I say and not before. In fact, characters fight to stay. New actors are found, and things look well. In fact, the change makes for a happier, more coherent cast. There IS a God.
We get to the nitty-gritty. Some actors read the script ten or twelve times. They know their lines and moves. They examine their motives and moods. They don’t just deliver their words. Others are too busy trying to prove they are the star. They question every decision, argue with every line or placement, try to get centre front at each opportunity. They have no feel for the play outside their character’s involvement. Scratch that – some have no feel for their own involvement. When we come to the climactic scene the actor playing Martin asks “Where does it say I die? I didn’t know I died.” I want to scream. Characters may not know what’s going to come, but they accept it when it comes and don’t object to what I give them.
Rehearsals move on. Actors don’t turn up. They phone in sick, (sometimes their sickness coincides with a big party their friends are throwing). They forget lines, lose scripts, get the giggles, lose concentration, lose confidence. I am director, mother, nurse, psychoanalyst.
I have one pivotal scene where I have practiced with the protagonist, and with the antagonist, but as yet, never together. I try hard to be nice. I smile through gritted teeth. I want to go back to writing. It’s easier. If characters play me up, I can get someone to shoot them. I can’t do that to actors. Or maybe…. No. I can’t.


(See Part 3, “Almost Ready to Open,” next week.)

Recently, British playwright Hilary Mackelden was asked to direct “Ashdown Lee.” We asked her to chronicle her adventure in directing her own play. Below is the third instalment of her 3-part series.

Part 3: Almost Ready to Open!
Books down. The actors complain and I am the wicked witch of the west. The characters never plead for just one more night with script in hand. They never need a prompt. They don’t think of ingenious ways to get their scripts onto the stage without me seeing. They never try to change whole speeches because “I thought it sounded better, is that OK?” No, it’s not OK. Change it back. I am constantly amazed by how many actors are really great, undiscovered playwrights. Are you sure I can’t shoot the actors?
A major role actor has a problem. His livelihood disappears and he is forced to take the first job offered. The new boss won’t give him time off for the production and he has to leave the cast. Six weeks to curtain up, and a pivotal role unfilled. If I was writing this, I’d either have someone waiting in the wings, or I’d make it all OK.
I ask a couple of actor friends. They are busy. I turn to my son. He’s good and fits the role, and can do it on one condition. He recently had major surgery and is signed off from work because his job is too physical. If he is still signed off by the time of the play, he can do it. If the doctor sends him back, he can’t guarantee he’ll finish work in time for curtain up. Is it a sin to pray that he isn’t sent back to work yet? He agrees to learn the part while I look for someone else.
A few visitors turn up to watch one of our rehearsals. All goes well. They are impressed. That night, I finally sleep. A couple of weeks of troubleshooting and we’ll be ready to open.
All in all, directing is hard work. Stressful, unpredictable and gives me high blood pressure. Writing is easier. Actors don’t do as I ask, characters do. Actors try to take control, thinking they know the play far better than I do. Characters tend to trust me. If a character does make life difficult, I deal with him. I make him suffer, put him through the mill. Shoot him. There are laws protecting actors.
The actors are growing into their roles now, and are enjoying it enough to talk about what we should do next. Next? They want to do another play? Frantically, I search for someone who can direct.
Directors, I take my hat off to you all. You’re superb. In fact, you deserve all the plaudits you receive. As for me, I prefer writing. It’s so much easier.

Instant School

Students across the nation are going back to school, and much of their learning will be taking place in front of the computer. The MacArthur Foundation has just announced a $2 million New Digital Media and Learning competition, to “inspire new ideas about learning in an increasingly digital world.” Recent statistics show on a typical day more than half of U.S. teens use a computer, and of them, half have created media content. Last January Eldridge began offering instant downloadable monologues for student actors. Based on that success, we have gone a step further for teachers and directors by creating a checkout option to download scripts. In today’s world, theatre is more important than ever keeping alive that human connection and team effort inherent in any production. But computers can certainly make it easier to get started!

Achievement Award

Playwright Eddie Cope was presented a lifetime achievement award earlier this year by Harold J. Haynes, founding artistic director of Encore Theatre in Houston. Cope is the author of 28 published plays, which include two melodramas with Eldridge, “Girl in the Tutu” and “Perils of a Frontier Fotographer.” Congratulations, Eddie!

Orlando Shakespeare Theater Contest

The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays - PlayFest, is seeking submissions of full-length plays or musicals for PlayFest 2008. Click here for guidelines and deadlines.

Musical Theatre Submissions

Eldridge composer Brian C. Billings is seeking submissions for a pending anthology of essays addressing the art of writing musical theatre for children. Texts may be submitted by composers, lyricists, librettists, and any actors who have been involved in workshop sessions meant to develop children’s musicals. Categories include characters, plot, process, audience, music, supplement, adaptation, and even informal reflection. For further information contact brian@librettiwritlarge.biz.

Playwrights Raise Funds

New Eldridge playwright, Jim Bain, along with two other Eldridge authors, Carl Williams and Eddie Cope, helped raise more than $4,000.00 recently for a fellow Houston playwright battling cancer. Jim and Eddie collaborated on a new play and presented it at Jim’s new home addition, a two-story combination office and theatre which can seat 55 people.

Gary Strapp Honored

Eldridge playwright Gary Stapp has been named a recipient of a $500 mini-fellowship award from the Kansas Arts Commission. Stapp, 45, is a founding member of the Chamber Players Community Theater, and was bitten by the playwriting bug while working in numerous local productions, either as an actor, director or set designer. In 2003 Stapp added playwright to his resume when his first playwriting endeavor, "Love Thy Neighbor," was performed by the Chamber Players for a run which broke the group's previous attendance record by fifty-percent and required an unprecedented two-performance encore. Eldridge also publishes another play of his,“Family Ties and Little White Lies.”

Readings Scheduled

Playwright Dennis Bush will have selections from his new collection book, “Never the Same,” presented at the Dramatists Guild in New York on April 27 as part of an evening featuring his work. “Never the Same” is a compilation of monologues and scenes chosen from several of his plays. Eldridge will release this collection in May. An earlier collection, “Life and Death, Laughter and Love,” was published in 2005.

Drama Award

Eldridge playwright R. Rex Stephenson, Professor of Drama at Ferrum (VA) College, was recognized recently during the 58th Annual Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) in Atlanta, receiving the prestigious SETC Sara Spencer Child Drama Award. Stephenson is considered one of the most published children's playwrights in Virginia. Jeffrey M. Revels, Education Director, and Associate Artistic Director for the Orlando Repertory Theatre, presented the award. He talked about the broad range of themes Rex has dramatized in his plays, from the historical and religious to adaptations of great literature, as well as the innovative methods he has used to create engaging drama. He highlighted Rex’s influence on children’s drama as the founder and artistic director of America’s longest, continuously running children’s theatre troupe, The Jack Tales. Most recently Eldridge has published Rex’s adaptation of Kipling’s “Just So Stories,” available both as a musical and straight play.

Thespian Festival

Eldridge playwright Jonathan Dorf leads two workshops this week at the largest high school theatre festival in the world with an annual conference held in Tampa, Florida. One workshop gives all the tools to start writing great plays, while the second highlights marketing.

Play Search

Valuable tips for finding the perfect play or musical for your theatre can be found in an article, “Product Focus: Finding Plays and Musicals: Sourcing the Works that Work on Your Stage.” The article, which includes information about Eldridge, was written by Erin Blakemore and Brandon Grant, and is featured in the March/April issue of DramaBiz magazine.

Bonderman Symposium

Playwright Claudia Haas, author of today’s release of “Casting Juliet,” recently participated in the Bonderman Symposium. She calls the experience “an extraordinary time in this middle-aged writer's life.” She was flown to Indianapolis and “graciously given a cast of wonderful actors, a dramaturg, a director and an intern (graduate student who did everything) and then the biggest gift of all - time - time to do nothing but develop my play, By Candlelight. A bonus: I was handed an astute class of high school students (my target audiences) and was able to listen to how the play worked for them. To have been a semi-finalist in the 2005 symposium was a dream. To be a finalist in 2007 was the dream come true. I left having experienced a lot of growing pains, with a script in my hand that is at least in early adolescence but contains hints of the adult-to-be. Professionally, I think life does not get any better than that.” The Bonderman Symposium is the brainchild of Dr. Dorothy Webb who years ago wondered why there were no development opportunities for plays for young audiences. And then she stopped wondering and created them. It is under the auspices of the Indiana Repertory Theatre.

New Intern

We’ve got a new body around the Eldridge office. Joshua Mikel, a senior Theatre and Creative Writing major at Florida State University has been coming in weekly to aid us with graphic design and play submission reading. A playwright himself, Joshua has won a number of collegiate honors, and is trying to gain experience from a short stay in our office. He has completed poster designs for one of our latest releases, “Rip Van Winkle.” Josh brings a fresh perspective on the ever-changing theatrical world.

Alzheimer’s

USA Today reports that more than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, a 10% increase since the last Alzheimer's Association estimate five years ago. Already, one in eight people 65 and older have the mind-destroying illness, and nearly one in two people over 85. The devastating effects of the disease are examined in our one-act play, “Comfort’s Broken Light,” by Aris Bremer. Dramatic and poignant, it is written as only one could from firsthand family experience. Theatres may wish to produce the play in conjunction with their local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Versatile Playwright

R. Eugene Jackson, who has written ten plays for Eldridge including the most recent Till Beth Do Us Part, is also an actor in his spare time. You’ll soon be able to see him in the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” as the (non-speaking) milkman. It stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Gene’s also played the part of the bookstore owner in “A Perfect Day,” a made-for-TV movie with Rob Lowe shown on TNT last Christmas time. You may also have seen him in a Kleenex commercial, the one with a blue sofa on a city street (in New Orleans’ French Quarter) from which people are interviewed. He says, “There is no question that, for me, playwriting has aided in my acting, and acting has helped me learn more about character development. They are mutually beneficial--and mutually fun!” He now has an agent and is auditioning for bigger roles. Congrats, Gene.

Rip Van Winkle

Take a look at a new release, “Rip Van Winkle,” which features minimal set requirements and maximum involvement by an extremely flexible onstage ensemble! This “storyteller’s theatre” one-act comedy adaptation is ideal either by itself or as part of a full evening of fun, spooky entertainment. It was created by Patrick Rainville Dorn, a gifted playwright new to the Eldridge house. Welcome, Patrick!

Performing Arts and Copyrights:

The spring school play season is gearing up. The Editorial Office notes questions about royalty payment are increasing. Eldridge Plays either holds the copyright or has executed an exclusive contract to represent the copyright owner in all licensing agreements. The fast answers to frequently asked questions are found by clicking FAQ Answers in the yellow ribbon bar on every web page or here.

New Poster Released

Martinsville Prevention Theatre wanted a poster and T-shirt to stress the dangers of drinking and driving as we near the end of school term. Our graphics folks responded quickly and the order is on the way in less than 48 hours. Check out Bryan McCampell’s one-act play Crosses to Bear for a new poster and t-shirt graphic. One act plays are especially suited to school competitions or end of the year assemblies. (posted 03/01/07)

Author Vsits

Last month, Rita Weinstein visited our editorial offices in Tallahassee, FL. We represent two of her plays, Camelot Court, a drama for community theatres and Something Fishy This Way Comes for all groups and audiences. In Camelot Court Corryann Driggers, "sixteen and never been kissed," feels trapped living in the poverty of rural Florida. When Russian missiles are discovered in Cuba, just 90 miles away, everyone in Corryann's small world begins acting on their fears, missed opportunities, and failed dreams. Violence follows, and Corryann's loss of innocence mirrors that loss for an entire nation. (Produced by the Group Repertory Theatre; Los Angeles.) Something Fishy This Way Comes is a light-hearted comedy that mixes a bride and groom with the ghost of a mother, a worried stepmother, telephone psychic, and tabloid reporter for a full evening of fun.

Teen dating violence:

Playwright Dan Kehde explores the symptoms and, in this case, fatal result of teen dating violence in his latest play, “Love Is Not an Angry Thing.” Present this social issue drama to show your young audiences that violence from a boyfriend (or sometimes a girlfriend) doesn’t have to happen. For more signs of teen dating violence as well as preventive measures, check out the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center at www.safeyouth.org. It is a “one-stop shop” for information on youth violence prevention, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other Federal agencies.

Playwriting Contest

The Columbia Entertainment Company is accepting entries until June 1, 2007, for their 20th annual playwriting contest. There is a $500 first prize with possible full production or a staged reading of the winning play. The CEC goal: “We are looking for top notch scripts suitable for family audiences with roles that will challenge and expand the talents of our actors.” CEC guarantees each submission will be read by at least three readers. We feel this organization has done a great job with its contest over the years. Eldridge is proud to have published 9 first place winners, as well as 4 others earning 2nd, 3rd, or honorable mentions. For full entry details visit them at www.cectheatre.org.

Introducing iStage

Introducing iStage: A new download delivery system for select monologues and skits! Finding the perfect monologue or skit for auditions, competitions, classroom work, or short performances just got easier with our new iStage scripts. Royalty free. Instant, secure access. No shipping fees.

Cast Moves Away

We purchased a play and royalties and then two students moved away! We don’t have enough students to fill all the roles. What now? This question was asked by Maplewood Richmond Heights Middle School drama director, Kendra Dando. Our editors worked with the script to help the show fit her needs. Here is what she had to say:

“Thanks so much for your suggested changes to Summer of KAOS. These are so helpful and will allow us to do the play. When I read it I was looking for ways to double parts rather than combine them - your changes are great! Again, I appreciate your work on this play. We'll continue as originally planned.”
Break a leg MRH Middle School! Many times small changes may be made to accommodate a theatre group. Of course, be sure to have any changes to a script approved by our editors. Just e-mail us at info@histage.com with any questions.