We had such a good rehearsal tonight that I'm feeling the same sort of high that I normally only get from performing.

Shit.  This directing this is going to be addictive, isn't it. Well, like they always say, first one's free...

Seriously, I'm so impressed with my amazing and hard-working cast.  I give them notes one week, and it's clear that they actually think about them before the next rehearsal.  They're willing to run a scene or a line over and over again until they get what I'm going for, and they're endlessly patient with my attempts to communicate my ideas ("Like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland!  Like a drunken Santa Claus!  Try moaning with your mouth open!") They think about what lines mean, and can instantly tell me the unwritten ends of sentences that get cut off.  And they're making these characters so much deeper and richer (and scarier!) than what's on the page.  Honestly, I have to say, I think our production is going to be better than the original Nightfall one!  And that's before we even add in the foley, which I know will add another amazing dimension to it all.  I can't wait for you all to hear it!

Speaking of which... the ticket page is now live!  Go forth and buy tickets! :)

I am beyond proud to announce my cast for But Oh, What Happened to Hutchings!

Mrs Candle: Mindy Klenoff
Talman: Nick Bennett-Zendzian
Hutchings: Andy Hicks
Meacham: Alex Nemiroski

I heard so many great auditions, there are many more people I'm very sorry I couldn't cast. Thanks to everyone who tried out!

(Seriously, when directors say "It was a hard decision"?  They're not kidding!  But so far I'm enjoying being on this side of the table even more than I had expected, and I'm really looking forward to getting down to work with my rock-star cast.)

I will be making my directorial debut with the Post-Meridian Radio Players in their Big Broadcast of 1946, to be performed at the Somerville Theatre this October!

My play is one of the "Tomes of Terror", a piece called But Oh, What Happened to Hutchings!  Set in London in 1825, a divinity student gets more than he bargained for when he's befriended by a disreputable young doctor with a sideline in "cadaver acquisition" and a retired missionary with fond memories of his days proselytizing among the headhunters and cannibals.  There's also a great tubercular landlady role.  It's a really compelling script, with some good meat to the characters, and I'm very excited to try my hand at directing.

You can sign up to audition here.  The talented and capable ayelle will be serving as my casting director, since I unfortunately have pre-existing conflicts that prevent me from being there for some of the audition times, but we're very much on the same page about what we're looking for, and the auditions will be recorded so I can hear them before we make call-back decisions.  And I will be there for call-backs, so everyone we're seriously considering will have the chance to read for me in person.  I have a lot of thoughts on how to make this show a positive experience for my actors; I hope you'll give some thought to auditioning!

All in all, I'd call that quite a triumph.

We had about 400 people in the audience, the largest I've ever performed for, and in by far the largest and most professional theater. We were called for 3pm for our 6:45 house open, and I brought a book because I figured there would be down time. Hahahahaha. Between the group before us running over their rehearsal time, waiting for everyone to get there through the snow, frantically figuring out a new stage plot (the one we had oh-so-cleverly figured out ahead of time, the one that fit all of the foley equipment plus 8 mics and 16 chairs apparently didn't actually include the speaker stack, since they didn't *tell* us about them), testing all of the mics, running up and down and up and down 3 flights of very narrow stairs to the makeup and dressing rooms... well, anyway, everything got done eventually. I did get to have some fabulous chats with some of the guys who work there, some of whom have been working there since the '70s. Dinner was a bit of a misadventure, but I got to eat half a bagel and cream cheese and a bag of peanut M&Ms before I went on, and my bagel and lox was waiting for me when I was done.

And then at 7:30 all of the chaos stopped, the house lights went down, and we stepped out of stage of that amazing old theater. It felt amazing to be standing out there wearing my tux (and mustache), waiting for my cue, the first one to speak on stage. I was -- not quite nervous, but definitely filled with adrenalin, hyperconscious of everything around me. And then the show started and the only thing I was focusing on was that magic unspoken communication with the audience, the unspoken transfer of energy back and forth. There's just nothing like it.

There have been an awful lot of incredible talented people on that stage, and I'm not entirely convinced I deserve to be there, but hey, I'll take it. And the audience really loved us -- it was wonderful to feel how with us they were, even as they were shivering in their seats. (Trust me, it wasn't much warmer onstage.)

We finished Red Shift later than anticipated. I had originally figured I'd have 15 minutes to change out of the tux, take off the mustache and male makeup, and maybe even rinse some of the hair goop out before I went on for Chicken Heart. Instead the call came "ge tback on as fast as you can!" so I ran up to the third floor, where the fabulous missmelissa yanked off my mustache for me (youch!), wiped off the worst of the eyebrows and sideburns, then as I was pulling off the tails, shirt, vest, and tie (luckily, I was smart enough to wear the foley t-shirt was underneath) she swiped on some more base to cover those areas, and I ran back down to the stage. Phew!

I of course was focused mostly on the sound effects for Chicken Heart, but those went very well overall. I'm told one or two of them were not as audible as we had hoped, but most of them were much better with the mics than they had been in rehearsal (especially the jello!), and we hit all of our cues. The sign language interpreters were standing right in front of me, and I had been a little afraid I'd get so caught up in watching them I'd forget to watch my script! Anyway, the audience seemed to enjoy our sounds, especially the jello and joyeous's fabulous slurping.

As soon as the show ended, we had the fastest strike in history to clear the stage for the next group, flew upstairs to change back to street clothes, and then back down to the lobby to greet our admiring fans. Thanks so much to everyone who came -- I know some of you couldn't stay to say hi afterward, and I'm sorry to have missed you, but I really appreciate your being there.

I was sorry to miss all the parties afterward, but as soon as the adrenalin rush was over I was pretty wiped. I went with ironpoet, alfie1981, jmspencer, and sectionchild to the Hynes to actually see a bit of First Night myself, but by 11pm or so we were back on the T heading back to Chez Babish. We watched the countdown on TV, had a glass of sparking cider, and then all went home. It didn't feel quite as celebratory as I usually like my New Years to be, but spending quiet time with good friends is not a bad thing, and I could use some more of that in the next year. I don't think this is how I'd want to spend all of my holidays -- I don't really envy the life of a professional performer -- but it was an amazing experience, and I'm very glad to have done it.

Word is we will be performing at Arisia, although we're not sure quite what yet, so I'll hope to see some of you there! The mustache may even make a reappearance.

Yes, we are still on for the Orpheum show tonight, snow notwithstanding.  I'm told that the First Night areas will be well-polwed and shoveled, and really the T runs just fine in the snow, so come on out!  Come at 6:45 when the doors open for your chance to play with our Foley equipment, or come at 7:30 for Red Shift and Chicken Heart.

I hadn't thought I was nervous about the show... my subconscious begs to disagree.  It spent last night dreaming about running around backstage trying to get my hair and makeup and whatnot done.  (And some makeup it is -- wait 'til you see, if you haven't already spotted Shelley's facebook photo.)  I'm sure it will all be great, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing friendly faces in the audience.

What are you doing for New Year's Eve?

The Post-Meridian Radio Players will be performing as part of First Night at the Orpheum!

Come see radio drama performed the way it was back in the 1930's, 40's & 50's. Actors at microphones, live sound effects artists, and recorded audio effects will transport the audience from the cockpit of a heroic Do-Gooder's futuristic spaceship to the panic-sticken streets of a city doomed by science-gone-wrong!


TICKETS
"Countdown to Chaos!" is part of First Night 2009 and admission is open to anyone wearing a First Night 2009 button. Buttons are $18 and can be purchased at any of a number of retail outlets throughout Eastern Massachusetts. Locations in Davis Square include the Au Bon Pain, Davis Sq Store 24 (which is actually now a Tedeschi's), and Star Market.

HANDS-ON FOLEY DEMO: Starting at 6:45, children of all ages (and yes, that includes you if you want it to!) are invited to come make some noise. We will be performing a comic re-telling of The Three Little Pigs, with volunteers making the sound effects.

The official show begins at 7:30 with:
Red Shift: Interplanetary Do-Gooder in "Countdown to Chaos!"
The PMRP bring to the stage their acclaimed original sci-fi comedy adventure program. This sendup of the pulp sci-fi serials of the 1930s and 40s features Red Shift, a licensed Do-Gooder for hire, and his faithful friend and mechanic Lumpy. In "Countdown to Chaos!", the villainous Lord Draith forces the duo to crash-land on the forbidden planet of Earth. Their ship attracts the attention of the world-renowned scientist Dr. Alberts and snoopy Penny Parker, Girl Reporter, who find themselves trapped inside the rocket when calamity comes to call. Can Red and Lumpy escape from the primitive planet, or will human technology be their doom? Are Penny and Doc destined for a sudden trip into outer space, or will they get the chance to pack first? The amazing adventures begin here!

Followed by:
Arch Oboler's "Chicken Heart"
The infamous "lost" episode of the seminal horror series Lights Out!, originally broadcast in 1937, and immortalized decades later by Bill Cosby in one of his most famous routines. In the play, a research scientist and a science reporter for a big city newspaper are witness to inconceivable events when a laboratory accident causes a specially-treated chicken's heart to grow uncontrollably. While officials treat the scientist's demands for action with skepticism and delay, hapless citizens are consumed by the ever-expanding mass and the deadly heart continues to grow... and grow... and grow...

I'll be helping run the Foley demo, performing as the narrator for Red Shift, and doing foley for Chicken Heart, so if you're in the area, come on by!

audioboy is on Seriously Somerville with Jimmy Del Ponte, a local cable talk show! There's a segment on the PMRP starting at the end of part 2. And you might recognize some chick who was there with him helping out with the Foley...

( See for yourself... )

Went caroling with Random Chants last Thursday, and we ended up at the Green Tomato II in Davis (former site of Boloco, O'Natural's, Carberry, and I forget what all else.) They gave us free meatballs, chicken parmigiana, eggplant parmigiana, pasta, and garlic bread. I had about 4 helpings of the eggplant -- and I don't like eggplant. The owner seems really nice, and he's being great about helping out the Davis community, so please go there and try to keep them in business!

Saturday night we had our first hands-on foley rehearsal for the PMRP New Year's Eve Orpheum show. I get to play with the jell-o, whee! And we came up with a really great new way to make the "great big squishy splat" noise the script calls for.

Yesterday Kerri and I went to the Bazaar Bizarre. We spent over half an hour waiting in line to get in, but it wasn't *too* cold out, and in addition to our own fabulous company we chatted with a fun Canadian woman in line behind us, who told us how her tramp stamp of a maple leaf has more than paid for itself in free beer. One we got in, we spent about 3 hours wandering around the 148 vendors. Wow. We both collected a huge stack of business cards for places we want to remember. I didn't buy much, just a set of ligature trading cards (it's a font geek thing), a masala chai-flavored lip balm (which smells so amazing I wish I had someone to kiss!), and a small button as a gift for a friend. Oh, and we got to see the fabulous missmhart shilling for the Derby Dames. I'm really hoping to make it to her match on March 21, must mark my calendar now.

The Post-Meridian Radio Players got a huge article on the back page of the Globe's City Weekly Section describing their antics at rehearsal for their show opening on Wednesday, Tomes of Terror III.  I even get quoted in it!

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/10/26/the_fear_is_all_in_your_head/

If you get the paper itself, there's a photo of "city spokesman and minor Internet celebrity" Tom Champion! He stars in one of the plays.

Reserve your tickets now for Oct. 29th-Nov 1. at http://pmrp.org

Tomes of Terror III

Once again, THE POST-MERIDIAN RADIO PLAYERS will bring you laughs, thrills and chills for Halloween with their annual LIVE "staged radio thrillogy", Tomes of Terror!

Come see radio drama performed the way it was back in the 1930's, 40's & 50's: with actors on microphones and a live Foley team creating sound effects, often with with unexpected, everyday objects. (Including our spiffy new glass-breaking box, and my leather biker jacket standing in for a couch, a horse, and any number of other sounds.)

First you will see the horrific Halloween jokes and pranks of Baby Snooks!
Then you will see the gothic terror as a simple fox hunt destroys lives in Reynardine!
Finally you will witness the vicious slaughter and uncontrollable terror of The Tell-Tale Heart!

The scares return, this year, for four performances, only! Wednesday, October 29th, Thursday, October 30th, Friday, October 31st and Saturday, November 1st at the Unity Church of God in Somerville, MA (note new location!).

Find out more at http://www.pmrp.org