New Home for Are We Delicious?

We have a new home for the Are We Delicious? blog:

www.growingshows.com/blog

We have moved everything over to that permanent domain.  This is the last blog update at blogspot.com.

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Publicity photos: May Show

May Show Poster (479k)

8 by 8 grid of actors - marketing (274k)

8 by 8 grid of actors - non-marketing (260k)

All 8 actors, Clockwise from top-left: Molly Gonzalez Vanderlin, Matt Sloan, Matt Schrader, Sarah O'Hara, Sean Langenecker, Craig Johnson, Rachel Jenkins-Bledsoe, Catherine Capellaro (537k)

All Uppity Now, from left: Matthew A Schrader, Craig Johnson, Matt Sloan, Sarah O'Hara (680k)

How Many Fingers?, from left: Catherine Capellaro, Matthew A Schrader, Matt Sloan (650k)

Hooting for Hot Dogs,  from left: Catherine Capellaro, Molly Vanderlin Gonzalez, Matt Sloan, Sean Langenecker (614k)

Finding the Dirtman, from left: Molly Gonzalez Vanderlin, Matt Sloan (608k)

Fun Times with Baby,  from left: Rachel Jenkins-Bledsoe, Sarah O'Hara (1,600k)

Reservations

Click to reserve tickets for our May show!

Reservations

Make an on-line reservation for any performance of Are We Delicious? right this minute.

Press release prep and Facebook likes

Press Release

I spent most of the evening writing the press release for the show.  I hope to finish it tomorrow and send it out in the evening.

I'm putting in bios for the cast, and I'm realizing that almost everyone has produced and directed a play.  I must have a fondness for directors.  It's going to be good to have so many people who know what they're doing, because everyone's going to be self-directed a lot of the time.

I'll post the press release here tomorrow.

Facebook Like

I sent invitations for people to like Are We Delicious? on Facebook.  We're up to 19 as I write this.  I must admit, I have a child-like fascination with people "liking" the show.  Also, Dana Pellebon has sent out invitations to the Facebook Event, and 20 people (including me) have said they're going.  Dana says that saying you'll go doesn't mean you'll go, but it's a good start.

Is this a positive obsession?  Are we delicious?

Delicious Promo

Something to whet your appetite.

Shooting the promo

I thought of making a promo because it would be fun to do, and for a lot of people, watching a video is more fun than just reading.  I also think I'm more effective speaking than I am writing.  

I made 3 or 4 takes of this promo.  I want to write a little about my process.

My first thought was just to speak at the camera and then hold up little cards, like that old Dylan video...

Just me talking, and holding up some hand-drawn diagrams.  Thinking of the diagrams really helped me compose the piece.  So, wrote a script, including descriptions of the cards.

Take 1.  This was just reading the script from the screen.  Fairly unsatisfying.  It wasn't right to be saying all these "punchy" things, but obviously reading.  Also, because the script was on top and I was right in front of my computer, the light was reflecting off my glasses.  

Take 2.  I decided to memorize the script and put shopping bags over the glowing screen to cut out the glare.  This helped with the quality of the video, but I was still dissatisfied with the result.  It seemed to false, too staged.  Too much of a sales pitch.

BIG REALIZATION!

I've been "selling" this idea to a lot of people over the last couple of weeks, and I realized that if I just talked about the show, it would okay.  I didn't need a script so much as I needed at outline and just talk extemporaneously.  Take 2 was really about me trying to be someone appealing.  Trying to be someone else.  For this show, I just want to be myself.  I'm usually pretty good at that, but you know, you just put things on every once in a while in the hope you'll me "more" "something".  Screw that.  My old pal Toby always says, let your freak flag fly.

Take 3.  This is the final.  I'm very happy with it.  I crack myself up at a couple of points.  It has odd pauses.  I especially like the moment early when I adjust my butt and sit forward, like, "this is serious now, people".  Goofy and interesting.  Works for me.

Editing.  I pulled the video into iMovie.  I've never done anything in iMovie.  I couldn't figure out how to add images in the middle of the video without cutting the video up.  So, I added text instead of the cards I had been thinking of.  I think it works well.  I have now exhausted all of the cool effects of iMovie and can never do another video using them again.  Oh, well..

Logo

So, I was talking to Karen about getting a logo somehow.  And, you know, this thing is being done on a shoestring.  The whole point is to go very, very low on the costs.

So, Karen reminds me that nobody does anything for free.  She suggested I do it myself.  So, here it is:

I made it using Art Text 2 Lite, which I "purchased" for free from the Mac App Store.  It was very easy to put together.  The lite version is limited in functionality.  It actually delivered more than I expected for free.  Cherries were the only choice I had for fruit.  The "delicious" part was colored blue and had a really cool 3D gradient on it, but I thought it was too busy like that, and why have a second color?  Red and black.  That's simple and cheaper to print, even.  I think.

It's sort of succulent and simple, which is in line with the show.

I think.  One thing I do know that the Internet is very, very powerful.  In the last day, in about 4 hours, for free I have:

• Created a Facebook Page which describes the group and is a thing for people to Like and receive updates on their wall.
• Created Facebook events for both shows.
• Established ourselves as a theatre company on MadStage.com.
• Created this blog on Blogger.com.  I already had a blog (with a single post from 2007), and so the second one was dead easy to set up.  I have to say, I love that there's also a built-in mobile version for the blogging.  Really nice.
• Created an account on YouTube.
• Shot a little video on my Mac and loaded it to YouTube and then linked to it on the blog.

That's just amazing:  amazing that it's free and amazing that it is so simple.  And it will get simpler.  But probably not freer.  In fact, this might start costing money again soon.  I'd better get back to planning the show while I can afford to do it.

Friday thoughts

Well, it's really coming together.  This idea of creating a show with local actors has been banging around in my head for a long time, and for whatever reason, it's coming to pass right now.

Here's the concept:

• Ensemble. Invite some talented actor/writers to create a show
• Writing. Get everyone together to write pieces on a Sunday morning and workshop the pieces
• Rehearsal. Rehearse like mad all week, with the writers now acting in the pieces
• Perform.  Put the thing up as a late-night show

One week, one show.

One of my greatest frustrations is that I've been doing theatre in Madison for years and years and there are still people who I haven't worked with.  Many, many talented people are in demand all the time, and the planets don't align nearly enough.

With a one-week time commitment, this is less of a problem.  A person is either available, or they're not.

So, I've been lining people up and people have been saying yes.  The response has been amazing.

More later on the nuts and bolts.  I've been thinking a lot about this.  Now we're moving into the practical phase.  Where things get done.

More soon.

Delicious Intro

 Tony says hello.

Appetizer

Are We Delicious?

We'll soon see!

Our first show, What If We're Delicious?, is coming in March.

It will be an all-original show featuring pieces performed and written by some of Madison's most celebrated thespians. We're going to write, rehearse and put up the show in one week.

One and done.

More will be revealed....