Cabaret/Theatre at Artlightenment Nov 7th (Nashville)

Here are some people you will see at 

 Cabaret/theatre @ Artlightenment 

7:00 pm Wednesday, November 7 

The Celebrity Centre of Nashville 

1130 8th Avenue South
www.artlightenment.com 

Here's the Cabaret/theatre lineup: 

•  ACT ONE 
•  Bob Teague - preshow music 
•  Film - Drama Mamas - documentary about African American Women Stage Directors by New York film maker Passion. 
•  Andrea Coleman, vocalist/Steve Kennedy on piano- Here I Stand . 
•  Ronnie Meek - Rothko monologue from RED 
•  Aaron Crites - 3 songs 
•  The Balcony Scene from Romeo & Juliet - Luciano Vignola & Billie Norris. Directed by Jaz Dorsey. 
•  Michelle Glenn - 3 songs with Bob Teague on guitar. 
•  Al Holbrook - 3 songs 
• 
  
• ACT TWO 
• Cabaret Overture: Roxie Rogers & Ann Street-Kavanagh 
•  Scene from THE CARETAKER, directed by Irina Sundukova 
•  NEW MUSICALS by Nashville Songwriters Janet McMahan & David Huntsinger, songwriters - selections from MUCH ADO and ONCE UPON A TREE. 
•  Terry Harkleroad and Sharon Cort - selections from THE MOCKINGBIRD SINGS, a new musical play about the birth of country music and the Bristol recording session. 
•  Roxie Rogers, Ann Street-Kavanagh & Jon Statham - selections from MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR by Brian Pederson. 
• 
  
•  COMEDY TONIGHT! 
•  Steve Alberts & David Allds - FUN IN THE WHITEHOUSE. 
•  Laurie O'Shea - 3 songs 
•  DRIVE THROUGH, PLEASE - Kenley Smith and Billie Norris. 
•  WHOEVER I NEED TO BE - by Mel Nelson 
• 
  
•  IT ENDS WITH A SONG (or two) 
•  David Webb - 3 songs 
•  Suzahn Fiering - 3 songs. 
• 
  
•  Come to Nashville and Go to the Theatre.

Adam Leipzig to speak at SOAPIFF Nov 12, 13th (Knoxville)

Adam Leipzig, publisher of Cultural Weekly will speak at this year's Southern Appalachian International Film Festival. Leipzig's career includes producing such films as DEAD POETS SOCIETY and HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS for Disney. Leipzig also served as the first president of National Geographic Films and was responsible for the highly successful Oscar winning documentary MARCH OF THE PENGUINS. All SOAPIFF events are free to the public and sponsored by the Knoxville Museum of Art, Pellissippi State Community College, and the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies.

Jaz Dorsey,
Director of Education SOAPIFF 2012
www.soapiff.com

Passion's DRAMA MAMAS opens ArtLightenment Fest-- November 7th (Nashville)

ArtLightenment 2012's "Cabaret/theatre" opening night gala on Wednesday, November 7th will kick off the festival with a screening of DRAMA MAMAS, a documentary short profiling African American Women Stage Directors, by NYC director, comedienne and film maker PASSION. 

Passion

Passion’s work has been critically acclaimed as "stunning" and "creative.” She has directed over thirty-five productions, including Saviour?, by Esther Armah, Real Black Men Don’t Sit Crosslegged On The Floor (Best Ensemble AUDELCO Award), Melba Moore’s Sweet Songs of the Soul (Best Solo Performer AUDELCO Award). At Newark and Houston airports she directed Gimme Wings! a salute to Black women pioneers of flight. Formerly Known As Sarah, Joyce Griffen’s tribute to Madame C.J. Walker, was presented at the National Arts Club, the Museum of the City of New York, Paul Robeson Theater and Estrogenius Festival. She is a member of the Workshop Theater Company, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Women’s Project Directors Forum, SDC and former Artistic Director of the NJPAC Young Writers Workshop. This AUDELCO Outstanding Pioneer Honoree recently directed the dual premiere of It Takes A Village To Raise Hell, in Times Square and Harlem. She appreciates your support of her first film, Drama Mamas! Black Women Theater Directors in the Spotlight and Remembered. 

Reservations are required for Cabaret/theatre and may be made at 615-915-0891.

AAPEX Interview: Melissa Maxwell wins AAPEX Filmmaker Award

for her satirical short FETUS ENVY.

(See it screened at ArtLightenment 2012)

 Please click image to enlarge.

Here's what Melissa has to say about herself and her film.

 Melissa Maxwell

What role did theatre, film and the arts play in your childhood and upbringing?

Truthfully, very little. As a child, though I had a very vivid imagination that kept me entertained for hours (and occasionally caused my parents great concern), theatre, film and the arts were not on my radar. In fact, I had been accepted to three different schools for fashion design until junior year of high school when, needing an elective, I signed up for Mrs. Gunion’s "Play Production" class. It was then that I got “bitten by the bug". 

Tell us about your own evolution as an artist. 

I graduated from Boston University with a BA in performance in classical theatre and immediately moved to NY where I spent the early part of my career acting in regional theatres, commercials, voice-overs, TV and some film. Along the way I started writing and then eventually directing. The past eight to ten years my focus has been primarily on directing. I believe it is the discipline that best utilizes my talents, and that my years/experience as an actor and playwright were necessary to my development, informing who I am as director and how I approach that craft.

What inspired FETUS ENVY and what are the adventures you have had on this journey? 

Fetus Envy was originally written as a one-act play in 2003. At the time, I was a member of the now defunct theatre company called Urban Rock Project. In response to the Bush administration’s Patriot Act, founder Rich Cole challenged company members to write plays that addressed the many ways in which our rights were being infringed upon (one addressed criminal justice, another marriage and civil unions, another capital punishment, right to privacy, etc). We ended up with ten one-acts, which were produced in the NY International FringeFestival under the title, Patriot Acts: The Constitution Project. Earlier this year, however, with the trans-vaginal controversy and Congress refusing to let women speak on a panel about contraception (are you kidding me!), I got angry all over again and realized that my play was more pertinent now then when I first wrote it. So I decided to shoot it as a film in hopes of it being a call to action. At some point during the filmmaking process, we discovered an article about the criminalization of pregnant women due to the personhood bill (and one article led to another). It was at this point that we realized that the film, while a work of fiction, was more life-like and less satirical than we’d thought and that “the not too distant future” was NOW. Making the film has been both the scariest and most exhilarating experience of my career to date. Scary because, having never made a film before, I was on a HUGE learning curve. I was stretched so far outside my comfort zone there were days I thought I was going to spontaneously combust. And yet, those very same reasons made it exhilarating: standing in the face of all of my fears, overcoming all the overwhelming challenges and not backing down gave me a tremendous sense of accomplishment. This year has been about growth for me. 

Whas'up next? 

For the film: enter it into festivals, screen it where/whenever possible and continue to get the word out. For me: I’m always working on several projects at any given time. I am the director of AmericanSlavery Project’s “Unheard Voices”, a collective work by African-American playwrights, which brings to life some of the 419 anonymous men, women and children who lived in colonial New York and are buried at the African Burial Ground. I am also currently directing a rehearsal project at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting for their third year students. In December I begin rehearsals for a children’s musical at Vital Theatre called, SHOW WAY, an adaptation of Jacqueline Woodson’s award-winning children’s book by the same title. Then I head to University of Texas where I will be directing a production of Intimate Apparel. That will keep me busy through the first of March. 

Melissa Maxwell 

Writer/Director FETUS ENVY It's not just a film; it's a movement!

Director UNHEARD VOICES 

Speaker TEDx Talk: "Taking Ownership" 

Words of Success

"You must once and for all 

give up being worried about successes 

 and failures. Don't let that concern you. 

It's your duty to go on working steadily 

day by day, quite steadily, 

to be prepared for mistakes, 

which are inevitable, and for failures." 

--Anton Chekhov

A "Tip of the baseball cap" to Owa.

Announcing SisterDelphia, a women's theatre arts collaborative based in Philadelphia

Announcing SisterDelphia, 

a women's theatre arts collaborative 

based in Philadelphia 

SisterDelphia is a brand new women's theatre arts collaborative, based in Philadelphia. Our mission is to support women theatre artists at all stages of their development, through readings, workshops, other development opportunities, and production. We also hope to partner with women-run theatre companies for additional networking and growth possibilities. The plan is to build a strong base for support of our Philadelphia membership, while reaching out to partner with women's theatre arts groups across the U.S. and across the globe, for networking, collaborative opportunities and other possibilities. 

To contact, please click here.

Fred Thomas Jr's 12' x 9' TICKETS ON SALE TODAY! Nominated by N.A.A.C.P for Best Ensemble, Best Director, Best Playwright, Best Producers (Hollywood)

Please click to enlarge.

12' x 9' NOMINATED for 7 N.A.A.C.P THEATRE AWARDS 

Townsend has five years left on a 25-year prison sentence. The only things important to him are staying alive and the visits from his wife. But, a fire puts two inmates in his cell: Jasper, a pious man, with no remorse for the true crime he hides and Train, a sociopath scheming to use one man and get rid of the other. An explosion is brewing, the only question: Who will be left standing?

Order tickets here.

MOTOWN the Musical casting Sat 11/3 (NYC)

MOTOWN the Musical Casting in NYC 

Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy (prods.) are casting "Motown," a new musical based on the life of Berry Gordy featuring a score by various Motown composers. Seeking

• Little Michael Jackson: boy, age 8-11, also plays Little Stevie Wonder and Young Berry Gordy, must be charismatic and have a great high tenor singing voice like Michael Jackson on "I Want You Back" also seeking Understudy; principal role. 
• Marvin Gaye: male, 20s, to portray the physical and vocal likeness of Marvin Gaye, must have a fantastic soaring high tenor singing voice, should also move/dance well; principal role. 
• Smokey Robinson: male, 20s, to portray the physical and vocal likeness of Smokey Robinson, must have a fantastic soaring high tenor singing voice, should also move/dance well; principal role. 
• Female Singers: 20s, African-American, attractive, with a slender build, must be 5'4"-5'8", move very well, and have an amazing pop singing voice to cover Diana Ross and others; featured ensemble role. 
• Male Bass: 20s, African-American, attractive, with a solid low C, must also move well; featured ensemble role.                                                                                          

Time and Date: SATURDAY November 3, 2012 

10AM-2PM 

Where: Telsey + Company, 

315 W. 43rd St., 10th fl.

New York City 

Please prepare a Motown song; show range. Bring sheet music in the correct key; an accompanist will be provided, but may not transpose. Bring pix and résumés stapled together.

Via Powerful People & Friends

THE ESSENTIALS OF A PLAYWRIGHT by Owa

Owa

THE ESSENTIALS OF A PLAYWRIGHT 

Theater is a collaborative act. There are a train of complex elements and craft-persons involved in the creation of a live show. At the helm of this mélange of master builders is the playwright. The architect of imaginative worlds brought to life by a predisposition to a fine madness, and a possession of the soul by the spirit of one’s Muse. The practicum of playwriting was known in the Kingdom of Kemet as well as by the dramatist of the ancient Hellenes; both enhancing theater to its most elegant format. 

Despite its most ancient pedigree, theater and the art of Playwriting is neither an exact science, nor a profitable one. It is on the one hand, a baffling and on the other, a strange scheme. No one hires a playwright, (except when set out to pasture in academe to teach) and therefore, no salary is earned. It may and usually does, take years to write a play. It will also take years to find someone to produce it. With the almost certain possibility of many rejections and hurt feelings. Once having successfully done so, one’s audience, or critics may not understand or like the show and overnight, one’s project is out of business. There is also the risk of group trance where all involved in the project, have no idea how bad it is, only to discover in costume, under lights, and on the boards, it’s a turkey. 

The term a “play” is itself quite a mystical experience in character and essence. What has been routinely called show business is something more, and exquisite. The essence of the playwright’s task and genius is the excavation of the intimate truths of his or her characters in the dynamic relationships of a compelling story. A story that defies death and lives on as long as humanity itself may exists. In this sense, a play is a living thing, and like life, no two moments are the same. Like life, the play dies when the audience leaves the theater or the show closes at the end of its run. However, unlike life, the play can be reawakened (like a resurrection) and breathe again, through living and loving voices. 

Yes, I would say the practice of the dramatist, director, thespians, producer and technicians is a spiritual experience... 

Owa 

Bronx, NY October 21, 2012

SHADES OF BLUES: A Conversation on the Classic Works of August Wilson and Lonne Elder III from a Blues (Music) Perspective 11/3 (Chicago)

SHADES OF BLUES:

A Conversation on the Classic Works of 

August Wilson and Lonne Elder III 

from a Blues (Music) Perspective 

Sat., Nov 3 at 

Logan Center for the Arts 

eta Creative Arts Foundation presents a panel discussion exploring plays from the black theatre canon that are reflective of an African-American blues aesthetic. Shades of Blues: A Conversation on the Classic Works of August Wilson and Lonne Elder III from a Blues (Music) Perspective takes place Saturday, November 3rd from 4-6 pm at The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th Street @ Drexel Blvd., Room 801. Discussants are Dr. Ken Warren, University of Chicago and Dr. Mikell Pinkney, University of Florida. Moderator is Lincoln Beauchamp, Jr., aka Chicago Beau. Free and open to the public, it is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture and the Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago and eta Creative Arts Foundation. For information, call 773-752-3955 or visit the eta at the link above.

Red Harlem Readers

Advice to the Playwright

Advice to the playwright: 

• Never let anybody alter your work. But if they do, and it happens to make it better, be prepared to take credit for it. 
• Never allow directors to intimidate you, but have some sympathy for them. They are professional cat herders and you are why they drink. 
• Strive to be kind to actors, even when they're being impossible. They have a difficult life, and without them, you're a novelist.
•  Praise and blame are illusions. 
• Never take kind words for granted, but do your work. 
• Just do your work. Don't let anybody stop you. Keep writing no matter what. 
• Direct, act, build sets, earn your right to be in a theatre. This will give you insight into the absurdly difficult tasks you set for others when you write. 
• Help other playwrights when you can, even if they don't like you. Jealousy is poison. We're all in the same sinking ship. 
• Calm down. Hysteria is contagious in rehearsal, and life is short. 
• Break the rules. 
• Trust your own instincts. If your instincts now and then betray you, learn from it, but don't stop trusting them. Experience can deepen and fine tune your instincts, but in the end, you have nothing else. 
• It's better to be hated for what you wrote than for what you let somebody else talk you into writing. 
• Write without fear. 
• Love without hope.  
--- DON NIGRO 

A "Tip of the Hat" to Owa for passing this along.

Author Gregory L. Hudson strikes back at BET

Author and playwright Gregory L. Hudson strikes back at BET over blog about his new book, "Why I Sued Eddie Murphy," a cautionary tale for any writer or any creative person who owns intellectual property rights and what a bitch it is to fight for them in a court of law.

ETC celebrates Zora Neale Hurston 10/21 (Mystic, CT)

Please click image to enlarge.

Emerson Theater Collaborative Announces: 

A CELEBRATION AND READING OF 

ZORA NEALE HURSTON’S WRITINGS 

4:00 PM, Sunday, October 21, 2012

Mystic, CT.

Featured participants include Zora Neale Hurston’s niece, Lucy Anne Hurston; actress, Camilla Ross; well-known, award-winning poets: Kate Rushin and Rhonda Ward; and playwright, Lisa Giordano. General Admission: $12, Seniors and Students $10. 

Refreshments will be served. 

Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the most important and influential modern American writers who wrote groundbreaking works about the culture and folk traditions of southern African Americans. Along with Langston Hughes, she was a central and celebrated figure during the Harlem Renaissance, and is best known for her 1937 masterpiece novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Not only was Ms. Hurston a successful novelist, essayist, journalist and playwright, but a talented anthropologist as well. Acclaimed authors of our time, including Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker acknowledge Ms Hurston as their “literary foremother.” 

Please join the Emerson Theater Collaborative in a reading of Ms. Hurston’s selected works. For more information call (860) 705-9711 or go to www.emersontheatercollaborative.org. 

Emerson Theater Collaborative’s mission is to serve youth, under-represented communities and artists with an emphasis on diversity, by producing innovative and exhilarating theater in Southeastern Connecticut. ETC explores timely themes and issues through new, original works and modern theatrical classics. ETC’s goals include reaching inner city youth through educational theatrical programming, to support local communities by providing free admission to low-income families and donating profits to humanitarian causes. For more information go to EmersonTheaterCollaborative.org. For Tickets, please click here. 

A.R.T/NEW YORK offers hope for the playwright

A.R.T/NEW YORK is an exciting visionary project that will change the face of nonprofit theatre in New York City and ensure affordable theatre for companies and audiences for the next 100 years. Please click the link to learn more.

Keith Antar Mason's FOR BLACK BOYS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED HOMICIDE WHEN THE STREETS WERE TOO MUCH needs your support

Please click image to enlarge.

For Black Boys Who Have Considered Homicide When The Streets Were Too Much written by Keith Antar Mason is a powerful choreopoem that acts as a vessel to unite and encourage Black male youth and provide voices for them and their concerns. PLEASE CLICK OUR INDIEGOGO LINK AND SHOW SUPPORT TO THIS POWERFUL ARTISTIC ENDEAVOR AND HELP US STOP THE VIOLENCE AND END BLACK MALE SILENCE! http://lnkd.in/4JUi6P 

"STOP THE VIOLENCE/END BLACK MALE SILENCE!" 

2012 is not only the tenth anniversary of DreamOn Entertainment, it is the 30th Anniversary of “for black boys…”, written in 1982 during a time where Urban America was fighting many battles that have affected the children of today including the rise of crack cocaine. And almost as if planned, the choreopoem was blessed to have been written during the birth and rise of hip-hop music, which carries many undertones that marry the subject matter in the script beautifully. As Keith Antar Mason has made it his new mission to increase mountings of this production up and down the East Coast, DreamOn plans to provide Philadelphia the opportunity to support such an incredible project especially during the rise of urban violence in our community directly affecting our young Black males while also using the production as a vessel to unite Black male youth and provide voices for them and their concerns. We hope to use this compelling piece to spring DreamOn and "For Black Boys..." forward, forge new donor relationships, reach a growing audience and, above all, leave a lasting artistic and social impression with viewers. With the support of companies, organizations and individuals like you, we can better develop the tools to tell important, thought-provoking stories, advocate the arts, entertain, and enrich lives all at the same time! PLEASE CLICK OUR INDIEGOGO LINK AND SHOW SUPPORT TO THIS POWERFUL ARTISTIC ENDEAVOR AND HELP US STOP THE VIOLENCE AND END BLACK MALE SILENCE! 

Red Harlem Readers

THE RED HARLEM READERS 2012-13 SEASON 

Readings on Sunday Afternoons at INDIAN CAFE 

New and classic plays, essays, short stories, 

poems and song and always stimulating discussion!!!! 

Free admission! 

Complimentary spiced tea!! 

THIS WEEK 

Sunday, October 14th at 4:00 PM 

Remember Me To Gimmees 

A Shopping Tragedy 

by Alan Stolzer 

On Black Friday, the most harrowing shopping day of the year, a family's simple quest to purchase an entertainment system results in violent trampling death and MORE!! Read by Michael Lipinski, Leah Barker, David Cargill*, Elizabeth Flynn Jones*, and Patricia Triana*

*Member of Actors' Equity Assocation

Towne Street Theatre Celebrates its 20th Anniversary with Peter J Harris' "The Johnson Chronicles" Saturday, October 20th (LA)

Towne Street Theatre 

presents 

"The Johnson Chronicles" 

by 

Peter J. Harris 

 Saturday, October 20th at 2:00 PM  

Highlights of the afternoon include the staged reading, directed by Felton Perry, talk-back session with the writer, director, and cast after the performance, and a reception to kick-off Towne Street Theatre's year-long 20th Anniversary Celebration. 

Towne Street Theatre continues its 2012 staged reading series with "The Johnson Chronicles" by Peter J. Harris, a bold, funny, sensual, historical, and conversational "body memoir," in the spirit of The Vagina Monologues. Playwright Harris weaves vignettes, vows, and affirmations about fatherhood, intimacy, size, and the pleasure and pain of living with the personal, political and mythological Johnson. "The Johnson Chronicles" is rated "R". Veteran actor/director Felton Perry, will direct the ensemble - Kenny Cooper, Ray Dennis, Keenon Harris, Joshua Lee Johnson, Mark V. Jones, Daniel Martin, Mack Miles, and RCB. 

"The Johnson Chronicles" will be presented at 2:00 PM on Saturday, October 20, 2012 at the Stella Adler in Hollywood, 6773 Hollywood Boulevard, (corner of Hollywood and Highland) in Los Angeles, CA. In addition to a talk-back session with the writer, director and cast, there will be an afternoon reception immediately following the performance. Produced by Towne Street Theatre, in association with Stella Adler - LA, the suggested donation for "The Johnson Chronicles" is $10.00. Please RSVP to info@townestreet.org. This is the official kick-off event of Towne Street Theatre's 20th Anniversary celebration. Towne Street Theatre, LA's Premiere African American Theatre Company, will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2013 with year of performances, readings, and special events. 

Founded in 1993 in the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots, with the belief that we could affect social change through our art, Towne Street Theatre's mission is creating, developing, and producing original work that is reflective of the African American experience and perspective for theatre and film. As we enter our 20th year of providing quality theater as a service to the community, Towne Street continues to be both an oasis for creativity and imagination and a theatre that helps to bridge the cultural & generational divide by bringing artists and audiences of all colors & ages together. Towne Street Theatre programming includes a 10-Minute Play Festival; Original Plays; Musical Theatre Camp for Kids; Black Classic Play Series; and a year-round Reading Series of plays, screenplays and novels. Towne Street Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. 

Please visit www.townestreet.org for additional information about Towne Street Theatre, visit & like our page on Facebook, and follow us @tsttweeting.

STAGE FRIGHT gets a second show on Halloween (NYC)

Please click to enlarge.

The Spiral Theatre Studio production of STAGEFRIGHT has been invited to present at The Theatre For The New City in NYC on Halloween. Based on a concept by Jaz Dorsey, directed by Paula J. Riley and starring Arlene Love, Molly McGivern and Mr. Jesse May as Edgar Allan Poe. Catch a sneak preview at The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South, at noon on October 15. Seating for October 15 is limited. Reservations are required and may be made at paula@pjrileystudio.com 

The Loop is nevermore...

From The Loop Online:

Hi, everybody. We hope you’re having a terrific start to the fall, and that you’re writing is growing in all directions. We have some bad news and good news to share with you. It’s time to wrap The Loop up. We started 8 years ago, when Facebook didn’t exist, Twitter wasn’t apart of the cultural landscape and the internet wasn’t a glorious proliferation of resources. What begin as a simple group email grew to 2500+ strong in a short amount of time. We went from emails, to Word documents, to pdf’s, to an on-line magazine, to its current incarnation. And that’s where it started going wrong. The Ning network, that hosts the Loop, is just too cumbersome, too awkward, too hard to navigate, doesn’t do justice to the submission opportunities and the site has essentially just become a social network (which is done much better in so many other different places). There are too many resources in this day and age that do things with more time, money, people and resources than we have and frankly, do them better. 

So we’re shutting it down at the end of this month. But we did want to leave you with a lot of resources that may or may not know. First, and this has been a long-standing confusion, The Loop is not tied to the Dramatists Guild. But you should be a member of the Guild if you’re serious about being a playwright. Aside from being tireless advocates for members’ rights and the extraordinary business advice from three staff lawyers, you get live-streamed seminars and workshops and podcasts from the country’s leading playwrights. Add to that a magazine that is all about you and your career, a national conference that explores what it means to be a writer in this day and age, a dynamic website that connects writers with the entertainment industry and simple being an integral part of your tribe. For more information, go to: www.dramatistsguild.com.  

We pull submission opportunities from a number of places, but start here with this relatively new site: http://www.submissioncalendar.com. 

An extraordinary resource for writers can be found at http://www.2amtheatre.com, or The Center for the Theatre Commons at http://www.howlround.com 

Also look at or subscribe to: 

 · Playwrights' Center: www.pwcenter.org 

 · Emerging Playwrights: info@emergingplaywright.com 

 · Sart Plays: sartplays@aol.com 

 · Northwest Playwrights Alliance: samanthaj.cooper@gmail.com 

 · The Playwrights Realm Gang: info@playwrightsrealm.org 

 · EBE Ensemble: info@ebeensemble.com (occassional email) 

And then below are more websites that are only sometimes helpful (always best to check the theatre's personal website to make sure the submission is still valid): 

http://www.stageplays-forum.com/ (see "Markets and Marketing" two-thirds of the way down the page) 

http://www.playwritingopportunities.com/ 

http://www.burryman.com/submissions.html 

http://p202.ezboard.com/benavantplaywrights 

http://www.nycplaywrights.org/nycplaywrights/ 

http://www.aact.org/cgi-bin/webdata_contests.pl?cgifunction=Search 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/playsandplaywrights/ 

If you’re in a college or university program, check out The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival at www.kcactf.org and look under the Kanin Awards. 

And finally, if you’re on Twitter, follow The Loop founder, Gary Garrison at this address: @PlayAtWriting. 

And one of the smartest men in the playwriting field, Gwydion Suilebhan, at this address: @GwydionS 

Or Adam Szymkowicz: @AdamSzymkowicz 

Or Jeremy Sony: @JeremyWrites 

Or I Follow Playwrights: @IFollowPW’s 

We wish you all the best with your writing. Remember, it all begins with you. Nothing in the theatre can happen without you being there first. You’re important, your vital, your essential. Hold fast to your dreams and tell your stories: we need to hear each other, our communities need to hear our stories and our culture desperately needs your heart and soul to shine a light on what it does right and what it does wrong. 

Write well, 

The Staff of the Loop

Stage Fright: Poe gets his at the Players Club 10/15 at High Noon (NYC)

Please click to enlarge.

Watch the Blackboard Reading of Nathan Yungerberg's POUSADA AZUL

Please click to enlarge.
"Pousada Azul" Ensemble with Co-Creators Galia Cornelia Jones-Ly
and Almeria Campbell

If you happened to miss the reading on September 10th at 

Live@ the Cell, Blackboard arranged for live streaming. Pretty cool.

Up next Monday, October 8th at 7:30 PM:

GENERATION T 

by PIA WILSON 

 Directed by Heidi Grumelot 

 GENERATION T follows two Marines – one on psych leave and the other AWOL – and their drug-addled friends as they try to cope with life in post-9/11 America – the only America they've known. 

 $10 Suggested Donation ~wine served~ 

 RSVP: info@blackboardplays.com

Call for Scripts

Company D *

* We are looking for completed, feature-length, limited-location, urban comedy scripts centered on two 30ish black males who live together in an "Odd Couple" type situation. We already have the story concept, so we are looking for a script as close as possible, so please only submit if your story revolves around these two dissimilar characters in an urban comedy. A plus if the two characters sell weed to pay their bills. By limited locations, we mean the story should be set in 5 or less locations. Budget will not exceed $500,000. Both WGA and Non-WGA writers may submit. For more information on gaining access to this lead, please see www.InkTip.com/pnews.php. 

Please note, the specifics are only given up if you sign up for the weekly newsletter which doesn't come without a price.

Jaz Does NYC

There's nothing quite like a week in New York to remind one that life is grand - especially if one is there for the business of the theatre. 

My week started on Monday, September 17 with Black Theatre Network mixer at B. Smith's restaurant on Restaurant Row (great calamari!). Hosted by incoming BNT president Michael Dinwiddie, this extraordinary event brought together about 70 actors, directors, producers, playwrights, dramaturgs, and stage managers from NYC's brilliant African American theatre community. I even got to shake hands with the incomparable André De Shields and give an AAPEX award to superstar Petronia Paley. 

The next morning I ran up to ASCAP to talk musical theatre with Michael Kerker, then back down to E. 15th Street to rehearse LA VIE EN ROSE with my former cabaret partner Topaz for our appearance that evening in Roxie Roger's METROPOLITAN ROOM gig - and before the show spent an hour interviewing Metropolitan Room's manager Bernie Furshpan. Despite flash flood and tornado warnings, we played to a full house and the audience's call "Encore" pinned the tail on that donkey! After the show, my publicist Penny Landau grabbed me and we ran off to another fabulous NYC club, THE IRIDIUM, where my mind was blown by an awesome performer named Terese Genecco, who sounds a lot like Tony Bennett and delivered a kind of 50s style floorshow that I thought only exists in daydreams. 

The rest of the week I bounced up and down Manhattan like it was a pinball machine, meeting with such folks as 96 year old Anita Velez Mitchell (who took over for Chita Rivera in WEST SIDE STORY), and film makers Claire Panke (www.lightyearsfilm.com) and Melissa Maxwell  whose film FETUS ENVY is on the bill for the ArtLightenment Film Festival back here in Nashville. 

The week ended on Friday with my friend, actress Arlene Love, reciting THE RAVEN over breakfast in the diner at the corner of 2nd Avenue and 23rd Street. Only in New York, folks. 

Jaz Dorsey 

The Nashville Dramaturgy Project

Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Playwrights Redux

Please click to enlarge.

A playwright we know just got a rejection letter from the prestigious Center Theatre Group in L.A. It said they "receive more than a thousand submissions a year for a handful of production slots..." Pretty bad odds. The odds are even worse if you're black-- not because of any prejudice, but because black theatres are far and few between and most don't have the economic wherewithal to champion new and unproven works. From a financial POV, this is generally true for white theatres too but even more so because few of them can or will cast outside of their repertory (where there are few if any black actors) for their subscribers who are predominantly white.

So, any black man or woman who still wants to be a playwright, go right ahead, but proceed with caution along that dark and twisting road because only a few will make it to the end.

You've been warned.