“Fifteen Men” recognized

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I am extremely pleased to report that my classical tragedy “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” has been announced as winning second place in an inaugural new play competition sponsored by Floyd Community Theatre Guild of Floyd, Virginia.

Floyd Playwriting Competition

Floyd Community Theatre “aims to engage, inspire and entertain audiences with theatrical productions that challenge the thinking or open minds of those involved.” They also “provide educational programs in theatrical arts that promote learning to a diverse community while encouraging through the entire process” – a very important contribution. They have a wonderful and extremely active Facebook page.

playwriting competition was their first-ever contest. My play was in the top 10% of scripts and one of five finalists. I am very grateful to Floyd Community Theatre for their consideration and wish them the best of luck. Community theaters are the future of American theater and they are making an important contribution. It’s especially rare for a community theatre to sponsor a new play contest – so kudos to them!

Thank you, Floyd Community Theatre Guild!

“Philosophus” on November 12

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Best Medicine Repertory Theater has announced the date for the staged reading of my historical farce “Philosophus.”

The reading will be held at 3pm on Sunday, November 12 in the community room at the Lake Forest Mall in Gaithersburg, MD.

I will be attending the reading and will also participate in a talkback following the end of play.

Best Medicine Repertory Blurb

You can go here for more information.

Here is the full line-up of plays in the series:

Best Medicine Line-up

Very much looking forward to the reading!!

Writer’s Digest – Honorable Mention

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I learned today that my social satire “Whit(e)man” has been given an “Honorable Mention” in the extremely prestigious Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition.

Writers Digest Competition

The Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition is an international contest in its 86th year and sets itself the goal of “shining a spotlight on up and coming writers in all genres.”

The competition has separate categories for:

  • Inspirational Writing (Spiritual/Religious)
  • Memoirs/Personal Essay
  • Magazine Feature Article
  • Genre Short Story (Mystery, Romance, etc.)
  • Mainstream/Literary Short Story
  • Rhyming Poetry
  • Non-rhyming Poetry
  • Script (Stage Play or Television/Movie Script)
  • Children’s/Young Adult Fiction

My play received an “Honorable Mention” in the “Script” category, where it was competing with screenplays, as well as plays.

There were a total of over 5,100 entries in the competition this year alone, meaning my script was among the top 15% of entries.

Most special of all, my name will be published in the Writer’s Digest Competition Collection due for print in November, 2017.

Thanks to Writer’s Digest for this great honor!

“Philosophus” is Best Medicine

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I learned today that my historical farce “Philosophus” is one of eight plays chosen for a reading by Best Medicine Repertory Theater in Gaithersburg, Maryland for their 2017-2018 season.

Best Medicine is a more recent theater group – founded in February, 2017 – which is unique not only for its focus on new work (thank you!!), but also for its sole interest in comedic theater.

As described by Artistic Director John Morogiello: “Best Medicine Rep is a professional theater company that specializes in new comedies. The name comes from an Irish proverb that says, “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best medicine for every ailment.” We promise to provide you with at least one of those two options!”

Check out this great article on the group, including an interview with Artistic Director John Morogiello.

Best Medicine

“Philosophus” is one of eight plays chosen out of 80+ submitted to be honored in the reading series. The series itself stretches from October, 2017 though May, 2018.

More info to come!

Come check out “Whit(e)man”!

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Over the next few days, my social satire “Whit(e)man” is being included in the 2017 Dionysia New Play Festival sponsored by Khaos Theatre Company in Indianapolis – the first time the work has been presented in public (though it has received recognition in many contests).

Khaos succinctly (and colorfully) describes the festival as: “A series of excerpts pf short plays ever before produced in Indiana, performed only in togas, where the audience votes on which play they would like to see performed in full in KCT’s 2018 season.”

The dates are as follows:

  • May 19
  • May 20
  • May 26
  • May 27

Performances are at 1775 N. Sherman Drive, Suite A, in Indianapolis Indiana, 46218.

Dionysia New Play

Come and check it out

“Whit(e)man” yet again!

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Today I learned that my absurdist social satire “Whit(e)man” is a semi-finalist in the TRU Voices Annual Play and Musical Reading Series!

TRU Voices New Play Series

Theater Resources Unlimited (or “TRU”) “was formed to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theatre community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the capacity of producing organizations, individuals producers, self-producing artists and other theater professionals.”

My play “Whit(e)man” was among the top ten scripts submitted to the contest. I’m very grateful to Theater Resources Unlimited for providing this great opportunity for playwrights and for shining light on new work.

Best of luck to the finalists this year!

“Whit(e)man” in Indiana

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I have learned that my play “Whit(e)man” is going to be presented in the Dionysia New Play Competition sponsored by Khaos Theatre Company.

Khaos

Khaos Company Theatre is  “a new professional regional theatre in the Indianapolis area aimed at providing professional experience to emerging artists.”

From the Khaos Company Theatre website:

“Up to twenty different five minute excerpts of full-length plays will be chosen and performed at the Competition. In a modern recreation of the Ancient Greek Playwright Festival, blindly cast actors perform excepts of new plays clad only in togas! Audience members cast their vote in their favorite excerpts to determine the winner. The winning play is performed in full in KCT’s 2018 Season! 
 
Every audience member will be provided one complimentary vote (Ostracon in ancient Greek) for their favorite play. Addition votes are one dollar with a limit of ten votes per night per person. The play with the most audience votes by the end of the production run will be declared the winner and will be performed in full during Khaos Company Theatre’s 2019 season.”

Thank you to Khaos Company Theatre for their inclusion of “Whit(e)man” in their new play festival!

“Whit(e)man” is honored

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With great pleasure, I have learned that my contemporary satire “Whit(e)man” is a semi-finalist for the 2017 Eugene O’Neill Theater Conference!

2008 LOGO REMAKE_FINAL

The Eugene O’Neill Theatre National Play Conference (sponsored by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center of Waterford, CT) is one of the most respected new play development organizations in the country. I’m very happy that my new play is on their radar!

“Since its founding in 1965, NPC has developed over 600 new plays for the stage, launching the careers of many notable writers including: August Wilson, Wendy Wasserstein, Adam Rapp, John Patrick Shanley, Lee Blessing, John Guare, Gina Gionfriddo, and hundreds more.”

Previously, in 2016, my historical drama “Shadows of Men” was a semi-finalist for the Conference.

This will be the second year in a row when one of my plays has been recognized within the contest.

“Bethesda” a finalist!

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I am pleased to announce that my biblical play “The Beggar of Bethesda” is a finalist in the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition!

alleyway-theatre

The Maxim Mazumdar Competition is hosed by the esteemed Alleyway Theatre, located in Buffalo, New York. They are one of the better known theaters in the area and are widely respected for their development of new plays. In fact, Alleyway “is one of only a handful of companies nationwide dedicated to the development and production of new plays and musicals.” They have been in operation for over thirty years and developed scores of full-length plays, musicals, and one-act plays.

The competition itself is named after actor/playwright Maxim Mazumdar (1953-1988) whose “many contributions to the early growth of the Alleyway were artistically invaluable and instrumental in shaping a continuing relationship with Canadian theatre.”

alleyway-announcement

Thank you so much to Alleyway and its Artistic Director Neal Radice – and congrats to all winners and finalists!!

 

Songs from “Memory”

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Check out this marvelous audio recording from the recent concert of the rock opera “Memory” that was presented at the DiMenna Center (NYC) on October 21, 2016.

Many, many thanks to Andrew Seligson for his beautiful music and to Christopher Sokolowski, Claudillea Holloway, and William Guango Su for their beautiful voices.

The links below are some of the top samples from the show – music and dialogue being interwoven:

PS: “Scene Two” is especially good!