EXTRA CRITICUM

East Village Theatre Festival - Alphabet City VI

Three Weeks of New Plays, Solo Performances, and Art Exhibitions Celebrating the Life and Lore of an Ever-Changing Neighborhood

August 3-23, 2009

Part of the fabulous East Village Theatre Festival at the Metropolitan Playhouse is the series "Alphabet City VI" directed by Derek Jamison. Six actor/writers are hired by the Metropolitan Playhouse on East 4th Street, to delve into the jungles of the 'hood and find a subject to interview. Then put together a 20 minute piece on their lives. 

Balancing Budgets: How do we do it?

It's budget-approval time here. Yay! And, I'm practically pulling my hair out over some of the choices I'm confronting.

Pick 3 (but not 4) of the following:

1. 2nd Act costumes for the chorus in The Magic Flute.
2. a 3rd French horn player for the Richard Strauss opera.
3. replacing 14 damaged seat cushions in the hall we perform in, even though we only rent it and technically they should be replaced by the owner but it's not the owner who will field complaints from annoyed subscribers who have to sit on a wobbly seat.
4. ads on public transportation. something we've only toyed with before but that everyone tells me we must do if we're ever going to take our audience development to "the next level."
5. an assistant choirmaster to help with the administrative burdens of prepping and organizing rehearsals of all our choruses throughout the season.

Sometimes I hate my job. I feel like an accountant instead of an artist, for godsakes! Yuk!!

Who Can Turn the World On With Her Smile?

I am a huge Mary Tyler Moore fan. So yes when I went to college in Minneapolis I had lunch in the IDS Tower at "Mary's Table" (I will not reveal whether or not I spun my heels and tossed my hat on the Nicollet Mall tho... some things should remain private). :)

Anyway, for those of you who love Mary with the same devotion that I do, season five is coming out on October 8th according to TVShowsonDVD.com

Earlier this year there was a report that all three of the remaining seasons of the Mary Tyler Moore Show would come out at the same time in a 'complete series' box set... meaning if you had already bought the first four seasons, well, you'd have to buy them again in the "complete set" in order to get the three seasons you didn't have. But this seems to contradict that. Hope it's true.... once I have the complete series: marathon!

To Be Continued... Whoops! Actually, No. (or: Not a Good Day for Soaps)

It is not a good day for the soaps.

Not only has ABC announced that it’s moving production of “All My Children” from New York to Los Angeles saying that LA has the advantage of having larger storage spaces for sets and the space to build permanent pieces, but also Nina Tassler, President of CBS, announced today in the New York Post that the 53 year old “As The World Turns” is in jeopardy of being the next show on the chopping block (“Guiding Light” is off the air in mid September after 72 years on the air).

It’s not surprising also that I’ve heard from my writer friends who write about the soaps online that ABC is in production for “The Aisha Tyler Show” a talk show starring the comic (known to most of America as that girl that nearly stole Ross away from Rachel towards the end of the “Friends” run).