I'm beginning to think I do too much... (EXTRA CRITICUM)

I was telling Roland just a few weeks ago that I intend to start blogging here more often, because I've got a lot of irons in the fire, pots on the stove, metaphors that need freshening. However, when you're that damn busy doing things, sometimes blogging about them slips further and further down the list.

However, there are two things that (I think) are a whole lot of fun coming up in the next week, so I am making it a point to spread the word.

First of all... (I have a friend who was an adjunct English professor who received a paper which began "firstable." It took her a few minutes to realize the student meant "first of all." And she was told NOT to grade him down for it. She lives in Canada now).

In the first place...this Thursday, March 18 (that is the day AFTER all the drunks ride the trains), I'm hosting my monthly installment of Drunken! Careening! Writers! at KGB Bar. If you haven't been to the series (which is founded upon the principle of hearing 1) good writers; who 2) read their work well; and 3) something in it makes people laugh, nervous laughter counts), this is an ideal experience for first-timers. The readers are three excellent writers who cover a lot of range, all of it good and well-observed. They range from Carol Rosenfeld (pictured at left), who read at the very first DCW, to Jessie Male (who WILL be on the bestseller lists in a few years, you heard it here...early), and Meri Weiss, one of the rising novelists on the scene. And drinks!

There will also be drinks served next Monday night, March 22, at the benefit I'm throwing for the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, which will be held at TADA Theatre (courtesy of Paul Adams, Artistic Director of EAT). Some of you may know that I am the Ambassador of Love for that festival, and that I've blogged about my trips there the last two years (when EAT traveled there with productions of two of my plays).

And in my capacity as Ambassador of Love (which is a much more interesting title than Ambassador for Cultural Dialogue, which is what it says on the plaque), I thought it would be a nice idea if we could raise some funds for a festival that has treated New York artists VERY well as we both try to muddle through some tough times. Frankly, it was not a hard sell to get people to help out. Here's some of the lineup:

Solo artists include Elizabeth Whitney (Wonder Woman, The Musical); Moe Bertran (pictured at right, performing a monologue from David Pumo's Love Scenes); Chesley Award winning writer and performer Dan Bernitt, and Andrea Alton (Carl & Shelly Best Friends Forever) as Molly the Lesbian Poet. Three short plays, "The Adventures of..." (featuring Jamie Heinlein, Jason Alan Griffin, and Hunter Gilmore), directed by Deb Guston; Kevin Brofsky's "Tom Cruise, Get off the Couch!" (with Kaolin Bass, Joe MacDougall and Desmond Dutcher, directed by Aimee Howard; and Mark Finley’s “Swans Are Mean” (with Elizabeth Bell, Matt Boethin, and Hunter Gilmore, directed by David Winitsky) will also be performed. Award-winning playwright, cabaret singer and man-about-town Chris Weikel is the Master of Ceremonies, and Peter Saxe is music director.

In addition, we're offering a raffle a “Big Basket o’Gay & Lesbian Plays, Books & Music.” Tickets are available online and at the benefit, and the winner does not need to be present to win. The basket includes signed work from such GLBT artists as Alison Bechdel (Fun Home), Meryl Cohn, (Ms. Behavior), Terence McNally (Corpus Christi), Mark O’Donnell (Hairspray), Irish playwright and novelist Emma Donoghue, Moises Kaufman (The Laramie Project) BETTY (the band!), as well as rare autographed items from pioneers of American Gay Theatre Robert Patrick and Doric Wilson.

Click on the picture of Oscar Wilde below to order tickets to the show ($20) or raffle tickets ($5 each, 3 for $10). For more details on the performers and what's in the basket, go to the blog.