EXTRA CRITICUM

Adam Szymkowicz' Playwright Interviews

Bit of shameless self-promotion. So I know we've mentioned playwright Adam Szymkowicz' ongoing series of online playwright interviews here before but now that Rolando Teco has just joined the ranks as Interview Subject # 315 it seemed a good time for a refresher. And fellow E.C. contributor and co-author of The Rubber Room Gary Garrison's Szymkowicz interview can be found here. Enjoy!

Culture on the Road: Tracy Jacobson and The Music Bus Tour

OK. This is almost too cool for words. A young bassoonist named Tracy Jacobson has a new start-up. She calls it The Music Bus Tour and it will officially launch this May. Here's the basic gist: A bunch of classical musicians board a bus and criss-cross the nation for a few weeks with one simple mission: to bring classical music to ears that otherwise might never hear it in unexpected places such as libraries, public parks, bars, restaurants, churches... you name it.

The Rubber Room - Feb 9-20 in NYC

So the two of us (Gary Garrison and Roland Tec) co-wrote this 70-min. play in which all the characters on stage meet for the first time. In a bold act of theatrical chutzpah, Artistic New Directions has commandeered five separate theatre companies in town to rehearse the play separately.

These five companies are rehearsing our five-character play in five separate locations and they've never met. One actor from each company will be called to perform the play with unknown scene partners whom they meet on stage in front of the audience. In essence, the result is: 25 unique opening nights.

Letter to a Young Filmmaker

Dear Young Filmmaker,

It was interesting meeting you at the screening the other day. Looking at this positively, you are obviously a go-getter and outgoing. That’s good. In the film business, those are valuable qualities. But you might want to exercise some restraint now and again. See, just because I carry a messenger bag that says “Tribeca Film Festival” on it does not give you license to come up to me and excitedly ask if I work for the Tribeca Film Festival. And when I tell you no, I don’t, maybe you could try to hide your disappointment a little better.