EXTRA CRITICUM

Getting Mortified

I'm making my debut as a reader at the LA edition of the famed Mortified Live reading series this week. If you're not familiar with it, Mortified is a storytelling show where adults read their most mortifying childhood works of art (diary entries, song lyrics, poems, letters, etc.) in front of total strangers - all for the sake of comedy.

I was sure, given the fact that I'd been journaling pretty much consistently since third grade (the first diary of which was destroyed for fear of being discovered), that I'd have a lot of material.

Interview with Filmmaker Kathy Leichter on Filmmaker Magazine

Over on the Filmmaker Magazine web site you can find an interview I conducted with documentary filmmaker Kathy Leichter. Kathy's film, Here One Day, was born out of grief, as was A Life's Work. Though our inspiration may have been the same, we made two very different films.

Sour Piano Man

On my morning walk I stumble upon a Steinway grand piano in the middle of a footpath on the east side of Washington Square Park. It is being tuned. I am intrigued.

I slow down and approach the piano tuner, engrossed in his lower register, "Is there going to be a concert today?"

Barely looking up, he nods his head to his right, indicating a man sitting on a park bench staring at nothing.

Dramatic Economics

How much should playwrights worry about cast size when they write a script? This unsavory question is driven by the economic mess that has imperiled nonprofit theatres in recent decades.

Breath Mint

For those of you who have given up any hope for civility when choosing to see a movie in a public space, there’s good news – the Chelsea Clearview seems to be making a stab at bringing it back. Ro and I went the other night and I was reminded of the cool new service that the theatre is providing at the start of each show.

Welcome to the movie and enjoy the show.

So the clever folks at Clearview Cinemas are trying something new again. I assume in an effort to trade on something a smaller chain has that the bigger ones don't (neighborhood local homeyness) they're having one of their staff walk down to the front of each screening room to introduce the movie.