EXTRA CRITICUM

this Judy Grahn poem was our inspiration

foam on the rim of the glass
another wave breaking

foam on the rim of the glass
another wave breaking
she once wanted to be a sailor

now she sits at the bar, drinking
like a sailor

 

rolandtec · 05 Sailor Song

Delightfully surprising documentary on a much misunderstood figure

David Geffen is so maligned. And there's so much more to him than meets the eye. I highly recommend this documentary which opened my eyes to the depth and breadth of his contributions. Too often in this culture we have a knee-jerk negative reaction to bald ambition and ego. But consider what this larger than life figure has managed to do for the culture. It's inspiring.

All these years of accomplishments under my belt and still can't stop humming that familiar tune of self-denial

The other day I hosted the first session of Demystifying the 10-min. Play with Gary Garrison, in which 12 scriptwriters (and me) get to learn the essentials of the craft of writing the 10-min play from my friend and colleague Gary, who happens to be the authority on this form. The workshop is turning out to be even more fascinating and eye-opening than I imagined and I'm confident we'll all come out the other end much better craftspeople. Remember. The word is playwright, not playwrite, for a reason. Plays are wrought. With much blood, sweat and tears along the way. That is one key to their unique alchemy.

But I digress. 

What I wanted to address in this post is my annoying and sad little habit of reflexively retreating to self-denial in the face of praise.

Jean-Paul Yovanoff Interviews me for the BE OUR GUEST show on Musical Theatre Radio

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Jean-Paul Yovanoff to talk about my approach to teaching, my philosophy about the performing arts and a whole lot more. I had such fun talking with Jean-Paul for his podcast BE OUR GUEST. I wanted to share the interview with you all here.