Extra Criticum

Hitting Storefronts and Thankful for the Generosity of My Fellow Artists

I'm spending a good portion of this summer workshopping my storefront spectacle, No Place to Hide. In a nutshell, I appear inside the storefront window of a local business somewhere typing on a laptop and either by means of projector or flatscreen, every word I type is instantly enlarged and displayed to passersby.

I started doing this piece without fully understanding exactly why I was doing it. Something just seemed to propel me to want to try this out.

Truthfully, I'm not yet sure what this will all amount to, whether the playwright in me will ultimately find this format interesting enough. (I tend to want my work to be somehow transformative, either by way of taking an audience on a journey, or at least shaking them up a bit and the jury's still out on whether this idea has the potential to do this for us.)

YouTube Promos 4 Live Theahtuh!

Here's a re-post from 2008. I was reminded of this problem/issue/question recently when I stumbled upon the super slick promo video for the Flea's upcoming show. Here it is so you can take a look.

I don't know about you, but as lovely and adrenaline-pumped as this is, there's absolutely nothing here that would make me decide to open my wallet and purchase tickets. How about you?

What follows is my original post on the subject. And links to two promo videos that I think were super cool and effective.

Playwrights at the Helm (DG Academy)

I had an absolute blast moderating this panel for the Dramatists Guild on Tuesday. Really smart and generous panelists include: August Schulenburg (Flux Theatre Ensemble), James Comtois (Nosedive Productions), Susan Bernfield (New Georges), and J. Holtham (New Black Fest, EST, and Fell Swoop).

Good news for those who weren't able to join us. Here's the video:

Watch live streaming video from newplay at livestream.com

 

My Favorite Opening

There was no red carpet. There were no lights. Well, there were no lights outside. It would have been odd for there to have been lights outside since it was the middle of the day.  It was one o’clock on Saturday afternoon at a storefront in suburban Cincinnati. It was the opening of my play for young audiences, Fake Flowers Don’t Die.

On this day, however, the audience would not be made up of young people. This production is touring all over the Cincinnati area, playing just about anywhere that will have them. Today we were at a center for adults with developmental disabilities. They were to be our first real audience.

I was a little concerned, but I shouldn’t have been.

My First Movie

It's hard to believe that in the last 25 years of being an actor (not counting being cast as one of the eight maids a-milking in kindergarten), I've never really spoken on film.

Sure, I've done the requisite extra work - suffering through a meal-free day and night at Yankee Stadium for Anger Management, and appearing as a blurry dot on the Columbia University campus for Hitch - as well as commercial work for MTV and lots of hosting work for QVC, but if you ever wanted to see me perform a role, really act as someone other than myself, you'd have to come see me in a theater.

That is, until now.

Dennis Danziger on Amy Friedman's visit to Katie Couric's show

Really fun piece about EC pal Amy Friedman's long journey to appear on Katie Couric's daytime talk show to discuss her marriage to a prisoner and her wonderful memoir, Desperado's Wife.

 

Meanwhile on Filmmaker Magazine: The Up Films

Michael Apted's Up films are a great inspiration on my work. When I heard that the latest in the series (56 Up) was coming out this year, I had a brainstorm. What would it be like to watch all of those films (total running time, 13 hours) in 24 hours? I pitched the idea to Filmmaker Magazine and they liked it. 

Bostonians: Brickbottom Open Studios this weekend!

Extra Criticum pal and all-around talented gal, Pauline Lim will open her studio to the riff raff this weekend -- Sat and Sun -- at Brickbottom open studios in Sommerville.

Count yourself as riff raff. Show Pauline some love. Buy a painting.

For Info on Open Studios.

Merle Perkins - "I'll Be Waiting" music video is ready!

Merle Perkins - "I'll Be Waiting" from Pinkplot Productions on Vimeo.

New York Theatre Workshop revises its Fellowship Program

Preliminary applications are now open for NYTW's Fellowship program, which has been re-imagined as: The 2050 Fellowships.

Here's the official announcement from our friends on E. 4th Street:

The Joy of Chamber Music Tonight in Westport

Hard to believe a year has gone by since I last attended the Leon Tec Showcase in which young musicians play chamber music together. Such a cool thing my Dad put together. Here's what I wrote about it last year. I'll be there tonight, 8PM at the Unitarian Church in Westport, for those of you in the Fairfield County area. The music is great. And tickets are free. Details here.

Thunder Every Day (sizzle reel)

Here's a sizzle reel for the film project that's been occupying much of my imagination lately. Curious to hear what comes to mind.

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.

Love TV Lands in The Big Apple

From the moment I heard about Love TV, creation of performance artist, Rebecca McIntosh, I knew I had to know more. Fortunately for the E.C. community, she was kind enough to grant me an interview.

Q:
First of all, for those with their heads in the sand, could you give us the basic 411 of what you’re doing with Love TV?

A:
Love TV is a unique, bold and engaging interactive live art project that is winning hearts globally.  The project sees local legends as well as celebrities sharing their most intimate stories in the most public of spaces.  Interviewees share their tales of life and love within the private confines of my booth which are then broadcast live onto large screens for the local public to view and engage with.