It’s tech week for Romeo and Juliet. (And tix are available online at Showup.com, only $11.50 if you buy online, $15 at the door. Do the math.) Tech week basically means I have a hundred other things I should be doing other than updating my blog…
But some of those things include non-R&J related items, like homework. And revisions for ZERO (due in Spring 2012! Yay!). Also, laundry.
It’s been more than a year since I last directed a show, Talk Radio, at the now-departed Chyro Arts Venue. And like every one of the thirty-five shows I’ve directed since 1990 (starting with a terrifically maudlin and wholly angsty original play called I Want To Be Free…yeah, let that genius title sink in for a moment), it all comes down to the cast.
I don’t mean their skill or talent, which this cast has in abundance. I will always stand by my casting – any directing skill I may have is about 90% finding the actors who can make sense of my direction and do a phenomenal job despite what I tell them to do.
I had opportunities to Make Something Of Myself in theatre, both as an actor and a director, and pretty much passed them up to go it alone. I’ve never regretted those choices, though I confess sometimes I wonder “What If.” No, I’m an author of young adult novels, the best freaking job ever invented (and it was largely invented). Writing is where I belong, and I’d be doing it whether there was money involved or not.
…just like theatre. I think I’ve been paid three, maybe four times to direct. Grand total: Maybe a thousand bucks (spread over 22 years). I do this directing thing from time to time for two reasons.
One, it’s instant gratification storytelling. I know that in six to eight weeks, I will have a completed product, a completed story. Novel writing can take two years or more from start to finish.
Two – it’s the people. The cast and crew. The audience. This R&J cast, like so many before, are just great people, period. Some actors have enormous resumes, others are making their debut. And every one of them has worked hard, laughed hard, and made the entire experience a reminder of why I love to direct plays. You become family when you produce a show. Sometimes, great and lasting friendships develop. More than once I’ve had cast members end up marrying.
Pretty sweet.
So if you’re in the area, or want to – you know – fly in for the night, then come take a look at our production of Romeo and Juliet. (Chicks With Swords! Can’t beat that.) Hopefully I’ll get some video or photos posted to my Facebook soon.
Curtain going up…
