I Believe...

...that Sarah Palin is something to be concerned about. She tells the sheep what they want to hear plus an extra dose of fear. She continues the Bush legacy of having zero intellectual curiosity and, in fact, deriding such as elitist. I want smart people in office who work for me, not for their wardrobe and their tanning bed.

...that watching Abraham Lincoln and George Washington dance like white guys in TV commercials for President's Day sales is everything I love and hate about America.

...that The Who is no longer The Who without John Entistle and Keith Moon. It's like Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr touring as The Beatles. The Who was one of the greatest rock bands of all time and their musical gifts to the world are incomparable, from My Generation to Tommy and Quadraphenia to Who Are You. Amazing freaking vibrant beautiful muscular kick-in-the-heart rock and roll. Roger, Pete, love you , thank you, you are Gods. Now, hang it up.

...It's just snow. It's Chicago. Suck it up.

...that the music we use in The (edward) Hopper Project is reason enough alone to see the show. Paul Desmond, Dave Brubeck and Miles Davis sound as fresh today as when they recorded their tunes 50-something years ago. That's great music. Brubeck is still touring at 90. Maybe Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend could be his roadies.

...that if you haven't seen Nighthawk Sandwich, yet, you're missing out on one of the most ridiculous values in Chicago theater. Tonight. 7:30pm. Only five bucks.

... American Buffalo at Steppenwolf is pure Mamet at his best and an inspiring delight. The cast is brilliant, Tracy Letts as "Teach" is as hilarious and tragic as anything Shakespeare's muses could have conjured up. This is a wonderful piece of theater and it closes this week. Go, see, do.

Weeks 19 & 20 - Rich Baker

WEEKS 19 & 20 – Chekhov in the Trailer Park” Director: Rich Baker

I have known Rich for a few years, first as an actor in one of the Writing 5 shows I directed. He transplanted to Chicago from Texas where he performed with ComedySportz. He claims that he would have gone back home had it not been for my support. As a form of payback, or, perhaps, vengeance, he is directing this block of the 365 shows. Some of my favs in this are Book Club - a heaping dose of reality for long term relationships, Chekhov In The Trailer Park, which is exactly what it sounds like, and Langley and Pratt, a riff on vaudeville and prescription drugs that went over well at Sketchfest as performed by Kerpatty. Rich is currently in the directing program at Second City and has also taken on a big writing project, penning a song a day for 100 days. You can read them at http://richbakeractor.blogspot.com.

BookClub.5.26.09

WideWithPride.5.25.09

CarryingAPorch.5.28.09

ChekhovInTheTrailerPark.5.31.09

LangleyandPratt5.27.09

Listening.5.30.09

StretchLimousine.5.29.09

AnOnLineEducation.6.6.09

WhereTheresSmokeTheresSmoke.6.2.09

FascinationStreetBakery.6.5.09

HowToWriteAComedySketch.6.4.09

IDoHoldOn.6.1.09

SwimmingforNonSwimmers.6.7.09

TheLifeandstrangeSurprizingAdventuresofRobinsonCrusoe.6.3.09

Weeks 17 & 18 - Scott Olson

WEEKS 17 & 18 – “Shows You Would Never See If You Didn’t Know Someone In The Cast”

Director Scott Olson. Scott is a faculty member in the theater department at Columbia College as well as an active participant in the Chicago theater scene as an actor. I really got to know Scott well the first time I participated in the Columbia College 24 Hour Play Festival. I was one of the actors and he was the director. I was really impressed by Scott's energy, enthusiasm and ability to make you feel good about what you are doing while moving you toward a better performance. He was also the first director to jump on a block of scenes. Before the project was even close to wrapping up, he laid claim to this two weeks because he loves Time Beavers and Romeo Pizza. This block also contains some other favs of mine, such as the title piece and two Hopper-related scenes - Nighthawks (A Bladerunner riff) and Summer Evening. Both of those can presently be seen in the Wednesday night Nighthawk Sandwich show at the DCA Storefront theater. (7:30pm, 5 bucks, just 3 shows left!).

AKissAnyway.5.16.09

Untucked.5.14.09

Nighthawks.5.13.09

ProblemSolved.5.15.09

PromNight.5.11.09

Smile.5.12.09

SummerEvening.5.17.09

CasadeNed.5.21.09

TimeBeavers.5.23.09

PawnBroken.5.18.09

RomeoPizza.5.22.09

ShowsYouWouldNeverSee.5.20.09

The Hitchhiker.5.24.09

TheDeafofTheater.5.19.09

26 Shows, 26 Directors

Weeks 15 & 16 - "Weenus" - Saturday, June 5th, Midnight

Director Derek Van Tassel - Derek is a former student of mine at Columbia College. I had him in both my improv class and comedy workshop class. Smart guy with a sardonic wit. He also has an artistic entreprenuerial streak which had him producing and directing his own shows outside of what was required of him for a degree. Not one to flock to a midnight show, I'm glad Derek is in charge of this. I know he'll bring a lot of energy and creativity to it and keep this old guy awake past his bedtime. This was a particularly good block of scenes for me. Some of them have already been produced; Weenus (Sketchfest), Bullet Flu (Sketchfest), Two on the Aisle (The (edward) Hopper Project), Wishes (Playing in Peoria) and Brace Beer (Playing in Peoria podcast).

Here are the scenes that will be in that show...

BackgroundCheck.5.1.09

Weenus.5.2.09

DeathToTyrants.4.28.09

DumDums.4.29.09

JohnIrvingness.4.27.09

Truckin.4.30.09

TwoOnTheAisle.5.3.09

BraceBeer.5.6.09

Wishes.5.4.09

BulletFlu.5.7.09

HippyBathday.5.5.09

SeaWatchers.5.10.09

ThrowingChonos.5.8.09

WhyIHateFrenchCinema.5.9.09

I Believe...

...that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. And monsters. Monsters are very frightening.

...that politicians are doing their best to put on a great show so they can keep their jobs. They owe more to P. T. Barnum than Abraham Lincoln, except Barnum was more trustworthy.

...that throwing one's heart and soul and total devotion into any organized religion is a lousy idea. The fact religions - Christianity, included - tend to lead to and foster war is pretty good evidence against them being a good idea.

...that work can be fun. We drudge through life as if "work sucks" is henna tattooed to our foreheads. You have to make a buck, sure, but it doesn't have to be a soul-sucking experience. And, if it is, get to work to change it. Either change how you are at work, or change the work. I used to wait tables. Didn't like it, but had a lot of fun and used what I didn't like to fuel my creativity and search for a better job. I don't make a ton of money, but I laugh a lot and have conversations about penguins, vampires, sand castles, unicorns with STDs and all things ridiculous.

...that you should hop on the Brown Line tonight, get off at Randolph, or on the Red Line and get off at Lake, and catch WNEP's Nighthawk Sandwich at the Storefront Theater, 66 East Randolph. 7:30PM - five bucks(!) - see some Hopper scenes that aren't in the main show but are incredibly fun and entertaining nonetheless... It also includes three 365 scenes. 40 actors, nine scenes, buttloads of talent on display and only FIVE BUCKS! Best theater deal in the city!

Did and Doing

Things are coming along. Production-wise, we have the venue and a few corporate sponsors providing some kibbles and bits for the audience and actors. Presently, I'm working with directors who expressed interest last June to see if they are still available and which show they'd like to direct.

It feels odd for "365 Sketches" to shift from "doing" to "did." There's something about being in the process that lends itself to momentum and enthusiasm. Not that I have lost any enthusiasm, but there is something about the excitement and immediacy of talking to people about this thing I'm doing versus that thing I did. It's left me to shift my focus from the project no longer being about writing a year's worth of scenes to now presenting a year's worth of scenes. Hey, we're putting up 365 scenes in ten days!

We have some really great directors lined up and are talking to a few more. As directors commit to specific slots, I'll post it here. Here's one.

WEEKS 3 & 4 – “Diversity Chicken” - Thursday, June 3rd, 10pm

Director Jason Fleece - Jason directed a piece I wrote called Cheddar Moon for a Chicago Dramatists and Second City 10-Minute Play showcase. He did a great job. I'm very excited to be working with him, again. This block has a few of my favorite scenes - Diversity Chicken (which was in Robot vs Dinosaur's fall show - Hey, Jason, we already have the chicken suit!), Hemlock, Katjitsu, Single White Friendster (which went over really well at Sketchfest) and The Spy Who Dated Me.

Another One of Those Blackouts.2.7.09

Tit for Tat.2.3.09

Diversity Chicken.2.4.09

Hemlock.2.6.09

KATJITSU.2.2.09

Medusa.2.8.09

Single White Friendster.2.5.09

Gravy Boat.2.11.09

Spy Who Dated Me.2.15.09

Looking Great.2.10.09

Macbeth.2.9.09

NPRpart1.2.12.09

NPRpart2.2.13.09

NPRpart3.2.14.09

365 Show Schedule at Strawdog Theater

“365 SHOW SCHEDULE” – Strawdog Theater – June 3 – June 13, 2010

One show = 2 weeks of scenes

THU 6/3

8PM – 1 & 2

10PM – 3 & 4

FRI 6/4

8PM – 5 & 6

10PM – 7 & 8

Midnight – 9 & 10

SAT 6/5

8PM – 11 & 12

10PM – 13 & 14

Midnight – 15 & 16

SUN 6/6

7PM – 17 & 18 (director - Scott Olson)

9PM – 19 & 20

MON 6/7

8PM – 21 & 22

23 & 24

TUE 6/8

8PM – 25 & 26

27 & 28

WED 6/9

8PM – 29 & 30

31 & 32 (director - Chris Othic)

THU 6/10

8PM – 33 & 34

10PM – 35 & 36

FRI 6/11

8PM – 37 & 38

10PM – 39 & 40

Midnight - 41 & 42

SAT 6/12

8PM – 43 & 44

10PM - 45 & 46

Midnight – 47 & 48

SUN 6/13

7PM – 49 & 50

9PM – 51 & 52