WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO BUT KEEP ON KEEPING ON?

Sometimes of late, I hit a bit of a wall. Things seem bleak out there. People are sad. Some projects only go so far. Shows close. Jobs end.

Such is life.

Whenever I hit that wall- and I've hit it several times in my life and no doubt will hit it several more times before I check out- I let myself feel blue for a moment, then press on.

Too much in this world that is amazing, fun, different, numinous, and magic.

For instance, I finally got the final cut of my short film Strong Tea. Here it is:

STRONG TEA

I have been meaning to finish that sucker forever. And finally did. And you know what? It wasn't really that hard to do. Seems like the first step is always the hardest.

I also finally put together some footage Lisa and I took up at Rocky Mountain National Park and made a short about searching for Sasquatch. Here it is:

MAY THE SQUATCH BE WITH YOU

And to top it off, I was in a short film made by one of my students, the super talented Ellie Griffin. I play a guy who has gone off the deep end. Here it is:

LOVE IS PATIENT, LOVE IS MINE

Sure, it's a short entry, and most of it is video clips.

That's the way it goes sometimes.

GROOVY, DROWSY CARNAGE- ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN COLORADO

We have a lot of fantastic theatre in Colorado. Which might sound surprising to people, seeing as we are a fairly small state, with a fairly small population. But that population is quite groovy. I was lucky enough to see four outstanding shows in the past month: Hair at Town Hall in Littleton, God of Carnage at the Curious Theatre, and both The Drowsy Chaperone and Jaques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs. All four shows were spectacular, and made me happy to be alive. Sometimes, you see a show, and it's bad. Really bad. And you sit there in your chair, which suddenly feels very uncomfortable, and words like "ponderous" keep floating to the surface of your slowly calcifying brain. But not so with these shows. I felt smarter after watching these shows. Better. Faster. Stronger.  It seemed as if my soul was being fed some sort of ambrosia that gave strength and courage. I believe that's what theatre, and art in general, is supposed to do, even if the subject is sad, gruesome, or horrifying: elevate your spirit, affirm to some degree what it is to be a human being, remind you that no one is alone.

HAIR was a joyous examination of the human spirit, with a solid cast, outstanding band, and rocking, show stopping numbers. GOD OF CARNAGE was wickedly funny, featuring four amazing actors- Karen Slack, Dee Convington, Erik Sandvold, and the always outstanding Timothy McCracken. THE DROWSY CHAPERONE might be the best musical I have seen so far in Colorado- the acting, singing, dancing, direction, design were all superb- and on top of that, Artistic Director Scott Levy stole the show as the Man in Chair. All those shows are closed- but you can still catch JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS, which is playing through this week-end. The show is more of a revue, a tribute to Belgian songwriter Jaques Brel. If you like smart, beautiful songs about life, love, war, peace, old people, young people- well, songs about what it is to be a human being- that are performed with grace, style and humor, then this show is for you. The cast of four- Halee Towne, Lacey Conell, Max Ferguson, and Alejandro Roldan- are exceptional performers, able to conjure entire worlds out of thin air. The show is directed/choreographed at a crackerjack pace by Nathan Halvorson. The band is out-friggin'-rageous. I would have been quite content to  listen to them play until the wee small hours of the morning. The design, as always at the Fine Arts Center, was excellent. If you can, get yourself down there to see yet another fine show at this gem of the Colorado theatre scene.

I myself have a new show opening this week-end- a new version of ROSE RED, which I wrote the book and co-wrote the lyrics for along with Kari Kraakevik, who did music and also co-wrote lyrics. The cast is amazing, the script streamlined, and we are premiering a new song. So, if you are in the Boulder area, please come see the show- which features some of the best young talent in the state.

And last, but not least, I hope you all take a gander at the indiegogo page for my movie Strong Tea. We just put up a new pitch video yesterday, and it's pretty damn funny. To see it, go HERE. If you like what you see- please throw in a couple of bucks, and share the site with all your friends via facebook, twitter, or whatever social media floats your boat. Thanks, and I'll see you at the theatre.

http://igg.me/at/strongtea/x/3385268

TITAN APPETITES

So I shot a short film, and now I am raising funds to finish it. The movie is STRONG TEA. It's a dark comedy about a really horrific family dinner. For whatever reason, most people seem to be able to relate to a Thanksgiving that ends up with screaming and yelling, hurt feelings, and awkward silences. It stars Timothy McCracken, Devon James, and Adrian Egolf. And they are amazing. The footage is so good, and what we have is, in my humble opinion, out of this world. Now, we need to edit, mix, add soundtrack, and then enter film festivals. And, of course, this takes some bucks. So I thought I'd share a little bit of the script, and then give you all the link to the Indiegogo site where you can help in two ways: by either contributing financially, or sharing the link via Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. Naturally, I would love it if you could do both. But any and all help is greatly appreciated. So, here is a little taste of Strong Tea:


INT. KITCHEN - MINUTES LATER
ALVIE STANDS AT THE COUNTER, MAKING A POT OF TEA.  MOLLY ENTERS WITH SOME DISHES, WHICH SHE PLACES BY THE SINK.

MOLLY
I am stuffed.

Alvie looks at several pies laid out on the counter.

ALVIE
Do you think we’ll skip dessert?

MOLLY
We never skip dessert.

ALVIE
Never?

Molly dips her finger in a bowl of whipped cream.

MOLLY
We could each eat a pound of fried grease-

Molly smears some whipped cream Alvie’s cheek.

MOLLY (CONT’D)
Set a pie in front of us-

Molly licks the whipped cream off his face.

MOLLY (CONT’D)
We chow down.

Alvie nervously backs away from Molly.

ALVIE
Your family does have titan appetites.

Molly backs Alvie into a corner.

MOLLY
We like what we like.

Molly leans in very close to Alive, almost nose to nose.

MOLLY (CONT’D)
A lot.

Alvie maneuvers around Molly back to the tea kettle.

ALVIE
Molly, please. What happened was wrong.

Molly nods in agreement.

MOLLY
Yes it was. Fun, dirty and wrong. Of course- I have confessed our sin-

ALVIE
You confessed?!?!

MOLLY
To the Lord, and He has forgiven me.

Molly begins to pull dessert plates out of a cupboard.

ALVIE
The Lord has forgiven you, but not me?

Alvie grabs her by the shoulders.

ALVIE (CONT’D)
You were the one who got into the shower!

MOLLY
I was weak-

ALVIE
While my wife- your own sister- was out getting cigarettes.

Molly backs away from Alvie.

MOLLY
She promised us all she quit!


So that's a little bit of the script. I hope you liked it. Now, if you go HERE, you can see our Indiegogo page, and help make this movie a reality.

AS CINZAS DO VELHO

Ashes of the Old. That's the title of my play Burning the Old Man, as translated into Portugeuese by Geraldo Carrara for the Brazilian premiere directed by Luis Artur Nunes, which will open in Sao Paolo in March. I'm very excited about this production- the people involved, whom I have yet to meet in person, are dedicated, interesting, talented artists. I have been writing back and forth with several of the key players, particularly Alexandre Cruz and Marcelo Braga de Carvalho, and the discussions we have had about the play have been exhilarating. It is something rare and wonderful to discuss a play you've written with people in another country who like it so much that they have translated it into their own language and are putting up a production of the play. It makes you really think about what you have written, and why it seems to connect with people. For some reason, Burning the Old Man seems to be the play I've written that has touched the most people. It's by far the best selling of my plays- which are available at both Indie Theater Now and Playscripts, inc., and has also been featured in several scene books and also in Acting is Believing- a book required is many acting classes. I don't know why it's so popular, I only know that it is so. And that's groovy.



I have a lot of writing going on at the moment. Things come in waves, I think. There are months where it seems like nothing is happening, and then there are months when everything is happening. Right now, I am working on a one hour musical in the style of Glee, re-writes for the June production of Rose Red; a new play based on a piece of art for the Rough Writers program at the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs; and also a weird paranormal comedy drama thing that involves two slackers, an old trunk, ghosts, and the song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. On top of that, I am directing two high school plays: Moon Over Buffalo at the Denver JCC, and Our Town at The Watershed School. And on top of that, I have to find a film editor who works with Final Cut Pro X so that I can get my first short film, Strong Tea, done and out to festivals. Makes me feel like Bilbo, when he tells Gandalf he's like butter scraped over too much bread.

Lots to do, so of course I get this cold/flu virus thing that seems to be attacking the world like angry aliens from the planet Suck-It. Whatever this virus is, it is nasty. I have never felt so sick in my life. It makes me think that maybe the Mayans meant to say that the end of the world would start in December 2012, and slowly come about through a series of fevers, sniffles, and coughs.

But do I let that get me down? Hell no. Time to kick it in the ass.

So visit these sites, buy my plays, like the Facebook pages, and do whatever it is that makes you happy.

http://strongtea-themovie.com/
http://ascinzasdovelho.blogspot.com.br/
http://www.indietheaternow.com/Playwright/kelly-mcallister
http://www.playscripts.com/author.php3?authorid=1062

A STAR'S MIGHTY GOOD COMPANY

For the past few months, I've been working on Our Town by Thornton Wilder. You know, that play that every high school does at some time or other, the one with the scene in the soda shop that every young actor or actress has to do in acting class at some point. The one without any scenery. A lot of people think the play is sentimental, or boring, or too old. But then again, a lot of people are morons. This is a funny, dark, sharp edged play that goes for the jugular. It is funky, groovy, and whatever other adjective you'd like to use to mean fantastic.  I think the only possible way you can not find it to be a brilliant, exciting play is to not have seen or read it, and judge the book by it's cover.

Until now, my favorite version of this play was the one that was shown on PBS in the eighties, starring Spalding Gray as the Stage Manager, Eric Stoltz as George, and Penelope Ann Miller as Emily. It was really funny, and sad, and magic. I remember watching it with my mom, long ago and far away in the land of my youth. Mom cried and cried at the end, when Emily bade farewell the world. I, being young and immortal, made fun of Mom for being such a cry-baby. I was fifteen, and such things were part and parcel of my existence back then. Even so, I loved the production- it was dark, and intelligent, and passionate- and made me a life-long fan of the play.

Not surprisingly, when I wrote the screenplay for Ghostlight, a paranormal thriller about a high school theatrical production that gets haunted by angry spirits, I chose Our Town to be the play-within-the-movie. Hopefully, you will all get a chance to see that little opus on a screen near you in the near future. (that all depends on how Strong Tea gets received when it makes the film festival rounds this coming year. And if you are curious about stuff I wrote, go HERE)

So, when Steve Wilson, Artistic Director of the Wolf Theatre Academy at the JCC in Denver asked me what show I wanted to direct for the spring slot, it seemed like the time had come to direct my own version of the show.

And it has been fantastic. First off, I have the greatest cast a director could ask for- smart, funny, and willing to do whatever it takes to kick it in the ass. We tweaked some of the Stage Manager monologues, dividing them up between the whole cast at some points, and between the Stage Manager and three Assistant Stage Managers (characters we created just for this production) in others. Instead of having recorded sound effects, we are using live gadgets, like they did on old radio shows- which is really fun. We also went with a back drop- against tradition with this show, but really sweet. I told my scenic artist to make a backdrop that looked like an Edward Hopper painting, and he came through in spades. clubs, hearts and diamonds.

So here's the thing. If you are anywhere near Denver between now and Sunday night, get your self to the JCC to see something special, unique, and magic. I promise, you will thank me.

THE UNIVERSE IS COOL

It is. Things happen that make me think there is some sort of purpose, some hand that guides us on our journey from cradle to grave, a kind of fate if you will, that connects us all.

Like the force in Star Wars.

Do you capitalize the Force? Hmmm. Where's Obi Wan when you need him.

Anyway, I went down to Colorado Springs to see the Fine Arts Center's excellent production of Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men", directed by by Scott RC Levy. The show itself was fantastic- which is no surprise, based on the season so far. On a beautiful set, designed by Chris Sheley inspired by the art of Thomas Hart Benton (read more about it here) Levy tells a story of isolation and friendship that is alternately heart warming and heart breaking. Kent D. Burhnam plays the long suffering George, a farm hand down on his luck traveling with his friend Lennie, a man-child who happens to be very strong, played with the perfect mix of delicacy, innocence, and sadness by Logan Ernstthal. Burhham takes a no nonsense approach to the role of George, giving him a natural ease and making the final scene all the more tragic as a result.  Dean Steffen as Curley- a bully and a dandy with a Napoleon complex, is outstanding. Adrian Egolf, as Curly's lonely, flirtatious wife, takes a role that could easily be played as a stereo-type and makes us feel for her, even though she's trouble through and through. And Chris Devenport, as Crooks, practically steals the show in his scene with Lennie. His ease on stage, coupled with some truly dynamic vocal and physical work, is just excellent. If you are anywhere near Colorado Springs, you should go see this show. It's another gem offered up by Mr. Levy and company that shines.

What does this have to do with the Force and all that? Well, I'll tell you.

First off, Adrian Egolf, who plays Curly's wife, also happens to be starring in STRONG TEA, a short film written and directed by yours truly. I had already been planning on seeing Of Mice and Men before I found out that Adrian was in it. Second, at the show, as I read the program bios of the cast, I saw that Kent Burnham had worked at the Western Stage of Salinas, CA. A place I had worked several seasons as an actor, most notably as Adam/Aron in the world premiere, 9 hour trilogy of Steinbeck's East of Eden in 1992 and again in 1994. Something was trying to click in my little mind as I read that in   his bio. After the show, there was a talkback with the cast and director- and I asked Kent about his work at Western Stage- turns out he did the 2000 production of East of Eden, and played Adam/Aron as well. On top of that, we had hung out together a couple of times on the Lower East Side of NYC long ago. Weird, no? Well, maybe not weird, but cool.

Speaking of cool- please take a moment to check out the first trailer for my film- Adrian is the dark haired beauty. Devon James plays the blonde with the temper. And Tim McCracken, who plays the lead, was in the cast of East of Eden with me in 1992.

That's about it for now. Gotta keep on keeping on.

1 GIANT LEAP DAY

I'm having a good day.

Make that a good week.  Things are just happening that are sweet, empowering, and exciting.  Where to begin?

First, I got notified this morning that I'm a finalist for Pitch-n-play, a contest put on by Playscripts, inc. where you entered via twitter various pitches, or ideas, for plays based on the quote "the course of true love never did run smooth. (if you want to follow me on twitter, I'm @rkmcallister)   From the hundreds of submissions, 30 semi-finalists were chosen. Then there was a week-long online voting period, where the general public voted on the 30 entries.  The top 10 were named today, and I am in.  My pitch was "real Puck messes with hearts of teens during high school prod of Midsummer Nights Dream".  The announcement was made by direct message on twitter.  When I didn't get a tweet notifying me I was a finalist by 9pm NYC time, which is where Playscripts is located, I figured I wasn't in, and took the dog for a walk.  Then, about an hour later, my iPhone told me I was mentioned in a tweet from Playscripts.  And there it was- the magic words congratulations.  Now I wait a week, while they decide from those ten finalist the final three pitches, which will each get a chance to be published.  For more on the contest, go here.

I like winning contests.

Second, I wrapped Strong Tea, my first movie, this week-end.  Making movies is a lot of work- much more than I had thought it would be.  But it's also exhilarating.   And addictive.  The cast and crew were outstanding, and the shoot could not have gone better.  More on that in the next blog.

Third, tonight my play Burning the Old Man is performing yet again in the Czech Repbulic, at Divadlo Exil in the city of Pardubice.  Still can't get over the idea that thousands of miles away, people I have never met are performing something I wrote, translated into a language I don't speak.  Amazing.

And Fourth, it's Leap Day.  Here's a little 1 Giant Leap love for you.

So Happy Leap Day, world.  Thanks for everything.

HELA, TROY, AND THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE

So I'm taking part in this twitter based contest, sponsored by Playscripts, inc.  It's called Pitch-n-Play, and what you do is tweet a pitch for a short play than can have around 8 characters and be about 20-40 minutes long.   The play has to somehow relate to the quote "the course of true love never did run smooth."  It's actually quite fun coming up with different ideas, and a great excuse to kick some stuff around that might become my next play.

Some of my ideas, in no particular order:

Doctor trying save wife finds cure for cancer, but side effect is you lose the ability to love

Right wing undercover reporter falls for OWS protester and must hide identity

Minister trying to pray away the gay accidentally summons Cupid and falls in love with him.

For a list of all tweets in the contest, go here.  And enter yourself.  It's fun, it's free, and takes very little time.  While you're there, if you haven't already, give me a follow @rkmcallister.

I like Playscripts.  This is no doubt due to the fact that they already publish one of my plays, a one act called Hela and Troy.  I wrote it at the request of Reyna de Courcy, a fantastic young actress who played Sunny in the first production of Fenway.  Her company, Gravity & Glass Productions, was doing a festival called Bell, Book, and Candle- all about love in fantastical settings, and she asked me if I wanted to submit something.  Being the always hungry writer that I am, I immediately said yes.  And I got this image of the Norse Goddess of death, Hela, being lonely and going speed dating.  And the play sort of just popped out of my head, like Aphrodite from the brow of Zeus, if I may mix my pantheons.



Here's a snippet from the play, where Hela meets Troy- who tries to be witty be asking unusual questions.

TROY

Hi.  I’m speed date number 10- also known as Troy.  This might sound strange- what doesn’t when you’re speed dating- anyway, I’m asking everyone- all my dates of speed- the same question:  do you want to steal a car with me?

HELA

I don’t know- if I told you that my little brother was a huge Wolf named Fenris and that he once bit off the hand of Tyr in anger at being tricked by the Gods, would that disgust you?

TROY

I don’t know- I’ve never met your brother, so it isn’t really my business, is it?

HELA

Sit down.

The play got an awesome production.  It was directed by John Hurley, and had Shashanah Dattilo as Hela, Ben Ellis Fine as Troy, and Alisha Speilmann as Mandy.  It was well received, and soon I got a call from my agent saying Playscripts wanted to publish it.  I said yippee, and that was that.  So far, lots of copies have been sold, and another production came about as a direct result of those, in Canada.

Next week-end, I'm shooting my short film Strong Tea.  More on that soon.

One more thing- if you're in NYC this week-end, Robbie Gil is playing the Rockwood Music Hall at 10pm.  He's an amazing singer/songwriter, and if you haven't seen him yet, do so.  You will not regret it.

RESOLVED

So it's over a week into the new year, and I still haven't really made any resolutions.  As Rick Perry would say, oops.  It's not that I don't like resolutions or anything.  I usually make tons of them- this year, I'm going to write 5 new plays; this year, I'm going to exercise every morning; this year, I'm going to write in my journal for half an hour a day; I'm going to read a book a month; I'm going to be nicer to strangers; I'm going to finally remember how to fly like I can in that recurring dream.

There's no end to things I've made resolutions about.  But so far, mark me down for zippo this year.  Maybe it's the whole Mayan calendar end of the world thing.  Maybe it's the onset of a gigantic mid-life crisis, coupled with existential blues and compounded by a dulling of my brain by the constant news reports on the GOP primary.  I don't really know why I haven't made any promises to myself about what I want to do in 2012.  I just haven't.

Well, screw that.

I'm going see more theatre this year, and when I see a show, write about it on this blog promptly.  I saw a fantastic production of A Year with Frog and Toad in December at the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs, and didn't write about it.  The cast was uniformly superb, the direction by Scott RC Levy brilliant, and the production values outstanding.  This is the kind of theatre we desperately need more of, and I need to do what ever I can, in my small way, to help promote it.    The next production at the FAC, Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room, opens February 2.  I can't wait to see it, and to write about it here.

I'm going to finish my first film, Strong Tea.  That's actually a pretty easy resolution to keep, as it is staffed, cast, and funded.  We shoot at the end of the month, and hope to start making the festival rounds in early February.   Should be quite the adventure, and I am sure I'll be writing about that whole experience here as well.

I also resolve to finish my latest movie script, and start on at least one new play.  Why not?

And I resolve to listen to more music, take more walks, and not beat myself up when I forget to do all these wonderful things.  Life is way too short, and if this is indeed the last year of civilization, who has time to recriminate oneself?  Not me.

So, resolutions done.  Now on to work, play, and no dull boy.

Also, if you happen to be in the town of Pardubice in the Czech Republic this week-end, you should go see Putovani S Urnou at Divadlo Exil.  It's a translation of my play Burning the Old Man.  Opening night is sold out, but I think you can get tickets for the second performance.

So, 2012, let's do this thing.

IT'S COLD, IT'S DARK, IT'S AWESOME

December 1st, and here in Denver, the high temperature- according to the weather folk- has already occurred sometime in the early morning, a whopping 27 degrees Fahrenheit.  Yummy. Add to that, it is staying dark later, and getting dark earlier, and it can only mean one thing.  The Holidays are here!  I know, for lots of you the holidays are a pain in the ass- longer lines at the stores, sappy music on the radio, cheesy commercials exploiting tradition and sentiment, trying to get you to buy crap you don't need with money you don't have.  Endless showings of It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story.  I get that.  I really do.

But I still love this time of year.  I love Christmas trees in people's windows, lights on houses and storefronts, giant menorahs, huge snowmen, and sweater after horrible sweater depicting strange, semi-fantastical scenes.  What's not to love?  This is the time, since way before Santa and Silent Night and Scrooge, when people get together in the cold and dark and say "we're gonna make it, after all- the days will soon grow longer, the spring will come, and by the way, I love you all very much".   It's a seasonal thing, that crosses cultural and religious lines.  Sure, some folks add their beliefs about God or whomever to the mix- but we all feel the cold, we all experience the darkness, and we all need to remind ourselves of the better part of being a human being, the better part of each other.

Not that there aren't some parts of the holidays that are a drag.  More than once, I've woken up in a panic, thinking to myself "Holy shit!  I forgot to get Mom a present".  And this panic usually lasts several minutes.  Then I remember she's gone, and the night seems colder still, the world a little more lonely.  But then I think of her talking to me about Santa after I had figured what was what, as far as Mr. Kringle goes.  I remember she looked a little sad, and I think in retrospect it was that weird happy sadness you feel when you see kids growing up- happy that they've taken that next step, sad at the passing of another phase of life.  When I asked her, point blank, if there was a Santa, she said yes, in a way, there was.  She told me how what was really important wasn't some old guy handing out presents, but the spirit of love and hope, of wanting to make other people happy.

As Mr. Dickens says, "I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round - apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that - as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys." 


Yeah, dude.

So yeah, I dig the holidays.  I'll still watch A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life, and most likely will cry pretty much the whole way through.

PS- My first film- the short Strong Tea, has been fully funded through Kickstarter- and I feel like George Bailey at the end of the movie.  We shoot in the next month.  If you'd like to kick in, there are still a few days left, and every dollar helps.  God Bless us, everyone.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/169962067/strong-tea

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?

I do.  I hear them all the freaking time.  Of course, most of it is in my head, a sort of movie soundtrack/music video to go along with all the images passing before me at the speed of life, but what can I say?  I've always been a sort of geek, musical theatre speaking- and there are often moments when I will see something, experience a feeling or observe people, and some song from one play or another pops into my head, and boom, the soundtrack/playlist continues.  When I was first seeing my wife, we would often take walks in the park early in the morning, and it felt to me like there was a bright, golden haze on the meadow, and the sounds of the world were like music, so I'd sing, loudly and probably not so much on key, Oh What a Beautiful Morning.  How could I not.  It's a great song.  Just ask Wolverine.

It made total sense to me.  And Lisa, my wife, smiled.

But I don't just hear and/or sing happy songs.  This very morning, I got news that the mother of an old friend passed away, and in my mind I Kristin Chenoweth singing to a green Idina Menzel:

"I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you."

Geeky and lame, I know, but what can I say?  That's how it goes with me.  

And of late, the musical that keeps playing in my mind the most is Les Miserables, the mega hit show from the '80's that has been parodied, reviled, and beloved by people since it first opened.  What makes me think of Les Mis?  Occupy Wall Street.  

In Les Mis, the world is unfair, and the powerful don't really take care of the less fortunate- the ones who work in their factories and fields.  The rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer.  The lower ranks, the 99% of pre-revolutionary France, sing "at the end of the day your another day older, and that's all you can say for the life of the poor... and the righteous hurry past, they don't hear the little ones crying".  Eventually, a large group of mostly students get pissed off and start camping out in the biggest city in the land, demanding equality and justice and a new way of doing things.  The voice of the law, a dude named Javert, thinks the lord is on his side, and that somehow Jesus wants the wealthy to stay wealthy and the poor to stay poor.  Can you imagine that?  Anyway, the students build a bunch of barricades, and sing "do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men?  It is the music of a people who will not be slavess again.  When the beating of your heart, echoes the beating of the drums, their is a life about to start when tomorrow comes".  

Why don't the rich and powerful ever pay attention to history and/or musical theatre?  Don't they get it?  People are angry, and if they don't change their nasty, greedy way, things are going to get ugly and uglier.  

Here's a suggestion for you, wherever you are.  Get a copy of Les Mis, listen to it, and then go to your local Occupy movement (seems there's one in every town now) and see if it doesn't provide the perfect soundtrack for what's going on.

That's about all I have today- please remember, if you're in NYC, I have a reading of my latest play RIDDLE LOST  Saturday Nov. 19 at 5pm at ART/NY.  For more info, go here:

http://boomerangtheatre.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/three-questions-for-kelly-mcallister/

Also, we're about 75% of the way to our goal for the short film STRONG TEA.  For more info on that, go here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/169962067/strong-teahttp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/169962067/strong-tea

I AM THE MOST OFFENDING SOUL ALIVE

So, as most of you know, I've been working on several projects of late.  A short film , a screenplay reading, and a new play called Riddle Lost.  As such, I've been busting my ass promoting, begging, borrowing, and stealing.  And there have been times when I've just felt tired and alone and confused.  I think most of us have moments like that in life- you know, those times when you think your only true supporter is your dog, and you're starting to suspect that his so-called unconditional love has more to do with you feeding him every day than with your inherent worth as a living being in this universe.  Those days when you keep checking your inbox- hoping that at least a couple of folks from the dozens you have emailed about whatever it is you're doing will write back telling you to be strong, fight the good fight, and to believe in yourself because they always have and always will.  It's pathetic, really.  I am one of the luckiest people I know.  To have something to strive towards, to have several projects ongoing in which I get to create theatre and film- my God, it's what I've always wanted.  Still, despair tries to get a toe hold.

Too bad for despair.  My dog does indeed love me- I mean, look at him.

On top of my dog Padfoot, I have an amazing group of friends and family who have supported me time and time again.  I mean, I always cry at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life", when all the people of Bedford Falls come to George's aid in his hour of need, because I can relate- I know what it is to have friends and family like that- and it's beautiful.

The three projects I'm working on now are huge- daunting, really.  Let's face it, success in the arts, at least on the superficial but important level of finance, is tough.  And I have run into the occasional old friend or colleague who has doubted my chances.  Which can be a drag.

But then, I think of what good old Will Shakespeare said in Henry V, and I feel better.   In particular, I think of the St. Crispians Day speech, which in part goes like this:

If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.

I get that.  Who cares about money?  I want glory- to kick it in the ass and know I did something special and unique and real.  And if you don't want to get on board with me, then I proclaim:

That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.

I had the great fortune of playing Henry a while back in the fabled early days  of Shakespeare in the Park(ing) Lot.  It was glorious and fun and one of the experiences that has served me well these many years.  We were a rag tag group of lunatics and artists, with little to no resources.  And we shook the Lower East Side of New York.  

What I'm saying is this- to all who doubt- God bless you, and good luck.  

To those who believe, and you know who you are:

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers (and sisters);
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Last night, my screenplay Burning Man was presented in a reading put on by Harvardwood in NYC.  It was well received, and we shall see what comes of it.  This Saturday, Riddle Lost will be given a reading at ART/NY at 5pm.  I just did a mini-interview about it that you can read here.  Strong Tea, the short film I'm making, has a Kickstarter campaign that so far is doing great- to check that out, go click here.  

I have gathered my forces, and the sun is rising on Agincourt.

MAKING MOVIES, ON LOCATION, DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS

Of late, I'm working on movies.  Two to be exact:  Strong Tea and Burning Man.

Strong Tea is a short about Thanksgiving, family, and murder.  And what is really weird is that when I tell people the basic plot, they all say "oh, that sounds like my family on Turkey Day!"  Weird in that, in the movie, people get killed so that other people in the family can move from the kids table to the adults table.  Apparently, most families have the dreaded two table system at Thanksgiving- the nice table for the adults, and the not so nice table for the kids.  In my family, the kids table was usually a card table, or on one infamous night, a ping-pong table in the garage.  It's one of those things that we laugh about now, but at the time was a source of tension.

And fodder for drama.

About a year ago, I needed to write a new one act for the Humana Festival.  My play Hela and Troy was just a finalist for the Heideman award there, and I wanted to enter something new.   It was around November, and the kids table came to mind, and in about a day, I wrote the play version of Strong Tea.  People liked it, one thing lead to another, and I decided to make  a short film of it.  And it's been really fun, so far.  We shoot in about a month.

Burning Man is the screen adaptation of my most successful play to date, Burning the Old Man.  This too is one of my stories that people say they can relate to- and that's weird, because this one is about some really messed up brothers stuck in the middle of the Nevada desert shortly after their father commits suicide.  The brothers fight, hate and love each other in equal measure, and can't seem to get where they want to go.   First produced by Boomerang Theatre Comapany, it won the 2005 NYIT award for Outstanding Full Length Script, went on to a production in Prague at Divadlo na Zabradi, and has been published in Plays and Playwrights 2006, several scene and monologue books, and is now available online via Indie Theater Now.

And on top of that, this Monday, Nov. 14 at 6pm at Solas, Harvardwood is presenting a reading of it.  If you're in NYC, I hope you come see it.

I don't know what any of this means, other than than when I write about sad, strange, lost people- the public seems to respond.  And that I think the movie gods are trying to tell me something about where I am going and what I should be doing.