Stage THIS! Reading and Book Release Party

The Public Reading and Book Release Party for Stage THIS! Monologues, Short Solo Plays and 10-Minute Plays will take place at The Vortex Theater, 164 11th Ave. (@ 22nd St), New York, New York.  For those of you in the area, that’s right across the street from Chelsea Piers.

Monologues are presented at 5:00 pm on Sunday, July 12.  At 8:00 pm, ten-minute plays will be presented.  Afterward, a wine reception will take place along with book signing party.  There is a suggested donation of $5.00 for each event, and with a $15 donation or more, patrons receive a complimentary book.

Monologues, 5: 00 pm

• Beer and Newspaper by Alex Broun, Australia, featuring Stacie Theon
• Gone by Paul Shoulberg, Brooklyn, New York, featuring Charnele Crick
• I Witness by Joan Anderson & Dorothy Sanders, Ft Worth, Texas, featuring Sydney Stone*
• Cosmic Judo by Alan Steinberg, Potsdam, New York, featuring William DeMeritt
• Cheryl by Lisa Stephenson, Cincinnati, Ohio, featuring Cara Vander Weil
• JD by Lisa Stephenson, Cincinnati, Ohio, featuring Krista Severeid*
• selection from Faith by Wm. P. Coyle, Flushing, New York, featuring Brian Schlanger*
• selection from Geraldine by Michele Merens, Bayside, Wisconsin, featuring Emilie Byron*
• The Right Not to Take Me Seriously by William Gebby, Indianapolis, Indiana, featuring Michael Yeshion
• A Peace of Candy by Marie Mastrangelo, Irvine, California, featuring Stacie Theon
• Psychic by Beth Kander, Jackson, Mississippi

Short Plays, 8:00 pm

• Bodkin by Robin Russin, Los Angeles, California, featuring Robbie Neigeborn and Chima Chikazunga
• Maude by Mary F. Casey, Los Angeles, California, featuring Sydney Stone* and Cheryl King
• Night Vision by S. L. Daniels, Chicago, Illinois, featuring Heather Koren*
• Just Because of The Umbrella by Ivor Martinic, Zagreb, Croatia, featuring Charnele Crick and William DeMeritt, assisted by Stacie Theon and Eric C. Bailey*
• All the Way by Steven Korbar, Torrance, California, featuring Emilie Byron and Robbie Neigeborn
• Tied Lines by Amanda LePain, Minneapolis, Minnesota, featuring Bobby Abid* and Heather Koren*
• Trunk of Turin: One Small Act of Faith by Andrew Davis & David Dolle, Houston, Minnesota, featuring Michael Yeshion and Eric C. Bailey*

* denotes members of Actors’ Equity Association

Stage THIS! Volume 3 Now Available

Stage THIS! Volume 3 is finally in print and available for purchase.  Winning playwrights will receive their free copy, but that will be delayed somewhat as we plan on releasing those books along with a public reading…so all present can sign books!

Congratulations to all the winning playwrights and to us for surviving the grueling process of editing (the easy part, comparatively speaking) and dealing with online publishers (may God smite  iUniverse and BookSurge).

On other E-Merging fronts, Southern Gothic Novel: The Aberdeen, Mississippi Sex-Slave Incident has 2 performances left, June 17 and June 24.  Hurry and see the Drama Desk Award-nominated solo play while you still can!

We will be posting information about the reading and other summer events in the coming weeks…when we get space and a schedule!

Stage THIS! Volume 3, the Publishing Nightmare!

Some people may be wondering where, oh where, is the published version of Stage THIS! Volume 3.  We wonder that, too.

The work was all done by January, meaning the editing, revising and formatting of 20 writers into a cohesive book.  We set about using BookSurge.com this year because iUniverse has been slipping in the past few years with their service–not to mention their share of the royalties of each book is obscene.  Booksurge, connected somehow with Amazon, was supposedly the answer.  Booksurge staff kept warning from day one that we should not get too attached to dates as that was often a complaint of their customers.  They wanted to make clear that things take time.  Well, FIVE MONTHS later we are told that we were back to Square One: “We can’t format things like this [play scripts].  You have the wrong package and will have to pay more.”  After some more screaming, they explained we could probably get a free upgrade for all the trouble, but we’d need to start over with salesperson “Whitney”…some moron named who had caused 3 months of delays right off the bat because she apparently can only read from a piece of paper and cannot process customers’ speech.  The very person whose name was invoked in every discussion with Booksurge about the problems we faced (she seemed to be attached to every one of them).  This was the SECOND TIME they attempted to force us to deal with the very customer service person we had requested NOT be involved–and God knows, as bad as she was to begin with, we never should have had to ask in the first place.  It was time to go back to our own Square One.

We returned to iUniverse, since they had been eating up the royalties from Volumes 1 and 2 (after all, this ain’t exactly a money-maker anyway), but at least they got it done before, perhaps they could do it again.  Apparently, iUniverse is still confused about a change of email addresses that occurred years ago and they still have not resolved it.  After 2 weeks of runaround the problem was “fixed” according to them.  But after trying to log on for more than 2 more weeks, it is obvious that they are going to be a while on this issue.  That’s right–we can’t even LOG ON to our account right now!

In the meantime, we found CreateSpace.com, where it looked like MAYBE we’d be moving forward quickly and the book would be available within days (Great!  Isn’t that what POD is supposed to be about?)  CreateSpace insisted on a volume number, which was included on their computer form, but then did NOT appear when generating the book cover.  We tried to rectify that since we had options to edit–and even went to the original form and corrected it there to match the title on the book cover.  Next thing we get is a rejection notice from them because the title on the form doesn’t match the title on the book cover.  This is a technical problem on their part, but we have gone from being print-ready by now, to CreateSpace “looking into the problem.”

We truly have been making great efforts to get this done, but apparently the death of American productivity ended some time between Volume 2 and Volume 3 (and a lot of these guys farm out their work to other countries, to boot!!!).  We will not stop until it’s published but can make no guarantees as we seem to be at the mercy of some of the worst businesses ever created.

To sum up…the book is still sitting in the queue at CreateSpace.com and we are hoping they can resolve their issues.  Meantime, the book has been resubmitted to them in attempt to simply start over, but they have been sitting on it for five days now (and they have a 1-2 turnaround promise on their site!).

Drama Desk Awards 2009

The following is from Drama Desk Nominee Frank Blocker, Solo Performance for Southern Gothic Novel:

I attended the Drama Desk Awards Sunday night.  The winner in my category was Humor Abuse, still running on Broadway.  I say “still running” because there seems to be an instant assumption that any solo show you mention must have already closed.  I can’t tell you how many condolences I’ve heard for my show’s supposed closing and I’m still running through June.

I had the blessing of being nominated against Broadway and off-Broadway shows even though I perform only on Wednesdays in a 35-seat house.  To even get off-off Broadway reviewers and award committees to come is impossible, but the Drama Desk Nominating Committee came and made great efforts to encourage the voting members to attend.  They continued throughout the entire process to insist that my work was just as important as any big-budget incarnations they’d seen throughout the year.  Barbara Segal even went as far as to say, “What we’re saying is that we believe you have Broadway-star quality work coming off that little stage.”  Yes, she said that.  You don’t forget something like that.  They have been very kind and have certainly lifted my visibility.  I can’t thank them enough. I love indie theatre but it can be somewhat thankless and brutal.  Nice to dance with the belles for a spell.

Lynn Nottage had my favorite acceptance speech, but then again, I always love the playwright!  I had the pleasure of meeting many favorites and heroes throughout the course of the nomination and the accompanying hoopla, like Geoffrey Rush, Jim Dale, Janet McTeer, Marcia Gay Harden, and even got shoved by Dolly Parton’s bodyguard and I was just standing in line to be interviewed with all the other nominees.  A long story, but it seems every one else was upset by it but Dolly and me.  (I love being part of a controversy without knowing it!)  These events added a lot of exposure to “little folk” like me.

And yes, it was nice just being nominated.  To be “invited to the table” is an honor but to kvetch about votes when 200 voters suddenly have to see everything in two weeks–well, I love math, but that just gives me a headache.

Again, huge thanks to the Drama Desk Nominating Committee for all they did for me this year, and especially for always answering that thanks with, “But you did the great work.”  Do people get any nicer than that?

Award nominations abound for Southern Gothic Novel

Playwright and actor (and webmaster) Frank Blocker has just been nominated for an Audience Award for Favorite Solo Performance by Broadway.com.  The 10th  Annual Broadway.com Audience Awards, the only theatrical award that honors the best of the season as chosen by regular theatergoers.   The nominations were determined after two weeks of online voting, in which readers were asked to choose from complete lists of eligible shows and performers. Winners will be determined after a second round of voting, with all previous votes wiped clean.  Winners will be announced on Friday, May 22 and honored at a private reception.

Please vote for Frank Blocker for Favorite Solo Performance.

Blocker is also nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.  The awards show will be webcast live for the seventh year in a row by TheaterMania.com.

For more information, please contact The Jacksina Company.

We’re not gone! And we’re not foolin’!

NO THANK YOU, TIME WARNER!

Just a quick note to say, yes, the site is being reconstructed and things are being done, but no thanks to Time Warner Cable.  Each time I have had to deal with them, they have grown to be amazingly more inept than the last.

To clarify, the website for E-Merging Writers is in transition ON THE NET.  Not in real life!

In real life, E-Merging Writers is doing the following just this week:

• Enjoying the fourth month of Southern Gothic Novel, extended at Stage Left Studio through June (so far!).  Buy tickets, please.   It’s received 10 brilliant reviews!
• Continued rehearsals for Pamela Parker’s Dreams of Martha Stewart, making its New York City debut at The Left Out Festival, April 17 @ 8pm and April 26 @ 3pm, starring Gina Bonati.  Buy tickets!
• Updated PlaywritingOpportunities.com through May!  Go get your plays some love, playwrights!
• Just sent Stage THIS! Volume 3: Monologues, Short Solo Plays and 10-Minute Plays to the printers for publication and now awaiting print date.
• And watched a few other projects sit on the burner because we’re swamped:  Sprechgesang and a few monologues and such that different folks are presenting in different places in the next couple of months.

Just so you know that more is coming and this is really JUST supposed to be the blogspot for E-Merging Writers, but that site won’t be ready for a bit.  So, we’re here for a bit until the Home(site) Makeover people are ready to “unveil” for us all.

Stage THIS! Volume 3 Winners Announced

The following have been accepted for publication in our third volume of the Stage THIS! collection:  Stage THIS! Monologues, Short Solo Plays and 10-Minute Plays:

Monologues

All the Pretty Little Horses, Robert Paul Laudenslager, Blacksburg, Virginia
Beer & Newspaper, Alex Broun, Australia
Cheryl, Lisa Stephenson , Cincinnatti, Ohio
Cosmic Judo, Alan Steinberg, Potsdam, New York
Geraldine, Michele Merens, Bayside, Wisconsin
Gone, Paul Shoulberg, Brooklyn, New York
I Witness, Joan Anderson and Dorothy Sanders, Fort Worth, Texas
JD, Lisa Stephenson , Cincinnatti, Ohio
Peace of Candy, A, Marie Mastrangelo, Irvine, California
Psychic, Beth Kander, Jackson, Mississippi
Right Not to Take Me Seriously, The, William Gebby, Indianapolis, Indiana

Short Solo Plays

A Slight Limp: The Later Life and Adventures of Tiny Tim , Steven Korbar, Torrance, California
Barsha Bardal, Asher Wyndham, Tucson, Arizona
Faith, William Coyle, Flushing, New York
Librarian, The, Hugh Cardiff, Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland

10-Minute Plays

All the Way, Steven Korbar, Torrance, California
Bodkin, Robin Russin, Los Angeles, California
Just Because of The Umbrella, Ivor Martinic, Zagreb, Croatia
Maude, Mary F. Casey, Los Angeles, California
Tied Lines, Amanda LePain, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Trunk of Turin: One Small Act of Faith, Andrew Davis and David Dolle, Houston, Texas

We selected these 21 from a field of 150 scripts that were submitted.  Each play was read three times by a theatre professional, critiqued, and ranked.  Through a double-blind scoring system, semi-finalists are selected.  From there, plays are read aloud by professional actors in several private table readings with the judging committee until the final selections have been made.

In the coming days, as I begin to compile the materials into the book, I will be blogging about those experiences.

Update!!

First, apologies for being so late on keeping up postings but my partner died recently and I am still dealing with that.  

Second, the playwriting competition is still on, but we will be postponing a few months (for obvious reasons) and a new deadline date of June 1 will be set. 

Three, the website move for playwritingopportunities has also been postponed (again, the reasons should be obvious) but I am still keeping up the information. 

Four, yes, I filed for an extension!

Finally, please make sure that you tell the ones you love just how much you love them and do it as often as possible.  I never regret telling my partner that, only the times I should have.

 

Monologue and 10-minute Play Contest Opens

In the midst of moving the website … we must continue on with our theatre work.  E-Merging Writers and Fn Productions has just opened the door for our new STAGE THIS! competition. 

We are concentrating this year on monologues for publication, but we are also accepting 10-minute plays for possible staged reading and production.  Volume III of Stage This! will be called Stage This, Yourself!  Monologues and Short Solo Plays.  Publication is planned for the fall/winter of 2008.

E-Merging Writers Moves Again

In the coming weeks, E-Merging Writers will be moving to a new location … here!  We’re going blog.  We’re fed up with overpriced hosting and the horrible service we’ve been getting.  And here we are.

Yes, we’re a group of writers and theatre folk, but we won’t be able to talk much about the fun part of the that over the next few weeks.  We’ll be migrating files and stuff.  But there’s a lot going on.

As your webmaster, I will tell you of the goings on of that – as well as the pending show with Fn Productions of my play, Suite Atlanta.  Working backwards … as we always do in theatre …. The play is scheduled to run mid-April to mid-May.  Rehearsals and auditions will begin in mid-February.  Which means, I have until the second week of February … perhaps the last week … to do major re-writes.  Wheee!  I’ll be working on those again tomorrow.

Today, it’s get the new blog started.  You know … slow and steady wins the race.  Just keep going.  90% of success is showin up.  Etc.