PLAYWRIGHTS CORNER - inspiration
Mondays
10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT), Writers Grill
Playwrights Corner - Topics of interest to playwrights, moderated by HOST WRTR Herone, HOST WRTR Sofie & HOST WRTR LUD.
HOST WRTR Herone: Great 00
HOST WRTR Herone: I mean, thanks all for coming.
HOST WRTR Herone: Our topic is: "Generating Ideas!"
Librettist01: Everyone in California is trying to generate electricity
instead of ideas..
Izafilly: lol lib
HOST WRTR Herone: How do you get ideas for your plays?
HOST WRTR Herone: true Lib
Izafilly: poor critters
HOST WRTR Lud: It's a generational issue.
HOST WRTR Herone: Well, that's one place I get ideas: the news.
HOST WRTR Herone: Hot issues from the papers often spur something for me.
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes. I have a solid way of generating ideas.
Izafilly: papers, magazines
Librettist01: I started a scrapbook on interesting news stories; just have a
few in there but there doosie
Librettist01: s.
Izafilly: character of a neighborhood
HOST WRTR Herone: A scrapbook and/or journal is a great idea, Lib.
Rebecca459: i scan obits and classified ads
HOST WRTR Herone: If you've ever read Chekhov's notebooks, they're
fascinating.
HOST WRTR Herone: Obits! Great idea, Rebecca.
Librettist01: I've heard of them.
HOST WRTR Herone: sometimes they're nothing but a character sketch,
HOST WRTR Lud: What I usually do is decide on a general motif. Say, Greek
mythology. Christmas.
Izafilly: obits reminds me of Huck Finn--maybe Mark Twain did the same
OnlineHost: CharriePi has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: Music Hall. Fairy tales.
HOST WRTR Herone: I wouldn't have thought of a classified add.
OnlineHost: CharriePi has left the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: Go on, Lud
HOST WRTR Herone: ad, that is.
Rebecca459: well obits sometimes provide ideas for names, places etc
HOST WRTR Lud: Then, I buy a book on the subject and steep myself in
atmosphere.
HOST WRTR Herone: careers, too, I'll bet
HOST WRTR Herone: The library's great for me too, Lud.
HOST WRTR Lud: Since I specialize in musicals, I usually buy recordings.
HOST WRTR Herone: Recordings of the period?
HOST WRTR Herone: if you're setting the music in period?
HOST WRTR Lud: When I wrote CHARLOTTE SWEET, I played Joan Morris/William
Bolcolm albums night and
HOST WRTR Lud: day.
HOST WRTR Lud: It generated flavor and ideas on what kinds of songs to do.
HOST WRTR Herone: Music gives me ideas, and styles, too.
HOST WRTR Lud: When I wrote TALES OF TINSELTOWN, I listened to movie
musicals.
Rebecca459: i was reading ship manifests from Ellis Island, tons
Rebecca459: of ideas there
HOST WRTR Herone: wow, what a great source, Rebecca
Izafilly: topical libraries are good, like Bishop Museum if the subject is
Hawaiiana
Librettist01: Sounds like a little bit of the "Mozart effect"...
HOST WRTR Herone: Archives are great -- county archives, historical
societies.
HOST WRTR Lud: Also, it's great if you have a special interest. I've always
been interested in comic books
HOST WRTR Herone: Sometimes I get off on the "wrong" floor of the library
and just wander around.
Librettist01: Actually, I've found it interesting going to see musicals from
the 30s and 40s in our local
Librettist01: hysterical theatre...
HOST WRTR Herone: looking at random things
Rebecca459: herone me too
HOST WRTR Lud: and great mythology. I almost didn't have to research them
to call up ideas.
HOST WRTR Herone: I know what you mean, Lud.
HOST WRTR Herone: Earlier this week I had a meeting with a collaborator ,
Izafilly: steven schwartz had a good idea at a recent ASCAP seminar
Rebecca459: i also buy old letters at garage sales and flea markets
HOST WRTR Herone: where we put ideas on little slips of paper and let them
HOST WRTR Lud: What was that Izafilly.
HOST WRTR Herone: pile up on the table as we worked.
Izafilly: as he had been forced into storyboarding before, he's learned to
do it
HOST WRTR Herone: Old letters! What a good idea.
OnlineHost: Tovha has entered the room.
OnlineHost: HazelHazel has entered the room.
Izafilly: visualizing a storyboard helps generate ideas
Rebecca459: hi tov heya hazel
HOST WRTR Herone: That's what we were doing -- early storyboarding.
HazelHazel: Hey room **
Tovha: hi
HOST WRTR Herone: Hi Hazel, Tovah
HOST WRTR Herone: Tovha, that is
HOST WRTR Lud: Also, writing a play can be like what Irving Berlin used to
call working up to the punchline
HazelHazel: how's that Lud?
Librettist01: I had experience in storyboarding while going thru a
multimedia training program.
HOST WRTR Lud: He'd come up with an effective final phrase and work his way
into it.
HOST WRTR Herone: I love to create a "board" -- a wall that has sketches,
pictures, cut out articles
Izafilly: what, lib?
HOST WRTR Herone: words, adjectives, images
OnlineHost: Tovha has left the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: Similarly, if you have a striking idea on how your play will
end, it becomes an enjoyable
Rebecca459: herone colors? fabrics etc?
HOST WRTR Herone: yes -- all that
Izafilly: sounds like brainstorming, Her
HOST WRTR Lud: riddle to find a path to that ending.
HOST WRTR Herone: yes
HazelHazel: sounds great Her
Librettist01: It was an AA program in computer graphics etc., we did a fair
amount of group storyboarding.
OnlineHost: Noel Katz has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: hi Noel
Librettist01: Storyboarding IS a lot like brainstorming, I would say.
Rebecca459: when i was in advertising i did storyboards in my sleep
HOST WRTR Lud: On TALES OF TINSELTOWN, I had a wonderful tableau planned for
the ending and found a way to
HOST WRTR Lud: work into it.
Izafilly: noel, did you go to ASCAP yet this week?
Noel Katz: Good evening
HOST WRTR Herone: There are computer programs now that are "idea
generators".
Noel Katz: Yes, I was there tonight, Iza
Izafilly: any good?
HOST WRTR Herone: that help you free-associate from words to images to other
words
Librettist01: I would be a bit suspicious of something like that, Her.
HazelHazel: how was tonite's Noel?
Noel Katz: Damn near excellent
HOST WRTR Lud: How was it? Did they generate exciting ideas?
Izafilly: I will go tomorrow
Noel Katz: You guys might have liked the panel...
Izafilly: what topic, Noel?
HazelHazel: which play was it , noel?
HOST WRTR Herone: I've seen testimonials to them, but never used them.
Librettist01: We generated some pretty exciting stuff in our storyboards;
our final project
Noel Katz: It was about a flood overrunning a town in Missouri
Librettist01: bordered on something marketable.
Izafilly: how topical :)
HOST WRTR Herone: I've heard about that one, Noel
HOST WRTR Lud: Sounds like TWO BY TWO with a twang.
Noel Katz: Stunning choral writing
HazelHazel: oh, Flood, that was the best show of the lot..it's getting a run
in the lower east side
HazelHazel: It has my vote
Librettist01: Wild River, the musical....
Noel Katz: I thought of it as 110 in the Shade with the opposite problem
Noel Katz: The panel was Stephen Sondheim
Izafilly: what's the name of it, Noel?
Noel Katz: but I don't mean to barge in and change the subject
HOST WRTR Lud: That's sweet of you, Noel. I thought of URINETOWN!
Librettist01: Barge away, Noel.
Noel Katz: You guys go back to what you were talking about
HazelHazel: rats...I keep missing him
HOST WRTR Herone: We're talking about how to generate ideas --
HOST WRTR Lud: You mean no one else but Sondheim.
Librettist01: Barging is an apt analogy for a seaborne theme...heh, heh.
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Lib
HOST WRTR Lud: Well, he's not busy these days.
OnlineHost: Viva Las Vagus has entered the room.
Rebecca459: high utility bills generate ideas, mostly for felonies
HOST WRTR Herone: It's nice to see things that are based on off-beat ideas
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Rebecca
HOST WRTR Herone: hi Viva
OnlineHost: ANIDOV has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: hi Ani
Librettist01: Is freezing in the dark good for the artistic soul?
HOST WRTR Herone: what a nice big crowd tonight
Rebecca459: hi viva hi anidov
Viva Las Vagus: is there an artistic soul?
HOST WRTR Lud: I guess everyone's looking for ideas.
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes and artistic hearts.
HOST WRTR Herone: I love all Rebecca's ideas -- obits, classified ads, etc.
Viva Las Vagus: ideas come - you can't look for them
Librettist01: You get one when you start freezing in the dark, I think..
Rebecca459: herone awww :)
HOST WRTR Herone: One reason is that they are so specific and individual.
Librettist01: The two news stories I "archived" were both very dramatic; one
was about
HOST WRTR Herone: They give you little pieces of specificity which can be
very helpful.
Librettist01: a plane that crashed with a company aboard, including the
CEO...
Viva Las Vagus: but if your ideas come from outside, are they really yours?
Librettist01: The other was about a man who owned a whole field of tires
that were on fire...
ANIDOV: Hello, Host and all.... this is a good topic.
Librettist01: he died while he was being sued over it.
HOST WRTR Lud: Sounds like TITANIC meets MISS SAIGON.
HOST WRTR Herone: I love to put several random images and words into a hat
and make something out of them.
Noel Katz: One thinks of the great Tom Lehrer song inspired by the obit of
Alma Mahler
HOST WRTR Herone: yes indeed, Noel
Viva Las Vagus: i got the idea for my first novel from a random remark made
by someone at a class reunion
Viva Las Vagus: just one sentence started a book
HOST WRTR Herone: Viva -- If you put 10 writers in a room and tell everyone
to write a scene
Librettist01: I think anywhere you get ideas is fair. Ideas you think are
yours may be subconsciously
Izafilly: tonight is obituary inspiration
Viva Las Vagus: who's gonna want to be with ten writers?
Rebecca459: eavesdropping is a good sourse too
Librettist01: from experiences you've had.
HOST WRTR Herone: that includes a wrench, a candle, and elbow length gloves,
HOST WRTR Lud: Of course, you can get a great deal of inspiration if you
come from a demented family
Rebecca459: source
HOST WRTR Lud: and can't afford therapy.
Izafilly: Dorothy Parker, Viva
HOST WRTR Herone: believe me, each one will write something different and
specific
HOST WRTR Herone: to herself or himself
ANIDOV: Eavesdropping is a great source. I do it all the time.
Viva Las Vagus: she's not ten writers
HOST WRTR Herone: I love to eavesdrop.
Librettist01: Right, Lud; E. O'Neill, T. Williams, on and on and on...
Rebecca459: lud you can get even more from a bad therapist lol
Viva Las Vagus: i'd rather be eavesdropped on
Viva Las Vagus: but, do you look for ideas or for that spark?
Izafilly: she would have been happy to be with them at the round tableat the
A.
HOST WRTR Lud: Please, if it weren't for my therapist, I'd be in the river
and not writing plays.
Rebecca459: both
HOST WRTR Herone: the spark can come from all kinds of unlikely places
Noel Katz: Eavesdropping is one of the great pleasures of New York
Viva Las Vagus: she'd rather be dead, I suspect
ANIDOV: By the way, Herone, the George St. Theater just did an "instant
theater" program, where they
Viva Las Vagus: i think the spark comes from within
Viva Las Vagus: just my experience, though
Izafilly: therapy is overrated--there's no blaming parents
ANIDOV: wrote plays overnight, cast and rehearsed them, and performed them
the next night.
HOST WRTR Herone: Several of my friends have gone thru INSTANT THEATRE
experiences and loved them
Noel Katz: Muriel Spark comes from Glasgow, I think
Viva Las Vagus: muriel spark is lovely
Librettist01: I agree, Viva; but I think you can use outside events as a
help.
HOST WRTR Lud: ANIDOV, are you near George Street. It's 15 minutes away
from me.
Viva Las Vagus: that's the spark, lib
OnlineHost: WORDGUY280 has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: They've done that at the O'Neill as well.
OnlineHost: Viva Las Vagus has left the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: hi Wordguy
Rebecca459: hi word
ANIDOV: Yes, I'm in PA.
WORDGUY280: 'Evening, Y'all.
HOST WRTR Lud: Specifically produced a musical theatre program. I believe
it will be presented at the
HOST WRTR Lud: Public Theatre as well.
Noel Katz: And of course, I do improv all the time...
HOST WRTR Herone: true, Noel
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, that began with THE PROPOSITION, Allan Albert's improv
group.
Noel Katz: ...tomorrow night, Second City (in NYC), May 20, the Sunday nite
Jame
Izafilly: does it help you get ideas, Noel?
Noel Katz: and I may play for Centralia this Friday
OnlineHost: JudiaLuv has entered the room.
Noel Katz: It opens my mind to a freer way of thinking
OnlineHost: Mrs Zippie has entered the room.
ANIDOV: Does anybody really have trouble getting ideas? I have never found
that to be a problem for
HOST WRTR Herone: it helps you learn to free-associate quickly
ANIDOV: most writers -- usually we have too many bouncing around and not
enough time
HOST WRTR Lud: You know, I kind of agree with Richard Rodger's definition of
inspiration.
HOST WRTR Herone: Ani -- it's true that getting the initial idea isn't the
trouble -- it's following thru in
HOST WRTR Herone: "the muddle in the middle"
HOST WRTR Lud: "Pay me, and I'm inspired."
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Lud
WORDGUY280: Ideas seem to flow rather well for me. Sometimes productive to
ride public
ANIDOV: to concentrate on them all.
WORDGUY280: transportation and listen to the conversations;
WORDGUY280: eavesdrop on conversations in bars;
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, that's great for picking up dialogue. But you have to
be lucky to use it as
ANIDOV: To me, the problem is deciding whether the idea is going
anywhere.... or is it turning into
HOST WRTR Lud: inspiration for plotlines.
ANIDOV: a cliché or worse --
ANIDOV: a "what if"
HOST WRTR Lud: Headlines in the paper are an excellent source of
inspiration.
HOST WRTR Herone: For me turning the idea into a workable piece usually
involves finding the right characters.
Rebecca459: i like to string ideas together
Izafilly: how do you solve the muddle in the middle after you have got your
main idea, Her?
Librettist01: I think you're right, Anidov; I think the problem is getting
some depth into it.
WORDGUY280: The tried 'n' true "What would happen if . . . " question is
often productive, too.
HOST WRTR Herone: I frequently reach "muddle" after about 40 pages.
Rebecca459: lol
Izafilly: do you get into the buzz?
ANIDOV: the problem with "what if" is that you can become committed to
something stupid.
HOST WRTR Herone: that's my standard sticking point
Izafilly: I am there on a play, Her & know just what you mean
HOST WRTR Lud: One easy lynchpin I used was to build a series of shows
around holidays.
OnlineHost: JudiaLuv has left the room.
WORDGUY280: Imagine them all stuck in an elevator together, or being
involved in a traffic accident.
Librettist01: It DOES seem to be about developing characters, in the end.
HOST WRTR Herone: And I'm never sure how to get out. I just know that
eventually I do.
HOST WRTR Lud: Well traffic accidents aren't easy to stage. And very costly
from night to night.
HazelHazel: lol Lud
HOST WRTR Herone: I just wish it was sooner rather than later! LOL
Izafilly: no process to attack it, Her?
HOST WRTR Lud: That's why it's so much easier just to stage a simple murder.
HOST WRTR Herone: I attack it all kinds of ways.
ANIDOV: Or sometimes you see a situation and wonder, how did that come
about?
WORDGUY280: Not if you lead 'em by about 35 feet and disconnect your brake
lights.
Rebecca459: food poisoning is cheaper
HOST WRTR Herone: but I wish I had a foolproof one
Izafilly: besides caffeine and sugar?
Librettist01: Theatre owners can be very touchy about having vehicles smash
into their buildings, I bet.
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Iza
HazelHazel: My problem's kind of the opposite, too many ideas, and often too
complicated
HOST WRTR Herone: Hazel -- that's interesting.
HOST WRTR Lud: You know, I've always wondered what all those BMI students do
with their STREETCAR NAMED
HOST WRTR Lud: DESIRE songs.
WORDGUY280: So many ideas; so little time.
HOST WRTR Herone: Sometimes it's true, we have to simplify.
HOST WRTR Lud: Maybe someone should just create a revue of them.
OnlineHost: Rebecca459 has left the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: cut to the chase
HOST WRTR Lud: STREETCAR UNLIMITED.
ANIDOV: Yes -- too many, or something emotionally complex that I don't
understand myself yet.
HazelHazel: Lol Lud..one day we'll all publish them, it'll be an auto nite
to remember
Noel Katz: I wrote the funniest Streetcar song ever heard there
WORDGUY280: Names often determine destiny in wonderful ways. Imagine "A
streetcar named Gretchen."
Izafilly: do you have to understand the emotion?
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Wordguy
Noel Katz: "Why Did Stella Pick a Polock?"
ANIDOV: E.G., I have a story that I've known since a kid, but I don't
understand it so much as an
Izafilly: I think it just transfers through subconsciously
HazelHazel: didja Noel? what was the title?
WORDGUY280: or if Patsy Cline had titled her song "Nuts" instead of "Crazy"
ANIDOV: adult -- but am still winnowing through it with a child's memory.
HazelHazel: lol Word
HOST WRTR Herone: I often find that the idea(s) I start with aren't
necessarily the ideas that really
HOST WRTR Herone: move the play forward.
HOST WRTR Lud: I think Barry Kleinbort's Tennessee Williams song is pretty
darn funny too.
HOST WRTR Lud: The one Marcia Lewis sings.
HOST WRTR Herone: that somewhere about page 30-40 of the first draft, it
starts
HOST WRTR Herone: turning into something different than I expected.
Noel Katz: In college, my playwriting prof Howard Teichmann always said
deaths on stage are difficult
Izafilly: that is very interesting, Her
HazelHazel: that must be really neat Herone.. the play taking off by itself
HOST WRTR Herone: It's almost as though the first idea was a red herring,
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, to me that's what can be so exciting in the development
of a play.
Librettist01: Also very hard on the actors, right Noel?
Noel Katz: So, I wrote one - kind of my own family version of Albee's All
Over
Izafilly: it's like your subconscious may go on to make the topic
HOST WRTR Herone: and my unconscious starts to generate something else --
something more dangerous
WORDGUY280: . . . and too many witnesses in the audience.
HOST WRTR Lud: I don't outline myself. I come up with some basic ideas, and
let them simmer.
HOST WRTR Herone: or unpredictable
Noel Katz: And, sure enough, he wrote in the margin "deaths on stage are
hard to do"
OnlineHost: Mrs Zippie has left the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: I never quite know where the journey will lead.
HOST WRTR Herone: That's why I don't mind using just about any old starting
point.
Noel Katz: Stephen Schwartz (at ASCAP) often mentions the importance of
storyboarding
ANIDOV: Death definitely slows a play down.
Izafilly: I don't think an unconscious can generate, Her :)
Noel Katz: I'm a big fan of outlines, myself - also helps you chart the
progress of what you've done
ANIDOV: Yeah, he should teach Joe Stein
Izafilly: unless it's channeling
HOST WRTR Lud: Noel, I think storyboarding can be valuable to some writers.
But others work better on
HOST WRTR Lud: instinct. Storyboarding can confine spontenaeity.
HOST WRTR Herone: When you're in a collaboration, though, storyboarding can
help a lot.
HOST WRTR Herone: When I work with a co-writer, we don't want to be writing
in different directions.
ANIDOV: I don't expect playwriting to be spontaneous.
HOST WRTR Lud: That's true. It's not dissimilar from adapting a play.
HazelHazel: collaboration..now there's a topic.
HOST WRTR Herone: it is indeed
HOST WRTR Lud: I've often written entire librettos and turned them over to a
composer. You don't need
HOST WRTR Lud: a storyboard for that.
Noel Katz: How can storyboarding confine spontenaeity?
ANIDOV: Well, we've already strayed from this one, might as well take up
collaboration.
HOST WRTR Herone: that's if you have a clean process -- only one writing
book, one doing music
HOST WRTR Herone: but if you have more than one person working out the book
--
HOST WRTR Lud: How, Noel? When I wrote CHARLOTTE SWEET, I had no idea where
it was heading.
OnlineHost: WORDGUY280 has left the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: I think if I'd worked it all out in advance, the writing
might have become labored.
OnlineHost: Pjmckenny has entered the room.
HazelHazel: yes, Her, but don't all collaborators actually do a little of
the other's job
HOST WRTR Herone: we sure do
HOST WRTR Herone: Hi Patti
Noel Katz: That's an example of something successful written sans
storyboard...
OnlineHost: Izafilly has left the room.
Pjmckenny: Hey, all.
Noel Katz: ...but it doesn't answer my question of how storyboard can
confine one's spontaneity
HOST WRTR Herone: We're wandering all over the place, from idea generation
to collaboration.
OnlineHost: Izafilly has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: Hammerstein always was methodical in his lyrics. Mapping
them out.
HazelHazel: Patti hi :) **
Pjmckenny: OK.
Pjmckenny: Hi, Haze.
HOST WRTR Lud: Hart was spontaneous, without any definite notion where he
was
ANIDOV: Hi Patti -
HOST WRTR Herone: I don't think a storyboard has to confine creativity. It
can generate ideas for scenes.
HOST WRTR Lud: heading in many cases. I prefer the freshness of Hart.
Izafilly: hi Pj
Pjmckenny: Hey, Iza.
Noel Katz: PJ, just back from ASCAP w/ Sondheim, and dessert afterwords with
Jill Work
HOST WRTR Lud: And I think songwriting can be parallel, in that respect, to
playwriting.
Pjmckenny: Noel: great. Hope to hear all about it.
ANIDOV: It's hard to say whether anyone with the output such as Hart's did
anything in one way only.
Noel Katz: And you can always change the storyboard
HOST WRTR Herone: indeed -- it's not a fixed thing
HOST WRTR Lud: Actually, it's not hard at all. I did the research for the
biography on Hart.
HOST WRTR Herone: I notice that when I'm trying to generate ideas with a
collaborator --
Noel Katz: Hart's the lyricist I admire most. And yet he wasn't a great
SHOWwriter
HazelHazel: right...it's just a tool, like any other
HOST WRTR Lud: Sometimes he did carefully plan songs.
HOST WRTR Herone: it's helpful to write things down on separate pieces of
paper and/or
Noel Katz: He was a great SONGwriter for sure
HOST WRTR Herone: index cards, rather than a list
HOST WRTR Lud: But more often he improvised.
HOST WRTR Herone: because you can move them around on a table top and make
Pjmckenny: Her: me too.
HOST WRTR Herone: interesting juxtapositions --
Noel Katz: But how many of Hart's shows can be performed today with their
original scripts?
HOST WRTR Lud: But his mind was so full of ideas and information, it all
sorted out.
HazelHazel: yes, Stephen Schwart's fond of index cards too
Noel Katz: Yes, I've found that too, Herone
HOST WRTR Lud: DEAREST ENEMY. I MARRIED AN ANGEL. BOYS FROM SYRACUSE.
HOST WRTR Lud: PEGGY ANN.
HOST WRTR Herone: It allows you to be less linear.
HOST WRTR Lud: AMERICA'S SWEETHEART.
HazelHazel: z
HOST WRTR Herone: and find more than one way to tell a story
Noel Katz: You think Peggy Ann could play in front of an audience today?
HOST WRTR Lud: PAL JOEY (with slight alterations).
Pjmckenny: Her, yes -- see things from new angles.
HOST WRTR Lud: I know it could.
Pjmckenny: Ani, hi -- haven't seen you in awhile.
HOST WRTR Lud: It's been done. And the New Amersterdam Theatre Company was
ANIDOV: Often what appears spontaneous has been simmering somewhere for some
time. Appearances can
HOST WRTR Lud: planning on reviving it, with very few changes.
HOST WRTR Herone: I agree, Ani.
HazelHazel: they're running a series of old musicals at the 14th st. Y..did
"dearest Enemy etc
ANIDOV: be deceptive.
HOST WRTR Lud: I didn't see that production, but I saw DEAREST ENEMY at
Goodspeed and it was totally charmi
HOST WRTR Lud: charming.
HOST WRTR Herone: Often it takes years for an idea I've been cooking to find
the right form/show to
Librettist01: I saw "Me and My Gal" at our Stanford the other night, with
Gene Kelly and Judy Garland.
HOST WRTR Herone: express itself properly.
Noel Katz: If you want to see spontaneous, see improv
HOST WRTR Lud: Admitted, there was some minor adjustements here and there.
Librettist01: Actually a masterpiece of a script, in my opinion.
Pjmckenny: Ani, yes. A friend says "Plant all the seeds you can while
perking it...
HOST WRTR Lud: I'm not saying a work shouldn't be polished, Noel.
Pjmckenny: ...you never know what'll bloom and what'll dry up."
HOST WRTR Herone: it's true, Patti
HOST WRTR Lud: I'm just saying some people like to do a first draft and use
that as a form of storyboarding
OnlineHost: Izafilly has left the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: I have worked every which way, and different methods work
for different projects/people.
Pjmckenny: Her, isn't that the truth.
HOST WRTR Herone: Are we running out of gas on this one? 'Cuz we can move
on to PLUGS
HOST WRTR Lud: Perhaps storyboarding is especially valuable if you're doing
an adaptation, so you can
HOST WRTR Herone: and open chat of all kinds.
HOST WRTR Herone: Lud, definitely for an adaptation!
ANIDOV: It's important to get a block of time soon after an "inspiration" I
think. Otherwise, your
HazelHazel: Yes Herone...it doesn't make sense to me to codify one method
over another
HOST WRTR Lud: structure and map out which portions of a source you're
using.
HOST WRTR Herone: Ani -- I agree with you there too.
Pjmckenny: Lud: find that to be true.
ANIDOV: idea(s) seems to wither or become trite to you.
HOST WRTR Herone: There are just too many "bright ideas when driving in the
car" that evaporate like mist.
HOST WRTR Herone: if you don't immediate start cranking something out
HazelHazel: so true Herone..
HOST WRTR Lud: Oh, I completely agree, Herone, that you must write down
every idea that pops into your head
Pjmckenny: Willie Nelson says he never writes anything down because if it's
good enough, he'll remember
HOST WRTR Herone: For a while I was the most dangerous driver in the world
OnlineHost: K Javie has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: That way you can look back and see which work and which don't
HOST WRTR Herone: because I kept a notebook in the car when I was driving by
myself
Noel Katz: A milestone, folks. The MusicalMakers e-group PJ started had its
1000th post today
ANIDOV: Yes - I tape recorded an interview today and I started thinking
about keeping the recorder
Noel Katz: (I was 1001)
Pjmckenny: the idea. Willie doesn't have my brain cell problems,
apparently.
HOST WRTR Herone: I once wrote lyrics to 4 or 5 songs on a cross country
trip where I was driving!
HOST WRTR Lud: Some ideas you think are ingenious can look stale the next
morning.
Pjmckenny: Noel: is that so? Wow.
HazelHazel: hmmm. well I've found scraps of paper and bits of taped songs
that were the beginnings of
HazelHazel: bigger things
HazelHazel: which I'd totally forgotten
HOST WRTR Herone: it's true, Hazel
ANIDOV: in the car with me and my camera (I am photog. too).
Pjmckenny: Haze: me too. I say write it down. You never know.
HOST WRTR Herone: I wish I could work more freely with a tape recorder. So
far it's been a bust.
HOST WRTR Herone: My "hand" knows things better than my mouth, for some
reason.
ANIDOV: Also when you wake up in the night or first thing in the morning.
You need to have a note
Pjmckenny: Her: I can't use one either. Don't know why this is so.
ANIDOV: book right there.
HOST WRTR Herone: I freeze up with a recorder.
Noel Katz: I do most of my writing on buses and subways
HOST WRTR Lud: You know, one of the most popular songs I wrote in CHARLOTTE
SWEET started out as
HOST WRTR Lud: a lyric I wrote in college about bad manners in the theatre.
HazelHazel: Herone..tape recorder works best for me for snippets of song...
HOST WRTR Herone: there are definitely positives about public
transportation!
ANIDOV: Well, I don't know how it would work -- but I guess I can learn to
do it.
HOST WRTR Lud: I remembered the lyric, pulled it out, and just made some
minor revisions.
HOST WRTR Lud: Hold on to everything like that.
HOST WRTR Herone: I had a collaborator who did most of her lyric writing on
a bus.
Pjmckenny: Post-Its and index cards here.
ANIDOV: I couldn't take pictures at one time - then I had to, and now I sell
them.
HOST WRTR Herone: I keep unbelievable files of odd notes. I throw almost
nothing away.
Noel Katz: Me, too
HOST WRTR Lud: Oh, I can be out at dinner, in the middle of soup, and scream
out a lyric problem I've just
Pjmckenny: Ani: way to master the learning curve.
HOST WRTR Lud: solved.
HOST WRTR Herone: My house is an ocean of paper.
Noel Katz: I'm shopping for Post-Its for the new show's storyboard this week
Pjmckenny: Lud: writers are really annoying to live with that way.
HOST WRTR Lud: Of course, my guest gets splattered and never wants to hear
the song again.
HazelHazel: me too, <- throw nothing away ...leads to big filing problem s:)
HOST WRTR Herone: no kidding
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Lud
ANIDOV: Oh, ocean of paper - tell me about it.
Pjmckenny: Haze: yep. Goes with the territory.
HOST WRTR Herone: I keep so many notebooks going -- I never know what I'm
going to find in one.
Librettist01: As long as we're on songs; I'm wanting to get back into
songwriting; use that
HOST WRTR Lud: Then there's the frustration of when you've written down your
ideas and loose the crumbled u
Pjmckenny: Noel, which new show? (Are we into general chat, Her?)
HOST WRTR Lud: up paper.
HOST WRTR Herone: yes --
Noel Katz: And yet my girlfriend constantly rags on me to throw the old
notebooks away
Librettist01: to develop characters instead of more dialogue.
HazelHazel: soo glad you all have that problem too, thought I was solo with
it
HOST WRTR Herone: Let's move on to SHAMELESS PLUGS and general chat.
HOST WRTR Herone: do plug, people
Pjmckenny: Noel: swat her one. Sondheim was there tonight? Cool.
HOST WRTR Lud: I sometimes go to the gym, and come back with reams in my
pocket.
HOST WRTR Herone: Never! Throw away nothing.
ANIDOV: Yes, notebooks are crucial. I use about 8 at once. Of course, I am
always losing them.
Pjmckenny: Haze: oh, no. Taming the paperwork monster is a constant
battle.
Noel Katz: Yes, and I finished my production of Into the Woods today - so
now I'm free
HOST WRTR Herone: great, Noel
Pjmckenny: Lud, or are you just glad to see us?
Librettist01: I knew this guy once who had a whole room full of newspaper
articles.
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, but besides keeping things, you must organize them or
you'll never be able to locate.
K Javie: Shameless plug--My first play will be at Brooklyn's Gallery Theater
June 21-24 if anyone is
K Javie: in the area
HazelHazel: It was a lovely production..Noel's Into the Woods
HOST WRTR Herone: congrats K Javie!
HOST WRTR Lud: I knew there'd be some dirty minds out there.
K Javie: Thanks
ANIDOV: I have those too -- from four different newspapers.
HOST WRTR Herone: name of play, K?
Pjmckenny: All good energy on it, K J -- that's great.
Librettist01: Not necessarily so, Lud; known engineers who could only find
things if they were
Librettist01: out there in total chaos.
K Javie: Never Missed a Day
HazelHazel: congrats javie
K Javie: :)
HOST WRTR Herone: My play HEART SMART opens this weekend in Wilmington NC
HOST WRTR Lud: True, Librettist. One can't generalize, anymore than saying
storyboarding is necessary
HOST WRTR Lud: for everyone.
Noel Katz: I, too, have no regrets about Doris Day's retirement
HOST WRTR Herone: then opens at a theatre in Michigan the next weekend
ANIDOV: Congratulations.... good title.
Pjmckenny: Noel, I can't keep track: did you direct, in it, what?
HazelHazel: Grand, Herone
K Javie: Howd you get it all the way out there?
Librettist01: I think storyboarding is a really good idea and a good
technique, especially for collaborati
HOST WRTR Herone: but - the NYC production has been cancelled :-P
Pjmckenny: Linda, is there a week that goes by you're not up somewhere? :)
Librettist01: ng porpoises.
Noel Katz: I musical directed Into the Woods - one of 7 shows that
monopolized my April
HOST WRTR Herone: they couldn't find the right older actress and they didn't
tell me in time
HOST WRTR Lud: Nothing major new. All's progressing for the UK. I have a
few more acceptances on my
HOST WRTR Herone: I could have gotten it cast, even from Cleveland, I know
enough folks in NYC
HOST WRTR Lud: birthday benefit: Bruce Adler, Ron Raines.
HOST WRTR Herone: how nice, Lud
Noel Katz: ITW was my first time working with a director with Broadway
experience
Pjmckenny: Linda: what a pain. Sorry to hear that.
HazelHazel: wow, herone..they could have called me :)
Pjmckenny: Noel: fun time?
ANIDOV: Bruce Adler -- my hero!
HazelHazel: wonderful,lud
HOST WRTR Herone: I'm not grieving, esp. since I hadn't planned on seeing
it.
HOST WRTR Lud: I've written for Bruce. In fact, one of his most successful
shows.
HOST WRTR Herone: If I had made tvl plans, I'd be steamed, though.
Noel Katz: Now comes the fun time. And, hopefully, a return to writing
Pjmckenny: Our show goes up Monday, so we're in crunch mode. Some good
advance press.
Pjmckenny: Noel: hope so.
ANIDOV: What was the Adler show, Lud?
HOST WRTR Herone: great Patti -- I'm really looking forward to seeing it
Noel Katz: Jill's all excited about seeing it
HOST WRTR Lud: His tribute to Danny Kaye.
Pjmckenny: Linda, we're going to have so much fun.
HOST WRTR Lud: I cowrote it with him.
HOST WRTR Herone: I know we are. :-)
HazelHazel: where is it going up, PJ ?
HOST WRTR Herone: in Chicago
Pjmckenny: The Royal George here in Chi.
ANIDOV: He used some of that material in a oneman show in Philly.
HOST WRTR Herone: also HEART SMART is getting done in Seattle in July
HazelHazel: great PJ...
HOST WRTR Herone: I just heard about that this week
ANIDOV: I love his Yiddish material. I had him on my air. He was neat.
HOST WRTR Herone: my first Seattle outing
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, I know. Not sure if he used my stuff there. If so I
didn't get paid for it.
Pjmckenny: Noel: Jill and I and some others are cornering Kerker and
getting more buy-in from him.
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, it was one of the happiest times of my life working on
that show.
HazelHazel: what do you mean, patti?
HOST WRTR Herone: It's great that he's coming to your gig, Patti.
Noel Katz: You'll want to read my latest e-group post (1001), then
HOST WRTR Herone: I will, Noel
HOST WRTR Lud: I was commuting to New York, meeting with Bruce, and creating
comedy. Then returnin
Pjmckenny: Noel: will do.
HazelHazel: what is that, "e-group post" Noel?
ANIDOV: He did a little Danny Kaye stuff I thought... don't quote me,
though. I'm not sure.
HOST WRTR Lud: returning to the suburbs and my wife and son. I felt just
like Rob
Pjmckenny: Haze: more ASCAP support for our Chi and national groups.
HOST WRTR Lud: Petrie.
Noel Katz: He had to deal with the largest reading cast ever tonight, and an
overflow crowd to see it
HazelHazel: oh.. Yes....I hope so.
Pjmckenny: Noel: can't wait to get all the info.
HazelHazel: wow. I
HazelHazel: d really wanted to see that
HOST WRTR Herone: that's great, Noel
Pjmckenny: Noel: I'll read your post...
ANIDOV: Petrie -- LOL -- I guess so!
Noel Katz: It was co-written by Peter Mills, who wrote the show Sondheim saw
last year at ASCAP
Pjmckenny: ...but send me one of your marvelous "intrepid reporter" pieces
too, willya?
Noel Katz: You heard it here first, folks: Mills is the real deal
Noel Katz: The guy's going to write a great show someday
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, I remember when Sondheim attended my shows. But I
actually was more excited when
HOST WRTR Lud: John Kander attended on two occasions.
Pjmckenny: Noel: noted.
Noel Katz: I was chatting with Kander last night. He came to my Into the
Woods
HOST WRTR Herone: I saw a local version of CHICAGO yesterday. Golly, what a
wonderful score!
HazelHazel: how grand, noel
Noel Katz: Hazel seems not to know about the e-group. Can you send a link,
PJ?
HOST WRTR Lud: How grand, Murray.
Pjmckenny: Noel: you bet. Haze, been meaning to do that -- sorry.
HazelHazel: I thought Woods was really well directed, and your "witch" and
"Red" were grand
HOST WRTR Herone: It's just one wonderful song after another.
HOST WRTR Herone: that really work in the context of the show
Librettist01: Haven't seen Chicago...
HazelHazel: that's okay thanks patti
Noel Katz: Witch and Red split the Martha Schlamme Award, given to the
school's best singer
Pjmckenny: (Noel: Jill and I never figured out how to blanket-drop the old
Network to MM.)
HOST WRTR Herone: This one had terrific leads, too, and good choreography.
HOST WRTR Lud: Which half of Martha did each get?
HazelHazel: figures :)
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL
Noel Katz: I feel that way about Chicago too, Herone - saw it in '76
HOST WRTR Herone: it rocks
Pjmckenny: (Haze: if you ever find musical writers good at tech, sign 'em
up.)
HazelHazel: I like chicago too, but not this NY production
HOST WRTR Lud: It certainly has had a unique history.
OnlineHost: ANIDOV has left the room.
Librettist01: Does Chicago have to be done in Chicago then?
HazelHazel: what do you mean, good at tech Patti?
HOST WRTR Lud: I actually thought Reinking and Neuwirth were better than
Rivera and Verdon.
HOST WRTR Herone: well, all, I think I'll close the log -- keep chatting all
you want, tho
10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT), Writers Grill
Playwrights Corner - Topics of interest to playwrights, moderated by HOST WRTR Herone, HOST WRTR Sofie & HOST WRTR LUD.
HOST WRTR Herone: Great 00
HOST WRTR Herone: I mean, thanks all for coming.
HOST WRTR Herone: Our topic is: "Generating Ideas!"
Librettist01: Everyone in California is trying to generate electricity
instead of ideas..
Izafilly: lol lib
HOST WRTR Herone: How do you get ideas for your plays?
HOST WRTR Herone: true Lib
Izafilly: poor critters
HOST WRTR Lud: It's a generational issue.
HOST WRTR Herone: Well, that's one place I get ideas: the news.
HOST WRTR Herone: Hot issues from the papers often spur something for me.
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes. I have a solid way of generating ideas.
Izafilly: papers, magazines
Librettist01: I started a scrapbook on interesting news stories; just have a
few in there but there doosie
Librettist01: s.
Izafilly: character of a neighborhood
HOST WRTR Herone: A scrapbook and/or journal is a great idea, Lib.
Rebecca459: i scan obits and classified ads
HOST WRTR Herone: If you've ever read Chekhov's notebooks, they're
fascinating.
HOST WRTR Herone: Obits! Great idea, Rebecca.
Librettist01: I've heard of them.
HOST WRTR Herone: sometimes they're nothing but a character sketch,
HOST WRTR Lud: What I usually do is decide on a general motif. Say, Greek
mythology. Christmas.
Izafilly: obits reminds me of Huck Finn--maybe Mark Twain did the same
OnlineHost: CharriePi has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: Music Hall. Fairy tales.
HOST WRTR Herone: I wouldn't have thought of a classified add.
OnlineHost: CharriePi has left the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: Go on, Lud
HOST WRTR Herone: ad, that is.
Rebecca459: well obits sometimes provide ideas for names, places etc
HOST WRTR Lud: Then, I buy a book on the subject and steep myself in
atmosphere.
HOST WRTR Herone: careers, too, I'll bet
HOST WRTR Herone: The library's great for me too, Lud.
HOST WRTR Lud: Since I specialize in musicals, I usually buy recordings.
HOST WRTR Herone: Recordings of the period?
HOST WRTR Herone: if you're setting the music in period?
HOST WRTR Lud: When I wrote CHARLOTTE SWEET, I played Joan Morris/William
Bolcolm albums night and
HOST WRTR Lud: day.
HOST WRTR Lud: It generated flavor and ideas on what kinds of songs to do.
HOST WRTR Herone: Music gives me ideas, and styles, too.
HOST WRTR Lud: When I wrote TALES OF TINSELTOWN, I listened to movie
musicals.
Rebecca459: i was reading ship manifests from Ellis Island, tons
Rebecca459: of ideas there
HOST WRTR Herone: wow, what a great source, Rebecca
Izafilly: topical libraries are good, like Bishop Museum if the subject is
Hawaiiana
Librettist01: Sounds like a little bit of the "Mozart effect"...
HOST WRTR Herone: Archives are great -- county archives, historical
societies.
HOST WRTR Lud: Also, it's great if you have a special interest. I've always
been interested in comic books
HOST WRTR Herone: Sometimes I get off on the "wrong" floor of the library
and just wander around.
Librettist01: Actually, I've found it interesting going to see musicals from
the 30s and 40s in our local
Librettist01: hysterical theatre...
HOST WRTR Herone: looking at random things
Rebecca459: herone me too
HOST WRTR Lud: and great mythology. I almost didn't have to research them
to call up ideas.
HOST WRTR Herone: I know what you mean, Lud.
HOST WRTR Herone: Earlier this week I had a meeting with a collaborator ,
Izafilly: steven schwartz had a good idea at a recent ASCAP seminar
Rebecca459: i also buy old letters at garage sales and flea markets
HOST WRTR Herone: where we put ideas on little slips of paper and let them
HOST WRTR Lud: What was that Izafilly.
HOST WRTR Herone: pile up on the table as we worked.
Izafilly: as he had been forced into storyboarding before, he's learned to
do it
HOST WRTR Herone: Old letters! What a good idea.
OnlineHost: Tovha has entered the room.
OnlineHost: HazelHazel has entered the room.
Izafilly: visualizing a storyboard helps generate ideas
Rebecca459: hi tov heya hazel
HOST WRTR Herone: That's what we were doing -- early storyboarding.
HazelHazel: Hey room **
Tovha: hi
HOST WRTR Herone: Hi Hazel, Tovah
HOST WRTR Herone: Tovha, that is
HOST WRTR Lud: Also, writing a play can be like what Irving Berlin used to
call working up to the punchline
HazelHazel: how's that Lud?
Librettist01: I had experience in storyboarding while going thru a
multimedia training program.
HOST WRTR Lud: He'd come up with an effective final phrase and work his way
into it.
HOST WRTR Herone: I love to create a "board" -- a wall that has sketches,
pictures, cut out articles
Izafilly: what, lib?
HOST WRTR Herone: words, adjectives, images
OnlineHost: Tovha has left the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: Similarly, if you have a striking idea on how your play will
end, it becomes an enjoyable
Rebecca459: herone colors? fabrics etc?
HOST WRTR Herone: yes -- all that
Izafilly: sounds like brainstorming, Her
HOST WRTR Lud: riddle to find a path to that ending.
HOST WRTR Herone: yes
HazelHazel: sounds great Her
Librettist01: It was an AA program in computer graphics etc., we did a fair
amount of group storyboarding.
OnlineHost: Noel Katz has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: hi Noel
Librettist01: Storyboarding IS a lot like brainstorming, I would say.
Rebecca459: when i was in advertising i did storyboards in my sleep
HOST WRTR Lud: On TALES OF TINSELTOWN, I had a wonderful tableau planned for
the ending and found a way to
HOST WRTR Lud: work into it.
Izafilly: noel, did you go to ASCAP yet this week?
Noel Katz: Good evening
HOST WRTR Herone: There are computer programs now that are "idea
generators".
Noel Katz: Yes, I was there tonight, Iza
Izafilly: any good?
HOST WRTR Herone: that help you free-associate from words to images to other
words
Librettist01: I would be a bit suspicious of something like that, Her.
HazelHazel: how was tonite's Noel?
Noel Katz: Damn near excellent
HOST WRTR Lud: How was it? Did they generate exciting ideas?
Izafilly: I will go tomorrow
Noel Katz: You guys might have liked the panel...
Izafilly: what topic, Noel?
HazelHazel: which play was it , noel?
HOST WRTR Herone: I've seen testimonials to them, but never used them.
Librettist01: We generated some pretty exciting stuff in our storyboards;
our final project
Noel Katz: It was about a flood overrunning a town in Missouri
Librettist01: bordered on something marketable.
Izafilly: how topical :)
HOST WRTR Herone: I've heard about that one, Noel
HOST WRTR Lud: Sounds like TWO BY TWO with a twang.
Noel Katz: Stunning choral writing
HazelHazel: oh, Flood, that was the best show of the lot..it's getting a run
in the lower east side
HazelHazel: It has my vote
Librettist01: Wild River, the musical....
Noel Katz: I thought of it as 110 in the Shade with the opposite problem
Noel Katz: The panel was Stephen Sondheim
Izafilly: what's the name of it, Noel?
Noel Katz: but I don't mean to barge in and change the subject
HOST WRTR Lud: That's sweet of you, Noel. I thought of URINETOWN!
Librettist01: Barge away, Noel.
Noel Katz: You guys go back to what you were talking about
HazelHazel: rats...I keep missing him
HOST WRTR Herone: We're talking about how to generate ideas --
HOST WRTR Lud: You mean no one else but Sondheim.
Librettist01: Barging is an apt analogy for a seaborne theme...heh, heh.
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Lib
HOST WRTR Lud: Well, he's not busy these days.
OnlineHost: Viva Las Vagus has entered the room.
Rebecca459: high utility bills generate ideas, mostly for felonies
HOST WRTR Herone: It's nice to see things that are based on off-beat ideas
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Rebecca
HOST WRTR Herone: hi Viva
OnlineHost: ANIDOV has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: hi Ani
Librettist01: Is freezing in the dark good for the artistic soul?
HOST WRTR Herone: what a nice big crowd tonight
Rebecca459: hi viva hi anidov
Viva Las Vagus: is there an artistic soul?
HOST WRTR Lud: I guess everyone's looking for ideas.
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes and artistic hearts.
HOST WRTR Herone: I love all Rebecca's ideas -- obits, classified ads, etc.
Viva Las Vagus: ideas come - you can't look for them
Librettist01: You get one when you start freezing in the dark, I think..
Rebecca459: herone awww :)
HOST WRTR Herone: One reason is that they are so specific and individual.
Librettist01: The two news stories I "archived" were both very dramatic; one
was about
HOST WRTR Herone: They give you little pieces of specificity which can be
very helpful.
Librettist01: a plane that crashed with a company aboard, including the
CEO...
Viva Las Vagus: but if your ideas come from outside, are they really yours?
Librettist01: The other was about a man who owned a whole field of tires
that were on fire...
ANIDOV: Hello, Host and all.... this is a good topic.
Librettist01: he died while he was being sued over it.
HOST WRTR Lud: Sounds like TITANIC meets MISS SAIGON.
HOST WRTR Herone: I love to put several random images and words into a hat
and make something out of them.
Noel Katz: One thinks of the great Tom Lehrer song inspired by the obit of
Alma Mahler
HOST WRTR Herone: yes indeed, Noel
Viva Las Vagus: i got the idea for my first novel from a random remark made
by someone at a class reunion
Viva Las Vagus: just one sentence started a book
HOST WRTR Herone: Viva -- If you put 10 writers in a room and tell everyone
to write a scene
Librettist01: I think anywhere you get ideas is fair. Ideas you think are
yours may be subconsciously
Izafilly: tonight is obituary inspiration
Viva Las Vagus: who's gonna want to be with ten writers?
Rebecca459: eavesdropping is a good sourse too
Librettist01: from experiences you've had.
HOST WRTR Herone: that includes a wrench, a candle, and elbow length gloves,
HOST WRTR Lud: Of course, you can get a great deal of inspiration if you
come from a demented family
Rebecca459: source
HOST WRTR Lud: and can't afford therapy.
Izafilly: Dorothy Parker, Viva
HOST WRTR Herone: believe me, each one will write something different and
specific
HOST WRTR Herone: to herself or himself
ANIDOV: Eavesdropping is a great source. I do it all the time.
Viva Las Vagus: she's not ten writers
HOST WRTR Herone: I love to eavesdrop.
Librettist01: Right, Lud; E. O'Neill, T. Williams, on and on and on...
Rebecca459: lud you can get even more from a bad therapist lol
Viva Las Vagus: i'd rather be eavesdropped on
Viva Las Vagus: but, do you look for ideas or for that spark?
Izafilly: she would have been happy to be with them at the round tableat the
A.
HOST WRTR Lud: Please, if it weren't for my therapist, I'd be in the river
and not writing plays.
Rebecca459: both
HOST WRTR Herone: the spark can come from all kinds of unlikely places
Noel Katz: Eavesdropping is one of the great pleasures of New York
Viva Las Vagus: she'd rather be dead, I suspect
ANIDOV: By the way, Herone, the George St. Theater just did an "instant
theater" program, where they
Viva Las Vagus: i think the spark comes from within
Viva Las Vagus: just my experience, though
Izafilly: therapy is overrated--there's no blaming parents
ANIDOV: wrote plays overnight, cast and rehearsed them, and performed them
the next night.
HOST WRTR Herone: Several of my friends have gone thru INSTANT THEATRE
experiences and loved them
Noel Katz: Muriel Spark comes from Glasgow, I think
Viva Las Vagus: muriel spark is lovely
Librettist01: I agree, Viva; but I think you can use outside events as a
help.
HOST WRTR Lud: ANIDOV, are you near George Street. It's 15 minutes away
from me.
Viva Las Vagus: that's the spark, lib
OnlineHost: WORDGUY280 has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: They've done that at the O'Neill as well.
OnlineHost: Viva Las Vagus has left the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: hi Wordguy
Rebecca459: hi word
ANIDOV: Yes, I'm in PA.
WORDGUY280: 'Evening, Y'all.
HOST WRTR Lud: Specifically produced a musical theatre program. I believe
it will be presented at the
HOST WRTR Lud: Public Theatre as well.
Noel Katz: And of course, I do improv all the time...
HOST WRTR Herone: true, Noel
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, that began with THE PROPOSITION, Allan Albert's improv
group.
Noel Katz: ...tomorrow night, Second City (in NYC), May 20, the Sunday nite
Jame
Izafilly: does it help you get ideas, Noel?
Noel Katz: and I may play for Centralia this Friday
OnlineHost: JudiaLuv has entered the room.
Noel Katz: It opens my mind to a freer way of thinking
OnlineHost: Mrs Zippie has entered the room.
ANIDOV: Does anybody really have trouble getting ideas? I have never found
that to be a problem for
HOST WRTR Herone: it helps you learn to free-associate quickly
ANIDOV: most writers -- usually we have too many bouncing around and not
enough time
HOST WRTR Lud: You know, I kind of agree with Richard Rodger's definition of
inspiration.
HOST WRTR Herone: Ani -- it's true that getting the initial idea isn't the
trouble -- it's following thru in
HOST WRTR Herone: "the muddle in the middle"
HOST WRTR Lud: "Pay me, and I'm inspired."
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Lud
WORDGUY280: Ideas seem to flow rather well for me. Sometimes productive to
ride public
ANIDOV: to concentrate on them all.
WORDGUY280: transportation and listen to the conversations;
WORDGUY280: eavesdrop on conversations in bars;
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, that's great for picking up dialogue. But you have to
be lucky to use it as
ANIDOV: To me, the problem is deciding whether the idea is going
anywhere.... or is it turning into
HOST WRTR Lud: inspiration for plotlines.
ANIDOV: a cliché or worse --
ANIDOV: a "what if"
HOST WRTR Lud: Headlines in the paper are an excellent source of
inspiration.
HOST WRTR Herone: For me turning the idea into a workable piece usually
involves finding the right characters.
Rebecca459: i like to string ideas together
Izafilly: how do you solve the muddle in the middle after you have got your
main idea, Her?
Librettist01: I think you're right, Anidov; I think the problem is getting
some depth into it.
WORDGUY280: The tried 'n' true "What would happen if . . . " question is
often productive, too.
HOST WRTR Herone: I frequently reach "muddle" after about 40 pages.
Rebecca459: lol
Izafilly: do you get into the buzz?
ANIDOV: the problem with "what if" is that you can become committed to
something stupid.
HOST WRTR Herone: that's my standard sticking point
Izafilly: I am there on a play, Her & know just what you mean
HOST WRTR Lud: One easy lynchpin I used was to build a series of shows
around holidays.
OnlineHost: JudiaLuv has left the room.
WORDGUY280: Imagine them all stuck in an elevator together, or being
involved in a traffic accident.
Librettist01: It DOES seem to be about developing characters, in the end.
HOST WRTR Herone: And I'm never sure how to get out. I just know that
eventually I do.
HOST WRTR Lud: Well traffic accidents aren't easy to stage. And very costly
from night to night.
HazelHazel: lol Lud
HOST WRTR Herone: I just wish it was sooner rather than later! LOL
Izafilly: no process to attack it, Her?
HOST WRTR Lud: That's why it's so much easier just to stage a simple murder.
HOST WRTR Herone: I attack it all kinds of ways.
ANIDOV: Or sometimes you see a situation and wonder, how did that come
about?
WORDGUY280: Not if you lead 'em by about 35 feet and disconnect your brake
lights.
Rebecca459: food poisoning is cheaper
HOST WRTR Herone: but I wish I had a foolproof one
Izafilly: besides caffeine and sugar?
Librettist01: Theatre owners can be very touchy about having vehicles smash
into their buildings, I bet.
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Iza
HazelHazel: My problem's kind of the opposite, too many ideas, and often too
complicated
HOST WRTR Herone: Hazel -- that's interesting.
HOST WRTR Lud: You know, I've always wondered what all those BMI students do
with their STREETCAR NAMED
HOST WRTR Lud: DESIRE songs.
WORDGUY280: So many ideas; so little time.
HOST WRTR Herone: Sometimes it's true, we have to simplify.
HOST WRTR Lud: Maybe someone should just create a revue of them.
OnlineHost: Rebecca459 has left the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: cut to the chase
HOST WRTR Lud: STREETCAR UNLIMITED.
ANIDOV: Yes -- too many, or something emotionally complex that I don't
understand myself yet.
HazelHazel: Lol Lud..one day we'll all publish them, it'll be an auto nite
to remember
Noel Katz: I wrote the funniest Streetcar song ever heard there
WORDGUY280: Names often determine destiny in wonderful ways. Imagine "A
streetcar named Gretchen."
Izafilly: do you have to understand the emotion?
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Wordguy
Noel Katz: "Why Did Stella Pick a Polock?"
ANIDOV: E.G., I have a story that I've known since a kid, but I don't
understand it so much as an
Izafilly: I think it just transfers through subconsciously
HazelHazel: didja Noel? what was the title?
WORDGUY280: or if Patsy Cline had titled her song "Nuts" instead of "Crazy"
ANIDOV: adult -- but am still winnowing through it with a child's memory.
HazelHazel: lol Word
HOST WRTR Herone: I often find that the idea(s) I start with aren't
necessarily the ideas that really
HOST WRTR Herone: move the play forward.
HOST WRTR Lud: I think Barry Kleinbort's Tennessee Williams song is pretty
darn funny too.
HOST WRTR Lud: The one Marcia Lewis sings.
HOST WRTR Herone: that somewhere about page 30-40 of the first draft, it
starts
HOST WRTR Herone: turning into something different than I expected.
Noel Katz: In college, my playwriting prof Howard Teichmann always said
deaths on stage are difficult
Izafilly: that is very interesting, Her
HazelHazel: that must be really neat Herone.. the play taking off by itself
HOST WRTR Herone: It's almost as though the first idea was a red herring,
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, to me that's what can be so exciting in the development
of a play.
Librettist01: Also very hard on the actors, right Noel?
Noel Katz: So, I wrote one - kind of my own family version of Albee's All
Over
Izafilly: it's like your subconscious may go on to make the topic
HOST WRTR Herone: and my unconscious starts to generate something else --
something more dangerous
WORDGUY280: . . . and too many witnesses in the audience.
HOST WRTR Lud: I don't outline myself. I come up with some basic ideas, and
let them simmer.
HOST WRTR Herone: or unpredictable
Noel Katz: And, sure enough, he wrote in the margin "deaths on stage are
hard to do"
OnlineHost: Mrs Zippie has left the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: I never quite know where the journey will lead.
HOST WRTR Herone: That's why I don't mind using just about any old starting
point.
Noel Katz: Stephen Schwartz (at ASCAP) often mentions the importance of
storyboarding
ANIDOV: Death definitely slows a play down.
Izafilly: I don't think an unconscious can generate, Her :)
Noel Katz: I'm a big fan of outlines, myself - also helps you chart the
progress of what you've done
ANIDOV: Yeah, he should teach Joe Stein
Izafilly: unless it's channeling
HOST WRTR Lud: Noel, I think storyboarding can be valuable to some writers.
But others work better on
HOST WRTR Lud: instinct. Storyboarding can confine spontenaeity.
HOST WRTR Herone: When you're in a collaboration, though, storyboarding can
help a lot.
HOST WRTR Herone: When I work with a co-writer, we don't want to be writing
in different directions.
ANIDOV: I don't expect playwriting to be spontaneous.
HOST WRTR Lud: That's true. It's not dissimilar from adapting a play.
HazelHazel: collaboration..now there's a topic.
HOST WRTR Herone: it is indeed
HOST WRTR Lud: I've often written entire librettos and turned them over to a
composer. You don't need
HOST WRTR Lud: a storyboard for that.
Noel Katz: How can storyboarding confine spontenaeity?
ANIDOV: Well, we've already strayed from this one, might as well take up
collaboration.
HOST WRTR Herone: that's if you have a clean process -- only one writing
book, one doing music
HOST WRTR Herone: but if you have more than one person working out the book
--
HOST WRTR Lud: How, Noel? When I wrote CHARLOTTE SWEET, I had no idea where
it was heading.
OnlineHost: WORDGUY280 has left the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: I think if I'd worked it all out in advance, the writing
might have become labored.
OnlineHost: Pjmckenny has entered the room.
HazelHazel: yes, Her, but don't all collaborators actually do a little of
the other's job
HOST WRTR Herone: we sure do
HOST WRTR Herone: Hi Patti
Noel Katz: That's an example of something successful written sans
storyboard...
OnlineHost: Izafilly has left the room.
Pjmckenny: Hey, all.
Noel Katz: ...but it doesn't answer my question of how storyboard can
confine one's spontaneity
HOST WRTR Herone: We're wandering all over the place, from idea generation
to collaboration.
OnlineHost: Izafilly has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: Hammerstein always was methodical in his lyrics. Mapping
them out.
HazelHazel: Patti hi :) **
Pjmckenny: OK.
Pjmckenny: Hi, Haze.
HOST WRTR Lud: Hart was spontaneous, without any definite notion where he
was
ANIDOV: Hi Patti -
HOST WRTR Herone: I don't think a storyboard has to confine creativity. It
can generate ideas for scenes.
HOST WRTR Lud: heading in many cases. I prefer the freshness of Hart.
Izafilly: hi Pj
Pjmckenny: Hey, Iza.
Noel Katz: PJ, just back from ASCAP w/ Sondheim, and dessert afterwords with
Jill Work
HOST WRTR Lud: And I think songwriting can be parallel, in that respect, to
playwriting.
Pjmckenny: Noel: great. Hope to hear all about it.
ANIDOV: It's hard to say whether anyone with the output such as Hart's did
anything in one way only.
Noel Katz: And you can always change the storyboard
HOST WRTR Herone: indeed -- it's not a fixed thing
HOST WRTR Lud: Actually, it's not hard at all. I did the research for the
biography on Hart.
HOST WRTR Herone: I notice that when I'm trying to generate ideas with a
collaborator --
Noel Katz: Hart's the lyricist I admire most. And yet he wasn't a great
SHOWwriter
HazelHazel: right...it's just a tool, like any other
HOST WRTR Lud: Sometimes he did carefully plan songs.
HOST WRTR Herone: it's helpful to write things down on separate pieces of
paper and/or
Noel Katz: He was a great SONGwriter for sure
HOST WRTR Herone: index cards, rather than a list
HOST WRTR Lud: But more often he improvised.
HOST WRTR Herone: because you can move them around on a table top and make
Pjmckenny: Her: me too.
HOST WRTR Herone: interesting juxtapositions --
Noel Katz: But how many of Hart's shows can be performed today with their
original scripts?
HOST WRTR Lud: But his mind was so full of ideas and information, it all
sorted out.
HazelHazel: yes, Stephen Schwart's fond of index cards too
Noel Katz: Yes, I've found that too, Herone
HOST WRTR Lud: DEAREST ENEMY. I MARRIED AN ANGEL. BOYS FROM SYRACUSE.
HOST WRTR Lud: PEGGY ANN.
HOST WRTR Herone: It allows you to be less linear.
HOST WRTR Lud: AMERICA'S SWEETHEART.
HazelHazel: z
HOST WRTR Herone: and find more than one way to tell a story
Noel Katz: You think Peggy Ann could play in front of an audience today?
HOST WRTR Lud: PAL JOEY (with slight alterations).
Pjmckenny: Her, yes -- see things from new angles.
HOST WRTR Lud: I know it could.
Pjmckenny: Ani, hi -- haven't seen you in awhile.
HOST WRTR Lud: It's been done. And the New Amersterdam Theatre Company was
ANIDOV: Often what appears spontaneous has been simmering somewhere for some
time. Appearances can
HOST WRTR Lud: planning on reviving it, with very few changes.
HOST WRTR Herone: I agree, Ani.
HazelHazel: they're running a series of old musicals at the 14th st. Y..did
"dearest Enemy etc
ANIDOV: be deceptive.
HOST WRTR Lud: I didn't see that production, but I saw DEAREST ENEMY at
Goodspeed and it was totally charmi
HOST WRTR Lud: charming.
HOST WRTR Herone: Often it takes years for an idea I've been cooking to find
the right form/show to
Librettist01: I saw "Me and My Gal" at our Stanford the other night, with
Gene Kelly and Judy Garland.
HOST WRTR Herone: express itself properly.
Noel Katz: If you want to see spontaneous, see improv
HOST WRTR Lud: Admitted, there was some minor adjustements here and there.
Librettist01: Actually a masterpiece of a script, in my opinion.
Pjmckenny: Ani, yes. A friend says "Plant all the seeds you can while
perking it...
HOST WRTR Lud: I'm not saying a work shouldn't be polished, Noel.
Pjmckenny: ...you never know what'll bloom and what'll dry up."
HOST WRTR Herone: it's true, Patti
HOST WRTR Lud: I'm just saying some people like to do a first draft and use
that as a form of storyboarding
OnlineHost: Izafilly has left the room.
HOST WRTR Herone: I have worked every which way, and different methods work
for different projects/people.
Pjmckenny: Her, isn't that the truth.
HOST WRTR Herone: Are we running out of gas on this one? 'Cuz we can move
on to PLUGS
HOST WRTR Lud: Perhaps storyboarding is especially valuable if you're doing
an adaptation, so you can
HOST WRTR Herone: and open chat of all kinds.
HOST WRTR Herone: Lud, definitely for an adaptation!
ANIDOV: It's important to get a block of time soon after an "inspiration" I
think. Otherwise, your
HazelHazel: Yes Herone...it doesn't make sense to me to codify one method
over another
HOST WRTR Lud: structure and map out which portions of a source you're
using.
HOST WRTR Herone: Ani -- I agree with you there too.
Pjmckenny: Lud: find that to be true.
ANIDOV: idea(s) seems to wither or become trite to you.
HOST WRTR Herone: There are just too many "bright ideas when driving in the
car" that evaporate like mist.
HOST WRTR Herone: if you don't immediate start cranking something out
HazelHazel: so true Herone..
HOST WRTR Lud: Oh, I completely agree, Herone, that you must write down
every idea that pops into your head
Pjmckenny: Willie Nelson says he never writes anything down because if it's
good enough, he'll remember
HOST WRTR Herone: For a while I was the most dangerous driver in the world
OnlineHost: K Javie has entered the room.
HOST WRTR Lud: That way you can look back and see which work and which don't
HOST WRTR Herone: because I kept a notebook in the car when I was driving by
myself
Noel Katz: A milestone, folks. The MusicalMakers e-group PJ started had its
1000th post today
ANIDOV: Yes - I tape recorded an interview today and I started thinking
about keeping the recorder
Noel Katz: (I was 1001)
Pjmckenny: the idea. Willie doesn't have my brain cell problems,
apparently.
HOST WRTR Herone: I once wrote lyrics to 4 or 5 songs on a cross country
trip where I was driving!
HOST WRTR Lud: Some ideas you think are ingenious can look stale the next
morning.
Pjmckenny: Noel: is that so? Wow.
HazelHazel: hmmm. well I've found scraps of paper and bits of taped songs
that were the beginnings of
HazelHazel: bigger things
HazelHazel: which I'd totally forgotten
HOST WRTR Herone: it's true, Hazel
ANIDOV: in the car with me and my camera (I am photog. too).
Pjmckenny: Haze: me too. I say write it down. You never know.
HOST WRTR Herone: I wish I could work more freely with a tape recorder. So
far it's been a bust.
HOST WRTR Herone: My "hand" knows things better than my mouth, for some
reason.
ANIDOV: Also when you wake up in the night or first thing in the morning.
You need to have a note
Pjmckenny: Her: I can't use one either. Don't know why this is so.
ANIDOV: book right there.
HOST WRTR Herone: I freeze up with a recorder.
Noel Katz: I do most of my writing on buses and subways
HOST WRTR Lud: You know, one of the most popular songs I wrote in CHARLOTTE
SWEET started out as
HOST WRTR Lud: a lyric I wrote in college about bad manners in the theatre.
HazelHazel: Herone..tape recorder works best for me for snippets of song...
HOST WRTR Herone: there are definitely positives about public
transportation!
ANIDOV: Well, I don't know how it would work -- but I guess I can learn to
do it.
HOST WRTR Lud: I remembered the lyric, pulled it out, and just made some
minor revisions.
HOST WRTR Lud: Hold on to everything like that.
HOST WRTR Herone: I had a collaborator who did most of her lyric writing on
a bus.
Pjmckenny: Post-Its and index cards here.
ANIDOV: I couldn't take pictures at one time - then I had to, and now I sell
them.
HOST WRTR Herone: I keep unbelievable files of odd notes. I throw almost
nothing away.
Noel Katz: Me, too
HOST WRTR Lud: Oh, I can be out at dinner, in the middle of soup, and scream
out a lyric problem I've just
Pjmckenny: Ani: way to master the learning curve.
HOST WRTR Lud: solved.
HOST WRTR Herone: My house is an ocean of paper.
Noel Katz: I'm shopping for Post-Its for the new show's storyboard this week
Pjmckenny: Lud: writers are really annoying to live with that way.
HOST WRTR Lud: Of course, my guest gets splattered and never wants to hear
the song again.
HazelHazel: me too, <- throw nothing away ...leads to big filing problem s:)
HOST WRTR Herone: no kidding
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL Lud
ANIDOV: Oh, ocean of paper - tell me about it.
Pjmckenny: Haze: yep. Goes with the territory.
HOST WRTR Herone: I keep so many notebooks going -- I never know what I'm
going to find in one.
Librettist01: As long as we're on songs; I'm wanting to get back into
songwriting; use that
HOST WRTR Lud: Then there's the frustration of when you've written down your
ideas and loose the crumbled u
Pjmckenny: Noel, which new show? (Are we into general chat, Her?)
HOST WRTR Lud: up paper.
HOST WRTR Herone: yes --
Noel Katz: And yet my girlfriend constantly rags on me to throw the old
notebooks away
Librettist01: to develop characters instead of more dialogue.
HazelHazel: soo glad you all have that problem too, thought I was solo with
it
HOST WRTR Herone: Let's move on to SHAMELESS PLUGS and general chat.
HOST WRTR Herone: do plug, people
Pjmckenny: Noel: swat her one. Sondheim was there tonight? Cool.
HOST WRTR Lud: I sometimes go to the gym, and come back with reams in my
pocket.
HOST WRTR Herone: Never! Throw away nothing.
ANIDOV: Yes, notebooks are crucial. I use about 8 at once. Of course, I am
always losing them.
Pjmckenny: Haze: oh, no. Taming the paperwork monster is a constant
battle.
Noel Katz: Yes, and I finished my production of Into the Woods today - so
now I'm free
HOST WRTR Herone: great, Noel
Pjmckenny: Lud, or are you just glad to see us?
Librettist01: I knew this guy once who had a whole room full of newspaper
articles.
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, but besides keeping things, you must organize them or
you'll never be able to locate.
K Javie: Shameless plug--My first play will be at Brooklyn's Gallery Theater
June 21-24 if anyone is
K Javie: in the area
HazelHazel: It was a lovely production..Noel's Into the Woods
HOST WRTR Herone: congrats K Javie!
HOST WRTR Lud: I knew there'd be some dirty minds out there.
K Javie: Thanks
ANIDOV: I have those too -- from four different newspapers.
HOST WRTR Herone: name of play, K?
Pjmckenny: All good energy on it, K J -- that's great.
Librettist01: Not necessarily so, Lud; known engineers who could only find
things if they were
Librettist01: out there in total chaos.
K Javie: Never Missed a Day
HazelHazel: congrats javie
K Javie: :)
HOST WRTR Herone: My play HEART SMART opens this weekend in Wilmington NC
HOST WRTR Lud: True, Librettist. One can't generalize, anymore than saying
storyboarding is necessary
HOST WRTR Lud: for everyone.
Noel Katz: I, too, have no regrets about Doris Day's retirement
HOST WRTR Herone: then opens at a theatre in Michigan the next weekend
ANIDOV: Congratulations.... good title.
Pjmckenny: Noel, I can't keep track: did you direct, in it, what?
HazelHazel: Grand, Herone
K Javie: Howd you get it all the way out there?
Librettist01: I think storyboarding is a really good idea and a good
technique, especially for collaborati
HOST WRTR Herone: but - the NYC production has been cancelled :-P
Pjmckenny: Linda, is there a week that goes by you're not up somewhere? :)
Librettist01: ng porpoises.
Noel Katz: I musical directed Into the Woods - one of 7 shows that
monopolized my April
HOST WRTR Herone: they couldn't find the right older actress and they didn't
tell me in time
HOST WRTR Lud: Nothing major new. All's progressing for the UK. I have a
few more acceptances on my
HOST WRTR Herone: I could have gotten it cast, even from Cleveland, I know
enough folks in NYC
HOST WRTR Lud: birthday benefit: Bruce Adler, Ron Raines.
HOST WRTR Herone: how nice, Lud
Noel Katz: ITW was my first time working with a director with Broadway
experience
Pjmckenny: Linda: what a pain. Sorry to hear that.
HazelHazel: wow, herone..they could have called me :)
Pjmckenny: Noel: fun time?
ANIDOV: Bruce Adler -- my hero!
HazelHazel: wonderful,lud
HOST WRTR Herone: I'm not grieving, esp. since I hadn't planned on seeing
it.
HOST WRTR Lud: I've written for Bruce. In fact, one of his most successful
shows.
HOST WRTR Herone: If I had made tvl plans, I'd be steamed, though.
Noel Katz: Now comes the fun time. And, hopefully, a return to writing
Pjmckenny: Our show goes up Monday, so we're in crunch mode. Some good
advance press.
Pjmckenny: Noel: hope so.
ANIDOV: What was the Adler show, Lud?
HOST WRTR Herone: great Patti -- I'm really looking forward to seeing it
Noel Katz: Jill's all excited about seeing it
HOST WRTR Lud: His tribute to Danny Kaye.
Pjmckenny: Linda, we're going to have so much fun.
HOST WRTR Lud: I cowrote it with him.
HOST WRTR Herone: I know we are. :-)
HazelHazel: where is it going up, PJ ?
HOST WRTR Herone: in Chicago
Pjmckenny: The Royal George here in Chi.
ANIDOV: He used some of that material in a oneman show in Philly.
HOST WRTR Herone: also HEART SMART is getting done in Seattle in July
HazelHazel: great PJ...
HOST WRTR Herone: I just heard about that this week
ANIDOV: I love his Yiddish material. I had him on my air. He was neat.
HOST WRTR Herone: my first Seattle outing
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, I know. Not sure if he used my stuff there. If so I
didn't get paid for it.
Pjmckenny: Noel: Jill and I and some others are cornering Kerker and
getting more buy-in from him.
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, it was one of the happiest times of my life working on
that show.
HazelHazel: what do you mean, patti?
HOST WRTR Herone: It's great that he's coming to your gig, Patti.
Noel Katz: You'll want to read my latest e-group post (1001), then
HOST WRTR Herone: I will, Noel
HOST WRTR Lud: I was commuting to New York, meeting with Bruce, and creating
comedy. Then returnin
Pjmckenny: Noel: will do.
HazelHazel: what is that, "e-group post" Noel?
ANIDOV: He did a little Danny Kaye stuff I thought... don't quote me,
though. I'm not sure.
HOST WRTR Lud: returning to the suburbs and my wife and son. I felt just
like Rob
Pjmckenny: Haze: more ASCAP support for our Chi and national groups.
HOST WRTR Lud: Petrie.
Noel Katz: He had to deal with the largest reading cast ever tonight, and an
overflow crowd to see it
HazelHazel: oh.. Yes....I hope so.
Pjmckenny: Noel: can't wait to get all the info.
HazelHazel: wow. I
HazelHazel: d really wanted to see that
HOST WRTR Herone: that's great, Noel
Pjmckenny: Noel: I'll read your post...
ANIDOV: Petrie -- LOL -- I guess so!
Noel Katz: It was co-written by Peter Mills, who wrote the show Sondheim saw
last year at ASCAP
Pjmckenny: ...but send me one of your marvelous "intrepid reporter" pieces
too, willya?
Noel Katz: You heard it here first, folks: Mills is the real deal
Noel Katz: The guy's going to write a great show someday
HOST WRTR Lud: Yes, I remember when Sondheim attended my shows. But I
actually was more excited when
HOST WRTR Lud: John Kander attended on two occasions.
Pjmckenny: Noel: noted.
Noel Katz: I was chatting with Kander last night. He came to my Into the
Woods
HOST WRTR Herone: I saw a local version of CHICAGO yesterday. Golly, what a
wonderful score!
HazelHazel: how grand, noel
Noel Katz: Hazel seems not to know about the e-group. Can you send a link,
PJ?
HOST WRTR Lud: How grand, Murray.
Pjmckenny: Noel: you bet. Haze, been meaning to do that -- sorry.
HazelHazel: I thought Woods was really well directed, and your "witch" and
"Red" were grand
HOST WRTR Herone: It's just one wonderful song after another.
HOST WRTR Herone: that really work in the context of the show
Librettist01: Haven't seen Chicago...
HazelHazel: that's okay thanks patti
Noel Katz: Witch and Red split the Martha Schlamme Award, given to the
school's best singer
Pjmckenny: (Noel: Jill and I never figured out how to blanket-drop the old
Network to MM.)
HOST WRTR Herone: This one had terrific leads, too, and good choreography.
HOST WRTR Lud: Which half of Martha did each get?
HazelHazel: figures :)
HOST WRTR Herone: LOL
Noel Katz: I feel that way about Chicago too, Herone - saw it in '76
HOST WRTR Herone: it rocks
Pjmckenny: (Haze: if you ever find musical writers good at tech, sign 'em
up.)
HazelHazel: I like chicago too, but not this NY production
HOST WRTR Lud: It certainly has had a unique history.
OnlineHost: ANIDOV has left the room.
Librettist01: Does Chicago have to be done in Chicago then?
HazelHazel: what do you mean, good at tech Patti?
HOST WRTR Lud: I actually thought Reinking and Neuwirth were better than
Rivera and Verdon.
HOST WRTR Herone: well, all, I think I'll close the log -- keep chatting all
you want, tho
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