Happy New Year, y’all!
Y’know, running my own event venue, sometimes I feel like a barefoot cobbler. I help everyone else get their shows up, but I don’t get to perform much myself, and if I do, it’s almost always a project of my own.
That said, I did want to celebrate an opportunity I had back in November to tread my own boards for a weekend. Jenn and I were approached by our dear friend Julia Plostnieks to put together a fundraiser for hurricane relief in Asheville, North Carolina. Hurricane Helene had brutally ripped through Asheville in October and basically deleted whole parts of the city. It’s been months and the recovery efforts are still ongoing. After living in Asheville for the past five years, Julia had just moved back to LA literally two weeks before the hurricane hit. So her ties there are both fresh and strong.
In the span of a couple of weeks, the three of us mounted one of Theatre Unleashed’s signature devil-may-care nights of brash and bold new scenes, pulling in friends both old and new. Writing prompts this time around were lyrics taken from the song “Yellow-Backed Fly” by Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, appropriate considering how bluegrass music is a hallmark of Appalachian culture.
It’s was a thrill to put this event up, as they’re always a lot of fun to produce, and this time we had the added bonus of raising money for a good cause.
Well, in my infinite wisdom enthusiasm, I signed up to both write a new 10-minute scene in one night, and act in another one the next day. This was an impulsive decision where I forgot that a) I was producing the event, b) we had another event teching in the theater the day the show opened (which I had also hired on as the lighting designer), and that c) I’m in my early 40’s. I don’t bounce back well from sleepless nights anymore. Suffice to say, it was a restless weekend.
That said, even though it was a rough couple of days for me physically, I’m very pleased with how both of my scenes turned out. I’ll post my 10-minute play, A Letter to My Past Self, on Friday. Right now, you can check out the scene I was in via the embedded YouTube video above, and some stills here:
Playwright Eric Cire is known for writing very heady, high-concept, almost esoteric plays, and this one, Now I’m Going Home With a Story To Tell, is no different. But it was a fascinating piece to work on and I’m really grateful to director Paul Masterson for helping me navigate this piece, and of course my co-star Liesl Jackson for being a fantastic scene partner and having my back for each and every beat of this delightful little prestige piece.
Oh, and we managed to raise $1,850 for the Asheville Theater Alliance to help their efforts in rebuilding the arts community! Not too shabby.
Here are some stills from the other scenes:
Big thanks to Jenn Crafts and Erin Moore for taking photos of the night and sharing them with me!
About With Hope in Our Hearts: A Fundraiser for the Asheville Theater Alliance
Join us for two nights of live music, laughs, and new plays as we rally support for our friends at the Asheville Theater Alliance in Asheville, NC. The arts have been devastated along with the local community in Asheville, and the ATA is working to help local arts organizations recover. All proceeds and donations from both nights will be going directly to the ATA as they rebuild their community spaces.
In true Theatre Unleashed style, we’re gathering some of our best writers, directors, and actors to write, rehearse, and perform half a dozen brand new one acts within a 24-hour period. It’s fun, spontaneous, raw, and you never know quite what is going to happen, but it’s always a great night! Combined with musical interludes and stories directly from the Asheville arts community, our hope is to raise awareness and funds in an effort to lift the arts up in areas affected by the recent hurricane.
Both performances will be live-streamed so that you can watch and donate from anywhere!
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