Serving Bessie: It's a Hit!

I read my new one-act, Serving Bessie, at the Mytown Playwright's Lab this evening and it was a big fat hit. Woo hoo! I was a little nervous -- see, I live in this uber-progressively liberal town in Western Massachusetts, and wasn't certain that the Lab members would find humor in a play whose premise is "a vegan and a Jersey cow are trapped together on a desert island" -- but there were chuckles throughout and they loved the ending. They all agreed that it didn't need to be any longer, and they all thought it was plenty funny ("It's one joke," Sarah said, "but it's a really funny joke."). Hooray! Toby said it was a "short little funny arc thing," which cleared my apprehension that the vegan character might be too one-note.

So I just got home and popped the bottle of Gloria Ferrar Brut sparkling wine that I just happened to buy the other night, and it tastes like victory. Hell yeah!

Serving Bessie, Western Massachusetts, artistic freedom

Well, Serving Bessie is Done...

Just finished the first draft. Two pages, solid, funny. At least, Avram kept giggling during our over-the-phone read-through, and then said not to change a thing.

So I'm saying it now: my brand-new one-act, Serving Bessie, is ready for a public reading. Perhaps I'll trot it out in front of the Mytown Playwright's Lab next week. If it plays for them, I'll be happy, 'cause they're a pretty politically correct group and this play? It's sick as hell. As promised. Tee hee hee!

Serving Bessie, seeking representation, sick as hell

New Play's a-Brewin'

I had a great time at a tea party yesterday. It was disclosed fairly early in the afternoon that I write plays, which worked out great, because when one woman said something that made me go, "ooooh!", she gave me permission to write about it before I even had to ask. I had the ending by the time I drove home, and the structure before I went to bed. I allowed Monstro to offer suggestions and listened quietly, then dropped the ending on him a couple of hours later. Can't remember the last time I heard him laugh that hard. So, off to a good start. Now I just have to write the thing -- preferably in time for the next tea party.

Working title? Serving Bessie. Will it be funny? Hell yeah. And totally sick.

playwright, one act, totally sick

Down Another Size!

My tighter size 18 pants are fitting better, but the thing I'm most excited about is I've dropped another panty size! This is great news for me, because I gained so much butt weight when I was pregnant it was difficult to tell whether I was coming or going. Really. And though I'd put away my maternity undies a couple of months ago, I couldn't budge out of my first-trimester bikinis. This morning I was digging through my underwear drawer looking for clean, uh, drawers. The only ones I could find were the black ones that, three weeks ago, cut off all circulation to my lower extremities and made me look like the Michelin man after too many four-star meals. And yet today, they fit, felt great, didn't ride up, and were perfectly comfortable. This is particularly impressive due to the fact that in the past week I've consumed baby's first-birthday cake, a wedge of Brie, and at least an entire pie. Thanks Rhythmball!

Never thought I'd be talking about my unmentionables in a blog but hey, now that they're smaller, I've got something big to blab about! Whoot!

Oh, and by the way, don't ever type "black panties" into Google Images, unless you want to see a guy with a hairy beer gut sporting pink satin panties, which you probably don't. Trust me on this.

panties, weight loss, laser hair removal

Fundamental Rhythmball available free!

Hey, I published the Rhythmball manual today.

Xiaofei Sui, Germany's resident Rhythmball expert, did the bulk of the work, having already written version 1.0. It was a great project, translating his original work and adding my own spin on some of the topics, with his blessing. If you're already playing Rhythmball, Fundamental Rhythmball will help you fine-tune your grip on the racket. Xiaofei has also included two warm-up and cool-down exercises to underlie your game.

Click here for the download page. You'll need Acrobat, aka Adobe Reader, 'cause it's a .pdf document... And don't forget to set your printer prefs to "landscape" mode.

Rhythmball, Fundamental Rhythmball, Xiaofei Sui

Do you know David Cutler?

David Cutler and I are survivors of the same Intermediate school: I went to his bar mitzvah, and at lunchtime we hung out in the Student Store. David played a LOT of piano back then and accompanied my eighth-grade talent-show act, "A Sucker Born Every Minute" (from Barnum). He even improvised some jazzy chords behind my patter. Good stuff.

Last night he was quick to note the more-than-20 years since last we spoke. He thought my e-mail came from another woman who shares my name, with whom he worked in another state. As such, his surprise upon seeing MY name was total. He was likewise astonished that my son is closer to our age back then than we are now.

My surprise was in his e-mail last night when he asked if I knew of Billy Collins, US Poet Laureate 2001-2003. "Not only am I versed in his poetry," I wrote back, "but I have MET Billy Collins, at a pre-reading party at Alan Soldofsky's house in San Jose, CA. I was wearing my most vivid turquoise cowboy boots that night, about which Mr. Collins complimented, 'Nice kicks.'" Anyway, David just composed music for some of Collins's poetry.

David Cutler is the BIG TIME, and proved it immediately. "A musical. Big project," he said. Smart, that one. It took me a year to see it. He travels all over, plus he's up for tenure at the university where he's taught for six years. Not much time, that one, but a little.

"Frankly," I told him as we spoke an hour ago, "I'd be happy just to hear if you think it's funny." And he seemed pretty open to that. The fact that I've been noodling on this for two years should let him know that this is not necessarily a "fast-track" project. I told him the backing, musically, I'm considering for the piece. He told me the backing, financially, I should secure for this creative stage, thereby lending prestige to the project. Living in Western Mass, in the Five Colleges Area, with the Berkshires and Tanglewood the next county over, I believe that it is possible to go to Broadway with this.

I believe that "Liz" (that's my blog-o-riffic working title, never you mind) will hit Broadway and smash it a new one.

But first I need to get the backing to bring in David Cutler. A big fat grant. And maybe a tip jar. And DEFINITELY a meeting with Ben Zander.

David Cutler, Liz, Billy Collins, Benjamin Zander, me

Emboldened by my Recent Success

Lindsay Lohan's Birkin was met so favorably, and I'm still riding so high from it, that not only will I submit it to Berkshire Fringe, but I just e-mailed David Cutler and asked if he'd be interested in scoring my musical. 'Cause you gotta grab the bull by the horns while the iron is hot, baby!

David Cutler, Lindsay Lohan's Birkin, oh please oh please

Lindsay Lohan's Birkin Debuts!

We opened the show and we kicked some butt. The girls were great, they missed half a page of dialogue but they otherwise were so good that nobody noticed. During the talkback (they'd already left by that time), I mentioned how wonderful the actresses had been and the room burst into spontaneous applause. People laughed and it was so much fun. We came home with two friends and drank pink champagne. What a great night!

Lindsay Lohan's Birkin: e-mail between playwrights

My e-mail inbox parlayed the following exchange to me, in the form of a question from one playwright for Wednesday's reading and the answer from another.
* * * * *
Sarah wrote:
Hello Everyone,

Someone at my work wanted to bring his 9 year old daughter to the reading and I was wondering what age level you all think the plays are at? Obviously, each child is different but I was just wanted to get a general sense.

For my play, I'd place it at a PG13 or so. There is some violence (implied because it's a reading) which might be upsetting. It might be fun for younger child because there is a made up language.

- Sarah

Lynne replied:
I would say at least pg-13 for mine -- they have to be okay with descriptions of sex between lesbians

* * * * *
I love my town. Actually, two of the four plays feature lesbian content. Fifty percent? That's about right for this city.

In deference to full discosure, I responded, "Mine is G-PG, more for the dialogue than anything else.--LBJ."

Lindsay Lohan's Birkin, lesbianism, Smith College

Lindsay Lohan's Birkin: clarification

Just to be clear in the later post (either above this or below this, depending upon whether you read this chronologically or counter-chronologically), the playwright named "Lynne" is not I. Of four of the participants, three are named some derivation of "Lynn." My funny husband suggested we call the evening, "Night of 1,000 Lynns and one Sarah." Heh heh heh.