My World is My Stage

Happy Memorial Day to all!

This week is going to be quite a busy and exciting one! We start rehearsals for CPT’s production of for colored girls who considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf tomorrow. I’m super excited. I think we have a great cast assembled and I can’t wait to get to work.

Producing this show has been a great learning experience. Producing at Arena is SO different than doing something on your own. Both will prove to make me a better producer in the future but producing on someone else’s $20 million dollar budget can’t compare to doing something with a couple thousand dollars…

I think I’m going to see Woolly Mammoth’s production of Bootycandy today. I’m interested to see what this show is about. I know it is a look at a young Black boy’s life as he grows up Black and gay. A couple of actor friends are in the show so I’m glad to support. Last week I worked on setting up a ticket exchange between theaters. Trying to find new and improved ways of partnering with the DC theater community.

At Arena I’ll continue to work on Psalmayene 24’s workshop of his new play Journey to the Door of No Return (June 20-24). I’ll also be the backstop for Katori Hall’s NYC workshop of her play Pussy Valley. That has been quite a learning experience as well…

I plan on being broke for the entire month of June and July :( I hope I can pay the rent and the rest of my bills come the 5th. If not, can I sleep on your couch?

Updates (5/1)

Well Osama’s dead. 

Another hella busy work weak at Arena. A lot less fun stuff (award shows and opening nights). I’ll be in NYC (if you’re there, hit me, I’d LOVE to chill!) on Friday to hear Katori Hall’s Pussy Valley. It’s an interesting play and I’m excited to see the work she’s done on it. Charles Randolph-Wright’s SkinDiver starts its week long workshop on Sunday. It keeps going…

CPT is in good shape! Last week we received our venue and performance calendar. We got a GREAT space (The Studio Theater in DC) and great curtain times. We are built to succeed. We also held a first round of audiions on Friday and I think we have some great actresses to choose from. Tuesday is the meeting. If you want to join, hit us up!

I need to party as much as I can this week. My boyz are coming to town May 19 and I need to see what’s going on currently to make sure they have a good time. Also, it’s going to be all Arena all the time real soon so I need to get in some social time. Also, the weather is warming up and I’m ready to get back in the dating game. Been gone for too long (almost a whole year).

Anyway, this week should be a good one on the blog. Some interesting stuff, hope to hear your thoughts about it all.

Updates:

I think most of this week’s posts will focus on my trip to Humana a few weeks back. I’ll take a look at the plays, some artists and my overall feelings about festivals. I did a larger post on Arena’s New Play Blog so check that out for some context.

This week I’m headed out to Denver. I’ll get there late Thursday night. I’m super excited to go because I believe in the Artistic Director out there (Curious Theatre). I think he believes in the work they do and the people they work with. They may not put out the best work but they give it their all, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what really matters. I’ll be out there until Monday morning. They have a packed schedule of activities for me to do out there. I’ll see a production of the Denver Center’s production of Ruined which will be interesting to see since I’ve been watching our rehearsals for the same show. 

Outside of my trip, I’ll be keeping up with producing the events I’ve been working on for Arena. I think there may be some major changes to the convening I’m planning. Looks like the dates may not work out. It’s totally my fault, I SLACKED on reserving hotels and it looks like it is a big Police Weekend (some shit) going on in DC at that time. Also, I have to find 10 iPads to rent (good luck with that). 

Anyway, hit me on Twitter. Also, check out The Colored People’s Theatre’s website and Twitter page. We are on the way to big things!