As I write this, we’re nine days from opening night for The Love List. And in our third week of rehearsals, the play continues to take shape, each run-through bringing us closer to that one moment we’re all striving for. Continue reading
On Being That Man Behind The Curtain
I’m On The List
Working on last year’s Renaissance Guild/PDP co-production of Rumors was really an incredible experience, as you likely remember from my Rumors Control series. I’d learned so much, gained some great new friends, and was pretty sad to see it all end.
But now I get to go through it all over again. Continue reading
Three Yellow Roses, Days 3 and 4: Wrapper’s Delight
Of course, there’s still work to be done before the film is ready. But with two more days of shooting in the can, principal photography on Three Yellow Roses has officially come to a close. Continue reading
Three Yellow Roses, Day 2: Shop Talk
Given the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey nature of production schedules, it’s pretty standard for effect to precede cause when you’re putting a story on film. The cast, crew, and locations you need for Scene 3 might only be available before those you need for Scenes 1 and 2, so it’s often a necessity to work out of sequence. So it’s been with Three Yellow Roses.
Having filmed a steak dinner on our first day of production, Tuesday evening brought us to Green Fields Market to film the shopping trip before said dinner, and another trip taking place some time after it. Given that one of the themes of the film is the relationship between past, present and future, it seems fitting that our production schedule brings them together as it does. Continue reading
The Road To “Action”
The slate we’ll be using on our next film is a really nice affair. It’s a dry-erase clapboard (very like the one you’ll see to your left) that Nikki picked up at MPS Studios in Dallas as a birthday present in 2009.
And tonight we’ll be using it to call “action” on one of our projects for the first time. Continue reading
Me And Steven Moffat
Writing is really, really, really difficult. Have I mentioned that recently? Difficult. There, I mentioned it again. DIFFICULT!!!
– given the post’s title, is it completely redundant of me to say this is from Steven Moffat?
It’s weird to see such a comment about writing coming from someone who’s so damn good at it. But as a writer who still classifies himself as Aspiring and therefore can’t believe he shares a calling with the guy who gave us the likes of “Blink” and “The Big Bang”, I hope I understand where he’s coming from. Continue reading
Time Waits For No Writer…
Close friends will hopefully know that I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions. But I had made a few exceptions for 2010, and if I had to name the most important resolution, it would be the one I made to really focus on my writing. While I’m still in all ways a novice writer, I want to believe there’s something worth exploring in this.
That said, when that certain individual suggested that I should submit myself as a playwright to the year’s various local playfests, I had my apprehensions. I’ve had a lot of opportunities in the last few years to expand the scope of my writing, to work in so many different styles and genres. I’ve worked on proposals and press releases. I’ve written copy and correspondence. I’ve written bios, blogs, and business plans. And I’ve worked on a few screenplays. But playwriting is still undiscovered country for me. To throw myself into something like TheatreASAP just seemed too daunting.
So of course I threw myself into TheatreASAP. Continue reading
Rumors Control, Finale and Coda: So Falls The Curtain…
The Little Carver Civic Center now bears no trace of the Brocks, Gormans, Ganzes, Cusacks, or Coopers. There’s nothing left for Officers Welch and Pudney to investigate. We struck the Rumors set today, and all the props and set pieces that helped bring the play to life have been taken down and returned to their respective places of origin.
Needless to say, it was a rather bittersweet two days. From the cast’s final bow yesterday afternoon, to our post-show celebration at Pappadeaux last night, to the drive home after returning the last of the props in my care, it’s been a time heavy with goodbye. And I kinda hate goodbyes, especially after the experience I’ve had these last two months. Continue reading
Rumors Control, Opening Night: The Arrival
It all came to this.
Two weeks of auditions. Six weeks of rehearsals. Days spent on building the set, securing props, publicity, promotion, and phone calls and texts and E-mails to cover every miscellaneous detail you can think of and probably a few more. All for this.
One moment.
Opening night for Rumors. Continue reading
Rumors Control, Week 5: I Love It When A Play Comes Together
There are moments in the creative process that are hard to define, hard to explain, hard to set down in words or pixels. But if you’re an artist, you KNOW them when they happen. Whether you’re working toward the first performance, the first screening, or the first edition, they’re the landmarks that keep you moving forward, until you reach that ultimate goal.
The hope of capturing those landmarks has been a driving force behind the “Rumors Control” series. The chance to experience and share those moments, be they planned or spontaneous, when a character, a laugh, a scene is found. The belief that before it was all over, I’d get to write a post like the one you’re about to read. Continue reading
Lee Hurtado, Writer 