Even the smallest art show is an ambitious undertaking. An art show with live models might be more so. And an art show with live models impersonating pop-cultural icons? To pull something like that off, you need great people at every level.
With Glamour in Glitter, we had them. Continue reading
The thing that made the Blues Brothers so special, of course, was their total commitment to their personae and to their music.
Jake and Elwood may have been the brainchild of two comedians in their prime. They may have been born of a Saturday Night Live sketch that saw John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd dressed up as bees. And their film may have come as close as we’ll ever see to a Road Runner chase sequence rendered in live action. But they were no joke. Neither parody nor tribute, the Blues Brothers succeeded as real musicians, with a real band behind them. (In naming some of those band members – Steve Cropper, Paul Shaffer, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, North Texas alum “Blue” Lou Marini, the late great Alan “Mr. Fabulous” Rubin and Donald “Duck” Dunn – I’m only scratching the surface of their legend.)
So when I learned that the Overtime Theater was trying to recapture their magic, this was something I had to see and hear. Continue reading
When we were working with The Renaissance Guild on Rumors, there was some discussion on whether to keep its late-80s setting or to update it to the present day. The decision was ultimately made to make it contemporary to our audience, which meant adapting some lines and references to make sense to a 2010 playgoer.
For one example: In Neil Simon’s original script, there’s a reference to the 1986 film Platoon. Someone (and it might actually have been me) suggested changing the title to The Hurt Locker, and we went with it. I thought it worked pretty well; like the movie, the play’s all about characters trying to defuse a bad situation before it blows up in their faces (though I’ll admit there’s a little less… drama attached to our play). But if I have to be honest about the reasoning behind my suggestion, I really just wanted to hear Danielle King say “The Hurt Locker“.
I bring this up to illustrate that the production of a play is not always a process of exact translation or transcription. Sometimes we have to make some changes to get the story and characters from page to stage. Which of course brings us back to the San Antonio Stage Script Study Group. Continue reading
They say into each art some rain must fall… or at least they would if I were They.
It was a lesson learned back in March, when organizers of Luminaria: Arts Night in San Antonio found themselves faced with the threat of storms on the very day they had planned to hold the city’s biggest arts gathering. After considerable discussion, they took the side of safety and postponed the event from March 10 to May 5.
I’d have been there under any circumstances, of course. But as Nikki was scheduled to MC one of the music stages (having done the job before, two years ago, she was invited back for this year), I wanted to be there to support her and take pictures. So, I made sure to keep the new day open on my calendar.
I hadn’t heard the news when Nikki first texted me yesterday, and I wasn’t in a position to get online and find out. So when she told me what had happened, I was in shock.
It was through Nikki and Chadd that I was introduced to The Renaissance Guild, and to its founder, Paul Riddle, Jr. They had known him for several years – PrimaDonna‘s earliest work was with TRG, and Nikki (as actor and producer) and Chadd (as director) were both active supporters of the theatre company. So when I joined PDP, I joined their partnership as well. Continue reading
Watch this industry long enough (and you won’t have to watch for very long) and you’ll realize that a lot of films fall through the cracks of distribution and release. The reasons vary – sometimes it’s business, sometimes it’s personal, and sometimes it’s somewhere in the middle. Sometimes they’re good films stuck in limbo through no real fault, and sometimes they star Eddie Murphy.
And sometimes one of those “vanished” films can surprise you.
For five years, I’ve been blessed to work with Nikki and Chadd at PDP. And in that time, as Nikki’s unofficial Boswell, I’ve done my best to chronicle the many chapters of her career as a performer, producer, promoter, and teacher.
With that in mind, today’s post will be rather bittersweet, as I’m writing the close to one of those chapters. Continue reading
One of the great marvels of films like The Fugitive or The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is their incredible sense of place. It’s a testament to the talent of the filmmakers involved that Chicago and New York become characters in their own rights; as I’d written of Pelham,
There’s a quality more felt than seen about the film, a sense that what happens in it could only happen in this city, at this time, with these people. And the film’s so much stronger for it.
This is one of the things I love about the San Antonio Neighborhood Film Project (the brainchild of the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs). It’s a chance for local filmmakers to bring one of their favorite characters to life onscreen. And it’s a chance for local filmgoers to look at their hometown in whole new lights. So I was looking forward to being a part of last night’s screenings. Continue reading
Many of us, if not most, have at one point or other in our lives shared a fascination with magic and magicians. And many of us, if not most, may outgrow that.
This story is about what happens when you don’t. Continue reading
As I’ve said before, the San Antonio Stage Script Study Group was “one of my favorite Stone Oak Youth Theatre activities”. And in the time we met there, it had developed the kind of following you’d call Small But Devoted. So when the group was put on hold following the end of Nikki‘s tenure at SOYT, it was inevitable that we’d find a new place, a new time, and meet again.
That brief hiatus ended with 2011, as we met again in January to chart a new course for a new year. And in that discussion, we agreed that the time had come for one of the group’s earliest and most promising ideas. Continue reading
Lee Hurtado, Writer 