We all enjoyed a nice break over the holidays, and that goes for #goodjobtexasjr as well. But we knew 2013 wasn’t that far away, and in those closing weeks we worked on a plan of action to start the year strong.
So far, so good… Continue reading
You Really Will Have To Be There
In Great Company
It started with Orson Welles, of course.
When I was much younger, and in the earliest stages of my obsession with sci-fi, I learned about the Mercury Theatre of the Air, and their famous broadcast of The War of the Worlds. I remember hearing it for the first time and thinking it was so cool. (Seriously, take away all the baggage of its history, and it still holds up.)
Since then, I’ve always had a weakness for old-time radio drama. And as I haven’t heard nearly enough of it in my life, I can’t pass up an opportunity to recreate that classic radio experience.
Combine that with one of my favorite holiday stories, then add some wonderful local actors, and you have the kind of show I can’t resist. Continue reading
In Which We #power Up And Set The #scene
#goodjobtexasjr began this summer with one show. But it’s since grown into something much more.
Week by week, as we moved forward with the show, we’d see new segments added, and new team members would join us to help expand the show beyond its original studio space, and beyond its original mission statement. By the last show of #rocktober, #youngandfresh wasn’t simply a music show, but a showcase for the community.
It wasn’t long before it would become a showcase for the network…
Making A #goodjob Great
When Nikki signed on to host a show on #goodjobtexas, I had a feeling there would be much more to #youngandfresh once we really got into it. One of Nikki’s gifts is the ability to look past the present moment of a project and see its future potential.
And there’s a LOT of potential in this one. Continue reading
Re-Arranged
While I’ve enjoyed my recent forays into performance (from Site 13 to Glamour in Glitter to my appearance at Texas Comicon), at heart I’m really a behind-the-scenes guy. I love the process, the work of making movies that most moviegoers may never see.
So I’m thrilled to be getting back to the other side of that camera for PDP‘s next project.
Going Out In A Blues Of Glory
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
Kickstart Our Art
In the last year, the concept of crowdfunding (most popularly defined as the idea of financing a project through internet donations and pledges) has quickly become a pop-cultural phenomenon. As a case study, I submit to you one Amanda Palmer, a singer/songwriter who launched a Kickstarter page ten days ago to help fund her next album; within about five hours, it had reached its goal of $100,000. As of this moment, with 20 days left, that album’s about 635% funded. I repeat, 635%.
The promise of crowdfunding is that it strengthens the bond between artists and fans/consumers, and allows them to share in the creative act in a way that I hope remains positive. As Palmer’s husband recently said, “I love the way that Kickstarter allows people both to be patrons of the arts and to directly support the creation and manufacture of the thing they want.”
All of which provides a nice teaser for what we’re working on right now… Continue reading
Two Blondes Walk Into A Theater…
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
In Which A Strange Magic Visits The Cameo Theatre
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
[Re-]Turning The Page…
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 