You're Just Cheap Uptown Dirt

From my friends, Carter and Sarah:

"On Monday, September 12th, d.i.r.t. company invites you to experience DIRTy SHORTs - our original short play staged-reading series to be held at The Players Club on historic Gramercy Square. One night a month - from September through December – we welcome you to join us at 7 pm for cocktails and banter, followed by 3-4 original short plays written by our favorite playwrights and read by our favorite actors. After the readings, all are invited – encouraged, even - to stay and drink with the writers and cast, mixing and mingling conversations and friends till we close the place down. The inaugural DIRTy SHORTs features pieces by Eric Fallen, David Johnston and Megan Mostyn-Brown."

(Specifically, this one is the new-ish one-act, A NUMBER ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. Should be fun. More info soon as I get it.)

Opera and American Lyric Theater

Very happy to make this announcement, which I've had to keep mum for a month. I've been chosen as one of the eight new resident artists for the American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program. This will start in September and go until next June, with presentations at some cool places (like Symphony Space) and workshops with some amazing opera and theater people. Press release is here.

The roster of current Resident Artists - including those for 2011-12 - is here.

UPDATE: A nice write up from Rochelle at NYTE, and also an update on Tony Ansaro, who completed the ALT program and has been commissioned by them to write a new opera.

Quote of the Day

"Puritanism - the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." - H.L. Mencken

"Candy & Dorothy" Closes

I was able to get to Rockville this weekend and see the Saturday matinee and evening performances of "Candy & Dorothy" at Unexpected Stage. A big congrats to my terrific cast, director Chris Goodrich and producer Rachel Stroud-Goodrich, the designers I got to meet at the talkback and crew. Excellent jobs all around. Press was excellent, too - here and here. Talkback had a very interesting and engaged audience.

I'll be honest - I had no idea the play would work with two tables, two chairs, less than a dozen lighting instruments and an air mattress. Happy to see it did.