Editor’s note: Here are a couple follow-ups from things happening about town:
Wanda Moats as the DUCK, appeared here with Wendy Cohen as the CHICKEN in WARP Theater’s production of Scot Bastian’s play, “The Other Side”
Our DUCK Goes On to Appearance at the ACT Theatre
Our DUCK, Wanda Moats, has picked herself up off of the roadbed and is appearing as part of a reading in No Number Home at ACT this Saturday November 16 @ 7:30 pm, and an excerpt on Sunday @ 2:00 pm. Tickets are pay what you will. Love to have you all attend and see our own quacker in another incarnation.
Flame in the Mirror Excels!
Irish Father talks to Son in Flame in the Mirror
Also, I don’t know which Muse our playwright/actor/voice master/ John Ruoff was listening to when he wrote, Flame in the Mirror, but it has broken all box office records for the Eclectic Theater during its run there after a great critical write-up in “Drama in the Hood”:http://www.dramainthehood.net/2013/10/flame-in-the-mirror/
John may have been listening to the right Muse this time.
Jorj plays the fighter in John Ruoff’s “Half Moon Inn”
Jorj Savage is Onstage Again!
Continuing his successful relationship with WARP Theater in Seattle, Jorj Savage appears in another ‘knock-out’ play by John Ruoff. And this is only one-tenth of what is offered in WARP’s current production of 10 Short Plays in May. Old standby writers such as John and Rita and Jorj, himself, deliver the goods. But there are also several new, and very promising upstarts – judging from the plays we’ve seen here, such as: Bryan Harthorne, Betsy Geller and John Paul Sharp. It’s a rarely shared fact, but a large portion of the playwrights who later went on to garner major productions in the equity theaters around town, first passed through WARP (or its predecessor, DAMN) on their way to the big leagues. Maybe you ought to save some money and catch them on their way up! There’s still room (I hope.) The run continues tonight and tomorrow. For more information go to: http://www.seattlecenter.com/events/event_detail.aspx?eid=418896
Years careening forward without any quality control whatsoever is finally paying off for WARP (Writers and Actors Performing Now). Sold out shows are becoming the rule as WARP touted up another win, finishing this past Sunday with their matinee Halloween extravaganza, “Products of a WARPed Imagination”. Especially successful were John Ruoff’s Seahorse Moon, Scot Bastian’s Missing the Boat, Donna Van Norman’s The Visitor, and Multiple Vocationalities by Dale Kazdan. A surprise cameo by our own favorite actor/playwright/columnist, Jorj Savage certainly didn’t hurt attendance.
Especially fun was this suicide on stage via Drano, in a play written by our own Rita Andreeva. Watch it, complete with creepy music, on this well-done video. (My favorite part, where Rose Kinne tosses her cookies, is a couple minutes in.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwgJ6dgKlsU&feature=player_embedded
To see a fuller range pictures of the event, got to: Carl Nelson Photography (link on the right)
The word is out! our own Jorj has been cast in another play. This time it’s JACK AND THE SEAHORSE MOON, written by John Ruoff. The word is – (and as it appears) – Jorj just can’t turn down acting opposite a beautiful woman. I, like, TOTALLY understand…. For more complete information, go to: www.warptheater.org
Esme DeCoster has been working in theater, film and modelling since the age of five. She carries around a calendar notebook which would rival an executive’s. At ten she’s the ultimate professional. Currently she’s appearing in “The Digital Divide” in Eight Plays Over Easy at TPS4. She’s also currently appearing in Don Giovanni at the Bellevue Opera. And Esme is slated to reprise her role for one performance of JILL in “The Digital Divide” at the Seattle Playwrights Studio Showcase at ArtsWest the end of May. We caught up with her backstage in the dressing room for TPS Theater 4 to file this 5 minute interview.
Editor’s Note: Theater is about Everybody. And no theater group in this town is as open to ‘everybody’ as WARP. You walk in the door, and you’re a member. You bring something in to read, and it’s read. You want to act – or may not intend to act – and you very well may end up on stage anyway because WARP probably hosts more productions of original work that any other theater group in Seattle. You can present anything you want and say anything you want. And it’s all accomplished without any officers, board, special member classifications, budget, fundraisers, or government grants. They’re just a collection of any odd person who likes the idea of doing theater.
Here’s an Upcoming Show, Now!
Personal Testimonial for WARP Experience
“I was very impressed by the tale of a 1000 and one nights, and, feeling rather insecure about my appearance, I decided subconsciously at some point that I liked Sheherezade, and I chose her path. I figured, it didn’t matter what I looked like, it didn’t matter if I had money, if I could tell a story after story until those stories became wanted, important, indispensable, until people or a person wanted to hear what I have to say, then I was home free.
I choose writing as a primary art, with visual art, painting, drawing, as a back up. Writing has more power, I think. I have spent many nights curled in bed with a book, I couldn’t have gotten the same enjoyment if I had Mona Lisa on my bedroom wall. The comfort of words goes way beyond an image. Perhaps that was why worshiping the idols was a no-no. When you read a story you subconsciously embellish it with your own personal visions, and a picture – so desired by a 4 y. o. is not at all when you are over 13.
Of course, my big problem with that choice was that I couldn’t write worth a damn.
So, about the year 2000 I started writing a completely made up and a fictional book called The Asylum Of The Gods. I went about it by getting a bottle of Burgundy wine and writing whatever, and then talked about it to my current boyfriend. Worked great for him: by the time we broke up he wrote two books (never occurred to him before).
All I know is I kept getting better. I got a job at a hotel in Kent and became friends with Vira there. She wanted a boyfriend, so I suggested Craigslist. Guess what happened – she met Eric. Since he was a member of DAMN he invited her there, and she invited me. And we stuck with it.
Having one’s plays read is an awesome experience. Being able to see something I wrote on the stage broke some sort of a wall of resistance I had nurtured for a very long time. I started writing like possessed. I had my first short play performed in the fall of 2005. And I was in it too! It was such a rush! I fell in love with the theater. Everything about it: the adrenaline rush when being up on the stage, the writing, working a piece, hearing real feedback. All of it. I calmed down a bit with time, but I still can think of nothing better than making my dream come true. And that is what DAMN/WARP was/is for me. Just because there were people who would get up on a stage and read my play made me believe in myself and made me realize that I could write. Something I wasn’t so sure about. DAMN/WARP made it happen. Even though I finished my first novel by the time I got there, I needed an audience. All artists do. Having a place to go to have something read is an answer to my prayer. No matter what the world does, no matter what stupid things I have to do to pay rent, nothing compares to what WARP does, graciously allowing people from all walks of life to come in and present their labors of love.” – Rita Andreeva
“You’ve heard versions and different scenes of the play at least a dozen times. Man, 73, meets woman in her 20’s outside the Key Arena, where she has just been bounced from a concert for disorderly behavior—and without her coat! Well, folks, that “man” turns 75 this week! That’s right. Jorj Savage, who created this story loosely based on his brief encounter with a young woman at the Seattle Center, will be three-quarters of a century old, in a little over a week. Time to celebrate!” – Donna Van Norman
Rita Andreeva Painted This Portrait of Jorj (as the Tragedy Mask) for His Birthday Present From Her
Editor’s Note: It was quite a Tuesday at WARP evening, full of limericks, testimonial (Donna Van Norman), hip-hop (courtesy of Dan Green – a big crowd pleaser), musical numbers (courtesy of Scot Bastain), artwork, and finally a nice speech by Jorj himself. Jorj’s life has collected people into the theater like a fine garment which seems to attract lint like crazy. And all the lint showed up last night to honor him, (yours truely, included).
Editor’s Note: I directed Lunch in the Afterworld in this WARP’s production of scary shorts. And Will Phillips and Molly Blades gave me fine performances.
Halloween Thriller/Chiller!
WARP’s Halloween Show, “Revenge of the Fun Forest”, is a festival of original one-act plays and comedy sketches by Seattle playwrights. Come and enjoy tales of ghosts, ghouls, vampires, high school teachers, and some of the world’s most dysfunctional families. The lineup includes work by John Ruoff, Chris Mathews, Leonard Goodisman, Lyn Coffin, Chris Fruitrich, Donna Van Norman, Josie de Lellis and, of course, a performance by Troupe Comique. Cast includes Molly Blades, Tamara Burnett, Lyn Coffin, Ellen Covey, Jason Dooley, Sherein Idkeidek, Jeremy January, Adam Jones, Dale Kazdan, Chris Mathews, Danny Osborne, Will Phillips, Jim Quatier, Rachel Ross, John Ruoff, Eric Smiley, Mara Steve, Sonja Watson, and Stephanie Wichmann.
Performances will be at the Seattle Center TPS Theater 4, located on the fourth floor of the Center House, on October 29, 30 and 31 and November 5 and 6. All performances start at 8PM, with doors opening at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $10 at the door, $5 for students and those over 65. Tickets are 2 for $10 if purchased (i.e., paid for) in advance from WARP writers, directors, cast, or crew members. Tickets can also be purchased online through Brown Paper Tickets http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/129300.
Molly Blades and Will Phillips star in Len Goodisman’s short play, Lunch in the Afterworld, due to open soon in theater TPS4 in the Seattle Center House as part of an evening of Halloween-seasoned shorts, presented by WARP and billed as: Revenge of the Fun Forest. http://www.warptheater.org/ Directed by yours truly (Carl Nelson), Molly Blades sings this haunting Jazz standard as the play opener.
Molly plays the Spirit of Therese, recently departed.
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