Reading List

While in B'lo for the holidays, I finished reading Stardust Lost (and in the process, learned a ton about Yiddish theatre), and started Water for Elephants, which I finished this afternoon. I recommend both, and will engage anyone who's interested in a literary conversation. They couldn't have been two more different books, save for their focus on the entertainment industry. How interesting to have read them back-to-back.

Jake and I are also huge fans of audiobooks while driving, since our mutual music fandoms only meet up at small and specific points (Springsteen, Dropkick Murphys, They Might be Giants, Smashing Pumpkins...). So, on the way up, and in the car running to and from various locations in western New York, we treated ourselves to David Sedaris reading his new book When You are Engulfed in Flames. Lots of funny stuff, and several thought-provoking essays. High points for me were his lengthy narrative about going to Japan to quit smoking, the loud woman who sat next to him on a flight when he refused to move seats, and his account of trying to hunt down a human skeleton to present to his partner Hugh for his birthday.

On the way home yesterday, we learned about the Puritans via Sarah Vowell's reading of her book The Wordy Shipmates. I enjoyed it very much: more than The Partly Cloudy Patriot, but not as much as Assassination Vacation, which is absolutely one of my favorite books about American history. The Wordy Shipmates seemed to get waylaid at points, particularly during a discussion about the Pequot massacre. I've been particularly interested in the Pequots over the last couple of months, but I still couldn't keep events and people straight while listening. Maybe it would have been easier if I were reading, and could have referred back to earlier pages. In all, the account of early American settlement by the "hot Protestants" (my new favorite name for these Puritan non-separatist settlers) was engrossing, and I learned a great deal about who they were, why they left England, and their goals for the new colony, realized or not.

(Vowell is absolutely right when she points out that even college-educated Americans can't pull out any quotes from 17th-century Americans. Jake could, but only just. The rest of our friends had no idea. I knew that Miles Standish was called "Captain Shrimp." And I think that should count!)

Followup

OK, so I've had a couple of hours to think about the 2003 Peter Pan, as errands I had on my schedule this morning turned into an hours-long wild goose chase which led to me sitting in the Farragut North Starbucks, nursing a tall hot chocolate for an hour and a half while reading about the history of Yiddish theatre. (The things I read for fun... :) )

So, here's the thing. I thought I'd have a problem with Peter being played by a boy. Turns out, I do not. In the medium of film, when there are closeups and more verity than one can show on the stage, I like the fact that Peter can be played by a boy, especially one as androgynous as the boy in this film. I could even forget the fact that he was obviously American, since I really did like his performance.

I liked what they did with Tinkerbell. They didn't princess her up (don't even get me started on the new Disney Tinkerbell straight-to-video), they left her a sexy little shrew who showed real affection for Peter, and real disregard for anything else.

I liked that Tiger Lily appeared to be Native American, and not whitewashed, and, if imdb is correct, even spoke a line in a Iroquois dialect.

I didn't even mind most of the changes to the script. I did, however, mind the added scenes. A scene at the beginning showing Wendy at school and Mr. Darling at work were thoroughly unnecessary. The two realms of Peter Pan are, and should stay, the home and Never Land. The audience is never meant to know exactly what Mr. Darling does for a living, just like children are never quite sure what their parents do when they leave the house. We don't need to see Wendy being a feisty, headstrong girl at school, because she shows us in her respectful but commanding relationship with her brothers and parents. We don't need to see Nana trotting the Darling children through the streets like a real nursemaid because she is not a nursemaid, she's a dog. Mr. Darling doesn't like Nana as a nursemaid for just this reason, that she's a dog and not a proper maid, not because she screwed up some transaction with a banker higher-up.

My other nitpick is in Peter's first conflagration with Hook, after he rescues John, Michael, and Tiger Lily from the pirates early on: I want to see a build in Peter's relationship with Hook, not a face-to-face battle during their first meeting.

Also: I love Lynn Redgrave, but who the hell is Aunt Milicent? Why get rid of the child-maid Liza? The fact that middle-class Wendy, John, and Michale are allowed to have fantasies of Never Land and lower-class Liza is left to her work, just barely able to be a child and sneak into the fantasy world is one of my favorite pieces of covert social commentary in the original. I have to admit, I missed Liza.

I loved the fact that Hook had an Eton tattoo on his shoulder. James Hook is an Eton boy and proud of it.

The performances were good, all around, particularly that of Jason Isaacs, who does double-duty as Hook and Mr. Darling. I enjoyed watching the flick, but, I guess as happens to any piece of text one lives with for years, I found it a little lacking in places.

Watching the 2003 movie version of Peter Pan. I have some strong thoughts about it already...will update later this afternoon.

Production Meetings

One of the most interesting things about being a dramaturg in my situation is sitting in on production meetings. At various times, I've acted as translator (translating between the languages of director/choreographer and tech team), diplomat (smoothing over arguments and issues in a logical way), conceptual artist (giving out-there ideas which just might work in context, given the more realistic goals and visions of the tech team), and cheerleader (with all that entails, except, usually, for the short pleated skirt). My job in porduction meetings is usually to be on the logical side of artistic intent, making sure that the director/choreographer's vision stays intact while understanding that there has to be some sort of compromise when it comes to actually putting that vision onstage, and within budget.

It's fascinating.

I Won!

If you look over to the right and scroll down a bit, you might notice a brand new button. It's got a viking ship on it, and it says "NaNoWriMo Winner"...

Oh, yeah, that's right, I won! 50,117 words in 28 days. It was crazy; it was fun; I came out of it with a novel that may not be the most well-written thing in the world, but one with which I'm thoroughly in love.

I had a conversation at Thanksgiving dinner last night about NaNo and why someone would participate when there's no tangible prize (save for an ultra-cool certificate and, well, a finished novel). Honestly, it was one of the most freeing things I've ever done in my life. For a grammar and spelling geek like me to just type with no thinking about those things, only about the story...well, that was something I've never experienced before. And it was so cool!

I can't wait until next year.

Halfway There!

My goal for today was 25,000 words by 3pm, and I reached 25,081 at 2:45. Woo-hoo! I'm keepin' on keepin' on, but I'm so excited to be halfway there...and my novel mostly makes sense! (Mostly.)

Dramaturgy? What?

Oh, so this blog isn't solely about NaNoWriMo? And I do what for a living?

Oh, right!

Yesterday, the study guide for our production of Miss Nelson is Missing! went up online. I'm really excited about it. I took over study guide-writing duties this season, and have been very happy about the outcomes so far. My goals for every study guide are:

• Activities focusing on all four curricular core content areas (English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, and Science) so teachers can use the lessons no matter which class they're teaching.
• Lots of worksheets for teachers to photocopy and hand out to kids.
• Different teacher-information pages at the front of every guide, appropriate to the show. (For example, the Playing from the Heart study guide has lots of information about hearing loss and how deaf people communicate; the Miss Nelson study guide has interviews with the show's playwright and director).
• At least nine different exercises in each study guide, so every teacher can find a comfort zone somewhere in there.

I'm hoping that when we set up the new website, the study guides will be easier to find, and accessible to the general public, not just teachers. They're fantastic teacher resources, but I think there are some exercises that enterprising parents can use with their kids, too. I'm really stretching my muscles with these guides, and I'm happy to be doing it.

The Miss Nelson is Missing! study guide can be found here.

Words written on 11/10: 1,331
Words written yesterday: 1,521
Total words written: 20,102

Favorite sentence written yesterday: "Sure, she’d have a nice Kosher wine on the High Holy Days (Arlene was one of the few people her daughters knew who actually liked the taste of Manischevitz), but other than that, her main source of alcohol was Robitussin."

I'm a bit behind on my daily word count (goal is 1,667 a day), but I'm a whole day ahead of myself on total word count (goal for today is 20,004, and I reached 20,102 yesterday). I think I'm doing pretty well! I am worried that I'm working too quickly toward the end, so I'm describing things in great detail to up my word count, and make the world of my novel more tangible. I wrote over 300 words about a liquor cabinet yesterday, and got some great insight into the world my characters live in! (People's reaction to liquor says a lot about them, I think...)

It's probably a good thing I've been focuing on writing too much to post, huh? So, great stats for the last couple of days! I slacked for 2 days, but it was all right; I had gotten my word count high enough at the beginning of the week that I had a little padding. I was a few words short of my goal as of the seventh, but after a Silver Spring NaNo write-in yesterday, and a great writing streak today, I'm already past my goal for tomorrow! (I'm trying to write at least a little every day, even if I don't think I have time to do so, or can't seem to concentrate. It's keeping me on track and motivated.)

Words written on 11/06: 885
Words written on 11/07: 611
Words written on 11/08: 4,107
Words written today: 2,419

Total words written: 17,250
Favorite sentence written in the last couple of days: "He responded in kind, and soon they were comforting each other without words, holding each other close, his lips assuring her that her mother wasn’t always going to be crazy, and her assuring him that he really would someday be welcomed into the family."

Favorite piece of dialogue from the last couple of days: "'You mean, Joey, Jordan, Jon, Danny, and Donnie? Yes, I am well versed in the ways of the New Kids on the Block. I’ve got the "Right Stuff."'" Charlie smiled broadly. 'I was a kid in the nineties, you know. And I wanted to impress the girls in fifth grade just like any other boy my age. Don’t even get me started on Debbie Gibson!'

I'm 35% done! :)

Thanks to the Silver Spring folks for your support yesterday. I got an amazing amount of words written in the coffee shop, with the sound of everyone typing around me as my background music.

Words written today: 1,691
Total words written: 9,228
Characters used: 7

Favorite sentence written today: "Any one who comes to meet her for the first time gets scrutinized, raked over the coals, and interrogated, until they usually just want to leave, go home, and never come back."

Woo-Hoo!

Got home from work later than I had planned yesterday, and Jake and I hit the gym, making sure that we had election coverage on while we were on the treadmills. After 2.5 hours in line, I was going to be glued to the coverage, whether or not this was a historic election.

Back in the apartment, we camped out on the couch, computers in our laps, watching the coverage on four channels, reading liveblogs, and doing work (him: homework, me: NaNo).

We popped the champagne at about 10:30, and settled in to watch the returns trickle in. After Obama was declared the winner, I cried no fewer than three times. His speech was epic. What an event. What a landslide. I wish I could be more eloquent, but I really just can't find the words this morning. Wow.

That said...

Word count yesterday: 1878
Total word count: 7,537
Characters used: 7

Favorite sentence written yesterday: "Toni always thought it was a shame when a man’s grip was weaker than hers, but she recognized that she was a very strong woman, especially for a fifty five year old."

Total words today (so far): 1,899
Total words in novel: 5,258
Number of scenes written: 3
Number of characters used: 4

Favorite sentence written today (so far): "How is he supposed to support my daughter and keep me in Prozac?"

I'm still writing, but I wanted to post before it got too late and I forgot (like what happened yesterday). Since I plan on waking up super-duper early to vote tomorow morning, I probably won't be able to post again until later tomorrow afternoon/evening.

Which reminds me: GO VOTE TOMORROW! It's time for a change.

Total words yesterday: 1,534
Total words in novel: 3,359
Number of scenes written: 2
Number of characters used: 4

Favorite sentence written yesterday: "In lieu of lighting a cigarette—she didn’t have any in her purse, and besides, she did not smoke, was not a smoker, unless she happened to be drinking with smokers and it was nice outside—Ali took her phone out again and dialed another number."

NaNo Update 1

Total words today: 1,825
Number of scenes written: 1
Number of characters used: 2

Favorite sentence written today: "I suppose I could have made a measured study of how long it takes the petunias in your yard to grow to a foot high, but I worry that the neighborhood gardener boy would have come to mow your grass and pruned your bushes before I could complete my study."

Happy Halloween!

Off to a wedding in Connecticut, where I get to participate in a costume-rehearsal dinner. Have a great weekend!

To Outline, or Not to Outline?

I'm gearing up for NaNoWriMo, and I've decided to outline my fiction for the first time ever. I never outlined while I was writing fiction before, but recent experiences have led me to rethink that. Of course, I outlined my papers in grad school--needless to say, a totally different experience from writing fiction. But it really helped me organize my thoughts.

What really pushed me over the outlining edge were the scriptwriting process I went through over the last two years. If we were interested in writing a play for camp, we had to do a proposal which included an act-by-act, scene-by-scene outline. I never felt pressured to stick exactly to the script, but it helped a great deal to see where I was headed, and how I planned to get there.

I have 25 "scenes" in my NaNo outline. That's fewer than 2,000 words a scene. I can totally do this (she says now, with 5 days to go until the crazy month of November begins)!

Now Presenting...

...Cinder and Splash (aka Debbie's and my) application to the Evil League of Evil! Debbie wrote the music; I wrote the lyrics. Both of us sing, and Debbie accompanies us on the piano. The voice of "Mom" was provided by Nikki. Thanks to David Stern, Andrew Gordon, and Imagination Stage.

By the way, if you haven't watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, do so now. Our video will make much more sense if you do. (But watch our video in any case. My completely unbiased opinion is that it rocks.)

The Mystery Project, Continued.

Visuals have been recorded for our project. Editing and submission on Friday. Until then...I actually get to sleep!

The vocals are recorded and edited for the project I'm working on with Debbie. We're filming the video portion tomorrow, and then she'll edit on Friday. Deadline is Saturday, so I think we're doing just fine.

Thanks to David S. and Nikki for all of your help today.

Victories

The study guide for Playing from the Heart has been turned in to the marketing department, and I'm so proud of it! I've included an informational section for the teachers, which really hadn't been done before, as well as the usual activity guide. Thanks to everyone who collaborated with me on the "Rhythm is Gonna Get You" activity. I'll post a link once it's up and active on the website.

We had some great rehearsals for SOOS Sr. in the past week, and I'm very glad to have been included in them. The program is so cool: get a group of teenagers in a room twice a week for a whole year, and devise a full-length play on a theme about which they are passionate and have something to say. Because the kids aren't playwrights and the co-directors are wrangling teenagers, a dramaturg is essential to the process. Enter me!

It was a bit of a struggle to get people to understand what my role as a dramaturg was with this group. I had to put my job out in negative terms, which I don't usually like. As a dramaturg for SOOS, I am not:

• the playwright.
• the director.
• the stage manager.

I am there to assist in the conception of the theme (which is what we did last week) and the writing of the play, and to act as the "third ear and eye" on the production. We did some work on what "theme" means, and worked through some possible themes using tableaux, written webbing, and a lot of discussion. And the kids independently chose an interesting theme. I won't be in rehearsals for a couple of weeks, and when I reappear, the group will have more of a concrete outline.

In other news: the project I've been working on with Debbie is almost written. A YouTube link should be up by Saturday morning.

Y'all Know I'm a Huge Geek, Right?

So, when I'm not working on the study guide for Playing from the Heart (due on Friday!), and reminding high schoolers that theme does not equal plot or title, I'm working on a project with my friend Debbie. And I'm SO not talking about what that project is right now, so that (a) I don't get my hopes up about it, and (b) I don't admit (just now) what a huge geek I am. Suffice to say: if you haven't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, you need to do so. Right now. Hopefully, I'll have some good news about my geeky little side project in two weeks or so.

So Much Dramaturgy, So Little Time...

Ha!

Since we last met, I've written a hit children's play (no, seriously, Pomegranates for Persephone went off like gangbusters) and finally gotten my MA in theatre history and criticism. Yay! I've also been able to talk my boss into letting me actually use my MA. I think my exact quote was, "I'm in debt to Sallie Mae for $30,000. Let me use my degree." So, in addition to my usual job description, I'm doing the following dramaturgical duties at work:

• Writing the study and activity guides for the professional theatre.
• Acting as dramaturg for the devised Speak Out on Stage Sr. ensemble.
• Dance-aturging the Imagination Stage Dance Ensemble for the second year.

I'm also going to be entering NaNoWriMo in November, and I'm prepping to be the playwright for IStage's entry in the Play-in-a-Day Festival in February. Plus, I'm already thinking about what I want to write for next summer's play. Lots of writing on the horizon! Very exciting.

Fatal Bazooka feat Yelle - Parle à ma main

Jake turned me on to Yelle during a rare five minutes in front of MTV. Right up my alley since I salivate over all things musically French.