A Creative Mama’s Story

Our first read through for The Laramie Project is scheduled for this Thursday. The cast and crew will be there and so will I, the fearless (yeah, right) director. I am excited to get this project going. Once it gets rolling it will create its own momentum and I won’t feel like I have to MAKE something happen.

I like the way the casting turned out. I had more men show up to audition than I actually needed - practically a miracle for a community theater. And most of the folks who showed up were brand new to Columbia Entertainment Company (CEC) which is an extra bonus. The company desperately needs some fresh perspective. That isn’t a comment on the people currently involved. But, it is a comment on creative growth. We need exposure to new ideas and perspectives to stay fresh.

I have been involved with the company for over a year now, but this is the first time I am directing for them. There are so many things I don’t know about simply because they don’t think to tell me. The same people have been doing the same things for so long, they assume everything is understood.

As for the casting, we are actually using more people than were used in the original production. It just turned out that way. If you haven’t read the play the original company had 8 actors who between them played approximately 69 characters. The original script is very different from the HBO production where they cast 1 actor to each role. Of course, HBO has a million gazillion dollars. I’ll be lucky to scrape up enough cash to build a 25 foot fence for the set. It’s a good thing I am a theater minimalist at heart.

Earth Scorcher now has a first line, a last line and 2/3rds of an outline. I had the outline in my purse with me last night. (Once I am involved in the flow of writing something, I have to carry it around with me everywhere I go.) I was at a CEC task force meeting last night and it was all I could do to keep myself from sneaking my outline out and working on it while pretending to pay attention. Of course, I was a good little meeting member, and didn’t do that. But, I’m telling you, it took restraint on my part.

My collaborator and I got together Saturday night and did what we hope turns out to be a final edit on AS. This would be draft # 10. I am getting close to that point where I throw my hands up in the air and say, “It has to be done because I can’t take it anymore!”

Things are jumping. This is always the case with me. Once one project starts heating up, others seem to follow. Creative energy begets creative energy and a creative vacuum – just sucks. (I know, you saw that coming from a mile away, but I couldn’t resist. Sorry.)

And, in the land of the mundane: I hope I don’t forget to take the garbage out this week. I forgot it last week because, frankly, more important things were firing through my synapses. But, now, it’s piling up in the garage and - well, it will be bad if I forget it again. Let’s just say I never got around to actually cooking those chicken breasts I defrosted last Wednesday.