CTC M.D.

Whenever I post to the blog I always feel like Doogie Howser, typing on his primitive word processor at the end of his eponymous 80's sitcom... or was it an episodic? I don't remember, but that is how I feel.

Now that Shotgun Wedding is out into the cosmos we've begun to focus our energies on Readings 2 & 3. We have yet to reserve a space for either of these show and that makes me a little nervous. I want to be able to use the website as our biggest tool to reach audiences and if we don't know where our final two reading are going to be we can't let people know. I guess the thing that I love about CTC is making postcards, getting other people excited about our shows and making them want to see our productions and it is hard to do that if you can't tell them where the shows will be! Arg! I know we still have a lot of time before Reading #2, The Flu Season, 22 days to be exact, but the sooner these decisions are made, the better.

We've sent some thank you notes out this week, but for the most part things have been slow around "the office." Damn that 1023 form, it just sits there taunting us... gotta get that done. If I wasn't babysitting right now I'd be all over that form.

Shotgun Success!

On Monday we presented Shotgun Wedding, the first reading in our first annual Summer Reading Series. Everything went amazingly well. We had planned for around 50 people to attend so we had brought in about 60 chairs that Steppenwolf so graciously let us borrow, however we had over 80!! people in attendance. Looks like we're a hit (fingers crossed).

The night was amazing, albeit hot, as the AC that we were told would be working was down for the evening. People genuinely seemed to enjoy themselves and the play. We had a lot of people stay after the reading for the reception as well. The white wine was a hit, every bottle was empty and only a few bottles of red were leftover, but we took care of those at the post-afterparty back at our apartment.

Chris Garcia Peak has written an amazing script and it got a lot of the attention that night. Many people suggested that we present the play as part of our upcoming season. Others commented on how they were able to see how much more amazing the play could be as a full blown production. We also had people comment on how our presentation of the play was as enjoyable as seeing an actual play.

We had live music the entire night and that made things much more interesting. Our friend Emily played the Voila during the reading, Calvin Marty played guitar and accordion and Artistic Director Jason Fleitz played djimbe and guitar. In my opinion, the formation of a supergroup is in the works. Also, check out the updated website for pictures from the event.

Now we turn our focus to the final two readings of the series: The Flu Season and Wordsworth, Coleridge and Dot, directed by Brennan Parks and Libby Ford, respectively. We have learned a many things from our first reading and I guarantee that at our upcoming events we will have more chairs, air conditioning, and a little more time to get your mingle on.

Summer Reading Success

Well, first of all, I would like to thank everyone that attended the first installment of the Collision Theatre Company Summer Reading Series: Shotgun Wedding (a stellar new play by Chris Garcia Peak). The evening surpassed all expectation. There was wine, laughter, good company, and good food. What more could one ask for at an evening of theatre?

Secondly I would like to thank all the people who donated money to Collision. Your generosity is the fuel that drives Collision and enables us to continue to pursue our artistic mission. Also thank you to everyone who joined the mailing list, you will be shortly receiving a personalized "thank you" from us.

Finally I would like to plug the upcoming readings. On July 19th please join us for a reading of The Flu Season by Will Eno. This reading will be directed by Brennan Parks. The location of this reading is yet to be determined, but we will keep you all posted. On August 23rd please join us for a reading of a brand new play written by the lovely Megan Breen called Wordsworth, Coleridge & Dot. This reading will be directed by Libby Ford. The location of this reading is also to be determined.

So all elements considered I declare the first installment of the first annual Summer Reading Series a grand success. Thank you so much everyone who was involved and helped put this together. Where would we be without you?

Shotgun Wedding
Written & Directed by Chris Garcia Peak

Series Coordinator
Libby Ford

Production Manager
Ellen Gladish

Marketing Director
Erica Peregrine

Food Provided by
Toucan

Music
Calvin Marty
Emily Kozakiewicz

Special Thanks
GreyZelda Theatre Group
Ernie Nolan
Wil Fleming
Sandra Peak, M.D.
Terry Beuler
Paul & Alicia Castro
Busy Beaver Button Co.
Jon Beran
Rob Noose
Rob Hartz
Cory Conrad

Please visit our Shotgun Wedding Photo Gallery for pictures from the evening.

Buttons

Yesterday Seth and I went down to Busy Beaver Button Co. to pick up the Collision Theatre Company buttons for the first installment of the Summer Reading Series. We walked up a relatively industrial staircase into a cluttered lobby which led us to a closed door - upon which we knocked. The door opened upon a mini button factory no bigger than my living room. There were four people working. Two of them were hunched over a table in the middle of the room pinning buttons to cards. One guy was sitting a some sort of button-making-machine that would burb up a new button every few seconds. Yes . . . burb. The fourth person, a lovely lady in a polka dot dress, handed us a small baggie containing the 250 buttons we ordered only days previous. Needless to say, not only Collision Theatre Company, but also yours truly will be making an effort to become a regular customer of Busy Beaver Button Co. Yea buttons.

Shotgun Wedding, first look...

The company met last night to give Shotgun Wedding its first look over. Stephanie Court (editor) and Chris Garcia Peak (the writer/director) have been working furiously on the project for over a month and last night we had the first taste of the fruits of their labors... and it was sweet. Everyone had an extremely positive reaction to the script and we had an excellent discussion after we had read. Chris did a great job tailoring the characters in the play to each company member's specific talents/strengths as actors. I don't want to give too much of the play away, you'll have to see for yourself at the reading, but I will say that he expertly crafted his own text and the text of Charles Mee into a sometimes serious/sometimes hilarious genre bender that borrows from Chekhov, Brecht and Shakespeare. Wrap your head around that on June 20th at 7:30pm at 3729 N. Ravenswood Ave.

Initial Reading

Last night the company gathered together to read Shotgun Wedding, the first play of the Summer Reading Series, written by Chris Garcia Peak. It was an inspirational evening and I am so looking forward to the reading on June 20th.

blogging

this would be better if i had a computer at my desk....
but this makes life simpler for everyone.
the minute by minute schedule for monday june 20 will be up shortly.
ciao

E-mail City

I've been e-mailing everyone on the CTC contact list all night long because Yahoo! Web Hosting only lets you send 100 e-mail an hour or something like that! How wak, yo! Does anyone know any way around this? Do you think I could talk to the fine people at Yahoo! and see if I could bypass this ridiculous law so that my small non-profit theatre company can be successfu? Woe is me.

Around the Coyote Fall Arts Festival

So Collision Theatre Company has decided to submit an application for the 2005 Around the Coyote Fall Arts Festival. The wonderful Libby Ford is putting together our proposal. Submission is due July 14th - we will keep you updated with any further developments.

Rummage Sale Success

I am happy to say that the Rummage Sale on June 4th was a success. We were superceeded our anticipated fundrasing goal and had a blast doing it - despite the downpour. Today we recieved the flyers for Shotgun Wedding and they look AWESOME! We will also have Collision Theatre Company buttons within the week. If you want a button drop us a line and we'll hook you up. Oh, and one last thing Collision is now on Friendster so I have to ask: Will you be our Friendster?

First post!!!

The Collision Theatre Company blog is now up and running! I am excited because I have spent many hours over the past few weeks slaving away in front of my computer screen, and now, the whole site is up and running.

So here's what's up:

June 4th, 2005
RUMMAGE SALE!!!!
6:30 a.m. - 5:oo p.m.
2108 W. Addision
Please if you'd like to make a donation e-mail us . . . we will accept almost anything!!!

June 20, 2005
SHOTGUN WEDDING
7:30 p.m.
3729 N. Ravenswood Ave.
a new play written by Chris Garcia Peak adapted from the collected works of Charles Mee
This is the first installment of a three part Summer Reading Series.
For more details check out the productions page.