Final Thoughts on Scab

We put Scab to rest this weekend. It was tough because I felt like the show was just getting legs. After a slow start were starting to fill our houses pretty regularly and I have to believe that if we had two or three more weekends left to run the show that we could have reached a lot more people.

This is one of the key problems with small storefront shows like ours: it takes a few weeks to really build any buzz and by the time word of mouth starts getting around the show needs to close. In our case, we don't have an enormous budget that enables us to rent out a theatre for 8 weeks so we have to deal with a shorter runs, usually 4 or 5 weeks. I would have loved to extend our run, but we couldn't, so we didn't and now I'm living with it.

On a more positive tip, the final weekend of shows was incredible; our closing on Saturday night was sold out to an incredile and emotional audience of friends and family and the whole experience has left me with incredibly fond memories of our wonderful cast and crew.

Someone in the cast (I can't recall who, maybe Casey?) was talking about how of all the shows they have been a part of that there are always those one or two people in every cast whose behavior, personality, acting style or stench makes you want to avoid them like the plague. They then opined that their experience with this cast was unique in that they didn't have those feelings about anyone, that everyone we assembled for our little production was perfectly pleasant; we all got on with one another and everyone's hygiene was impeccable. So, if nothing else, our company knows how to keep the weirdos out. Thank Thespis! (I'm copyrighting that phrase)

And that is what I learned from Scab...

Theatre Notes: Issue 2

Another great blog I have recently discovered is Don R. Hall's An Angry White Guy in Chicago. His latest post asks his readers to select which 8 plays/musicals they would include in a 45 minute class covering theatre in the 20th century... 400 years from now. Check out the comments section of Don's blog to see what others have listed. You can see which plays I would include below... I will probably change my mind by the end of the day:

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett- timeless
Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill- haunting
Glengarry Glenn Ross by David Mamet- sharp
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard- genius
Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love by Brad Fraser - underrated
The Dutchman by Amiri Baraka- important
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams- hard not to pick Menagerie
Design for Living by Noel Coward - ahead of its time

Theatre Notes: Issue 1

May I direct your attention to the following two items:

1) American monologist Mike Daisey had a performance of his new play Invincible Summer disrupted when 80 public high school students walked out of the production mid-performance. One student was so kind as to pour water over Mr. Daisey's handwritten script. Evidently the walk-out was staged in protest of the play's "strong language". See the video below, it's quite an amazing thing to watch.


What amazes me is that, with all the war, turmoil and poverty in the world right now, that a group of students chose to focus their energy against a man for using the word fuck to express himself. I hope, for these kid's sake, that by the time they reach adulthood they put their misguided energies toward a greater cause.

2) Kris Vire, has a really spot on post on his blog, Storefront Rebellion, regarding the "big boys" of Chicago Theatre and their unwillingness to produce up-and-coming work by female playwrights. He mentiones CTC a few times, too, so perhaps I am partial. Check it out here.

A Personal Reflection on Opening Weekend of SCAB

On the evening of Friday before last I traveled to Chicago from New York to attend the gala performance of SCAB - or SCRB if you will. The flight was relatively uneventful, until something remarkable happened - even if only in my imagination. During our decent from 30,000 feet the sight of Chicago's cityscape - from my tiny oval in the side of the plane - was incredible and held within it's striking aspect the promise of a memorable trip. In the darkness the city lights lay out on a grid - like an army of fireflies marching to the edge of the horizon, where upon arrival, they disappeared and darkness again claimed reign of the night. I fumbled with my digital camera and attempted to catch the glorious view, but the results were blurred and failed to capture the glowing expanse of the city. I touched down just after midnight.



Saturday was a beautiful day. It was one of those days that, for me, captures the quintessence of spring in Chicago - at least as I recall it on blustery days during the winter. I arrived early at the theatre with Seth and Erica and while pouring glasses of Chardonnay into plastic cups and passing out chilled beers it struck me, that in that moment, I would've rather been no place else. It was among audience members shuffling into the unique, recently renovated EP Theater; actors stretching their muscles and preparing their voices before the performance; company members in the lobby just managing to keep the mounting anticipation beneath the skin and behind the voice (except for when it escaped in little, nervous burps of excitement); shoulders sitting in the darkness looking on as my friends took the stage and told their story that I felt sincerely at home.

On Sunday, which was again one of those remarkable spring days, I begrudgingly called a cab to take me to O'Hare in order to board a plane that would whiz me off back to New York. I wished that I could see the show again. I wished that I could, every night, stand behind the bar and hand out beers to those whom made the decision to come see our show.

Congrats to all involved with SCAB. Collision Theatre Rocks. Period. Have a wonderful run!