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“Margo Asher” on Saturday!

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I’m excited that my contemporary drama “Margo Asher Died Here” is being given an excerpted reading at Tyler Civic Theatre Center‘s New Play Festival this Saturday – July 11th!

Tyler Civic Theatre Center New Play Festival

There are five plays that are finalists in the festival, each of which will be given a 40-minute reading.

“Margo Asher” starts the festival at 1pm CT on Saturday, followed by the five other plays.

1:00 PM – Margo Asher Died Here by Colin Speer Crowley
1:50 PM – Under A Powder Blue Moon by Patrick McLaughlin
2:40 PM – Past the Looking Glass by Trisha Wise
INTERMISSION (food and beverages provided)
3:30 PM – The Tender by Asa Johnson
4:10 PM – Life Changing by Andrew Funderburk

Tickets will be sold at the door for $5 each or $3 each for students
and seniors.

You can purchase tickets here!

“Margo Asher” coming up

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My contemporary drama “Margo Asher Died Here” is being presented at a new play festival sponsored by Tyler Civic Theatre Center of Tyler, TX this coming weekend.

I had the great pleasure of meeting with the actors and actresses chosen by the theater to read my script and we had a great run-through together, courtesy of Zoom.

(Thank you, technology!)

A huge shoutout to the cast for volunteering their time:

  • Joclyn Ewers as Mrs. Chisholm
  • Dwain Hare as Roger Managee
  • Michael Ward as David Wixom
  • Kimberly Rich-Keys as Mabel Comstock
  • Jessica Fite as Siyana Narváez
  • Amanda Nail as Shirley Chisholm
  • Allison Cambre as Mr. Wixom
  • Chris Fisher reading Stage Directions

Tyler also gave me a very nice blurb on their Facebook page:

Tyler Civic Theatre Center Colin Crowley Mention

Looking forward to the reading!

“Margo Asher” gets a nod

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I’m very happy to report that my contemporary drama “Margo Asher Died Here” is a finalist in the 12th Annual New Play Festival sponsored by Tyler Civic Theatre Center of Tyler, TX!

Tyler Civic Theatre Center

Screen Shot 2020-06-17 at 11.22.14 PMTyler Civic Theatre Center has a long history, being founded as the Tyler Little Theatre back in 1927 and evolving over the years into its present form. The theater suffered through various ups and downs (including the tragic loss of its building in a fire in 1981) but lived to prove “the show must go on” and even moved into a larger, expansive theater space in 2000. Today, Tyler Civic Theatre Center produces a vibrant season of plays and musicals and provides a large number of theatrical and educational programs to its surrounding community, serving as a respected source of theater in East Texas generally.

The New Play Festival takes place on the afternoon of July 11th where a number of plays will be read before an audience, with the top-voted play slated for production by the theater in the 2021 season.

Many, many thanks to Tyler Civic Theatre Center for so graciously recognizing “Margo Asher Died Here” (the first such recognition for this play!) and for its inspiring commitment to theater!!

“Shadows” a finalist

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I’m very happy to report that my historical drama “Shadows of Men” was a finalist in a new play competition sponsored by Campfire Theatre Festival!

Campfire Theater Festival

Campfire Theatre Festival is a three-day festival of new American plays that aims to promote and develop promising new work and establish its home of Boise, Idaho as a source for quality theater.

In this troubling time, it’s great to receive some positive news and to know that organizations like Campfire are pushing forward to keep theater alive when so many productions around the country are being cancelled.

Many thanks to Campfire for the consideration – and here’s to a great festival!

“Give ‘Em a Kick” demo song

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I’m very happy to be able to post this neat little demo song from the musical “Paul Jennings and The Burning of the White House,” which I’m currently writing with playwright and composer Norman L. Berman.

In this musical, we follow the story of Paul Jennings, a slave to President and Dolley Madison, and his journey of survival and self-discovery during the British burning of Washington, DC in August 1814.

The recent demo song – “Give ‘Em a Kick” – is sung by the 15-year-old Paul Jennings early in Act One. Young Paul is smart, opinionated, saucy, and big with dreams, despite his lowly status in American society. When he feels the rest of the world doesn’t quite accord him the respect he deserves, Paul lets loose with this song, to the annoyance of the other White House servants.

Paul Jennings Photograph

(Photograph of the older Paul Jennings)

Soloist: Olly Sholotan
Ensemble: David Lee, Tonoccus McClain, Fredericka Meek, and Maiya Sykes

You can listen to the song below.

 

Congrats to Roslyn Cohn!

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Congratulations, congratulation to the wonderful actress Roslyn Cohn, who has been listed among the top actors and actresses performing roles in the LA area by critic Joe Straw for her performance in my tragedy “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room!”

Joe Straw gives out his “Straw Awards” every year recognizing the best performances he witnessed over the course of the year – performances that stick with him after the curtain falls.

Roslyn Cohn starred in the role of Florence Kling Harding, the acerbic, difficult wife of presidential candidate Warren G. Harding, who worships the stars and foretells the future.

Roslyn Cohn as “Florence Harding” and John Combs as “Harry Daugherty”

“Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” was produced late last year by Theatre40 of Beverly Hills (many thanks to its Artistic Director, David Hunt Stafford!).

The show received several very good reviews and Straw was very complimentary of Cohn:

“The one exceptional bright spot in this production was the performance of Roslyn Cohn as Florence Kling Harding.  Her level of concentration was superior, her backstory put life into the character, and the levels in her ambiguity in character kept one guessing throughout the night. In an especially dramatic moment, near the end, Harding exercised incredible strength not turning around knowing full well what was going on.  Cohn put might and backbone into Harding. And, there was an insatiable craving of wanting more from this brilliant performance.”

Here is the full list of winners for the Last Straw Wards of 2019.

Enter “I and the Emperor”

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I’m very pleased to announce I have a finished a new historical drama of which I am very proud – “I and the Emperor.”

Briefly, “I and the Emperor” explores the unlikely, turbulent relationship between the 16-year-old Betsy Balcombe and the aging Napoleon Bonaparte during the latter’s exile on the island of St. Helena. The play is ultimately the story of Betsy herself, who comes to understand life, with all its peaks and valleys, through understanding the complexity and tragedy of the exiled Emperor in her backyard.

At its heart, “I and the Emperor” is a sometimes droll, sometimes dramatic, but ultimately touching and thoughtful coming-of-age tale. As a theatrical piece, the play is noteworthy for its two powerful leading roles and several strong supporting characters and that it requires only 7 actors (2 women, 5 men) and a simple unit set to bring its story to life.

Napoleon and Betsy Balcombe

(Napoleon and Betsy Balcombe, from an etching in Balcombe’s memoir.)

You can read a synopsis of the play here!

“Fifteen Men” recognized!

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I want to thank the website Better Lemons for recognizing the recent production of my play “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” by Theatre40 of Beverly Hills!

“Better Lemons was founded by Publisher Enci Box with a commitment to support LA’s arts and entertainment community with aggregated reviews, original content, production resources, and marketing services.”

Each year, Better Lemons recognizes the plays that received the best and most reviews in the Los Angeles area on their platform (both reviews by critics and audience members) – called the Double Sweet Award!

Better Lemons Award

As I scrolled down the list of recognized plays, I came across this:

"Fifteen Men" Better Lemon's Recognition

“Better Lemons” had over 1,200 theatrical productions registered on their system in 2019 and “Fifteen Men” was one of only 92 to receive at least 10 reviews by critics that were overall positive!

Many thanks again to Better Lemons for this honor and for their great work in the LA arts community!

Great ad for “Philosophus”

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Many thanks to Eldridge Plays and Musicals for putting together a wonderful ad for the January/February edition of Spotlight.

Spotlight is a multi-annual magazine published by the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT), one of the key organizations in the United States for community theater groups.

“Published six times a year and distributed to 1,800 organizational and individual members, Spotlight is also available to members and non-members for viewing online. The January-February issue is mailed to over 7,200 community theatre contacts.”

"Philosophus" AACT Spotlight Magazine Ad

You can check out the full January/February issue of Spotlight here!

Check out “Philosophus”

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My play “Philosophus” received a nice shout-out from its publishing company, Eldridge Plays and Musicals, in an email blast yesterday.

Eldridge is one of the leading play publishers in the United States, founded in 1906 and specializing in over a thousand theatrical works.

"Eldridge Plays and Musicals" Highlighted New Plays

For the holidays leading into 2020, Eldridge is offering a reduced rate for shipping for script perusal – so catch the deal while you can!

Order 4 or more perusal play scripts or perusal musical scripts and get upgraded shipping for FREE.  No promo code necessary.  (Standard shipping rates still apply)

You can check out my play “Philosophus” right here!