I was very fortunate to be able to make it up to Newburyport, MA to attend the first rehearsal for the staged reading of my play “Encore, Encore” at the Firehouse Center for the Arts. The rehearsal took place in a small black box theater owned by noted playwright Steve Faria (thanks, Steve!). I met almost all the cast members for the play. I was very impressed with everyone and thoroughly enjoyed hearing them read the script out loud. Actress Gina Colombo will make a wonderful Dorothy Parker.

I also took the opportunity to walk around nearby Newburyport, where the Firehouse Center is located. Newburyport is a beautiful, quaint New England town – a cross between Cape Cod, MA and Newport, RI – with brick sidewalks and buildings from the 18th century.

Among other things, I came across the Firehouse itself and the New Works Festival poster in their window (can you find my name?):

Added to that, I also took some other pictures of the town:

Tickets for the staged reading of my play “Encore Encore” are available on the website of the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport, MA. Event-goers can purchase a pass to all four days of the festival for $40 or a ticket to an individual evening of entertainment for $15.

“Encore Encore” won the Pestalozzi Price for full-length play and is the only full length play being featured in the festival. My work opens the festival at 8pm on Friday, January 23, 2015.

Tickets are available for purchase here.

The final schedule of performances for the 2015 Y.E.S. Festival of New American Plays has been announced.

I’m happy to say that my play “Encore Encore” will be opening the festival on Thursday, April 16 at 8pm.

Additional performances are as follows:

• Saturday, April 18th at 1pm
• Monday, April 20th at 8pm
• Thursday, April 23rd at 8pm
• Saturday, April 25th at 8pm

The director of the play will be the very talented Ed Cohen. More information about Ed is available here. I have already had the pleasure of speaking with him at some length about “Encore Encore” and look forward to working with him further.

I learned the wonderful news today that my play “Encore, Encore” will be given its first fully staged production this upcoming April by the Department of Theatre and Dance at Northern Kentucky University.

Northern Kentucky University is “a growing metropolitan university of more than 15,000 students” just 7 miles southeast of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is one of the largest universities in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and a respected liberal arts institution. Its Department of Theatre and Dance has sponsored the Y.E.S Festival (Y.E.S. = “Year End Series”) biennially. The 2015 festival is the 17th such festival sponsored by the university since 1981. “Encore, Encore” will be one of three plays produced in the 2015 festival.

The 2015 Y.E.S. Festival will take place from April 16-April 26 (exact dates of plays TBD). There will be four separate productions of three world premiere plays (three 8pm shows and one 1pm show for each play). The festival  showcases the theatrical work of new and emerging writers and also gives NKU students the ability to demonstrate their talents to the world. I will be flown into Kentucky the week prior to the premiere of “Encore, Encore” to participate in the last week of rehearsals and the opening night.

Special thanks to Northern Kentucky UNniversity and theater professor Sandra Forman for their confidence in my work! I am greatly looking forward to “Encore, Encore” receiving its first full production!!

YesPlays.com has officially posted my play “Encore Encore” on their website for potential licensing by theater companies. The script of the play is available here.

• A PDF script of the play costs $10.00
• A license to produce the play costs $45.00 per performance
• A perusal copy of the script by mail costs $10.00

Thanks again to YesPlays.com!

I had the pleasure today of speaking with the lady who is directing “Encore, Encore” at The Firehouse Center For The Arts “The Long and The Short of It” Festival. Her name is Anne Easter Smith and she is a well-regarded historical fiction novelist whose works focus on the Wars of the Roses in 15th century England. Her special focus is on rehabilitating the reputation of Richard III – the oft-maligned king who is best remembered for his nefarious appearance in Shakespeare’s famous history play.

I am looking forward to seeing what Anne does with “Encore, Encore!”

Click here to check out a list of Anne’s books on Amazon.

My tragicomedy “Encore Encore” is going to be licensed by “Yes Plays” for community theater productions.

“Yes Plays” is a group based in in Indianapolis that “is dedicated to promoting and supporting works in all genres by new and established playwrights.” They have a growing number of theatrical works available on their website by a variety of different playwrights.

Stay tuned!

I learned today that my tragicomedy “Encore Encore” has won the 2015 New Works Festival “The Long and the Short of It” sponsored by The Firehouse Center For The Arts in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

The Firehouse Center For The Arts was founded in 1991 and promotes:

• fostering the growth and development of individual artists and cultural organizations through its programs and services
• stimulating understanding of and participation in the arts and humanities
• presenting, sponsoring and producing a broad range of cultural, educational and artistic programs

The center itself is “a 191-seat intimate theater on the waterfront of beautiful downtown historical Newburyport.” Firehouse has sponsored a new play festival every year since 2002. Full-length plays, one-acts, and 10-minute plays are featured in the festival. The top plays in each category are awarded separate prizes. “Encore Encore” was chosen as the winning full-length play. The Firehouse Center For The Arts will be presenting me with an award of $150 for the honor.

The greatest honor of all is being chosen by them for inclusion in the festival – and for yet another play being presented in my state of birth!! “Encore Encore” will be given a staged reading as part of the festival.

The festival will take place from January 23-24 and January 30-31.

More to come soon!!

I have learned that Proscenium Theatre Journal has recognized “Encore Encore” as a finalist for consideration in their fall play publications.

Proscenium brands itself as “the first quarterly journal dedicated to publishing high-caliber theatrical works.” The people at Proscenium are “dedicated to producing a high quality journal showcasing the freshest contemporary voices in theatre” while also striving “to create a platform for playwrights to share their works with potential producers and for producers to discover new works in an easy, accessible way.”

I think it’s wonderful that publications like Proscenium exist to publicize the work of talented playwrights who otherwise may not have a voice due to their lack of “connections.” It’s often very difficult for playwrights to get their plays out into the public eye. Proscenium seeks to bridge this divide by putting promising new plays in a spotlight.

“Encore Encore” won’t be among the fall plays featured by Proscenium Theatre Journal, but will be considered for future editions.

Today I had the great pleasure of learning that my new play “Encore, Encore” was chosen as a finalist in the 2014 American Actors UK Playreading Festival.

The festival is sponsored by the group American Actors UK (formerly known as the North American Actors Association). Their focus is on providing support to American and Canadian actors who live and work in the UK. My play “Fifteen Men In A Smoke-Filled Room” was one of six winners in their 2012 playreading festival. The play was read at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden by a group of extremely talented actors and actresses.

It is truly an honor to be among the finalists again this time around – among the top 15 scripts!

Congrats to the winners and best of luck to American Actors UK for their upcoming festival!