Saturday, September 26, 2009

As If You Need More Convincing…

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There really is a Nazi featured in one of the plays. I wasn’t making up the WW2 drama stuff. I wasn’t.

It’s Almost Time! Almost Time!

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Peter takes the stage and explains how this evening is going down. It’s so very close to show time. I’ve watched as the writers joy turned to fear and finally back to joy, only to turn to anxiety. I’ve watched the actors go through the same journey. I’ve watched the Techs get angry with everyone, but they’re saints.

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That’s freaking Tina Fallon on the phone, telling us that the hard work is over and it’s time for the fun. She also looks forward seeing us all in New York eventually (even I can haz trip to New York, too?). Leave it to Peter. WOAH! Awesome sitcom idea.

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Look at all of them! They’re so cute!

Anyway. The stage is set. The time has come. Come watch. There’s WW2 drama, mafia drama, political satire, and mistakes. Lots of mistakes. Seriously. If they don’t mess, ask for your money back. Not really. Support local theatre.

The Comprehensive Cast List

Rather than write an individual post for each production, I’m going to post them all in one super article of sorts.

Tonight’s never before seen plays (in order of production):

  1. Sonnez Les Matines by Cooper Rowe
  2. Mommy Mafia by Justin Smith
  3. Meet the Bigots… Er, I Mean Parents by Asa Walker
  4. The Tragedy of Kelvin Meade by Joel Simwinga
  5. The Weakest Knees Will Buckle by Kenzie D. Froebe
  6. The Reality of Reverie by Paige Almond

Sonnez Les Matines
By Cooper Rowe, Wichita Collegiate
Directed by Heather Wilson, Labette County High School
Assistant Director, Abigail E. Epp, Independence Community College

Woman – Tucker Kyle, Independence High School
Nazi – Josh Barrett, Wichita Collegiate
John – Devon Rutledge, Wichita Collegiate
Aimee – Arianna Johnson, Wichita Collegiate

A love story in Nazi occupied France. Seriously. We have a WWII drama at the 24 Hour Plays. Come watch them.

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Mommy Mafia
By Justin Smith, Field Kinley High School
Directed by Marisa Ann Fritzemeier, Independence, KS
Assistant Director, Ashleigh Bundy, Wichita Collegiate

Cold Kill – Michael Ellis, Labette County High School
Stanly – Connor Courland, Wichita Collegiate
Gracie Lain – Grace Kyle, Independence High School
Rocky – Rocky Read, Labette County High School

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Meet the Bigots… Er, I Mean Parents!
By Asa Walker, Labette County High School
Directed by Michael Fienen, Pittsburg, KS
Assistant Director, Lindsay Schaub, Independence CC

Bill Green – Colin Stephens, Independence CC
Jill Green – Abby Kelemen, Wichita Collegiate
Kate Greeen – Kate Riccitiello, The Urban School
Craig Krewson – John Lloyd Stafford III, Independence High School

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INTERMISSION

The Tragedy of Kelvin Meade
By Joel Simwinga, Independence High School
Directed by Kelly Webber, Independence CC
Assistant Director, Steven Rousey, Independence CC

Lucy Liberty – Brittany Vogt, Labette County High School
Kelvin Meade – Matt Wallis, Independence High School
Military Mandy – Alysha Baros, Labette County High School
Freddy Freedom – Bret Ivy, Neodesha High School

A most excellent political satire. Nothing more.

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The Weakest Knees Will Buckle
By Kenzie D. Froebe, Independence High School
Directed by Lois Lessman, Independence Community College
Assistant Director, Jessica Kebert, Independence Community College

Mandy – Erica Dodge, Labette County High School
Bridgett – Aubrey Near, Independence High School
Molly – Abby Railsback, Neodesha High School
Jeffrey – Nick Dahna, Neodesha High School

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The Reality of Reverie
By Paige Almond, Labette County High School
Directed by Greg White, Coffeyville, KS
Assistant Director, Haley Siddall, Wichita Collegiate

Tom – Aaron hayse, Independence High School
Susan – India Cohimia, Wichita Collegiate
Chris – Michael Trombold, Independence High School
Sadie – Anna Farha, Wichita Collegiate

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Eleventh Hour: Director Delirium

This is typically where my blog takes a drastic turn and really becomes more of a photojournal. I refuse to allow this! I’ll make utterly pointless yet hopefully witty comments throughout the performance this time. With the exception of my sleep break.

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Peter hands out the scripts to each of the directors. This is the first time that the directors know what they’re doing or who they’re working with. As soon as I have copies of the information, I’ll post cast lists for the shows. Until then, one must accept only still pictures of the casts first meeting their directors.

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Here are a few more pictures from around this time.

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Delaney McCormack of ICC poses with a number of hats.

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Peter Ellenstein sits and talks about some random stuff. Bruce Peterson desperately attempts to murder all joy in the room, but can find no joy to kill. Hannah Hoven actually works most of the time, this picture just captures her in a rare moment of actually listening to Peter.

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Our new TD, Eugene Lindsey, looks all grown up standing next to Daddy TD, Ryan Andrus.

I Love Mornings!

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This picture is larger than normal because it’s beautiful. The morning was serene and tranquil and such before something very, very alarming happened. There was a FIRE! Okay, there was almost a fire. Technically, it existed. A tiny electrical fire broke out. It lasted half a second, and only I witnessed it. Were it not for multiple others smelling it, it could have easily been written off as one of my hallucinations.

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This extension cord shorted and burned for a short time. No one was injured. Disaster averted, now get back to work.

The Writers – Cooper Rowe

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Cooper Rowe of Wichita Collegiate School is the last of the writers to face the Throne of Woe. In fact, he faces it 40 minutes AFTER the writers were technically supposed to be finished. This late in the game, the answers are always fun, but how does he feel?

I feel slightly handicapped, mentally wise. I can't control my limbs. I drank two cups of coffee and my toes are shaking. I'm hyper and tired at the same time, so I just want to die and come back to life later tonight to see my play.

Common response about this time. He went on.

It was fun! It was crazy. I did not think I could do it. Suck it, 24 Hour Plays!

I’m sure that last bit was in jest.

The Writers – Joel Simwinga

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I know Joel. He’s a good guy, a talented musician, the works. He’s also a smart mouth. Everything about Asa in the following quote is said in Jest. As for Kate, you’re apparently just really cute.

I'm feelin dandy. I'm not even tired. Sup? I'm feeling like Peter Ellenstein's Californian friend's daughter is kinda cute. Asa is a creep for typecasting her because she's hot. I like everybody, but like I said, uh.. see there's a story. Asa comes out his notes just read "Kate - HOT!" so if anyone lost any points it's him. Matt Wallace is the best actor in the universe. He's also the best human being, no I take back, he's a flake.

There were a number of statements thrown back and forth around here, but oh well. I can’t type that fast.

What else is there to say? (Asa enters the room) Hey! We were just talking about you. Apparently he feels bad for something that I can't say due to plot issues.

Asa talks forever around here. He’s still cool, though.

I'd like to continue this Nick, and you should keep writing all of this, but I need to get back to my 2nd and 3rd draft and I don't know which if those will be my last. Farewell, godspeed.

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The Writers – Paige Almond

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The beautiful Paige Almond (she claims that she looks ugly right now, and I like to contradict people) from Labette County was the next to take a seat in my chair of tortuous interrogation. Of course, I needed to know just how she felt.

Tired. Exhausted. I feel as though my brain is an atom bomb that just exploded.

I’m still in love with asking them what they’d like to say to the folks back home.

I wish I was sleeping.

Next, I asked for the standard open rant. As usual, it took some prompting to get any answers from them. You’d think that after being pure fountains of creativity for a few hours, that they’d be able to provide me with a simple half paragraph of thoughts, but it’s incredibly difficult.

Well, I don't drink energy drinks too often and I drank this really big one to try to stay and it's making me kinda sick and I drank a Coke and my stomach just kinda hurts. My hands are shaky and I have bags under my eyes and I want to be in bed. I want to take a shower. My voice is goings away. These dull, white cement walls are making me feel trapped and uninspired. I'm slurring my words. Everything I say. I have no sense of articulation whatsoever, and it's cold.

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The Writers – Kenzie D. Froebe

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I sit now with Kenzie D. Froebe from Independence High School. Look, I know this girl’s sister, so I didn’t have high hopes. I’m just kidding, but I couldn’t resist making fun of Kelsie. Anyway…

[I feel] good, ready to go. Eager to finish my last draft.

Do YOU have anything to say to the folks back home?

I don’t know. Are you going to make something up?

I opened the floor to a rant. After some prompting, I got this:

Dude, I've eaten like 2 bags of mints. When I get nervous, I eat lots of mints. Pretty much anything spearmint. I've eaten like 2 bags of Winter Fresh and two bags of best value. I've got some gum. I have like four different bags of mints, all spearmint.

Maybe not so different from your sister after all, dear Kenzie.

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The Writers – Justin Smith

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I sat down for a brief moment with Justin Smith. He joins us from Field Kinley High School in Coffeyville. My interview format will be largely consistent, so I won’t be explaining it every time. Get used to that.

I feel great. Puzzled, but creative.

I asked for a lengthy monologue from him, but he instead opted for the “man of few words” option that I presented to him. Although disappointing, it gives my hands time to rest. I shall not complain. I believe that the following picture says more than enough.

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This man has a MOHAWK! He’s instantly rad.

The Writers – Asa Walker

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I could have thought of a clever title for this segment. The more I thought about it, the lamer it sounded to me. As a result, tonight we shall be meeting not the Midnight Muses of old, but instead simply the writers. They are no less important than their predecessors, they just don’t get their own spiffy title. Sorry. Again, I feel that the writers are often overlooked in this process, so I take special care to make sure each and every one gets there own moment in the spotlight.

I start things off tonight with Asa Walker from Labette County. I start off just generally asking how he was feeling at this point in the game.

Artitically drained... tired, but very Red Bulled. That's a verb, right. What's the infinitive? To Red Bull. Something like that.

To be funny (at least to myself), I asked if he had a shoutout to all the folks back home.

Kill "the man."

He didn’t specify that "the man” should be in quotes, however, I felt that adding them made the statement less incriminating. About now I realized that my interviewing skills are irrepariably awful, so I just asked Asa to go on a lengthy diatribe. He didn’t disappoint.

Dude, writing a play was harder than I thought. Everyone's like "writing dialogue is the hardest part of writing." It is. It's hard to connect the major points in your story with the stepping stones to get there. It's doable, ya dig. Peter's reading my play right now, so I don't know how to feel with my emotions. We'll see. You could say I'm in an emotion purgatory right now. My next course of action is some pizza pringles and another red bull and then some revisions. I'm also probably going to wander the halls in there somewhere, because it's more fun than sitting at Bruce's desk. Also known as a model for what a tornado victims house looks like.

More to come, readers.

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