ooohhh Musicals!! They have SINGING!

Well both High Schools I hold dear to my heart have unveiled their respective musicals, so I wanted to post a little congrats to both for some great musicals and really interesting choices. For Park Ridge, we've got Curtains and for Pascack Valley, Seussical. One has a Boston accent (that I'll be listening to closely) and the other has a trampoline. So clearly there is something for everyone.

From The Notebook: Well, Have They Or Haven't They?

While putting together the script, there were a lot of things that were cut for time, for story, or were cut before they ever made it in to the script at all. From time to time I'll throw up what could have been, if only because I have about 3 or 4 months of stuff to fill this space with. And some of it is funny, or at least an alternate way of how the play could be.

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I've gotten two questions from cast members about whether or not Dean Anderson and Ms. Barron are married, divorced, or if they ever were married in any way. The big answer is, "I dunno." It really doesn't matter what I think. It's all about what you and your directors think.

However....

Here is a piece of a scene that was going to be for Beth what the Alison/Sarah, Alison/Bathroom scenes and Will/Dean Anderson, Will/Eric scenes are for those two characters. Here, we learn more about where Will came from, the circumstances of it, and Barron's general feeling about matters. It does not lend a lot of light on the question posed, but is an interesting little character beat for The Barron. Also, it is the set up for a call-back line that Jocelyn has when the girls come back from the party, and, possibly, how the cycle perpetuates itself. So, while this isn't necessarily the end-all, be-all answer (defend your point of view in the comments if you'd like), here is a snippet of What Could Have Been....

Barron: I was promiscuous once. Senior year, took the shuttle in to a party. They had this rare juice from a jungle of them recently visited, I presume. I met what passed for a man.
Beth: How was it?
Barron: Seedy. Untidy. Weak. A passing feeling.
Beth: What came out of it?
Barron: Immediate and permanent responsibility.

*Will walks into the scene*

So Now You Have Your Script

What do you do with it? It's thick enough to ward off any attacker by simply spraying pages into his or her eyes. It's sturdy enough to use as an oversized paperweight, ironically made out of nothing but paper. It's bright enough to use as a reflector when you tan.

But hopefully you'll just kinda read it. I'd warn you by saying it's 120 pages and that it'll take some time, so maybe rock that Act Break on page 62 and take a break yourself. But, after checking the status updates of some of you nutbags, I kind of have the idea that you're going to just rip through the entire thing in 15 minutes. More power to you, voracious readers.

I also hope that as you all read the full piece that I tried to give every character something that can leave a mark in your audience's heads as they leave the theater. When I was an actor, all those years ago, I relished playing a smaller role that I could really sink my teeth into and have fun with, even if I had, say three lines. I tried very, very hard to make it so that every actor would have to work to make an imprint, but that it was there in the writing.

You all saw the Yeah Dudes yesterday. Most of them you won't see again after that scene. But are you going to forget them? Some characters have only a handful of lines but have their own non-speaking arcs that could be really fun to watch if you take it all the way through. Some characters just have a one-liner, but hopefully it's funny and you bring that comedy out of you and the character. Yeah, it's great to have your work presented, I won't lie about that. But my main goal was to create something that would be both fun and challenging for a fairly large cast. That's the goal I would like to see reached.

If you have any questions about what you read, a reference you don't get, a description that befuddles, or any other concern, comment or question, feel free to leave something here, wall post or message me on the facebook (or the PV group), or an email either to the one listed on the title page or kingmanton [@] gmail (I'd prefer the latter email, but will take from either). I'll be back in town on Sundeeeee if I don't get bored and hit up a computer in Boston Saturday afternoon.

Congrats again. Hope you like it.

ps Go BU, BC Sucks

Cast List Is Up!

Here's your fate if you don't know it already

As a director (let alone a writer), I've never been in a casting conversation that was this difficult. I understand that a lot of you think I'm blowing smoke up your ass, but this was extremely difficult. Your biggest problem is that you have too much talent, and that's one hell of an odd blessing.

What you all also don't know is how many of these parts can be broadened, expanded, and show-stealing. You'll find out tomorrow.

To those that didn't make it, you have a really, really great musical ahead of you (that will come before this ever sees the stage in a production) and I hope you all go out and show your talents; this coming from a guy who doesn't have any rooting interest outside of sitting in the audience and watching a great show.

And for those who were cast, I'm incredibly excited for all the names that get to sit by characters I just happened to come up with. I'm flabbergasted at how many people (even those who didn't end up getting cast in these parts) absolutely hit the weird voice of these characters in my head (and aloud...which was weird to my mom).

Thank you all for your time. I will be updating this blog with all the little character bios I haven't gotten to so that we're all done by the time the show is read.

Best,
Manton

Fancy Updates While You Read

I hope everyone is busily going over the sides that are posted on The Official Site, figuring out which character they should read for, and trying to understand how someone actually auditions for a part where they're only given a couple of lines and a two sentence description of the character. Yeah, it'll be fun for us, too.

Anywhoos, because of the abundance of traffic the last two days, I figured I'd be a nice guy and throw up some RSS feed links. What are they, you ask? Well let me tell you what limited information I know about your options!

Basically, if you just want to see when the blog updates with a new post, hit the "Posts" button on the top right of the blog, under the very plainly stated: SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG. What I do is take that link (feed://pvdisorientation.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default), make that into a bookmark (I have one for my friend's LiverpoolFC blog) and it updates with a little (1) next to it when I know there's a new post. This way you don't have to be sporadically checking in English class as I heard some of you are wont to do. That hinders the educational process, folks, and that's not good. *Cue "The More You Know!" music* You can also add the feed to Google, bloglines, netvibes, newsgator, and your Yahoo!, which is good, I guess.

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NOW GET BACK TO FIGURING OUT WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO AUDITION WITH!!!

I'd suggest Sarah, she's a doll.






(she is not a doll)

What Did We Learn?

Today was an informational session, so let us discuss what information we gleamed from it. For me, I learned:

- If you wear a blazer, you might look like a tool, so leave it at home.
- Man there are a lot of kids interested in this, including some who couldn't make it (a flu shot? really? your health over ART, Lehman? I don't know you anymore).
- You can make impossibly quick dirty jokes off of character names (I won't list the name, thereby involving me)
- Quite a few people read this blog, and many more have read this since they get home. Hay thx !
- A lot of you knew the "Manton" name. Sort of threw me, not going to lie.
- The crew is very appreciative of new ladders. I didn't know how bad you guys had it (and no one mentioned the nail gun! c'mon! that's awesome!)

What Did You Learn?

I'm just going to copy and paste exactly what is up at your crucial little site, http://sites.google.com/pvdisorientation or by clicking here:

Auditions- Thursday, December 4 at 3:30pm

- All audition information is available below. You MUST bring a completed packet (parent signature on Agreement, Audition Form, Conflict Calendar) in order to audition.
- Audition sides and a character description sheet are attached below. You need to prepare a side to present for your audition. We will ask you to read other sides as we see fit. We may ask you to prepare a short improv based on a scenario/specific character we give you.

Cast Meeting- Friday, December 5 at 3:30pm (ed. note - you'll get your scripts)

If you learned anything else, throw it in the comments if you feel like being all comment-y.

Patience

It's a virtue. It's something I haven't been believing much in, to be honest. Ever since I put down my red pen (even before I transcribed my edits), I couldn't sleep. It's been a week, and last night I saw the sun come up. Again.

The hours are ticking down until I get to meet all of you PV kids, not just from this past summer or the brave ones who friended me on facebook, but all of you. Even more than that, I get to meet a Jocelyn, an Alison, a Kris, and maybe a Gavin or two, all before me. It should be at the very least surreal and the most incredibly enjoyable.

I have taken a lot from this experience already, doing a lot of things I've never been asked to do before, and in a time span much shorter than my other long-form piece (5 years vs. 5 months). But the process, growth, and hopeful maturation are still very much on going, and it will be aided by further by Viewers Like You (tm).

I hope I have devised a play that won't just play for an audience, but act as another challenge for you, the actors and crew. Hopefully you'll get a part and see that there is a lot to play with (which also means that hopefully I did my job and gave you characters that you can play a lot with, but I'm fairly certain that was achieved) and make them shine on stage, to build on what you have started with Museum and keep that through line going.

But only time will tell. Now, as a final gift for you dear loyal readers, I'll let you in on the ending:

Bruce Willis is dead the entire play.

Best,
Manton