Set is up!

There's a preview tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 7:30pm. Check at www.lcgrt.com for the address and everything. We open on Saturday at 2:00pm!

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE

Hello everyone!

Tickets for To Catch a Tooth are available online! Hurry up and make your reservations/buy those tickets - because we're already getting groups booking whole performances.

Just click on:
http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/section/synopsis/show/131598

If you're interested in getting a bunch of people to come on a certain performance, call -1800-700-GURU - and a group of ten or more gets in for 9 bucks instead of 15. So, call today!

Images from the Chamber of Commerce

Remember that event we did at the chamber of commerce? Well, here's a few photos. The body that they're trampling on is a dummy constructed by Karina Smith. The actors are... Brian Clark and Hilary Holmes.

To Catch a Tooth Set

A first look at the To Catch a Tooth set - designed by your favorite Patrick Johnson. For more of Patrick's work, check out http://swazzle.com/blogs/puppetdesign.html

Rehearsals have begun!

The ship has sailed, rehearsals have begun. The cast is on time, the cast is ready. I don't think I could be more excited about the progress.

We've been focusing on getting the blocking done - you know, you go here, you go there, step in here on this line. What's helping tremendously is that everyone knows their lines! It's much easier to get into the flow when everyone isn't stumbling over lines.

Now that we've got the blocking down for most of the first act, we're going to be running it, and running it - finding the parts to let it breathe. I have a tendency to do that as a director, I rush everyone. Because I don't want to have those moments where actors mug. Some actors, if given too much time, will mug for the audience - as if to say, look at me, I'm here, and I'm acting, see?

Ugh. I hate that almost as much as I hate it when actors find themselves motioning with their hands, waving them up and down, or in the words of hamlet, "Sawing the air with their hands, thus..."

But, none of the actors have been doing that. Everyone is making it incredibly easy to direct them.

So far, our first act is noisy - everyone is running around. And now that everyone knows where to go, we're going to find the parts to breathe, the funny parts, the human parts. You know... the acting parts!

But it's going great. I recommend that anyone who is looking to write a play, put up a play, read Moss Hart's memoir: Act One. It chronicles his journey to the Broadway production of "Once in a Lifetime." Inspriational, and educational. Anyway... great job everyone.

New Art

Here's an ad that we'll be having in the Chamber of Commerce Gala awards event program this Friday (March 16th). You can see more of Patrick's work at: http://swazzle.com/blogs/puppetdesign.html

A Scene for your enjoyment!!!

This is the scene we'll be performing at the event on Friday. For your reading enjoyment.


TO CATCH A TOOTH


By


Dylan Campbell

AT RISE:
Peter turns on the LIGHTS. Peter and
George, aged eight, stand over a figure
covered in blankets.

PETER (CONT'D)
(awed)
We did it.

GEORGE
We're gonna be rich!

Peter pulls out a bottle of SPARKLING
APPLE CIDER. The boys toast their
victory.

PETER
To us.

GEORGE
To us.

PETER
To going where no kid has gone before.

GEORGE
Here, here.

PETER
To successfully, baiting, and capturing, one of the most
elusive creatures of all time. To the Tooth Fairy.

GEORGE
To the Tooth Fairy!

PETER
And here’s to becoming very, very rich men.

GEORGE
Amen, brother.

They drink. Then...

PETER
(holding a pretend mic out for
George)
Sir, sir. Can you tell me how you did it. What brought you
here to this illustrious moment?

GEORGE (CONT’D)
Well, Peter and I have been scheming for some time. After
several attempts, we finally pulled one of my teeth out,
created a giant trap, and used the tooth as bait to catch the
Tooth Fairy.

PETER
The Tooth Fairy?

GEORGE
Underneath that net right over there.

PETER
Right.

GEORGE
See for yourself.
Peter is beside himself with
excitement.

PETER
(calming himself down)
Okay, okay. What do you think she looks like?

GEORGE
I don’t know.

PETER
Okay.

GEORGE
Okay.

PETER
Here we go.

GEORGE (CONT'D)
(not so confidant now)
You ready?

PETER
It’s game time.

Peter carefully takes the net off. Once
the boys begin to see just WHO is
underneath, their reaction turns from
curiosity, to color-draining fear: it’s
Peter’s dad.

PETER (CONT’D)
Oh my god.

GEORGE
We just hit your dad with a frying pan.
Peter’s dad lies limp on the ground.
Peter grabs George’s inhaler and takes
a puff.

PETER
(pacing)
We can fix this.

GEORGE
I should probably get going.

PETER
You’re not going anywhere.

GEORGE
You’re right, I’m staying here. Why am I staying here?

PETER
Because we can do this.

GEORGE
It’s your dad!

PETER
I KNOW IT’S MY DAD!

GEORGE
We could run away.

PETER
We don’t have to run away. We just... we just have to get him
back to his bed. My mom’s at work. We get him back to his
bedroom, tuck him into his bed, and then he’ll wake up
tomorrow --

GEORGE
With an impressive headache.

PETER
Come on, help me grab his arms.

Peter grabs the dad’s arms. George
grabs the legs. With much effort, they
barely manage to drag him a foot or
two. Suddenly, Peter lets go. The head
THUDS against the ground.

GEORGE
What are you doing?

PETER
I just thought of something.

GEORGE
What?

PETER
How do I know that’s my dad?

GEORGE
I don’t know, because it looks like your dad!

PETER
I know it looks like my dad, but how do I know that it is my
dad. Do you know what I mean?

GEORGE
No!

PETER
I mean... what if it’s the Tooth Fairy? What if this whole
thing, looking like my dad, is a fail safe mechanism? Like an
emergency backup plan.

GEORGE
I don’t get it.

PETER
If the Tooth Fairy is caught, I mean -- we can’t be the only
ones who have ever tried this -- she automatically takes the
shape of one of the child’s parents.

GEORGE
(catching on)
That way, the kids are fooled, they let the parent go --

PETER
-- and she gets away.

The two of them both look at the figure
underneath the net with newfound
understanding.

GEORGE
You know how smart we are to have figured that out?

END OF SCENE

To Catch a Tooth's First Performance!

A small strike team of To Catch a Tooth will be performing at the UCNH Chamber/UCNH Jaycees Annual Award Gala on Friday March 16, 2007. We'll be performing a "truncated" scene from the play. Cross your fingers for us, wish us luck, and stay tuned for photos to follow.

HOW TO BUILD A TOOTH FAIRY TRAP

The first thing you need is bait. And by this, I mean a tooth. And you can’t just grab any tooth. We thought about getting a tooth from the skeleton that’s in our science class, but we figured it was better to go with the real thing. In our case, we got George’s tooth. I pulled it out by the classic tie a string to the tooth and then tie the other end of the string to the doorknob and slam the door.

There are other ways to do this, bite into an apple, wiggle it out with your tongue, or get hit in the face by something hard (like tripping on your shoelace and falling on the sidewalk).

Once you’ve got the bait, you tie a string to it, and link it to a net or a large clubbing device. This way, when the Tooth Fairy pulls the tooth out from under the pillow, she’ll either get hit on the head, or trapped underneath a net. Either way, you’ve got her.

Advertising!

Have you ever wanted to have an ad in two theatrical productions for the price of one? Well, well, well... now's your chance. Check it out!

CONCEPT ART

"Every change is a form of liberation. My mother used to say a change is always good even if it's for the worse."
- Paula Rego

A sneak preview of the postcard concept art. Designed and illustrated by Patrick Johnson. We'll be interviewing him in weeks to come. You can see more of his work at http://swazzle.com/blogs/puppetdesign.html

Ooooo, it's getting exciting now!

The Child of Neil Simon and Calvin and Hobbes

CALVIN AND NEIL

If Neil Simon and Calvin and Hobbes had a kid… it would be To Catch a Tooth. I’ll never forget reading my first Calvin and Hobbes comic book. My mom gave it to me while we were taking a train ride from California to Chicago. I read it that first night and kept my sisters up with my giggling.

Neil Simon… well, the first time I’d really sat down and read any Neil Simon was at Ventura College. I grabbed his collected plays Vol. 1 and just started reading. Come Blow Your Horn was the first one I read. And once again, I got in trouble for laughing… this time in the library.

Both pieces are different, but both are fun, with heart, and a lot of laughs.

LOVE IN A DAY (aka Anything But Aphrodite)

Here's a little blast from the past. It's a short film I directed about Cupid and his assistants. I think you'll enjoy. Check out the link here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0gGocQ-V90

Peter and Comic Books

Some people remember the first time they picked up a baseball. Other people remember the first time they held a camera between their hands. Peter, on the other hand, will never forget the beat up stack of comic books he found at a garage sale.

With too much time on your hands, and an active imagination, old comic books can give one all sorts of ideas.

THE CAST IS SET

Auditions have happened, call backs have occured, and the cast is set! Ladies and gentlemen of the world, I introduce to you, the world premiere players of To Catch a Tooth!

LANA FORD as CLAIRE

MARK ATHA as George

LARRY MARGO as Thomas

DALE WADDINGTON HOROWITZ as NANCY

BRIAN CLARK as PETER

Who are these people? Why are they so good? Oh, you'll find out more soon enough. But in the meantime, just be satisified with this photo of a cast from Brighton Beach Memoirs. This has nothing to do with my show other than the fact it's a comedy... and this is a photo of a cast.

Ahem.

Uhm, okay...

Dylan

AUDITIONS - to dream the impossible dream

Auditions have got to be one of the hardest things in the world. You go into a room of people staring at you, watching, judging, sizing you up, expecting you to be brilliant.

No pressure.

Auditions suck. Let’s face it. I would imagine, on some level, it’s a numbers game. My day job is technical recruiting. That means, I call up company after company, trying to get a hold of a manager, pitch him a candidate, and hope he has a job open. That means if I make a hundred phone calls, talk to twenty five people, maybe… just maybe, one of them will have a job open.

Auditions are like that.

A friend of mine contacted 2,500 theatres about his play… five got back to him, and one was interested. Interested.

So, I guess it’s like selling vacuum cleaners. Make the calls, pound the pavement, and do your best when you get in front of somebody.

I try to make auditions as easy as possible. First thing I have people come in, sit down, and I have them talk to me about what they like, who they are, and what they liked about the play (if they read it). Of course the whole time I’m listening to see how they answer the questions, if they got the play, if they read the play, things like that. Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, once said something along the lines of, “ I would never want to be an a deserted island, because then I couldn’t be around smart people.”

That’s the thing I’m looking for: a collaborator. Theatre is so collaborative, it’s important to surround yourself with people who will elevate the project with their ideas, talent, and energy.

I’m also looking for any major red flags: do they take direction, do they listen, do they talk over me. Things like that. Because, getting in a play is kind of like a relationship… it’s only gonna get harder, so you want to have as many cards in your favor going into it as possible.

After I’ve talked to them, I have them read the scene, or perform the monologue. Then, I’ll have them try it different ways, see how they take direction, and things like that.

After that I talk to them about the play, about their schedule, and leave it off like we’ll be in touch.

Stay tuned for the official cast notice.

Teeth Traditions!

"Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream."

- Mark Twain

The tooth fairy is a character in modern Western culture said to give children a small amount of money (or sometimes a gift) in exchange for a deciduous tooth when it comes out of a child's mouth. Not if you live in Botswana! In Botswana, children throw their teeth onto the roof. In Afghanistan they drop their teeth down mouse holes, and in Egypt they fling their teeth at the sun! Travel around the world and discover the surprising things children do when they lose a tooth.

The Idea

“Everyone thinks they can write a play; you just write down what happened to you. But the art of it is drawing from all the moments of your life.”

- Neil Simon

The idea for To Catch a Tooth came during a class at Loyola Marymount University. I was taking an introductary Playwrighting class. We all had to write a one act. I had written a few things at this point about kids Blackmailing Santa and getting lost in video game worlds. So, I guess it was only natural that I thought of another mythical/make-believe character for kids to mess around with.

A friend of mine, Pieter Miller, and I were talking about fairy tales and holiday figures. He said something along the lines of, "you know what always creeped me out was the Tooth Fairy!"

Dylan: "Why?"

Pieter: "Well, think about it. What kind of a fairy goes around the world buying bloody teeth off of kids?"

And that was the beginning. Right away you start thinking, okay... what would a kid do with that. And then I started thinking about how the Tooth Fairy must always carry a lot of cash because she has to give kids a buck for each tooth... and then the idea was born.

That was in the Spring of 2000... six years, and several re-writes later here we are...

To Catch a Tooth - has been caught!

Soon-to-be-award-winning play To Catch a Tooth will premiere on April 21st at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory theatre. It's a family comedy about a couple of kids who decide to rob the tooth fairy... with disasterous results.

I'll be documenting the development of the project from casting up until opening night. Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.

Dylan