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