Joe's Pub

Cabaret show with Justin Bond and Amber Martin (a Portland favorite).

More Research...

Off to visit the world famous freak show at Coney Island. Research you ask?? Yes... research.

Behind The Scenes...

While Kristin & Wade work and re-work each element of the show our two managing producers are out and about doing all of the behind the scenes business dealings. Contracts, investors, research, budgeting lots of hard work being done by these two fantastic producers who came to the project for their love of theatre, the love of this story, and their passion to move it forward. Introducing to you David Nevell & Samantha Swaim.



David is an actor, director, producer, teacher, and voice/dialect coach working both nationally and internationally.



Samantha is a producer, production manager, event manager, and fundraising consultant working in non-profit and for profit production.

Not all fun & games...

While it may seem that we're out playing all over New York, there is also a lot of work going on here. We've been clocking ten-hour days filled with typing key pads, scribbling notes, and exploring music. It's been exciting to work for two weeks in the same room and talk through things face-to-face. Otherwise we share ideas through our emails, talk via skype, or chat late at night on instant messenger... but those can never replace the energy of actually working in the same space. The place we are working in is in Washington Heights and we've been able to luxuriously dedicate one room to work. Lined with books on one side, my keyboard and recording equipment on the other and a small writing desk for Kristin, it has proven to be a successful working space.

Fuerzabruta

Highly recommend this totally amazing 360 degree theatre experience that captures the audience and brings them into the explosive world of Fuerzabruta.

The Lottery

While in NY we have all been trying to see as many shows as possible. A few observations: there is a lot of Disney being produced and Times Square on a weekend is insane, packed with tourists all clamoring for that special ticket. And because of observation #1 the majority of those filling Times Square have kids in tow. It's a mad scurry of activity.

Some rush to the TKTS booth and stand in line all morning to get discounts on tickets. Some rush from theatre to theatre asking about rush tickets, student discounts, or cancelled seating. Some linger by the theatre door looking for an extra ticket from another patron. And then some go to the lottery. The lottery is offered in several theatres, it's a discounted ticket, front row, and is often the cheapest seat in the theatre. But they're not always easy to get.



In our case, we went to participate in the lottery for "In the Heights." We arrived early and sat on the stoop of the theatre. Patrons buzzed about looking for every possible entry option. At noon a box office staffer offered up slips of paper for us to enter. Then we waited as more and more folks droped in their little slip of white paper. What had only been a few slips, multiplied exponentially. At 12:30 the names were drawn with only 22 seats available. With each name called, a cheer came from the winner as if they just won the NY State Lottery. Quickly 13 names were choosen to fill the 22 open seats for $26.50 a piece. Ours was not one called. Luckily, there were still a few seats available so we slipped in just before curtain.

Summer on Broadway is buzzing! So exciting.

Shakespeare in the park...

After a great breakfast meeting and a thunderstorm that cooled down the city, we headed for a stroll through Central Park. As we rounded the corner, heading toward the Turtle Pond, we came across a line. But not just any line. This was a line of dedicated theatre patrons who had been standing in the rain all morning in an effort to secure tickets to experience that which has become a NY institution—free Shakespeare in the Park. But these days, the fabulous people at the Public have rounded out their free offerings with a blend of Shakespeare and modern text. Tonight's show was Hair. And this line that had begun to form at 6AM was buzzing. We found ourselves in a moment of sheer luck. The usher told us that they were about to open the box office to release tickets. If we jumped in line right then we could probably get seats. Such luck! So we jumped in. Thanks to a rainy morning chasing away the normal line of hopeful patrons we were able to get a handful of tickets. We made a few quick phone calls to friends offering to share our bounty... luckily Noah and Andy were available to join us.



Both Noah and Andy are fantastic actors and singers who were involved in the 2005 production of ONE in Portland. It was a fun little reunion, rocking out in Central Park!

Tribute To Our Dear Friend...

While walking in SoHo the other night we all paused as we noticed across the street a familiar business, yet somehow misplaced... Our fabulous friend Dr. Thomas Barretto is at Eyes on Broadway in Portland, but we found another in New York. Thanks for joining the journey with us Tom!

Research

Yesterday the temperature broke as a thunderstorm rolled in to provide some much needed relief to the hot and humid city... so we took advantage of the cool weather and headed out for some research. Visited The Strand for some books, Virgin Records for some CD's, and strolled around the East Village before dashing home to avoid the abnormally large raindrops showering the city.

Expatriate...

Last night we got to see our friend Lenelle Moise in her new Off-Broadway show, "Expatriate." Lenelle was the writer of "Cornered in the Dark," a Drammy-winning piece produced by Insight Out Theatre Collective in Portland, OR back in 2004. The same company that we produced "ONE" with in 2005. It's a small world after all...

Further adventures of the Post-It Pad

Well... the Post-It pad adventure continues... it has proven to be very useful!

[title of show]

Last night (with our Post-It pad in tow) we headed over to the Lyceum Theatre to see the fabulous new musical... [title of show]. We laughed and cried over and over at this play that chronicles the making of itself. A musical about two guys writing a musical... trying to get to Broadway. There were so many fabulous moments that we could relate to, laugh at, and cry with. As we sat in the audience, with our Post-It pad flip chart poised... we (book writer and composer) sat and watched them (book writer and composer) explore the road to Broadway. It was a weird duality that was a total thrill. We highly recommend catching it when you can!

The Post-It Pad Adventure

While talking through each scene of the play we both had an urge to start mapping, tracking, and visually getting a representation of the piece in a bigger sense... so on a hot and humid day in NY we decided we needed to find an Office Depot... for a Post-It pad flip chart! The solution to everything - a flip chart. We ventured out to the streets where children were running through fire hydrants, folks dashed from shaded spot to shaded spot in a futile effort to stay cool... and where we discovered that the closest office depot was 112 blocks south of us. The subway was a cool and convenient way to traverse in the heat to find our mecca. Once we had our new magic tool, we decided... while in Times Square... we should see a show before we ventured back to our writing studio. So the flip chart came with us, into the Lyceum Theatre where it comfortably took it's seat next to us in B10, where lucky for us... no one was sitting.

Kristin and Wade in NY

Kristin's journey was a success... and now at 1:30pm on a Friday afternoon we sit across from each other at the same table.

Leaving... on a jet plane...

After a fabulous morning visiting with fellow artistic souls Jack & Sarah Greenman and their new beautiful baby boy Walker Star... we dash off to PDX to find our first delay... air traffic control problems... our plans are to be in NY before midnight... let's hope this is only a slight hiccup.

Preparations...

With 2,898.39 miles between us it's easy to get lost in our own worlds of creativity... but in one week Kristin will be in NY, removing the distance and putting us right in the middle of eachother's feverish whirlwind. Looking forward to the collision of energy, ideas, and inspiration. In the meantime words, story, characters, arc, music, notes, lyrics, words, story, characters, arc, music, notes, lyrics, words, story, characters, arc, music, notes, lyrics...

Transcontinental Epiphanies

How do you know you're having a good creative day?

When you and your collaborator have the same exact thought at the same exact time with the span of the United States between you.

Ah ha!

Late start...

Worked last night until 6am on a pivotal song. 2:30 in the afternoon... just getting up and getting back to the keyboard. Exploring some great new sounds.

Four Noble Truths for Writers

1. Writers write

2. Writing is a process

3. You don't know what your writing will be, until the end of the process.

4. If writing is your practice, the only way to fail is to not write.