Filed by Lance at 10:22 pm under General, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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Today, the applicants for early admission at the Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship had our auditions and interviews.

In case you haven’t heard me preach about the IAE, it’s simultaneously the missing ingredient that artists of all disciplines have been searching for, a part of a larger discussion of the future of American work, and a promising path to a thriving creative economy. The thing I was always missing in school was any business or entrepreneurial sensibilities. I trained in both the hard sciences and theater arts, and no one ever told me it was possible to do anything but rely on someone else for a paycheck.
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Filed by Bil at 8:12 am under Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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That’s right, world, Dream Theatre’s “Theatre of Women 5″ is this Saturday, and I will once again be writing. Lance will once again be directing. Excitement abounds.

This particular annual festival is unique in that it contains only female actors. The whole point is to offer roles to strong actresses who don’t get to perform the type of role they really, really want, because of things like unfortunate typecasting or a simple lack of juicy available roles for women in this town. And let’s face it, really good, really interesting roles for women are comparatively rare. It’s the sad state of the world.

So this festival attempts to correct that, getting some intense and quirky playwrights to come up with something specifically for these actresses. This year, we even asked them what kind of role they’d really like, and the playwrights will cater to that.

I can’t wait to get started. All the actresses that have been assigned to me have all asked for roles using the adjectives “crazy,” “sexy,” and “ugly.”

This is gonna be gnarly.

Even awesomer than usual: the director assigned to my play will be Right Brain Project Artistic Director Nathan Robbel, and the playwright to which Lance will be assigned is Dream Theatre member/perennial favorite John Enright. This is like pairing the finest wine with gourmet meals Coca-Cola with In-N-Out burgers.

Tickets please.

Filed by Bil at 9:29 pm under Shameless Plugs
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I’d been putting it off for some time now because I thought it would be a big pain in the ass, but (as you may or may not have noticed) tipyourwaiter.org now has those handy-dandy little buttons to share on all your favorite time-wasters.

Apparently, this is just about the easiest thing you can do for your blog. Thanks, ShareThis!

This is also comes with analytics, so we can see exactly how ineffective we truly are. Analytics are something that I have a very, very keen interest in. It’s a scientific curiosity, and has a lot to do with how to make your business succeed using the internet. That’s the coolest part about my current day job - I get to learn about these things all the time. SEO, social media marketing, etc. I’m hoping this knowledge will help me out later on when I do NOT have a day job, because when that happens, I’m gonna need to work all the advantages I have. (Hint: business savvy and personal finance management are NOT some of my advantages.) Of course, if I check those analytics later and find that this post has more shares than any before or after it, I’m going to throw a fit.

In the meantime, though, here’s a music video.

Filed by Lance at 3:48 pm under General, Hatemail, Shameless Plugs
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…if we only gave you one thing to do with your hate.

Here are two:
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Filed by Lance at 2:01 pm under General, Hatemail, Pop Culture, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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Start time: 1:00 PM
Media Personnel in attendance: 1
Pounds of Flesh consumed: 15
Kegs we polished off: 1, plus how many bottles??
Hatemail pieces we recorded: about 5
Pounds of vegetables we grilled: 6
True stories about Kelsey Grammer I heard: 1
New friends I made: 3 or 4
Friendships I deepened: several
Cups of coffee we served: 20
Cups of coffee I drank: 3
Twitter updates we sent: 7
End time: I left Trevor’s at about 1:30 AM

Congrats to you, Bil, and to you, Trevor, our gracious host, for another amazing Hatemail Recording Session! The next one takes place just before my birthday, Sunday, August 29th. Be there! Add to the numbers!

Filed by Lance at 2:45 pm under General, Hatemail, Shameless Plugs
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6:50 PM

DINNER’S SERVED!

6:35 PM

Kathryn Daniels just told us the story of the time she interned for the Boston company doing MacBeth (you can’t type that on a theater-ish blog, can you?). The press night party was in the real Cheers, Kelsey Grammer was playing MacBeth, and Diane Venora, playing Lady Macbeth came up and laid one on her. Hot. This is why I love actor stories!

6:10 PM

We’ve had this wonderfully simple, heartbreaking Hatemail in the stack for a long time called “Dear Rapist.” It’s one of those Hatemails that’s so personal, so frighteningly real and simple that it’s difficult to approach. Sher Sheets stepped up, had the courage, and did a great job of giving it a straightforward, uncomplicated reading. Congratulations to her!

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Filed by Bil at 12:03 pm under Pop Culture, Religion, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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It’s the Monday before the show opens, so you know what that means: FULL ON SHOW PROMOTION MODE!

“Orestes” opens this Thursday down at the Dream Theatre in Pilsen, the Heart of Chicago. “Orestes” completes the Agon Trilogy, which has won Best New Play of 2010 by the Chicago Reader.

Here’s why you should come see it:

1) It takes place in Hell.

In this play, Hell is cold and dark. Forget what you believe about burning fire and torturous machines. Electra finds her way to the black pit in the second act of this show, and there she finds the long suffering of people in their own private sequestered rooms, tortured by themselves and able only to torture Electra once she finds them. This show shows us not the physical pain of Hell, but the mental anguish of loneliness and lost hope.

2) All your questions about Chorus will be answered.

I’m not giving anything else away. You have to be shown by the cast, not told by a blog.

3) The audience matters here.

In this play, moreso than in any other play I’ve experienced (either as an actor or an audience member), the audience are characters. There is a purpose to the actors’ talking to the audience, not for the simple sake of “breaking the 4th wall” or for any kind of shock value. The audience not only has a presence to the characters onstage, but a history. It’s thrilling and it draws you in as completely as possible, and there’s no hokey “audience participation” necessary. (Read: do not shout out occupations for the cast. They will cut you if you do this. Really.) Don’t be fooled by Tryphosia in the lobby before the show, you will actually be scared by the importance you bring as the audience member.

4) Seeing live theatre is awesome.

You can’t get an experience like this staying at home, and you can’t get it at the movies. It’s not expensive, and it’ll make you think things you never thought you’d think. Don’t be shy. Live a little.

Tickets are here:

Filed by Bil at 11:21 pm under Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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We had the most amazing “Orestes” rehearsal today. There was some time spent in fight choreography and practice, wherein Theresa Neef, Anna Weiler, and Alicia Reese flip back and forth between slow-motion and real-time –- sort of like “The Matrix,” but minus the whoa.

This was followed by the most intense (and longest) fragments exercise I’ve ever been involved in. Two people cried. TWO. Hot, human tears. For real.
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Filed by Bil at 7:05 pm under Fightin' Words, Shameless Plugs, The Arts, The Media
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The amazingest news of the week is that Dream Theatre won both Best Off-Loop Theatre Company and Best New Play (for the Agon Trilogy) from the Chicago Reader! The second part is especially amazing since “Orestes,” the third play in the trilogy, hasn’t even opened yet.

And speaking of “Orestes,” it occurs to me that June has flown by and we open in a few short weeks now. I am going to have to memorize my lines at some point.
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Filed by Bil at 11:58 pm under General, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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That’s right, world – I may be blogging, and I may be using a Mac, but I am not at Starbuck’s. Not anymore. I was there earlier, with my giant hipster headphones over my ears, typing thoughtfully with one hand and tapping mindlessly in time with the Grateful Dead with my other hand. Yeah, I was working on my novel, not blogging.

That’s when I was discovered by people I know, so I scrambled to look less like some pretentious English major and more like a professional something-or-other, but I’m pretty sure I failed. I’m just glad I didn’t spill (much) coffee on my precious white MacBook.

Whatever.
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