Monday, September 29, 2008

Doomsday! Opening Weekend!

What a bizarre experience! In a good way. I wrote the play in 6 days. We landed a cast in record time. Rehearsals completely shot by. And now we've just gotten through our opening weekend. Time has gone sooo fast on this production, it's like I don't quite know how to process it. Opening night went GREAT. Good thing too. We had the press there, so we were being reviewed. Review comes out Thursday, so I'll keep you posted.

But regardless of the review, I am just thankful for an awesome cast that did everything possible to bring my story to life. It's amazing to me to see something that was just in my head only a few short months ago actually be presented on stage and make sense! With exception of a few minor technical constraints, and some opening night jitters, the pacing flowed, the acting was superb and the story seemed to be compelling. Trista (who plays Gigi) had her husband, Josh, in the audience. He said after the play was over, we took our bows and walked off stage. The audience (about 30), just sat there talking about it. To hear that as a writer does wonders to boost your confidence!

The play kinda freaked me out too. I had written it about 3 months ago. Friday night as I was waiting to go on stage, I was listening to the news clips that play over the speakers at the begining (which I wrote). One clip talked about how the economy was spiraling out of control and the Fed Chairman was talking about the possibility of another Great Depression !!!! Again, I wrote that months ago. Housing was starting to take a nosedive at the time, but the economy was still okay. Only last week did I hear the word "depression" start being bandied about! I don't know about you, but that creeped me out. Mainly because in the play, there's been a huge earthquake in Chicago, and a potential war between China and India that could suck in the entire world. DOH!

Audience response has been incredible. Really enthusiastic. And I've already been approached twice by two different producers interested in turning the play into a movie! How bizarre is that???!! Anyway, we'll see. So allow me to plug for just a sec:

Doomsday is an intense, fast-paced story taking place in the near future after the economy has tanked and tensions abroad have escalated to the point of a possible world war. Taking place in an indescriminate metropolitan city experiencing a blackout and full scale riot, several individuals with very different backgrounds have taken refuge in a dive bar deep in the city. As they try to protect themselves from the chaos outside, they also find themselves dealing with their own private chaos in their search to find hope and meaning in their lives. There are a few laughs along the way and some twists and turns that will surprise you. It really is a rollercoaster of emotion and raw energy that, I believe, will leave you thinking about the state of the world and maybe the state of your own life.

Come on out and see the show! At the Actor's Workout Studio, 4735 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Next weekend: Friday, 10/3 and Saturday, 10/4 at 8 PM and Sunday, 10/5 at 7 PM. Tickets are $18 reserve and $25 at the door each. But if you respond to this blog, we'll knock $3 off the reserve price making it $15 each! Just tell me what night and how many!

1 comment:

Nora said...

Wow Bear!!! That's great that you had producers actually approach you about turning this into a film!!! How exciting! Are you going to film any of the productions? I would love to see it but I can't make it next weekend and that would be my last chance. See ya soon!

Nora