If you're a woman in the arts (and we'll talk about theatre here), you are going to face many similar issues women in any field face, but it typically is compounded by an intimate environment, late or odd hours, no simple "Human Resources" department to turn to, and lines that blur far more easily than most fields...
Read MoreIf you didn't get enough AI commentary from me in my recent post about writing for our beloved bots, check out the next phase of iPhone drama in my comedic monologue below...
Read MoreI wrote for a robot one summer during graduate school, one of about six part-time jobs I took between school years (along with university "telefunder," lab rat, health/fitness teacher to girls in the inner city, and data entrant). It was a fantastic experience to bring personality to a rudimentary AI creation and work with a team of writers and robotic engineers. Our robo-ceptionist had high hopes of becoming a lounge singer, had to navigate the world of dating a Chevy Impala, and still encountered arguments with her overbearing Motherboard--all the while having the map of the building on hand to assist visitors finding their way around the facility....
Read MoreDon't you love it when art changes, morphs, and grows along with the culture, its people, those who speak out, speak up, or speak differently? Many do, but it is often a struggle for artists in any field to stand up and create differently initially. This is ironic in a field based on creative expression, but critics, audiences, and artists alike sometimes have a hard time accepting new forms of something they have grown accustomed to (isn't this life for many, in general?). There are many reasons for this, stemming more deeply than simply, "we fear change"--and how change comes about is not insignificant either--but I'm not going into that here. Having said that, judging by the millions of people viewing one new dance form (thanks, Social Media!), the masses may be ready to embrace this new artistic expression....
Read MoreCheck out my new dramatic monologue below for a male or female actor. A scientist cannot mask his familial love for the horrifying creature he has created (paying a bit of homage to Mary Shelley, post-Halloween)...
Read MoreWhat do you do when you think the world is ending? Not, like, metaphorically speaking here, but literally, aliens are invading, killing, taking over; human civilization is ending, as we know it. We've seen the movies, of course, read the books, but what would you do if it were really happening, to you, to your town, your city? 20 miles or so from your very house where you're sitting, listening to the radio and sipping tea at 8pm? Do you really know what you would do?...
Read MoreCheck out my new free comedic children's monologues below. Three siblings try to convince their mother that a skunk would be the perfect pet. The monologues vary slightly in length, making it a good fit for younger children as well as older children...
Read MoreA lot of holidays carry with them an intrinsic dramatic flair, but Halloween is particularly begging for theatrical opportunities. Besides the fact that, hey, we're dressing up in literal costumes, wearing stage make-up, pretending to be someone else, getting to try out accents, mannerisms, have license to do some pretty dramatic things--dramatists go to some serious lengths to bring theatre to Halloween. Or Halloween to theatre....
Read MoreIn a recent New York Times article, actress Melissa Errico, a dazzlingly beautiful, smart and talented woman at 46 (and any age for that matter) gives a thoughtful look into what goes into being the ingenue of the stage, her experiences playing those innocent, wide-eyed roles (how do they fall in love so quickly?), and what it means to take it on it from the perspective of a mom in her 40s. With it, she poses the ever-present question for aging women (that means, um, all women) in acting:
Read MoreWhy does Kelly want to ditch her friend, Rebecca? Find out in my new comedic "mean-girl-style" monologue. It's for teens through young adults, entitled "A Really Good Reason."
Enjoy!
Read MoreIf watching musical (parody) remakes of your favorite, or not-so-favorite, guilty-pleasure tv shows appeals to you, then you're in for another treat. Yes, that's right. Beverly Hills 90210, the (gulp) musical is hitting Off-Broadway this September. Bob and Tobly McSmith strike again in pulling at those kitsch ole heartstrings...
Read MoreOkay, we all make mistakes. But some mistakes are, well, quite a bit bigger than others...Check out my new comedic/dramatic monologue in which Andres begs his ex-girlfriend to forgive him of one of those big "mistakes," and maybe, just maybe, consider taking him back. After all, he did what he did for...love?...
Read MoreI was visiting my parents' house this summer which is always bound to stir up childhood memories, but I got a special burst of elated nostalgia when my 7-year-old son came to me with a comic book of mine he found at their house entitled, Revenge of the Babysat. Now, anyone who really knows the comic I'm going to talk about will immediately know who I'm talking about, and hopefully, it will bring about a huge smile for them too. I'm talking about the namesakes of that famous theologian who gave us Reformed Protestantism (touting Predestination), and the political philosopher who gave us social contract theory--yes, I'm talking about none other than Calvin and Hobbes.
Read MoreWith all the craze of the augmented reality game, Pokemon Go, I would be remiss if i didn't acknowledge its success, dramatic relevance, and at least write a little monologue about it...So consider the first two points acknowledged, and check out my pokemon-related monologue below. This 1 minute monologue contains some comedy, some romance, some lightning bolts on a bike, and of course, some pokemon drama...Read the monologue below, entitled Forgiveness and Defeat at a Pokemon Gym.
Read MoreCheck out my latest newsletter in full here. Intro below:
Here in New York State, we're finally wildly into summer! Strawberries taste good again, the smell of sunscreen abounds, and we're getting some Vitamin D from the great outdoors at last. Whether you're in a theatre camp, a theatre production, or just doing some summer theatre reading, 'tis the season to immerse yourself in Shakespeare, a great musical or an undiscovered new play...
Read MoreBilly Vale was thrilled when he heard his name called as the Youth Round Winner of the MonologueSlam UK Birmingham. My monologue, "Ipad Fury,"was the first monologue he had performed, but his talent was clear, and his performance appreciated by the judges and audience alike...
Read MoreThis year's Tony Awards brought out a lot of pride for CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) alumni and students, when two alumni each received one of theatre's most prestigious recognitions. Leslie Odom, Jr. won his first Tony for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical (he plays Aaron Burr in the huge huge huge hit, "Hamilton.")....
Read MoreCheck out this interview below which Marcie Sillman, of Kuow.org/94.9 FM in Seattle, recently hosted with Valerie Curtis-Newton. The interview-article is entitled, "She’s a theater legend. But still often the only black person in the room."...
Read MoreOkay, so he's not actually reading here, but at three years old, this is as close as this little guy gets to it. One thing I love about this is how you can hear his dramatic interpretation of the events (and even a slight southern accent for the farmer)...
Read MoreThe first book that I “wrote” was a short story about Superman. My grandmother had sent me a set of stickers in my birthday card, and I immediately set them to work on paper, drafting a story around the poses. My attentive mother wrote the story down for me, as I was probably about 3 years old at the time, and this began my marriage to writing (I would never call my relationship with writing a “love affair”—it’s much deeper than that!). By the time I was 6, I was writing prolifically; during in-class writing time I would write 10 pages on that dusty green recycled paper to my classmates’ 1 or 2 pages. I loved to write. By the time I was 8, I adapted one of my stories into a play and directed my 3rd grade classmates in a production. My mom typed up and copied the script, and made the costumes for the play. This was the beginning (I feel it was the beginning, but of course, it started from the moment I was born) . The beginning of so much quiet support from my mother.
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