Archive for September, 2009

A huge thank you to all of the writers who submitted work to our very first Playwright’s Expo, to be held Saturday October 24th, 2009.  Our production team has selected four scenes by local writers for exposition:

• 1:00pm – 1:45pm: “The Soul Broker“, by Jason and Rose Gonella
  A “demon with a good streak” squares off with an ambitious mortal as the latter begins his bid to take on the forces of Hell.  An intriguing and darkly humorous romp through several worlds of the supernatural.
• 1:45pm – 2:30pm: “Closure“, by Kevin Michael Kramer
  A slice in the lives of two former lovers that explores the turmoil of conflicted feelings as they contemplate having an affair.
• 2:45pm – 3:30pm: “She Was My Mother: An Interview with Kristin Adolphino“, by Eric Martin
  A look into a woman’s past, and the complex dynamic of family that we find in her recollections.
• 3:30pm – 4:15pm: “Civilian Application“, by Lou Merryman
  A peek into the perils of the future of home-surveillance.

Each session will consist of a staged reading by actors (approximately 20 minutes).  Any remaining time will consist of a panel discussion by directors, actors, tech crew, and fellow writers, with the objective of providing useful feedback to the playwright on their work.  Audience members are welcome to participate, or simply observe.  Admission is free!

Please CLICK HERE TO REGISTER and to receive address and parking information for our garage theatre.  Your RSVP is very important to us, as it allows us to plan for each session’s crowd and to have enough coffee and munchies on hand!

AVT is seeking creative, talented, motivated, and slightly insane candidates for the position of Associate Director.  The position on the Strategic Team is volunteer at this time and for the foreseeable near future, but has the non-binding potential to become a compensated position down the road.

Expectations:

• Work with the Producer to select, license, and budget productions that will run in between those he has scheduled.  The Producer / Artistic Director and the Associate Director will between them turn out AVT productions on 4-month cycles once every 2 months, with alternating casts and schedules.
• Plan, cast, and direct 3 productions per operating year at 3-6 shows each with the assistance of AVT’s Production Stage Manager.
• Work with AVT’s Technical Director to craft a technical vision for each production in line with AVT’s artistic philosophy.
• Define each production budget for approval by the Producer and funding by the Business Manager.
• Debut first production in August 2010.

At this time, AVT is operating out of the Producer’s garage.  We have a 30-seat blackbox space with a 15-piece lighting system, curtains, and sound.  There is the strong possibility of beginning operations in a 50-seat commercial blackbox space elsewhere in Quartz Hill by summer 2010.

AVT is an incorporated business, and will soon have 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization status.  We are also cool to hang out with and basically unstoppable.  Join the revolution.

Interested candidates should contact the Producer / Artistic Director to arrange an informal interview: nalin@avthespians.org.

AVT's Technical Director, Jeremy Gruca, at Sagebrush Cafe for this interview.

Jeremy Gruca sat down at Sagebrush Cafe one afternoon to talk about the many challenges and unique aspects of staging plays for a garage theater.  As AVT’s Technical Director, Jeremy is responsible for integrating the overall technical effort and interfacing with the Artistic Director on how best to support the actors and the overall artistic vision for the production.  Jeremy also has complete purchasing authority for technical materials and infrastructure upgrades once the Producer has approved an overall budget for a particular production.

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 Podcast #3: A Conversation with the Technical Director [24:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (71)

AVT is on an ongoing mission to post spontaneous interviews with cast, crew, fans, and innocent bystanders.  This is the third in our series of (what I hope are) interesting podcasts, focused on personal experiences with the project.

Want to hear more?  View all posts with embedded podcasts, or search for “Antelope Valley Thespians” on the iTunes podcast directory to subscribe for automatic updates.  Enjoy!

AVT is now pleased to offer all Patrons 15% off tickets to select shows of every production at the Geffen Playhouse this season.

Pledge to become a Patron of AVT’s 2010 Season by Saturday, September 26th and you will be cordially invited to join us for a group trip down to the beautiful Westwood stage to see the October 10th 3pm showing of “Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas“.  Tickets start at $45 for the mezzanine, and Patrons will be extended a 15% discount for ordering with our AVT group.

Join AVT production team members, actors, and fellow Patrons for an afternoon of theatre followed by a dinner outing in the vicinity.  Contact the Producer for more information: nalin@avthespians.org.

So as not to overlap with the Edwards AFB airshow on October 17th, and also to give our playwrights more time to submit work, we have decided that we need to change the dates for the Playwright’s Expo.  My apologies for any inconvenience or confusion this may cause.

Scenes for consideration are now due SEPTEMBER 22nd.

The Expo will will now be held on OCTOBER 24th.

The main post for the Playwright’s Expo has been revised with the new dates, and still contains all relevant details for submission, etc.

You can help us out by downloading the flyer and distributing it to places of interest!

Thanks for your support.

Our thespian comrades over at Community Theatre Heroes will host a live podcasting event tonight at Butler’s Coffee in Palmdale (40125 10th St, Palmdale, CA).  Join us for coffee, art, interviews, and fun starting at 7pm!

Check out our third interview with Community Theatre Heroes, which was a great, roughly 30-min discussion with cohosts Chris Murphey and Phillip McKaughan about AVT.

Community Theatre Heroes is the AV’s weekly podcast on theatre and the arts.  Tune in weekly for audition notices, reviews, commentary, and interviews.  We are also pleased to be able to host the latest episodes from CTH on our website… check out our side navigation bar for an RSS feed of AVT’s own podcast, as well as the latest from CTH via their BlogTalkRadio player.