What's Going On Here?

Seven months is a long time to go between anything.

Let me bring you up to date. Small Town Boys is on hiatus, in case you haven't guessed. It's not writer's block as much as it is other work -- including real life and my job -- have stepped in to put the story on hold. I do plan to get back to it, but for the time being, things are in stasis with Donny, Eric, Mike, Greg, and the rest of the STB gang. Meanwhile, another work in the form of a short novel has taken over my time. It began several years ago as a short story and, as is the case with a lot of my work, took off on its own. But it is drawing to a close and I hope to be able to get it done before the end of the month. It even has a tentative title -- Namesake.

I also plan to get back to writing here on a more regular basis and writing about writing. That's what this blog was intended to be about in the first place.

By the way, I'm still shilling Can't Live Without You, looking for a sophomore production or even a staged reading. I have hopes to get it done here in Florida -- after all, it does take place here -- but I will send it anywhere for consideration. If you or someone you know is interested, drop me a line.

Okay, enough chit-chat; back to work and back to writing.

Scenes from the Play

I received over 300 photos of the Manhattan Repertory Theatre's production of Can't Live Without You in January and February. Here are just a few of them.

The cast of characters:

Will Poston as Bobby and Tom Pilutik as Donny


Gary Mahmoud as Nick and Rachel Charlop-Powers as Anna


Mary Fassino as Barbara

Moments:

Barbara tells Donny he can make a fortune by turning his romance novels into movies.


Bobby asks Donny how he can write "romance literature" and leave him in the bottom of the desk drawer.


Nick shares his pride and joy with Anna.


"Lance" and "Miranda" live out the fantasy of romance novel readers everywhere.


Bobby forces Donny to come to terms with his true self as a writer.


"I can't live without you."


Donny gets back to work on Small Town Boys


Donny tells Anna about his choice and their future.


Anna looks for a happy ending...


...and makes her choice.


Bobby Cramer ponders his future.

Photos by Tamas Szalczer and Web Begole.

Dramatic News

I can now cross one more thing off my Life Goals list.

The Manhattan Repertory Theatre of New York has selected my play, Can't Live Without You, for its Winterfest 2008 series. It will open on Wednesday, January 23 with additional performances on Friday, January 25 and Saturday, January 26. Tickets are $20 (with a complimentary beverage) and are available through their website or by calling 646-329-6588.

What this means is that I will be a New York-produced playwright.

A lot of the credit goes to Rachel Charlop-Powers who read the play at the William Inge Theatre Festival last April and fell in love with it. She's been the driving force behind this production, and I will be eternally grateful to her.

Oh, yes, I'm going to see it, and if you're in the New York area, please come and see it.

As a little background, this play merges two characters from my works -- Donny Hollenbeck of Small Town Boys and Bobby Cramer of Bobby Cramer -- into one story. I started working on Can't Live Without You in the winter of 2001 when I was having a writer's block on Bobby Cramer and hadn't yet resumed work on Small Town Boys. So the Donny who is in the play isn't the "same" Donny in novel; he's a writer living with his girlfriend in the Florida Keys. But in a lot of ways, they are similar; they're both going through life almost oblivious to things around them until something startles them to the point of waking up and seeing their life from the third person.

Can't Live Without You is a romantic comedy in two acts and I had a lot of fun writing it. I've been trying to get theatres and producers to read it and even workshop it since I wrote it, but this opportunity at the Manhattan Rep came out of Rachel's efforts and I am very happy -- and fortunate -- to have a friend like her with such enthusiasm and love for the story.

Anyway, if you're in the NYC area, I hope you'll come see it, and I hope that you like it.