Becky Byers as “Honey”, Allison Buck as “Danya”, & Emily Williams as “Ellen” in GEEK! by Crystal Skillman

Let’s forgo the klunky introduction and jump right into the mix. Playwright Crystal Skillman‘s play, GEEK!, opened on March 21, 2013, at St. Mark’s Church 131 East 10th Street, 2nd Floor, and runs through April 13. Tickets can be bought here. She is so great to interview and covers so much ground, nothing more needs to be said.

Oh, OK, if you insist, here’s the official play description:
“With pissed-off Pikachus, steam punk armies, stood-up Sailor Moons and roller-blading monsters on the prowl, it’s easy to get lost in the Inferno-esque anime convention where the fans, the otakus, and the geeks prowl. But to score a rare signature from their comic book idol, teenage outcasts Dayna and Honey will take on obsessive magic players, Jedis and elfs, cosplayers and convention guards – through all nine flights of Ohio’s Dante’s Fire-Con – to get a chance to shake hands with their pop-culture hero.”

Tim O’Shea: Was there a certain con experience in particular that inspired this play?

Crystal Skillman: Yes! About three years ago Fred and I were at the Miami Super Comic Con. We’d been to many cons together – I love being his girl friday and taking photos of him signing and being a booth babe and all. But I adore checking out each convention and how different they all are too. I feel like at each one you’re seeing who has come in, but also those who live in the area – one of the great joys is seeing Fred meet fans from all over. The Miami con was quite big and sprawled over three levels each clearly designated to comics, anime and gameplay. It was held in an interesting space full of nooks and crannies more than other cons I’d been too. While Fred was signing at the booth, I began taking photographs that began to truly inspire me. As I captured the awkward beautiful vulnerability and tenacity and just spunk of these cos-players, coupled with the experience of watching fans for so many years coming to Fred’s table being so affected, I strongly felt there is a play here. A play the explored and celebrated fandom. The play, as crazy fun as it is, became more and more personal reflecting my own Geek past, that has so inspired and affected by whole life (for example I’m the kinda gal that made my mom drive me to school, before I could drive, to avoid being made fun of on the schoolbus ), suddenly kicked into high gear. I wanted to write a play that was poppy, fun and which captured the con experience, but truthful to the struggle all Geeks have to find who they connect with and who they are.

I have to know, the holy grail of this play (the pop culture icon) would it be giving anything away to say if the character appears in the play?`

Hmmm … I think you’ll have to come to see! What I can say is that Joto Samagashi, the creator of Dante’s Fire, the manga and anime these girls admire, is very reclusive and so many people want to see her so the girls really do have to race from level to level in such an exciting way. One of my friends read the script and was like – are you a runner? (I’ve started running outdoors). When I told her I was she was like, “Oh I see.” The play is an adrenial rush full of urgency which really strips away these girls as they go and we really get to know them and the past they’re running from. But one of the great joys of this play was creating this world and the elusive character of Joto Samagashi. The world is so detailed and Vampire Cowboys has done an incredible job making it feel so real. There’s fake mangas, ads, logos – and the story is told very much through the kids you meet dressed up as these fictional characters all coming to life through their awesome costumes. With Vampire Cowboy’s incredible design team you are indeed entering Dante’s Fire Con. It’s been so exciting that it feels so real but is all fictional! What keeps the drive of the play is the need to see Samagashi, their idol, which I’m so proud of capturing. In writing how each Geek feels about Samagashi, I realized to them she is god. What would it be like to meet God? That drove a lot of the writing for the Geeks drive to meet the ever reclusive, exclusive Joto Samagashi.

How did director Robert Ross Parker come to be attached to this production?

One of the great dreams of this opportunity has to been to work with Robert. I’ve been following his work with Vampire Cowboys of course (Soul Samurai, Agent G, She Kills Monsters, written by good friend and brilliant playwright Qui Nguyen). I’m also a huge fan of his other directing work which includes Goodbye Cruel World, an adaptation of an older Russian comedy. What makes Robert special is that his work has a poppy style but great humanity. He’s an actor’s director but so visual which is rare combo. You always feel for the characters. That’s perfect for Geek! Each real character is playing a larger thank life character from Dante’s Fire, so most of our work this year has been really fleshing out these characters acting like heroes, but keeping true to the reality that these are teenagers you’d meet in every day. So I guess the answer is more that I was a stalker of Robert Ross Parker’s awesome? And I’ve ended up the most happy stalker in the world! Working with him on this play has been so exciting and the results are beautiful, crazy fun, and touching.

Walk us through the cast (and their characters)?

One of the most amazing things about this play is that it’s a six actor ensemble playing all the roles! Danya and Honey are the two girls racing through all nine levels of this crazy. They are played by Allison Buck and Becky Byers and are truly extraordinary. But that leaves … um … like a shitload of characters left to play with zest and zeal! The ensemble is played by: Sheldon Best, Rebecca Comtois, Eugene Oh and Emily Williams!

On this hero’s journey in the middle of the Dante’s Inferno you’re going to meet:
Two old school Security Guards obsessed with Star Wars & Star Trek; mid-western pre-teen sisters playing Dante’s Fire Devil Angels; Miss Cosy Con! a cutie pie (with cute eyes and a hot temper!) animated downloadable iphone app of the con that Danya & Honey use to find their way; Brian, a fifth grader dressed as the Timekeeper running an illegal cos-playing fight club, Minnie, an overly dramatic girl dressed as a fuzzy Minotaur desperately trying to win at said fight club; Gwen, playing Cleo the arch rival in Dante’s Fire and Danya’s arch rival from her preteen days at another school; Battle Bot Boy, a head gear wearing third grader playing an evil robot; Two Devil Cats, my homage to mithras and who turn out to be quite evil!; An entire steam punk “army” being lead by Toby, Danya’s love interest, dressed as Steam Punk Army leader Ulee-o (who also turns out to be Gwen’s ex-boyfriend) AND a kid who will only “talk” as his loveable character he’s play called Squeaker (he speaks in squeaking horn honks) … you’ll have to come to discover him! But I’ll tell ya this: he’s big and orange and cute! Can you tell who he is? Other characters include: Two Princesses, one played by a Goth Boy and a Goth Chick; Manno, a kid who plays a very obsessed Wizard obsessed with Magic cards, Spring, a french Home-schooled Larping Archer Girl and Tiny Ajax, a very tall kid playing a Dwarf who loves to rock and roll (dice, of course!)

In a play trying to convey nine flights of Ohio’s Dante’s Fire-Con—on one stage. How challenging is that to pull off?

One of the most fun things about Geek has been this challenge. In one of the workshops we realized that part of the charm of getting into this Dante’s Inferno like-world was the idea that we can go every which way. Which is kind of a Willy Wonka elevator like logic. We began to realize part of the magic of this place was the idea that a hatch-door could be pulled from the ceiling or from the side or they could go through a grate. Let’s just say early on our girls end up being in serious trouble and for sure need to find alternate ways to meet their hero.

When did you settle upon the name Geek!–and were you ever hesitant thinking some may see that as a negative connotation?

The name is actually is a huge part of the play and much thought went into it. To me, this term is a perfect metaphor for someone trying to put you in a box. But also, it becomes a badge of pride, a rite of passage in growing up to take this term and use it to show WHO you really are. Growing up is realizing you can communicate who you are. Being a teenager or younger, that’s super hard. You don’t know the whole world yet. You wonder – will I step out and be this forever? And you love it and you defend it yet, you’re trying to find who you are. The most chilling part of the play is where we see how the word Geek is turned against our main characters in a youtube video of the past – when they were cos-playing in the park. They were just recording it the other day and I almost started crying. I remember what it was to be called these words. I still am even sometimes … though much rarer within hearing distance and for some reason lately I’m just taunted by being called “Tina Fey” in the streets of Brooklyn? Which is kinda great taunt to have. But the cruelty of others and preying upon those with other feelings and thoughts and viewpoints is what this play exposes. To keep true to our identity and self, do we retreat into fantasy which we use as armor against the world? As escapism? Or do we use and learn from fantasy what we learn about ourselves when facing such cruelty to turn it back onto the world. To put forth how much we transcend names. Life and people are much more complicated. That is something to celebrate! Geek is indeed a celebration of the imagination and using that to battle reality … and yet live in it and find a place to belong.

How long did it to take for you to develop the play from its initial idea to where we are now?

When Qui called me telling me the news that he was taking a break from the Vampire Cowboys show and commissioning me as a new writer,I danced around for joy. Then thought what will I write? This Geek idea I had just after returning from the Miami Comic Con just leapt into my head. I told them I wanted to capture the feeling of the fan and they whole play to be from their perspective. This is this first play that the brilliant Qui isn’t writing for Vampire Cowboys. For the play to be about fans makes sense to me. This is a play that embraces all of fandom and I hope our audiences enjoy that and feel like they themselves are racing through the con like our main characters Danya and Honey. I wrote the play in 2011, then we did two public workshops in 2012 and now we just opened this past weekend! It’s just been an amazing process. Much of the workshops and rehearsal was about walking that fine line between the big fantasy visuals being grounded from the given circumstances of reality. I’d call them Community rules, following up with how they did the western paintballing episode. You go with how they see things, but we never lose sight that these are real people, these characters on this journey. Our amazing VC team was dedicated to that and Robert lead them all the way. That team includes Kristina Makowski and Jessica Shay’s costumes, David Valentine’s puppet work, Matthew Tennie’s projections, Shane Rettig’s sound, Ray Rodriguez’s fights which all explode the incredible work Robert and the actors are doing.

What is Incubator Arts Project–and is this your first play associated with them, or have they always been associated with Vampire Cowboys?

Incubator Arts Project developed out of the Ontological Theater. They do AWESOME work. Ontological was Richard Foreman’s theater back in the day and I leaned a lot from theater in that space. One of my favorite actors who worked with him all the time was James Urbaniak who was in much of those Richard Foreman plays (and for our readers here is the voice of Doctor Venture on the Venture Brothers!)

Creatively, what else is in the pipeline for you?

Writer/composer Bobby Cronin asked me to hop on board co-writing the musical The Concrete Jungle and you can download the amazing international recording on itunes! It’s so exciting. We hope it finds a home super soon. At the same time I’ve been developing my new play Another Kind of Love, about a famed rock star singer seeking redemption in her niece who is walking a dangerous line herself. And hot off the press is the new play Drunk Art Love which is getting an incredible presentation – a fully staged workshop with the wonderful claque theatre in their Quick & Dirties series this April. Nick Leavens will be directing – super excited. Details are here! All the plays and playwrights are awesome. Check it out!

Anything we should discuss that I neglected to ask?

I just want to say I loved your conversation with Fred about his wonderful series Archer and Armstrong. I love all of Fred’s work and this series is very, very special. I’m also super excited about what he’s cooking up with Action Presidents and a few projects coming out soon. I’m a very lucky gal to live both in the theatre and comic book world and I love all the cross over happening with both worlds. Thrilled to be a part of that. We both hope to see you soon Tim at a convention!

Clown Bar

February 27 is going to be a great day for writer Adam Szymkowicz for two reasons. First up, previews will start on the Pipeline Theater Company production of his clown noir play, Clown Bar (February 27 & 28 at 8PM) at the Parkside Lounge (317 E. Houston St., New York, NY) before starting a run of Fridays & Saturdays at 9PM performances from March 1 – March 23, 2013.

Secondly, the first episode of the Szymkowicz-written web series, Compulsive Love, will premiere on February 27. Compulsive Love has the great tag line of “A show about a man being punched in the face by love and the women wearing the brass knuckles.” In this interview, we discuss both projects.

Tim O’Shea: Am I correct in thinking that Clown Bar is partially a musical? Did you always envision the project having music?

Adam Szymkowicz: It has four songs in it.  There is a character who is the singer in the bar and he sings all the songs.  Sometimes I like to put one or two songs in my shows, though I can’t say why this play has four songs in it except to say it always did.

In the show, O’Toole (who played Hamlet in a 1963 production directed by Laurence Olivier [as noted in this 2003 Guardian retrospective piece]) discusses Hamlet with “Huw Wheldon (the host) and veteran actor Ernest Milton” as well as film and theater legend Orson Welles.

The Best of Times

During 2010, in the wake of the Texas Legislature’s budgetary cuts for arts funding, Sara Hickman, the Texas State Musician of the Year, decided to use her position to raise funds and awareness for the importance of arts education (and the funding of it) for children. More exactly, she spearheaded a collaborative effort–with a variety of Texas artists including Shawn Colvin, Willie Nelson, Rhett Miller, Robert Earl Keen as well as many more–to record a collection of Hickman’s own songs. The project, The Best of Times, was recently released as a two-CD, 38-cut collection by Waterloo Records. All proceeds from the sale of the CD set go directly to the Theatre Action Project, a non-profit that supports unique arts programs for more than 16,000 young people. To fully grasp the drive behind her charitable efforts, I recently email interviewed Hickman.

How did you go about getting all of the many fellow talented people who contributed their musical talents to Best of Times?

I knew I had, at least, a year to start lining up musicians to record for The Best of Times because Willie Nelson, who also recorded for the album, was the State Musician before my position took place. So, I immediately made a “wish list” and began calling/emailing/asking in person. I kept a giant chart on the wall with the names of artists/bands I had contacted, the titles of songs I had sent, if they had responded, if they were in the studio, if they had finished recording, if I had the recording.

When did your involvement and interest start with the Theatre Action Project?

I believe the first time I knew about Theatre Action Project was an after school program I was invited to lead concerning songwriting and drumming. I would guess that was about six or seven years ago. Then, I was in a ninth month course entitled Leadership Austin in which Karen LaShelle was also enrolled. We spent time getting to know one another and discussing the importance of arts availability to children in Texas.

For folks like myself woefully ignorant about the Theatre Action Project, what does it do and why should folks want to donate money to its cause?

There are many non-profit groups that bring a variety of art expressions to children in and after school. The difference, and outstanding quality, about Theatre Action Project (TAP) is how they empower and engage kids to learn about theatre, art, music, movement, creativity and self-expression in conjunction with everyday issues. TAP asks kids, “What’s important in your lives? What’s going on in your world?” The kids get to discuss issues such as bullying, or dating violence, or even home issues. TAP can then help the kids to create scripts, costumes, sets, art goals (a tiled wall, giant mosaic self portraits in pastel, sculptural pieces to display) which can they be presented peer-to-peer. Involving the kids to use their own ideas and bringing them to fruition and then sharing what they’ve created makes a big impact within the school, within the community.

In terms of making people aware of the cut in funding, do you think your concerns get more attention given that you have a platform and a voice as the official state musician of Texas?

Well, this was, and still is, my hope. When I was told of this humbling honor, I set out to raise awareness concerning the cuts in arts funding and to also raise monies slashed by the legislature that gave me the accolade. I hope I have raised awareness. I hope people will buy the CD, The Best of Times. However, I do find it ironic that as my term ended in May, the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) had its own funding cut by 50%. This is the group that works with the legislature to not only choose the State Poet Laureate, 2D and 3D artists and the State Musician, but they ALSO give out grants to teens wanting to pursue further education in an arts program. For example, if a 16 year old wanted to spend their summer taking a painting course at UT, or Rhode Island School of Design, or private lessons with a professional in their chosen arts field, TCA can give up to $2500 to that teen towards the costs of the course. I know many other non-profit arts groups and school programs have been deeply affected by loss of government funding, as well.

As a songwriter, how gratifying is it to hear this diverse a selection of musicians sing songs that you wrote?

First of all, I’m still honored and blown away by the fact that the CDs EXIST! God placed it on my heart to create this collection, and the fact that musicians responded with such passion and determination really astounds me. Having been a songwriter since I was seven, hearing 38 of my songs reinterpreted by such great talent has made me feel a part of a greater community, where, before, I felt rather isolated in my songwriting. That by coming together we can, of course, make change happen for the arts, for children in Texas. But, as far as how I feel personally about the diversity of musicians performing my songs, I’m deeply touched and grateful. When the songs started coming in, I would, literally, cry tears of gratitude or smile with joy until my face hurt. The interpretations were never what I expected, and always beyond what I expected. Plus, it made me hear my songs in a whole new light, and that was prettttttty cool!

What were some of the more challenging logistical aspects of attempting a project of this scale?

Reaching certain people. I tried to get Erikah Badu, Alejandro Escovedo, Carolyn Wonderland. There were so many people on my list I could just never reach, or who were on tour. I had to, of course, explain what the idea was AND ask everyone if they were willing to record for free. I was overseeing getting song choices and lyrics to people, sometimes videoing my hands on the guitar to show certain chords/movements, or creating and sending charts…I was following up with each musician/band to see if they had a studio/engineer available for them to record the song they chose, and if not, I would find one or both for them. I had to get the packaging created, figure out how to pay for duplication and mastering (thank you to all the people who helped on Kickstarter), and oversee the song order for mastering. Following up with people and checking in where they were on the process was the most time consuming. However, just to name a few—David Garza, Shawn Colvin, Robert Earl Keen—they sent their recordings in, if not that day, by the end of the week.

Given that The Best of Times project was prompted by fiscal decisions by the Texas Legislature, have you heard from anyone in the legislature, thanking you (or challenging you) for your efforts?

Three people thanked me: Rep. Elliot Naishtat, Senator Wendy Davis, Rep. Donna Howard. I’m still waiting to hear from Gov. Rick Perry I don’t know what he will say, but I’d be interested in hearing from him. We’d have a lot to discuss, I think.

Anything you’d like to discuss that I neglected to ask you about?

I would implore people to please support this project. This isn’t a “thrown together” project. It’s one of the best choices you could musically purchase. It took a lot of time, sweat and tears, and the end result is an album that just sounds terrific—the variety of musicians really showcases Texas’ musical talent—from known names like Willie Nelson and Shawn Colvin to those that deserve to be heard, who are just as talented: Matt the Electrician, Suzanna Choffel, Gretchen Phillips, the Daze…I think people will appreciate hearing how richly loaded this recording is; how it showcases the diversity of talent and songwriting, too. Most importantly, each purchase makes a statement—that people care about helping children receive the right to an excellent creative environment. Music, art, theatre, poetry, dance—all these arts enrich children’s lives, develop ways to utilize self-expression and creative problem solving, thus, helping our communities, and the world, embolden the best artists, doctors, diplomats, teachers, pilots, dancers, coaches, you name it. Art is only the beginning of what’s to come in each child’s life. Creativity helps them choose the person they want to become.

Action Philosophers

Action Philosophers, the comic book series by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey, has been adapted for the theater by award-winning playwright Crystal Skillman (who happens to also be Van Lente’s spouse). The play has been acclaimed for capturing the flavor of the comics series’ comedic exploration of several world philosophers. Action Philosophers is currently in a limited run through October 16 (Thursday & Friday at 8 pm, Saturday & Sunday at 7 pm) at the Brick Theater (in cooperation with Impetuous Theater Group). Dunlavey recently took the time to share his thoughts with me via email on the comic series’ successful transition to the theater.

When you and Fred first developed Action Philosophers, did you ever envision it being adapted for theater?

Never. I arrogantly believed that it was completely unadaptable to other mediums and it would exclusively live and die on the comic book page, but Crystal Skillman, director John Hurley and the actors have done a fantastic job of proving me wrong!

Interestingly enough (maybe only to me) Action Philosophers originally came about when I asked Crystal to collaborate on a comic with me, but then Fred got to me first!

What was it like the first time you saw characters you draw and scenes you created be performed in the theater?

Easily the most surreal experience of my life, but also really exciting! Plato was the most shocking being much more of a caricature of the real-life Plato than the other philosophers that are featured in the play. He’s become our trademark character for the series so seeing him come to life was really, really cool. It’s both a big honor and very humbling to see goofy things that I may have just doodled in a few minutes thoughtfully brought to three-dimensional life by talented people.

Is it awkward or does it make you proud to see the stories in theater form?

Both! I sat through the first performance with my arms folded but with a big grin on my face the whole time. And the audience liked it! As an artist I very rarely get direct feedback like that, and it was a thrill.

How much did Crystal Skillman consult you while she was adapting the story?

Crystal solicited my input from the very beginning but I told her I preferred to not be involved and wanted to let her and John and the actors do their own thing. After the first run-through I offered a few informal suggestions on the staging and backdrops (which John was already planning to do as it turns out), but that was it.

In terms of the characters, who do you think have flourished the most in a theater setting?

Ayn Rand had such a dramatic personal story and I think comes across better in performance than it did in the comic – She’s a real-live super villain that you actually feel sorry for. Bodhidharma and Plato have done great too, thanks in no small part to the hyper-charged performances of Neimah Djourabchi and C.L. Weatherstone, respectively. They both sell those characters better than anyone. My son LOVED Joe Mathers as Karl Marx – mostly because of the fighting, and Joe’s experience as a fight choreographer really made it work. The all-philosopher brawl at the end and the surprise guest philosopher (I won’t spoil it for you) was amazing – it wasn’t something we did in the comic and it was far and away my favorite part of the play.

Now that you have seen the play adaptation, are there narrative elements you want to borrow and utilize in your next comic?

Nope, they’re totally different mediums and have a very different set of storytelling challenges. As director John Hurley astutely pointed out, in comics events are contained in their panels but theatre is fluid – actors and scenery have to move in and out of the stage. I’ve been drawing comics for so long that I have a hard time picturing any of my ideas occurring outside of panel borders. Plus, I’m a terrible actor. Comics 4 Life!

In general, why do you think your and Fred Van Lente work together so effectively as a creative team?

We’re both insufferable wise-asses. We were friends long before we ever did a comic together – the comfort level we both had with each other and our own confidence in our own abilities definitely helped. We rarely second-guess ourselves or each other and it’s very difficult for either of us to bullshit the other.

What’s on the creative horizon for you?

I just wrapped up the art on the final issue of Comic Book Comics – the 100% true story of the American comic book industry. The last issue talks about the rise of graphic novels, Japanese comics (focusing on Tezuka), the ups-and-downs of the direct market and digital comics. In stores any day now and yes, there will be a collected edition not long after that. I’m neck-deep into the art production of The Dirt Candy Cookbook, another non-fiction comic project I’m doing with chef Amanda Cohen, owner/head chef of Dirt Candy, an award-winning gourmet vegetable restaurant in New York’s Lower East Side. It’s part memoir, part cook book, part food theory – Amanda’s been in the trenches since the start of the whole foodie fad and has some amazing behind-the-scene stories of the cutthroat NYC restaurant culture, and we’re telling it all with comics! It’s fun stuff. We also use comics in the recipes to explain and demonstrate cooking techniques. It’s 200 pages! That comes out next summer from Clarkson/Potter – I’m really excited about it! Lastly I’m writing and drawing a fiction comic for a new publisher that I’m very excited about – anyone who liked the MODOK one-shot I did for Marvel will dig this too. Sorry I can’t tell more, it’s being announced at New York Comic Con. And there’s sure to be more stuff from me and Fred very soon, count on it!

April 1921 Marx Brothers Item

Every once and awhile I write a post that suggests ways to appreciate where our (if you’re U.S. based like myself) taxes go. The Library of Congress is a fine example of our taxes being used in a delightful (to me, at least) manner.

On New Year’s Eve, TCM aired a Marx Brothers marathon. For whatever reason, seeing the films again (I grew up in the 1970s in a family that made you respect the Marx Brothers from birth) made me wonder: “What kind of documents does the Library of Congress have on the Marx Brothers?”

A quick search turned up this collection of Library of Congress details. What really caught my attention, though, was an April 10, 1921 New York Tribune piece covering the Marx Brothers first film (which was lost seemingly forever, after only one public screening), Humor Risk. As noted by IMDb, the silent film was written by Jo Swerling, who would go on to write Pennies from Heaven, The Pride of the Yankees, and It’s A Wonderful Life. The Marx Brothers would not make another film until 1929′s The Cocoanuts.

Eyeworks Festival 2010 trailer from Lilli Carré on Vimeo.

“The Eyeworks programs showcase a range of animation techniques, including paper cutouts, stop-motion, 3D computer animation, and a wide variety of hand-drawn methods. … Eyeworks celebrates animated moving images that express unusual vision, unusual approaches, and unusual style. …Saturday, November 6, 2010/DePaul CDM Theater, 247 S. State Street, basement level/Jackson stop, Red Line/Chicago (Admission: $5 for each program, $12 for all three)” Earlier this week, Carré was kind enough to do an email interview with me about the festival.

Tim O’Shea: What motivated the development of this Eyeworks Festival? And for those of the uninitiated, can you provide some background on the nature and appeal of “abstract animation and unconventional character animation”?

Lilli Carré: What sparked our interest in starting a festival of specifically ‘experimental animation’ was having had the opportunity to view a lot of great classic experimental film and animation pieces on film at Cal Arts and Chicago Filmmakers this past summer—works by Jules Engel, Adam Beckett, Robert Breer, Sally Cruikshank, Oskar Fischinger, etc.– and we decided that we should make a reason to show some of these wonderful films on 16mm ourselves, and to create a new venue for current work in this same vein.

We don’t feel like there is a strong festival presence particularly for that kind of work, yet there are so many wonderful films of that type that are rarely shown, as well as a good amount of current experimental and unusual animation work that is being made. There are a batch of experimental film festivals, and a good number of straightforward animation festivals, but as two animators ourselves who make work that falls into the grey area in-between the two categories, we thought it would be a good and exciting challenge to try to start up a small festival for exactly the type of animation that excites us—work using abstraction and/or more unusual or surrealistic narrative to tell stories visually.

So we decided to create this new film festival just a few months ago! We’re keeping it small scale this first time around, just a one-day event, in hopes that we can expand it in future years once we see how this one goes.

O’Shea: What was the criteria for making being a piece included in the Classic Shorts?

Carré: For the Classic Shorts program, we wanted to show animated works made by more established filmmakers, and preferably on 16mm film from the Chicago Filmmakers and Canyon Cinema film collections. We chose a selection of work made between the 70’s and the 90’s that we liked and that we thought worked well together as a program, with a fair balance between abstract work and character animation.

O’Shea: How did you go about selecting the pieces included in the new shorts program, such as Dash Shaw‘s The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D? Care to divulge how many people submitted pieces for consideration?

Carré: In the spirit of trying to keep it a clean and simple process, we curated the festival rather than having a call for submissions. We contacted people whose work we liked and invited them to take part.

O’Shea: In a struggling economy like the one we are currently in, how challenging was it find festival sponsors–and how important are festival sponsors to an event like this?

Carré: The festival is completely out of our pockets, money-wise. We have several in-kind sponsorships, so we didn’t get any money for the festival, but we did get a reduced rental rate on the films from Chicago Filmmakers, DePaul School of CDM generously allowed us to schedule this in their theater, we were able to silkscreen our flyers and programs at the Spudnik Press printshop without studio fees, and we got access to several larger email lists for promotion. I don’t think we could have done it without that help. So we are keeping our costs pretty low, and are hoping to simply make back the money we’ve put into the festival through the admission we get, which we’re also keeping cheap, at $5 per screening or $12 for the whole festival. Everyone wins!

O’Shea: Despite the fact this is a new festival, you were able to garner festival guest David O’Reilly. Can you talk about the process of getting him to participate and what about his work made him an ideal fit for the festival?

Carré: My co-director of the festival Alexander Stewart is an Assistant Professor at DePaul University, and he had been planning for some time to fly David O’Reilly in from Berlin to be a visiting artist at the University. Once we knew he was coming, and once we had decided that we wanted to do a festival this fall, we realized that we would be crazy not to try and include O’Reilly. We asked him what he thought about being part of Eyeworks, and he said sure! We’re very lucky to have such a talented animator come to the US to show his work for these events. I think his work fits well with our festival through his sense of visual design and formal experimentation, as well as the darkly humorous emotional punch of his narratives. His work leans more toward the narrative character animation side of our spectrum, but he seems to be simultaneously exploring new territory in his visual style and with the emotional impact of the narratives. We’ve both been fans of his since we saw Please Say Something; he makes really strong and unclassifiable work. His character design seems to give a nod to the style of some early animation characters, and also seem to me to have a bit of Chris Ware influence, the latter especially visible in Please Say Something, which you can watch here.

We’re especially excited to show a preview screening of his new film The External World, which just won the Grand Prix prize at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. He’s only 25 or so, and is making such good work at an alarming rate.

O’Shea: What have been the biggest logistical challenges of organizing a festival of this type?

Carré: I don’t want to hex myself by saying this, but everything’s been going pretty smoothly thus far. I think that’s largely due to the fact that we’ve kept it pretty simple. We could do a lot more with more time and some money, but I think the scope of the festival as it is matches the amount of time and resources we have right now. We’ve been working hard to promote it in different ways, including some neat projects like working with Sonnenzimmer print studio to make these silkscreened Eyeworks posters that they designed and printed and that we animated and posted around town.

It’s been hard predicting what the attendance might be, so we’ve been trying to get the word out as much as possible. These are some great animations, and I hope people take advantage of the rare opportunity to see some of these works on film, as well as to see new work that otherwise might slip under their radar.

O’Shea: Can you talk about the looping program of silent works that will run throughout the festival?

Carré: There were some pieces that very short or that we thought would work well as looping pieces rather than being shown in the screening programs, so we compiled about 10 pieces that will be looping on monitors in the lobby from 12:30pm through 9pm the day of the fest. There will be everything from an animation of moss beating like a heart in stop-motion, to fast-paced abstracted security envelope interiors, to a classic hand-drawn animation of a 1930s cartoon that looks like it’s melting.

O’Shea: How have you and fellow co-director Alexander Stewart divvied up responsibilities on this project?

Carré: We’ve both been spending time being in back-and-forth contact with the different filmmakers for the programs, getting materials and their information, etc. Alexander’s handling a lot of the promotions as well as tech aspects of building up the film reels, making sure the videos are the proper formats, etc. I’ve been doing a lot of the design and the writing/printing/assembling of the programs and promotional materials. The day of the fest I’m sure we will both be equally stressed and excited and whizzing around. I can’t wait!

Tom DeSavia

“Notable Music loves you very, very much.” It’s not everyday that you run across a company with a motto like that. But do a search for Notable Music Co. and that’s a phrase that the company communicates fairly consistently. A music publishing company founded by composer/songwriter Cy Coleman in the early 1960s, Notable Music has been expanding in recent years. Even though Coleman died in 2004, with his widow Shelby Coleman serving as president with Damon Booth as VP/GM and Tom DeSavia as VP/Creative, Notable Music is “as committed to representing new and developing talent as it is in promoting the legacy of what we believe is one of the great independent music publishing catalogs of our time.” DeSavia was kind enough to recently answer a few questions. My thanks to him for his time. Given the shifting landscape of the music industry, after talking to DeSavia, I’m intrigued at the opportunities and successes that Notable Music have achieved and the upcoming projects it has planned (anytime someone mentions a new Sam Phillips project, I’m a happy man). Before jumping into the interview, however, please consider this paragraph from Notable Music: “A few of the artists who have recorded & performed the Notable Music & Portable Music repertoire include: Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Sarah Vaughan, James Brown, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Isaac Hayes, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Shirley Horn, Sammy Davis Jr., The Jackson 5, Michael Buble, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Queen, Fiona Apple, Wilson Pickett, Shirley Bassey, Nancy Wilson, Dusty Springfield, Sam Phillips, Patty Griffin, Madeleine Peyroux, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss.”

Tim O’Shea: Last year when you and Notable Music VP/GM Damon Booth were interviewed at RM64, Booth said: “One of my goals for Notable when I started was for it to be a full-fledged music company. We’re publishers primarily, but if our songwriters need to make a record, then let’s get a record made and find a home for it.” The music industry seems to be changing drastically on a regular basis. How hard is it to expand your opportunities in such a climate?

Tom DeSavia: It’s actually one of the fun parts of the job. I’m always saying it’s 1956 all over again… meaning it’s like the dawn of rock and roll… ‘pop’ music sales, for lack of a better term, is not the massive business it was, so a lot of the financial muscle behind it has lost/is losing interest in music as an ‘industry’… so it’s moving back to a ‘small business’ mentality, and the canvas is blank… the business is being reinvented on what it’s going to be for the next 40 years. You have to do everything – and half the fun of it is making it up as you go along, because most of the old rules no longer apply.

O’Shea: How important is it for Notable Music to maintain a family-run business while at the same time looking to expand the company’s scope?

DeSavia: We happily always say we’re not for sale, nor are we building it up for sale. Cy Coleman started this company in 1962, and there is a reason his widow Shelby (our company’s President) has not sold it yet. This is the family store. It’s an honor to be here. We’re really just continuing on the path Cy set before us, as corny as that sounds…

O’Shea: A quick look at Notable Music’s Facebook page lists its members, I was curious how Wax Poetics and Adrian Younge became associated with Notable?

DeSavia: We were actually introduced to the Wax Poetics guys by Pierce Stacy of IODA, as he thought we would hit it off. We all hung out a few times, and the Wax guys were laying on us some of the best, and most interesting, new music we’ve heard in ages. At one point we just looked at them and said, “you guys should be publishers” – and the joint venture was born out of that. That organically, if you will. In addition to Adrian, Wax brought in Aja West/The Mackrosoft, and Chico Mann. Our roster may look funny on paper at times, but it matches our record collections perfectly, which is kind of our mantra.

O’Shea: Do you think we’ll see more artists, some of them associated with Notable, experimenting with some form of the subscription-based business model that Sam Phillips did?

DeSavia: I do. Sam – though she will never admit it – is really one of the visionaries when it comes to new music delivery models. She started the Long Play, her subscription service, as a labor of love – a way to deliver music to her fans and experiment in ways a label model may have restricted. But in the process she managed to do what big business constantly tries to: give the people what they want. All the credit here goes to Sam and her creative partner, Eric Gorfain, for conceptualizing and executing the Long Play. There are other exciting models out there – Kickstarter, etc – allowing artists to really be small business people. A lot of artists have been developing ‘business plans’ to deliver their music – Ani DeFranco is really one of the contemporary pioneers, I guess – as are artists like Jill Sobule – finding their audience and running really beautiful ‘small businesses’. It’s really inspiring.

O’Shea: Looking at an artist like Rosanne Cash, who has a substantial number of Twitter followers, are you trying to stress to the acts working with Notable how important it is to market themselves through Twitter and other social media outlets?

DeSavia: The acts are showing us! When we got together with Rosanne she was already crowned a queen of Twitter. Rosanne is a brilliant author – and I love her best when she’s writing in 140 characters or less. And she is the undisputed gold medalist of hash tags. We only got involved with Twitter recently (@NotableMusicCo) – it was after watching Rose and her ‘audience’, and finally really understanding what a great an fun tool this was. Again, to answer your question – the art world is definitely leading the charge here, the business side is following suit.

O’Shea: Am I correct in thinking that Notable Music wants to be associated with artists that work in vastly different musical genres?

DeSavia: Back to the aforementioned “If it fits in our record collection, it fits at Notable”. If Damon, Shelby and I all love something, and we know we can go out and pound the pavement with it, we want it on the roster. And as ‘eclectic’ as our roster is, there are so many connections – Rosanne and Sam have shared a mutual admiration/friendship for years, Sam and Chico Mann have used some of the same musicians over the years on vastly different recordings, and there is a love of Cy’s work among the whole lot. Cy’s independent vision when he started the company in 1962 is what we strive to continue… an era when this hugely successful Broadway Composer signed unknown R&B writers/performers like Bobby Hebb (“Sunny”) and Clifton Davis (“Never Can Say Goodbye”). Sam has been long-threatening to cut Cy’s “Hey Big Spender” (her idea) and it looks like that may be happening soon!

O’Shea: Last year Notable formed a partnership with IODA, what has resulted from the association so far? Is Notable looking to form more associations like that in the near to long-term?

DeSavia: We love IODA. Not only do they have a great future business model that’s not only working, it’s thriving… but they are also huge music fans. Everyone we’ve met over there is a huge record geek. We love that.

O’Shea: What projects are on the horizon for Notable Music in the near to long term?

DeSavia: Sam is just finishing a new record that is brilliant. The way she keeps evolving as a writer and performer is amazing to behold… she really keeps getting better and better, if that’s possible.

Rosanne is going to make a ‘duo’ record with Billy Bragg that Joe Henry will be producing – I cannot wait until that gets underway. Rosanne and Billy together is so inspired. They’re still writing the songs, but already I can’t wait to own it.

We’ll be seeing new discs from the Wax Poetics lot – Adrian, Aja, and Chico Mann – in the coming months. And some more new signings that are under this partnership… too early to say, but the gents at Wax have some great ideas up their sleeve.

There are also talks of some exciting New York and London revivals of a couple of Cy’s plays. ‘Sweet Charity‘ has been running on London’s West End this year and is a bonafide hit. There is also a possible film adaptation of one of Cy’s shows – we’re keeping fingers crossed that that comes to fruition.

O’Shea: Is there anything you’d like to discuss that I neglected to ask you about?

DeSavia: Just remind everyone to support music and artists. If you love the arts, support them! Buy the record, see the show, support your local NPR station. Oh, and follow us on Twitter (@NotableMusicCo) and Facebook – we’ll try our best to keep you entertained…

Hellraisers

Some people like to raise hell, some people like to document the hellraising. Fortunately for this interview, writer Robert Sellers is a member of the latter group. Sellers is the author of Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole, and Oliver Reed, as well as Hollywood Hellraisers: The Wild Lives and Fast Times of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson and An A-Z of Hellraisers: A Comprehensive Compendium of Outrageous Insobriety. In this email interview we discuss both books and more. My thanks to Sellers for his time, as well as John Karle of St. Martin’s Press for helping to arrange the interview.

Tim O’Shea: Would you say with the 24/7 news cycle mixed with the fact PR people can no longer sweep heavy drinking under the table as easily, is the era of celebrity hellraising done to a certain extent?

Robert Sellers: I think so. Our hellraisers were lucky in that their misbehaviour was only witnessed by a select few, so tales of their debauchery have become almost mythologized. Today celebrities’ every involuntary movement is recorded on some tosser’s mobile phone and then put on You Tube in a time span that’s shorter than their dick.

O’Shea: What attracted you to documenting the partying ways of these four actors (Burton, O’Toole, Harris & Reed) in particular?

Sellers: These guy’s bad behaviour was laced with a bit of style and humour. Take the time O’Toole was refused a drink after hours so he simply pulled out his cheque book and bought the pub. There was a jaw dropping audacity about their pranks and a twinkle in their eyes that made the public forgive them almost anything, which you just don’t have with today’s celebrity yobs. Also, back in those wilder and better days drinking was very much a macho culture; a chap could hold his booze and all of these hellraisers could drink each other under the table. Today it’s almost a prerequisite to appear everywhere completely out of your head and hopeless. The new breed of bad boy is not terribly sophisticated. Burton et al could always turn on the charm, pissed or not; this new lot can hardly string a sentence together.

O’Shea: In recounting O’Toole & Harris’ era of carousing, did you delve into the latter period of their lives when they recounted the tales on TV, I’m thinking of some of their respective appearances on David Letterman (and other talk shows) in the 1990s.

Sellers: Part of the hellraisers charm was the fact that none of them were ashamed of their drinking, indeed flaunted it and played up their image on the talk shows you mention. They enjoyed relating their tales of epic drinking and the audience lapped it up. These guys drank for the sheer pleasure of it and didn’t give a damn about the consequences. Ok, so in-between the misbehaving and the boozing marriage vows were trampled in the dirt, teeth punched out of the faces of total strangers and the odd police cell occupied overnight, but it was all done with panache and nearly always for the sake of having a good time.

O’Shea: Some folks theorize that Reed exaggerated his level of drinking as part an act for talk show appearances, while others maintain it was not an act at all. Which side of the fence do you fall on in that discussion? I was really struck by Amanda Donohoe’s interview on Parkinson a few years back where she admitted it annoyed her how drunk he could get and still be a great actor, was that a sentiment described by many of his fellow actors?

Sellers: Reed was a binge drinker, he could go without for some considerable time but when he drank it was like the battle of Culloden. Some of his famous ‘drunk’ chat show appearances were staged; sadly by that time he’d created a persona for himself that he felt obliged constantly to live up to. The public wanted him to get into fights and get drunk and do all the things you read in the papers. There was nobody better in the world at playing the public clown than Oliver Reed. He was also a consummate professional and wouldn’t drink during shooting, but got absolutely hammered afterwards, but always arrived on set word perfect and on time the next morning. Sadly at the end of his career this professionalism, shall we say, slipped a bit.

O’Shea: One of the reviews of your book (quoted at your publisher’s site) partially described the book as “Equal parts funny and appalling”. Do you hope that readers come away with that kind of reaction or do you hope they’re more entertained, than appalled?

Sellers: I approached this book purely as a journalist, I love these guys but I never had an agenda, I didn’t want to moralise or think, shouldn’t this behaviour be condemned, rather than glorified. The book has had an amazing reaction, both for and against. My publisher did send me a letter they’d received from a recovering alcoholic who told me he’d been to Alcoholics Anonymous and to doctors and nothing had worked, but after reading my book decided to quit booze. I’m quite proud of that.

O’Shea: How much of this book as well as your more recent book, Hollywood Hellraisers: The Wild Lives and Fast Times of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson, involved interviewing associates of the actors?

Sellers: I tried to speak to as many people as possible who both knew these bad boys and also worked with them. For me the best part of researching these books was to authenticate some of the more outlandish or plain bizarre stories that one has read or come across about these hellraisers and thought, boy that can’t have happened, and then to interview someone who says, no that did happen, because I was there. It was nice to legitimise some of those legendary tales.

O’Shea: When writing about these various actors, did it give you a new level of respect for their films or less respect?

Sellers: More respect, I guess, though I was a huge fan of them before. It does make me realise that people like Burton, Nicholson etc, we won’t see their like again, nor will we ever get to experience that level of filmmaking again; the 60s and 70s were a real golden age for cinema. These guys are legends pure and simple, and the marvellous thing is, they knew it. I talked with the actor Robert Hardy recently, who knew Burton at Oxford University and was a friend his whole life. I asked, ‘Did Burton know how much of a legend he was.’ Hardy answered by recalling for me an incident when Burton walked up to him and said, ‘Remember Robert, we are the myth makers.’

O’Shea: In the A to Z of Hellraisers you cover such folks as “Winston Churchill to Keith Moon, George Best to Ernest Hemingway, Wild Bill Hickok to Sam Peckinpah, Ozzy Osbourne to Errol Flynn” Can you give an example of one of the more absurd Peckinpah stories you uncovered?

Sellers: Wow, where do you start! I love the fact that making Major Dundee in Mexico he frequented whorehouses paid for out of the film’s budget. His director’s chair had a special holder for his tumbler of booze and on Pat Garrett he had a PA follow him everywhere with a tray of vodka, lime slices and various mixers. By the time of The Killer Elite he’d started taking cocaine and would just disappear for days on end. As its star James Caan observed, ‘Sam, he couldn’t give a fuck less.’

O’Shea: After covering all these hellraisers, are you ready to take a break from them? What’s the next book that you are writing?

Sellers: I think I’ve pretty much exhausted this particular seam, though I’ve had great fun with it and I’m very happy that so many people have enjoyed reading them. The book I’m working on at the moment focuses on that incredible explosion of talent that occurred in British film and theatre in the late 50s and early 60s when a group of largely working class actors like Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Richard Harris, smashed through middle class barriers and almost singlehandedly changed the cultural landscape of Britain. It’s called Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down and comes out in the UK next May.

Starstruck Audio Drama

Audio drama is a craft that I’m glad to see alive and well, and aiming to adapt to new technologies. One current example is Starstruck, soon to be released by The AudioComics Company. As described at the site: “Buck Rogers meets Barbarella meets The Hitchhiker’s Guide the Galaxy… The Off-Broadway Sci-Fi Comedy Masterpiece that spawned a comic book revolution comes to audio October 31! Written by Elaine Lee with Susan Norfleet and Dale Place, featuring characters from the comic by Lee and Michael Kaluta. First on compact disc, and pay-per-MP3s downloads, Starstruck rides the airwaves later this fall!” To mark the impending release, I interviewed AudioComics Company’s Lance Roger Axt and Bill Dufris.

Also as noted at the website: “Starstruck compact discs will be $22.95, not including tax and postage and handling. These are 4-panel 2-disc eco wallets … The cut-off date for CD orders is October 20, 2010. Your CD will be mailed directly to you on November 3, 2010, so when you place your order, make sure you write down your correct mailing address. Compact discs will be mailed first class USPS … Please note that these CD’s are not available in direct maket comic book stores or big box book stores like Borders, this is an item you can only purchase from the AudioComics Company webstore. And unfortunately these are only available in the States, but for our overseas Starstruck fans, the MP3 downloads are forthcoming, and worldwide. Info on MP3 downloads to come next month.” As Lance told me prior to finalizing this interview: “AudioComics has been a five year journey which is now finally taking shape, and I’m pleased to say that Bill and I have, beyond this inaugural production, at least ten other comic-to-audio projects to keep us busy between now and the end of 2012!” My thanks to Axt and Dufris for the interview. Also, please be sure to check out the AudioComics page on Facebook.

Tim O’Shea: First off, Lance, I saw your post about attending San Diego–can you talk about how much you enjoyed meeting Stan Freberg?

LANCE ROGER AXT: Some people came to San Diego to see Tron or Green Lantern footage, others wanted to see the cast of True Blood; me, I wanted to meet Stan Freberg. And I’ll tell you something, I can honestly say that I was humbled to be in his presence. It’s been brought up on many forums and comments pages, especially in the wake of the passings of Frazetta and Williamson, to appreciate the artists who are still with us. In my case, those artists are people like Stan Freberg, the Firesign Theatre, Yuri Rasovsky, Tom Lopez of ZBS. These people took radio drama out of the golden age, the “old timey” way of writing and acting, and showed audiences that with audio there are no limitations…so, yeah, meeting Stan was a real highlight of my first trip to SDCC. Not to mention he was the nicest, most approachable person, both he and Hunter. It’s hard to find the words now…the sound man’s gone silent.

O’Shea: Starstruck’s going to be available for download and for purchase as a CD, will it also be available on iTunes?

BILL DUFRIS: Absolutely. It will be available first through our site at audiocomicscompany.com, but eventually you’ll find it through iTunes, through Amazon MP3, ZBS.org, the Spoken Network in the UK, probably Audible as well.

LANCE: We’re going to make Starstruck available through every outlet that exists for downloads. Ultimately this means more listeners, and more exposure to what we think is one of the best audio theatre pieces produced this year. And honestly we hope that it drives more people to check out the comics as well as the forthcoming collected edition from IDW.

O’Shea: What’s the biggest challenge of adapting a comic series to radio from your respective perspectives?

LANCE: …You know, honestly I think the biggest challenge isn’t so much adapting a comic book series or graphic novel, but reminding people that audio theatre is just as visual a medium as television or film or video games, and that an equally visual medium like comic books translate beautifully into audio. It’s just a different kind of visual. I’ve said this before, with audio theatre the listeners are no longer “audience:” they are part of the action, they’re directing it, they’re deciding how big the ship looks; they’re deciding the color of the sky if they want to!

I open a page from the book of Freberg: many, many years ago he wrote a radio commercial that sums it all up, if you will, where an ad exec is pitching his radio commercial in which Lake Michigan is drained of all the water, then filled up with hot chocolate and a 500 foot mountain of whipped cream, and finally a bunch of helicopters fly overhead and drop a 10 ton Maraschino Cherry on top of the whipped cream while the sky is aglow with a million fireworks, and the capper is the sentence: “try doing that on television.” What he was ultimately saying was that the mind is a billion dollar sound stage.

Now apply that to comic books, comic strips, graphic novels: if you know the art, the artist’s work, you can take those images and animate them to your liking. If you remember that audio theatre is a visual medium in itself, then the adaptation is a very easy one. Not sure if I really answered that question…but I like it! Moving on!

BILL: What Lance said…but better!

O’Shea:How did WMPG FM get involved with the project?

LANCE: WMPG just happens to be one of the few community radio stations in the United States that regularly airs audio theatre with the show “Radio Drama Revival,” which is hosted by our dear friend Fred Greenhalgh. Many people don’t know this, but NPR and public radio in general abandoned audio theatre for good in the mid-1990’s when they chose to go all talk all the time; unfortunately, a lot of community radio stations followed suit. But WMPG embraced audio drama; in fact they’ve co-produced a number of live audio drama events in and around the Portland area. Well, our liaison, Dan Bernard, who has been with the station for many years, approached them with the idea of WMPG underwriting our weekend of voice-over recording at The Studio in Portland, which saved us a great deal of money, to be perfectly honest, and in exchange they would get a small portion of the proceeds every year as a donation, not to mention the first radio airing of Starstruck anywhere in the country. Dale Robin Goodman, their Programming Director, she’s awesome in every sense of the word and as we speak we’re working out some promotional ideas for the Portland area. This was our first collaboration with WMPG, but it certainly won’t be our last.

O’Shea: Bill, what is all entailed in the process of directing a project like this, what are some of the biggest logistical challenges?

BILL: At the risk of sounding prosaic, I’d have to say that the biggest challenge came down to simply scheduling all of the actors. There were sixteen scenes and a prologue to record over a 3 day period, and a number of actors were only available during certain days. As a matter of fact, I had to step into the role of Dwannyun, as the actor originally cast was ill on the day! It was a potential nightmare, occasionally requiring the need to record the odd scene, or two, without the full complement – adding in the errant voice(s) later. But we got through it.

O’Shea: When it came to the actual recording process, I’m sure there were a number of surprises. I’m not looking to focus on negatives, but rather what were the pleasant surprises?

LANCE: The fact that aside from the scheduling issues, it came together with very few hitches.

BILL: Lunch!

LANCE: That too! Again, WMPG.

O’Shea: In one blog post there was talk of working a Christopher Walken imitation in for one of the characters, did that happen?

LANCE: (as Walken) Oh…hell yea! Ya know it ain’t…a show without (short pause) a little Walken! (as Lance) I’ll tell you, though, that wasn’t my favorite impersonation to do: of all things my favorite was actually James Mason. I played NORM, the Siren 3 computer, who goes in and out of celebrity voices throughout the play: Karloff, Bogie, Edward G., Peter Lorre, Shatner doing Kirk, Gandolfini doing Tony Soprano, Elvis, etc. So there’s one section where NORM goes into James Mason mode. A few days before the recording Bill and I were in his home studio finding YouTube clips of famous actors that I could work off of voice-wise, and for Mason we found the occasional short clip of 20,000 Leagues, but the one that we were just cracking up over was this black and white commercial, must have been early sixties, of ol’ James extolling the virtues of Thunderbird wine. I’m not kidding. So before I do my Mason lines at the recording sessions I’m going on and on in this breathy English voice about how much I love Thunderbird wine I’m sure prompting some of the cast to wonder if I’d had a couple glasses of it that morning.

O’Shea: Let’s talk about some of the cast and what strengths you felt they brought to the production?

LANCE: A quick introduction: putting together a work of this size and scope is not something that you can do easily. There’s a lot of people who think that if they have people speak into a microphone and then throw in a lot of sound effects and music, then, bam! instant audio theatre. It doesn’t work that way. You have to have a great script, which we had. You have to have a great director who understands how to put it all together. And you have to have great actors. There are so many audio dramas out there where the directors cast their friends or lovers or their local grocer down the street who remembers hearing the last broadcast of “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar” in 1962, you can tell these people just cannot act. I don’t believe for one minute that their character is on the bridge of a starship in high stress mode fending off an alien invasion, but I do believe that he or she is front of a computer mic at their desk reading off of a script, and that just drops me right out of the action.

You need great actors, trained actors who know how to work a mic, so to speak, and we had great actors whose voices fit the roles. Moreover, they were always in the moment, committed to their roles, no matter how over the top: the villains aboard the Siren 3 immediately come to mind. Their energy was infectous. Starstruck is a raucous space opera, emphasis on the word raucous. And our actors hit the ground running with every scene. So, yeah, everybody was exhausted at the end of day, but it was good exhaustion! And you can hear that energy, that commitment, in the final mix. We really lucked out with our cast.

BILL: (in repetitive mode) Our actors were FANTASTIC! We had two read-throughs with them, and they arrived at the sessions ready to rock ‘n roll. This type of acting requires a great deal of stamina as well, as I tend to direct with an ear to physicalizing the performances. Years of working with the BBC and the inimitable Dirk Maggs honed that skill down for me. The other common trait that our actors shared was a real sense of comedy and a vocal flexibility.

O’Shea: In audio drama, sound effects are particularly crucial I think, would you agree?

LANCE: Sometimes yes, sometimes no. What’s really crucial is: how do these effects, if there are any, support the story. Again if you’re throwing in sound effect after sound effect after sound effect, you could be dragging down the production.

BILL: Like Lance says, sound effects – and music – can very easily detract from a scene/production, if used with a heavy hand (ear?). However, if used judiciously, they both can lift the production to a higher level of art. I spend ages fine-tuning my sound design, especially as the majority of mine are created without foley, with SFX/music layered in after the voice tracks have been edited. Every sound has to have a reason for being there, and be in the correct spot. I have to visualize the scene I’m listening to and ‘see’ what each character is doing, and when. Every time Erotica Ann responds to a demand for information form Galatia, it needs to be acquired within a certain time span before she relays it – keyboard query followed by computer response followed by answer. The sword fight between Galatia and Verloona – those sword strikes and clangs are tied in to the grunts and sounds of effort voiced by the two actors. Takes time! But well worth it.

O’Shea: What were some of the quirkiest sound effects you had to develop?

BILL: I don’t know about “quirky”, but I have created some rather ‘busy’ numbers for my horror series, Nightmares On Congress Street, Pts IV & V. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” there is a scene where the killer chops up the body, while running a shower to drain the blood, followed by wrapping the ‘parts’ in garbage bags and secreting them under the floorboards… all in the space of around 20 seconds – creating a layered sequence of actions to underscore the killer’s describing of the process. In “The Cabin in the Woods,” a cabin literally absorbs its occupants – there are some really ickily nasty sounds in that one! There were also the cries of the older tenants in the walls!!!

Now for Starstruck, one of the challenges was creating two individual control areas for the two space vessels – one of which is NOT your conventional interstellar vehicle. All great fun!