Images from Upstart Productions interview.

Today I went down to interview the three directors for Upstart Productions' "Pinter: Art, Politics, Truth" that is opening on Wednesday the 27 of October. It was a beautiful day to drive down into Dallas, the sun peeked out from behind the remnants of yesterday's storm and there was very little traffic going down to the space.  

The Green Zone is down in a semi-industrial area and is right next to a lot with a bunch of interesting sculptural pieces I am assuming are used for gardens and the like. I wasn't sure if I was in the right place until I saw the big green building. Figured that it was probably where I was headed. 

The Green Zone is the home of Project X Theatre and also where Upstart will produce their season this year. It's a fully appointed theatre space with a very nice rooftop that is accessible only by a ladder. Josh Glover, the AD of Upstart, suggested that the roof might be an interesting place for the interview and I agree wholeheartedly. There is a nice view of the Dallas skyline which, I was assured, was amazing at night when it is all lit up.

This group of directors was a pleasure to talk with. 
Because they open on Wednesday, the podcast will be up on Tuesday rather than the usual Thursday this week. Also, coming up in the next couple of weeks we will have an interview with Robin Armstrong, a local director, and actor Bryan Pitts who recently made an appearance on the Dallas Theatre Center stage in "Henry IV."

-Chris

Podcast with Cody Lucas of Sundown Collaborative Theatre about DEATHWATCH

I moved this post up a day because DEATHWATCH runs tonight. Check out the show and if you have to carpool to get up to Denton, do it. These guys would appreciate your support.

Podcast with Cody Lucas

15 October Interview, J&J's Pizza in Denton, TX.

Videoblog

Images from Sundown Collaborative Theater's DEATHWATCH

On Friday night, Dan and I went to J&J's Pizza in Denton for the Sundown Collaborative Theater production of Jean Genet's Deathwatch. Here are some images from the night. Look for the interview this week. 

Because I live in Denton, I went down to the square early before Dan made it into town and got some coffee at this place just off the square called The Hydrant (which is where Sundown has done a few shows, incidentally). In spite of the overtly religious music, this place has some of the better coffee in town, but because of the music it is not an ideal place for studying. That and they are only open until 10 during the week, which in a college town is not a great thing. Traffic wasn't bad, so Dan made it up by around 7 and we headed to the venue.

J&J's Pizza is a Denton institution. After the demise of the infamous Tomato on Fry street, J&J's became one of the few local and unique pizza joints in town. They still sell Schlitz in the can and have a number of nice beers on tap (this was the first place that Dan and I tried Franconia and discovered the...power that one glass can have). They have music in the basement on a regular basis and another Denton blog, focused on music, has filmed quite a few shows in the slightly creepy basement. We ordered up a medium with everything and went down to purchase our tickets. First thing, going downstairs can be a little precarious so be careful, especially if Franconia has factored into your evening thus far. 

After buying our tickets, we came back upstairs and read through the program to get ready for the show we were about to see. Dan was convinced it was about a killer watch, but I guess if you want to find out, you will just have to go see the show. 

Following are some images from the theatre space. I tried to capture as much natural lighting as possible and the space fit the production concept very well, although the constant walking overhead by patrons of J&J's during the show was rather distracting. Dress for a hot space, the air doesn't circulate very well in the space and it gets hot. 

The show ran about 70 minutes without and intermission and the pizza is good. There are also a number of music venues and bars in the immediate area, so if you get a chance to come up to Denton for an evening, you can certainly make a night out of it. 

Until next time.

CDT

Podcast with Nathan Autrey, director of Broken Gears Project Theatre's "Pitchfork Disney"

Podcast

11 October 2010

Videoblog

Images from Broken Gears Project Theatre Interview

On Monday night, Dan and I went down to the new space that Broken Gears Project Theatre is working out of for their next two productions. Look for the interview on Thursday. 

-Chris

I suppose this could be the unofficial beginning of our Halloweekend Scare-a-thon Spooktacular. 

It's that time of year when companies produce seasonally-appropriate fare, and that means something with a bit of creepiness ( or a bit of a Celtic Harvest Festival flair, but those plays are a bit trickier to find.)

Halloween and Theatre share a rich tradition, after all. Some say that William Shakespeare was the world's first Wolf-Man. He would sneak around London on the night of the full moon, picking off the sick and the old and tearing asunder the flesh of the peasantry. He also wrote plays containing ghosts and people in disguise.

Chikamatsu Monzaemon, of course, is famous not only for writing the most complex and beautiful Bunraku plays, but also for the invention of the plastic bucket shaped like a jack-o-lantern.

With that in mind, we encourage all of our listeners/viewers/readers to go out and find a theatrical event that will send a little shiver up your spine. 

Level Ground is producing Carnival Of Souls; Purgatorium. The folks at Broken Gears are working on a show called Pitchfork Disney in a real former house for the mentally ill. Our friends at the Sundown Collaborative Theatre will be showing something called Deathwatch, which, before Chris told me was about a prison, I had presumed was about a spooky watch that tells you the time....That You'll Die!!! Theatre Too! will be showing Bruce Coleman's Tales From Mount Olympus. After all, it was Hercules who first put a sheet with eye-holes over his head and pretended to be a ghost.

-Dan