The Last Uniblog

Adapting "The Innkeeper's Song" - Here we Go...

2011-11-27T15:20:00.002-06:00

As I've said previously on this blog, in addition to being a huge fan of The Last Unicorn, I'm also a big fan of Peter S. Beagle's other works, including The Innkeeper's Song. Even though adapting The Innkeeper's Song presents some unique challenges, I'm determined to give it a shot. I've already taken stabs at a couple of scenes, and am mulling over how I'd want to stage and/or represent some of the more difficult (i.e. impossible?) to stage moments in the show. Tough issues to solve in this adaptation-

-Keeping the awesome changes in perspective without making the script nothing but first-person narration.

-Nyateneri/Soukyan. Two actors, one male and one female? One actress? A transgender performer? Change the script to such a drastic extent that the gender issue doesn't come up (I hate the idea of that last one, but that is what would be easiest...)

-Horses. This story has lots and lots of riding on horses, which is difficult to represent effectively on stage but also too important to this story to ignore/write around. I know one way to solve this but worry that I'm cribbing too much from the aesthetic of >ahem< another company. (i.e. bicycles...)

-And in general, what can be cut and what must be kept? Adapting novels to the stage is always problematic in that way- you have to willing to 'kill some babies' or else you'll be stuck with a six-hour epic that no one wants to watch.

Wish me luck!

If You Want to License The Last Unicorn...

2011-11-27T15:18:00.003-06:00

Is your company or group interested in performing this adaptation of The Last Unicorn? Please send an email to lastunicornchicago@yahoo.com. Thanks!

Has it been four months?

2010-10-03T20:35:00.003-05:00

Wow. Time flies- I got a new day job, and I've been busy with a couple of other things- helping with another theater company's subscription drive, for one thing, and also getting ready to market Promethean Theatre Ensemble's next show. Also, I've been working on a couple of writing projects. Including one I felt like Last Unicorn fans might want to know about....you know that other Peter S. Beagle book I really like? The one I thought was actually impossible to adapt to the stage? Yes, that one.

I started a draft last week.

Wish me luck!

How Theater Failed America

2010-04-28T10:12:00.006-05:00

As probably all six people who actually read this blog already know, I'm an ensemble member with a small storefront theatre company in town. I'm also in charge of their marketing and PR (by the way, come see our production of Spring Awakening, the gripping original play by Frank Wedekind, running through May 9! Yeah, I still got it). I've been mulling over several items lately, including Mike Daisey's monologue How Theater Failed America, which I saw this past Monday (better late than never, right? Definitely, in this case). It was delightful, hilarious, thought provoking, and a lot of it seems to be sticking with me, at least for now. One of the reasons that's kind of amazing is that, as he tells us early on, "This is a story you already know." I think the reason it still mattered so much to me to see him do that is that, as he puts it, he's doing an incredibly rare thing on stage these days- telling the truth. To hear him say some of the things he does on the stage of that particular theater (in a studio space at that particular theater, naturally) struck me as pretty ballsy even if it actually wasn't. Not as ballsy as if he were invited to do that show Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare or in the Owen at the Goodman, but still, you can't help but wonder how many of the accusations he levels accurately fit the very institution within which he is performing. The unspoken philosophy that actors are vermin, or that artists are infinitely less important than survival of the institution, and in particular the building, where the art is taking place.
I left the place after a chat with Mr. Daisey himself (which also amazed me; after talking for something like two hours straight, he continued to be very generous with his time and conversation after the show) all fired up, but the main question burning in my mind is this: what can I, personally, do to help with this situation today? It's hard to answer- I'm part of a theater company, but it's a small itinerant operation with very little money. It's true, we're just as guilty as some of these larger institutions of underpaying our artists, but it's not like we have piles of cash being squirreled away for some capital campaign for a building- it's not even as if we're giving it to administrative staff instead: we're poor. We at least are definitely built as an ensemble of artists- and not just artists; most or all of us are actor/staff hybrids like me (i.e., one of our actresses is our Development Director as well; same for our Literary Manager; our Business Manager is also the company's resident Stage Manager, our Artistic and Excutive Directors frequently perform in or direct our plays)...except, all this is minus the money. We all have to cling to day jobs as our life support. Nobody who spends time working for our company is making any kind of real money doing it. Still, I'm doing what I can. I spoke with our Executive Director about How Theater Failed America yesterday and told him flat out that if we ever do a capital campaign I'm adamant that we do one to endow chairs for artists before we ever, ever, raise money to build a building. I'm not sure he agrees with me- he had some things to say about the importance of having a single 'sacred space' in which our community gathers. And I can see that point of view too- in many ways, to me a theater is a temple. This art form plays that significant a role in my life. But that doesn't mean that we need to build a gaudy palace for our god while the high priests and acolytes are starving and begging in the streets. It's like Mr. Daisey says- once the audience is past the pretty lobby, the lights go down and they can't even see the space- it's only the *art* that will matter, finally. (Though if I can offer a quibble, Mr. Daisey, there's something to be said for having comfortable seating at least. I don't know about you, but I've definitely had difficulty enjoying a theater performance because the seat in which I was placed had become viciously, ass-punishingly uncomfortable after about the first forty five minutes!) I'm also going to try to get everyone I can, especially in my company, to see this show. Mr. Daisey is very persuasive- hopefully between the two of us we can convince everyone that, while we're poor now, we need to have our priorities clear in case we actually do wind up raising some serious cash at some point.
But you know what? That's not enough for me either. I'm trying to think of ways that I can help improve the disaster that was described to me Monday night sooner than that. And I'll talk about it in my next blog post. It has to do with another group of people that I feel are too often exploited by this current non-profit arts system, and, as a pretty big clue, it also has to do with how completely pissed off I got when i read this article in the New York Times.

On Adapting a Novel

2010-04-11T21:32:00.002-05:00

A fan of The Last Unicorn who hadn't seen the Promethean production but is a huge fan of the novel wrote me recently- one thing they asked about is what my approach was in adapting it and if I had any advice or pointers for them. I just sent him a pretty lengthy response that I think others might find useful as well, so I'm sharing it here:

"Adapting a novel is a pretty complicated task. The most important first step is to make sure you have permission from the right person to do the adaptation. I know people who have had their productions shut down or even been threatened with legal action because they didn't get the appropriate permission in advance. I can offer additional suggestions on how to go about doing that in another email if you like, but I think the main thing you were asking is about the 'how' of doing the adaptation itself. At the risk of being obvious, here are some basic suggestions- first of all, it helps if you're really enthusiastic about the material- you're going to have to spend a lot of time thinking about and 'living with' this book, so don't choose works that don't really speak to you at all. Also, you should become extremely familiar with the novel. Even if you think you already know it, read it again. Then read it a second time, and take notes- even mark in the book, if you're okay with marking up the copy you have. Make notes of the sections you think are especially important- the scenes that you think are the best, or that are the most important as far as what the book it 'about' to you. While you're going through, some ideas might start popping in to your head- you might start being able to really clearly picture a scene as it would unfold on stage, or an idea as to a really cool way to stage or symbolize something you already know you won't be able to show literally on stage. Also, some sections might stand out to you as "oh, I definitely want to cut this part" for whatever reason. Don't commit yourself to cutting those parts, but definitely make note of it. Once you feel confident that you're very familiar with the novel and have a good idea of what parts work for you and are important to you, it's time to begin actually creating the first draft of the script.
There are two basic ways to create the first draft of the script- the first way is to script the scenes you like best and can see most clearly in your head, no matter where they fall in the play. Then once you have those scenes created, you slowly flesh it out, linking up the scenes until you have the full script. The other way is to just start at the beginning and work your way through the book page by page. I've found that a combination of the two works best- some days you'll be in the mood to plow through the pages in order, and some days you'll want to treat yourself to working on your favorite parts. The key is to be really disciplined- set aside a certain period of time each day (or each week, if you're really busy) to write. Even if you're not feeling really inspired that day, that's okay- there might be parts of the novel that you already know you want to keep verbatim, and days you're feeling less enthusiastic are good days to just type those verbatim scenes in to the script. Set a schedule for yourself and a deadline to finish your first draft- otherwise what you thought would only take a few months can stretch out into a years-long project.
Sometimes it can help to flesh out your adaptation if you write it with specific actors or a specific theatre company and space in mind- as long as you're at peace with the fact that those actors and that space may not be what you wind up getting, it can help fuel your creativity- if you're having to invent dialogue and/or scenes that get glossed over or omitted in the source material, being able to picture the actual actors that would deliver the lines can help fuel your creativity. Also, knowing in advance some of the logistical limitations you'll be facing gives you a structure that can stimulate your imagination. Some of the ideas for the adaptation of "The Last Unicorn" that I'm proudest of came from knowing we were only going to have a limited budget and only so many people that could fit into our venue's dressing room.
In general I'm a big fan of using what I call Performance Art touches in my pieces, as they were taught to me either in class with Paul Edwards, or by viewing pieces by the likes of Mary Zimmerman and Frank Galati. That includes not being shy about narration or direct address to the audience (while still being as economical about it as possible; it's easy to kill the audience's enthusiasm with too much narration), not being afraid to use dance and movement to forward the action of the story, and employing simple symbols for complex or impossible-to-literally-stage moments. For example, using the white rose to symbolize the unicorn's horn.
Once you have a first draft, go through it again before you show it to anyone. You'll be surprised how many typos and other things that don't entirely make sense make it into a first draft. Then, get together a bunch of your actor friends and do a private reading of it. Don't read any parts yourself- not even the stage directions! Instead, listen carefully and take lots of notes- hearing the lines spoken out loud will make it a lot clearer to you what's working and what isn't. Also get their feedback- you're not going to agree with all of it- and you should never feel compelled to follow anyone's advice on changes to your script- but the suggestions you get will reveal to you how others are reacting to the piece- what *they* think it's about, and what parts work for them best, or confuse them. Some of that feedback will make good sense to you, or at least enough sense that you'll want to try it out. Then do rewrites!
Sometimes it can help once you've done a rewrite to just set the script aside (say for a few weeks or even months) before returning to it. That can help freshen your perspective on it, and a few more ideas may occur to you, or you may catch some things you want to fix that you hadn't noticed before. Also, sometimes your friends can get tired of rereading the script too often if you don't space out the readings a bit.
In general, don't be afraid to take chances. It's a lot of work, but there are few things as satisfying as sitting in the audience and feeling the people around you responding to a script you adapted. I hope some of this helps you, and good luck!"

First preview of HEPHAESTUS

2010-04-07T22:18:00.003-05:00

I've already seen this show before, but all of the publicity for it was all about "we're in a bigger space with a higher ceiling. That means we will make it MORE AWESOME" so I decided to check it out again. Well, for the most part there's not an appreciable difference- and there are some things they had the last time I saw it that were missing this time that was pretty disappointing. If you've never seen it before, you should see it at some point- that's a given. Since it was first preview, I spent a lot of time noticing the odd little things that go wrong at a first previews- and let me tell you, that's a LOT more interesting/terrifying for this show because if something goes wrong someone can get hurt. Examples of things I noticed (sorry, this is just how my brain works. it's a curse):

-During the sea nymph scene, one of the nymphs was having a LOT of trouble with her fabric. I don't know enough about that type of circus (is that Spanish Web? Maybe?) to know what exactly was up, but she had to drop out of unison with the other nymphs while she was staring at and repeatedly working the fabric, like she was looking for a particular spot on it, or trying to get it in the right position. I was kind of worried for her (this all happens pretty high off the ground!), but she managed to sort it out and rejoin the rest of them by the end of the number.
-For the first drum sequence, one of the drummers was late for his entrance, and they had to wait for him.
-For some reason it took FOREVER for them to bring the second Silver Man out of the pit. Maybe there was a problem with the rigging?
-The sunglasses worn by the guy who rolls around in the giant metal ring fell off. He had to kick them under the audience risers before he could keep going.
-Later in the show, two of the ladies dressed as Silver Girls bounce down on bungie cords from trapezes, handing off pieces of the chair used for the final feat. One of them had trouble getting enough rebound to get back up to her trapeze- she whiffed it several times while the other girl was already back on her perch.
-The final feat- will they always talk to each other that much? Don't get me wrong- if they need to, they need to, and it's still damn amazing even if they talk.

Things I miss from the last time:
-The last time I saw it, one of the Silver Men gets 'electrocuted' or something during his creation, and he becomes the sort of broken, crazy one who does all these kickass break dancing moves. He wasn't in this version- the corresponding Silver Man in this production is played by an actress, who does some pretty neat flips but I found the previous version to be more impressive.
-The Aphrodite in this version is a contortionist and a pretty good en pointe ballerina. But the lady from the last time did this jaw-dropping stuff with hula hoops as well as being absurdly flexible. I miss the hula hoops, dammit!

However, there is one thing they do that is jaw droppingly more awesome than the last time I saw it- the final high wire feat has a whole new layer of people added, so it's even more thrilling. It's very impressive and on its own might justify seeing this again to someone who's already seen it.

The lights and sound, while still being tinkered with, remain extremely impressive (sorry, that's a word I use a lot in referring to this show, even when critiquing it). My favorite two light effects:
-During the Iris (the goddess of the Rainbow) scene, many of the gelled lighting instruments are actually arranged in ROYGBIV order.
-When Hera is playing with her new throne, they use her body as a canvas for this incredible light display- it looks as if she's made of light, or filled with a bunch of large fireflies or something. I thought that was awesome.

Last, I guess I can talk about the story. They're pretty faithful to the original myth (and trust me, that matters to me a whole lot- see my rant about Clash of the titans). But the myth is, of course, just a justification for the circus feats on display. None of the main characters even have dialogue. That said, one moment I always find supremely moving is when Hephaestus first falls in to the ocean and crawls onto land. His desolation at being so completely abandoned by his mother is really affecting. So hooray for emotional truthfulness in a circus show!

Anyway, thanks Lookingglass for continuing to tell stories and do shows that matter to me. I criticize because I love. Now just get Mary Zimmerman to do a new adaptation once she's done with Candide, darn it!

P.S.- the Owen seating chart they have online is a vicious LIE. I made a point of trying to get what the seating chart says is an aisle seat (AAA 54, if you must know) but when I actually went to take my seat it was smack in the middle of a row! Grrr. At least the house had enough empty seats that I could move.

My thoughts on CLASH OF THE TITANS

2010-04-07T21:59:00.004-05:00

Wow did this movie piss me off. Why the hell does Perseus have a buzz cut? Is this new version an allegory for promoting the armed forces. "I want to do this as a man"= the new "army of one?" Am I just being a paranoid liberal? Maybe. But I have to admit that the new version of Clash of the Titans fills me with rage. How is it that these "stunning" CGI effects are more boring and less convincing than the claymation and stop motion creations from the original? Why are they letting Fiennes reprise his turn as Voldemort in this movie? Why is Zeus wearing medieval armor when this is set in Ancient Greece? Are the djinns this movie's annoying, insulting version of the jive-talking Transformers? Seriously, what focus group decided to add those jerks? How could they possible have made this movie more witless than the original? I grant you, that takes some doing. Neither of them care particularly about faithfulness to the original myth, but the back story of the original still seemed much richer somehow. And the new love interest, "Io" (turned into a cow, right? Ha! NOT IN THIS VERSION!)- man she couldn't act. Bland, bland, bland. I devoted my childhood to studying Greek mythology and other folklore, and apparently the only reward I get for that in contemporary culture is this piece of crap. Don't waste your money on this like I did! Stay far away. >:-(

My thoughts on A TRUE HISTORY OF THE JONESTOWN FLOOD at the Goodman

2010-04-03T17:59:00.004-05:00

I'm always a little confused when everyone seems to absolutely despise a piece that I think is okay. I found the Goodman's production of Ruhl's Passion Play to be tolerable, for example, and in general seem to enjoy a lot of Ruhl's work more than many of my theatre netizen compatriots. I think in general it's because I have a strong affinity for whimsy and the fantastical in theatre. While I can have a decent time at a contemporary realistic piece, it's not the kind of thing I most enjoy seeing. Give me some breaking of the fourth wall, or a dream sequence, or yes, even an inexplicable school of giant fish heads processing majestically across the stage. I'm willing to be beguiled by spectacle, and I would maintain there's nothing wrong with that. I've read a lot on the blogosphere lately crapping on this play, and since I'm between jobs and poor I figured I'd let it pass me by- until the Goodman offered a pretty sweet discount to see it this weekend (thanks, Christianity!) and I saw today's 2 p.m. matinee.

This is going to be pretty scattershot, but that's okay since I'm not trying to be a serious theater reviewer here. I'm just conveying my impressions of it. First, I didn't think it was as dire as I was worried it might be. For one thing, I got to enjoy some Chicago acting peeps that usually aren't allowed on to the Goodman stage in major roles- Cliff Chamberlain (oh Cliff, you'll always be the Tin Man to me), Stephen Louis Grush (hi Stephen! Remember when I ushered for Bernice Bobs Her Mullet? Uh, me neither) and Janet Ulrich Brooks (shining in several supporting roles, and making her Goodman debut? After how many years of kicking ass in the storefront scene? Really? I feel a bit better about never having worked there then).

Also, the scenery was pretty impressive. I think too often those of us who frequent the shoestring-budget storefront scene forget that spectacle is part of Aristotle's Poetics. A piece that employs spectacle to effective ends shouldn't be shunned just because they had money. I sometimes forget that seeing theater is a Pleasure, a leisure activity, and part of that experience can sometimes be the sensual enjoyment of pleasing or impressive sights and sounds. Especially the scenes of devastation near the end of act one and during act 2 were pretty impressive. And kudos to the sound designer for what was a truly awesome sound when the flood waters come crashing down in the darkness near the end of the first act. It reminded me very clearly of a few nightmares I've had about drowning. But enough about me.

That said, I think the play itself has problems. What is it about, exactly? Because to me it seemed like the playwright, Rebecca Gilman, was trying to draw too many themes into her embrace when crafting this piece. To an extent it's kind of about theater itself, and the perpetual tension between the theater that exists solely to entertain and theater that spits on entertainment value and only cares about inciting social change. In some ways I thought it was a daring piece to show at the Goodman, because of the very nature of the Goodman- i.e., when the socialite comes out in the world of the play and thanks all the rich folk who made the theater performance within the play possible, it's hard not to think about the typical demographics of the Goodman subscription audience. A lot of wealthy names are on plaques and listed in programs there. Are all of those same people as generous when it comes to their social responsibilities? Am I as an audience member complicit in similar suffering to the suffering shown in this piece? Which brings me to another 'it's about:' it's also about class warfare, examining the social stratification that literally brought about a situation where the wealthy enjoyed their leisures on high at the (eventually fatal) expense of the toiling masses below. Part of act 2 also seemed like a kind of mini-commercial for the American Red Cross. Some of the pacing is weird- either draggy or too abrupt. For example, near the end of the first act, two characters decide to screw on stage with an abruptness that had several people around me giggling. And then the final scene before the curtain comes down was soooooo drawn out. Almost pointlessly so. And my personal reaction as the curtain fell was "Really? That's how you're ending this play?" It was unsatisfying. Other thoughts:

-So Richard died? I guess?
-Filling the stage with waves as part of that big budget production in Act 2 was cool, but why? What was the point of that scene? It was obscure to me, which is frustrating because I consider myself a fairly discerning individual usually when I see a play. It's kind of about redemption? Maybe? Except to tart up what really happened to these people for the delectation of a paying audience was kind of offensive. Except this play itself for all its pretensions to compassion and really unfolding these events, also tarts up real human suffering for the delectation of a paying audience, of which I was part. Hmm.
-Playwrights, showing us intentionally bad melodrama/acting as plays-within-a-play is not as funny to us as it is to you. Knock it off. Or use it more sparingly.
-"I'm not one of the villains in your plays, Fanny." Except that in my opinion, the son of privilege who won't do the right thing despite his feelings IS a stock character now.

I'm still mulling it over. It wasn't terrible. But I also don't see why Chris Jones saw it as so major that it got its own apologia on his blog after he gave it a lukewarm review.

Feeling nostalgic

2010-03-20T10:02:00.042-05:00

Hello everyone, I'm back. A lot has been going on in the mean time. I also wanted to take another look at this blog and consider the possibility of resuming posting. Promethean's production of "The Last Unicorn" is over, but I still want to be able to communicate with all of you about new developments with the project (and there have been some!), as well as to talk about other things theater and life-related. In the mean time, I wanted to share with you some additional favorite photos of mine from "The Last Unicorn"- these are new ones that we haven't posted online before. All of these photos are copyright 2009 by a friend of mine, Tom McGrath of TCMcG Photography. Enjoy!

Kyla Embrey as The Unicorn considers the possibility that she might be the last of her kind.

Two scholars (Paul G. Miller and Beau Forbes) square off about the physical properties of Unicorns.

The Unicorn leaves her forest and sets out on the Road.

The Butterfly (played by three actors, John A. Lewis, Laura Skokan and Paul G. Miller)

The Unicorn is caught sleeping by Mommy Fortuna (Barbara Berndt) and her Midnight Carnival.

Rukh (Derek Jarvis) shows the gawkers (Jessica Cluess, John A. Lewis and Laura Skokan) the Midgard Serpent while Schmendrick (Nick Lake) and the Unicorn watch.

The Harpy (Christina Gorman) bides her time.

Mommy Fortuna (Barbara Berndt) disguised as Elli, the spirit of Old Age.

Mommy Fortuna to the Unicorn: "I had to give you a horn they could see!"

Even the Harpy thinks Schmendrick's a bad magician.

Freed by Schmendrick (Nick Lake), the Unicorn (Kyla Embrey) shakes off Mommy Fortuna's enchantments.

Rukh (Derek Jarvis) starts to strangle Schmendrick (Nick Lake): "I never did like you. You put on airs, and you're not very strong."

The Harpy (Christina Gorman) escapes (oh crap).

Schmendrick (Nick Lake) tries to remember what he knows about the Red Bull.

Jack Jingly (Beau Forbes) tries out the new password: to call like a giraffe.

Willie Gentle (Laura Skokan) knows he isn't that good a singer.

Schmendrick (Nick Lake) does AAAAAMMMAAAAZIIIING magic tricks!

Schmendrick (Nick Lake) gets intimate with a tree he accidentally brought to life (played by Caitlin Costello, Barbara Berndt and Laura Skokan). "There is no immortality but a tree's love."

A Princess (Caitlin Costello) performs the ritual virgin's Call to a Unicorn while her Prince (Beau Forbes) reads a magazine.

The Red Bull begins to appear.

Prince Lir (played by Brian Pastor)

Amalthea (Kyla Embrey) defeats Mabruk (Derek Jarvis, with extra monster hands by Caitlin Costello and Christina Gorman). Haggard (Jack McCabe) and Lir (Brian Pastor) observe.

As the Unicorn forgets her past and becomes more human, romantic sparks begin to fly between Prince Lir (Brian Pastor) and Lady Amalthea (Kyla Embrey). These photos were taken at one of our dress rehearsals- eventually we made the mark on her forehead a lot smaller and darker, but it's pretty big and red in some of these photos as you can see.

Haggard (Jack McCabe) confronts Amalthea (Kyla Embrey). "Do you still pretend to be human?"

In a flashback, two unicorns dance (Christina Gorman and Beau Forbes) before being trapped by the Red Bull.

Haggard (Jack McCabe) watches the final showdown from his tower.

The Unicorn grieves over Prince Lir's body, ignoring the Red Bull.

The Unicorn visits Schmendrick in his dreams as he, Molly Grue and Lir are sleeping.

At the end, the Unicorn returns to her forest and brings it back to life.

This was an incredible experience for me, and I'm so grateful for the help of everyone that made it possible, as well as to all of you that came and saw it. Thanks!

One more weekend...

2009-11-09T04:29:00.003-06:00

It's been a blast. Thanks so much to all of you that have come and loved the show. Those who haven't yet but have been meaning to- we have one weekend left; we close Saturday 11/14. And there's a bit of exciting news- it looks like we're having the show professionally archived on 11/14 at both performances- so if you come that day, don't mind the two cameras! The final show schedule for (this incarnation of) The Last Unicorn is:

Thursday 11/12 at 8 pm
Friday 11/13 at 8 pm
Saturday 11/14 at 3 pm & 8 pm

I hope to see you there!

More good reviews for "Unicorn"

2009-10-22T07:25:00.001-05:00

We've also heard back from Centerstage Chicago and ChicagoCritic- both of them also really enjoyed "The Last Unicorn." Here are links!

ChicagoCritic.com review

Centerstage Chicago review

Enjoy!

And here's that RAVE review I hoped we'd get...

2009-10-19T22:36:00.004-05:00

And we get a RAVE from Time Out Chicago. Four stars! Here's the link:

Time Out Chicago Review of 'The Last Unicorn.'

Peter S. Beagle also loved it- so much that it's looking like this version might become the official version they license to other companies. Stay tuned for more info on that- nothing's set, but it's pretty exciting!

Thanks so much to everyone that has come to see the show this weekend, and took the time to tell me how much you loved it. I've never had a reaction like this to a show of mine before, and I'm humbled and grateful.

To be fair, the show hasn't been universally adored. One critic in particular has written a really scathing review. What can I say? It's kind of like in the story- not everyone can see a Unicorn. There will always be someone who looks at something unique and magical and just sees a white mare.

But if you're reading this, I think you're one of the people who will really see the Unicorn. Prove me right, and come see the show.

In honor of opening

2009-10-18T01:12:00.011-05:00

I've just gotten home from the opening night of "The Last Unicorn," and I'm a little giddy. Possibly in part from lack of sleep- I hope to remedy that soon. In the meantime, here are some awesome production photos from the show. They were taken by friend of the company TC McGrath. Enjoy!

A preview...

2009-10-04T18:48:00.001-05:00

After rehearsal last Monday some of the actors and I got together and shot a little preview for The Last Unicorn. The sound is a little spotty, but I wanted to give everyone a taste of what's in store, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. We decided to film the scene where Mommy Fortuna encounters and captures the Unicorn for her Midnight Carnival. Check it out!

Works in progress

2009-09-26T10:09:00.002-05:00

Been caught up in rehearsals for a while now, but here's a status update: things are going pretty well. We've finished blocking all of act 1 and are into act 2. Also, things are progressing nicely with the puppets and mask type stuff that I'm working on. Many things are decidedly still works in progress but as we come into the home stretch I'm pretty confident I'll finish on time. Here's a sample of what I've been working on:

First, Kyla who plays the Unicorn and Amalthea, modeling the unicorn head:

It's important to note that she does NOT wear this the whole play see my earlier post on how to represent a unicorn on stage- but we've created an intentionally goofy version of a unicorn head to be the illusory version that Mommy Fortuna enchants the Unicorn with during the Midnight Carnival scene.

Next, I've been making progress on the puppet/icon things for the Robin Hood procession- I'm not finished painting it by a long shot yet, but here's a look at the Maid Marian icon- it's put together enough that you can get the general idea at least:

I'm pretty pleased with how things are progressing, but there's still a lot to be done. I'll keep you posted!

Meet some of our adopted unicorns!

2009-09-03T22:27:00.005-05:00

We launched the "Adopt a Unicorn" donor recognition program in mid-July, and already we've gotten several people who've shown their support for Promethean and The Last Unicorn by donating and receiving unique customized artwork by artist Courtney Thomas. We'll be posting them in the lobby during the run of the show, but I love these so much (great work, Courtney!) that I thought I'd also give you a peek at them here. Enjoy!

Nikos and Mabruk

2009-08-26T20:12:00.009-05:00

I managed to figure out what I was doing wrong (or, at least, what I was doing most wrong) with my digital camera, so I have more visual treats for you. This photo series features two more masks for "The Last Unicorn" (and, in a supporting role, the radiator in my kitchen).

First, I've finished the mask for Mabruk (at least, before he turns into a monster):

I decided to go with really bold color schemes for each of the masks- Mabruk's obviously, is green. I tried to infuse it (especially the brow and the shape of the eyes) with some of the cruelty of the character, to contrast with the other older wizard we see in the story, Nikos:

Nikos is Schmendrick's mentor, and is seen primarily in flashbacks. In my interpretation, he's supposed to be kinder and more melancholy than Mabruk, though the fact that they both will be masked helps heighten their similarities as entities of mystery and power- they have what Schmendrick wants.

Last but not least, I have much better photos of the Mommy Fortuna mask- I decided to give you all another look at the old girl, though it's becoming increasingly likely she won't be used. But the variations in the purple show a lot better under this new camera setting. Enjoy! More info soon.

Blogging here there and everywhere

2009-08-23T21:41:00.002-05:00

One reason I've been blogging here less lately is that I'm actually also working on a blog elsewhere- at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs website. Promethean Theatre Ensemble was chosen to participate in the DCA's Incubator program in August- basically, we have the use of the DCA's Studio Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center downtown to workshop new material. I'm splitting the time with some of my other Promethean compatriots, but I'm workshopping two new-ish scripts of mine. One, "The Peculiar Case of Dorothy Gale" is a sort of creepy-campy take on the Wizard of Oz that reimagines it as an HP Lovecraft story. For more info, check out my blog post about it at the DCA website, here. The other piece is a stage adaptation of several different stories by the author John Collier. For more info on that, please check out my blog post on THAT one at the DCA website here. Most importantly, if you want to see a presentation of what we're working one, we're doing a performance absolutely FREE at the Chicago Cultural Center on Monday 8/31 at 7:30 p.m. in the Studio Theater. Please come check it out! Like I said it's free, but space is a bit limited so I encourage you to make a reservation by clicking here. Thanks!

What this story means to me.

2009-08-05T21:12:00.002-05:00

Why am I adapting and directing this new stage version of "The Last Unicorn?"

Time to get a little personal, and consequently maybe slightly weird.

Like so many of you, the first time I encountered the story of "The Last Unicorn" was via the animated version as a kid. I grew up in Raleigh, NC, and we'd often visit my grandparents in nearby Pinehurst. A frequent activity while visiting was heading down the street to the mom-n-pop video rental place and picking up a movie or two to watch. For a while, I would always insist on the animated version of "The Last Unicorn" being one of them- I'd watch it over and over again. When I was in my early teens, I had a life-changing moment when I found out that there was a NOVEL on which the movie was based (I was a voracious reader of fantasy novels back then; I was kind of stupefied that I had never found the novel before). So I devoured that, and it's been one of my favorite books ever since; I've owned several copies of it (including one that I loaned to a famous director...who never gave it back. She knows who she is. It's ok, I bought another copy. Eventually.) I remember being tremendously excited when, as a freshman in high school, I found a VHS copy of the movie version for sale while I was in Toronto. So the story and its characters have been with me most of my life- certainly as far back as I can remember. I really connected with a lot of the themes even as a kid- I knew a lot about what it was like to want to be spectacular but to sometimes fall short (like Schmendrick, and even poor Mommy Fortuna). I understood what it was like to feel uncomfortable in my own skin, like Amalthea. That theme of transformation has always been an important part of stories that compel me- whether The Last Unicorn, the ORIGINAL version of The Little Mermaid, Swan Lake, or even werewolf movies (which I also find awesome.) I later went on to appreciate many other works by Peter S. Beagle- but "The Last Unicorn" is special to me. It's a story that won't leave me alone- as a director I feel like it's something I almost have to get out of my system before I move on to other projects. Not that this won't be a pleasure to direct- I am obsessed with this story and can't wait to share it with everyone on stage, (i.e., on my turf as a theatre artist). Also, it's a great chance to connect with other people who love this story as much as I do- I will probably be at most of the performances, and I would love to speak with any and all of you to whom this great story means as much as it does to me.

It's a fella's prerogative to change his mind...

2009-08-03T22:01:00.003-05:00

....ah, rewrites. As we've been working to make this new adaptation of "The Last Unicorn" as strong as possible in the past few months, we've found that many of the choices I made in previous drafts have had to fall by the wayside. I thought I'd mention one of the biggies here so you aren't too shocked when you see it:

We've decided we want the same actress to play both Amalthea and the Unicorn.

I know, I know- I had planned on them being played by different actresses. In fact, you may recall I did an entire post explaining in detail why that was a good idea. Well, several rewrites and table reads later I've come to a different point of view. I think that it helps the audience (especially audience members who aren't as familiar with the story) to be following one actress as the protagonist across the entire performance. It gives the Unicorn a stronger emotional arc and makes the audience more invested in their journey if they don't have to overcome that mental hurdle of having a completely different body playing the role for most of Act 2. Having one actress play both has its own challenges -we now have a pretty fast quick change to pull off near the end of the show, for one- but one of the benefits is we get to further utilize the talents of ensemble member Kyla Embrey- who I already knew was going to be a fabulous Amalthea, but am now pleased to announce will be playing both roles. Yay Kyla!

Another change- we have completed casting for "Unicorn," and I'm very pleased with the team we've assembled. One post on this blog discussed mask design for Mommy Fortuna. Originally I had thought that we weren't going to find an age-appropriate actress for the role- in fact, we may have wound up with one of the talented but decidedly twentysomething ladies of our ensemble in the role- thus the mask. I was delighted to have some fantastic age-appropriate ladies audition, and now that one of them has joined the cast as Mommy Fortuna, I'm thinking the mask is less necessary. Haven't made the decision for sure, yet, but I think we'll figure it out pretty quickly in rehearsals.

What can I say? It's a fella's prerogative to change his mind. : - )

Inspirational Music, part 5: The Hazards of Love

2009-07-18T23:44:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate some music that I've been listening a lot to lately, especially as I head into final rewrites for the show and seek inspiration for stage pictures, etc: the new album by The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love.

What can I say? I'd never really listened to the band at all, but I heard this album reviewed on NPR, and it sounded kind of neat, so I went on youtube and listened to some of the full tracks that people had posted. Finally, I bought the album* at Border's** and have been listening to it pretty obsessively over the last month or so.

It's a concept album- probably one of the reasons I'm so into it is that it tells a cool fantasy story that involves shapeshifting (like The Last Unicorn!). In this case, the heroine of the story, Margaret, is riding in the forest when she encounters a snow white faun, wounded and trapped in the underbrush. She tries to free it, but the faun transforms into a handsome young man, and they, um...(blushes). So it turns out she gets pregnant, and she wanders into the forest to find the young man again. They meet and set up house together in a one of the forest bowers- but complications ensue. The reason the man is a shapeshifter is that he's the adopted 'son' of the Forest Queen- a Titiania-like force of nature that has absolute dominion over the forest. She's also fiercely jealous and overprotective of him and sees Margaret as a threat. In order to get her out of the way, she enlists the help of the Rake- a wandering womanizer, rapist and child murderer (he killed his three kids after his wife died because they were making it too difficult for him to put the moves on the ladies. He's not very nice in other words) who is only too glad to despoil and destroy our heroine. So the shapeshifter guy has to cross a terribly dangerous river to rescue his true love. Here are some tracks for you to listen to, with a bit of explanation about each. If you like what you hear, I strongly encourage you to download the album- we should use our cash to encourage this band to make more art like this!

First, the song The Wanting Comes in Waves- it's a conversation song between William, the shapeshifter, and his 'mother' the Forest Queen. The refrain of it actually gets me a little weepy, and it's a pretty cool tune that forwards the plot- he basically tries to bargain with his mother to be allowed at least one night of happiness with his love.

Second, the Rake's Song- this is the song the villain sings that introduces us to him. It's a lot of fun and also horrifying at the same time.

Third, the Queen's Rebuke. This is the first song I ever heard from this album, and it's AWESOME. The group got a guest artist (Shara Worden, of My Brightest Diamond) to sing the character, and she really gets to kick some ass during this song. It also fooled me- it made me think this band was really metal sounding, but apparently this is an unusual sound for them. In this song, the Queen appears to talk with the Rake once he's kidnapped Margaret.

OK, last one I promise- Annan Water. Remember that dangerous river I told you about- in the Queen's Rebuke the Queen works magic to get the Rake and Margaret across, but William is still stuck without a way to cross- and apparently this river is SUPER dangerous- like so full of rapids and whirlpools that there's no way to safely cross through conventional methods. So William sings this song in which he bargains with the river- telling the river that if it will calm and allow him to pass, he'll allow the river to claim him after he saves his true love. And the river hears him and agrees. This song gets me choked up a bit too- the part where he actually prays ("And if you calm...and let me pass...") is really pretty.

So that's all I'll post here, but I really encourage you to check it out- there's more awesomeness on this album than can be contained in a single blog post.

P.S.- tickets to "The Last Unicorn" went on sale July 15th. To reserve tickets either buy online at www.prometheantheatre.org or call (773) 305-2897!

*Music executives: my story is why you are idiots for being overly restrictive and litigious about posting of songs online....in this case my ability to listen online led to me paying you money!
**who are discontinuing CD sales! Stupid move, Border's, no more of my money will you get!

Why I'm not a photographer, the sequel.

2009-07-14T20:23:00.006-05:00

Would you like to see the mask I made for Mommy Fortuna? Of course you would. Sorry the photos came out so blurry! The mask is actually a lot more purple than in these pictures. The idea I'm playing with currently is that each of the three older magic users in the play will go masked- Mommy Fortuna's dominant mask color would be a deep purple, Mabruk's mask would be a deep green, and Nikos's mask (due to connection with Schmendrick) would be some kind of blue. We'll see how that develops. We had auditions this past weekend, and the downside of building a mask before you cast a show is that the actress you find might not necessarily be able to wear it. Well, if that's the case, I'll just make a new one- and I'll have a pretty cool extra witch mask. In the meantime, enjoy the photos!

Also...tickets go on sale for "The Last Unicorn" tomorrow! I know the show's not till October, but I wanted people who might want to plan to travel to see the show- especially when Peter S. Beagle's there opening weekend on 10/17 and 10/18- to be able to plan way in advance. Speaking of which- those two performances are likely to fill up pretty fast. If you're planning on seeing Peter at the show you ought to get tickets to those performances soon.

Bwahahaha!

2009-07-09T05:45:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone. Sorry I'm so sluggish about posting- things have started to get really busy on my end. We had another reading of the script last night, and I got some good feedback as I head into what will probably be my last rewrite of the script. We're also having auditions this weekend (interested Chicago actors, check the Promethean website for details!). I'm hoping to step up my posting frequency soon, but in the mean time, here's a little video courtesy of Adult Swim that almost made me spray my computer screen. Enjoy!

Building an FAQ

2009-06-18T05:00:00.003-05:00

One thing I've been thinking about as we get ready for "The Last Unicorn" is what information people who might be interested in seeing the show would need to know if they visited our website. With that in mind I've been working on an FAQ to add to the site. Take a look- do any of you have questions about the show that aren't being answered here?

FAQ for The Last Unicorn

“The Last Unicorn?” What the heck is this?

This is a staged adaptation of “The Last Unicorn,” the beloved fantasy novel by Peter S. Beagle, adapted to the stage by Ed Rutherford and presented by Promethean Theatre Ensemble.

“The Last Unicorn.” You mean the animated movie?

Nope. The animated version was an adaptation of the novel as well. Peter S. Beagle wrote the screenplay for that, so it is a well done and fairly faithful screen adaptation, but it is distinct from the novel. This is a stage adaptation of the novel and doesn’t draw on the movie version at all.

Why are you doing this adaptation?

Our adapter and director, Ed Rutherford, is a fanatic for this story. He loves it, thinks you would love it, and wants anyone and everyone to experience it. Since he’s a theatre artist, his preferred way to share this story with everyone is through live performance. The script he has developed is also an excellent fit with our company’s mission.

Is it true that Peter S. Beagle is coming to see the show?

Yes! We’ve already made arrangements for him to attend opening weekend. He will be at the opening night performance, Saturday 10/17 at 8 p.m., and at the Sunday 3 p.m. matinee the next day (10/18). He’ll also participate in a post show discussion

I want to find out more about the original story. How do I buy the book (or the movie)?

We’re so glad you enjoyed it! Please click here for more information on ordering books or DVDs.

How did you get permission to do this?

This production is being offered as a one-time event by special arrangement with Conlan Press and with Peter S. Beagle’s approval.

Can I license a production?

UPDATED- Yes, this is now possible! If you are interested please email lastunicornchicago@yahoo.com.

Let’s talk nuts and bolts. How long is the show?

The show runs about two hours and thirty minutes (subject to change- we haven‘t finished rehearsals yet!), including a fifteen minute intermission about halfway through.

When are performances?

The show runs from October 16-November 14, with performances Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. Official opening is on Saturday 10/17 at 8 p.m., so there is no Saturday matinee that day.

How can I get tickets?

Starting July 15, you can go here to buy tickets online. You can also make a reservation by phone by calling (773) 305-2897. Please wait until July 15- we can’t honor phone reservations made prior to that date.

Where is the performance space?

City Lit is located at 1020 W Bryn Mawr Ave in Chicago, on the 2nd floor of Edgewater Presbyterian Church.

How do we get to your performance space?

The venue is very accessible to public transportation; the Bryn Mawr Red Line el stop is only a couple of blocks away, and the Sheridan and Broadway bus lines make stops near the venue as well. The venue is very close to the Bryn Mawr exit on Lake Shore Drive too. Parking in the immediate area of the theatre is metered and can be difficult to find; for those who are driving, we recommend the following options:

-Look for parking in the residential area west of Broadway. Parking there is free and relatively easy to find, and it’s still a pretty short walk east to the theatre.
-For evening performances only, valet parking is available across the street through Francesca’s, the Italian restaurant across the street at 1039 W. Bryn Mawr. Their fee is $8; let them know you’re there to see a show at City Lit Theater. While their food is excellent and we highly recommend them, dining at their restaurant isn’t required. Make sure you pick your car up before 11 p.m.

Unicorns? This is a kid’s show, right?

No! This piece (and its humor) is designed for grownups to enjoy, with grownup themes and ideas. It isn’t children’s theatre.

But is it still appropriate for my kids?

We welcome kids, but they must have their own ticket and be able to behave appropriately during the show. As far as potentially offensive content goes: the d-word and the h-word do get used a few times, and some of the scenes (with the Harpy or the Red Bull, for example) may be a little intense or violent for very young children. Otherwise it’s pretty kid-safe.

This project is beyond awesome. I want to support it. How can I help out?

We hope you’ll consider Adopting a Unicorn. (more on this in a later post!)

A leetle announcement....

2009-06-14T20:58:00.008-05:00

Hey everyone,
Sorry it's been a while since the last post. I've been helping to get Measure for Measure closed first. Also, this past weekend we had auditions to figure out who in Promethean's ensemble is going to be in The Last Unicorn. And we've decided! Without further ado, let me introduce you to...

Kyla Embrey- she'll be playing Amalthea and others.

Derek Jarvis- he'll be playing Captain Cully and others.

Nick Lake- he'll be playing Schmendrick.

Brian Pastor- he'll be playing Lir and others.

They and approximately ten other awesome actor/storytellers (auditions in July!) will be helping tell this great story. Stay tuned for more info!

What was Mabruk about to do?

2009-05-31T10:30:00.001-05:00

I wanted to talk real quick about another moment from "The Last Unicorn" that I've been working on: Mabruk. As a reminder, he's the old evil wizard that Haggard already has in his employ when Schmendrick, the Unicorn and Molly arrive at the castle. When Haggard realizes that despite Mabruk's undeniable power he actually might be made happier by Schmendrick's incompetence, Mabruk is summarily dismissed. Mabruk isn't happy about that- so he starts to work some terrible magic to get revenge. Now, the question (not really answered in the book) is, what exactly was Mabruk going to do? He gets interrupted by Amalthea, so we never find out. This is one of the parts of the play where I think a little mask and puppet design would help:

First you can see the mask- this is an old sketch and though I like the bushy eyebrows I might not include the moustache- I'm thinking I want to use the same mask for both Nikos (yes, Nikos actually appears onstage in this adaptation!) and Mabruk- just use different beards. So I can highlight similarities between the two- both are masters of the trade to which Schmendrick aspires- just one is nice, and one is...not-so-nice.

As you might be able to tell from the sketch, here's my idea for what Mabruk was about to do- in our adaptation, he turns himself into a huge, horrible monster. He's vindictive enough that he wants to get his revenge on Haggard personally. So we've got these monster arms I've started work on that other actors will manipulate, while we give the actor playing Mabruk a little extra height as well by hoisting him up. The third component of this moment is some sort of monstrous face that Mabruk will put on as well- a second mask on top of the first one. I'm still mulling over what I want it to look like, but I'll post a sketch when I've decided. Cool, huh?

Cut Scene Comic 5: A Hero is Born

2009-05-26T22:05:00.005-05:00

At long last, here is the (probably final) cut scene comic: A Hero is Born. It's about Hagsgate, and Lir. It made me a bit melancholy to work on this one, because it signifies something some of you may have already been suspecting: we had to cut Hagsgate from the script. I felt bad about it, but there is precedent- Peter also cut that sequence from the animated version too. Anyway, we'll all know what was really going on with Lir's backstory. This comic will be in the lobby of the show too, to give the audience more detail during intermission if they want. Here goes:

Cha-ching!

2009-05-20T07:14:00.002-05:00

Good news! I got my actual grant check from the city of Chicago today. That means I can go out and buy the materials I need to keep working on the puppets and masks for "The Last Unicorn." Preparations continue apace. In the meantime, here's a deeper look at the current project my company's working on- a scene clip (video by Jill Vanc) of Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure."

In this scene, Angelo (Brian Pastor) puts the moves on Isabella (Beth Wolf). Enjoy!

"Measure for Measure"

2009-05-17T07:43:00.008-05:00

Last night we just had a lovely opening for Promethean's current show, "Measure for Measure." I'm not in this one, but have been working on it extensively behind the scenes and am really pleased with it. Thought I'd share some additional photos from the show (taken by Radim Rotek) here:

A few fun photos

2009-05-12T22:30:00.005-05:00

Hey everybody,
So I continue to study mask and puppet making, and I wanted to share with you some of the results my training is yielding- first, the butterfly puppet- the photo quality isn't great, but it should give you an idea of what it looks like. This is probably the actual puppet we'll use in the show:

It's pretty looking and also very sturdy (believe me, I've tried to shake it apart) but it also has a simple enough design that you can figure out its component parts, which is important to me in this case since simplicity of design is part of my theatre company's mission.

Here are two masks- a Butterfly and a Satyr- that I've also been building in mask class.

They probably won't be used in "The Last Unicorn," - or at least, not in this production of it- but I'm really pleased with how they came out. I've started initial clay sculpting to build the shape of the Mommy Fortuna mask next- I look forward to showing you those results as well!

"The Last Unicorn" Salute

2009-05-08T22:06:00.002-05:00

As Promethean Theatre Ensemble has continued to prepare for "The Last Unicorn," a certain gesture has begun to be used more and more often. I'll do by best to describe it here. We used it more before we announced the season, especially if we needed to refer to the show among people to whom the show had to remain confidential. Even after we announced the season, this gesture has continued to be in use. Without further ado, the Last Unicorn Salute:

1) Put your fist up to the center of your forehead

2) Keeping your fist there, point your pointer finger out away from your head like a unicorn horn.

3) Gesture with the 'horn' out away from your face, in sort of a "To the moon, Alice!" gesture.

Yeah, I know, it's a little dorky, but it entertains me.

If you really want to crack me up when you see me at the show, do that gesture.

Robin Hood and his Merry Men

2009-05-07T16:00:00.001-05:00

Things are proceeding nicely with preparations of the masks and puppets for "The Last Unicorn." The Butterfly is completed- I wound up making some alterations to the design- and now that I have a digital camera at my disposal I'll be posting a photo here shortly (look for it later this week). In the mean time, I want to examine another design that I've been wrestling with for a while now- how best to represent the scene where Schmendrick accidentally conjures up Robin Hood and his Merry Men at Captain Cully's camp. Their procession has to have something special about it- more than just actors in costumes. There has to be an element of arresting spectacle to it. So for each of the Robin Hood characters we need to represent (Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Alan a Dale, Little John, and Will Scarlet are the ones we chose. Sorry Friar Tuck!), I decided to create a sort of puppet that's a lot more like a processional banner that the puppeteer carries than anything else. Here's the initial design (which has since changed):

This was before I knew for sure that we'd be in City Lit- it's a lovely, intimate space, with the downside that the hallways backstage are pretty narrow and the ceiling is pretty low. So instead of these medieval banners, I decided to convert them to icons that are carried/brandished by the actors holding them. The body, instead of free canvas, will be stretched canvas on a wood frame. In the original design, I was going to use styrofoam wig heads painted over for the faces on top, but it was pointed out to me by my mask and puppetry instructor that that's a little bit shoddy, especially since he's just finished teaching me how to build several different kinds of masks. So instead we may go with some sort of simply, unadorned cardboard/papier machet or Venitian style mask above each image. Regardless, the faces should be relatively featureless and blank- the real detail and specificity comes from what's shown on the icon/banner below:

The idea is that each icon should be an illuminated page of text, from a medieval tale of Robin Hood. Each page deals with the character that the puppet/icon represents. What I actually put is going to be dictated by room, but since it's a little hard to read I'll put here what's written in the sketches:

Robin Hood:
"Robin Hood knew then that the Sheriff has penetrated his disguise. Removing his false beard, he once again bravely took aim at the target. Once again, he easily pierced the bullseye, and immediately drew his sword and called for his merry men."

Maid Marian:
"Maid Marian moved silently through the forest towards the glen inhabited by Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Her heart beat fiercely as she stealthily stole through the shadows. Would she reach her love in time to warn him of the Sheriff's plan?"

Little John:
"Little John stood astride the bridge. 'None may pass,' he said. Robin approached and said, 'If I best you in single combat, will you allow us to pass safely?' 'Aye,' the Giant rumbled."

Alan-a-Dale:
"Alan-a-Dale began to play his lute. At once, the Sheriff and his men dropped their weapons and began to yawn. Soon they were all fast asleep. Being merciful, Robin ordered his Merry Men to leave them unharmed where they lay."

Will Scarlet:
"Will Scarlet merrily juggled his daggers as the Sheriff's men approached. With a flick of his wrist, one of the men fell down with a dagger in his heart. 'Fine sport today, eh Robin,' Will called joyfully.

I bought the stretched canvas yesterday, and I'm excited to see how these work out!

Why I'm not a photographer

2009-04-23T21:18:00.007-05:00

Sorry posting here has been a bit sluggish of late. I'm very busy helping work on marketing and PR for Promethean's latest show, "Measure for Measure." Actually, we just took some initial publicity photos last night. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm light years away from being anything even remotely resembling a professional photographer, but I'm also pretty pleased with the results. Advice for other theatre companies who need to take press photos but have no idea how to really use a digital camera:

1) The flash is your ENEMY. If you use it your pictures will look especially amateurish. It's impossible to do anything interesting with light when the flash is on.

2) It's worth investing in some way to keep your camera steady so you can do a longer exposure without blurring. Ideally your photographer should have hands still enough that they could do surgery. I lost way too many shots to blurriness because my hands are Shaky McShakington. We didn't have a tripod so finally I had to sort of lean the camera against a table to keep it steady!

3) I'm now officially sold on digital cameras being the wave of the future- see below. If *I* can get results this decent, anyone can with a little patience and care.

Without further ado, here are the three publicity photos we've chosen. I've decided they act out a little story. For your entertainment, I'd added captions. By the way, the two actors are our leads, Beth Wolf as Isabella and Brian Pastor as Angelo. Will they also be in an upcoming play I'm directing involving a mythical animal??? I'm not telling. : - )

Picture One:

Isabella: "Dear Lord, please make Angelo spare my brother."

Picture Two:

Angelo: "Sure I'll spare your brother. As long as you >whisper whisper whisper<...."

Picture Three:

Isabella: "As long as I say WHAT now?!"

Promethean's season four...bet you can guess one of them.

2009-04-13T20:26:00.002-05:00

Promethean Theatre Ensemble officially has officially announced its fourth season, so I guess the cat is out of the bag. That we were doing "The Last Unicorn" this fall was (thanks to my big mouth plus this blog) pretty much the worst-kept-secret in the whole darn city, but hopefully by the time the box office opens it'll be an even worse kept secret! I want everyone who cares about this story as much as I do to have a chance to see it. Please spread the word.

Accompanying "The Last Unicorn" will be the company's first musical ever! "The Fantasticks!" I know what you might think- why are we doing such a well-known, conventional musical? A lot of us thought that before we reviewed the script during season selection. Actually, this musical is an excellent fit with both our company and our mission statement. I highly recommend reading the script if you've never encountered the piece before (or, perhaps, only encountered it via bad high school productions) -is has a really poetic, wise take on human interaction that I find to be alternately amusing, moving and deeply profound. While the story we will collaborate with our audience to tell is in this case an old one- boy meets girl, boy loves girl, complications ensue- the way the story is told is so classy, so wistful, so truthful that once we all had read it it was difficult to resist. There's a downside to picking this piece- it is very popular and in fact our production will be in slight competition with one of the bigger fish in town- but fortunately the productions won't be exactly simultaneous, and I think our company can bring a very different flavor and perspective to the piece. And I say that with respect and affection for our 'competitors'- the other company doing this next year I consider to be good friends of mine and they do excellent work. But come see ours too. It will be differently awesome.

Last but not least is our THIRD SHOW. That's right, we're doing three next year, beatches! While other companies shrink in fear, we've decided that now is not the time to be lily-livered. Nothing ventured nothing gained. And on that note, our third piece is...
(drum roll)

SPRING AWAKENING. No, not the musical. The play. You know, the original piece written by Frank Wedekind that the musical is based on? Having read the play AND seen the musical- trust me, the musical is the one that's sugarcoating things. Come see our version if you want to know why this play was REALLY banned in the late 1800s!

Well, that's it for now. I know I'm pumped. Are you? : - )

OMG! ROTFLMAOLOL

2009-04-12T04:00:00.002-05:00

Bask in the sugary goodness, Charlie....

Now don't think I'll post just any video on here, just 'cause it has a Unicorn in it! Um...

Hm....

What is the Red Bull? : Cut Scene Comics 4

2009-04-08T19:19:00.005-05:00

I have to confess something: I cheated on this one. Of Course the Red Bull is in this production. But he's described in Mr. Beagle's prose in very vivid terms that we likely won't be able to narrate. I also found it difficult to resist drawing the image in this one as it popped into my head. Here goes:

In case you don't feel like craning your neck sideways (and upside down) to read the text, here's what I put in:

The Moon (the left "horn")

"The unicorn crouched awake waiting to see the vast form of the Red Bull come charging out of the Moon. She caught his smell, a dark, sly reek easing through the night, reaching out to find her..."

The Demon (the right "horn")
written on the contract:

"It is the Devil, to whom Haggard sold his soul. It is the thing he sold his soul to possess."

The Terrible Light (the left "eye")

"He was the color of blood. A terrible light poured from him like sweat."

The Swirling Darkness (the right "eye")

"A swirling darkness, the red darkness you see when you close your eyes in pain."

And then, Outlining its Face:

"You can find the others if you are brave. They passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints. His firstling bull has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them he will push your people, all of them, to the ends of the earth."

and:

"The Red Bull of King Haggard. So you know of the Bull. Well, he'll not have you."

Finally, the text in back should be pretty clear, but just in case, it's Haggard's description of the Bull, except in the first person:

"I Serve Anyone Who Has No Fear."

Some people I've shown this to see the Bull right away, but some people have thought that the Demon is supposed to be the Red Bull, and don't see what all the images add up to until I point it out to them. Can you see it? I just love the idea of this vast head coalescing out of all these different elements, with the Unicorn a tiny threatened shadow just beneath it. I hope you all enjoy it.

Fantastic news!

2009-04-04T14:38:00.002-05:00

I was notified yesterday that I have received the grant I applied for from the City of Chicago to train with Jeff Semmerling and learn how to build the puppets and masks for "The Last Unicorn!" This is a tremendous opportunity for me and a great relief to know that I've got the support I need to make my sketches and ideas a reality. I guess my analysis of the panel discussion of my application that I attended was pretty accurate! I've already been training with Jeff since January, and I've learned a lot, but now I'll be confident in being able to continue my journey.

Also...I finished building the butterfly puppet today. We had some changes to the design from the initial sketch-for one thing, instead of text on the wings I decided to with a sort of threatening eye pattern- but I'm pretty pleased with the result. I'll be showing it to the rest of the company at our next ensemble meeting, and hopefully I can get a photo of it posted soon. In the meantime- in case you haven't checked the Promethean website lately, we've got another show coming up: our production of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. I'm not in it, but I'm helping market and promote it and I'm pretty excited about it- I think it's going to be really good. I actually put together a sort of mini trailer for it that I've posted on youtube- I'll embed it below, and you should see it up on the Promethean website in a bit. Also, some of the our ensemble members in this show will also definitely be in "The Last Unicorn"- so come and scope them out early! Here's the trailer:

A Failure's Spellbook: Cut Scene Comics 3

2009-03-31T20:33:00.003-05:00

Here's the latest. As I said before, these comics focus on bits of the novel that we won't have time to incorporate into the play, or will have to approach differently. This comic celebrates the spells Schmendrick casts in the book that we had to cut, or will be able to surprise you by doing differently. Would love to hear what everyone thinks in the comments!

P.S.- Hi mom. Love you!

A Spider Weeping: Cut Scene Comics 2

2009-03-20T21:57:00.000-05:00

The inspiration was really flowing this week- here's another bit/character that I think is pretty cool in the novel that we won't be able to fully show onstage. I always feel like this character kind of gets a raw deal in the novel too. Without further ado:

A Slight Moral Edge: Cut Scene Comics 1

2009-03-17T19:11:00.000-05:00

One thing that quickly became clear to me as I was working on the first draft of my "The Last Unicorn" script was that I wasn't going to be able to include every single scene. Some of them had to fall by the wayside. To help remedy that, I'm starting Cut Scene Comics- a few one-page comics, hand drawn by myself, that help fill in the gaps in the story while also promoting the show. Feel free to circulate- I'd love all fans of "The Last Unicorn" to see these. This is the scene from the novel where the Unicorn and Schmendrick are spotted by a blue jay.

Sitting in on your own grant evaluation is awkward.

2009-03-12T21:31:00.000-05:00

But incredibly enlightening. Today I took off work because the DCA was reviewing my CAAP grant application in a public meeting session at the Chicago Cultural Center. The grant is for training with master mask maker and puppeteer Jeff Semmerling to improve my skills at making masks and puppets to build the stuff we'll need for "The Last Unicorn." (I blogged about it a bit earlier here.) I've actually started training with Jeff already and I'm learning a lot (I've got a couple of masks built but have to paint them; I'll be sure to upload photos once they're done. These aren't masks for "The Last Unicorn," but I think my next couple of masks will be used in "Unicorn" if they come out good enough.) Everyone's application for this grant is evaluated by a panel of artists and voted on- and their discussion of every application is public! Anyone who wants to can sit in, and if you show up at the right time you'll hear your own application discussed. While I was a bit nervous about that at first (especially in light of the fact that while I was there, I was decidedly the only observer), it wound up being a tremendously helpful process. I learned a lot about what actually gets discussed by the evaluators in the room- here's some general tips:

- Always be as specific as possible in a grant application. Don't just say what you want to accomplish, be very specific about how you'll accomplish it.
-Avoid hyperbole, but be upbeat and positive. Beware the cliche answer that you can all too easily imagine every other grant applicant using.
-Theatre is a moving, breathing medium. If a grant lets you submit a work sample, as a theatre artist you are making a MUCH stronger case for yourself if you submit video instead of photos.
-And above all: if you plan to use a CAAP grant to fund new headshots, know that many, many, MANY other people are applying for exactly the same thing, and that the CAAP grant isn't necessarily geared very well towards funding that kind of purchase. I swear, I was only there a couple of hours and at least half of the applications were for new headshots! Hooray for whatever two people out of the vast pool of identical applications actually wind up getting a grant for that, but it's not a good way to stand out.

After hearing the discussion of my project, I feel a lot more confident about my chances- hearing the discussion helped me gain confidence in my ability to write a grant application well, and speak clearly and confidently about by goals and the steps I'm taking to achieve them. Most of what they had to say about my application seemed to be very positive- I don't know if any of them were being diplomatic because I was in the room, but I got a really good vibe. Maybe they were just relieved that I wasn't asking for funding for new headshots. I also got a few items I should consider for improving future grant applications. We'll see what happens- the discussion is public but their actual votes and rating are private, and I only got to see a very small portion of the total discussion. Still, it looks like I decidedly remain in the running. Keep your fingers crossed for me! And thanks to the DCA for letting its applicants sit in. I wish everyone whose application was evaluated that day had been there; it would have been tremendously instructive.

Inspirational(ly Creepy) Music, part 4: The Harpy

2009-03-10T18:55:00.001-05:00

I'm hoping we'll have found a sound designer and composer soon for "The Last Unicorn," but in the mean time I keep thinking my own thoughts. So I'm thinking about the Harpy, and there's two pieces of music that work really good for incidental music along with her scenes- so try these on for size.

The first is from an animated movie- the whole track is good, but I was thinking the first 1:17 of it work well for when the Harpy is first seen.

And then, the second is from a video game, of all places! But I think it works great for when the Harpy is freed and destroys the Midnight Carnival.

Do any of you have music you feel like works great for "The Last Unicorn." Let me know in the comments below. Music from the movie is cheating!

Haggard

2009-02-25T20:47:00.000-06:00

Our ensemble is made up of some enthusiastic and committed performers in their 20s. Many of them will most likely wind up in the cast of "The Last Unicorn." But there's one character that I'm sure will have to come from outside our ensemble (as well as several others; Chicago area actors keep an eye out for audition notices!): someone that HAS to be much older and more experienced than the other characters with whom he shares the stage: King Haggard.

This character is very special- he doesn't show up until (in our adaptation) act two, but once he appears he dominates. It's a tough role to cast and a tough role to play- here are some passages from the novel in which he's described:

"Where all the hills are lean as knives,
And nothing grows, not leaves nor lives;
Where hearts are sour as boiled beer-
Haggard is the ruler here."

"He is an old man, stingy as late November, who rules over a barren land by the sea. Some say that the land was green and soft once, before Haggard came, but he touched it and it withered. There is a saying among farmers, when they look on a field lost to fire or locusts or the wind: As 'blighted as Haggard's heart.' They say that there are no lights in his castle, and no fires...."

"He walks in Hagsgate at night, not often, but now and then. Many of us have seen him- tall Haggard, gray as driftwood, prowling alone under an iron moon, picking up dropped coins, broken dishes, spoons, stones, handkerchiefs, rings, stepped-on apples; anything, everything, no reason to it."

And from his own lips:
"Now I must be old- at least I have picked many more things up than I had then, and put them all down again. But I always knew that nothing was worth the investment of my heart, because nothing lasts, and I was right, and so I was always old."

Quite a lot for an actor to live up to. To be someone grim and utterly bored with life, yet somehow magnetic: bored but not boring. A tough challenge, but when we have auditions hopefully we'll find the right actor. One idea I had for Haggard is for him to wear a crown made of gray paper, maybe even newsprint- why would someone to whom wealth is meaningless, who takes no pleasure even in power, care about the trappings of royalty?

A Confession

2009-02-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

I have a confession to make. One that may shock you, considering. OK, deep breath, here goes:

"The Last Unicorn" is actually not my favorite book by Peter S. Beagle.

Now don't misunderstand me, I think "The Last Unicorn" is a masterpiece. I grew up on both it and the animated movie and it will always have a special place in my heart. But as I got older I moved on to devour most of Peter S. Beagle's other works as well, and I have to tell you, this is my favorite one:

What can I say about it? The (extremely oversimplified) premise: Three women who are infinitely more than they seem gather at an inn to help their elderly wizard friend. One is a storyteller, a warrior and a sailor. One seems to be a woman fled from a deadly monastery that will do anything to punish her for forsaking her vows. And one is as pale and strange as death itself. Throw in a man who can transform into a fox (or is a fox who can transform into a man? Or something else entirely?), otherworldly spirits, great dialogue, love that is stronger than death but not stronger than memory, and a host of other nifty things, and you'll only begin to scratch the surface of why I consider this book to be terrific. You see, there's just so much WORLD in it! You can feel the world in which the novel is set (and it is not even remotely like our world) overflowing and spilling past the pages- you can see thousands of other stories set in the world sneaking around just outside your line of sight as you read. Peter has gone on to write many more stories set in the same world as The Innkeeper's Song, and he's perfectly right to do so- the world he creates in this first novel is so vivid and alive that it must have been begging to be used again.

Why, you might ask, aren't you adapting "The Innkeeper's Song" to the stage?

Well, here's the other thing I love about it- it's told from a billion different points of view- pretty much the entire book is in first person, but the perspective shifts every chapter (or every few pages, and sometimes more than once per page)- you get an in depth prose examination of how just about every character, no matter how minor, experiences the events of the plot. It's awesome, but it's also not really suited to dramatic adaptation. I think it's just about a perfect fantasy novel, and to adapt it into another form would mar too much of what makes the novel great in the first place. While there's definitely a lot of prose I admire that isn't going to be able to fit into the stage version of "The Last Unicorn," "Unicorn" lends itself a lot more to the stage in my opinion. So if you haven't yet, I highly recommend giving "The Innkeeper's Song" a read as well- those of you who love "The Last Unicorn" won't regret it.

Allow me to introduce...and a cool announcement

2009-02-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

It's possible that some of you who are fans of Promethean (or are only familiar with the movie version of "The Last Unicorn") don't really know much about the author, Peter S. Beagle. Here's a brief bio, courtesy of his business manager, Connor Cochran:

Peter S. Beagle was born in New York City in 1939 and raised in the borough of that city known as the Bronx. He originally proclaimed he would be a writer when 10 years old: subsequent events have proven him either prescient or even more stubborn than hitherto suspected. Today, thanks to classic works such as A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE, THE LAST UNICORN, TAMSIN, and THE INNKEEPER'S SONG, he is acknowledged as America's greatest living fantasy author; and his dazzling abilities with language, characters, and magical storytelling have earned him many millions of fans around the world.

In addition to stories and novels Peter has written numerous teleplays and screenplays, including the animated versions of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE LAST UNICORN, plus the fan-favorite “Sarek” episode of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. His nonfiction book I SEE BY MY OUTFIT, which recounts a 1963 journey across America on motor scooter, is considered a classic of American travel writing; and he is also a gifted poet, lyricist, and singer/songwriter.

“Two Hearts,” Peter’s sequel story to THE LAST UNICORN, won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

2009 will see a veritable flood of new Peter S. Beagle publishing, including the story collection WE NEVER TALK ABOUT MY BROTHER from Tachyon; a manga-style graphic adaptation of THE LAST UNICORN from EigoManga; and numerous titles from Conlan Press, including two new novels (SUMMERLONG and I’M AFRAID YOU’VE GOT DRAGONS), a STAR TREK memoir (WRITING SAREK), an essay collection, (SMÉAGOL, DÉAGOL, AND BEAGLE: ESSAYS FROM THE HEADWATER OF MY VOICE) three story collections (THE FIRST LAST UNICORN AND OTHER BEGINNINGS; FOUR YEARS, FIVE SEASONS; and THREE FACES OF THE LADY), plus audiobook releases of many of his titles.

For more information on Peter and his works, see www.peterbeagle.com or www.conlanpress.com.

Oh, and one other, little thing I almost forgot to mention....

Peter is coming to see the show opening weekend.

More details as they get figured out!

All Hail Groove Coverage (and other covers)

2009-02-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'll indulge in an other The Last Unicorn movie-related post. Those of you who know and love the movie probably are very familiar with the title number. Did you know that there are several contemporary covers of the original song? Without further ado:

Groove Coverage (the TECHNO version!!! No, REALLY.):

Declan Galbraith: (probably most faithful to the original in terms of orchestration and sound)

Another cover by Loreena McKennit:

Good to know that the song is so popular- God knows I've been singing it to myself off and on for roughly a quarter of a century.

Two Actresses? What?

2009-02-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

Happy President's Day! As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm planning on having two different actresses play the Unicorn and Amalthea, despite one of them being transformed into the other. "Why?" you might ask, and with justification. It seems like most other theatre pieces I can think of that involve transformation (most productions of Jekyll & Hyde, for example) one actor plays both roles. And there's certainly some resonance that could be achieved that way. But I think going with two actresses is the better choice, for both some very practical reasons, and some important thematic ones as well. Reasons include:

1) In act two, Amalthea has to transform back into the Unicorn almost instantly. I'd prefer to have the actress playing the Unicorn simply step onto the stage than bring the action (which is at a climax at that point) to a screeching halt while a quick change happens.

2) If the same actress plays both, she will have to be on stage for nearly every scene in the play. Splitting the responsibility will keep any single cast member from being overwhelmed.

3) The Unicorn is not going to be represented literally, as I explain in this post. If the same actress plays both of them there isn't enough difference between the Unicorn and Amalthea. I'd like them to have striking differences.

4) Now on to more thematically important territory. As a piece of ensemble story theater, this production of "The Last Unicorn" will have a group of characters playing many different parts. One of the reasons for this is I'm interested in exploring the resonance you get when, for example, the same actor that plays Captain Cully also plays Drinn, or the same actors that play Haggard and Lir also play the two Hunters at the beginning of the story. So, I want the same actress that plays the Princess in that brief Prince/Princess (this scene is only in the book, not the movie- movie fans, read the book! I promise you won't regret it) scene to also play Amalthea. I think it creates a pretty cool resonance- it plays with the idea that Schmendrick's magic sort of "borrows" the appearance of the Princess they see before to transform the Unicorn into a human.

5) It allows us to involve the Unicorn's original form more directly in scenes in act two, including when Amalthea has her nightmare, and when Amalthea uses her secret Unicorn powers to disrupt Mabruk's spell. The most important reason for having two actresses play the Unicorn and Amalthea, however, is it makes the following exchange possible, in the act two Kitchen scene:

(The UNICORN appears and speaks in tandem with AMALTHEA.)

UNICORN/AMALTHEA: The magician gave me only the semblance of a human being. But now I am two:

UNICORN: Myself,

AMALTHEA: And this other that you call ‘my lady.’

UNICORN/AMALTHEA: She walks in the castle, she sleeps, she dresses herself, she takes her meals,

AMALTHEA: -and she thinks her own thoughts.

UNICORN: And every day she searches the sea and the sky for something she cannot always remember.

AMALTHEA/UNICORN: What is it that she is seeking?

AMALTHEA: (as the UNICORN exits) She knew a moment ago, but she has forgotten.

Pretty neat, huh?

Inspirational(ly Creepy) Music, part 3- music video edition

2009-02-15T11:06:00.001-06:00

Whenever I see this music video it reminds me of the character of Rukh, Mommy Fortuna's son and the showman that give the tours of the midnight carnival. I'm not saying I want Rukh to sound like Tom Waits, but I might pass this along to our eventual costume designer for inspiration. I love the hat and the little cane. And that junk band beat of the song is exactly the kind of music that would be playing if the Midnight Carnival had its own band.

Drum roll if you please....

2009-02-07T22:41:00.000-06:00

I'm delighted to announce that we have dates and a venue for "The Last Unicorn"!!!

We will be performing at City Lit Theater, 1020 W Bryn Mawr Ave, on the north side of Chicago. Those of you who have been following Promethean's work will be familiar with it; all of our mainstage productions for seasons two and three (including the upcoming Measure for Measure) have gone up there. For those of you not familiar, it's a lovely, intimate venue (that nevertheless seats roughly 100) on the second floor of the Edgewater Presbyterian church in (of course) the Edgewater neighborhood. It's very near the Bryn Mawr Red Line el stop, and easily reached by Lake Shore Drive by car. As a company we have a very strong relationship with City Lit; like me they're also very fond of doing stage adaptations of literature and I encourage you to check their site out.

And now for the dates:

October 16, 2009 through November 14, 2009

Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.
Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sundays at 3 p.m.

Official Opening Night: Saturday, October 17 at 8 p.m. (10/16 is a preview)
(There is no Saturday matinee on 10/17)
Additional Press Performance: Monday, October 19 at 7 p.m.

Tickets won't be on sale until later this year (probably not until Measure for Measure closes) but now that we can say when and where, you'll be hearing a lot more about the production. Be sure to keep checking back here at The Last Uniblog for updates!

Aren't you excited? I know I am.

Brushing up my Shakespeare

2009-02-03T22:42:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone!
Kind of busy again lately- I'm in Promethean Theatre Ensemble's Evening of Shakespeare, which performs this weekend. We're performing at Let Them Eat Chocolate on Damen near Foster, so if you have a hankering for either me hamming it up, or chocolatey goodness, you should definitely check it out! Here's a link to the info.

Preshow 80s fantasy mix?

2009-02-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Even though (as I've said before, and will probably say again here) the Promethean production of "The Last Unicorn" is a new adaptation of the novel, and not the animated movie, I'm hoping to connect with people for whom seeing the animated movie was a major part of growing up. Hopefully, like me, they saw the movie a bunch as a kid, loved it, and then moved on to encounter the novel as well. In an effort to avoid any kind of brand confusion, the sound design for the show is going to utterly eschew any of the (in my opinion great) songs from the animated movie. But I'm wondering how we can evoke for the audience that idea of reconnecting to a fantasy story from childhood. One idea I had is to make have preshow music that's made up of songs from other fantasy movies or TV shows I knew growing up. What do people think of this? Here's a tentative lineup I dreamed up:

"Dance Magic Dance" from Labyrinth
"The NeverEnding Story" from...well, look, if I have to tell you....
"Flight of Dragons" from "Flight of Dragons"
The theme song to the cartoon "The World of David the Gnome"
The song the princess sings in "The Magic Pony" (the English dub of the Russian film "The Humpbacked Horse")
"Underground" from Labyrinth
Tangerine Dream's "Loved by the Sun" from "Legend"
"The Greatest Adventure" from the animated version of "The Hobbit"
The other David Bowie songs from "Labyrinth", though to be frank I don't like them nearly as much.

Is this a terrible idea or a cool one? Some of these songs are STILL on my playlist and I'm 27. Some of these are clearly a product of their time (i.e. 80. BAD 80s.) but could be a treat for people who recognize them. Any preshow music (if we even HAVE preshow music) is going to have to be decided through discussion with our eventual sound designer, but this is one thought I've had.

Butterfly in the sky...

2009-01-31T16:00:00.000-06:00

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This post contains specifics about the show itself, and how we're achieving certain elements or designing certain aspects. If you want this kind of thing to be a surprise to you when you see it, skip this post!

So I felt like giving you all another peek at a puppet I'm hoping to create for the show...the Butterfly. As those of you who read the book (or saw the movie version) know, the Butterfly is insane, parroting whatever songs, dialogue and scraps of poetry it's heard as it flutters out its short lifespan. In the story of "The Last Unicorn" it's similar in many ways to the Cheshire Cat- willfully and cheerfully nonsensical, but offering occasional scraps of wisdom to its Alice (in this case, the Unicorn). So how best to represent that on stage? Here's what I'm thinking right now:

I look at the Butterfly as a sort of riddling, jester character, and as such I want the puppet to be similar in size to a jester's baton. That will also make it easier to pass it from hand to hand, which is important because I want the Butterfly to be played simultaneously by three actors- that's right, three. That helps reflect the diverse and scattered nature of the butterfly's mental state. It also gives three actors a great chance to play off each other and horse around. (or should that be 'horsefly around?' pardon the pun...)

Also, since the butterfly is made up of the scraps of other stories he's heard, I want the pattern on the wings to be text. Right now I'm just filling it in with that old reliable 'Lorem ipsum...' I'm still undecided what text I want to use- right now I'm contemplating maybe using an excerpt from the scene between the Caterpillar and Alice in Alice in Wonderland. Any other suggestions?

Making the sea (alternate title: feeble excuse to post a song I like)

2009-01-25T12:26:00.000-06:00

I'm back! Recently when talking about the show with someone who's familiar with the story, I was asked how I'm planning to stage the scenes involving the ocean, and the unicorns being driven into/ released from it. I'm a big believer that the simplest, oldest tricks work best. And I like to think that this piece is going to help people reconnect with a story they were fans of in their childhood (and/or hopefully are still fans of now, like me!). As a kid, did you ever use a bolt of fabric when playing a game, or pretend, or doing a school play, to represent the sea? I'm thinking that something similar could work for the stage production of "Unicorn," if done tastefully. The music video I'm posting below ("Elephant Gun", by Beirut) has a great example of what I'm thinking- I love the whole video and think you should watch the whole thing, but the bit I'm talking about starts at about 2:00. Credit goes to the folks at Strange Tree Group (they used this song as part of their music lineup for their production of "The Mysterious Elephant") for first introducing me to this song- their aesthetic is pretty neat, and if you're looking for a cool show to tide yourself over while you wait for "Unicorn" to open, I'd recommend seeing their upcoming production of "The Dastardly Ficus."

On brief hiatus

2009-01-21T12:41:00.000-06:00

Hey gang,
The Last Uniblog is on very brief hiatus- we had an awesome closing for 'The Illusion,' but now I'm on vacation with my family in NC. Look out for new uniblogging next week!

-Ed

Why I'm also not a film editor...

2009-01-13T23:32:00.001-06:00

Hi all,
I was tinkering around on my computer and decided to put together a (kind of) fake trailer for the Promethean production of "The Last Unicorn." Would love to know what people think in the comments. Not fantastic quality, but it gets the idea across, I hope. Credit where credit's due- the (absolutely gorgeous) music is the overture to the musical "The Light in the Piazza," by Adam Guettel.

UPDATE: When I posted this on Facebook, someone apparently took exception to the music I chose and had it taken down for copyright violation. Rather than get into a "this constitutes fair use" argument, I'm swapping out the music and replacing it with something I like almost as much that is pre-negotiated by YouTube as fair use. (Thanks, YouTube!) Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Something fishy....

2009-01-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

Those of you who also were wee ones in the 1980s may remember a little cartoon series called "Thundercats-" that's right, animated by Rankin Bass, who also animated the cartoon version of "The Last Unicorn." Take a look at this episode of Thundercats (titled "The Terror of Hammerhand") and let me know if anything strikes you as a little bit..."familiar."

Part 1:

Okay, okay, so the unicorns are drawn very similarly, right? But what about....(listen at about 10 seconds in to this second clip)

Part 2:

"Uuuunicorrrn! Uuuunicorrrn!" Sound familiar? I thought so. :-)

Part 3 for kicks:

Two more weekends!

2009-01-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

The run of The Illusion is going really well- better, in fact, than we at Promethean had any reason to hope (despite our awesomeness) because of the busy nature of the holiday season. We run for two more weekends, and I highly encourage y'all to check it out. I'm playing the magician's creepy servant. Here's a whole bunch of reviews- curse my craving for fairness, I'm linking to all of them, even though some of them aren't entirely kind (they do all have at least some good things to say, though):

ChicagoCritic.com

SteadstyleChicago.com

The Chicago Reader

The Windy City Times (we're on page twelve of the .pdf in the link)

The Urban Coaster

Another Youtube series about Unicorns that cracks me up

2009-01-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

This series, which may be familiar to many of you, is even more amusing to me than Planet Unicorn. I think it's because it's a lot more of a direct subversion of unicorn myths and quest stories. Instead of being pure graceful creatures, two of the unicorns are evil and annoyingly inane, while the third (the protagonist) is a bitter cynic that horrible things happen to. Without further ado, let me introduce you to Charlie the Unicorn:

Episode 1:

Episode 2:

An ad the creators made for Youtube Live (I love the Rick Astley=Cthulhu idea; I think anyone who's ever been Rick Rolled would agree with the sentiment):

My sister and I will sometimes call each other, say simply "Charlieeeeee" in an inane high pitched voice, and then hang up. What has the internet wrought?!

More with the planets and the unicorns

2008-12-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

Isn't the theme song hilariously catchy? Upon further consideration I think this is more of a parody of My Little Pony specifically than unicorns in general. Still I enjoy it. Here are some more episodes:

Planet Unicorn Episode 4:

Planet Unicorn Episode 5:

Planet Unicorn Episode 6:

Have a great New Year's Eve! Catch you in 2009....the Year of the Unicorn.

Show me the funny

2008-12-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

"But I am Schmendrick, the last of the red-hot swamis!"

I was reviewing some of my previous posts, and I realize I'm overlooking writing about one aspect of "The Last Unicorn" that is just as important as puppets, sound, or story theater: humor! Yes, the piece has adult themes, and ideally we'll be landing really aesthetically nifty and intense moments- but even the most grimly realistic drama (and this will not be a grimly realistic drama) needs to throw the audience a bone as far as laughs go. Those familiar with the book or the movie of "The Last Unicorn" know what I'm talking about- Peter S. Beagle wants readers and viewers to be able to chuckle a bit too. Humor is tricky to get right, but I'm working on keeping opportunities for laughs in mind as I work on revisions to the script for the stage version. A lot more is going to have to be explored in rehearsals- and the funny bits won't be able to be fine tuned until we're actually performing for you-the-audience. When it comes to comedy, the audience is always right- you can dream up the funniest joke in the world, but if there's nothing but crickets chirping when you finally perform it in front of people you've failed. So in honor of that, here's a series of unicorn clips that will be dearly familiar to some of you on the internet. These short cartoons definitely aren't afraid to explore the humorous aspects of unicorns (and fantasy stories in general):

Planet Unicorn Episode 1:

Planet Unicorn Episode 2:

Planet Unicorn Episode 3:

A little holiday present to myself (and to you!)

2008-12-24T18:50:00.000-06:00

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This post contains specifics about the show itself, and how we're achieving certain elements or designing certain aspects. If you want this kind of thing to be a surprise to you when you see it, skip this post!

So last weekend I drove out to Downers Grove, IL to buy myself a little item I found for sale on Craigslist. I'd been keeping an eye out for one of these for a while because it could potentially be part of "The Last Unicorn," but I needed to get my hands on one to know for sure.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am now the proud owner of a cow skull. If I owned a digital camera I'd post a pic of that here, but it'll have to wait for now.

Give you three guesses what it's for in "The Last Unicorn." Okay, I'll just tell you.

Here's the idea: Schmendrick, the Unicorn and Molly Grue get to Haggard's kingdom, which is supposed to be this barren wasteland, right? So since this is a piece of story theater (read: NOT scenery intensive) we're going to represent that by having a cow skull on the ground off to one side. Then, when the Red Bull appears, the cow skull is picked up and becomes the head! Here's a design sketch I did that'll give you the general idea:

I've been going back and forth in my head for a while- would it be better to use an actual cow skull, or to build a puppet one? What if a real skull is too heavy or too fragile? Or what if I get my hands on one and try it out in front of a mirror, and it looks incredibly lame instead of awesome? Because awesomeness is the goal here. But I'm happy to say that 1) the skull is actually extremely light and 2) it looked pretty cool when I was trying it out. I'm still a little worried about how durable it is- it has some cracks, etc., that I'm worried might have happened when I was working with it, and you can tell by holding it that if you ran into something with it or dropped it, pretty much game over. Still, progress! Even if we wind up having to build a puppet head instead of using the real deal, we'll be able to use the real deal as a model or to build a cast.

Pretty cool, huh?

Don't make me brag.

2008-12-22T20:28:00.001-06:00

So....the show I'm in with Promethean Theatre Ensemble, Tony Kushner's "The Illusion," has been Jeff Recommended! For those of you not in the know, the Jeff Awards are pretty much Chicago's version of the Tony's. We don't know for sure that we'll be nominated for any awards at the end of the season, but we know for sure we're in the running.

Also, we got a very positive review from Tom Williams, one of the city's theatre critics. Here's a link to the review.

And in the interest of fairness, and not getting too big for my britches, here's a link to another review in the Chicago Reader that has some nice things to say but is decidedly more mixed.

But wait, you say. Where's my unicorn fix for the day? Here you go- A real live unicorn, as shown here:

We open tonight!!!

2008-12-20T10:54:00.000-06:00

"The Illusion" has its official opening tonight at 8 pm! It's been a long road, with a lot of hard work put in by everyone, and I think it'll be one of the best shows our company has done. Here's a link to the show information; I highly encourage all y'all to check it out.

Winter wonderland!?

2008-12-17T13:34:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone-
Tech week for Promethean's "The Illusion" is making good progress, though we did have a bit of a hiccup last night- the city of Chicago was hit by a rather sizable snow storm during rush hour last night, and since I was in my car, the drive from work to our performance space, which usually takes a little less than an hour, instead took two and a half hours!!! I know that technically winter doesn't begin until this Sunday, but she's decided to be unfashionable early. Basically, here's what last night was like (go to 1:20 for the full effect):

(Tenuous connection, I know, but I had to keep this Unicorn related somehow...)

I may be away for a bit

2008-12-14T23:49:00.000-06:00

I'm about to go into tech week for Promethean Theatre Ensemble's production of "The Illusion," which means that I'll have very little free time. We open on 12/20- for more info you can click here. As I said before, the play has got romance and wizardry in it, so it's a great chance to see us do our thing prior to "Unicorn." But it's going to keep me crazy busy for the next week. In the meantime, know that (as a song I'm sure all of you know well states) "I'm aliive, I'm aliiiiiiive....." Aw shucks, I'll just post a clip.

P.s.- I just want to remind everyone I'm doing a stage adaptation of the novel, not the movie. Which means that though I (like many of you) am a drooling fanatic about the movie, references to it and clips from it won't appear here very often. Enjoy this one!

We're zeroing in on a space...(and geeking out about Tim Curry.)

2008-12-11T19:55:00.000-06:00

Hey gang,
"The Last Unicorn" is in the process of picking a performance space, and dates are TBA. As soon as all of the details are completely hammered out you'll be able to read about it here. For now, know that we're on the case, getting ready to make this production of "Unicorn" the awesome event I know it will be. In the mean time, here's a clip from another really important movie from my childhood that had Unicorns in it (be warned, it be spooky):

Plus this clip actually has the bad guy use the phrase "the last unicorn...." We'll save her though, won't we folks? : - ) Tim Curry (yep, that's him under all the red body paint) is awesome- he has personally redeemed many awful movies, and is an accomplished stage actor to boot. Speaking of less-than-life-changing movies that Tim Curry redeems, here's another fun little clip:

More cool cannibal music

2008-12-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

Remember how I said that the cave scene from Ravenous has awesome music? Actually lots of the music in that movie is awesome. Here's another music clip that really has gotten under my skin. I love how this piece starts out really repetitive and simple and then adds layers of depth and complexity as it continues. The clip also shows scenes from the movie- watch out, some of this is bloody and intense. I'd say it's still PG-13 or extremely mild rated R, though. But you see how much music and soundscape can enhance a story?

Ok, that's enough inflicting horror movie music on you for a while. I promise to be back on Unicorns and theatre related stuff again soon.

UPDATE, 2/19: The previous video got zapped by a copyright claim, it looks like. I embedded a different video so you can still hear the music I was referring too.

Wish me luck!

2008-12-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

I applied yesterday for a grant from the city of Chicago to train with a master mask and puppet craftsman. He is Jeff Semmerling, and he is awesome. The reason I want to train? "The Last Unicorn" will be using some masks and puppets, and I'd like to build them myself. Wish me luck and hope I get the grant! I took some puppetry building class while I was at Northwestern, but my skills definitely aren't where I'd like them to be to accomplish that. They're not too shabby either, though. Meet Mrs. Beasley:

I built her for my puppetry class final at NU. She's a character in a story by John Collier, titled "Incident by a Lake." I'm a huge fan of John Collier's stories, and I've adapted some of them to the stage before. One of my big dreams (after "The Last Unicorn" is done, that is) is to stage an entire evening of his stories strung together.

P.S.- Hey gang! Wanna see one of my design sketches for a mask I want to build for "The Last Unicorn?" Here's a peek:

It's not set in stone yet, but it's a start!

My brothers and sisters in arms

2008-12-05T11:00:00.000-06:00

I guess I ought to tell you more about the company that is producing the stage adaptation of "The Last Unicorn" in 2009. They (or I should say we) are Promethean Theatre Ensemble. You should get to know them- these are my brothers and sisters in arms, and together we'll be working our butts off to make "The Last Unicorn" as good as it possibly can. Also, we're (I say this with all modesty) pretty nifty. Right now, we're getting ready to perform another play- it's a fantasy piece, with a magician and magic spells, called "The Illusion." It's by Tony Kushner- that's right, the same guy who wrote "Angels in America." We think it's awesome- it's adapted from a Corneille comedy (for those not familiar with him, his style is similar to Moliere), so it's got really funny situations, occasional rhyming couplets and a classical feel, but it's also been brought up to date, made more poetic and given deeper themes by Kushner. Here's the production info:

"The Illusion"
by Tony Kushner
December 19-January 17 (official opening is Saturday December 20 at 8 p.m.)
Presented by Promethean Theatre Ensemble at City Lit Theater (1020 W Bryn Mawr Ave in Chicago)
For ticket reservations, call (773) 305-2897; tickets are $20 (but let me know if you want to see it but are strapped for cash; maybe I can get you a deal)
Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.
Additional 2 p.m. Saturday matinees on 1/10 and 1/17
Additional 7 p.m. Sunday show on 1/11
Also, we give the audience free hot cocoa on Thursday nights and at Saturday matinees.

What's it about? Basically, this rich lawyer goes to this wizard's cave to find out what happened to his son- it seems the son ran off/got kicked out by his dad years ago, and now the lawyer wants the wizard to use magic to find what happened to him. The wizard conjures up a series of Illusions (thus the title!) of the son's life.

Oh, and by the way- I'm in it and having a blast at rehearsals. I get to play the wizard's creepy servant.

What hump?

Why I'm not a graphic designer

2008-12-04T21:25:00.001-06:00

I had this idea for a poster or promo for The Last Unicorn and cobbled it together as best I could with Microsoft Paint (No hablo Photoshop ni Dreamweaver.) Pretty neat, huh? She's coming, Chicago. You know what? I think I just made an image for the top of my blog.

"They will stare, unbelieving, at the Last Unicorn...."
(yeah, I know, this is a stage adaptation of the book, not the movie, but hey, I grew up on the movie! Gimme a break.)

Inspirational(ly Creepy) Music, part 2

2008-12-04T11:00:00.000-06:00

It is 2005. Once again, I am watching a movie (though a different one) that is scaring the bejeezus out of me. The story: a young American girl goes to study ballet at a prestigious German ballet academy. But strange things are happening. The same night she arrives in Germany, a young girl who had recently been expelled from the ballet academy is found murdered in a shockingly vicious fashion. The teachers at the academy seem to slip away to some secret place within the school at night. There is a mysterious Directress of the academy that is never seen. As the body count piles up, the girl happens upon the truth: the ballet academy is actually a front for a coven of witches, who use their magic to spread their hate and malice and amass vast personal wealth. Eventually the girl wanders through a secret fairy tale door into a place more deadly and horrible than Narnia or the Wonderland on the other side of the looking glass. She must be brave and face down an ancient with power beyond her comprehension. And did I mention that the score is creepy, compelling, and gorgeous? Here's a taste:

I love that subliminally soft demonic voice that tonelessly begins to 'sing' la la la along with the music at various points. And I love the fantasy and fairy tale aspects of Suspiria's story- a young innocent girl is journeying into a dangerous world of black magic, where she must challenge an ancient evil. In some ways this is similar to the journey Amalthea must make. But does this music have any place in the stage production of "The Last Unicorn?" If so, where should the music go? Or is the film source of this material too easy for people to recognize? I had never heard of this movie before I saw it, but I'm not exactly a cineast. Any thoughts, commenters?

Inspirational(ly Creepy) Music

2008-12-03T01:44:00.000-06:00

It is the year 2000. I am watching a movie that is scaring the bejeezus out of me. The story: several soldiers during the Spanish American War are stationed at an outpost near the Rockies. A shivering, starving and half crazed man stumbles down from the foothills, telling a horrifying story of murder and mass cannibalism in a cave up in the crags; he was part of a party that was led astray by a devious and flesh-hungry soldier who intended to get the travelers stranded and then feast upon them. So the soldiers send a group (including the wanderer who told the tale) up into the mountains to investigate- to kill the cannibal soldier, and rescue anyone that can be rescued. So after some time they reach the cave. And this is not a little recession in a cliff. This is a deep, dark cave- the kind of cave you'd imagine not just bears, but yeti or dragons would nest in. They leave the wanderer and a couple of other soldiers outside to stand guard in case the cannibal is away from home and returns while they're searching. Pulses pounding, every nerve on a razor's edge, the rest of the soldiers slowly creep into the cave with weapons at the ready. The silence is oppressive- nothing but vague rustles and the echoing drips of moisture. They reach the back of the cave without encountering the cannibal soldier...and they find the bodies. They're convinced that the cannibal must be out wandering...but then one of them counts the bodies. There's one less than in the tale told by the half-crazed wanderer. And one of the corpses is wearing a soldier's uniform- that's right, the crazy cannibal was the wanderer who told the tale. And he's tricked all of the soldiers into coming up in to the mountains so he can feast on them as well.

Doesn't sound like much, does it? Better horror movie premises have failed. But what makes this scene a horror classic is the incredible music used during that scene, that skillfully supports the story and plays on the emotions of the listener. Here's the music piece in question (titled "The Cave," naturally):

Why am I talking about this on The Last Uniblog? It's a classic example of good sound design and scoring doing an excellent job of supporting the telling of a story. And while we still haven't finalized who will be sound designing the production, I'm hoping the designer will consider using this music in a scene or scenes, or at least I'll be able to refer him/her to this music as an example of the feel/mood I'm striving for. Also, this production of "The Last Unicorn" is not children's theatre! It will be mostly kid-friendly but we are exploring not just a cool story, but one with intense (and sometimes violent!) scenes, and grown-up themes.

I love how the music starts out unsettling and almost childlike (up until about 4:14), while perfectly evoking in music the natural sounds of the cave- you can hear weird echoes and what might be the flapping of bat wings or the scuttling of some small animal. Eventually, strings start to perfectly capture the sound of water dripping down into some puddle or small pool in the cave. In "The Last Unicorn," I'm wondering if this music, or music like it, might have a place in the Midnight Carnival scenes- especially when the Harpy is first revealed, or Mommy Fortuna disguises herself as Elli. Then at 4:14 things get really interesting. I think the percussion that starts there is initially meant to represent the pounding heartbeats in the ears of the increasingly terrified soldiers as they proceed deeper and deeper into the cave. Then more and more echoing and ominous percussion keeps being added on top of it- you can feel the horror build as the soldiers find more and more evidence and come to their horrific realization (while outside, the crazy cannibal has slipped his bonds and is already digging for his buried hunting knife...) This music (I mean 4:14 to the end) is the kind of thing I'm thinking about for the first appearance of the Red Bull, or maybe when the Harpy escapes. Speaking of the Harpy, fans of the movie version of "The Last Unicorn" might recognize the electronic guitar licks that happen at 5:44 and again at 6:15....coincidence? I think not.

Here she is.

2008-12-02T23:21:00.000-06:00

See my previous post; I found this image online that is essentially what I'm considering (pretend the rose is white):

Much better than a horsie head, no? Not to get all Puritan on you (though if there ever is a time to get all Puritan, right around Thanksgiving is it, I guess), but...simplicity is a virtue.

On creating a Unicorn for the stage.

2008-12-01T21:25:00.000-06:00

"The Unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone...
She did not look anything like a horned horse...possessing that oldest, wildest grace that horses have never had...unicorns are immortal...they are a little vain, knowing themselves to be the most beautiful creatures in all the world, and magical besides."

Nifty, right? This description of the nature of unicorns comes from the opening pages of Mr. Beagle's classic. How do you represent something as (as Rukh would put it) "Universal as the unicorn" on stage? This is a creature that is supposed to be the most beautiful, graceful creature in the world. Therefore, I believe that the way to represent it on stage is NOT to do something like THIS:

I know, I know, the kid is adorable, but what about this costume captures the wild immortal beauty that unicorns are supposed to possess. I think that where people go wrong when they try to represent unicorns on stage (in productions of Children of Eden, for example, or Griffin Theatre's stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust) is they try to be too literal. The last way to represent a unicorn effectively onstage is to stick an garish and ungainly headress or a white unitard on them! I think that we're shown the way by such story theatre pioneers as Mary Zimmerman and Frank Galati. So, instead of trying to literally represent the animal and her horn, let's come up with imaginative and evocative ways to represent that to the audience.

First, the Unicorn in the story is supposed to be gorgeous and graceful. The key is, we want something that will be gorgeous and graceful to the audience as well. So, instead of a pretty young actress in a unitard and headdress, hows-about we just go with a basic pretty white dress or frock? Something that breathes and that she can move in freely, with the additional ripple of fabric to help evoke that grace we're talking about, instead of something skin tight that bunches up in inappropriate places. Just say no to spandex, kids.

Next the horn. We want something that is a symbol of the Unicorn's immortality, and that can be used by the actress in the same ways that the Unicorn has to use it in the story- i.e., she needs something that she can touch to things to heal people. My current best idea: a long stemmed white rose that she carries with her:

It's important to me that we see her strength as well. I'm thinking we'll also give the Unicorn a silver dagger to have with her to symbolize her horn when she has to fight things with it (Harpies, for example...)

What do y'all think?

And We're Off to the Races

2008-11-23T16:09:00.000-06:00

Welcome, everyone, to The Last Uniblog! This blog has been created to document the creation of a live stage version of "The Last Unicorn," a novel by famed fantasy author Peter S. Beagle. The play will be produced in Chicago, IL by a small, scrappy yet enthusiastic theatre company in the latter half of 2009. Many of the details are still being determined, but yes, we have the rights, thanks to the gracious generosity of the author and his business manager, Connor Cochran. The blog may occasionally digress into discussions of other topics, especially those that involve:

a) Unicorns (naturally)

or

b) The Chicago theatre scene.

Who am I? For now, just call me Ed, though of course more information will be available soon. I'm a huge fan of this story, both in its original novel form, and the animated version that Mr. Beagle wrote in the 80's. I don't doubt that many of you reading this are like me: a fanatic about the story, who grew up watching the movie repeatedly and who eventually (hopefully) moved on to the novel as well. Check back for new updates often. To steal/paraphrase from awesome playwright Tony Kushner, the great work has begun. Woo-hoo!