Center Theatre Group Blog

Mike Sablone is CTG’s Literary Associate, starting left fielder and third-string shortstop for Dark Monday, the CTG softball team.

We start, Saturday morning, with 6 brand new plays by 6 playwrights. We then pack ten incredibly talented actors into a room and ask them to take part in cold readings of all 6 over the next 2 days. Sound thrilling?

If you said yes, let me tell you more. Each year Resident Dramaturg/Literary Manager Pier Carlo Talenti and I coordinate CTG’s Writers’ Workshop. We ask 6 to 9 local playwrights and tell them that we’d like to give them space and support to work on a new play over the next 9 months.

The first step is a weekend Salon. Each playwright decides on a topic she’d like to write about. She then interviews 2 experts on that topic, in an attempt just to get the creative juices flowing. By the end of the weekend our brains are stuffed.

From there we meet once a month and listen to scenes from 3 of the playwrights. Then we spend a few minutes giving feedback and answering questions the writer might have about her pages.

Six or so months later, Bonnie Grisan, our Associate Casting Director, gathers together a company of actors to read the scripts over the weekend-no matter where they are in the process. There is no rehearsal, no director.

And it’s one of the most thrilling weekends of the year. The scope of the new work is impressive–the actors are making fearless choices, speaking languages they don’t normally speak, playing across gender, across race, singing songs that haven’t been written yet, and in general finding the heart at the center of each piece.

For anyone who thinks that new work isn’t being supported in Los Angeles, I have terrible news for you. You are completely wrong. Watching these plays over the weekend is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s enlightening to see just how much work is being written. And it’s a shame to just use the word “work.” No one is saying it isn’t difficult, but it’s more than that. More importantly, it’s art. And the breadth of it is inspiring.

I’d like to personally recognize our 6 writers that I had the privilege of working with over the last nine months. These are incredible artists and incredible people. May you all have the pleasure of working with them very soon.

Mickey Birnbaum
Michael John Garces
Donald Jolly
Evangeline Ordaz
Matt Pelfrey
Adriana Sevan

Mike Sablone is CTG’s Literary Associate, starting left fielder and third-string shortstop for Dark Monday, the CTG softball team.

So you know how I go on and on and on and on and on and on about how the new plays and musicals we work on are in development, and just because we’ve had the world premiere doesn’t mean that our work is done?

(If the answer is no, punch yourself in the face, and then go along with me. Harsh? Yes! Fair? I think so!)

Two weekends ago I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the second production of a show that is near and dear to my heart.

BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON.

When we closed the show here we were thrilled with how the production looked and very happy with where the script was. Happy because we knew which parts were working the way we wanted them to, and which parts weren’t working as well as we wanted them to. By the time the show had closed, Alex Timbers (director, book writer), Michael Friedman (music and lyrics) and I had had numerous conversations about the next draft, cut chunks of the show, rearranged where musical numbers went, and generally were chomping at the bit to get it up again.

Saturday, May 16^th, 2009, I saw the show again at The Public in New York.

And I was blown away. The script is tighter, the jokes funnier, the exposition clearer. It was the show I always knew was there.

I am so incredibly proud of the work that Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman have done on this show. Two of the funniest, smartest, and most talented artists I’ve ever encountered continue to amaze me with this piece.

I’d be lying if I said to you that five minutes after the show ended, still grinning and elated from seeing the show, Alex and I didn’t talk about two or three moments that we still wanted to tweak.

Which is what makes this piece so thrilling. Even when it’s working the way we want it to, there are still small tweaks that we feel can make the show even better.

This show is everything I want theater to be. It’s young, it’s smart, it’s effing hilarious, it uses actual contemporary music to help elevate the story when it needs it, and it’s got a message, but most of all? It’s fun. Theater shouldn’t have to be work. Theater doesn’t have to be boring, bland vegetables all the time. Theater shouldn’t be something young people and kids should dread.

It can be so much more.

It can be BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON.

Mike Sablone is CTG’s Literary Associate, starting left fielder and third-string shortstop for Dark Monday, the CTG softball team.

I told myself like I always do: it will be a quick weekend of shows in New York. I’ll go in, catch BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON at the Public, see two more shows, then fly back, refreshed.

Per usual, that plan got thrown out immediately once I looked at what else was playing.

The thought process went something like this:

“Jesus! CORALINE is in previews?!?! David Greenspan, Stephin Merritt, Neil Gaiman AND Leigh Silverman? Did they design this show specifically for me? I have to see this. Right away. In fact I’ll land Friday at 5, go directly to the theater and then my trip will be off to a great start (which proved to be true)…”

And then it’s:

“Jenny Mudge! I’ve got to see her in THE PHILANTHROPIST! I’ve known her forever! We go way back! I can catch a Saturday matinee of that show…”

Which was then chased by:

“Wait, I can see all three of Tarell McCraney’s plays at the McCarter under the title THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS on Sunday? His plays are hauntingly beautiful and I can only hope that the productions do his vision justice (I was not let down. They are gorgeous productions of stunning plays, especially IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER.)…”

Which was quickly followed by:

“Wait, they added a Monday evening performance for 33 VARIATIONS? Written and directed by Moisés Kaufman, featuring much of the design team for our BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO? Regardless of all of that (which was enough for me to see the show), it has an old friend of mine, Scott Barrow, in an ensemble track. I mean he was my roommate for two years in New York. We shared a one bedroom apartment that had a shower in the living room which was also the kitchen. And two years earlier I had to go on for him in a show I was stage managing when he sliced his knee open on tour. Why would I not see this show? Plus if I go on Monday I can tell them about the (justifiably) good reviews for BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO…”

And then it’s Tuesday and I’m seeing JACKSON for the second time. Five days. 8 shows. Not sleeping. But seeing talented people in wonderful shows back to back to back to back to…well you get it.

Which equals me arriving back in Los Angeles this past Wednesday. Satiated, but frigging exhausted.

It was completely worth it.

Next week I devote an entire blog entry to BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON: THE CONCERT VERSION.

Here’s a sneak preview: it’s frigging awesome.