Reading party - 5/31 - All in the Timing
 

Hey, swankkittens.

By popular (CP) request, I've started a new thread for the Saturday, May 31 Dramatic Reading. I decided to go with something that goes down like candy for the first try, so as to get our feet wet. We'll work our way through the list, and all suggestions are welcome for later readings.

All in the Timing is a collection of humorous short plays by David Ives, an American playwright with a knack for words and absurdity. The book is available on Amazon.com for $10 right now. We don't know how many readers we'll have, so perhaps we can start by each reader picking one role (if there are more readers, we can split them, if there are less, we can double up.) Here are the short plays:

Sure Thing
Boy meets girl. Girl says something awkward. The "time machine" bell rings. Boy meets girl. Boy says something awkward. The "time machine" bell rings. Boy meets girl…
Roles:
Bill, late 20s
Betty, late 20s
The Bell, whose only line, literally, is "ding"
Stage directions

Words, Words, Words
Three chimpanzees attempt to type Hamlet.
Roles:
Milton, a realistic chimp
Swift, a rebel chimp
Kafka, a dreamer chimp
Stage directions

The Universal Language
A man convinces a woman to take lessons in his made-up language, Unamunda.
Roles:
Don
Dawn
Stage directions

English Made Simple
A college English professor explains the real meaning of casual party chatter
Roles:
Jack
Jill
Professor
Stage directions


Foreplay, or the Art of the Fugue
Chuck, a lothario, takes his date mini-golfing. Ten years later, he takes another girl, and ten years after that, yet another… designed as a fugue, or "round."
Roles:
Chuck
Amy
Chuck II
Annie
Chuck III
Alma
Stage directions

The Philadelphia
A New Yorker discovers that his life is trapped in a phenomenon known as a "Philadelphia," where everything is unavailable and it's opposite day.
Roles:
The New Yorker
The Los Angeleno
The Waitress
Stage directions

Variations on the Death of Trotsky
Eight possible ways Trotsky might have shuffled off this mortal coil.
Roles:
Leon Trotsky,
Mrs. Trotsky
Ramon
Stage directions

Pick your poison!

Yay! In, in, in. (Count me only once.)

Ummmm.....I'll play whatever people don't want to play....

Are we supposed to pick / flight over our roles in advance?



Will there or won't there be a casting couch??? :evil:

My couch is always open for snuggling.

If there's a role you want (or, particularly, if you don't like cold reading and want to prepare in advance) please speak up now or forever hold your piece away from us.

I'm still in as an audience. Reading out loud is scary.

omg, I so want in. But I dont know if I can swing that weekend.
Talk to me about this skype thing.

We can TOTALLY skype people in - I believe as many as want to join (group chat thing.)

I want to be Milton, the realistic chimp and the New Yorker.
I'm in.

I can be the bell :-)

The Rebel Chimp and the Angelino sound intriguing to me. Perhaps I can combine them into a Rebel Chimp Angelino.

Since I do not know any of the characters or stories, I shall throw caution to the wind and say to assign whichever character you feel best fits (or the role that no one else wants).

Well, your face rings a bell...

Can I be Kafka, the dreamer chimp???





I should also be the New Yawker in "The Philadelphia" ... unless that's too obvious typecasting.

Names and roles in two hats. Heidi picks.

Owing to the difficulty of synchronising lines, and lag (not to mention getting each reader to come close to the mic) I will attend as a passive observer. I would be prepared to ding at intervals, however.

I'm up for whatever I can be cast as. :)

I'm out for this one. I "may" be able to join via Skype but I won't know until day of so I'll be audience if I can make it.

I'd love to try and Skype!

Tiny Tim?

That or the romantic lead. I'm always type-cast...

What time? I am intrigued but doubt I can get my hands on the book in time.

can I be the laugh track?

All it takes is a couple of glasses of wine.

It's more of a hiccup track.

When will the cast list be posted?
:)

OMG! I love "All In the Timing"! I so wish I could be there! I'd be Don Finninneganegan, off corset! Police?

I think once everyone has had a few you should try "Phillip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread".

Phillip Glass the composer/musician? He writes too?

Strange but talented dude (regardless of whether he writes too).

He writes music, plays and buys bread!

I bought a copy from Samuel French in Studio City. I'm reading it now. Funny stuff.
:)

I'm totally open to trying Philip Glass. (I just thought it might scare people - but I was thinking of springing it on them while there!)

Hey, I'm not casting this thing! People can pick their pleasure beforehand if they want, other parts can be drawn from a hat. (So pick if you're anxious! Some of you already have, and they're yours - unless we have too many, then you'll have to choose one of them.)

Steph, time's flexible for us... you let us know what's good for you, expat!

mine's on order still. <waits impatiently>

Well, I call shenanigans. I want a good part, but I also want to do a cold reading. It's not an audition, and it's not a performance. Others are entitled to their varying mileage, but I just want to come to a party for dramatic reading without having to have prepared. Bad enough I have to figure out what to wear. :p



But does that leave me with all the crap, leftover parts that go into a hat? Waaaa, not fair, I whine.

Naw, so far only two people have claimed parts. Lots of non-crap leftover parts!

Plus, I can't cast it. I still don't know exactly who's coming!

You go ahead and whine, I'll pout. I wanna come, but can't convince the rest of the party to, um, come to the party!

iSm wanted to be Kafka the Chimp. Kafka is a girl. Are we going with gender-blind casting?
:D

Well, we can... or we don't have to...

But in his case, it is not much of a stretch.

Does she sing in a Jodi Benson falsetto? If so, that's cake for me.


What does a cross-dressing chimp wear? I guess the fez is out???

I think random casting thru chance would be alot of fun.

cast LoTs to see which LoT member gets which role...

cast members to see which LoT person gets which member...

Cast lists to see which LoT members list.

Draw Straws.

Hey, it's looking like I'll be in town that weekend! Count me probably in!

I've been really thinking about it, and have decided that although I mihgt eat the cost on the Indy tickets,
I WANT to be AT the reading.

So, count me in as present. Not skype.

Do we have a time frame?

I don't think you'll have to eat the Indy tix, by the way - I think we'll fill those slots, so no worries.

We don't yet have a time frame. There's a small chance Tom and I will have to catch a plane that night (surprise - our nephew might be graduating, thanks for the warning) but we'll know that pretty soon. In that case we'd hope to do it in the afternoon. Otherwise we could do evening if that's better for everybody. And I'm so glad you'll be there, P.

Um, if you have to catch a plane, I respectfully suggest most practically that you reschedule a PARTY AT YOUR PLACE for a different date.

We don't know for sure that we do, yet. And even if so, we wouldn't choose to because of out-of-towner special guests! (I'd vote for an early-morning Sunday flight anyway.)

Ah, gotcha.



Well, if you have to leave Saturday night, we could always lock up for ya! :evil:

You can trust us!


hee hee hee

Did I miss this post? Or can I not see it on the spreadsheet?
I see no roles claimed.

Please quote it if I'm blind.

OK, we're down to less than a week, so it's time to boil down attendees!

LSPE
Tom
GD
CP
Ponine
Captain Jack
iSm
GC
Commodore Cheeseman
Traci?
Kevy
Gus Gus
Bornieo
Deebs (!!)
BTD-as-audience
LibraryVixen (on Skype?)
Snowflake (on Skype?)
Katie (on Skype?)

There are a lot of you who I know expressed interest (DP+FP, Morri, mousepod, for instance) in attending - we're looking for a ballpark head count so please give me a heads-up if you think you'll be joining us.

We'll have some copies of the material on hand in case you haven't snagged your own yet.

One thing that was brought up in another thread (and elsewhere this weekend) was the possibility of doing an afternoon reading so the crowd could hit the cemetery screening of "The Party," an excellent comedy starring the great Peter Sellers. We're open as early as 1 or 2 for the reading if that is of interest to anyone (but if people aren't available until a bit later, we can forgo the screening, of course.)

Also - I've been trying to update the google spreadsheet with the most recent info - but if I'm missing anything please feel free to add it yourself (if you can't update, please send me your gmail info!)

I could be persuaded to join...

I'd probably go, as audience - I used to do radio, but I get an awful sort of stagefright outside of a booth.

I have a face for radio.

Don't do anything on my account ... but if this is moved to mid-day to accomodate a cemetery screening, I won't be able to make the dramatic reading party at all.

MEEEEE! Don't forget meeeee! Or have I been away so long that I am no longer considered... /sniff ;)

I tease... surely you meant to include me in your list! :-P

Persuasion incoming!

You should come, it would be fun...

OK.

iSm, what time do you start being available, hmm?

And, duhhh, of course I intended to include you E! I actually thought I had...

Depending on time, I might be available on skype. But, I have to go sing mid-day.

If it's afternoon, I'm afraid I can't make it! I have the Summer Reading Kickoff party. :(

Yeah, not looking likely for me. The mouse, you know...

We're still in. Just tell us where to be, when, and what to bring. :snap:

I likely would not be able to make anything before 5 p.m.


For heaven's sake, don't change any plans on my account. May 31st has become the busiest day in the world, with at least four things I would have easily committed to. I'm trying to squeeze in two of them, at a minium. Alas, the Dramatic Reading Party works for my schedule only if it's in the evening, but it won't be the biggest drama in the world if I have to miss it.

No one but Tom and I seemed super gung-ho for the cemetary screening, so we're flexible. I don't think anyone has said "can't do evening" - in which case, we should accommodate the few of you who've already said you can't do afternoon!

Are you two still up in the air about your flight?

I don't think so, we're in for the whole day.

I am doing whatever Erica wants to do.

Maybe not the biggest drama for you if you have to miss it, but I will cry. There will be drama.

So, what if we did a... thing that started at 5, which might possibly accommodate those who can't make the afternoon AND those who can't make the evening? (Or maybe get everyone for at least part of it?)

I know I'm going back and forth - but I really would love to every interested LoTter be able to be a part of this inaugural reading.

So 5 seems good as it accomodates out-of-towner Deebs AND the couple of evening-only Skypers AND iSm.

Anybody else have a conflict that we can work around? ;) Heh.

Our plans are to go to Monkeyhouse at 4 to see some art. We may go to the Lucient Dossier opening as well. However, if that doesn't work out, we will swing by your place, depending on your finalized timing. I also may have Thurston with me which would prevent us from attending. But, I'm not sure about that at all. I also have a butt load of work that weekend. In other words, I have no idea.

Crisis averted. I appreciate it greatly! And now, if iSm still doesn't show, I really will cry.

As God is my witness...

It is a dramatic reading party, right?

But why would we want to do that? :D

Erica once said she wanted to have sex with me. You don't need to verify this with E: you can trust me.

Lucky for you, Erica and I are one mind. No need to verify. ;)

Seriously, I'm just occupying the couch since I'm a mere visitor these days...

Five it is.

Which works perfectly for me, as I was thinking in terms of late afternoon, leaving the evening free.

All right... our list gets more exciting as it grows! Note that we have confirmed not one, not two, but THREE people traveling from afar!

LSPE
Tom
GD
CP
Ponine
Captain Jack
iSm
GC
Commodore Cheeseman
Traci
Kevy
Gus Gus
Bornieo
Deebs
Boss Radio
blueerica
BTD-as-audience
CM-as-audience

Skypers:
LibraryVixen?
Snowflake?
Katie?
Prudence?
Lashbear-and-Stoat?

Just got back from our Mem Day vacation. We're in the same boat as NA and €uro - we're hitting the Monkeyhouse opening at 4pm, and then we might see Lucent Dossier - there's no way that H can see them on a school night, so this might be her only chance.

Will there be last-minute room in the peanut gallery should we decide to attend?

Of course there'll be room for drop-ins.

Though, this brings up a good point. We have a fair amount of quite comfy seating (to serve about 10.) And we have a fair amount of somewhat less-comfy seating (to serve about 8.) We could probably seat everyone coming so far. But not everyone would be super-comfortable. So if you have portable comfy chairs (like, say, those fold-up sports chairs) and you're able, could you all bring them along?

We will provide snacks/dinner/dessert and some beverages... but we don't typically keep a lot of alcohol around, so if you have particular preference (boozy or of the non-boozal variety) please feel free to bring beverages.

Also, I think I've come up with a good casting compromise. Everyone will be able to choose one role if they wish, and those who don't will put their name in a gender-specific pot and we'll cast on through until we're out of names. Then everyone will put their names back in the pot and we'll cast the remainder of the roles. Sound good?

well, lets talk food. You dont need to provide all. IMO.
though if you were willing to accept donations, I agree.
But if you would like, I can bring something. (we)

Thats seems equitable for casting. I dont know how many actual readers we have.
And more than a few of them could be broken up if we wanted to re-cast at the scene break.

I would also state that if you get drawn for role you just dont want, feel free to say so.
ie: I will NOT be reading some of those roles in the David Mamet tribute that I right now cannot name. Too many swear words.
Though really that is a given. :blush:

Fun! I'm excited!

I agree Ponine...it would be tough for me to bring something, but I would love to chip in for whatever.

Aw, we're doing thematic food! We have fun planning parties. We're happy to.

By the way, there are a lot of plays in the full paperback that I didn't originally list in the first post, for time limitations and/or length and/or heavier drama. If there are any you'd really like to do (I know you mentioned Long Ago and Far Away, and Seven Menus) outside of those ones listed we can totally consider them - but I didn't think we'd do "Speed the Play" (well, maybe later in combination with an actual Mamet play!)

oh thank god... I have read Speed three times and I still dont get it.

I did not realize that list was "the" list. I missed that all this time.
Thats fine... I just missed it.

That makes my choices that much easier!
Coolio.

Stick me wherever you want: I'm easy.

The memorial service that was postponed last Saturday has been moved to this Saturday. I'm going to be helping set up and herding mourners. Unfortunately, I will have to back out of the reading. The service is in San Diego, otherwise I'd try to make it somehow. But not with a drive like that. Bummed. I even bought the play and rehearsed a little. But meh. The friend I lost was an amazing woman that stood in for my parents (way back when) when they were incapable of embracing a gay son. I think being there for her is of the utmost importance now. But I will see many at the campout which I am definitely going to.
:)

I reccomended you for "Foreplay and the Art of the" ....
since its FULL of innuendo.

That was my thought, too! He should be Chuck I or II.

It's sad that GC can't come - but he's definitely where he should be that day.

There are a couple of people who have to leave prematurely, I'm told. So it'd be cool if we could get the reading started right around 5 - so please, join us anytime after 4 to settle in and get your drama on.

I will be reading cold. And by cold, I mean icicles. I'm going to try and find the book over the next couple of days so that I can have one in my grubby little hands.

The barnes and noble by me, and the one near LV carried it. Try the one nearest your current locale.

Since I don't even know what we will be reading, I too will be cold. Yeah, I could go look back on the thread, but that is just too much work.

Heh..I sometimes do the prologue to "Speed the Play" as an audition piece.

I am going to have to back out of this, and any other events for the weekend.

Sorry :(

I called my local Barnes & Noble and they said they had one copy. I was happy! The guy put me on hold to go pull he book to hold it for me, just to be sure. He came back on the phone and told me that actually, they did not have one in stock, or else he just could not find it. I was sad!

I'll try Borders tomorrow.

GC, I am sorry I won't be seeing you again, but there is no question you are making the right choice. I'm glad you're helping with the service.

I have a confession to make.... and I tried to call Deebs to tell her...that I was the one that had the book on hold. That's the reason they couldn't find it. It's on hold for me. Since she'll be going to the reading, she can take my copy! She just has to spell my last name for the guy! :blush:

Pfft, that is hilarious!! :D

I'm sorry I missed your call. I am really bad with my cell phone. I kinda misplace it a lot lately, and I am told that my VM is full. :blush:

I really wish you were going. But that's OK, we'll hang out up here again soon. Stockton is super swanky... ;)

Huh. That's a pretty liberal use of smilies for me. Oh well.

Unfortunately, Susan and I need to back out of this. I just found out that my sister (who I have not seen in four years) will be in town this weekend and we are getting together Saturday at 5:00 (a time picked by Father - I need to have a word with him)) for dinner. Sorry for the last minute change.

HEIDI: Please PM me you phone numbers (cell, home). I tried to call you last night, but the number I have is incorrect.

Ken and I must decline for this time. Sorry! :(

Ach, considering we had so many people interested who are doing other things this weekend, seems like we're really demonstrating the titular connundrum.

I'm setting up an evite where I can post our address/directions/etc. Sending it off to those of who whose email I have already.

Any of you need scripts? I need to find out how many copies I need to make.

*raises his hand on both directions and scripts*

prob just one script as Ponine has the book already

Evites have been sent out to everybody I have email addresses for. If you want one and didn't get one for some reason, please send me your email address!

I'm a cold reader, but I'll need to read from sumpthin'

We purchased three extra books today. So there are four total from our household, plus Ponine's... I dunno if anyone else has a copy, but we realized it would take us a couple of hours to photocopy. (Which, well, I can do if you think we need more than however many we have.)

Totally off topic... is anyone in the group a jewelry type that might have a set of ring sizers???
If someone does, could you bring them?

The book seems to be absent from all convenient libraries. Fooey. 2 copies needed here apparently.

I'm not even sure what we're reading, so I guess I'll need a copy.

Hey, all. We haven't sought out more than the four copies we acquired already, but we can photocopy if anybody is angsty about not getting to hold a copy when they're not reading. I think one or two more copies are coming with guests, and each play has no more than six characters (they average three.)

For those of you wishing to Skype (I don't think anyone has definitely confirmed yet, but just in case) our ID is todimooers - just ping us.

I am so sad I didn't see this before I left home! I have a set at home in Nor Cal. I'm sorry. :(

I have a book! Haven't had a chance to even open it though, so still completely unprepared. I thought I would have more time once I got down here, but I have been doing other stuff today. But I am here! I'm looking forward to seeing everybody soon! :snap:

Really, really, really fun!
 

I had the best time!

Thanks a million!

That was awesome funness! Thank you!

I had such an amazing time - thank you all for coming. Where to start? Boss Radio's stage directions... Gn2Dland's pitch-perfect Mrs. Trotsky... A befuddling and amazing tribute to Phillip Glass... the absurdist "bell" - I laughed so hard all night.

Note to self: Next time bring reading glasses to a READING.

Lovely to see everyone, and especially fun to put faces to familiar screen names.

Thank you, Heidi and Tom for hosting this inspired tomfoolery.

hahahahahahaow much fun was that!?!?!

:) LoT, have I told you lately that I love you??

The sound governor thinks you're all groovy.

That was sooo much fun! I am glad I put down my anti-socialness and showed up, and even participated in the reading.

I second (or eighth, or whatever) that tonight was awesome. Thanks all for a magnificent time, and thanks Tom and Heidi for planning/hosting! I'm so glad this fell on a weekend that I'm in town. So good to see everyone that was there, and to those that weren't...hope to see you next time!

Delightful.

I'm still harboring the suspicion that Boss Radio's blind man act was a way to weasel out of reading. But if so it was a quality performance, so he earned it either way.

I'm going to the bakery to get a loaf of love for breakfast. I wonder if Phillip Glass will be there.

Good times! Thanks Tom and Heidi for putin' on a great show. Everyone was great tonight!

I had a great time, let's do it again!

thanks guys for hosting and to everyone who attended. was awesome to meet even more of the folks who go with all these personas, especially for such an incredible event. a blast to be sure

well worth the trip and then some.

- Chuck II

Next time, I'm gonna read the material first. I didn't like trusting to the hat draw. Luckily, I loved the role of Al, but despised the role of Jack so much, I handed it off to my understudy.


Pffft, that did not detract one iota from my enjoyment of the marvelous evening. I certainly enjoyed experiencing other's performances more than giving my own. (I like to sing in the car, but I won't do karoke)

No problems - I'll be there. It's this coming Saturday, isn't it ? :blush:






oops.

I hadn't realized you were meant to be the Jack to my Jill. Or wait, was there another Jack in a different piece? I was not too excited by the whole bleep-zorp-bop-da-doo-wop of the first page of English Made Simple. But by the third page I was having a hard time saying the lines because I couldn't stop laughing.

Same as you, next time I am reading the material first. Although, I'm thinking no amount of reading could have prepared anyone for Phillip Glass. Chardonnay didn't even help much.

Bummed that I missed it, but my sister (who I haven't seen in four years) was in town. Sounds like it was fun.

I'm sure I would have read better had I read it first, but I liked being surprised by the ones I was listening to. I was really surprised by how well everyone read their parts. I mean, I expected it to be good, but I thought you guys were all really fantastic. And the plays had so much heart.

One thing that I thought was funny was an apparent regional difference regarding shoes. You can't get past someone's door in AZ without taking off your shoes. It was weird for me to be in a room with a dozen people and everyone wearing shoes!

There was no bidet in the loo under the stairs!!!


Southern Californians are Barbarians!!

I'm surprised how well I did cold reading. I'm usually pretty prone to stuttering and fumbling words, but these plays (minus Phillip Glass, of course) were pretty naturally easy for me. As I was assigned my roles I did skim ahead a bit, just to get the gist of tone and character for each one, but other than that I was going cold.

Lol. The thought that crossed my mind when I realized the shoe thing was, "Oh, I forgot, Arizona is for Rednecks!" Heh. I wonder why the no shoe thing here? Maybe because the desert is so dusty? All the light tiled floors show dirt more? Maybe we're all hicks?

I think its the sand/dust and tile thing. we did the same growing up. shoes off when you came in. everyone always asked if it was because my mom was japanese....nope, its because her 3 boys were walking disaster areas when coming in from the yard.

However, I will be bringing one on the camping trip!







Yes, I am just kidding!

I can bring my pump garden sprayer. we just have to rinse out the weed killer first.

Maybe not: you never know what you're going to find in iSm's private place :p

ok, so we rinse it before AND after

:D

That's because it hasn't been so private.



:eek:

Public mojo since I can't give it now.

Actually that would be ISM's Jack to MY Jill.

I saw those noises coming up, thats why I sooooooooooo willingly passed it on. :evil:


TY to the Todi household. I had a blast.

Yeah, I did a little skip-ahead reading, too. Not enough, apparently. I couldn't get a handle on what the Jack'n'Jill play was supposed to be expressing, so the scat ooobly-ooo stuff at the beginning was just the icing on this rat deserting the sinking ship.


I don't know why it didn't occur to me before, but I can't do any kind of dramatic reading if I have zero clue what's going on, or especially what kind of character I'm playing. So, with apologies to the cast of Words, Words, Words, I missed most of the performance skimming ahead to the roles I'd been assigned.

No apology needed.
i thought you did beautifully at those you read.

I would read with you again in a heart beat!

Everyone did a fantastic job.

What do I know, I'm just a chimp?

You're just now figuring that out?

Thanks for that! ;)
If I had seen it in advance, I would surely have passed on it as well, but I actually ended up really liking it, other than that awkward little page.

I also had a great time. Have I said that too much? I don't think enough wonderful things can be said about what a great party T & H hosted. It was fabulously fun.

Did you feel differently about it after we finished reading it, in terms of what the whole thing was trying to express? With the exception of the doo-wop stuff at the beginning, I like the way it dissected the subtext of conversation.


It didn't occur to me either, until I had agreed to read! For some reason I was thinking of reading aloud from a chosen work, but duh -- what does dramatic reading mean? I wasn't thinking about actually playing a character. What do I know about that? Not a thing, but it was really fun, and thanks everyone for suffering through it.

Yes, I felt differently about it afterwards. Because just scanning Jack and Jill's lines game me a WTF feeling, because I didn't really grasp the Loudspeaker parts. CoasterMatt gave those the PERFECT delivery, and that made me grasp the whole piece.

Ah well, I'll always have my memories of Al. Hahaha.

Don't say I didn't warn you!

So... I guess the only remaining question is...

What's next?

I don't know what's next, but I'd like to publicly congratulate Tref on his ingenious scheme to trap a woman in his apartment by telling her, "You can't leave because the door is unlocked." Brilliant.