Broadway on Broadway

Broadway on Broadway 2007 (Photo: Emile Wamsteker-Courtesy of The Broadway League)

When I travel to NYC this semester to visit daughter Lizabeth in her new Brooklyn digs, we’re hoping to hit the musical “Once” together. She’s done “Once” once, but says she’s eager to take me along her second time around — certain I’ll love the musical’s story, songs and simplicity.

We’re also looking forward to the new crop of musicals and plays making their way to Broadway this season — and she’ll be among those who can enjoy a sneak peek during this year’s “Broadway on Broadway” event, taking place Sun, Sept. 9 at 11:30am in Times Square. It’s produced by The Broadway League and the Times Square Alliance.

The free outdoor concert “kicks off the Broadway season with star performances from new shows and long-running favorites, accompanied by a live orchestra.” It’ll be hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford, writer of both book and lyrics for a show opening in October that’s called “Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson.”

Parents looking for family-friendly shows have several good options — including “Annie” (opening Nov. 8 at the Palace Theatre), “Cinderella” (opening Feb. 21, 2013 at the Broadway Theatre) and “Matilda” (opening April 11, 2013 at the Shubert Theatre).

“Chaplin” opens this month (Sept. 10 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre), as does “An Enemy of the People” (Sept. 27 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre). “Chaplin” is a new musical about the famous silent film legend — introducing Rob McClure as Chaplin. “An Enemy of the People” is a new take on the Ibsen classic about a man whose revelation about toxic water is met with resistance by those whose revenue it threatens.

Five are scheduled to open in October — “Grace” (Oct. 4 at the Cort Theatre), “Running on Empty” (Oct. 9 at the Richard Rogers Theatre), “Cyrano de Bergerac” (Oct. 11 the American Airlines Theatre), “Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf?” (Oct. 13 at the Booth Theatre) and “Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on Broadway” (Oct. 19 at the Broadway Theatre).

The latter stars Valli, celebrates the group’s 50th anniversary and has a limited seven-show run. “Grace” is a dark comedy about a young couple whose dreams of opening a chain of Gospel motels meet with unexpected obstacles. “Running on Empty” is a one-man show by caustic comedian Lewis Black. I suspect his motel chain would feature beds that hurl insults when you drop in a quarter.

Shows opening during the first half of November include a revival of “Annie” plus “The Heiress” (Nov. 1 at the Walter Kerr Theatre), “Glengarry Glen Ross” (Nov. 11 at the Schoenfeld Theatre), “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” (Nov. 13 at Studio 54), “The Performers” (Nov. 14 at the Longacre Theatre) and “Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson” (Nov. 15 at the Neil Simon Theatre).

“The Heiress” stars Jessica Chastain of the film “The Help” as a sheltered daughter caught between a prominent father and passionate suitor, and is directed by Moisés Kaufmann. “Glengarry Glen Ross” is a Mamet play about competing real estate salesman during the age of Reaganomics. The cast includes Al Pacino, Bobby Cannavale, David Harbour, Jeremy Shamos and Richard Schiff.

“The Myster of Edwin Drood” is a whodunit, with a nifty audience-participation twist, that’s based on an unfinished Dickens novel. “The Performers” stars Henry Winkler and Cheyenne Jackson in the tale of two high school friends who reconnect at adult film awards in Vegas. “Scandalous” is a new musical based on the fame and foibles of a charismatic evangelist in L.A. during the 1920s.

Choices for families in search of Broadway Christmas fare include “Annie” plus two others. “A Christmas Story, The Musical” opens Nov. 19 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and “Elf” (presented by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures) opens Nov. 9 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Check age guidelines before you go. “Annie” and several other shows this season note that children under age four are not permitted in the theater.

The second half of November issues in opening nights for “Rebecca” (Nov. 18 at the Broadhurst Theatre) and “Dead Accounts” (Nov. 29 at the Music Box Theatre). “Rebecca” is a new musical based on the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier, and “Dead Accounts” is a new comedy starring Norman Leo Butz and Katie Holmes as a pair of sibs facing a multi-million dollar secret (like several shows opening this season, it’s not recommended for kids 12 or under).

“The Anarchist” opens Dec. 2 at the Lyceum Theatre and “Golden Boy” opens Dec. 3 at the Belasco Theatre. “The Anarchist” is a world-premiere Mamet play starring Patti LuPone and Deborah Winger. Think passion, deception, religion and revolution. “Golden Boy” stars Seth Numrich (recently seen in “War Horse” and “The Merchant of Venice”) as a man torn between boxing and playing violin. His father is played by Tony Shaloub of the TV series “Monk.” Watch for “The Other Place” opening Jan. 10, 2013 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

April’s calendar is filled with opening nights for shows that include “Kinky Boots” (April 4, 2013 at the Al Hirshfeld Theatre), “Diner” (April 10, 2013 at TBA), “Motown the Musical” (April 14, 2013 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre) and “The Assembled Parties” (April 17, 2013 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre). Also “Jekyll and Hyde” starring “American Idol” and “Rock of Ages” alum Constantine Margoulis with Deborah Cox, with a TBA opening night at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.

“Kinky Boots” is based on a true story of daddy issues, a drag queen and a failing shoe factory — with book by Harvey Fierstein and score by Cyndi Lauper. “Motown the Musical” features songs from the Motown catalogue and the rocky roads of those who sang them. Berry Gordy wrote the book for the show. “Diner” is a new musical featuring book by Barry Levinson (director and screenwriter for the 1982 film) and music/lyrics by Sheryl Crow, which has yet to announce its expected Broadway home.

You can have some serious fun with musings about additional shows headed for the Great White Way by clicking here to explore a Playbill.com story that’s got tidbits about everything from “Houdini” and “Betty Boop” to “Picnic” and “Fat Pig.” Pity Lizabeth doesn’t have a guest room…

— Lynn

Note: Click here for information on a “Motown the Musical” call for audition videos from charismatic African American young men ages 8-11. Click here to keep up with The Broadway League’s “Opening Nights Calendar” — and please check all details before making plans.

Coming up: All up in King Arthur’s business, One bird got the last laugh

Update: Click here for details on 2 for 1 tickets to select shows (including this year’s Tony Award-winning best musical and best play) during Broadway Week, which runs Sept. 4-16. 

Goose on the loose

Harrison Redmond (L) and EJ Dohring in [gooseplay] by M. Yichao

Playwright Michael Yichao brings a staged reading of “[gooseplay]” to Jester’Z Improv Comedy in Scottsdale Sat., Sept. 1 at 4pm. It’s the family-friendly tale of a boy turning ten whose birthday party lacks guests. Seems his dad is out of town for work, his friends are at a cooler kid’s party and his big sister is off doing the soccer camp thing.

I’m told the boy travels through time and space, memories and dreams, hunting trips and supernovas, and grapefruit and geese — all while searching for the point of getting older. The play runs just under one hour.

Yichao is entering his 3rd year of the MFA acting program at California
Institute of the Arts. He graduated from ASU in theater and English, and ran
Clopet Theater in Arizona for a year before starting graduate studies.

A collection of three Yichao plays in progress dubbed “Boys are Dumb, Girls are Mean,” was performed last year at Jester’Z, where Yichao once rocked the jester vibe. Yichao notes that funds raised through that performance allowed him to produce one of the plays, titled “hide/seek,” at California Institute of the Arts — adding that it won a second place award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

Jon Gentry (L) and EJ Dohring in [gooseplay] by M. Yichao

Yichao wrote and developed “[gooseplay]” this summer with the Orchard Project in New York. Saturday’s staged reading in Scottsdale features ASA student EJ Dohring, Childsplay actor Jon Gentry and VYT education intern Harrison Redmond. It’s being funded through a Kickstartercampaign. Tickets are $12 at the door.

— Lynn

Coming up: Like a kid in a candy shop

Playwrighting pearls

I chatted recently with Charles L. Metten, series director for the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s New American Playwrights Project taking place this month in Cedar City, who told me he spent a lot of time watching films as a junior high and high school student before being drafted into the army and serving in Japan during WWII.

“I was brought up by the movies,” says Metten. Good to know considering my daughters both spend a lot of time doing the movie thing. Jennifer is especially smitten with classic black and white films, including those set during WWII. Lizabeth is the family expert on contemporary film, and spends a lot of her NYC days with a fellow film buff named Kate.

As we talked, I enjoyed Metten’s tales of early Radio City Music Hall days, landing his first professional job in “The Drunkard,” performing the role of “Julius Caesar” at the festival and teaching film studies for 17 years at Brigham Young University. I learned that he’s the father of five children and seven grandchildren — with a tenth great-grandchild on the way.

Jinger Axelson (left) as Scout, Monica Bell as Jean Louise Finch, Bailey W. Duncan as Dill and Nicholas P. Denhalter as Jem in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2012 production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” (Photo: Karl Hugh)

Metten was happy to tick off a list of some of his favorite films, including “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Bridge on the River Kwai,” and “You Can’t Take It With You” — and also spoke of the profound influence “Our Town” has had on his life. “We really haven’t touched this level of playwriting in this age,” reflects Metten.

A letter from Arthur Miller, framed in a shadow box along with a Playbill from “Death of a Salesman,” hangs over the desk where Metten manages the New American Playwright Project. A large black and white picture of Bette Davis hangs on the opposite wall over a small table piled high with scripts submitted by playwrights hoping their work will be selected for the project.

Staged readings of this year’s plays — Kurt Proctor’s “Turquoise Wind” (Aug. 16, 17, 30), Daniel Hintzsche’s “Play Desdimona” (Aug. 23, 24, 31) and Frankie Little Hardin’s “The Greater Love” (its last performance is Aug. 29) include post-reading discussions between playwright, actors and audience members. Tickets are just $10/reading.

The Utah Skakespeare Festival notes that “plays in this series are written for contemporary adult audiences and may occasionally contain themes and language not appropriate for children and that some may find offensive.” Families eager to enjoy festival time together have options that include “Scapin,” “Les Miserables” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Scene from the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2012 production of “Les Miserables” (Photo: Karl Hugh)

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is currently considering plays for the 2013 New American Playwrights Project, and has a special interest in “material that explores characters and ideas that focus on our American Western experience, spirit, and heritage.” They’ll also review scripts that “focus on ‘classic’ characters, subjects, and themes such as Shakespeare and other figures of historical, literary or artistic significance.”

I asked Metten as we chatted to offer tips for teens who have an interest in writing for theater. “Be more involved in English classes,” he suggests. Seems there’s no good substitute for knowing the grammar and structure of your language. Also “see and participate in live theater.” It’s best to not only watch a lot of shows, but to have the experience of being in shows too.

A final pearl from Metten for youth interested in acting and playwriting: “Read the great works of literature — novels, plays and poetry.” Think “Les Miserables,” “Gone With the Wind” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

And, of course, William Shakespeare.

— Lynn

Note: At the time this post was written, the temperature in Cedar City was 36° lower than the temperature in Scottsdale — another great reason to check out the festival this month.

Coming up: Sister cities adventures

Once upon a pageant

In many ways, it was Childsplay’s “Still Life With Iris,” enjoyed during a Desert View Learning Center field trip to the Herberger Theater Center more than a decade ago, that sparked my love for local theater. Its cast included D. Scott Withers, who’s been acting with Childsplay for more than three decades now — in shows like “BFG,” “The Yellow Boat,” and “A Year With Frog and Toad.” Also last season’s “The Color of Stars,” written by Dwayne Hartford.

Withers has often shared the stage with Dwayne Hartford and Jon Gentry, also with Childsplay, while in acting mode. But last night the trio sat in a row with other actors who’d just given the first performance of “Big Dreams,” a play Withers says he’s been working on for eight or nine years now. It’s the tale of several women consumed by beauty pageant dreams, and the men whose attitudes and actions seriously rain on their parades. There’s plenty of self-sabotage as well.

Kristin Blatchford set rendering for “Big Dreams” by D. Scott Withers

“Big Dreams” is being performed twice today as part of the Hormel New Works Festival at Phoenix Theatre. Withers wowed Phoenix Theatre audiences with his Edna gig for their production of “Hairspray” — in which he looked like a vision of pageant lovliness on a larger than life scale — and reprised the role for “Hairspray” at Arkansas Repertory Theatre in Little Rock. Gentry has performed with Phoenix Theatre as well — rocking the role of Max (opposite Toby Yatso as Leo) in “The Producers.”

The cast for Withers’ “Big Dreams,” which Hartford directs, includes Trisha Ditsworth (Shanda Drexler), Andrea Morales (Mimi Rodriguez), Adrian Hernandes (Blake Portia), Jon Gentry (Mayor Biggs) and Cathy Dresbach (Penny Lou/Louella). Tiffany Owens is stage manager, Cody Goulder serves as dramaturge and Jayson Morrison is the dramaturge intern. Their work happens behind the scenes, but that doesn’t diminish its importance.

Folks who stayed after Friday night’s premiere of “Big Dreams” for a post-show talkback with the cast and creative team had the opportunity to share feedback about the show, agreeing it was best described as a “dramedy.” It’s filled with fabulous one-liners that routinely elicited big belly laughs from the crowd, but also tackles serious themes including identity, hypocrisy, prejudice and more. Finding the perfect balance may take a tad more finessing.

Kristin Blatchford set rendering for “Big Dreams” by D. Scott Withers

But that’s the beauty of participating in something like the Hormel New Works Festival. Playwrights whose works are chosen for the festival know they’re entering what Robert Kolby Harper, associate artistic director for Phoenix Theatre, dubs one of the “most vulnerable” situations an artist can experience — presenting work in progress before peers and audiences, and staying open to a myriad of musings.

The Hormel New Works Festival continues this weekend, so you’ve got plenty of time to jump into the fray. When last I checked, tickets were still available for today’s 5pm and 8pm performances of Withers’ “Big Dreams.” José Zárate’s “Smugglers” is also being performed at 5pm, and there’s a free “2nd draft reading” of Pasha Yamotahari’s “I Am Van Gogh” that’s on my schedule for 2pm. The “24 Hour Theatre Project” happens this weekend as well.

— Lynn

Note: You can learn more about the Hormel New Works Festival at www.phoenixtheatre.com. “Big Dreams” contains mature language, and plenty of it, so consider yourself warned before deciding to take under-18 types to see the show.

Coming up: Pondering paper, Big musical meets small stage, A superhero tale

A smugglers tale

“Smugglers” is one of several plays being developed through the Hormel New Works Festival, which runs through Sunday at Phoenix Theatre

Picture yourself a single mother, widow of two men, trying to raise your son while heading a drug cartel on the Mexico/U.S. border. Odds are, you can’t do it. That’s what makes “Smugglers,” a play by José Zárate that’s being developed through the Hormel New Works Festival at Phoenix Theatre, so compelling.

It’s a glimpse into a world most of us never see, or give a lot of thought to. When you read about warring cartels on the border, or rival gangs in urban America, does it ever occur to you that they’re filled with parents, children, siblings or spouses — or do you see numbers instead of faces?

At the heart of Zárate’s “Smugglers,” I saw a mother working to protect her young son. But also helping him through the rites of passage necessary to become a man. It’s something mothers do the world over, but in vastly different ways. Sinaloa isn’t Scottsdale — as “Smugglers” makes clear.

It’s tough to read the motives of many of the play’s characters — aside from the most basic ones like staying alive and eking out a decent living — but the ambiguity ups the intrigue factor. “Smugglers” asks us all to consider how we might think or act under similar circumstances.

The lone woman in “Smugglers” is surrounded by several men, one the father of a young daughter, who have complicated relationships to her and to each other. She’s a sensuous sort — perhaps wielding her sexuality for power, or maybe merely yielding to her own need for physical gratification.

“Smugglers” is a fast-paced play that’s gripping from the get-go. There’s little time to think while swept up in all the action, but plenty to mull over once the work draws to a close — especially what possesses a character to commit the final act in the final scene.

Fellow festival goers used words like “riveting” and “instense” to describe the play, which is filled with the sort of violence and language you’d expect in a smugglers tale. Leave the kids at home with a good swashbucklers tale and a babysitter who thinks cartels are trendy coffee joints.

“Smugglers” is directed by Pasha Yamotahari, and will be performed again on Fri, July 20 at 7:30pm and Sat, July 21 at 5pm. Click here for ticket information, or to learn more about the Hormel New Works Festival at Phoenix Theatre.

— Lynn

Note: Free festival events include a Teen Playwriting Camp Showcase (Fri at 4:30pm), a Playwrights Forum (Fri at 6pm) and a reading of Yamotahari’s “I Am Van Gogh” (Sat at 2pm).

Coming up: A “slightly dark” comedy

Casualties of love and war

First Casuality is part of the 2012 Hormel New Works Festival at Phoenix Theatre

It seems friendly fire happens both on the battleground and in the bedroom. Playwright Monte Merrick’s “First Casualty,” given its first staged reading Thursday night during Phoenix Theatre’s “Hormel New Works Festival,” is the playwright’s own “what if” tale.

Dramaturgy display for First Casualty

What if a woman whose soldier husband was killed by friendly fire went in search of the man who killed him? What if it wasn’t entirely clear which of two men were to blame? What if her encounter with the man she’s labeled a murderer doesn’t go as expected?

“First Casualty” is directed by William Partlan, and has a cast of three — Paul Duran (as Jon Barrett, the soldier turned firefighter after an incident of friendly fire killed fellow soldier Matt), Angelica Howland (as Caitlin Post, Matt’s widow who’s consumed with finding answers about how and why he died) and Marshall Glass (as Mark Sessions, an active duty soldier who served with Matt and Jon).

Vision for First Casualty set design

Before Thursday night’s performance, patrons gathered around a lovely display of dramaturgical fare featuring themes and events related to the subject matter of the play — facts about various wars, information on depression and post traumatic stress disorder, details about various stages of grief. And themes that recur throughout the the play, including love and grace.

Drawings in the theater lobby that Robert Kolby Harper describes as “pie-in-the-sky” set designs imagine the work with an elaborate backdrop, but it was perfectly lovely performed with a simple set anchored by four main elements — a quilt-covered bed with pillows for two, a bistro table with two chairs, a sofa with coffee table and a high counter marking off space for a kitchen area.

Detail of Dramaturgy display

The play opens with a short acoustic guitar riff with a decidedly “Once” vibe, then slowly builds to the first confrontation between characters Jon and Caitlin. She’s tightly wound. He’s simmering far below the surface. By the end of act one they’ve cooked together, tended to a stab wound, waxed philosophical and endured “a tornado of unbearable grief lust.”

The dialogue is smart and real, familiar to anyone who’s ever been seeped in self-doubt, placed a lover atop a precarious pedestal, or felt unable to “move on” because that next person or thing simply wasn’t on the horizon. Despite its serious subject matter, “First Casualty” is authentically funny. And it’s perfectly paced thanks to Partlan’s exquisite use of silence and pause.

Pearls about the playwright

The imagery is profound, as Caitlin liken her “phantom husband pain” to the familiar “phantom limb pain” experience — and speaks of feeling like she and Matt were the two puzzle pieces around which everything else was built. Issues raised feel organic rather than contrived. “I throw a lot of stuff out,” says Jon. “It’s a ritual for me.” Later he tells Caitlin that “you can’t do anything to me that I haven’t done to myself.”

It would have been far easier to write a work accessible only to those who’ve experienced wartime trauma and loss. But “First Casualty” bridges with ease to the wider human experience of losing ourselves or another. Caitlin struggles, like most people, with finding that sweet spot between effortless and effortful. But she’s not without insight. “We save the world,” reflects Caitlin, “it’s just ourselves we let slide.”

The puzzle of love and loss, perhaps

“First Casualty” raises questions worth answering. How do we reconcile who we were with who we are? Is there a place for God outside the foxhole? What’s to be done after death reaches its shelf life? Does being a “bad forgetter” hold particular peril? How do rational creatures deal with reflex actions? Why do we merely bandage serious wounds?

Greek dramatist Aeschylus is credited with saying that “truth is the first casuality of war.” War with self. War against another. War between countries. For all their apparent differences, the similarities are striking.

— Lynn

Note: “First Casualty” performances take place tonight, July 13 at 7:30pm — plus Sat., July 14 at 5pm. Click here for details about all Hormel New Works Festival offerings at Phoenix Theatre. “First Casualty” dramaturgy by Kevin Rollins and set design rendering by Eric Beeck.

Coming up: Eye on new works, Art meets shape shifter

Spilling secrets

The real playwrights of Arizona will be spilling secrets this weekend as they present the 6th annual Pandora Festival, dubbed “Secrets Revealed.” It’s a three-day event featuring diverse works about everything from teen misfits to gripes with the corporate world. Even lack of privacy in the digital world and memories of a failed marriage.

ASU alumna Jennifer Giralo’s first play is part of this weekend’s “Pandora Festival” in Scottsdale

It’s “idealism versus realism” as Patty Hackmann directs Jennifer Giralo’s “Married to Marriage.” Seems characters Andy and Kim try to work through differing world views “in a late night bet they will never forget.” Something tells me they’re not wagering over who’s better at separating whites from brights.

Micki Shelton’s “Holly,” directed by Kate Hawkes, imagines a woman lost in Utah struggling to balance GPS, a Native American Park Ranger and a man on a horse. It’s all good, I suppose, assuming she doesn’t add texting while trailblazing.

Shelton notes that while she’s written plays starting with characters (“Circles”), theme (“Discovery: The Lost Gospel of Judas” — still a work in progress), and basic plot (“Fred and Mary”), she hadn’t “written a play beginning with setting” until a trip to Hovenweep National Monument about 18 months ago inspired her to write the work that became “Holly.”

Folks who enjoy “Holly” can experience more of Shelton’s work this July as “Fred and Mary: An Unconventional Romance” makes its world premiere at the historic Elks Opera House in Prescott. While others watch “Holly” come Saturday night, Shelton will be attending her daughter’s graduation in California. Some babies are penned, others born.

The Pandora Festival of New Works 2012 looks like this:

• Ten short plays. Fri, May 18 at 7pm.
• “Duty & Duplicity,” a full-length play by Michelle Lambeau (directed by Barbara Aker). Sat, May 19 at 2pm.
• Four one-act plays. Sat, May 19 at 7pm.
• “Father’s Ashes,” a full-length play by Esther Blumfield (directed by Kandyce Hughes). Sun, May 20 at 2pm.

All works are being performed at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. It’s one of many gems you’ll discover by exploring a section of their website dubbed “Events Presented by Visiting Groups” (others include “Swan Lake…The Big Splash” presented by Dance Theater West).

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts is located right next to Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, which has plenty of its own intriguing offerings — including this weekend’s first-event SMOCA “Teens Night Out” Sat, May 19, from 7-11pm in front of the museum.

“Teens Night Out” is free for teens with school I.D. or drivers license, and features everything from break dancing to painting performance. Think four bands, outdoor community chalk mural, hands-on art activities, free raffles, DJ and more. Reminds me of a recent dance party enjoyed at the Brooklyn Museum in NYC.

Let the kids party while you Pandora. Click here to learn more about the Arizona Women’s Theatre Company, which presents the Pandora Festival plus other opportunities for playwrights and lovers of the new. Then tell a friend, because some secrets are fine to share.

— Lynn

Coming up: Ten ways to celebrate International Museum Day, Arts meets women’s rights, From Brooklyn to Scottsdale

New plays for young audiences

Write Now recently issued the call for new plays for young audiences

Folks in the field of playwriting for youth are plenty familiar with the Bonderman Playwriting Festival for Youth, first conceived by founder Dorothy Webb in 1983. After Webb announced her retirement last year, Indiana Repertory Theatre (home of the Bonderman Festival since the mid-’90s) sought a new partner to help reimagine the festival.

Last May IRT and Childsplay met to begin work on transforming the Bonderman Festival into Write Now — a “biennial national competition and process-focused workshop” supporting the work of both emerging and established playwrights. Their collaboration is funded in part by a $100,000 award from the NYC-based Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The first Write Now gathering takes place March 14-17, 2013 in Tempe. The second takes place in Indianapolis during 2015.

IRT and Childsplay are collaborating to “advocate for playwrights and promote the development of new plays for young audiences.” Playwrights from across the country have until July 31 to submit their scripts for K-12 audiences to Write Now. Playwrights must be at least 18 years old when they submit their work, and only one submission per playwright will be accepted. Musicals will not be accepted for the 2013 contest.

At least four scripts will be selected by a panel of peers to participate in the full workshop process, which includes “a week on site at Childsplay with a development team, followed by a reading of the script at the Write Now gathering.” Semi-finalists will be invited to read excerpts of their scripts. Winners will be contacted in December.

Write Now gatherings are designed to engage playwrights, directors, actors, theater artists and others in the play development process. Producers, educators, students and theater practioners with a passion for new plays are invited to attend. The event features rehearsed readings of all finalist plays, excerpts of semi-finalist plays and an “experiential” artistic keynote.

Also “stimulating conversations about new pactices in the development of work for young audiences” and “a formal discussion of the development of a national new plays network for young audiences.” Registration fees are $150 (adults) and $135 (students) before Jan. 31, 2013 — and $175 (adults) and $160 (students) after.

There’s even a group rate on a limited number of rooms reserved by Childsplay at the Courtyard by Marriott Tempe Downtown, which is within walking distance of both Write Now venues — Childsplay’s Campus for Imagination and Wonder  and the Tempe Center for the Arts, where both local schools and community groups will participate as audience members.

So save the date, grab your pen and let the new works begin.

— Lynn

Note: Click here for details about submitting your work for consideration

Coming up: Art meets Mother’s Day, Once upon a dance competition, Festival spotlights women playwrights, One mother’s diary, Ode to Maurice Sendak

“I Am Van Gogh”

Plenty of people have toured the “Van Gogh Alive” exhibition that’s running through June 17 at the Arizona Science Center, but reactions to the multi-media presentation of Van Gogh’s work and words vary. I stood in a single spot for a very long time, reading Van Gogh quotes projected onto an otherwise blank wall. Pasha Yamotahari recalls heading for a corner — looking at the silhouettes of people lingering in front of towering screens featuring rotating images of Van Gogh paintings and related fare. Yamotahari says he was struck by “people standing frozen in time with something timeless.” And then it hit him.

“Hey,” he recalls thinking to himself. “I wrote something about Van Gogh some time ago.” The exhibit conjured memories of a screenplay written about eight years ago when Yamotahari was studying theatre, film and television at Scottsdale Community College. It was about a little’s boy first museum experience, which included an unexpected encounter with one of Van Gogh’s paintings. He pictured Van Gogh coming alive to interact with the boy, but felt at the time that staging such a thing would be rather tricky. Hence the choice to write it as a screenplay.

But times are changing in theater world, as new technologies make all sorts of things more doable. Yamotahari knows this better than most as a member of the artistic staff for Phoenix Theatre, where he’s been known to wear lots of hats. He holds both an AAFA in theatre arts and film/TV from SCC and a BA in journalism from ASU’s Cronkite School in downtown Phoenix — but his talents also include directing, dramaturgy and more.

For years he’s been part of bringing Phoenix Theatre’s “Hormel New Works Festival” to life. But this year, he’s adding another hat — presenting a sit-down reading of his own full-length play called “I Am Van Gogh.” It’s an adaptation of his earlier screenplay reworked after that “Aha!” moment at the Arizona Science Center. His is one of two sit-down readings that’s free and open to the public.

Playwright Pasha Yamotahari still treasures this book his mother gave him

Yamotahari’s mother gave him a book during high school that contained letters written by Van Gogh. Yamotahari remembers reading it — fascinated that someone so gifted achieved success only after his death and curious about why so few people recognized Van Gogh’s greatness when the artist was alive. Nowadays it gives him pause to consider what counts as true greatness in the arts, to wonder about the ways we define success and to live with the ambiguity of never really knowing where one’s devotion to art might lead.

“I Am Van Gogh” runs about two hours and features four actors playing close to 20 characters. The play imagines a young son of devout parents who’s magically taken inside a painting where he meets Van Gogh. The artist tells the boy it’s his destiny to be the next Van Gogh, something complicated by the fact that 8-year-old Marc is simply “not that good at painting.”

Yamotahari was born in Iran but his family fled to France around the time of the Iranian Revolution, later moving to Toronto. Play goers meet Marc as an eight year old because that’s the age when Yamotahari first saw a Van Gogh work at a small gallery in Nice. Also because children develop rich memories around that age. Yamotahari notes that Marc “sees Van Gogh throughout his life pushing him.” Marc finds his destiny, but it’s not without sacrifice.

Knowing that Van Gogh is on most short lists of artists who lived with mental illness, I asked Yamotahari whether he’d integrated the issue into the play. Yamotahari notes that the more he worked with the protagonists, the more he realized that some artists feel the only way to truly reach art is to lose their mind. He describes it as “putting themselves in a constant state of pseudo-insanity.” Sometimes it’s merely an artist’s “obsession with a piece that gets misconstrued as mental illness.”

Though we don’t have works of Van Gogh here in the Valley, Yamotahari’s been able to study the artist’s works online via the “Google Art Project” featuring artworks from 17 of the world’s great art museums. Yamotahari recalls reading the words of Van Gogh, which felt fluid early on but changed somehow as if madness was brewing — especially near the end of Van Gogh’s life.

Yamotahari says he’s fondest of Van Gogh works depicting cornfields, and thinks it’s “cool to zoom in and see those brush strokes.” If you look closely enough, says Yamotahari, you’ll see mistakes — even moments of rage and passion. The playwright wants those who see “I Am Van Gogh” to wonder about the difference between destiny and free will. But don’t expect easy answers. Yamotahari hopes the play will “evoke ambiguity and mystery.”

— Lynn

Note: The 2012 “Hormel New Works Festival” takes place July 8-22. Click here to explore selections and learn about a related art contest. Click here to explore the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Coming up: Art meets asylum, James Garcia talks playwriting and social justice, Drawing a diary

More than Margaritaville

Even the floors at Xico in Chandler are covered with artwork

For too many Americans, Cinco de Mayo is merely one more excuse to drink beyond reason. For others, it’s a friendly reminder to spend more time exploring the diverse arts and culture of Latin America. For those of you seeking more than Margaritaville, I’ve assembled a humble rundown of a few places you can explore Latin American arts and culture here in Arizona.

• Arizona Latino Arts & Cultural Center in Phoenix presents visual and performance art. Their “2nd Annual Latina Art Exhibit and Festival” and “What Do Kids Want?” exhibit open today. May’s “First Friday” lineup at ALAC includes the performances by Mystic Events Dance Group, ethnographer Sarah Amira de la Garza and dance group Unidos en Amistad. A Jeremy Gillett play titled “Black & 25 in America” premieres at the center May 12. Learn more at www.alac.mouthtomouthmedia.com.
• Phoenix Art Museum has a permanent collection of Latin American art that includes more than 400 works of art from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries including religious paintings, colonial furniture, decorative arts and more. Featured artists include Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo and Diego Rivera — plus many contemporary artists. Learn more at www.phxarts.org.
• Tucson Museum of Art has more than 1,900 works in its permanent Spanish colonial and folk art collections, in addition to oil-on-tin retablos and Mexican provinical paintings. Current exhibitions include “Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Murray,” “Tesoros del Pueblo: Latin American Folk Art” and “Frida’s Style: Traditional Women’s Costumes from Mexico.” They’ll present a free screening of the film “Frida” on May 10, and partner with UA to present teacher training in Latin American art. Learn more at www.tucsonmuseumofart.org.
• Xico in Chandler sponsors the region’s oldest “Dia de los Muertos Festival” — a free event that “showcases community performers, folk art vendors, storytelling, cultural music, children’s activities, a community procession and community altar. The 2012 festival takes place on Nov. 3. They also present community exhibitions and “meet the artist” events featuring works by Latino and Native American artists. Xico offers classes with professional artists to underserved youth, plus printmaking workshops (“an art-form with a rich history among indigenous artists”). Learn more at www.xicoinc.org.

Click here if you’re looking for family-friendly Cinco de Mayo celebrations, and here to learn more about an Arizona organization called Friends of Mexican Art.

— Lynn

Note: Click here if you’re celebrating Keith Haring’s birthday today and here to watch Robert Booker on PBS’s “Horizon” (Booker heads the Arizona Commission on the Arts). If you just like clicking things, simply fondle your remote control.

Coming up: The best pies in Glendale?, Art meets Austria

Update: Works by 2012 Arizona Doodle 4 Google finalists will be exhibited at the Tucson Museum of Art June 1-Aug 31. You can vote online for your favorite Doodle for Google through May 10 by clicking here. 5/4/12; Click here to read “Rescuing the Stories Behind Latino Art” by Holland Cotter published in The New York Times. 5/12.