Directors, casts and Jack's

This was the promo piece Matt (my husband) made for the staged reading of "Prime" last year.

As for the Fourth Wall production of "Prime," it sounds like the artistic team over there has settled on a director for the show. It's someone I've worked with before, so I'm excited. I don't want to post her name until I know she has officially accepted the job. I'm actually kind of surprised to have a woman directing. I don't know why, but my main collaborators and advice-givers on this script have always been male. I feel like it's a very male play - even though it's written by a woman and the primary character is a woman going through a lot of very womanly issues and emotions. I'm curious to see if a woman as director will uncover some new approaches to certain moments. As long as the Kevin-Jeremy fight scene remains fabulously ridiculous in its testosterone-fueled ineptness, then everything will be fine. (I love that scene! Stuart and Josh nailed it in the staged reading last year.)

I spent many years writing, abandoning and returning to rewrite "Prime." And a lot of music has influenced the script over that time. The current draft has a soundtrack in my head. It's the album "Everything in Transit" by Jack's Mannequin. If you want to work on the Fourth Wall production of "Prime," I highly suggest you check the album out. Particularly "Dark Blue," "Into the Airwaves" and "Rescued." (I just saw Jack's in concert at the Grog Shop this week, and it was an amazing show. Weird, though, to see tweens bopping around and "wooo"-ing for music that to me is so introspective and so accurate at describing what it feels like to be young and ill.)

In "Unethical" news, director Lisa Ortenzi and I had a production meeting this week, and she's close to finalizing a cast. (We need to have actor names to CPT by Nov. 21!) No time to audition, so we're just inviting people we know, some I've worked with and some I've never met who are Lisa's picks. I like the idea of bringing in "new blood" just to see if the script sounds any different in their mouths, than when interpreted by my usual gang down at the Dark Room play reading group.  It sounds like all our first choices are in, except one. So, who are we going to get to play Zach, the love interest? He needs to be early 30s, charming, a sort of goofy class clown type, but restrained enough to not come across like a freak to his office mates. The actor also has to not be invited to Derek's wedding, which is the same weekend as my show. I'm going to spend this weekend auditioning every actor I know in my head until I figure out who I want for my Zach.