I'm awesome ...

... because I finished "Prime" rewrites tonight. In your face, procrastination!

Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without Last Call rehearsals at my house. When Matt has Mike and Aaron over and they're rehearsing in my living room, Cotton and I get banished to the upstairs, where I have nothing to do but sit at the computer (while she lies on the floor and chews on her blanket). Every night Last Call is here, I get a ton of work done. Hooray!

Things will start rolling after the first of the year. My "Prime" planning meeting with Justin and Jenna is on Sunday. Soon after that, I imagine Lisa will start "Unethical" rehearsals. Jenna's looking to hold "Prime" auditions the week of Jan. 20, with a first read-through tentatively scheduled for Jan. 27. Very exciting! Plus, we got a new digital camera for Chanukah/Christmas, so I'm going to photograph the shit out of rehearsals and builds for both plays - and hopefully post it all here.

Random observation: While working on "Prime" tonight I realized that Dr. Matt's unhappy wife (who is mentioned in the play but never seen) is named Jenna. I named the character a good year before I ever met Jenna Messina and nearly seven years before she became this current production's director. It's just weird that a real Jenna is now involved with my script that has a character Jenna. But no weirder than the fact that the Little Box production last year had Stuart Hoffman in the cast, but not playing the Stuart character. And no weirder than the fact that I named a character in my most beloved play Matt, and then a year later met my future husband Matt, who at one point played a part (oddly enough, not the part of Matt) in a reading of an earlier draft. Strange coincidences.

And in case you're wondering ... Matt's last name in the show, Warner, is after Warner Brothers. Stuart McFarlane's last name is not after Seth McFarlane (I hate "Family Guy"), but after graphic novel and action figure creator icon Todd McFarlane. Jeremy and Kevin originally had comic or cartoon related last names as well (I think one was Hanna, actually), but I changed Kevin's last name to Kellerman for better rhythm and to start with a K, because I imagined he and Steph met in homeroom. (Plus, it's a name from "Homicide.") Jeremy's last name is never said in the script.

Hooray!

I talked to Justin from Fourth Wall yesterday, and my mind is at ease!

He and Jenna, the "Prime" director, will be meeting after the first of the year to talk production stuff and schedule auditions, and then the three of us will meet after that to talk script. Things seem to be underway, and I am therefore less nervous.

Of course, I still haven't really done the rewrites on "Prime" (they're minor!) because my head is so focused on "Unethical." Speaking of -  CPT sent the light plot for the show today, along with stage manager assignments. My sm for "Unethical" will be the always lovely Dan Kilbane, whom I've worked with on several projects since 2001. A familiar face will be welcome during the tension of tech week. (To clarify - Dan won't work with us until tech week, per the rules of Big[BOX]. The concept of the whole series is that each featured artist is on their own to create and rehearse the work. CPT is merely "giving you the keys to the theater for one week." They provide the stage, the basic lights, a small budget for set or whatever, marketing, house management and Dan for a week. The rest is on me and Lisa and the cast.)

Pre-holiday playwright's jitters

Lisa is planning to start "Unethical" rehearsals in January, so I feel like I can disappear into the vortex that is Pittsburgh for the holidays without worrying about that one. I am quite secure in my knowledge that it will proceed as scheduled in the new year. Remember, tickets are already on sale here.

I'm not feeling as secure about the other one. I haven't heard from Fourth Wall about "Prime" in forever. And really, auditions should be happening soon. Unfortunately, almost all of my previous communication with the production staff has been via email and Facebook. Seriously, guys, if you're reading this, call me. I just want to know that everything's OK, that plans are in motion, and that you don't need me to be doing anything important right now. Please check in. Please!

I went into this thinking "Prime" would be easier to do than "Unethical." The script was in much better shape when I got confirmation the show was going to be done, and I was excited to be produced by someone else. What a dream - my script would be performed, and I wouldn't be responsible for the set, logistics, casting, marketing, etc. I thought "Unethical" would be way more stressful because the whole point of Big [BOX] is that CPT gives me nothing but the theater, and I'm supposed to create everything myself. So far, with the help of Lisa and soon the involvement of the cast, I feel like "Unethical" is very secure ...  as opposed to "Prime," which feels like a huge unknown. Maybe I'm a control freak. I don't know. But I do need some sort of communication to put my mind at ease.

And we're cast!

"Unethical" is completely cast now. Which is great, because Lisa can finally move forward with scheduling and plans instead of waiting for me to make up my mind about who I liked for the various parts. Actually, if I'm honest, we still haven't cast the voice of admin assistant Kathy, but since that will likely be recorded voiceovers and we have someone in mind, I'm not too worried about it.

Cast (in order of appearance)

Nora from accounting: Laurel Johnson

Zach from sales: Brian McNally

Barry from IT: Allen Branstein

Tracey from marketing: Kristy Lee Miller

Reed, their boss: Nathan Miller

For those of you playing along at home, the Millers are not related.

Plus, we now have our own page on the CPT website from which you can purchase tickets to the show. So why not buy tickets now? Click here!

Prime reference #3

I've truly been slacking on keeping up with this blog. My excuse is I've been traveling, then sick. Anyway, back to business:

The next in my series of "Prime" references is part of the ongoing debate the characters have as to which cartoon character would make the best president. After the debate has been abandoned, Jeremy brings it back in an effort to distract and steer conversation away from his blow up with best friend and future brother-in-law Kevin. So, he suggests Lion-O from "The Thundercats" as a candidate:

KEVIN:

Later, Matty.

Pussycat, explain to Jeremy why Lion-O is a dumb choice.

STEPH:

Oh, well, Lion-O hung with Panthro, an obvious racial stereotype. We don't want a president who endorses that kind of latent bigotry.

JEREMY:

Pathro was a stereotype?

STEPH:

They all were! Lion-O was the white knight hero. Panthro was the token black guy. Cheetara was the one-dimensional woman with a three-dimensional figure. And Tygra was gay.

JEREMY:

He was not!

STEPH:

Hello! Did you ever even watch the show? It was so obvious.

At the end of this scene, Stuey challenges his buddies to see if anyone knows Snarf's real name. Do any of you know it? (No cheating, people who have read/seen the play.)

Speaking of "Prime," I am so behind on rewrites for this. AND I haven't heard an update from Fourth Wall in forever. I'm still waiting for confirmation on the director, so I can call her and talk and find out when we're doing auditions. If any of you Fourth Wallers are reading this, give me a buzz. I'll be hunting you guys down tomorrow. Diva playwright is nervous being kept out of the loop!

Thoughts from LA

The strangest thing about LA was getting recognized - no joke - from "Man in the Box." When Last Call performed at iO, I had strangers coming up to me saying things like "Oh my God, you're Margi." I'm not kidding. Somewhere out there, people are watching Mike Polk's odd little web movies and caring about them. For the record, "Man in the Box" fans: yes, I am married to Matt in real life; no, I'm not related to British Reggie in real life; and yes, Terry really is that funny in real life, but his name is not actually Terry.

The other cool thing that happened in LA was getting to catch up with so many old friends. Among them, Carter and Adam from high school. It was so great to see them on the basic level of reconnecting with friends I haven't seen and not spoken to (or only spoken to through email) in years. But also, writing related, because it reminded me of my unfinished script. Before "Unethical" and "Prime" got chosen for production, I had started another piece called "Danger Road and Other Teenage Tales of Pretend Peril," which is largely inspired by my high-school experiences. The play tracks three primary characters, bouncing back and forth between their friendship at ages 16-17, and their completely separate lives with no communication as 30-somethings. (They're played by the same actors in both time periods.) Carter and Adam both took part in some of the real life moments that inspired or appear in the script, so to see them after all this time and have them catch me up on other people who are inspirations for characters or moments in the script was just surreal in that art-imitates-life sense. It also reminds me that I have to get back to writing "Danger Road." I really do believe if I can finish that one and do it right, it might be my best script yet. At least, the one that means the most to me personally.

But first, "Prime" rewrites and "Unethical" casting ... ugh ...

Where am I?

I am writing this post from the HBO offices in Santa Monica, where Matt and I are filming some stuff for the web comedy series we're in called "Man in the Box." (Look it up on youtube.)

Pretty much the first thing I saw when we landed at LAX last night (besides the most glorious smelling Cinnabon stand ever) was a little boy with a giant Optimus Prime backpack. I tried to get my camera out and take a picture of it, but I wasn't able to in time. After that, the kid was hanging out by baggage claim with parents and sibs, and I couldn't get a clear shot of his back without looking like some weird pedophile, so I gave up. Nonetheless, I was thrilled to see that Prime is still beloved by younger generations, even if their exposure to him is through Michael Bay's ricockulous movies.

Planning for this LA trip was so last minute and hectic, I feel like a left a lot hanging back in Cleveland. Including casting Zach for "Unethical." Lisa emailed me Tuesday to see if I'd figured out anyone for the role, and honestly, I've barely thought about it, I've been so swamped. When we get back, I need to focus. The first read through is in a few weeks.

If you live in the LA area, come check out Matt and Last Call Cleveland performing Fri., Dec. 5, at iO West in Hollywood at 10 p.m.