So City Pages critic Max Sparber picked Signal as the worst show of 2002. Wow.

You can read my response, which City Pages entitled A Self-Congratulatory Curtain Call. As opposed to the other kind of curtain call.

I'm working on three shows right now, which is a clever way of saying that I'm trying to avoid working on any of them at all. The first is a re-staging of Signal, for which Neil was kind enough to give me permission.

The second is a play about role-playing geeks, a subject near and dear to my heart. The third is a show that started as a joke of an idea, but as these things often do, takes on a life of its own.

About once every three months I'll get an e-mail from someone who's graduating from college with a theatre degree and has begun the process of trying to find work. This makes me happy and nostalgic.

I wish I could offer them work, but since CoD is pretty much just me and Sharon getting up enough script, gumption and money to stage something, there's not a lot of steady work or job security. So, I send them to the Sunday classifieds of the Star Tribune, in the 550 section, which lists the performing arts want ads.

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This last weekend was the World Fantasy Con, held in Minneapolis this year. I went and was thoroughly depressed, being surrounded by writers who are, you know, writing. But sometimes it's good to get a little depressed. I find it usually gives me the kick in the ass to start on the work again.

I managed to speak to Neil, who gave me permission to restage the show. Have to rework the script a little bit. Now that it's actually been on stage I can see what bits didn't work, what needs to be changed.

I've also been writing my first play in... well, too many years. I've got about 20 pages done, and I think it'll be about an hour. I'm writing about what I know: four role-playing geeks trying to finish a campaign. It's entitled "THAC0."

Back to work.

Ugh... what happened to me? For anyone who's still out there, I apologize. More stuff coming soon. It's been nuts.

Well, Blogger ate my last few entries, apparently, so we�ve missed the whole Fringe festival. Time to recap.

First off, it went great. It�s been a while since I directed anything (Edward III was two freaking years ago! What have I been doing with my time?), and now to do drama, of all things. Until we got the show on its feet, I never quite realized what a downer Signal to Noise is. I mean, the high point of the show is that the Director comes to terms with his own death. Then he dies. Not quite what people normally want to see in the middle of summer.

Attendance was fantastic. We sold out one or two nights, and had 2/3 full the other nights. Our only light day was the Friday at 4 p.m., which is understandable. The MN Fringe may be the biggest in America, but it�s not quite big enough to have weekday shows before 6, I think. In Canada, it�s a FESTIVAL� people spend all day on-site, doing stuff. Not here� not yet.

Reviews from pros: one positive, one negative. So, I took the positive review, blew it up on a poster, and stuck it in the window of the Acadia. The negative review we cut out and put in the scrapbook. You have to keep your perspective on these things. The odd thing was that in the positive review, it noted that the actors were a bit stiff at times, while the negative review said they were overacting. Resolve that.

Reviews from audience members: fifty-fifty again. Some thought it was too much of a downer, too long, things like that. The people who liked it, though, raved about it.

Reviews from friends: Sharon and I have a running bit where we talk to each other like your friends do when they don�t want to tell you that your show stunk:

�Wow� wow��
�How�d you memorize all those words?�
�I really liked the set.�

Previously, the best one was from Aaron, who played the Director. �There was a lot going on up there!�

He�s since been bested, however, by my friend Ari, who once had someone tell him, �It was nice to be in the air conditioning for a couple of hours.�

So, we know when people are snowing us. That having been said, we have two high marks from people I know I can trust. Laurie Winter actually cried when she was watching it, and my friend Dale, who is so blunt you could use him as a murder weapon, stood up and applauded at the end.

Neil.

So, Neil comes to see the show, and I�m waiting outside after it�s done. He comes up to me and one of the first things he says is, �So what are you going to do with it next?�

So, we went out for sushi, and I ate crunchy shrimp heads for the first time, and enjoyed seaweed salad, and generally had one of the best nights of my life.

So what am I going to do with it next?

Ugh... so terribly behind on this. Rehearsal marathon, then opening, then 2nd performance... more details forthcoming.

Summary: I like the show, reviews are mostly good, and just got back from post-show dinner with Neil, and he liked the show.

I like seaweed salad. Who knew?

Crazy week. One of the actors got back from his vacation, so we finally had everyone together. The show's about eighty percent there.
Need to get the final props (basically a few minor things we have to actually make; fake scripts for the movie, another peice of the wall of faces), and a couple of costume peices.

We did sound last night. Sharon's put together some amazing stuff. The hardest part is cutting some of it short, because the transitions go by so quickly. I just want to let it run.

Have to go around town and hang up the poster today. We've sent postcards off to the press, and now we have to start faxing them. Vital that we get someone from City Pages there on the opening night, as their Fringe issue comes out the next Wednesday. If we don't get them there, then, we don't get a CP review. The Star Tribune is good, too, but during the Fringe (well, in 2000, anyway), they did daily reviews of a handful of shows, so we could get a Thursday or Friday review and still be in good shape.

Neil did a signing at DreamHaven where we handed out postcards for the shows as numbers for the signing. The best part: having to work that day, I arrived late. Pulling into the parking lot, there were twopeople on the sidewalk, passing the postard to a third, peering at it with interest.

Don't forget that you can pre-order your tickets at UpTown Tix. There's a small service charge of $2.50, but hey! $12.50 to see a show is cheap, right?