Sue's News

Interactive and Intense

The title of this post would oftentimes describe a theatre piece… but I’m actually describing a music video.

Arcade Fire has gone above and beyond in the release of their new video. Once you’re done watching your personalized video, you can even send it to friends and family.

With this video, the band has set the bar high, and the streaming internet video arena ablaze.

–Sue

Add comment August 31st, 2010

TONY Love on the Emmy Awards

The 2009 broadcast of the 63rd Tony Awards was honored at the 2010 Emmy Awards last night with a win in the Outstanding Special Class Programs category. Writer, Dave Boone, accepted his trophy with this appeal, “Go see a Broadway show–it will change your life!”

An impassioned plea to be sure… and hopefully one the 13.5 million viewers will heed. It’s the best free advertising Broadway could ask for.

–Sue

Add comment August 30th, 2010

Friday Fun with Posters

Theatre relies heavily on visual images to help lure patrons in the door and identify with the brand. An industry vet, “Fraver”, was asked by Playbill On-Line to make some posters for some fake shows based on mash-ups of famous shows. Enjoy!

–Sue

Add comment August 27th, 2010

The Power Of Language

Language is power, it’s a simple as that. It’s when we can’t find the words that we feel paralyzed.

I’m at a point in my script where the two main characters are struggling to find their way through language… and my own struggle entails letting them struggle. My own voice is shining through — getting in the way of their discovery… speeding it up artificially, hence denying the characters and the audience of the satisfaction of this reunion. And that’s the last thing I want to do. If anything, I want the characters and audience to savor each word.

My work here involves building what is now a shaky foundation into a much stronger one with each word. I have to trust that the words can do the work…and know that less here will yield more.

–Sue

Add comment August 26th, 2010

Transported by Song

I was in the car the other day and heard a song that rarely comes on the radio, Billy Joel’s Stiletto (from the 52nd Street album, released in 1978, the year I was born). Instantly, I was transported back to London and my student days…and the most fond and clear memory I have of those days is writing (with pencil and paper, and a cup of hot tea) at Suzy’s kitchen table. (She was my landlady and flatmate.)

(I brought a bunch of tapes (yes cassette tapes) with me, and Billy Joel made up the bulk of them. I found myself listening to them quite a bit when I first got there. His songs, his accent reminded me of home; living abroad, I found I needed ways to connect with home to help me live as far away as I did at such a tender age.)

I had everything ahead of me…I knew I was embarking on something, but I wasn’t sure just what that was. (I wasn’t even writing plays at that point, I was doing short stories…a precursor to be sure.)

Catching the end of the song the other day made me nostalgic for a simpler time, but also made me realize how far I’ve come. It was nice to go back, though… if only for a few moments.

–Sue

Add comment August 25th, 2010

Lemme Play, Coach

I was emailing a friend today, back and forth. I gave her some advice from the heart. And after telling me how much she loves how I say things through my writing, she urged me to consider becoming a life coach.

I’m no stranger to coaching, having read my fair share of books, along with doing some course work of my own. I clearly see the value in it and applaud those who pursue that path and help those who need it.

I took it as a real compliment… and honestly, there are so many routes I could have taken, and some I’ve already tried, like teaching… but for me, the best way to reach the most people is still my singular vision, through theatre.

It’s one of the reasons I wake up in the morning… It’s my life’s work that I hope I’ll never stop doing in one capacity or another.

–Sue

Add comment August 24th, 2010

Encapsulated in One Line

At lunch with my sister and beautiful nephew today, we were talking about how even though we’re both moms and wives, sisters and daughters, we’re still who we are, ourselves (respectively Dina and Susan) at the end of the day.

It reminded me of a line in one of my plays, The Family’s Business — where the family matriarch reminds her eldest son of this… at the end of the day, no matter whom she may be for everyone else, she is herself — first and last.

Talking with Dina, and feeling the truth of that statement for where we are in our own lives, reinforced how true the line is in the play, and for women in general.

Onward and upward, for women everywhere!

–Sue

Add comment August 23rd, 2010

Between the Lines

In my mom’s home office, she has three knock-offs in the style of Al Hirschfeld… One of Barbara Streisand, with a marquis surrounded by lights that says “Broadway” behind her. Another is of the Marx Brothers, and I can’t remember the third… I stare at the Barbara drawing every time I’m in her office. Even though they are knock-offs, the style is so evocative. They are elegant and say so much with a few “simple” lines. It’s amazing, and captivating to see what can be done with so little to achieve so much.

Apparently, the art form has not be lost with the death of the great man… The NY Times highlights the styles of four artists actively creating illustrations today. To view them, click here.

More than a way of visually recording a season, these drawings capture the energy and vitality of the theatre.

–Sue

Add comment August 20th, 2010

Rules Rule

I was reading through an article published on a very prestigious blog. A lot of big names were quoted and they had a lot of salient things to say. I wanted to share the article with my readers here.

But, I found myself reading it again, and was almost tempted to reread it a third time. For some reason, it didn’t make sense the first time around, or even the second. And then I realized why, there was no clearly defined thesis at the outset. I wasn’t sure what the author was trying to say, question, or prove.

And so I passed on sharing the article… and I think that’s what audiences do with any art form… if they don’t have a clear idea from the outset of why they should tune in, they are going to tune out. Even if the work in question has a lot of wonderful pieces to it, if the structure isn’t there to support it, then it doesn’t reach across that great divide to actually touch the audience.

Structure doesn’t have to confine, it can actually liberate. It is the job of the artist to clearly define and work within the structure so well that the audience doesn’t even notice it’s there. Once an audience feels like they are in good hands, they’re willing to go as far as you’re willing to take them.

–Sue

Add comment August 19th, 2010

A Second Chance for ‘Capeman’

I wasn’t able to catch The Capeman, the Public Theater’s production in Central Park of the infamous Broadway show.

Ben Brantley did get a chance to see it, this past Monday night, in the rain… and apparently that rain, and the park itself set the stage for a comeback.

Definitely worth keeping an eye on.

–Sue

Add comment August 18th, 2010