Well, our first performance in Williamston (that’s not a reading) will be different than I was thinking, but will still be happening!

On July 16th, we’ll be doing a short performance of a few 10 minute plays interspersed with some music – it’s a fun little piece, a little different in format than most of our shows will be, but it’s outside at the Art Fair, and it seemed like the best way to go…people wandering around, we’ll do a few short pieces they can sit thru, or leave in between, and they’re all fun, funny short little pieces.

The biggest change, though, was that we wound up having to go Non-Equity (non-union, for our non-theatrical participants). I was hoping to have our first show be all Equity, but the funding isn’t there yet so we’re going the cheaper route right now. Not a bad thing at this early stage, but in general one of the goals of the company is to be a Union house, and I wanted to do that.

Still, there are a ton of good Non-Equity actors, and I’ll use them for the July show, then when we mount our first full length, we’ll have the funding to mix Equity with Non-Equity, which will be our goal with most shows!

The thing this makes me dwell on is just how far we have to go, still. Plans are being made, relationships are being formed, but it’s frustrating to not be able to do a small 4 person show the way we wanted to. I had to tell a couple of good friends, and professionals, that I didn’t have a job for them after all, and that was very frustrating.

Still, we’re learning, moving forward, and growing, and everyone is very understanding of the fact that starting a professional theatre company is a ridiculously difficult thing to do.

That being said, I want more, bigger, better, now. The trip to NYC was great fun, and a giant motivator. The theatre there is good, but there’s no magic wand being waved there – the only thing being waved is a boatload more money. So, I need to work harder. We all do. And we will.

This is a re-post, but it’s worthy of it:

“It had long since come to my attention
that people of accomplishment rarely sat back
and let things happen to them.
They went out and happened to things.”
-Leonardo Da Vinci