One Down....

My Time with the Lady closed last night with a second sold-out house. For a two week run with not much in the way of reviews (though plenty of previews, I'll admit) that's extraordinary. Thanks to all who made it happen--particularly the audiences!


Ron and I have already had enquiries about what's next for the show, and we're still working all that out. I can tell you that you can expect an expanded web presence, and most likely a remount in 2011, with the venue still TBD.


There's a pride, and a special responsibility, that comes from producing a brand new piece of theatre. Unlike all those worthy productions of Sam Shepard, Teresa Rebeck, Arthur Miller or even Shakespeare going on at theatres across town and across the country, only one theatre in the world was playing "My Time with the Lady," and only those folks who made it during our two week run saw the show. Interesting thought, huh? It makes both the performers and the audiences feel like they're members of an exclusive club. And come to think of it, we are.


But it also means that the responsibility of taking this show towards its next incarnation is all down to us. This is a great show that deserves a longer life and more audiences. So we gird our loins and get out our calendars and start calling venues. And hopefully when we open the show again, we'll have a line out the door of people who missed it this last time round and have figured out that they really missed something special.

I am Omnipresent!

An article in the Seattle Examiner cracks me up:

http://www.examiner.com/theater-in-seattle/three-longenbaugh-plays-premiere-seattle-this-season?render=print

My favorite line:

"Fans of John Longenbaugh have multiple opportunities to enjoy the Seattle playwright’s work over the next few months. And anyone who hasn’t attended a Longenbaugh play in a local theater will be hard pressed to avoid him now." (italics mine)

I love the image of some poor theatregoer who can't stand my writing fleeing from theatre to theatre pursued by marquees burning with my name.

Thanks to Rosemary Jones (one of the hardest working arts journalists out there) for the recognition and the laugh.

Theatre Ate My Life

If I haven't seen you recently, forgive me. I stumbled into a huge mass of theatre and I'm doing my best to climb out.

"Wild River," my short play about an interview with the Pope, just took audience and jury awards and so is being revived this weekend at Open Circle for their final weekend of their short play festival. Then it goes on to Bumbershoot.

This weekend is also the final weekend for "My Time with the Lady," the play I co-wrote with Ron Richardson and co-directed. We've had a blast so far and audiences have been warm and generous. It's a great show, particularly since we added Kirsten Lauzon to it. Rarely has a one-man show benefited so much from an additional performer.

Then AFTER Bumbershoot, "Arcana" opens. It's six short plays and two monologues all inspired by Tarot cards, including "Wild River," where the lovely Keridwyn Deller who's played the role so far will be swapped out for Erin Del Rosso in a crucial role. (Erin will also play the role at Bumbershoot.)

This is all wonderful and very exciting. But I hope those of you who may have thought that I was laying low will realize I've just been lying low.

(Possibly comatose. You might want to check my pulse.)