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Well, the show is over and it was a blast, as always.  I am always amazed at how these come together, especially with all the little things than can get goofed up during a live show.  But the actors (Tony Davis, Cheryl Skafte, Cathy Berggren, Tom Martinson and John Munson) always move it along, improvise on the spot, and it always comes off great.

If I could figure out a way to get paid to do these shows, I would gladly do it for the rest of my life.  Radio is fun.

Tonight we get ready to air our second Rubber Chicken Radio Hour.  Combined with our Renegade Radio Hours, John Munson and I have produced almost 20 of these bad boys now, and it is always a good time.  

I love the format of radio.  You can add last minute sketchs, provided they don’t need preproduced sound effects, you don’t need costumes or props, you don’t need to memorize lines…it’s great!  But more importantly, it’s that theater of the mind.  We can do whatever we want because it’s radio!  We can set a sketch in the future with Russ Stover and I riding on hovercraft chairs looking down at people riding elephants on Superior Street.  We can bring Herb Bergson into a super secret cave under the DECC and show him Duluth’s secrets, including how the polar bears at the zoo really control the budget.  There is no end to the fun that can be had in radio.

A few years back I saw Garrison Keillor when he brought “Prairie Home Companion” to Duluth and I was impressed with how much fun he was having onstage.  Dancing, smiling, singing…none of it evident to the folks listening on their radios but it was there for us in the live audience and it was great!

I’m going to keep doing these until John doesn’t let me anymore.  But I hope that’s not for many years to come.  

Next one is October 30, live from Hell’s Kitchen in Canal Park!  Hope to see you there!

So I’m looking at needing one more show for the Rubber Chicken 2009 Season.  It would go up in March and/or April.  Any suggestions?

In no particular order:

Because you can do it anywhere.  We are proving that this weekend with the Finnish Dinner Theater.  All you really need is a place for an audience, a place for the actors, and you can be transported to three distinct worlds.  All the way from a 1930’s house in Virginia, Minnesota, to a rural farm house in Finland in 1866.

Because you laugh.  We are still giggling every night at things that made us laugh five weeks ago.  That’s a good sign. 

Because it’s fun.  New discoveries every night, surrounded by good friends, what could be better than that?

The people.  This area constantly surprises me with the wealth of talent.  Go ahead and pick a script that you love, or write one.  The roles will be filled with the right people.  It just seems to have a way of working out that way.  Our local actors, especially the ones I have been privileged to work with at UWS, are every bit as creative, hard-working and professional, as anyone in the Cities or other markets.  Hands down.

The audience.  Once the circuit is complete and the waves of laughter are washing over these actors and their antics, a real sense of accomplishment sets in.

The next project.  There is always another performance, waiting in the wings, ready to be brought to life on an area stage.

I love it.

We had a staged reading last night for Bart Sutter’s play “Bushed: A Poetical, Political, Partly Musical Tragicomedy in Two Acts”. It went very well, in my opinion. Interesting to hear Bart’s beautiful, lyrical, angry, and funny poetry read out loud. I could start to see how things are going to tie together in the October World Premiere at the Harbor City Theater.

The feedback we received afterwards from the invited audience was very instructive as well. I appreciated how specific and helpful much of it was, especially from Bill Payne and Stewart Platner. Ann Gumpper and Mark Harvey also had some brilliant observations. And Mara Hart and Francis Heid shared some wonderful insights as well. I scribbled notes as fast and furiously as I could. Now if I could only read my writing….

I was also impressed with how quickly the cast dove in, considering many of them were just seeing the script last night for the first time. I hope that most, if not all, of them can do the show. “Bat Boy” up at St. Scholastica goes up at the same time and has a ton of talented people committed to that show. But we’ll find folks! I’m sure of that.

I can’t wait to dive into this show! But first, some Finnish Dinner Theater is in order…..

We are in rehearsals for the Finnish Dinner Theater, and we have entered the portion of the process that I enjoy the most: actors making discoveries about their characters that are fun, that take them to interesting places, and that make connections to the other actors.

But it can also be a frustrating time because they…aren’t….quite….off the script…yet. Chunks of it are memorized but much of it isn’t. So you have to work thru it as best you can. Luckily, these are talented folks who are fun to be around, and I am doing a lot of laughing and smiling every night.

For example, Monday night, Minden took her character away from a negative (trying to catch the man she thinks is her true love in a lie) and brought her into a positive (she is so in love, she thinks he is playing a game.) That’s brilliant, and very fun to see when it happens. Or Rachael last night, feeling free enough with her character to start adding bits of physicality to the part that make perfect sense and are very funny. Or Nate and Greg, every single night, adding some bit of comic business that is totally rooted in the reality of their characters. Or Sharon’s meticulous method of setting the script down and fighting thru line drops in character. Or Nick’s discovery of sitting and scratching and belching, etc.

Every night it’s something new and delightful to watch. I love working with this group.

Howdy and welcome to Brian’s Blog.  Tony Davis, our website guru, asked me if I wanted my own blog on this new Rubber Chicken site he designed and I said “what the heck”.  I’ve never blogged before but I think the time is right!

First off, I would like to say Thanks to all the folks who have supported Sue and I as we have gotten Rubber Chicken Theater off the ground.  The positive comments, the donations, and the artistic contributions from local artists has been amazing.  I will never be able to repay all of you, except to say Thank You as often as I possibly can!  

The mayor of Proctor, Steve Anderson, also holds a special place in our hearts.  Imagine, a person in a position of authority who actually values live theater and who actively works to get it in his town.  After a few months of feeling like I was in the way and a nuisance, it has been a nice change of pace to be made to feel welcome.

We already have a Rubber Chicken Radio Hour and a weekend of Chicken Hat Plays under our belts and next up is some Finnish Dinner Theater.  Minden, Greg, Nick, Sharon, Rachael, and Nate have been a pleasure to work with, as they always are.  Can’t wait to blog more about this show, and upcoming shows as well.  In the meantime, feel free to leave comments on anything, including projects you’d like to see done at Rubber Chicken Theater.  I’m open to suggestions.    

Other than a kick-butt production of “The Book of Liz”, the first part of 2008 was not a great time for me, personally or theatrically.  But I’m looking forward to some new opportunities and I hope you will consider coming along for the ride.