Mondays are Dark

Has anyone taken advantage of the Theatre League's A Taste of Summer Theatre yet?  Let us know how it worked out for you, we're keen to know.

As you'll see below, there are a couple of readings on Tuesday this week, in case you're not going to be able to see a show on the weekend.

Without further ado, here's your reading list for the week beginning July 30, 2012;

Tuesdays are Not So Dark
The Drama Queen starts out by talking about last week's Short Play Soiree at GableStage, and Dog Sees God, part of Conundrum Stage's Ghostlight Series at Empire Stage, but moves on to David Kwiat's poetry reading tomorrow night (July 31) at GableStage.

On and On about Outré
Florida Theatre On Stage is excited about Outré Theatre Company's reading of Dog Sees God, held at Empire Stage as part of Conundrum Stage's Ghostlight Series.  Consider that with their staged reading of tick...tick...BOOM, and the future looks quite bright indeed.

I don’t want to slather the praise too thickly on this shoestring company that won’t be tested by mounting a full-fledged production until late this fall.

But if these two shows are any indication, South Florida’s theater scene may be on the verge of welcoming a significant new voice.

He concludes with a well deserved kudos to David Gordon and Empire Stage.

Speaking of New Companies with Bright Futures
The Examiner is excited about the offerings from Slow Burn Theatre for next season.

The Slow Burn flame has lit a burning fourth season blazing with the Tony Award winning musicals Avenue Q, Side Show, Sweeney Todd and The Wedding Singer. Theatre Chat bets this could be South Florida's hottest tickets for musical theatre.

Speaking of Puppets
OK, we admit that that is a sloppy segue into the Miami Herald's interview with Jim Hammond of The Puppet Network. But our early drafts were so much worse.

Words Wanted
Florida Theater On Stage reports that City Theater is looking for a few short plays. 

City Theatre will begin accepting ten-minute play scripts next month for consideration for production in its annual Summer Shorts festival, highlighted by its National Award for Short Playwriting.

Lights! Camera!
The Palm Beach Post tells us about how kids at G-Star School of the Arts are stepping it up a level.

Christmas in July
South Florida Gay News reports that Parade Productions has signed Michael McKeever to reprise his star turn in David Sedaris' The Santaland Diaries this December.  They will also be mounting The Whole Caboodle, a collection of some of McKeever's shorter plays.

Never Shut Up
Mission Paradox tells us that there is no "down time" for your theater's marketing department.

You have an arts exhibition in July, it closes in August.  The next thing is in November.  What are going to do between those times?

Disappear?

If you aren't talking about it the entire time, then yes, you ARE disappearing.  People only check in while they think they'll find something new or fresh. If they keep coming to your site to find it hasn't changed since your last production, they'll eventually assume you've closed.

So when your show closes, keep talking, even if it's only to say "No news - but we're working on stuff!"

Speaking of Not Updating Your Website
The Miami Herald carries GableStage's season announcement: highlights include an adaptation of Hamlet by Tarell Alvin McRaney and Bijan Shebani, and Stephen Kram's Sons of the Prophet.  Of course, these plays appear nowhere on the GableStage website.

In Search of... Comps
A theatre insider reveals that while you can't get free tickets to national tours of Broadway shows, you can often find cheap tickets - on You Are What You Cheap.