Yesterday after we were done with Venue Prep, the incomparable Ariana Paganetti and I took a trip over to FringeCENTRAL to scope out the scene and replenish our post card supply.
(Streetside view! Such wonders await you inside!)
FringeCENTRAL was so lovely. A very fun and spacious place to get info on all the shows in the festival. Sit and rest a while, get a snack, read reviews and most importantly - but $15 tickets to shows without the online surcharge. Seriously, if you can make your way down to 1 East 8th St at 5th Ave, you should take advantage of this opportunity.
(FringeCENTRAL rocks!)
(A fun place for kids to draw and play.)
(A wall of postcards. So many great choices! But see The Timing of A Day FIRST!)
Everyone there was very nice and the vibe was very chill. I had a fun time scoping out the different areas and taking some well deserved rest time on the couches with Ari.
Ari and I had a nice talk with one of the guys behind the ticket counter. We told him we were with The Timing of a Day. He responds "Oh, I remember reading about that one. That's the one where someone dies, yes?" And I'm simultaneously like "OH! HE remembers us!" and "Does my fringe description really say someone dies?" It does. I had just forgotten that some people thought that was too much of a spoiler, and I had stopped saying that. But months ago, that was the quickest way for me to describe the show! Anyway, we assured him the play was not majorly sad and that it had a lot of humor and he he said he planned on seeing it, and we told him how much we hoped he would. But people know about the show! Exciting!
(Come get tickets! Everyone here is super-friendly and helpful!)
FringeCENTRAL is open daily from 12pm-8pm. Congrats to everyone at Fringe for setting up such a great place!
(Ariana is showing that she is the muscle behind the show and the muscle behind Venue Prep Day. Woohoo!)
Today was our venue prep in NYTW's 4th Street Theatre. As I predicted, our sexy design team did a great job of showing up, dazzling everyone with their good looks and technical savvy and did so much work. I showed up at the end after work, where there was not much left to do, but I did haul some extra cabling and lights out to the front lobby. The lady of the hour/day/entire project is Ariana Paganetti, who is an amazing Project Manager/ACR/Friend/Hot Woman who was there the whole time. I would like to thank NYTW for the use of their space, FringeNYC and our amazing venue director, Krystal, for doing a fantastic job keeping things organized, and my incredible design team for their time and their talent of which i am incredibly appreciative. I know the cast is salivating to get into the space and I can happily report to them that I think they will be very comfortable there and it will be a great space to have the run for the next two weeks. it's so exciting to finally be in the theater! I didn't take pictures inside, because people were working on lights and taking pictures seemed like an unwelcome thing to do. But we took pictures outside! Woohoo!
Only two weeks and a day until The Timing Of A Day opens! I'm super excited for it. Things are moving along incredibly well, but we could still use some help reaching our fundraising goal and I'm hoping all of you out in Cyberland will lend a helping hand.
You can make a tax-deductible contribution to the show here!
You’ll know you’re donating to the right place when it says on the screen "in behalf of Intimation Productions." Don't be confused that my name or the play's name isn't on the screen. You're in the right place. The money donated here will go to costs exclusively for the play. And there are donation levels that give you different benefits!
FAN - $10-$49 Your Name will be on the play's official webpage! **This would be an incredibly lovely gesture for those who want to support the show but are unable to make it. Regular price for a ticket is $18 at the door. A $20 donation for fans who can't be with us, would put us that much closer to our goal. We would love you for it!
If you're saying, "Owen, I can't stop myself. I need to donate more and I know you need the money." Well friend, I ain't gonna stop you. Here are some more levels with even more benefits!!
SUPPORTER - $50-$99 + Your Name will be listed in the production's Fringe Program!
CONTRIBUTOR- $100-$249 + you'll receive a poster signed by Cast & Creative Team
FRIEND OF THE ARTS- $250 to $499 + you'll receive 2 Tickets to a "The Timing of A Day" Fringe Performance!
PATRON OF THE ARTS - $500 to $999 + you'll receive 2 Tickets to "The Timing of A Day", Fringe Performance, plus 2 Tickets to any other MTAE Show, & MTAE Pin
Doesn't that all sound fantastic? I'll say it does. Thank you for all the continued messages of support and interest in the project. They are incredibly inspiring. I hope to see you at the show in two weeks!
Postcards have been made and delivered and are now ready for distribution! I can't wait to drop some off at FringeCentral and see how things are going there. The webpage for the show is now functional too. Click here to check it out and visit often as it continues to grow. Spread the word!
Hey everyone, if you want to buy tickets in advance for The Timing of A Day, (as well you should, we'll sell out!) but don't want to pay the online surcharge, you can buy them in person at FringeCentral which opened last Thursday at 1 East 8th Street at 5th Ave - as the sign shown above indicates. I would take advantage of this resource, if you can make the trip down there. You'll probably want to see more than one Fringe Show, and why pay surcharges with each ticket you buy? Some other shows you definitely need to check out include:
Spellbound - A Musical Adventure: it's Timing's sibling Fringe Show, also being produced by Mind The Art Entertainment. It's gonna be so good!
Two Sisters: also directed by our very own Joey Brenneman. Her work is fantastic, so we must send love to her other show.
You can find all the fringe listings at www.FringeNYC.org. Enjoy your August Staycation!
(The cast of The Timing of A Day. photo by Megan Dixon)
So much is going on! So much to be done! It's hard to find time to make regular updates. Rehearsals are underway and going strong. The cast is incredible. Every day they're making new amazing discoveries. I love them! Here's a pic of them together as we took promo pictures in Morningside Park.
Lots of new stuff is on the horizon. The webpage is almost ready to go live. Our postcards are about to be delivered, the promotional pictures are being finished. The set is about to be built. We open in just under 3 weeks. It's a little daunting, knowing how much work there is to be done, but there's such great excitement and enthusiasm coming from every member of the team it's not hard to stay positive and stay on task.
The Timing of a Day making its world premiere at the 2010 NYC International Fringe Festival
Written be Owen Panettieri Directed by Joey Brenneman Starring: Justin Anselmi, Nik Kourtis, Adam Shorsten and R. Elizabeth Woodard
The show is still a few weeks away, but go for those $15 tickets now before they go up to $18!
They can be purchased online here That link should put my show right front and center on the screen, so it’s not confusing which show you’re looking for. You can also search for it by name at the site.
HERE ARE THE TIMES!
WED 8/18 @ 2:00-3:45, SAT 8/21 @ 2:00-3:45, TUE 8/24 @ 7:45-9:30, WED 8/25 @ 5:45-7:30, SAT 8/28 @ 7:45-9:30
HERE'S THE VENUE!
New York Theater Workshop’s 4th Street Theater - (83 East 4th St at 2nd Ave)
When it comes up in conversation that you've written a play, people tend to react with enthusiasm and ask, "What's it called?" and if you happen to have already named your play, this is an easy question to answer. In my particular case I would say, "It's called The Timing of a Day." The feeling of self-satisfaction fades quickly, however, when the questioner offers up the standard follow up question, "So what's it about?" Oh, how I find this question much more difficult to answer!
It's not that I don't know what the play is about. I'm just never quite sure what the person asking really wants to know. Are they asking me to tell them what literally happens in the play or are they asking me more about the theme of the piece?
Part of my brain wants to talk plot, and another wants to say what it's "About." These two chunks of brain matter wrestle for control of my mouth and all that comes out usually is "uhh... it's about, well, um... there are these roommates! And... uh... i should come up with a better answer for this..."
Let's assume, for a moment, people just want to know the plot. I can give it to them easily enough, but not without giving away some surprises that maybe they don't want spoiled before seeing the show. Those people then get annoyed with me for saying anything. That conversation goes like this:
Person: So what's it about?
Me: Well, it's about these three roommates sharing an apartment in Harlem and [CENSORED. COME SEE THE SHOW.] So then -
Person: Wait, what? Why did you tell me that?
Me: Because you asked what happens!
Person: Yeah, but now it won't be a surprise!
Me: Don't worry, that's just where the story begins!
Person: Still... you shouldn't give that part away, okay?
Me: Yeah, okay.
Person: ...So then what happens?
Writing the blurb for the Fringe application was also not easy for me. It was (I think) 40 words long max and I wasn't totally thrilled with what I came up with, but they accepted the show anyway, so hooray! I got to take another crack it when we were creating the press release and here's what we came up with:
Written by Owen Panettieri and directed by Joey Brenneman, TheTiming of a Day follows three New York City roommates who share a loving (if cramped) Harlem apartment and a similarly loving (if cramped) triangular friendship. As the play opens, the three find themselves navigating the regular ups and downs of city life, and the unpleasant question of where their adult lives are taking them, when an unforeseeable tragedy rips them from the ordinary and changes the course of their lives and friendships forever. What follows is the reshuffled story of their time livingtogetherviewedoverthecourseofasingleday. Slicesoff their future, present, and past weave together in new ways, illustrating what it is that really draws these three people together, as well as what pulls them apart. While examining life, love, and loss from one sunrise to the next, each individual is forced to question if there really is such a thing as “perfect timing” or if all timing is just perfectly flawed…
Not too bad, eh? Sounds interesting! It's still a little wordy. I have to trim it down to have it sound-byte ready. I've dedicated a little time each day to figuring out the most succinct way to phrase it. Wanting a quick explanation of the show is not a crazy expectation from people who want to assess their options quickly. I look at movie descriptions that are being shown on TV and I think "what would they say for Timing Of A Day in that situation?" It would probably be "Three New York City roommates faces struggles living in the city." Tale as old as time, I suppose!
But my latest attempt to explain the core of what happens without giving things away or getting lost in the possible meanings of what the show is "About" boils down to this. It's about three NYC going about a normal day when something unexpected happens that greatly affects their lives, their relationships and their ability to stay together. Over the course of a day crucial moments shared in their apartment are revisited and we see what brought them together, what pulled them apart and how they might move forward.
Okay! Now all I gotta do is commit that main statement to memory, and hope that the next follow up question isn't "Okay, but what's it really ABOUT?" Gotta come up with a short answer for that now too...
Hey Everybody! We have our performance schedule! I'm very pleased with our times and location. We got two matinees on regular matinee days, two normal evening performance times and one right-after-work evening time. Very nice! Check out the details below. So excited! Mark your calendars!!
The Timing Of A Day A new play by Owen Panettieri Produced by Mind The Art Entertainment
Director: Joey Brenneman Asst. Director: David Williams
Featuring: Justin Anselmi, Nik Kourtis, Adam Shorsten, Elizabeth Woodard
Where: New York Theater Workshop’s 4th Street Theater (83 East 4th St at 2nd Ave)
Hello there! Thanks for checking out the blog for The Timing of A Day. This is Owen, the playwright, reaching out to you from across the interwebs. The producers at Mind The Art Entertainment asked if I would write this blog as a companion to the show's webpage (which is juuust about to launch), and like any writer worth his salt, the siren's song of writing something other than what I'm supposed to be currently writing is too strong a call to ignore. So here I am! As things move along, I will post news about the play, our run at the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival this August and my experience writing the play over this past year. Hopefully some cool production photos of our talented and incredibly good-looking cast will find their way here as well. So stop by often! Become a follower of the blog and "like" us on Facebook too.
More to come! Thanks for your interest and support!
(Streetside view! Such wonders await you inside!)
(FringeCENTRAL rocks!)
(A fun place for kids to draw and play.)
(A wall of postcards. So many great choices! But see The Timing of A Day FIRST!)
Ari and I had a nice talk with one of the guys behind the ticket counter. We told him we were with The Timing of a Day. He responds "Oh, I remember reading about that one. That's the one where someone dies, yes?" And I'm simultaneously like "OH! HE remembers us!" and "Does my fringe description really say someone dies?" It does. I had just forgotten that some people thought that was too much of a spoiler, and I had stopped saying that. But months ago, that was the quickest way for me to describe the show! Anyway, we assured him the play was not majorly sad and that it had a lot of humor and he he said he planned on seeing it, and we told him how much we hoped he would. But people know about the show! Exciting!
(Come get tickets! Everyone here is super-friendly and helpful!)
