101 Stage Adaptations: Recent Episodes
Melissa Schmitz
On 101 Stage Adaptations, host Melissa Schmitz interviews playwrights and other theatre makers about the process of creating and producing stage adaptations.
Bramble Theatre Company is thrilled to open the Bramble Arts Loft, a brand new peformance space in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood.
Learn more at brambletheatre.org.
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National Playwriting Month is approaching, and that means it's time for End of Play.®, the Dramatists Guild's annual month-long writing challenge for Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists, and Librettists! This is a segment of the End of Play.® interview Melissa had last year with Lily Dwoskin and Jordan Stovall from the Dramatists Guild.
Resources MentionedEpisode 23End of Play.®
Dramatists Guild
About Our Guests
Lily Dwoskin is a bookwriter, lyricist, & playwright based in New York. She is a graduate of NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Her bookwriter/lyricist credits include Off Broadway: Turtle On A Fencepost at Theater 555 & The Scarlet Savior at St. Luke's Theatre. Other credits include: Hyena in Petticoats and The Aviatrix. Originally, Lily is from the greater Philadelphia region. Lily's work has been performed at St. Luke's, The Laurie Beechman Theatre, The Greenroom 42, Hedgerow Theatre Company, various universities and more. Lily works for & is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America and has worked as a director, dramaturg, teaching artist & stage manager.
Jordan Stovall is a playwright, arts administrator, & drag artist known as Wanda Whatever. They presently serve as the Director of Outreach & Institutional Partnerships for the Dramatists Guild, where they have worked since 2016. Their plays have been shortlisted & selected as Finalists for the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Festival and Relentless Award, with productions in London and the US. As a drag artist, they are the founding producer of Time Out London Award-Nominated cabaret Boulangerie; and Fussy, a series of queer community gatherings. They can be seen on Pistol and Meet the Richardsons. They have performed in Bushwig Berlin & NYC, Sink the Pink, Clapham Grand, Royal Vauxhall Tavern, & other notable venues across London, NYC, & the US.
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We're taking the week off to catch up on all the March Submission Binge tasks and also prepping for End of Play.®!
What are you working on? Find Melissa on the socials and let her know what you're up to!
Happy Marketing! Happy Writing!
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This week's episode is a replay of the hottest marketing tips from marketing expert Julie Nemitz from Ep. 41.
Resources MentionedEpisode 41Theatre Marketing Lab
"In The Greenroom" podcast
Julie's newsletter
Theatre Marketing Lab Content Club
Canva
About Our GuestJulie Nemitz is a renowned theatre marketing leader & the force behind Theatre Marketing Lab and the popular podcast "In The Greenroom" where she offers insightful conversations with theatre leaders and actionable marketing advice. She has taken the theatre world by storm, attracting listeners globally, & reached the top #140 performing arts podcasts in the United States.
For the past 10 years, Julie has revolutionized how theatres & theatre artists attract audiences through innovative strategies & compelling content. She is passionate about ensuring every community has a thriving performance space, regardless of size. Known for her infectious enthusiasm & deep knowledge of the latest digital marketing trends, Julie helps theatremakers uplevel their strategies and content through personalized consultations, coaching, & classes in the Theatre Marketing Lab. She has a special gift for analyzing what's not working and designing customized solutions to sell more tickets and deepen audience loyalty. Countless clients have experienced record-breaking sales under her guidance.
When she's not busy transforming local theatres, you can find Julie rolling up her sleeves & guiding theatre artists into the digital age. Julie is also an adjunct faculty member at Western Michigan University, teaching performing arts marketing to the next generation of theatre artists.
julienemitz.com
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In honor of the March 2024 Playwright Marketing Binge, here is the replay of Patrick Gabridge's interview where he describes the ways playwrights can make their submissions stand out.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why he started the Playwright Submission Binge
- TONS of tips on how playwrights can market themselves better
Resources MentionedPlaywright Submission BingePlays in Place
NYCPlaywrights
About Our GuestPatrick Gabridge is an award-winning writer and theatre-maker who has written a number of adaptations and also has a special talent for creating site-specific plays. With his company, Plays in Place, he’s created plays in partnership with many museums & historic sites, including Mount Auburn Cemetery, Boston’s Old State House, the Roosevelt Cottage on Campobello Island, & the MIT Museum. His full-length plays have been produced in the US & South Korea, and his short plays and have received more than 1,000 productions from theatres and schools around the world. He’s been involved with helping playwrights market their work for many years—he started the publication Market InSight for Playwrights back in 1993, and founded & still runs the Playwright Submission Binge, an online community focused on marketing. He’s also a screenwriter, novelist, & a writer of audio plays.
Connect with Our Guestgabridge.com
New Play Exchange
The Writing Life x 3
Instagram
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It's Melissa's 10th Birthday!
To help her celebrate her once-every-four-years birthday, please rate/review/subscribe/share your favorite episode with a friend.
And if you're so inclined, pop in to one of the social channels listed below and send her a birthday wish.
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Melissa details her 2024 Chicago Theatre Week Experience. She saw shows at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakes, TimeLine Theatre, Writers Theatre, and Court Theatre, and she recommends them all!
Resources Mentioned
Chicago Theatre Week
League of Chicago Theatres
Choose Chicago
Goodman Theatre
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Writers Theatre
Court Theatre
TimeLine Theatre Company
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Melissa is on another short winter break.
Be sure to rate/review/subscribe/share your favorite episodes with a friend, a student, a fellow playwright.
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Amy Lehman from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (New York) stops by the show to talk about this organization and how artists can benefit from their programs and services.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Amy pivoted from a performance career to a career in law
- What VLA is and who can use their services
- Many of the programs VLA offers
- The types of problems she wishes she didn't have to solve
And more!
Resources MentionedVolunteer Lawyers for the Arts (New York)
VLA Calendar
Missing Movies
About Our GuestAfter a career as a professional ballet dancer, Amy Lehman attended NYU for her bachelor’s degree in theater history and dramatic literature. After graduating from NYU, she continued to work in the theater industry, where she reviewed contracts and managed and negotiated licensing agreements for plays in the US and internationally.
Having been inspired to go to law school by her desire to help other artists, she studied IP and media law while at University of Michigan School of Law, where she served as an editor on the Journal of Race and Law, and as president of the Entertainment, Media and Arts Students Association.
Amy’s primary practice has been general commercial litigation, including matters involving art law, media law, employment, intellectual property, constitutional law, real estate, insurance, contract disputes, torts, and other disputes. She is also a trained mediator with extensive experience working with VLA in the MediateArt program and is on the panel of mediators assigned to resolve cases for the Southern District of New York.
Amy is a member of the Entertainment Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association and was selected to Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2014-2017 and New York Metro Super Lawyers 2018 through 2023.
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For the first time ever, Melissa is joined by three guests in one interview! Scenic Designers Regina García, Sibyl Wickersheimer, and Maureen Weiss stop by to discuss their book and museum exhibit and drop a ton of wisdom along the way.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The orgins of Scene Shift
- How they each came into theatre and scenic design
- Being a mom and a theatre artist
- What they're teaching their students now in a post-pandemic world
**And more!
Resources Mentionedscene-shift.comScene Shift book
Scene Shift Exhibit at the Fisher Museum - February 2nd - April 6th, 2024
Connect with Our Guests
Follow Scene Shift on Instagram & Facebook Regina García
garciaportfolio.com
Instagram
Maureen Weiss
mweissdesign.com
Sibyl Wickersheimer
sawgirl.com
Instagram
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No official episode this week, but Melissa will be back soon with all new interviews.
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For another installment of "When the Production is the Adaptation," Melissa is joined by Marcia Milgrom Dodge aka "MMD" to discuss her production and revival of Disney's Beauty and the Beast at the Olney Theatre Center.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The origins of the "MMD" moniker
- "Smuggling in deeper meaning"
- Redesigning and imagining a Disney-branded show
- How MMD has been a constant champion of diverse casting
**And more!
Resources Mentioned**Olney Theatre's production directed by MMDDramaturgy and research for MMD's production
Licensing the musical
About Our GuestMarcia Milgrom Dodge is a Tony, Drama Desk & Astaire Award nominated director & choreographer for her “stirring & lovingly staged” Broadway/Kennedy Center revival of Ragtime. Most recently, MMD was the American Show Director for Tokyo Disneyland’s 40th Anniversary Parade Harmony In Color! For Television, MMD appeared as herself in Disney+ Encore!; choreographed The Muppets in an Emmy-winning episode of Sesame Street and choreographed Elmo & The Noodle Family in Elmo’s Wild West video, delighting children of all ages. MMD’s bold new approaches to classic plays & musicals-- plus a few world-premiere musicals-- have been seen worldwide, from major regional theatres throughout the USA & Canada to Fredericia, Denmark to Seoul, S. Korea to Blackpool, England and even Muskat, Oman. Devoted to developing the next generation of theatre artists, her Directing Musicals workshops are geared for early-career Directors and Actors as well as for Theatre Lovers. MMD is also wife to Tony, mother to Natasha & a proud member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society.
Connect with Our Guestmarciamilgromdodge.com
Read & Recommend Tony Dodge’s plays on New Play Exchange
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In this episode, Melissa guides listeners through a comprehensive goal-setting strategy for playwrights and theatre makers so they can plan for a successful 2024, however they chose to define it.
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In this episode, Melissa guides listeners through an end-of-year self-inventory and reflection which will help set the stage for a 2024 goal-setting session.
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Christmas came early this year! We are dropping this episode a few days ahead of schedule to commemorate the 180th anniversary of the release of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
The multi-talented Lavina Jadhwani stops by to discuss her adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which was first produced when her script was discovered on New Play Exchange.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Adapting a well-known story for the stage, making it unique, and being faithful to the original text
- Lavina's approach to adapting for the stage
- How surviving cancer gave her a different perspective of her work
- the Bollywood film list Lavina curated for Melissa on the spot
**And more!
Resources MentionedA Christmas Carol by Lavina Jadhwani is playing at the Guthrie and Penobscot Theatre during the 2023 holiday season.
New Play Exchange
Nothing For the Group substack About Our Guest**Lavina Jadhwani is a Chicago-based director, playwright, and activist. Directing credits include Guthrie Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PlayMakers Rep, the Rep of St. Louis, Asolo Rep, Mixed Blood, the Neo-Futurists, the Gift, Teatro Vista, Silk Road Rising, and Rasaka Theatre Company, where she served as Artistic Director for seven years. As a playwright, her work has been seen at the Guthrie, the Goodman, the Gift, East West Players, Cincinnati Shakes, and Indianapolis Shakes, and more. Lavina serves on the boards of the National New Play Network and the Chicago Inclusion Project. She is a proud cancer survivor, dog mom, and child of immigrants. She got her BFA/MA at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and her MFA at The Theatre School at DePaul University.
Connect with Our Guestlavinajadhwani.com
Read & Recommend Lavina’s plays on New Play Exchange
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This week Hollywood screenwriter Greg Taylor stops by the show! Greg wrote the scripts for the 90s kids' classics, Harriet the Spy and Jumanji, as well as one of Melissa's favorite holiday films, Prancer, which Greg later adapted for the stage.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How the late great Cloris Leachman influenced Greg's script
- The reindeer in the film vs the stage play
- How screenwriters and playwrights are treated differently
- Adapting novels to screenplays and screenplays to stage plays
**And more!
Resources MentionedPrancer filmThe Rose Theater
Prancer script from Plays for New Audiences
Prancer is playing at ALT, WV's Apollo Civic Theatre, and The Sauk during the 2023 holiday season.
We have a gift for 101 Stage Adaptations* listeners! Download a FREE PDF perusal copy of Prancer here using the discount code is 101Prancer. Valid until December 1, 2024 and only valid on Prancer*. About Our GuestGreg Taylor was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a screenwriter, author and playwright. His screenwriting credits include Prancer, Jumanji, and Harriet the Spy.
Greg is married, with two children, Jessica and Ian, and two grandchildren. From the time he and his wife, Joanne, had their first child, Greg has concentrated on writing stories for families, children and young adults.
For his adaptation of the stage version of Prancer, which premiered at the Rose Children’s Theater in Omaha, Nebraska, in 2016, Greg received the Omaha Theater Arts Guild award for Outstanding New Script. Since Prancer’s premiere and initial run, the play has been performed at community theaters throughout the US.
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Mike Dailey & Jacob Combs join Melissa this week to talk about their long-running holiday musical, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why Strawdog Theatre decided to adapt this beloved children's book
- Adding framing devices and length to a short story
- Casting a show that needs musicians, actors, singers, and acrobatic types
- How the music changes every year with each new cast
**And more!
Resources MentionedHershel and the Hanukkah Goblins playing through Dec 23, 2023
Strawdog Theatre About Our GuestsMichael Dailey has been a Strawdog company member since 1997. He has appeared as an actor in 24 Strawdog productions. Writing credits include three radio plays presented as part of Radio Theatre 7, co-writer on the late-night series The Adventures of Picklebot and Lawfer and script editor for Strawdog’s productions of 1001 Afternoons in Chicago, Julius Caesar and Measure for Measure. As an actor, he’s enjoyed working around town with Lyric Opera, Stage Left, Steppenwolf, About Face, Shattered Globe, Eclipse and Writer’s Theatre, to name a few. He’s a proud graduate of Illinois State University, the Second City Conservatory and was a Steppenwolf Acting Fellowship recipient.
Jacob Combs is a writer, director, and composer based in Los Angeles. Most recently, he was part of the writers room for the Netflix comedy BLOCKBUSTER, and he is currently developing several TV projects with showrunners Vanessa Ramos and Jackie Clarke. Previously, Jacob spent a 6-year stint at Pixar Animation Studios in a variety of writing, development and production roles. He wrote on an untitled feature in development at Pixar and was part of the writers’ room for an upcoming, original episodic series. He also wrote several episodes of the Emmy-nominated Disney+ documentary series Inside Pixar. A lifelong theater nerd, Jacob wrote the music & lyrics for Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (based on the beloved children’s book by Eric Kimmel), which has been produced annually since 2018 by Chicago’s Strawdog Theatre.
Follow Jacob on Instagram.
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Kate Hamill stops by the show to talk about Dracula, one of her many stage adpatations. This conversation is a full meal on taking risks, making writing fun, advocacy, and feminism.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Kate became a playwright on a bet with her friend
- The dramatic question she crafted for Dracula and some of her other works
- Intentionally writing fun characters and feminist plays
- Advocacy, unions, and surviving toxic behavior in the industry
**And more!
Resources MentionedDracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, ReallyDracula is playing through December 24, 2023 at Portland Center Stage About Our Guest Kate Hamill is an actor/playwright and she was the 2017 Wall Street Journal Playwright of the Year. Her work includes her play Pride & Prejudice, at Primary Stages / HVSF, Sense & Sensibility at Bedlam; Vanity Fair at the Pearl Theatre, Mansfield Park at Northlight , Little Women at Primary Stages and the Jungle Theatre, Dracula at Classic Stage Company, Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B at Kansas City Rep, Emma at the Guthrie, and The Scarlet Letter. Her plays have been produced off-Broadway, atA.R.T., the Guthrie, Seattle Rep, PlayMaker’s, Folger, OSF, TrinityRep, Pittsburgh Public, Dorset Theatre Festival, Shakespeare Theatre of DC, Dallas Theater Center, Kansas City Rep, Long Wharf, A.C.T., Actors Theater of Louisville, & others.Her play The Little Fellow (or: The Queen of Tarts Tells All) is currently at the Cygnet Theater, and Emma at the Denver Center next year. She is currentlydeveloping a new adaptation of The Odyssey, a Christmas play called Scrooge for Senate; and several original plays including The Piper and The Light and The Dark. Kate has been one of the most-produced playwrights nationwide every season from 2017-2023.
Connect with Our Guestkate-hamill.com
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Happy Thanksgiving 2023!
Melissa expresses her gratitude for the past year, reads a couple listener reviews, and invites you to join her upcoming newsletter.
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This week is the conclusion of the interview with Alayna Jacqueline & Hannah Joyce from the Playwrights' Center, who offer so much wisdom and practical advice for playwrights.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Current trends in playwriting
- Diagnosing script issues in the rehearsal room
- Advice for playwrights just starting out
- Getting out of Development Hell
**And more!
Resources MentionedPlaywrights' Center
Theatre Begins Here Podcast About Our Guests**Hannah Joyce is the Director of Membership and education programs at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. From 2017 to 2022 she was also the producing artistic director of the William Inge Theater Festival in Kansas. Hannah has developed the new work of some the country’s finest playwrights over the past two decades and had the joy of celebrating visionary American playwrights. Through her work she has produced countless new play development workshops with playwrights from across the country, and worked with hundreds of theater artists in support of those plays. Originally from St. Louis, Hannah has worked and performed with a number of theater companies throughout the Midwest, including the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, St. Louis Shakespeare Company, That Uppity Theater Company, Daleko Arts, and Prison Performing Arts.
Alayna Jacqueline is a Minneapolis-based playwright, dramaturg, and educator born and raised in Buckeye Nation. She’s an instigator for new plays with the Twin Cities Playwright Cabal. In her absurd experimental writing, she loves finding new ways to bend, reshape, and deconstruct stories for the stage. Her writing weaves between themes of identity, mental health, women’s relationships, privilege, and the corruption of power. Alayna’s work has been performed and/or developed at Theater Mu, Phoenix Theater, Market Garden Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, Playwrights’ Center, MadLab Theater, Lincoln Theater, Pythian Theater, and Haybarn Theater. Her play ALL OF THE EVERYTHING was produced at the 2019 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival.
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This week is Part 1 of 2 where Melissa interviews fellow theatre artists/arts administrators/podcasters Alayna Jacqueline & Hannah Joyce from the Playwrights' Center.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The Playwrights' Center and its many programs and offerings
- Who can become a member
- What the PWC has coming up in the near future
- The excitement of working with big name playwrights
**And more!
Resources MentionedPlaywrights' Center
Theatre Begins Here Podcast About Our Guests**Hannah Joyce is the Director of Membership and education programs at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. From 2017 to 2022 she was also the producing artistic director of the William Inge Theater Festival in Kansas. Hannah has developed the new work of some the country’s finest playwrights over the past two decades and had the joy of celebrating visionary American playwrights. Through her work she has produced countless new play development workshops with playwrights from across the country, and worked with hundreds of theater artists in support of those plays. Originally from St. Louis, Hannah has worked and performed with a number of theater companies throughout the Midwest, including the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, St. Louis Shakespeare Company, That Uppity Theater Company, Daleko Arts, and Prison Performing Arts.
Alayna Jacqueline is a Minneapolis-based playwright, dramaturg, and educator born and raised in Buckeye Nation. She’s an instigator for new plays with the Twin Cities Playwright Cabal. In her absurd experimental writing, she loves finding new ways to bend, reshape, and deconstruct stories for the stage. Her writing weaves between themes of identity, mental health, women’s relationships, privilege, and the corruption of power. Alayna’s work has been performed and/or developed at Theater Mu, Phoenix Theater, Market Garden Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, Playwrights’ Center, MadLab Theater, Lincoln Theater, Pythian Theater, and Haybarn Theater. Her play ALL OF THE EVERYTHING was produced at the 2019 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival.
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Melissa was elated to chat with Lauren Gunderson about her brand new musical adaptation of The Time Traveller's Wife, which just premiered on London's West End. Lauren wrote the book, & the music & lyrics are by Dave Stewart & Joss Stone.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Lauren got the gig to adapt her favorite book of all time
- Working in London
- When to take notes and when to ignore them
- Her upcoming novel!
**And more!
Resources MentionedThe Time Traveller's Wife*Revolutionary WomenAbout Our GuestLauren Gunderson is one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015 topping the list thrice. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will; the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award, The Jeff Award for New Plays, and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award; and a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Arthur L. Weissberger Award, and John Gassner Award for Playwriting. Revolutionary Women, her new anthology of five plays, is published by Bloomsbury along with I and You, The Catastrophist and anthropology, which recently premiered at Hampstead Theatre. She co-authored the popular Miss Bennet trilogy with Margot Melcon. The Half-Life of Marie Curie was commissioned by Audible Theatre, premiered off-Broadway and can be heard at Audible.com. She just finished her first novel, The Fervor Witch, and will soon premiere several new musicals including Sinister, I and You: A Musical, and Built for This, as well as another musicals with Dave Stewart. Connect with Our Guest*laurengunderson.com
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Melissa was thrilled to speak with fellow theatre podcaster Sean Hayden. If you are not familiar with his podcast, Stage Combat: A Mental Health Story, it is one of the most important theatre podcasts out there. And if you have listened his podcast, and you're not caught up, be warned that this conversation contains spoilers.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Sean's groundbreaking podcast, Stage Combat, that is changing the theatre industry for the better
- His process for crafting this complex, multi-layered story
- How being an attorney encouraged him bring his mental health story to the public
- What he wants theatre management to do when it comes to employee and artist mental health
**And more!
Resources Mentioned**
Stage Combat: A Mental Health Story
About Our Guest
Sean Hayden is the CEO of Haywood Productions, LLC. As a professional actor, Sean has appeared in two Broadway national tours and in plays and musicals in theaters across the country. He is a proud union member of Actors' Equity Association. He is currently working with theatre departments in higher education institutions to better support the mental health of their students. As a mental health advocate, Sean has provided thought leadership on how employers can better support the mental health of their employees. His op-ed on “Men and Mental Health” appeared in The Economic Times. Sean is also a licensed attorney who has his own law practice is Manhattan.
Sean resides in New York City and upstate New York with his husband, a screenwriter.
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stagecombatthepodcast.com
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Creators: Host your podcast through Buzzsprout using my affiliate link & get a $20 credit on your paid account. Let your fans directly support you via Buy Me a Coffee (affiliate link).
The delightful Sandy Rustin drops by the podcast to discuss her adaptation of Clue, which is the most-produced play in high schools for many years running. On the way to discovering Colonel Mustard in the Library with the Wrench, Melissa discovers Sandy's place in soap opera history and their mutual love of cooking.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How she became the adaptor for Clue
- Acquiring dramatic rights and music rights to Clue and Mystic Pizza
- Her approach and tips for writing adaptations
- How her play Houston has suddenly become more relevant
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Clueby Sandy Rustin
Clue on tour
The CottageThe Nourish Me Kitchen by Erika Siegel About Our Guest
Sandy Rustin is a Broadway playwright and actress. One of the most produced playwrights in America, Sandy’s adaptation of the film CLUE has enjoyed over 3,500 productions worldwide. Her musical adaptation of MGM’s MYSTIC PIZZA will premiere at La Mirada Playhouse in 2024. Sandy wrote concert adaptations of I MARRIED AN ANGEL and DEAR WORLD for NYCity Center Encores! Her comedy, THE SUFFRAGETTE’S MURDER, will premiere in 2025 at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. Her play, HOUSTON (recipient of the New American Musical Award), is in development with Grammy winner Edie Brickell. Other theatrical works include RATED P … FOR PARENTHOOD, ELIJAH, STRUCK, AMERICAN GIRL LIVE, and others. A Northwestern University graduate, Sandy is a member of ASCAP, SAG, AEA, and The Dramatists Guild and is represented by A3 Artists Agency. She serves on the Advisory Board of NYU’s Camp Kesem chapter. She lives in Maplewood, NJ with her husband and two sons.
Connect with Our Guest
sandyrustin.comNew Play ExchangeInstagram
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Melissa Schmitz chats with the very talented Michael Susko this week about his world premiere production—which happens to be his first adaptation—and also a story that he's loved for most of his life, House on Haunted Hill.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Michael "got" the dramatic rights to the original film
- The changes and updates he made to this adaptation
- How a séance show at the Edinburgh Fringe influenced Michael's writing
- Current trends in playwriting and our hot takes on them
And more!
Resources Mentioned
The world premiere of House on Haunted Hill at Kismet Performing Artists Theatre in October 2023
Clifton Arts Center
House on Haunted Hilloriginal film
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
ATC Studios
About Our Guest
In NYC, Michael Susko's work as writer and director has been seen at Off-Broadway's THE BIGOT, CROSSING OVER, F*CK, MARRY, KILL - New York Theater Festival, Midtown International Fringe Festival, Alternative Theatre Company, Network Theatre Company, Equity Library Theatre and The New Short Play Festival (Artistic Director). Also, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Casa Manana, Cider Mill Playhouse, Theatre by the Sea, PaperMill Theatre, Westchester Broadway, Arizona Broadway, Arkansas Repertory, and twelve years as resident director of the New Bedford Festival Theatre where he helmed a variety of musicals, including their Moss Hart Award winning productions of HAIRSPRAY and LES MISERABLES.
As a performer, Michael has been seen in several Broadway national tours, European tours, and countless regional appearances including stints at The Goodspeed Opera House, Paper Mill Playhouse, Walnut Street Theatre, Bristol Riverside, Ogunquit Playhouse, Sacramento Music Circus, Pittsburgh CLO, and Stages St. Louis. Also, many film, television shows and commercials.
As an educator, Michael taught theatre at Chadron State College in Nebraska and served as head of the theatre program at Southern Arkansas University. He teaches playwriting at ATC Studios in Clifton, NJ. MFA i
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Acclaimed writer of stage and screen Jeffrey Hatcher stops by to discuss his adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Melissa recounts the spooky experience she had after seeing the show.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How he was commissioned to adapt one of the most-adapted stories of all time
- Why he thinks adaptors should bring something new to the story
- Why Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde still intrigues and thrills us today
- The various times he was on set when A-list stars acted in the films he wrote!
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or see it in October 2023
Commonweal Theatre
Read Dial M for Murder or see it at the Guthrie in 2024
About Our Guest
Jeffrey Hatcher’s plays have been produced on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theaters in the United States and around the world. His original plays and adaptations include Three Viewings, Scotland Road, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, A Picasso, The Government Inspector, The Alchemist, Scotland Road, The Turn of the Screw, Tuesdays with Morrie (with Mitch Albom), Mrs. Mannerly, Murderers, Cousin Bette, Smash, Dial M for Murder, Key Largo (with Andy Garcia), Holmes and Watson, A Confederacy of Dunces and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. His film and television work include Stage Beauty, Casanova, The Duchess, Mr. Holmes, The Good Liar and episodes of Columbo and The Mentalist. He has won numerous grants, awards and fellowships.
Jeffrey's Wikipedia Page
Purchase Jeffrey's plays at Playscripts and
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This week Melissa welcomes fellow theatre marketer Julie Nemitz to the show to talk about how playwrights can initiate & improve their marketing strategy.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why having an online presence is essential for getting your plays produced
- What a content strategy is and looks like for playwrights
- Social media 101 for playwrights
- What NOT to do with your photos on Facebook
Resources MentionedTheatre Marketing Lab
"In The Greenroom" podcast
Julie's newsletter
Theatre Marketing Lab Content Club
Canva
About Our GuestJulie Nemitz is a renowned theatre marketing leader & the force behind Theatre Marketing Lab and the popular podcast "In The Greenroom" where she offers insightful conversations with theatre leaders and actionable marketing advice. She has taken the theatre world by storm, attracting listeners globally, & reached the top #140 performing arts podcasts in the United States. For the past 10 years, Julie has revolutionized how theatres & theatre artists attract audiences through innovative strategies & compelling content. She is passionate about ensuring every community has a thriving performance space, regardless of size. Known for her infectious enthusiasm & deep knowledge of the latest digital marketing trends, Julie helps theatremakers uplevel their strategies and content through personalized consultations, coaching, & classes in the Theatre Marketing Lab. She has a special gift for analyzing what's not working and designing customized solutions to sell more tickets and deepen audience loyalty. Countless clients have experienced record-breaking sales under her guidance. When she's not busy transforming local theatres, you can find Julie rolling up her sleeves & guiding theatre artists into the digital age. Julie is also an adjunct faculty member at Western Michigan University, teaching performing arts marketing to the next generation of theatre artists. julienemitz.com| FB| IG
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Creators: Host your podcast through Buzzsprout using my affiliate link & get a $20 credit on your paid account. Let your fans directly support you via Buy Me a Coffee (affiliate link).
Today we are celebrating one year of the 101 Stage Adaptations Podcast!
Thank you to every single listener and guest who have helped make this first year possible!
This episode includes a ton of gratitude and a few highlights from the first year and first 39 episodes, all of which were Melissa's favorite.
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Ways to support the show:- Buy Me a Coffee
- Tell us your thoughts in our Listener Survey!
- Give a 5-Star rating
- Write a glowing review on Apple Podcasts
- Send this episode to a friend
- Share on social media (Tag us so we can thank you!)
Creators: Host your podcast through Buzzsprout using my affiliate link & get a $20 credit on your paid account. Let your fans directly support you via Buy Me a Coffee (affiliate link).
Inspired by a post in a playwriting group on Facebook, Melissa replays part of her previous conversation with Nan Barnett when they cover New Play Exchange (NPX).
In this episode, we discuss:
- What NPX is and how this program got started
- Who it's for and how to use it (Hint: anyone who writes plays and reads plays!)
- What playwrights can expect from putting their work on NPX
- How to optimize your profile and membership
And more!
Resources MentionedEpisode 9 with Nan Barnett
Episode 27 with Nan Barnett
National New Play Network
New Play Exchange
About Our Guest
Nan Barnett is a new play developer and producer and an advocate for theater-makers and the theater they make. She is the Executive Director of National New Play Network, the country’s alliance of theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays. While on NNPN’s Executive Committee she worked to create the organization’s revolutionary Rolling World Premiere and Residency programs. She came to the Network full-time in 2013 and guided it through the development and launch of its field-altering database, the New Play Exchange ®, now home to more than 53,000 plays by living writers, and its recent planning process, which resulted in the organization’s much-lauded new governance and membership structure and plan for leading the field towards a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive new play ecosystem. Nan spent 24 seasons at Florida Stage, a LORT theater producing exclusively new and developing work, was a member of the inaugural Helen Hayes Awards’ New Play Panel for the nation’s capital region and Coordinating Producer for the 2015 and 2018 iterations of DC’s Women’s Voices Theater Festival. She serves on the Artistic Council of the O’Neill Theater Center and was inducted into the National Theatre Conference in 2017.
Connect with Our Guest
National New Play Network
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Sign up for the 101 Stage Adaptations* Newsletter*
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Read Melissa's plays on New Play Exchange
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Ways to support the show:- Buy Me a Coffee
- Tell us your thoughts in our Listener Survey!
- Give a 5-Star rating
- Write a glowing review on Apple Podcasts
- Send this episode to a friend
- Share on social media (Tag us so we can thank you!)
Creators: Host your podcast through Buzzsprout using my affiliate link & get a $20 credit on your paid account. Let your fans directly support you via Buy Me a Coffee (affiliate link).
September is for marketing! Melissa reveals 5 hot tips playwrights can use in their personal marketing.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What a headshot is and is not
- What to do when you can't afford new headshots or a website
- How to add value to your playwriting community
And more!
Resources Mentioned
New Play Exchange aka NPX
Dramatists Guild
Connect with host Melissa Schmitz101 Stage Adaptations
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New Play Exchange
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September is one day away, and that means it's time once again for the Playwright Submission Binge! Melissa chats with playwright and producer Patrick Gabridge about this twice annual event where playwrights gather in an online community to share submission opportunities with each other and support one another during the intense month of marketing.
This interview is part of a larger conversation from Ep. 18 called Playwright Marketing with Patrick Gabridge. Listen to that episode here.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What the Playwright Submission Binge is and how it got started
- What he's learned from leading the Submission Binge for years
- Hot tips on how to improve your submissions
**And more!
Resources Mentioned**
Playwright Submission Binge
Dramatists Guild
NYCPlaywrights
About Our Guest
Patrick Gabridge is an award-winning writer and theatre-maker who has written a number of adaptations and also has a special talent for creating site-specific plays. With his company, Plays in Place, he’s created plays in partnership with many museums and historic sites, including Mount Auburn Cemetery, Boston’s Old State House, the Roosevelt Cottage on Campobello Island, and the MIT Museum. His full-length plays have been produced in the US and South Korea, and his short plays and have received more than 1,000 productions from theatres and schools around the world (16 countries so far). He’s been involved with helping playwrights market their work for many years—he started the publication Market InSight for Playwrights back in 1993, and founded and still runs the Playwright Submission Binge, an online community focused on marketing. He’s also a screenwriter, novelist, and a writer of audio plays. In his spare time, he likes to farm and garden and fix up old houses.
Connect with Our Guestgabridge.com
Read & Recommend Patrick’s plays on New Play Exchange
The Writing Life x 3
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Emmanuel Wilson continues his conversation with Melissa. (Listen to Part 1 here.) This is a gold mine of advice for theatre administrators and artists. Find your notebook and get ready to take notes!
In this episode, we discuss:
- What the current writers strike can teach playwrights about their own work
- Emmanuel's ideas on how to save theatre - Yes, we're going there!
- What theatres get wrong about marketing and what we need to do instead
- What playwrights can do when they're stuck in Development Hell
And more!
Resources MentionedDramatists Guild
World Premiere Wisconsin with Michael Cotey (Ep. 30)
Playwright PSA: Playwrights Welcome Program (Ep. 32)
LLoyd Richards About Our Guest
Emmanuel Wilson currently serves as the Co-Executive Director of Creative Affairs and Membership at the Dramatists Guild of America. He manages member service and programming for America's professional playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists. Emmanuel also oversees the Guild's industry outreach, strategy, and communications. He developed new strategic partnerships with PlayPenn, Blackboard Plays, EdTA, TCG, 24 Hours Plays, and more. Emmanuel also created the Guild's Young Dramatists Initiative. More recently, his youth theater experience has propelled the Guild's support of the Enough! Plays to End Gun Violence campaign, a national playwrighting competition for young writers.
A playwright, producer, and lifelong resident of New York City, Emmanuel founded The Blue Rose Stage Company at age 18, serving as its Artistic Director for six years. In 2003, he was selected as a New Generations Future Leader by Theater Communications Group, a multi-year fellowship supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. He is the proud parent of Faith and Imani Wilson.
Connect with Our GuestFollow the Dramatists Guild on FacebookFollow the Dramatists Guild on TwitterFollow the Dramatists Guild on Instagram
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Melissa Schmitz is joined by the one and only Emmanuel Wilson from the Dramatists Guild in a two-episode conversation. Emmanuel drops so much wisdom around theatre and advocacy for playwrights and theatremakers. Take notes, and enjoy the background sounds of Times Square.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The play that transformed him and gave him clarity on his career in theatre
- Why the Dramatists Guild is a vital resource for playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists
- What he wishes more playwrights knew
- How to make children life-long theatre fans
And more! And this is just Part 1!
Resources MentionedDramatists Guild
Young Dramatists
About Our GuestEmmanuel Wilson currently serves as the Co-Executive Director of Creative Affairs and Membership at the Dramatists Guild of America. He manages member service and programming for America's professional playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists. Emmanuel also oversees the Guild's industry outreach, strategy, and communications. He developed new strategic partnerships with PlayPenn, Blackboard Plays, EdTA, TCG, 24 Hours Plays, and more. Emmanuel also created the Guild's Young Dramatists Initiative. More recently, his youth theater experience has propelled the Guild's support of the Enough! Plays to End Gun Violence campaign, a national playwrighting competition for young writers.
A playwright, producer, and lifelong resident of New York City, Emmanuel founded The Blue Rose Stage Company at age 18, serving as its Artistic Director for six years. In 2003, he was selected as a New Generations Future Leader by Theater Communications Group, a multi-year fellowship supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. He is the proud parent of Faith and Imani Wilson.
Follow the Dramatists Guild on FacebookFollow the Dramatists Guild on TwitterFollow the Dramatists Guild on Instagram
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Melissa was thrilled to chat with Karen Zacarías about her world premiere adaptation of Shane, based on the novel by Jack Schaefer, which is now playing (in August 2023) at the Guthrie Theater.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How this co-commission and co-production came to be
- The challenges of adapting a Western for the stage
- Creating a more complete and accurate picture of the American West
- Beach Karen!
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Cincinnatti Playhouse in the Park
Guthrie TheaterShane at the Guthrie
About Our Guest
KAREN ZACARÍAS was recently hailed by American Theater Magazine as one of the most produced playwrights in the US. Her plays include The Copper Children, Destiny of Desire, Native Gardens, The Book Club Play, Legacy of Light, Mariela in the Desert, The Sins of Sor Juana, and the adaptations of Just Like Us, The Age of Innocence, Into the Beautiful North, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent and a bilingual Romeo y Juliet. She has been produced at The Kennedy Center, The Goodman, The Guthrie, Arena Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, GALA Hispanic Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse, Old Globe, The Alliance Theater, Repertorio Español, The Latino Theater Company, Milagro Theater, and many more. She is the author of ten renowned TYA musicals and the librettist of several Ballets. She is one of the inaugural resident playwrights at Arena Stage, a core founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons- a large national organization of artists seeking to update the American narrative with Latinx stories-, and she is the founder of the award-winning Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT), noted as one of the best arts educational programs by the Obama White House. Karen was voted a 2019 Washingtonian of the Year for her arts advocacy by Washingtonian Magazine. She was awarded the 2019 Sine Fellowship at the American University School of Public Policy for connecting art with policy making. She is a recipient of 2019 Lee-Reynolds-Award for “social, cultural, or political change with theater” awarded by the League of Professional Theater Women and honored with the 2019 Medallion by the Children’s Theater Foundation. She was a 2019 speaker at TEDX Broadway. She is a 2021 recipient of the United Artists Fellowship. Karen lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and three children and two dogs. She’s represented by the Gersh Agency and is published by Concord Theatricals, Dramatic Publishing and has a collection of plays with Oberon Books.
Connect with Our Guest
www.karenzacarias.com
Read & Recommend Karen’s plays on New Play Exchange
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Special drop from Theatrical Shenanigans podcast hosted by Rachel Feeny-Williams.
Theatrical Shenanigans brings you the second episode of "The Panel Presents." Four amazing panelists John Patrick Bray, Jacquelyn Priskorn, Tony Vale & Melissa Schmitz, led by Rachel Feeny-Williams discuss topical questions relating to the world of theatre!
Tune in to all of other Theatrical Shenanigans episodes on:
https://theatricalshenanigans.podbean.com/
https://open.spotify.com/show/54qD1COB9WRnH4HMrq142H
https://music.amazon.com/.../0505c.../theatrical-shenanigans
Listen to Rachel Feeny-Williams on the 101 Stage Adaptations Podcast, Ep 15.
Rachel Feeny-Williams is a playwright based in Exeter, UK. She has been writing, self-producing and selling plays for just over ten years, following the completion of her degree in Creative and Performing Arts. Over the past ten years, her work has been produced many times in her local area of Devon, as well as nationally and internationally, both live and virtually. In 2021, her piece Believe Me; also won an award for “Best Original Script” in a One Act Play Festival.
Rachel's website
Literary and Discourse SocietyRachel's podcast, Theatrical Shenanigans
Theatrical Shenanigan's Facebook Page
Read & Recommend Rachel's plays on New Play ExchangeRachel's self-published books
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Melissa reveals 5 resources playwrights need to know to make their job easier and more fun. These resources include both paid products and free opportunities.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The Dramatists Guild
- Regional Playwriting Hubs
- Melissa's preferred writing software
- How to find submission opportunities
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Dramatists GuildEnd of Play.® with Lily Dwoskin & Jordan Stovall from the Dramatists Guild (Ep. 23)
Chicago Dramatists
New Dramatists
Playwrights Realm
PlayPenn
Playwrights’ Center
ScriptWorks
Old Pueblo Playwrights
The Inkwell Theater
Playwrights Foundation
PDX Playwrights
Northwest Playwrights Alliance
Final Draft
Play Submissions Helper
Playwright Submission BingePlaywright Marketing with Patrick Gabridge (Ep. 18)
Playwriting Submissions & Competitions Facebook Group
UNTITLED CHRISTMAS PRODUCTION by Rachel Feeny-Williams (Ep. 15)
New Play Exchange National New Play Network + New Play Exchange with Nan Barnett (Ep. 9)
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Melissa breaks down one of the best perks about being a Dramatists Guild member: the free theatre tickets you can get through the Playwrights Welcome program.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What the Playwrights Welcome program is and how it works
- What theatres are currently participating
- How to add your theatre to the list
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Playwrights Welcome
Join the Playwrights Welcome roster of participating theatresDramatists Guild
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Achievement unlocked! In this shorty episode, Melissa reveals the major milestone the pocast has passed and offers many thanks to all the listeners to helped make it possible. She even names a few.
In this episode, we discuss:
- passing the 2,500 download mark!
- what countries people are tuning in from
- the top cities with the most listeners
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Buzzsprout Global Stats
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This week Melissa talks with fellow Wisconsinite Michael Cotey about World Premiere Wisconsin, a first-of-its-kind state-wide festival of new plays and musicals.
*The festival currently runs through June 2023, but stay tuned for more on this great project.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What World Premiere Wisconsin is and how it started
- Where Wisconsin stands in terms of state funding for the arts
- What Michael has learned from producing a state-wide theatre festival
- Michael's company ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence
- Why he thinks college Theatre minors should be mandatory
And more!
Resources Mentioned
World Premiere Wisconsin
ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence
Ten Chimneys
2 previous podcast guests are mentioned in this episode! Listen to our interview with Mary Zimmerman here and our two interviews with Nan Barnett here and here. About Our Guest
Michael Cotey is a producer and director based out of Chicago, but was born and raised in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is the creator and Joaquin Oliver Artistic Producer behind ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence, a nationwide playwriting initiative that calls on teens to write short plays that confront gun violence. Now in its third year, ENOUGH! has received more than 500 plays, unfolded in over 100 communities involving more than 2,000 artists and reaching nearly 10,000 audience members, and has been featured on PBS NewsHour, NPR, and the BBC. He is also the festival producer for World Premiere Wisconsin, an inaugural and first-of-its-kind statewide new work festival. In addition to directing regionally, Michael has directed in Wisconsin at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Next Act, First Stage, Third Avenue
PlayWorks, UW-Madison, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. From 2009-2013 he was the Founding Artistic Director of Youngblood Theatre in Milwaukee, regularly celebrated by the theater community and the press as one of the most exciting new Milwaukee theater ventures in decades. Michael graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a BFA in Acting and from Northwestern University with an MFA in Directing. In 2014 he was named UWM’s “Graduate of the Last Decade.”
Connect with Our Guest
michaelcotey.com
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Melissa is back with a brief solo episode about what's coming up and other shows she's guested on recently, plus your favorite episodes so far and a special request!
Your Top 5 Podcast Episodes!
Play Club with Amy Wheeler and Paul Kruse (Ep. 25)
THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER by Mary Zimmerman (Ep. 13)
Chicago Theatre Week 2023 (Ep. 19)
Playwright Marketing with Patrick Gabridge (Ep. 18)
National New Play Network + New Play Exchange with Nan Barnett (Ep. 9)
Melissa on Other Shows!
Theatrical Shenanigans Episode 6
Nerdinary Episode 12A
Other Episodes Referenced:
UNTITLED CHRISTMAS PRODUCTION by Rachel Feeny-Williams (Ep. 15)
Toward a Brave New Theatre World with Nan Barnett (Ep. 27)
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National Playwriting Month is complete, and End of Play.® 2023 is in the books. Melissa breaks down how the experience was for her, and some key things she learned about herself and her own playwriting process.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Melissa began the project with a major facepalm moment
- Her biggest game-changer when it comes to research
- How Melissa made the most of the multiple silent writing sessions and did it her own way
- The workshops and EOP activities she attended
And more!
Resources + People Mentioned
End of Play.® with Lily Dwoskin & Jordan Stovall from the Dramatists Guild (Ep. 23)
End of Play.®
Dramatists Guild
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
C. Julian Jiménez
Lucy Wang
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Nan Barnett returns! We are thrilled to have her back because there was so much more to talk about after the last conversation. This time Nan reveals more about her personal story and some of the sacrifices she's made for her work.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What NNPN is focused on in terms of equity and diversity
- Post-pandemic trends she's seeing in the theatre industry
- What 24 seasons of producing new work at Florida Stage taught her about theatre-making
And more!
Resources MentionedEpisode 9 with Nan Barnett
National New Play Network
New Play Exchange
About Our Guest
Nan Barnett is a new play developer and producer and an advocate for theater-makers and the theater they make. She is the Executive Director of National New Play Network, the country’s alliance of theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays. While on NNPN’s Executive Committee she worked to create the organization’s revolutionary Rolling World Premiere and Residency programs. She came to the Network full-time in 2013 and guided it through the development and launch of its field-altering database, the New Play Exchange ®, now home to more than 51,000 plays by living writers, and its recent planning process, which resulted in the organization’s much-lauded new governance and membership structure and plan for leading the field towards a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive new play ecosystem. Nan spent 24 seasons at Florida Stage, a LORT theater producing exclusively new and developing work, was a member of the inaugural Helen Hayes Awards’ New Play Panel for the nation’s capital region and Coordinating Producer for the 2015 and 2018 iterations of DC’s Women’s Voices Theater Festival. She serves on the Artistic Council of the O’Neill Theater Center and was inducted into the National Theatre Conference in 2017.
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National New Play Network
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Shakespeare's birthday is coming up, and this week Melissa talks to Oregon Shakespeare Festival's former Director of New Play Development Lue Douthit about the giant playwriting project known as Play On Shakespeare. Grab a Mounds bar and learn how she helped usher the Bard into the 21st Century. In this episode, we discuss:
- What Play On Shakespeare is and does and how the project came to be
- Why they are called Shakespeare translations
- What's happening now that all 39 plays have been written
- The various educational possibilities for the translations
And more!
Resources MentionedPlay On ShakespeareOregon Shakespeare FestivalPlay On Shakespeare PodcastResearch in Actionat Shakespeare's Globe in July 2023Order the plays atACMRS Press
About Our GuestLue Morgan Douthit is the President/Co-Founder of Play on Shakespeare. Prior to that, she spent 25 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she was director of new play development and dramaturgy. She also was the Production Dramaturg for more than 50 productions, including 15 world premieres: Hannah and the Dread Gazebo, Head Over Heels; A Wrinkle in Time; Family Album; The Unfortunates; The Tenth Muse; WillFul; Throne of Blood; Equivocation; Don Quixote; Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter; Tracy’s Tiger; By the Waters of Babylon; Continental Divide; and The Magic Fire. She has worked on over a dozen Shakespeare productions, including co-adapting a six-actor Macbeth and seven-actor Measure for Measure, which were both produced at OSF and elsewhere. She was the co-producer and founder of the Black Swan Lab (2009) at OSF and subsequently produced the Lab until 2016. Lue is the recipient of the 1999 Literary Manager & Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) Prize in Dramaturgy and The Elliott Hayes Award for her work on Lorraine Hansberry’s play Les Blancs. She received her PhD from the University of Washington, her MFA from Trinity University, and her MA from University of Arizona.
Connect with Our Guestplayonshakespeare.org Like Play On Shakespeare on Facebook Follow Play On Shakespeare on Twitter Follow Play On Shakespeare on Instagram
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Amy Wheeler and Paul Kruse, the masterminds behind Play Club, stop by to talk about this new project (prepare for some major name drops) and which of them hails from Melissa's hometown.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What Play Club is, how it works, and why they started it
- The education initiatives Play Club has begun and will expand upon
- Why Amy knows literally everyone in the theatre community
**And more!
Resources MentionedPlay Club
Hedgebrook
Fresh Fruit Festival About Our Guests**
Amy Wheeler is a nationally produced playwright, educator, speaker and nonprofit leader. Wheeler led the beloved Whidbey Island nonprofit Hedgebrook for many years, evolving it into a global community of influential female-identified writers authoring change in the arts, culture and social justice. Celebrating the culmination of her tenure in 2020, Seattle Arts & Lectures recognized Wheeler with the Prowda Literary Champion Award for “demonstrating true commitment to the Pacific Northwest’s community of readers and writers.” She holds an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts, an MFA from the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and she studied acting at University of Kansas and in NY. Wheeler’s front burner project is The Last Babushka, a musical she’s creating with first generation Ukrainian-American composer Natalie Nowytski about women living in Chernobyl’s Exclusion Zone. She founded Play Club: A Book Club with a Theatrical Twist, a venture that’s growing into a movement. Play Club’s community is a cross-generational audience from across the country who are reading, discussing and going to see contemporary plays together. Amy’s father Jim passed away during the pandemic. Play Club is imbued with his spirit, love of community and conversation.
Paul William Kruse tells Queer love stories. As a playwright and media artist from Western Wisconsin, his work flows from his Catholic roots and ever-evolving experience of family. Paul often writes collaboratively, drawing from his years of experience as a videographer and documentarian. He is a cohort member of Audible’s third Emerging Playwrights Fund, and his audio play Once Removed was an official selection at the 2022 Tribeca Festival. Paul’s plays have been produced by Adjusted Realists, Quantum Theatre, Vortex Theater, and in high schools around the country. Paul has developed work at The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, Yaddo, the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and Middlebury College. Paul completed his MFA at UT Austin in 2020, where he was a fellow with the Michener Center for Writers. From 2012–2022, Paul was resident playwright with Hatch Arts Collective, which he co-founded with Adil Mansoor and Nicole Shero.
Connect with Our GuestsFollow Play Club onFacebook
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Read & Recommend Amy’s plays & Paul’s plays on NPX
paulwkruse.com
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Eric Coble is back to answer all the playwriting & adaptation questions that Melissa wanted to ask in Episode 1. (If you haven't listened to that one yet, go check it out!)
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Hollywood can put an already-written stage adaptation on hold indefinitely
- If a playwright really needs to live in New York to get work and make a living
- Eric's mountain metaphor as it relates to writing a new play
- Advice for emerging playwrights
And more!
Resources MentionedMen are from Mars, Women are from Venus LIVE!
Dramatists Guild
About Our GuestEric Coble was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and raised on the Navajo and Ute reservations in New Mexico and Colorado. His scripts have been produced on Broadway (Tony-and Pulitzer-nominated The Velocity of Autumn), Off-Broadway (Bright Ideas, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, Side Effects May Include…), in Disney Theme Parks (Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple), in all fifty states of the U.S., and on several continents, including productions at Manhattan Class Company, The Kennedy Center, Playwrights Horizons, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival, Denver Center Theatre Company, Arena Stage, South Coast Rep, Cleveland Play House, Alliance Theatre, New York and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, Habima Theatre (Israel), Pentacion Productions (Spain), Teatr Polski (Poland), Orange Row (Mexico), and the Contemporary American Theatre Festival (U.S.).
Awards include two AATE Distinguished Play Awards for Best Adaptation, an Emmy nomination, the Chorpenning Playwriting Award for Body of Work, the AT&T Onstage Award, National Theatre Conference Playwriting Award, an NEA Playwright in Residence Grant, a TCG Extended Collaboration Grant, the Cleveland Arts Prize, two Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Fellowships, and four Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Grants. Thirty of Mr. Coble’s scripts have been published by Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, Dramatic Publishing, Smith & Krause and others.
Connect with Our GuestEric's website
Read Eric's plays on New Play Exchange
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National Playwriting Month is approaching, and that means it's time for End of Play.®, the Dramatists Guild's annual month-long writing challenge for Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists, and Librettists. Guild staff members Lily Dwoskin and Jordan Stovall stop by the show to tell us about their work at the Guild and all things End of Play.®.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What End of Play.® is and who can participate (Hint: anyone and everyone!)
- How End of Play.® got started
- How working at the Guild helped Lily become a better advocate for her own work
- How the pandemic has changed the way drag and musical theatre are created and consumed
And more!
Resources Mentioned
End of Play.®
Dramatists Guild
AWP
About Our Guests
Lily Dwoskin is a bookwriter, lyricist, and playwright based in New York. She is a graduate of NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Her bookwriter/lyricist credits include Off Broadway: Turtle On A Fencepost at Theater 555 & The Scarlet Savior at St. Luke's Theatre. Other credits include: Hyena in Petticoats and The Aviatrix. Originally, Lily is from the greater Philadelphia region. Lily's work has been performed at St. Luke's, The Laurie Beechman Theatre, The Greenroom 42, Hedgerow Theatre Company, various universities and more. Lily works for and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America and has worked as a director, dramaturg, teaching artist and stage manager.
Jordan Stovall is a playwright, arts administrator, and drag artist known as Wanda Whatever. They presently serve as the Director of Outreach & Institutional Partnerships for the Dramatists Guild, where they have worked since 2016. Their plays have been shortlisted and selected as Finalists for the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Festival and Relentless Award, with productions in London and the US.
As a drag artist, they are the founding producer of Time Out London Award-Nominated cabaret Boulangerie; and Fussy, a series of queer community gatherings. They can be seen on Pistol and Meet the Richardsons. They have performed in Bushwig Berlin and NYC, Sink the Pink, Clapham Grand, Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and other notable venues across London, NYC, and the US.
Connect with Our Guests
lilydwoskin.com
Read & Recommend Lily’s plays on New Play ExchangeFollow Lily on Instagram jordanstovall.com Read & Recommend Jordan’s plays on New Play Exchange
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This week Melissa is joined by her brilliant friend Alex Mallory to talk about her original translation and adaptation of Frank Wedekind's German play, Spring Awakening, which she also produced as an MFA Directing student.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why Alex decided to write this adaptation for her MFA Directing Lab (when she really didn't have to)
- What was missing from other English translations of Spring Awakening that prompted Alex to write her own
- What German translations Alex wants to tackle in the future
- How community-building is the cornerstone of Alex's love of theatre
And more!
Resources Mentioned
The Metal Shop Performance Lab
DE-CRUIT
About Our Guest
Alex Mallory is the director of The Metal Shop Performance Lab, founded with the mission to create theatrical events that foster radical community-building and authentic exchange between artists and audiences. She uses intersectional, anti-oppressive rehearsal processes to create conditions for productive conversations on personal and collective histories of violence in both rehearsal and performance spaces. Alex’s directing work investigates personal and political agency and examines the resilience of the mind and body through human connection. Alex also facilitates healing-centered engagement for military veterans as the Chicago Regional Coordinator for DE-CRUIT. She has worked with the veteran community for over a decade with the Veteran Artist Program, The Telling Project, and as director of Takeo Rivera’s choreopoem Goliath, which toured for seven years in New York and California. Alex has served as Co-Artistic Director of Poetic Theater Productions and as Director of Culture Project’s Women Center Stage Initiative. She has an MFA from Northwestern University and a BA from Stanford University. Alex is an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Connect with Our Guest
alexmallory.com
For Spring Awakening inquiries, email alex@themetalshop.org
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The enchanting Kate Scelsa stops by the podcast to talk about her hilarious parody adaptation titled Everyone's Fine With Virginia Woolf.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How her play was a love letter to Albee's classic, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and that it was also written bespoke for actors at Elevator Repair Service
- Just how much Kate is obsessed with WAOVW, particularly the character of Martha
- The abundance of Easter eggs and the annotated list she provides in the script
- What writers can do to cope with rejection
And more!
Resources MentionedEveryone's Fine With Virginia WoolfElevator Repair Service Theater
Luminary: A Magical Guide to Self-CareImprobable Magic for Cynical WitchesSNL Skit - "Dinner with the Dean"
About Our GuestKate Scelsa is a novelist, playwright, and songwriter. Her debut young adult novel Fans of the Impossible Life was a Fall 2015 Indie Next pick, a Junior Library Guild pick, a 2016 Rainbow List Top Ten Pick, and has been published in ten languages. She is also the author of Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches, a new YA novel from HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray, and Luminary: A Magical Guide to Self-Care from Simon & Schuster. A recipient of a Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation grant for playwriting, Kate has worked for many years with New York experimental theater company Elevator Repair Service, including a decade spent performing in “Gatz,” their eight-hour-long version of The Great Gatsby. Her play Everyone's Fine with Virginia Woolf was produced in NYC and Dublin in 2018 and has been published by Dramatists Play Service. Kate also writes songs and performs with her band The Witch Ones and she is working on an opera about the artist Hilma af Klint.
Connect with Our Guest
katescelsa.com
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Melissa reconnects with playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer. They first met when Melissa interviewed her about her play, Be Here Now. Now we be here again to talk about one of Deb's (apparently many) stage adaptations, The Three Sisters of Weehawken, based of course on Chekhov's Three Sisters.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why Deborah set her adaptation in New Jersey
- Which of Chekhov's 3 sisters we are
- What message Chekhov's plays have for us today
- How writers groups influence her writing process
And more!
Resources Mentioned
The Three Sisters of Weehawken by Deborah Zoe Laufer
Melissa's first interviews with Deborah : The Be Here Now Interview, On Playwriting Pt. 1 & Pt. 2
About Our Guest
Deborah Zoe Laufer’s plays have been produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse, Geva, The Humana Festival, Everyman, Primary Stages, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and hundreds of other theaters around the world. Plays include Be Here Now, End Days, Rooted, Informed Consent which was a NYTimes critic’s pick, Leveling Up, Out of Sterno, The Last Schwartz, Sirens, Meta, The Three Sisters of Weehawken, Fortune, dozens of short plays, and the musicals, Window Treatment, and By Any Other Name, written with composer, Daniel Green. Deb is a recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, the Lilly Award, The ATCA Steinberg citation, and grants and commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Edgerton Foundation, The National New Play Network, and the Lincoln Center Foundation. Her work has been developed by The Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Theatre Lab, PlayPenn, The Cherry Lane Alternative, The Missoula Colony, LOCAL Theatre, Asolo Rep, The Baltic Playwrights Conference, and more. Her plays are published or recorded by Concord/Samuel French, Smith and Kraus, Playscripts, LA Theatreworks, and Premieres. She is a graduate of Juilliard, an alumna of the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop, a member of Honor Roll, and a Dramatists Guild Council member.
Connect with Our Guest
deborahzoelaufer.com
Read & Recommend Deborah’s plays on New Play Exchange
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In this episode, we discuss:
- What Chicago Theatre Week is
- Ways to save money on a big theatre trip
- What plays Melissa saw and the experiences she had
- What she might do differently next time to see even MOAR theatre at a better price
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Chicago Theatre Week
League of Chicago Theatres
Choose Chicago
Hot Tix
Goldstar
TodayTix
Broadway in Chicago Deals
Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Steppenwolf
Court Theatre
Fen set tour
Aguijón Theater Company
Broadway in Chicago
Bramble Theatre Company
Lookingglass Theatre Company
TimeLine Theatre Company
Loyola University Chicago Theatre Department
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Patrick Gabridge came highly recommended because of his Playwright Marketing Binge, which he leads twice a year with many other playwrights as a way to get their name and work seen and potentially produced. He was kind enough to stop by the show and tell us about that and also how he created his niche genre and production opportunities with his company, Plays in Place.
(And some behind-the-scenes scoop: Melissa's sound cut out with just a few minutes to go, and Patrick was a total pro and answered the remaining questions that Melissa typed to him, and the audio was seamlessly edited in post. Whew.)
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Patrick got started with his site-specific historical plays
- Why sometimes it's better to write plays that can only be produced under a full moon
- Why he started the Playwright Submission Binge
- TONS of tips on how playwrights can market themselves better
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Playwright Submission Binge Plays in Place
Dramatists Guild
About Our Guest
Patrick Gabridge is an award-winning writer and theatre-maker who has written a number of adaptations and also has a special talent for creating site-specific plays. With his company, Plays in Place, he’s created plays in partnership with many museums and historic sites, including Mount Auburn Cemetery, Boston’s Old State House, the Roosevelt Cottage on Campobello Island, and the MIT Museum. His full-length plays have been produced in the US and South Korea, and his short plays and have received more than 1,000 productions from theatres and schools around the world (16 countries so far). He’s been involved with helping playwrights market their work for many years—he started the publication Market InSight for Playwrights back in 1993, and founded and still runs the Playwright Submission Binge, an online community focused on marketing. He’s also a screenwriter, novelist, and a writer of audio plays. In his spare time, he likes to farm and garden and fix up old houses.
Connect with Our Guest
gabridge.com
Read & Recommend Patrick’s plays on New Play Exchange
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When Melissa got the chance to interview Rachel Lynett, there was so much she wanted to talk about, mainly Rachel's recent foray into self-publishing and their ambitious Shakespeare Project. They touched on so many topics, but the through line was really the many ways Rachel took matters back into their own hands.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why Rachel started to self-publish their work and what that has to do with David Tennant
- The advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing
- Why Rachel is re-writing Shakespeare's comedies
- Queering theatre
And more!
Resources Mentioned
The cover letter you actually want to write
Lulu.com
Rachel's self-published anthologiesThe Shakespeare Project
About Our Guest
Rachel Lynett is a queer Afro-Latine playwright, producer, and teaching artist. Their plays have been featured at San Diego Rep, Magic Theatre, Mirrorbox Theatre, Laboratory Theatre of Florida, Barrington Stage Company, Theatre Lab, Theatre Prometheus, Florida Studio Theatre, Laughing Pig Theatre Company, Capital Repertory Theatre, Teatro Espejo, the Kennedy Center Page to Stage festival, Theatresquared, Equity Library Theatre, Chicago, Talk Back Theatre, American Stage Theatre Company, Indiana University at Bloomington, Edgewood College, and Orlando Shakespeare Theatre. Their plays Last Night and HE DID IT made the 2020 Kilroy’s List. Rachel Lynett is also the 2021 recipient of the Yale Drama Prize for their play, Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson). Lynett was 2021 recipient of the National Latinx Playwriting award and the runner-up for the 2022 Miranda Family Voces Latinx Playwriting Competition for their play, Black Mexican. Their play, White People by the Lake was also a 2022 Blue Ink Award finalist.They have previously taught at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Alfred University. Lynett was recently a staff writer for The Winchesters and is working on an upcoming feature.
Connect with Our Guest
rachellynett.com
Read & Recommend Rachel’s plays on New Play Exchange
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Melissa reflects on December's guests and reviews past theatre wishes. Are any of you a Secret Santa?
Resources Mentioned
The Steadfast Tin Solider
Joe Landry
Rachel Feeny-Williams
ARTemis Arts
Being Seen by Richard Gustin
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In our first interview with a guest from "across the pond," it's only fitting that the play in question is from one of the most famous and most adapted stories to come out of England. The delightful Rachel Feeny-Williams is here to talk about her adaptation of A Christmas Carol, except this one has a female Scrooge and no official title.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why this play is still untitled
- How writing a female Scrooge was a "challenge accepted" moment
- Ways the theatre industry in the U.K. is different and also similar to the U.S.
- Rachel's philosophy and approach to being a "prolific" writer and reader of plays
And more!
Resources MentionedLiterary and Discourse SocietyRachel's podcast, Theatrical Shenanigans
Theatrical Shenanigan's Facebook Page
About Our Guest
Rachel Feeny-Williams is a playwright based in Exeter, UK. She has been writing, self-producing and selling plays for just over ten years, following the completion of her degree in Creative and Performing Arts. Over the past ten years, her work has been produced many times in her local area of Devon, as well as nationally and internationally, both live and virtually. In 2021, her piece Believe Me; also won an award for “Best Original Script” in a One Act Play Festival.
Believe Me has also gone on to become a self-produced four-part audio series and joined other audio plays on her YouTube Channel.
She also runs a group called ‘The Literary and Discourse Society’. The society has been running weekly since June 2020 and now has a following of writers from across the world who gather to read and have their work read.
Her main love of writing is to challenge herself and for that reason she has completed five “play a day” challenges since February 2021. She’s also self-published two collections of ten plays that she’s sold independently.
Connect with Our Guest
Rachel's website
Read & Recommend Rachel's plays on New Play ExchangeRachel's self-published books
Facebook
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YouTube
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Melissa sets the record straight on how It's a Wonderful Life is actually her favorite film of all time, and the delightful Joe Landry reveals how he adapted this perennial holiday classic into a radio play.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Joe was able to adapt this beloved classic into a successful stage play, with a twist!
- How Joe became the "A Live Radio Play" guy and why he loves this genre
- His adaptation process
- Tips for making your play more producible
And more!
Resources Mentioned
It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
About Our Guest
Joe Landry is the author of several plays including It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (named one of the top-ten most produced plays by American Theatre Magazine). His other "A Live Radio Play" adaptations include The Great Gatsby, Vintage Hitchcock, Meet Me in St. Louis, War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast and A Christmas Carol, published through Playscripts/Broadway Licensing and Concord. Other plays include The Wicked Stage, Reefer Madness, Numb and Hitchcocked! He attended Playwrights Horizons/NYU and has taught playwriting at Sacred Heart University.
Connect with Our Guest
joelandry.comRead Joe's published playsInstagram
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'Tis the season for holiday shows! The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Mary Zimmerman is not only an instant Christmas classic, it's also one of the top theatre experiences of Melissa's life. Find out how this short, yet full play has won her heart and how Mary Zimmerman brought this Hans Christian Andersen story to life . . . without using any dialog. This is not just an interview, it's a master class in theatre-making.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Mary decided to make The Steadfast Tin Soldier a dialog-less production
- The "Aha" moment when she realized that an Advent calendar was the perfect countdown to curtain
- Mary's rehearsal and creation process
- How much she changes with each remounted production
And more!
Resources Mentioned
The Steadfast Tin Soldier is playing at Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre through January 8, 2023. Learn more. Read Metamorphoses
Read The Arabian NightsRead The OdysseyMore plays by Mary Zimmerman
About Our Guest
Mary Zimmerman is a playwright and director of theatre and opera based in Chicago. She is the 1998 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the 2002 Tony Award and Obie for Best Director, and many Chicago Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Production and Best Director. She is a member of Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago, an Artistic Associate of the Goodman Theatre, and The Jaharis Family Foundation Endowed Chair of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. She specializes in the adaptation of classical texts for the stage. Works that she has adapted and directed include The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Treasure Island, The Jungle Book, The White Snake, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Arabian Nights, Metamorphoses, The Secret in the Wings, an opera with Philip Glass called Galileo Galilei and many others. Her productions have appeared at The Goodman and Lookingglass Theaters in Chicago, The Circle in the Square, Manhattan Theater Club, Second Stage and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York; Seattle Rep, Berkeley Rep, the McCarter and Huntington Theaters, The Shakespeare Theater of DC, The Old Globe of San Diego & many other stages nationally & internationally. Her plays – particularly Metamorphoses, The Secret in the Wings and The Odyssey – are produced over 100 times each year around the world in universities, high schools and other amateur and professional venues. She has directed many productions at the Metropolitan Opera, including Eurydice, a new opera based on Sarah Ruhl’s play, and all of which have been broadcast live worldwide.
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Host Melissa Schmitz chimes in with how the podcast is going so far, what she's grateful for right now, and the next big name guest on 101 Stage Adaptations.
Resources MentionedArtemis Arts Wisdom AnthologyPage to Stage: The Craft of Adaptation by Vincent Murphy
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Kent Nicholson from Broadway Licensing stops by the show to discuss how plays get published and how to create more publishable plays.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How the publishing process works
- How Broadway Licensing is now a content-creating entity
- the IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION of how to create a produceable and publishable play
- his involvement in the development process of A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Broadway Licensing
About Our Guest
Kent Nicholson is the Director of Acquisitions and New Works at Broadway Licencing. He most recently served as Associate Producer of Musical Theatre at Playwrights Horizons in New York overseeing the creation and production of works such as A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson. Previously Kent served as the New Works Director for Theatreworks, Silicon Valley where he created the New Works Initiative and their New Works Festival. He also co-created The Uncharted Writers Group at Ars Nova, and has served on the boards of The Playwrights Foundation, The National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and Musical Theatre Factory. His directing work has been seen at South Coast Repertory, Berkeley Repertory, Seattle Repertory and The Old Globe, among many others.
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broadwaylicensing.com
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TEENAGE DICK by Mike Lew has been a favorite play of Melissa's ever since she swiped it from her roommate's Dramatist Play Service subscription box. Luckily, it's also an adaptation, so that enabled her to invite Mike to come on the show and discuss this excellent and provocatively-titled play and also to indulge in a moderate amount of fangirling.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How this play fell into Mike's lap and then he sat on it for a year before writing
- How Mike collaborated with actors with disabilities during the writing process
- Mike's philosophy on adaptations
- Why he's a self-proclaimed "Shakespeare skeptic"
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Read Teenage Dick
Dramatists Play Service
DPS's play subscription box - now known as the Broadway Book Club
Director Brian BalcomTheater WitTEENAGE DICK on the CBS Evening News (The news source was mis-credited in the episode. We regret the error.)
About Our Guest
Mike Lew’s plays include tiny father; Teenage Dick; Tiger Style!; Bike America; and microcrisis. He and Rehana Lew Mirza are Mellon Foundation Playwrights in Residence at Ma-Yi where they cowrote The Colonialism Trilogy and the book to Bhangin’ It with composer/lyricist Sam Willmott. Mike is a Dramatists Guild Council member, Tony voter, and New Dramatists resident. His list of honors includes Guggenheim, Lark Venturous and NYFA fellowships and the Kleban, PEN, Lanford Wilson, Helen Merrill, Weissberger, Heideman, and Kendeda awards.
Connect with Our Guest
www.mikelew.com
Twitter: @MikeLew4
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The incomparable Nan Barnett graces the podcast this week with her wisdom, storytelling, and the amazing work happening at National New Play Network (NNPN) and the behemoth that is New Play Exchange (NPX).
In this episode, we discuss:
- Her various roles in 24 seasons at Florida Stage and how she built her career there
- Why she considers herself a "connector"
- What NNPN & NPX are and who they're for
- What playwrights can expect from putting their work on NPX and tips from both Nan and Melissa to make the most of it
And more!
Resources Mentioned
National New Play Network
New Play Exchange
About Our Guest
Nan Barnett is a new play developer and producer and an advocate for theater-makers and the theater they make. She is the Executive Director of National New Play Network, the country’s alliance of theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays. While on NNPN’s Executive Committee she worked to create the organization’s revolutionary Rolling World Premiere and Residency programs. She came to the Network full-time in 2013 and guided it through the development and launch of its field-altering database, the New Play Exchange ®, now home to more than 40,000 plays by living writers, and its recent planning process, which resulted in the organization’s much-lauded new governance and membership structure and plan for leading the field towards a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive new play ecosystem. Nan spent 24 seasons at Florida Stage, a LORT theater producing exclusively new and developing work, was a member of the inaugural Helen Hayes Awards’ New Play Panel for the nation’s capital region and Coordinating Producer for the 2015 and 2018 iterations of DC’s Women’s Voices Theater Festival. She serves on the Artistic Council of the O’Neill Theater Center and was inducted into the National Theatre Conference in 2017.
Connect with Our Guest
National New Play Network
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KIRBY: The Musical is a brand new musical by Richard Gustin, based on a 2021 novel by Iris Iglarsh. It is a heart-warming ghost story and a tale of friendship, loss, and family secrets. Richard drops in to tell us how it's going in these early stages of development.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The origin and adaptation process of KIRBY
- Richard's work as an actor/director/playwright and how each of those roles informs how he approaches the others
- His Star Trek analogy for actors
- His upcoming play, Being Seen and planning next year's Chicago run
And more!
Resources Mentioned
Kirby's Dilemma by Iris Iglarsh
Ubiquitous Players
Being Seen by Richard Gustin
World Premiere Wisconsin
Write On, Door County
Milwaukee Fringe Festival
About Our Guest
Richard Gustin is an emerging playwright whose plays include Being Seen, KIRBY: The Musical, Surviving the Cycle, Flat World, A Sparrow Falls, Leviathan, Mercy, Someone Like Me, Concentric Circles, Found Objects, Switch, CruciFiction and an original adaptation of Everyman.
Richard is a member of Dramatists Guild and Actors’ Equity Association. He has been seen in major roles at various regional theatres including: the Great Lakes Theatre Festival in Cleveland, Kansas City Rep, the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, the Ivanhoe in Chicago, and Milwaukee Rep.
Directing credits include The Dream of The Burning Boy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Godspell, How the World Began, Almost, Maine, Waiting for Godot, Antigone, The Miracle Worker, Rabbit Hole, Everyman, Wings, My Fair Lady, Master Harold. . .and the boys, Our Town, Lobby Hero, True West, Steel Magnolias, Proof, Doubt, Silent Sky, Surviving the Cycle, The Glass Menagerie, and many others.
Connect with Our Guest
www.richardgustin.com
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Read Richard's plays on New Play Exchange
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With Noir Hamlet, John Minigan managed to turn Hamlet into a short, fun comedy, and he stopped by the show to tell us how he did it.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Noir was the perfect genre to adapt Shakespeare's most famous play and why John has three versions of this script
- the many Easter eggs hidden in the script of Noir Hamlet
- to what John attributes his Edinburgh Fringe success
- TONS of writing tips
And more!
Resources Mentioned
New Play Exchange
Patrick Gabridge and Playwright Marketing Binge
For Fall 2022 only: Catch John's adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at Greater Boston Stage Company. Streaming options available!
About Our Guest
John Minigan’s Queen of Sad Mischance received the 2022 Judith Royer Award for Excellence in Playwriting from ATHE/The Kennedy Center, the 2022 Louise Wigglesworth Excellence in Playwriting Award from the Lab Theatre of Florida, and was a Gold Prize winner in the 2019 Clauder Competition for New England playwrights. He is a recent Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellow in Dramatic Writing and New Repertory Theatre Playwriting Fellow. His work has been included in the Best American Short Plays, Best Ten-Minute Short Plays, and multiple other anthologies. His full-length plays have been developed with Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Gloucester Stage Company, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Portland Stage Company, and the Great Plains Theatre Conference. His comedy Noir Hamlet was a Boston Globe Critics’ Pick, an Elliot Norton Outstanding New Script nominee, and named an EDGE Media Best of Boston Theater for 2018. In his time as a public high school teacher, John worked with students to devise more than twenty original works, including commissions and two overall winners of the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild’s High School Drama Festival. John is currently on the faculty of Emerson College and serves as a Dramatists Guild Ambassador for Greater Boston.
Connect with Our Guestjohnminigan.com
Read John's plays at New Play ExchangeTwitter: @johnminigan
Instagram: @johnminigan
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In this episode, which is hopefully the first of many, we talk about how a strong director's concept of a well-known play can breathe new life into it and reveal themes and aspects of the play that were previously unnoticed or unexplored. And how you can even do this without changing a single word of the script. We're calling this "When the Production is the Adaptation."
We're beginning with Sam Hull's 2003 post-apocalyptic, punk goth production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Yes, you read that right.
In this episode, Sam reveals:
- How he even came up with a post-apocalyptic, punk goth Crucible and why he thought a small, Catholic, liberal arts college in rural Minnesota was a great place to mount it.
- The pushback and ultimate success the production received
- When he thinks a play should be produced "as written" and when it's time to mix it up
- Why he founded a national non-profit for women artists and athletes
And more!
About Our Guest
Sam Hull is the Founder, Managing Artistic/Executive Director of ARTemis Arts a national non-profit that empowers female artists and athletes. Creatively Sam is a professional director, teacher, designer, creative consultant, acting coach and performer. He has directed award winning productions both on stage and in film, won numerous design awards and has appeared as a performer in over 60 productions including Opera, stage, film, and TV. His work in Las Vegas includes contracts as Assistant Show Director and as a Lead Director. He has also directed for Sabre Latin America both in Miami and Orlando, Florida. Sam has worked internationally in Canada and Russia. Nationally he has collaborated with Universal Studios, Disney World, and regionally with Artists Repertory Theatre, Van port Square Studios, Staged!, Running Deer Films, Hot flash Films and the Portland Area Theatre Alliance (PATA) where he served on the Board of Directors as the Auditions Coordinator. He was a professor of Theatre for 18 years and has taught at the University of Florida, St. John’s University, College of St. Benedict, Rollins College, the University of Central Florida, Pacific University, and The Art Institute of Portland in addition to others. Sam has presented at the American Theatre of Higher Education conference in New York City and Vegas and serves as an international consultant to the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance in Vancouver, BC. Sam holds an MFA from the University of Florida and two Bachelors from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.
Sam has built his career on producing, directing and reinventing artistic opportunities for women. He encourages women to look beyond the limitations set by the industry and find new and exciting methods of communicating with the world at large. His primary mission is to raise the awareness of limited opportunities for women in the arts/sports, with a goal of advancing the individual and creating outlets and partnerships for women in the professional and educational arenas.
Connect with Our GuestSam Hull's Website
ARTemis Arts' Website
Buy the ARTemis Arts Wisdom Anthology
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Melissa catches up with Dr. Yining Lin, her friend from grad school, who at the time was basically the unofficial resident dramaturg of the department. For her PhD, she studied Western influences on jingju (frequently known in the West as Beijing Opera) and the adaptations created in that artform.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What dramaturgy is, and what it isn't
- An overview of jingju and Yining's experience performing it
- How some jingju companies are now incorporating Western stories into this traditional Chinese artform
- Yining's community outreach work at Cleveland Play House
And more!
Dramaturgical Resources Mentioned
Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA)
Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE)
Theater Folx of Color
About Our Guest
Dr. Yining Lin is the Manager of Partnerships at the Cleveland Play House and works to build partnerships around the Greater Cleveland Area for CPH’s Education and Artistic Departments. She holds a Bachelors in Theatre and Classical Studies from the College of Wooster, a Masters Degree in Drama from San Francisco State University, and PhD in Asian/Western Comparative Theatre from the University of Hawaii, Mānoa (UHM). Her dissertation focused on jingju (Beijing Opera) adaptations of Western Literature performed in the 21st Century.
As a freelance dramaturg, Yining has worked in Ohio, San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Honolulu. Some of her favorite productions include Liebling (CPH), Uncle Vanya and Zombies (UHM), Wilcox’s Shot (Kumu Kahua Theatre), and Thread Hell (UHM). She is currently gearing up for a production of The Chinese Lady for Studio One in the Villages, Florida.
When not working, Yining enjoys spending time with her family, including her husband, two sons, and two Newfoundland dogs. She is an avid cross-stitcher and needlepointer and takes as many classes as possible for her self-care time.
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at Cleveland Play House
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In this episode, we discuss:
- How panhandling as a teen directly led Vincent to his career in theatre
- His book, Page to Stage: The Craft of Adaptation, and the six building blocks of a great adaptation or any play, really
- The playwright exchange program he wishes would have a second life
And more! Ahem, listen for all those name drops - they hit hard!
All About Our Guest
For over four decades, Vincent Murphy was an artistic producing director of three acclaimed theaters, with a professional career of collaboration on more than 200 productions in the US, Canada, South America, and Europe. As a director, playwright, actor, designer, choreographer, and artistic director, he has garnered more than forty major awards in directing, acting, playwriting, and teaching.
Murphy has devoted much of his career to championing the development of new plays. At Theater Emory, where he is a full professor in the arts, he developed a biennial Brave New Works series. He created the Playwriting Center of Theater Emory where over one hundred new plays and adaptations went on to productions around the world. Murphy initiated and produced festivals with residencies by Athol Fugard, Frank Manley, Naomi Wallace and Wole Soyinka.
He has taught adaptation workshops for professionals and students at several theaters and play labs in the USA, Canada and Europe. His former students who became leaders in the field include Robert O’Hara, Lauren Gunderson, Hank Azaria, Ariel Fristoe, Adam Richmond and Justine Shapiro.
Murphy himself is a seasoned adapter and producer of new work. He began his career in 1970 by creating a well-received adaptation of the works of William Blake.
In 2013, The University Of Michigan Press published his book on adaptation for the theatre, Page to Stage: The Craft of Adaptation.
Buy Vincent's Book:
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In this episode, we discuss:
- Terms used when discussing adaptations: copyright, underlying rights, and public domain.
- Why and when does an adaptation writer need to acquire the rights to an original work and when do they not?
- How can we find out if something is in the public domain?
- Can rights holders renew their copyright to delay or prevent it from going into the public domain?
And more!
All About Our GuestGordon Firemark is an attorney whose practice is devoted to the representation of creative and business people in the fields of theater, film, television and digital media. He helps creative industry professionals make deals that make sense and get their productions developed, financed, produced and distributed. His practice also covers intellectual property, cyberspace, new media, business transactions, and corporate matters for clients in the fields of media, entertainment, content and digital business.
Mr. Firemark is the founder of Theatre Producer Academy, (theatreproduceracademy.com) and the author of The Podcast, Blog, & New Media Producers’ Legal Survival Guide. (podcastlawbook.com)
He is also a podcaster himself. Since 2009, he has produced and hosted Entertainment Law Update (http://entertainmentlawupdate.com), which provides a monthly roundup of news and commentary about the field of entertainment law for artists, lawyers, and other professionals in the industry.
He holds a B.A. in Radio, Television, and Film from the University of Oregon, and earned his law degree at Southwestern University School of Law. He has taught courses in Theatre Law at Southwestern Law, Contracts at Pepperdine Law, Entertainment Law at Columbia College Hollywood, and Intellectual Property at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Learn more about Gordon and his services at:
His website: Firemark.com
Theatreproduceracademy.com, a digital training for aspiring and new producers
Easylegaltemplates.com for forms and contract templates for online business and podcasters
Twitter: @gfiremark
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firemarklaw and https://www.facebook.com/gfiremark
So why 101 stage adaptations? Join our host, Melissa Schmitz, as she shares why she started this podcast. She will share exactly who this show is for, what her vision is for future episodes, and even how to get in touch with her to share your play adaptation with her and her audience.
Follow the show to get notified every time a new episode is released.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why I started this podcast
- Who’s on deck in the next few episodes
- How you — yes, you!— can influence the trajectory of this podcast
And more!
Learn About Our Host
Melissa Schmitz is an actor, director, playwright, script consultant, marketing strategist, aspiring literary manager, aspiring voiceover artist, and now a podcast host who has worked for theatres in the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and Hawaii.
Ms. Schmitz received her Bachelor's Degree with a double major in Theatre and Spanish from the College of St. Benedict. She earned her Master's Degree in Theatre from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.
Her main areas of practice are acting, writing, and directing. Her main interests of study are Greek Theatre, Shakespeare, and Costume History.
In addition to theater, Ms. Schmitz is a student of dance, particularly ballroom and Mediterranean dance. She is a lover of dance history and her specialized areas of study are Romantic Ballet, the waltz, and the German Expressionist period.
Outside of the performing arts, Melissa is a self-proclaimed domestic goddess, keeping many people happy with various from-scratch cupcake recipes and also experimenting with finding the healthiest and most delicious meals she can find. Her interests in personal development include women's health and wellness, nutrition, leadership, psychology, and communication styles. Her ideal weekend includes cupcakes and seeing at least two plays, maybe four. She has also written many blogs about theatre, food, and travel.
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In this episode, we discuss:
- What it’s like to adapt a beloved novel for the stage, especially when the author is still alive
- Questions from Melissa’s professor Mark Branner, who directed The Giver at UH Mānoa
- When a playwright should solve design problems
- How Eric got a gig writing for Disney Theme Parks!
And more!
About Our Guest
Eric Coble was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and raised on the Navajo and Ute reservations in New Mexico and Colorado. His scripts have been produced on Broadway (Tony-and Pulitzer-nominated The Velocity of Autumn), Off-Broadway (Bright Ideas, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, Side Effects May Include…), in Disney Theme Parks (Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple), in all fifty states of the U.S., and on several continents, including productions at Manhattan Class Company, The Kennedy Center, Playwrights Horizons, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival, Denver Center Theatre Company, Arena Stage, South Coast Rep, Cleveland Play House, Alliance Theatre, New York and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, Habima Theatre (Israel), Pentacion Productions (Spain), Teatr Polski (Poland), Orange Row (Mexico), and the Contemporary American Theatre Festival (U.S.).
Awards include two AATE Distinguished Play Awards for Best Adaptation, an Emmy nomination, the Chorpenning Playwriting Award for Body of Work, the AT&T Onstage Award, National Theatre Conference Playwriting Award, an NEA Playwright in Residence Grant, a TCG Extended Collaboration Grant, the Cleveland Arts Prize, two Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Fellowships, and four Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Grants. Thirty of Mr. Coble’s scripts have been published by Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, Dramatic Publishing, Smith & Krause and others.
Connect with Our Guest
Purchase The Giver by Eric Coble at https://www.dramaticpublishing.com/the-giver-gc9000
Learn more about Eric Coble at www.ericcoble.com
Read his plays on NPX at https://newplayexchange.org/users/3205/eric-coble