The Gingerbread Lady
I will be directing the play, Lessons, by Teri Foltz, for The Drama Workshop’s Home Brew Festival, featuring productions of short plays by local authors. The show dates are June 7, 8 and 9 at the Glenmore Playhouse in Cheviot.
My own play, The Ten Minute Play (with a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter), will also be part of the festival.
In the Summer of 1974, I directed my first full-length play, The Gingerbread Lady by Neil Simon. One of Simon’s more dark comedies, TGL is the story of Evy, a singer, whose career and life is destroyed by her drinking.
During the Spring of 1974, I was a student at Northern Kentucky University, as a theater major. I had had a lot of fun directing Edward Albee’s The Sandbox and a few scenes form other plays in classes, including a great version of the closing scene of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Jennifer Burkhart was one of the best actresses at NKU and frustrated because she couldn’t find a part that she wanted to play. She brought me a copy of the play and asked if I would look at it and, if I liked it, we could go to the theater head, Bill Parsons, and see if we could do it as summer show. I did like it and pitched it to Dr. Parsons, who agreed to give us a little money to put it on.
So, I was part of great group of friends with theater sound, lighting, props and production experience, so there was no doubt that they were going work on it. This was going to be the first totally student produced show at in NKU’s history. In Nunn Hall, there was a small theater, holding around 150, so after Spring semester was out, we moved in and began to work on the show.
I don’t even think we had auditions. Jennifer was going to be Evy, after all, it was her idea. I cast friends in the other roles. Greg Carstens as Jimmy, Frankie Banta as Polly, Susan Rogers as Tory, Mike Salzman as Manuel and Jerry Helm as Lou.
Mike, Jerry, Debby Wolff and me practically lived in that theater for the two months leading up to the show. Debby was our props mistress and we had a great looking set, designed by Jerry. We even had running water in the set kitchen.
We had some anxieties throughout the rehearsals. Nerves came out. It was a big show, after all, with nuances that I don’t know if we were successful in presenting, but we had fun, that I do remember.
New Production of The Ten Minute Play and Directing a Play in Cincinnati
To all my Cincinnati friends (and those that want to travel). I’m happy to announce that I will be participating in The Drama Workshop’s annual Home Brew Theater as a playwright and director.
Home Brew Theater is an annual festival featuring productions of short plays by local authors. The show dates are June 7, 8 and 9 at the Glenmore Playhouse in Cheviot. There’s also a reception following the plays with craft beer from West Side Brewery.
My play, The Ten Minute Play (with a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter), will be performed. It will be directed by Julie Jordan. The play is a comedy. Some of you may remember that this play had a reading in Kansas City last October and the audience loved it. You will love this play, too, and this gives all my Cincinnati friends the opportunity to finally see what I’ve been doing with my life.
I’m also directing a play for the festival, Lessons by Teri Foltz. This is a warm, touching play that I found absolutely delightful. I think you’ll like it, too. I’m very excited to work on this play.
I want to mention that the Drama Workshop people have been very nice to me and supportive and the Glenmore Playhouse is a wonderful theater to see a play.
I’ll have more information about the plays as the weeks progress, but I hope you’ll save the date and come and see my plays at the Festival. I’m linking to the Drama Workshop’s Facebook page, where they have information on all the plays and ticket reservations.
I’ll see you there.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheDramaWorkshop/?fref=nf
A Recommendation for My New Play
I have a new play. It’s called Lily Blossoms or Modern Subdivision Zoning for the Present Day. It’s a one-act comedy. Recently, a playwright/reader on New Play Exchange, a website where playwrights can upload their plays and theatre managers, artistic directors, etc., can find new plays to produce.
The play is set in 1954, in New York, and features writers Lily Palmer and Theodore Barkley, who work for Manhattan magazine. But, things will change once Barkley gets an offer from a movie studio and has to move to California.
This is the season when theatre companies ask for submissions and I wanted to have a new play ready to submit. I worked on this play in November and December and finished it early January. I like it. It’s funny and the characters are among my favorites. I even got to name drop a favorite character from one of my other plays.
This recommendation is from Steven G. Martin, a fellow playwright:
“ Sophisticated humor — through wit, wordplay, and charm — infuse this light, one-act comedy set in 1950s New York. Hatfield clearly understands and enjoys the high-brow charm of shows of this period, and has created a group of characters — world wearing magazine writers, a misled wife, and a tortured editor — that fits right in. Stylish and enchanting. ”
2018 was a good year for me, professionally. Two of my plays, The Great Stalinski and The Ten Minute Play (With a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter), received readings. in Kansas City and Pittsburgh, respectively. Another play, Mundy Tuesday Friday, was a finalist for a theatre company in Virginia.
2019 is off to a good start, too. I’ll have some news a bit later on about some theatrical work I’m doing in Cincinnati.
Play Reading of The Great Stalinski
My play, The Great Stalinski, will be given a reading by the Pittsburgh New Works Reading Series, on Monday, November 5.
The Reading Series will be be held at Higher Voice Studios, 144 E Main St, Carnegie, PA 15106, at 7:00 p.m. Their website is https://pittsburghnewworks.org/reading-series/
The Great Stalinski was selected as a finalist for the Pittsburgh New Works Festival in 2018, but just didn’t make the final cut of 18 produced plays. Out of hundreds of submissions, my play and about 39 others were finalists. The Reading Series is taking the plays that didn’t make it and giving them a reading over the course of the winter with local actors.
Of course I’m thrilled to be included.
The Great Stalinski is a personal favorite of my plays, as it started what I call “The Cabot Trilogy.” Let me explain: The play is about the third generation of Cabot actors who are gathered together for the funeral the “World’s Greatest Shakespearean Actor,” Gregor Stalinski. Brothers Jack and Monty and sister Veronica Cabot were close to Stalinski (especially Veronica) and they meet up at Jack’s theater to travel together to the funeral. The Cabots are theater royalty and the play is really a fun piece about theater history and fame.
So after writing it, that got me to thinking about the other generations of Cabots and I wrote a play about Jack, Monty and Veronica’s parents called Three Sisters in Repertory. I love that play. The characters are great. We meet Charles Cabot, their father, and three sisters, Virginia, Eve and Roz Fleming. I’m guessing that one of them becomes their mother. Again, theater history is evident as scenes are played from Pygmalion, Hamlet and The Importance of Being Earnest.
So I had to write a play about the First Generation of Cabots and I wrote the first act of what would become The Cabots of Broadway, where we meet Kate and John Cabot, who start the whole family on a theatrical career.
Act Two is Three Sister in Repertory and Act Three is The Great Stalinski. I’m really proud of this play and have been sending it out religiously.
As always, my plays are on New Play Exchange. I’m sorry more of you can’t see or read the plays just yet, but I’m working on it. It’s hard work.
Der Bingle: A Short Appreciation of Bing Crosby
Der Bingle: A Short Appreciation of Bing Crosby
He was once the most popular singer ever.
He recorded over 1600 songs over a 58 year recording career. His records have sold over one billion copies. He had 38 number one hits, including the most popular song ever.
He appeared on about 4000 radio programs.
His television show regularly was watched by over 50 million people weekly.
He appeared in 83 movies and sold over one billion tickets, which puts him third overall on the most popular actor category, behind Clark Gable and John Wayne. He was nominated for 4 Academy Awards and won one, and introduced fourteen Oscar nominated songs in these films, which won four.
He is largely forgotten, with the exception of this time of year, where his music is rotated liberally and his name is synonymous with the holiday season.
He is Bing Crosby whose life and legacy still live on among those of us who cherish popular singing.
An early Crosby album on Decca.
And that’s what he was, a popular singer, singing songs of every type and genre, with an easy-going style that belied his immense talent. Bing made it look easy and everyone, from all walks of life, would enjoy his music. And man, that voice, that incomparable voice; that deep baritone that takes every musical phrase seriously and glides it to its musical height. Jazz, ballads, blues, cowboy songs, hymns, show tunes – he sang practically everything, captivating his audience with those full, rich notes. They clung to every word, every syllable, as Bing invented what became the crooner. Many tried to imitate. Sinatra started out as a Bing clone.
What made me start thinking of Crosby was the programming of local radio. Several stations here in Cincinnati – as I am sure other cities have done the same thing — have begun playing Christmas music 24/7. I had the occasion to listen to a large block of that programming one night and noticed that, roughly, one out of six songs were songs by Crosby, including at least two versions of White Christmas, the aforementioned most popular song ever, with sales of over 100 million.
I thought about that. I thought about how much I like Crosby’s music and mused sadly that this is probably the only time of the year in which Crosby is played on mainstream radio. SiriusXM radio even has a channel devoted this time of year called “Bing Crosby Christmas Radio”. To be fair, you can listen to Crosby songs on Sirius’ 40’s channel and Pandora and Spotify also program Crosby music into your specific playlists.
TMC does show the occasional Crosby film, Going My Way being the most popular. Sometimes a Bob Hope/Bing Crosby “Road” picture pops up, but these are mostly dated comedies and, as much as I love Bob Hope, his humor is very topical and era-specific.
Yes, Bing Crosby has some skeletons in his closet. He could be aloof and dismissive. He probably wasn’t the greatest father to his four sons by his first marriage, but apparently redeemed himself by his second marriage, with three children.
(There’s a biography of Bing called The Hollow Man, which presents a less than flattering portrait of him. For years, during my friends and my annual White Elephant Christmas party, we gave away the same copy of this book each year to some unsuspecting recipient, who was obliged to give it away the following year.
An unflattering look at Bing.
My friend, Rick Simms, né Clem Coffee, said that if “One fifth of what was written in that book is true, Bing Crosby was the most despicable man who ever lived.” And Clem liked Bing Crosby.
A better biography is Gary Giddins’ Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams, The Early Years 1903-1940. This came out in 2001, with a promised second volume that is taking some time to see print.
So, this holiday season, when you hear Bing Crosby sing those delightful Christmas carols that can make the other ones seem lame, pause and reflect just one minute that the man you’re listening to is a superstar in the world of popular music. And if you have Pandora or Spotify, give a listen to some of his other non-holiday music. I’ll bet you’ll end up liking it and wanting more. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put on my vinyl copy of Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings.
A Short Essay on Grace Metalious: Beyond Peyton Place
Some years ago, I was asked to put together a book proposal on the deaths of famous writers. While the book didn’t go through, I was happy with some of the essays I wrote for it. My essay on Dorothy Parker, for example, found here, is one of those.
In addition to Hemingway, Poe and Fitzgerald, and many others, I also included Grace Metalious in the table of contents. I have always been fascinated by her, her upbringing, her life in New England, her sudden burst of stardom and, just as suddenly, her decline and death.
Grace’s most famous photo.
Grace Metalious made her mark on American culture. With the publication of her book, Peyton Place, in 1956, she took her place with some of the countries best-selling writers, who were thriving in the post Korean War Eisenhower era. Writers like Mickey Spillane, whose I, The Jury, was just as salacious as Peyton Place, tempered his sex scenes with a healthy dose of violence, and Nabakov’s Lolita, with its underlying irony and comedy, made the erotic passages art.
It’s Hammer time.
1959 Paperback Cover
With my purchase today of Grace Metalious’ novel, No Adam in Eden, I am now the proud owner of all four of her published novels. She isn’t a big name anymore, mostly forgotten except when brought up on the occasional moment. Sandra Bullock was developing a film biography, but that seems to have stalled, as so many film projects do.
Grace Metalious always knew she would become a writer. Her husband, a teacher, supported her and she basically gave up doing anything else and spent all her time writing. She had loved everything about the writing life, read other writers, and aspired to be with them. With the help of her best friend, Grace finished her first novel and sent it off to publishers in New York.
She heard nothing.
As luck would have it, she was introduced to an agent who supposedly represented Somerset Maugham (although Maugham had fired him for stealing royalties). He was instrumental in getting the book to Leona Nevler, an editor at Fawcett, who knew they wouldn’t publish it, but thought it had potential. She passed it on to the publisher at Julian Messner,a small New York house, who accepted it.
The book was Peyton Place. Published in 1956, it was, for a very long time, one of the biggest best-sellers of all-time. It stayed on the New York Times‘ Bestseller List for over a year and has sold over 40 million copies.
One of the biggest best-selling books of all-time.
To say it took the country by storm would be an understatement. With its setting in a small, quaint New England town (an amalgamation of the towns surrounding where Grace lived); its characters devious, backstabbing and sexual; hidden secrets at every twist and turn, including rape, incest, murder and betrayal; Peyton Place was the book everyone pretended not to be reading. Adults hid it from each other and kids hid it from their parents. I know, I was one of those kids who read it late at night (probably in 1964 when it was reissued for the TV series debut), under the covers, with a flashlight.
The book was turned into a hit movie and a sequel was planned, Return to Peyton Place, published in 1959. By that time, Grace had become an alcoholic with the money coming in steadily. Her writing suffered and Return to Peyton Place, rushed to cash in on Peyton Place‘s popularity, was rewritten and polished by a ghost writer hired by the publisher. Grace wasn’t happy about this, but had little recourse. She had lost her enthusiasm over Peyton Place, since that was the only thing anyone ever wanted to talk to her about. She felt she wasn’t taken seriously as a writer, and she was right.
Poster for the hit movie.
Paperback cover.
She got back to work and released her third novel, The Tight White Collar, in 1961. Another New England setting and more hidden secrets by its citizens made this one sell initially, but it quickly fell off the charts and sent Grace into another spiral. This was Grace’s favorite novel, but, along with Return to Peyton Place, the reviews weren’t good.
Paperback cover.
Grace’s desire to be considered a real writer continued as she worked on her fourth, and last, novel, No Adam in Eden. Published in the fall of 1963, the book is a look at three generations of sexually liberated women, who do anything to get what they want. It was written more intensely than any of her other books. With the freedom of being so explicit, the characters seem more fully realized.
Paperback cover.
Grace had turned out a very good book, but the reviews were disastrous (one reviewer said, “It purports to be a study of evil but is no more than degenerate filth.”) and this time she didn’t recover.
Grace died in February 1964, at age 36, from cirrhosis of the liver. Her estate was initially left to her lover of three months, but he decided to not fight a lawsuit brought by Grace’s children contesting the will. It didn’t matter much. Grace owed more than she had, including $40,000 to the IRS. (Later, the IRS sold all of Grace’s possessions, including the original manuscripts for Peyton Place and The Tight White Collar, for just over $5000.)
Grace’s Headstone in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.
Peyton Place became a television series that fall of 1964, running for five years. Neither Grace nor her estate ever saw any money from it. The series introduced Ryan O’Neal, Mia Farrow and Barbara Parkins and starred Dorothy Malone.
Title card for the TV series.
Today, Grace Metalious’ work is studied in universities and she is heralded as a pioneering woman novelist of the 20th Century, paving the way (for better or for worse) Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins, and influencing many other writers. Some believe that Grace planted the seed of feminism into the minds of girls who were teenagers when Peyton Place was published.
I recommend the book, Inside Peyton Place by Emily Toth.
Available here: http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Peyton-Place-Metalious-Banner/dp/1578062683/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380476744&sr=8-1&keywords=inside+peyton+place
There is also a Facebook page devoted to Grace: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-Metalious-PEYTON-PLACE/59394335817
And here was a surprise: A Grace Metalious bobblehead, sold by the New Hampshire Historical Society.
The Grace Metalious Bobblehead.
Available here: http://www.nhhistory.org/store/det.aspx?UPC=16515.
Grace signing books.
What’s Going On?
Hi everyone. We had a great summer. My play, The Ten Minute Play (with a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter), played to great response at the Drama Workshop in Cheviot, Ohio (my hometown, or close to it in Cincinnati) in June. I also directed a play, Lessons by Teri Foltz, that was well-received. I wrote at length about these two plays in an earlier blog post.
Since then, I’ve been busy. I’ve written another play, The Sequel to Citizen Kane. The play is about an agent and a director who think they have the sequel rights to the greatest film ever made. It’s a comedy one-act.
I should have some news soon about a production of another play of mine coming up in November. I can’t reveal anything yet, but, New York State, lookout.
I can say that my play, Lily Blossoms, or Modern Subdivision Zoning in the Present Day, will have a staged reading on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, at the Aronoff Center’s Fifth Third Theater, in Downtown Cincinnati. Also on the bill is The Ghost Girl by Ariel Rodgers. I’ll have more info on this as we get closer to show date.
Early fall is the time when playwrights submit to every playwriting festival, calls for submissions and any opportunity to get the work out there. That in and of itself is a full-time job, especially for playwrights that don’t have an agent (most of us, I think). But, it’s a necessity, so you do it. Thankfully, we do support each other with our writing communities on social media, so that helps.
If you’re a new visitor to my page, thank you for checking it out. Let me know if you need anything. Sign up for alerts. I think it’s going to be a busy season.
Greg
Updated Theater Resume
So, here’s an updated theatrical resume.
Twitter: @greghatfield
The website: greghatfield.com (This is where you are now.)
All of my plays are available on the National New Play Exchange/Greg Hatfield. You must be a member to access them.
Greg Hatfield is a writer, director and actor, fondly remembered for being part of the award-winning comedy troupe, Dr. Browndog’s Monkeytime, who appeared not only in clubs and supermarkets, but at Cincinnati Playhouse and Ensemble Theatre, and their own television programs (youtube.com/dickbeaks).
His plays have been called “sophisticated”, “stylish and enchanting”, “uniquely entertaining”, and (thankfully) “funny”.
The 2019-20 season is shaping up as The Ten Minute Play (with a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter) was selected for The Drama Workshop’s ten minute festival, Home Brew 4, in Cincinnati. Greg also directed one of the plays for the festival, Lessons by Teri Foltz. Later in the season, Lily Blossoms, or Modern Subdivision Zoning in the Present Day will be featured by the Cincinnati Playwright’s Initiative’s reading series.
2018 was a banner year for the lad, as his play, The Great Stalinski, was a finalist in the Pittsburgh New Works One Act Play Festival, which was then presented by the company’s New Works Play Readings series. Greg was also a featured playwright at the Midwest Dramatists Center’s Theatrical Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, where The Ten Minute Play was given a reading to great response. The play, Mundy Tuesday Friday, was selected as a finalist for Shakespeare in the Burg’s (Middleburg, Virginia) One-Act Festival.
A devoted student of actresses from the early 20th Century, Orson Welles, and the Barrymores, he has also written a five-episode comedy television series, Alice Goodheart, which has proven to be very hard to sell. His blog, Ruminations and Ramblings, can be found at greghatfield.com.
The Plays Written by Greg Hatfield:
Full-length plays:
The Cabots of Broadway
One-act plays:
The King of Prussia
Mundy Tuesday Friday (Finalist, Shakespeare in the Burg, Middleburg, Virginia, 2018)
The Ten Minute Play (with a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter) (Featured play, The Drama Workshop’s Home Brew 4 festival, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2019; Featured playwright, Selection, Midwest Dramatists Center Conference, Kansas City, Missouri, 2018)
Three Sisters in Repertory
The Great Stalinski (Finalist, Pittsburgh, PA, New Works One Act Play Festival, Presented by the company’s New Works Play Readings series, 2018)
The Sequel to Citizen Kane
Television:
Alice Goodheart (Five episode mini-series)
Directed by Greg Hatfield
Lessons by Teri Foltz
Clevenger’s Trial by Joseph Heller
The Wager by Mark Medoff
Man of La Mancha by Dale Wasserman
The Gingerbread Lady by Neil Simon
The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan
Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher
The Sandbox by Edward Albee
The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco
Harvey by Mary Chase
Featured Actor:
My Three Angels
You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Oh Dad, Poor Dad (Mama’s Hung You in the Closet)
Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander
The Menaechmi
Knock, Knock
Actor, Director, Writer, Producer for stage and television:
The Act
Dr. Browndog’s Monkeytime (YouTube.com/dickbeaks)
Tickets Now On Sale!
Tickets are now on sale for The Drama Workshop’s Home Brew Theater show June 7, 8 and 9, at TDW in Cheviot. This show consists of ten 10 minute plays. I have a play I wrote in it called The Ten Minute Play (with a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter) and I’m directing The Lesson by Teri Foltz. This is going to be a fun evening, so I hope to see many of you there.
Auditions for Home Brew’s Festival
For all of my Cincinnati actors. This is the information about auditioning for The Drama Workshop’s Home Brew Festival. As you may recall from last time, I have a play, The Ten Minute Play (with a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter) in the festival and I’m directing one of the plays, Lessons by Teri Foltz.
The Drama Workshop Announces Home Brew Theater auditions: Sunday 3/30 and Monday 4/1.
The Drama Workshop will hold open auditions for its production of Home Brew Theater at 6pm on Sunday, March 31 and 7pm on Monday, April 1 at The TDW ANNEX Building, 3619 Harrison Ave., Cheviot, Ohio, 45211. (Location details below.)
Home Brew is TDW’s annual show case of short plays by local authors, accompanied by a reception featuring beer from West Side Brewery. Home Brew will run the weekend of June 7-9, 2019. This year Home Brew Theater is supported by a generous grant from Summer Fair Cincinnati.
There are 7 directors for the 10 plays. Auditions will be in front of the panel of directors.
There are a variety of roles for actors of all genders and ages (except children).
Auditions will consist of cold readings from selected Home Brew short plays. Please also prepare a one-minute monologue. A headshot and resume are appreciated but not required. Auditions will be recorded on video for directors who can’ t be present. Videos will NOT be posted to the public.
Please email questions to the producers at tdw.homebrew@gmail.com
***
The TDW Annex is located at 3619 Harrison Ave. between the “Game Time” bar and “American Trading”. The sign on the building still says “Angel’s Touch”.
https://goo.gl/maps/G1EjSdUWPLR2
It’s around the corner and a few doors down from the Glenmore Playhouse. Please note that you may not park in the lot directly behind 3619 Harrison. There should be ample street parking, or you may park in the public lot at the corner of Glenmore Ave and Gamble Ave.
Some Nice Words About My Ten Minute Play.
So, if you’re a fan of my blog (and maybe you should be), I’ve discovered that earlier in the month a couple of playwrights on the New Play Exchange, where I host my plays hoping that someone will read them and want to produce them, have read my play, The Ten Minute Play (with a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter).
I am thrilled to say that both liked the play very much and have written some wonderful comments about that are posted on my New Play Exchange profile.
Here’s what they said:
Update: October
My play, The Ten Minute Play (with a Nice Picture of Jimmy Carter), had a reading at the Midwest Dramatists Conference, near Kansas City, on Saturday, September 29. The conference gave me a chance to hob-nob with theater folk and just talk about plays for a few days. Playwright Sean Grennan and agent Beth Blickers were there all weekend giving feedback to playwrights as the plays were being presented.
It went great. Lots of laughs (which is good, since it is a comedy) and positive feedback from the judges. My actors were great. Brie Henderson as Gwen and Curtis Smith as Peter delivered the lines perfectly. Thanks to those two for wonderful performances.
I’m glad I went to the conference. The organizers were very good. I’ve done a few conferences in my career and I know how hard it could be. They took very good care of us. David Hanson, Vicki Vodrey, Lindsay Adams were all really really nice people. (David Hanson directed my play, too.
I met other playwrights from all over the country who attended and talked to them about their work and how they approached getting their stuff out there. I was happy to meet Tim Toepel (who had worked with Steve Allen), Morgan Trant Kinnally, Linda Paul, Sharon Goldner, and many others.
I was impressed with the actors the conference had for the readings. There was about 15-18 actors doing almost 50 plays and they were very good. It’s really an actor’s dream to have so many different parts to play. Shoutouts to Brie and Curtis (in my play, but good in others, too). Laura Jacobs and Nicole Hall were great, and I mean great, in everything they did over the weekend. I’ve got parts for both of them in a couple of plays of mine.
So now, we move on to other things. Thanks for reading. If you’re a member, all of my plays are on New Play Exchange under my name.
