You are invited to play this quick minor league-version of the The New Yorker Caption Contest. Every week I enter the contest in the magazine. Below are five captions. Three are the magazine’s semifinal selections, one is the winner, and two are mine. See if you can guess which are [...] Continue reading »
Famed Composer Discusses Art of Musical Theatre
A 20-minute audio recording of a presentation famed composer Alan Menken gave in Seattle last November has just been released. Alan, accompanying himself on piano, discusses the craft of creating musical theatre and composing. I helped moderate Alan’s talk. Readers interested in these subjects (audience or artist) will enjoy this [...] Continue reading »
Cartoon Tomfoolery (#371)
You are invited to play this quick minor league-version of the The New Yorker Caption Contest. Every week I enter the contest in the magazine. Below are five captions. Three are the magazine’s semifinal selections, one is the winner, and two are mine. See if you can guess which are [...] Continue reading »
Construction Begins for 12th Avenue Arts Complex
A recent groundbreaking ceremony marked the beginning of construction for 12th Avenue Arts, an exciting and ambitious addition to Seattle’s theatre scene. Two theatres will anchor 12th Avenue Arts, one with 149 seats and the other with 80. On those two stages work will be presented by three resident companies: [...] Continue reading »
Cartoon Tomfoolery (#370)
You are invited to play this quick minor league-version of the The New Yorker Caption Contest. Every week I enter the contest in the magazine. Below are five captions. Three are the magazine’s semifinal selections, one is the winner, and two are mine. See if you can guess which are [...] Continue reading »
The Value of Grit for Kids and Artists
A debate is underway in the U.S. about education, with ramifications extending to social policy for alleviating poverty, or at least for improving the ability of the next generation to escape from poverty. In some respects it is a variation on the nature vs. nurture debate. Since at least the [...] Continue reading »
Cartoon Tomfoolery (#369)
You are invited to play this quick minor league-version of the The New Yorker Caption Contest. Every week I enter the contest in the magazine. Below are five captions. Three are the magazine’s semifinal selections, one is the winner, and two are mine. See if you can guess which are [...] Continue reading »
Educating Girls is Just Plain Smart
If you want to glimpse an inspiring initiative about educating girls, check out this recently produced 11-minute video about the Gashora Girls Academy in Rwanda. While visiting central Africa in 2010 for research on a play I was writing, I had the opportunity to visit the foundation of this amazing [...] Continue reading »
Cartoon Tomfoolery (#368)
You are invited to play this quick minor league-version of the The New Yorker Caption Contest. Every week I enter the contest in the magazine. Below are five captions. Three are the magazine’s semifinal selections, one is the winner, and two are mine. See if you can guess which are [...] Continue reading »
Puppets Ask Us Not to Steal That Song
Impoverishment is the default condition of most theatre artists, including playwrights, composers and lyricists. Very few make a living from their art and many struggle to make ends meet and lack health insurance. This sad state of affairs was well aired in 2010 by the book Outrageous Fortune which documented [...] Continue reading »