Success!

It's hard to believe that it is over already. Starting promptly at 5:05 yesterday and running until roughly 6:30, the reading of LAN'ded is now a thing of the past. With an audience of about 60 people, the adventures of Christian, Izzy, Natalie, and a legion of zombies, maniacal landlords, angry protesters and livid mimes were played out.

Though we are still having feedback forms handed back to us throughout the week, the response was overall pretty good. People seem to be more open to the idea of the show than I thought they would be, and most of their comments weren't directed at what they didn't like, but what they wanted more of. Mainly, the audience wanted to see more of Christian's reasons for staying inside, his history, addiction to red bull, etc. Also, the audience really took to the puppets, but we had a lot of comments saying they'd want to see them strung into the plot a bit more. The third comment we received the most was that people wanted much more music in the show.

I'm not disappointed in this second reading at all, but I do regret cutting down the script a little in some places because I know that we cut some important plot points in order to condense it to 80 pages. Dr. Cortex, Wally, and most of the 1st episode got slashed the most, so I know that we have the content that the audience wanted more of. Now we just have to work and develop that as well. The reading was very refreshing for me, it was the first time in the entire process where I could fully sit back and just take everything in. I took nearly 3 full pages of notes and have already starting brainstorming ways to implement them. It was so much fun to see everyone playing parts that we've had just imagined in our heads for so long.

So there's all these feedback forms to sift through, but I thought that you should all know that we came out with a few contacts from the reading. I won't name names but a few people inquired about how they could go about attaching themselves to the project as associate producers or consultants. Exciting :).

Expect some announcements by next week about some of the changes we may try and implement.

Keep LAN'ding!

Ashley here!

We did it! We survived! Things were raucous, things happened that were unrehearsed, laughs were had and jokes LAN'ded, and hey that's theater!

There was a pretty good crowd, considering it was a Sunday evening, and Aaron and Jon Rooney started us off on a great foot with their funny pre-show. The puppets look AMAZING, by the way, I'm continually impressed with Fisticuff Puppets' skills...David and Kyle know their schtuff.

Jackie told us we all looked like we were having so much fun onstage, and I was! I had a really good time yesterday, as i have had with the entire process, and I'm excited to see what happens to LAN'ded next. (And to see what everyone had to say on their feedback forms)

Today we LANd

Today is the day!

I woke up fully rested (which seldom happens) and incredibly anxious for the event today. I began my normal routine of checking my mail, blogs, Facebook, etc, and I put on some musicals. One song really spoke to me. You may know it? It's a song called "Nine Percent Chance" from High Fidelity. Based on the movie...which was based on the book by Nick Hornby.

"Sometimes all you need is a sliver of hope and you may just succeed, or at least the door is open."

This project began with nothing more than a passion to create something new and innovative. The first draft opened the door to possibilities, and hopefully we are kicking that same door open with this draft. I guess we'll just have to wait and see? We are expecting a decent-sized crowd in the Rauh and everything is fit as a fiddle and ready to fly.

We will be filming the reading for the Playhouse's archives and we will also have some photographers and video artists taking footage as well. It's less than 3 hours til the reading folks, and I have to get out there and start prepping the pre-show. I hope to see you there. Today is the day that we LANd.

Cortex & Wally Are Here! THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES! 1 DAY TIL THE READING!

Puppets are fun.

That's the general consensus.

Dr. Cortex and his Wallaby Assistant Wally are in the house, er playhouse! Thanks to this special thing called "overnight shipping" Dr. Cortex and Wally arrived this morning in the mail! I don't think they liked being stuffed inside of boxes though, because as soon as they arrived they just wanted to play! Dr. Cortex keeps telling me funny jokes!
We're only a day away, and after a good long tech rehearsal today we are ready and primed for the staged reading tomorrow! The programs are printed, the puppets are here, and the lights work! Crazy eh?

REMEMBER! TOMORROW AT 5:00 PM IN THE RAUH THEATRE!

PITTSBURGH PLAYHOUSE RAUH THEATRE
222 CRAFT AVENUE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15213

DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT - JACKIE BAKER

YOU ARE A DIRECTOR, BUT ALSO AN ACTRESS. WHAT IS YOUR PASSION FOR THEM? DO
YOU PREFER ONE?

My passion for both stems from the same desire, which is to bring a playwright's words to life with the hope of instilling morality and encouraging communication among people. As an actress, I get to escape into a character and discover and explore a new side of myself. As a director, I get to immerse myself into the world of a play and have a much more general focus. I absolutely love acting, but I must admit that as I get more experience directing, I get more and more drawn to it. It's the only thing I've found in life that pulls from every well of knowledge, no matter how trivial. It's a fantastic way to incorporate my love of art and music and to also utilize my talents in play analysis and leadership.

LAN'DED IS INTENDED FOR FILM, BUT THIS IS A STAGED READING OF THE SCRIPT. AS A DIRECTOR, HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR THIS?

To be perfectly honest, this has been my greatest challenge with this project. A lot of the comedy in LAN'ded comes from the fact that it is written for film, and the laughs can be mined from the juxtaposition of scenes, panning, and other film techniques. Though I can't fully capture that essence on stage, I can create quick scene changes and work with sharp blackouts after buttons on scenes and I can create humorous pictures for the beginning of the next.

IF IT COULD RAIN ANYTHING BUT WATER FROM THE SKY, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT IT TO RAIN?

I'm in theatre. So...money. Bills only, of course. Unless I'm having a bad day and I have the gift of prophesy. In which case I'd prefer coins and I'd stay indoors with the curtains open.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE FINAL FANTASY?

I absolutely loved Final Fantasy III, which was kinda skipped in the US and then released later on the DS. My eyes were glued to the screen until I beat it. I hated that if I didn't have "friends" I couldn't get all the secrets since I'm an uber nerd like that, but that's the only complaint I had. Final Fantasy XII was absolutely fantastic, but I was also house-sitting at the time of my FFIII
infatuation, which meant I was lonely and it was my replacement for social interaction entirely. Which is a void that was later filled by World of Warcraft.

HOW IS LAN'DED DIFFERENT THAN OTHER DIRECTING PROJECTS YOU'VE HAD?

Aside from the fact that there are zombies, vampires, and mimes (and that it's filmed), there's the fact that I'm bringing someone else's vision to life instead of my own. Instead of researching a play and its playwright, I'm constantly just talking to the writer about how he envisions these people and this world so that I can do his concept justice.

PIRATES AND NINJAS AGREE THAT COWBOYS SUCK, DO YOU CONCUR?

I'm from Central Pennsylvania. So I have to appreciate anyone who can lasso cattle. And ride a horse. And shovel manure. And whatever else cowboys do.

DO YOU CONNECT WITH ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN LAN'DED, IF SO, WHY?

Christian, definitely. There was a time in my life where I ordered out constantly, drank energy drinks to stay awake, and stayed inside playing World of Warcraft all day and night. At one point, my friends actually broke into my place and pulled me away from the computer,
forcing me to have human interaction. I can't say that I much care for human interaction compared to that of the fantasy world, but alas, I must make appearances from time to time

Greetings from Natalie...er, Alyx...umm Ashley.

Helllllllllllloooooooo!

We are in the final days of rehearsal and getting geared up for Sunday's reading! This has been a really fun experience...we ran the whole show for the first time Sunday night, and although parts were a little chaotic, overall it's fun and smooth.

Personally, I'm glad to have made such good friends; namely with Ben and Alex. We didn't really know each other before LAN'ded and I'm really happy we got to spend so much time together, in and out of rehearsal. It really does make a difference if you like who you're acting with, ya know?

This keyboard really sucks...I'm at school...

Anyways, this experience has given me a better appreciation of video games, physical comedy and lots of other things that are referred to in LAN'ded that still go over my head.

How Aaron Makes Props *Proceed With Caution*

I think the video explains it all. The only thing I say in the video that is false is the amount of time elapsed. In reality, this only took me 20 minutes. That doesn't make it any better at all.