from the desk of the unknown penguin
So, everything is The Ferberizing of Coral Seed & Spark campaign right now, which hit 25% of its goal in the first week! Wooooooo!!!!!
And I find myself in the unenviable position of not only having to ask people for money (which is part of the Game, as Omar would say) but also posting endlessly on social media. The former is what it is but the ladder is not my bag, baby.
I’m no social media neophyte (first tweeted in ‘07, I did) but I find the continual posting necessary to keep the algorithm tiring at best. Thankfully, I have my producer Maureen Monterubio keeping the ideas fresh so all I’ve got to do is be charming (which, thanks to years in Hollywood, I can do ;).
Simultaneous with fundraising, we are also in pre-production. This means meetings and drawings and planning and decisions. Compounding this is being in pre-production for Ken Ludwig’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas at Adventure Theatre MTC which begins rehearsals a week after we wrap shooting on The Ferberizing of Coral.
I’m in my Fosse period (here’s hoping it ends better for my cardiac system).
- Patrick, 9/25/24 (dictated but not read)
fundraising
The Ferberizing of Coral has reached 30% of its goal in the first week. On the one hand, we are ON PACE! On the other hand, fundraising usually slows down in the 2nd week. So, if you haven’t already, please head over to the Seed & Spark page, watch the video, and see what you think about the whole thing. If you can donate, thank you! If you cannot, please follow the campaign as that helps us a lot with the Seed & Spark algorithm.
pre-production
The Ferberizing of Coral
Producer Maureen and I have had design meetings, SAG calls, and agent discussions almost daily. Everything is falling into place for our shoot to be successful. Now if we can just pay everyone . . .
Ken Ludwig’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas at Adventure Theatre MTC
Production team assembled! And we had our first full meeting where I unveiled my “vision” for the show which is . . . . you’ll have to come see it! But if you’re a fan of 80s rap, you will not be disappointed.
The Team:
• set - Josh Sticklin
• lights - Lynn Joslin
• sound - Kenny Neal
• costumes - Paris Francesca
• props - Dre Moore
• stage manager - Shannon Sauliner
Cast coming soon!
production
Visual Literacy - 2nd Edition
In addition to all the other meetings, Kylos Brannon and I met with our publisher, Kendall-Hunt, last week. Everyone’s very happy with the progress. Delivery date is in late October. Luckily, I’m not shooting a film at the same time or anything.
coming soon!
Shakespeare’s Histories from Brave Spirits Theatre is live on the YouTube podcasting platform. The promo is live now, series debuts mid-October
live on stage
Sheila and Moby
available on New Play Exchange
Boston Latin School (Boston, MA) - December 5-7
Tinker Bell
available through Dramatic Publishing
Citrus High School (Inverness, FL) - October 3-5
Valley Christian High School (Chandler, AZ) - October 31-November 3
Elmont Memorial High School (Elmont, NY) - November
Greenville High School (Greenville, PA) November 8-9
Spring-Ford Senior High School (Royersford, PA) - November 15-16
Prairie High School (Cedar Rapids, IA) - November 22-23
Naperville North High School (Naperville, IL) - December 6-8
Primero Junior-Senior High School (Weston, CO) - December 11
Evangel Classical Christian School (Greenville, PA) - February 14-15, 2025
Chicago Chrisitan High School (Palos Heights, IL) - March 7, 2025
The Velveteen Rabbit: A Toy Story
available through TRW
Northwest Rankin High School (Jackson, MS) - October 25-December 7
Conejo Players Theatre (Westlake Village, CA) - May 2-11, 2025
from the vault
Keith Powell Directs a Play
Though no longer publically available, this wonderful project with my good friend Keith Powell was a high-water mark of our collaborations together and launched roughly this week 16 years ago. We’d go on pitching a second series for a year or two after this series debuted. And though we got some nibbles, the follow-up Keith Powel Goes to Hollywood never got off the ground. But I love this 5-episode series. It is flawed but a great reflection of who we were then. And not bad work for, like, 4 days of shooting at Delaware Theatre Company. You can read this Tubefilter article about the series from 2008. 30 Rock's Keith Powell 'Directs a Play'… For Real!