Reporting from Chattanooga

On Saturday, June 21, 2008 Rob and I left San Francisco on our summer road-trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee (our new home). Before we left, we said farewell to in^significant others at Pier 39. The show was fantastic. The cast and the band were in top form and it was truly a great show. At the end of the night (after the bows) Jay brought me up on stage to present me with a photo of the entire company signed by everyone (which is sitting across the room from me now in Chattanooga). in^significant others has been a part of my life since early, early 2006 so there were a few tears shed that night, too. Lots of changes will be taking place now in that show as it nears its 100th performance later this month (July 19th, I think it is - check out the website at www.isomusical.com).

By Sunday evening, July 22, we rolled in to Santa Fe and stayed with our friend Alexander Shaia. It was a lovely visit and my first time to Santa Fe. He's got a great place there and we toured a little bit of the town in the day and a half that we were there.

Tuesday we headed off to Denton, Texas - the new home for my parents - and met up with my younger sister, Ida and here youngest daughter, Becky; my parents and my oldest sister, Jenny and her youngest daughter, Gaby. A good time was had by all as we stayed in Denton and Ft. Worth and our other sister, Ruth met up with us the next day. We all got to hang out for a couple of days at my parents' place in Denton and mostly at my sister Ida's pool in Flower Mound. We had a ball, it was great to have a sort of impromptu family reunion.

After Texas, we headed to Memphis for our first Tennessee stop. Our friends Vince and Ray were gracious hosts for another day and a half and we got to see Beale street and some other places of interest in Memphis and where they live outside of Memphis in Olive Branch, Mississippi. We had authentic pork barbecue and even some Rotelle with Velveta. Yum.

Then we were off to Chattanooga! We arrived here on the evening of June 30, safe and sound. Our hosts Jerry and Adam have been so kind and generous. On Wednesday the 2nd we were able to drive up to Nashville to visit with Rob's brother, Billy, his wife Jean and son Justin. That was lots of fun. Billy's barbershop choir was competing in a large competition there and we got to hear them rehearse and spend a good afternoon together.

July 3rd was the star spangled supper at CTC (Chattanooga Theatre Centre) followed by the symphony concert in Coolidge park and the beautiful fireworks over the Tennessee River. What a gorgeous evening. We had the honor of meeting the conductor of the symphony during dinner and the pleasure of listening to them afterwards. The concert, the park, the balloons, the people, the fireworks... everything was idyllic. What a welcome to such a magical little city. Sitting on the banks of the river and watching the boats on the water and the fireworks in the air was really special.

On July 4 we headed down to Blairsville, Georgia with our hosts and a couple of other friends for a relaxing weekend in the mountains before starting in the new job on Monday July 7. We really got to relax there and the locals had some fun fireworks of their own around the lake, too. Plus a lightning show on the 5th that was just as fun as the fireworks.

Now that it is the evening of July 9, I've had three days working as the incoming Producing Director at Chattanooga Theatre Centre and I know I'm going to love it there. Jeffrey Brown (the outgoing Producing Director) has been showing me the ropes and everyone there has been terrific. I keep meeting new people and learning new things every day. Big weekend this weekend with Ken Ludwig's Leading Ladies opening Friday and Pearl Cleage's Bourbon At The Border closing on Saturday. Jeffrey's swan song as director is David Lindsay Abaire's Wonder of the World which will open August 1st. It is all lots of fun and exciting and I'll be posting here often about it once we get all settled.

GQ goes on as Bosie

At last night's performance of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde for theatre Q at the Dragon Theatre in Palo Alto, George Quick (that's me) went on for the ailing Scott Ludwig who plays Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas). Poor Scott called around 2 in the afternoon saying he was just too ill to even stand up, let alone perform in a play. I called Dale Albright (Dale IS theatre Q) and we flipped a coin (as he says) and decided that I should go on in the role (knowing the blocking, etc. as I do, it seemed to be the most seamless way to go). Rob and I were at the beach when all of this came down so on the way home from the beach, we stopped at RiteAid and I bought some hair dye (no sense having a gray haired Bosie) and then at home I dyed my hair and ran through the script. Drove down to Palo Alto and got there around 6:15; Dressed my hardback copy of the script to look like the rest of the books in the production (there are many books covered in plain paper in this production); wrote out the one letter prop so that I could use it the right way and still have the words; and, read my lines during the speed through with the cast before the show. I wore my black suit with the vest that Scott wears and had to wear my glasses throughout so I could see the text.

People tell me it went fairly well. The audience was kind, the other actors were kind and I think I was mostly in the right place at the right time. My memory of the entire thing is like a memory of a dream, very surreal and in strange kind of time lapse. "The Show Must Go On" was certainly what we did last night. It was quite a night. Hopefully, Scott will be feeling well enough to go on tonight, but if he doesn't... I'm ready to go through it all again tonight.

The photo here is one of John Aney, who plays Oscar Wilde in the play. The pose looks like it might be when he found out I was going on!

a kqed blog review of the show by Ben Marks who saw a preview before opening

new play opens and we're off to chattanooga!

gross indecency: the three trials of oscar wilde
opens May 31 (previews start May 29) for theatre Q at the dragon theatre in palo alto, ca. this has been an exciting and fulfilling project to direct and i am particularly proud of this nine-member ensemble: john aney, scott ludwig, michael moerman, kevin copps, fred goris, kevin hsieh, thomas azar, matthew lowe and patrick hilt; as well as the design team of niel satterland (lights) and ron gasperinetti (set) and our wonderful stage manager erin milligan. the production only runs thru june 22, so don't miss it. www.theatreq.org

so rob and i are moving to chattanooga, tennessee! who'd a thunk it, huh?... back in february of this year, i found a listing for the position of producing director at the chattanooga theatre centre in the theatre communications group's artsearch online job listing. the chattanooga theatre centre (www.theatrecentre.com) intrigued me because of its fantastic facility, 85 year track record and the statement in its job posting that their programs were "built around a philosophy of the arts as vehicle for self examination" seemed to resonate with me. sometime in april, i had a terrific phone interview with jo coke (a board ctc member and search committee member) and then a week later, i was invited to chattanooga to interview with the search committee, staff and board as well as volunteers at the theatre centre. while there, i met so many wonderful people and got a first-hand experience of the place and really fell in love with the theatre centre and with chattanooga itself. a week or so after i got back to san francisco, i was offered the job and have accepted. i'll start in early july (overlapping with jeffrey brown, the current producing director who is leaving at the end of July). we've already met some great new friends in chattanooga and will be renting a cute little nineteen-twenties bungalow in the brainard area of town... more news about this move and our cross country trek to follow. we'll be sad to leave san francisco and california on june 22, but this new adventure is very exciting indeed.

Two New Shows in the Works

So here it is the second half of April 2008 already. The time is flying. Insignificant Others is still playing at Pier 39. The show goes well and audiences are enjoying it. We're getting about 100 people a show and the theatre seats 274, so hopefully business will start to grow some more soon. The show was extended through February of 2009 and group sales are starting to pick up. All of the signs are encouraging. We'll be changing cast members, too. After this initial contract period is up on July 31, we'll be losing most of the cast who opened the show at Theatre 39 (some of these were with the show at Zeum last summer, too, like Sarah Kathleen Farrell - Margaret, Jason Hoover-Jordan, Alex Rodriguez-Luke and Kevin Maldarelli-Andrew). Jenn Graham-Kristen and Omi Fernandez-Jeannine will be leaving, too. Mike Triolo, who was playing Erik had to bow out last month and Scott Gessford has successfully taken over that role. Bobby Bryce is currently starring in Altar Boyz at the Willows Theatre. Joven Calloway took over for Bobby for awhile, but Joven has also moved on and Douglas Buel has joined the company as Barista One and Dance Captain. Mikey Tongko is a stalwart cast member who is really blossoming in the show as a Barista Boy and all around great guy! We're grateful that Mikey is staying with the show in August. New cast members who'll be stepping in come August include Jade Shojaee who played Jo in my recent production of Little Women down at Palo Alto Players. It'll be great to have Jade playing Kristen in the show. Kate Cooper who has been a stellar understudy for K10 and J9 so far will be stepping in to the lead role of Margaret starting in August. Luke Anthony Maresh who has been covering for Jordan and Luke, is now a swing Barista Boy and will take over the role of Jordan in July. A newcomer to us is Megan Barrow who will start in the role of J9 in August. It will be sad to see Sarah, Alex, Jason and Kevin go after all this time (its been well over a year since we started working together on this for Zeum and for Theatre 39) and to say good-bye so soon to Jenn and Omi. We wish them all so much success. A very talented band of performers. We're blessed that we've been able to find such talented people to continue on in the show. We're still looking for men to play Luke and Andrew and Barista Boys and understudy Erik and the other male roles, so if you know of anyone...

I titled this blog "Two New Shows in the Works" and they are Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde at Theatre Q in Palo Alto and Peter and the Pirate at Theatre 39 in San Francisco at Pier 39.


One show is Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde at Theatre Q in Palo Alto. We started rehearsals this past week and it is going very well. We're very fortunate in that we have a terrific cast of nine men for this Moises Kaufman treatment of the cataclysmic events that ended the life and art of one of the greatest writers in the English speaking world. Each of the Actors (Thomas Azar, Kevin Copps, Frederik Goris, Kevin Hsieh, Patrick Hilt, Scott Ludwig, Matthew Lowe and Michael Moerman) gets to play several roles in this one, while John Aney portrays Oscar Wilde himself. It's very exciting! The show starts performances May 29 at the Dragon Theatre in Palo Alto (on Alma across the street from the train station).

The other show, Peter and the Pirate, is a new musical for kids that came out of a discussion Jay Kuo, David Garcia and I had at a morning meeting a few months ago. Since our show is already in Theatre 39 and the set is kind of "there" and the place (Pier 39) is crawling with families during the day, we thought it would make sense if we put together a fun new show for the whole family and Peter and the Pirate was born. It is a little show about a kid (Peter) whose mom works at some restaurant or shop at the Pier and he's got this great imagination and sets off to buy lunch and is waylayed by a fortune teller and a software pirate. A friendly sea lion saves Peter from Alcatraz before it is all over and a good time will be had by all. Seth Anderson (who played Luke in the NCTC production of Insignificant Others will play the pirate and we're still auditioning the other two actors (Peter and his mother). The actors playing the pirate and mom will also play the "yahoo from google" the fortune teller "Charlotte Anne, the Seer at the PIer" and "Saline D. Ion" Peter's sea lion friend who's bark will go on. This show will start performances at the Pier mid June and run daytimes on weekends until it catches fire and the look out! It'll be playing every day for kids and families who visit SF from all over the world!

Happy St. Patrick's Day - An Update at last!

WOW! This blog has not been updated in a very long time. So much has happened.
After the holidays (and my 50th birthday!), we got back in to rehearsals for in^Significant Others (ISO) right away. Previews for ISO started on Feb 1st and when we opened on Feb 15, we were in great shape. It was a real exciting opening (you can see the outside of Theatre 39 in this photograph – Theatre 39 has a jumbo-tron kind of video screen in the outdoor foyer under the marquee. Raymond Hong, our videographer for ISO, has created a documentary comprised of intereviews with Jay Kuo, David Garcia and me mixed with rehearsal footage. It’s a fun video, but sort of weird to see one’s face 10 feet tall on a screen as you walk up to the theatre). The show is doing well – we haven’t broken even yet, but we’re getting close and the cast is terrific. We've had understudies and swings go on lately and they're doing a great job. Ticket sales are growing each week and there’s a big promo event coming up this weekend (March 22). Don't miss this show. Take your out-of-town guests for a truly "only in San Francisco" experience - now through July 31st 2008.


Casting is almost complete for Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, the Moises Kaufman play that I am directing for Theatre Q
in Palo Alto. Currently, Theatre Q has a terrific production of Paula Vogel’s And Baby Makes Seven at the Dragon Theatre in Palo Alto, CA. Rebecca Longworth has deftly directed Annamarie MacLeod, Katie Anderson and Matthew Lowe on Ron Gasparinetti’s terrific set, lighted exceptionally well by Cy Eaton (count how many lighting instruments you see up in the ceiling and then see the magic he makes with less than 2 dozen lights!). Rebecca’s soundscape for the play is quite good, too. I highly recommend this production playing Thur – Sat @ 8 pm and Sun @ 2 pm through April 6. We’ll start rehearsals for Gross Indecency… a couple of weeks after …Baby… closes. Then, we open Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde on May 29! It will play only through June 22 so make sure you don't miss it.


My friend Judy Wexler has released a new jazz cd - dreams & shadows, and it is even better than her debut album (which was fantastic). Judy has blossomed as a singer and continues to grow and expand her musicality and jazz skills. Judy’s voice is so wonderful to listen to, so natural so perfectly articulated. The musicality is top notch, the playfulness is delightful and she’s got a calm self-assurance that makes you feel so good listening to her. Great song selection (a couple of favorites Photograph and Pent Up House - but they're really all gems) - and the musicians playing with Judy on this album are all at the top of their game (Joe LaBarbera, Bob Sheppard – woodwinds, Gilbert Castellanos – trumpet, Darek Oles - bass instrument, Tollak Ollestad – harmonica, Stefanie Fife – cello, Steve Hass – drums, Jeff Colella, also (of course) Alan Pasqua). I highly recommend this album. You should get it today at Amazon or wherever you buy your music!

christmas in the city

preparations for in^significant others (opening in february at pier 39) are getting more and more intense and exciting. we had a photo shoot last night and it was so great to see the members of the cast new and old working together and having fun. this is my third incarnation of this show, each time it grows, each time it is sad to see some of the kids go and exciting to meet and work with such talented new kids. jay’s song christmas in the city is going to get some airplay this holiday season in san Francisco (it is a great song) and several members of the cast are going caroling in the castro this weekend – singing some new lyrics jay has set to some traditional carols – should be pretty hilarious. raymond hong put together a great video of the tree lighting event at pier 39 where several members of the cast sang christmas in the city down at pier 39. the video is really great. we had a great kick off party at the hard rock café at pier 39 to promote the show for group sales leaders – we debuted the new wigs and gowns for our drag dreemgurlz (bobby and alex worked the room before the performances of a few numbers from the show). all of this is very exciting – we have a great new set design, costumes, etc. and everything is getting kicked up a notch for this great new run at pier 39.

My latest show LITTLE WOMEN

Little Women, the Broadway Musical opened at Palo Alto Players in Palo Alto this past weekend. It is a must see for this cast alone. I had a great time directing the show and it is absolutely charming. The photo is of Marmee and the girls. 10 Actors and an orchestra of the same size perform the show in Mary Craven's costumes on Kuo-Hao Lo's fantastic set under Jim Gross's beautiful lights. Stage Manager Allison Stamm runs a tight ship and the show is just delightful, if I do say so myself. But don't just take it from me. Check out these reviews! The cast is terrific.
San Mateo Daily News
Milpitas Post
It is really a beautiful show, eveyone did a fantastic job. Check out the Palo Alto Players website www.paplayers.org to get more info and buy tickets!

Jenny Giocomo Visits in September

My sister, Jenny, came for a visit to see Insignificant Others, to play a bit of tourist and have fun. We had a ball. We saw the show at Zeum a couple of times, we got 4th row center tickets to see Sweeney Todd and that was a great experience. Had dinner one at at John's Grill (the Dashiel Hammet/Maltese Falcon place).
We had brunch with our friend, Alvin, at one of our favorite spots - the Clement Street Bar and Grill and we had a little intimate soiree of just us four at Alvin's later that evening and we got Jenny to sing and Alvin and I played some really funny schlocky piano duets.
A good time was had by all. Jenny's hoping to make this an annual visit and we say here here to that! (or is it hear hear?) Enjoy these fun photos of us around town in San Francisco.


There we are at Alvin's Jenny, Rob and I flopped on Alvin's couch!

Becca's Visit

During the run of Insignificant Others at Zeum, friends and family from far and near came to visit and to see the show. One of our dearest friends, Becca spent time with us at Golden Gate Park at the Dahlia Garden and the Conservatory of Flowers. Becca and I worked in the theatre together in Southern California and Becca also studied voice with me. She now plays the guitar and the cello and writes her own songs. We'll probably hear her recordings on the internet before too long (hint hint Becca!)These photos are of Becca's visit in August

august first

once again an entire month has gone by since i last blogged here.


in^significant others opened and has been doing really well. the photograph is of our "taxi tops" that are appearing all over town this month (we had some last month, too but twice as many this month). getting the show open was so much work. we had very little time to build and load in our set and even less time to rehearse before previews. the two previews were a bit rocky - and then on opening night - the magic happened and the show was fantastic. we have such a talented cast and audiences are eating this up. the cd sales in the lobby are going really well (jay is signing them for people at most performances). we've been learning many things as we go along and ticket sales keep increasing. we have a great concessions person - nate! and he even spends time getting people to buy tickets at the tix booth in union square. nate is a keeper.

one of the things we didn't take into account in our pre planning was the laundry (duh) and so i have stepped up as the "wardrobe mistress" for the show. not too bad but next time we won't forget this crucial component!

there are some exciting plans in the works, that i'm not at liberty to talk about but will be able to in a couple of weeks or so.


angel face, word for word's noir thriller from the cornell woolrich short story is loading in from z space to the project artaud theater. previews start next tuesday, august 7th and the gala opening is august 10th. the play (another must see) is running through september 2nd.



another z space project - citizen josh - with our producing partner jonathan reinis productions - is beginning a limited run at berkeley rep on august 16 (will run through september 2nd). if you didn't get a chance to see this one man show from josh kornbluth earlier this summer at the magic theatre, don't miss it at berkeley rep. josh is a local national treasure and the show is a great exploration of democracy in action.

more later

- geo

two weeks to the opening of in^significant others

there are two weeks now until in^significant others opens at zeum. we had a run thru yesterday and it went very well - considering we haven't rehearsed for a week since many of us were off in sacramento performing homeland for the organization of chinese americans convention at the sacramento convention center. these photos are from that incredible experience (one of the cast and me on stage before the performance, the other of the house from the stage - jason hoover's photos from his phone camera). on sunday last the cast got together to review the music. then we reviewed staging and choreography for the next 3 days. on thursday we headed up to that huge theatre (where the national tour of light in the piazza had just closed) to "load in" our show. "load in" is in quotes because all we had to load was two chairs, two tv tray tables eight picket signs and costumes. the biggest part of the load in was the sound with which sharon and anton did a remarkable job. they did the sound for my recent production of songs for a new world and they're doing our sound for in^significant others at zeum. they got to hear the show for the first time as they worked it in rehearsal on thursday night. friday night's performance was the second time they had even heard the show and they did a wonderful job with the sound. very difficult thing to do in a huge space in which you've never even seen a production, let alone worked one. the i.a.t.s.e. union crew was terrific. especially larry, the electrician. the deal we had made was that we'd have "concert" lighting for the show and it would be basic lights on, lights off. during the rehearsal on thursday as larry watched the show, he wrote cues on the fly with our brilliant stage manager, gregory holmes. by friday night the show had some pretty light cues and was much better than we had dared expect it to look. david garcia's choreography looked much better on such a huge stage (it was really fun to watch from the balcony on thursday night). i got to roam the theatre and see the show from every angle of those 1,800 seats. while i was doing that, it occured to me that this show would look so beautiful in a broadway house. someday... the cast of homeland did an incredible job. sara hauter and alex rodriguez came to our rescue to replace will and kelly from our december production. you could never tell that they were not part of the original company from december. the cast was flawless and their trust, commitment, passion, energy, teamwork and sense of humor was astounding. i've never had this experience (putting up a show in one week in an 1,800 seat house!) before and hope to not have this kind of pressure again, but if i ever do, i hope it is with these people who made it so easy. take a look at www.homelandmusical.com where you'll see who they are and what we were doing. so now we're on to the next show. might not be able to write here much, but it is rather theraputic to just blurt all of this out.



the biggest thing i learned this week was to stay out of their way - not to interfere. not that i was completely successful at that, but when i was able to let them work it out, they did and it was fun and the result was terrific. i'm trying to do the same thing with in^significant others. give them what it is we want to see, etc. and then get out of their way and let them do it. staying out of the way at yesterday's rehearsal (for the most part) they were able to find their way, make their mistakes, have a lot of laughs (sometimes it is just too funny when things go wrong) and not have that horrible pressure that a director can put on a cast. the pressure never helps. being there to give them a safe space to work in, that seems to help. it also helps me to get ideas about what will make it work even better when i'm stepping back and letting it happen instead of trying to fiddle with it.

we're all pretty exhausted today and thankful for a day off. rob and i are taking sort of busman's holiday for me today and going down to palo alto players to see the closing performance of noises off. even on my day off i can't seem to stay out of a theatre or rehearsal hall!

Back to the Homeland

So this weekend has started off very well. David Garcia (choreographer of Insignificant Others and Homeland), Jay Kuo (composer/lyricist producer of Homeland and Insignificant Others) and I went to see the movie "Show Business" at the Opera Plaza cinema. The theatres there are tiny so it is always a very intimate experience. So there we sat, the three of us, Jay on my left, David on my right, watching this documentary that followed the Broadway shows Wicked, Caroline, or Change, Taboo and Avenue Q. A very well made documentary that for us show folk was a peak experience to be sure. The three of us have been working creatively together now for 18 months (David and Jay another year or more beyond that) and we have a long road ahead of us, but the way seems clear in so many ways. It is very frightening to think about the possibilities of success and failure as the stakes get higher and higher, but the thrill is invigorating, too. I must say I was quite moved by this film and it is not a "moving" film. I was moved because it seemed like another little nudge from somewhere telling us we're doing the right thing. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, don't look down - there's lots of people who will help you along the way even if some of them may be out for blood from time to time. (that photo is me in rehearsal for THE LAST SESSION in 2001)

I got home and started to work on HOMELAND again because we start a week of rehearsals before our one night only performance in Sacramento a week from tonight. It all came flooding back, the grand sweep of that show and all the intimate moments. We've got our work cut out for us, none of us has worked on this since last December. One foot in front of the other and don't look down.

We're going to have a San Francisco Cable Car (you know the kind on wheels) in the Pride Parade on Sunday for Insignificant Others. (It is such a gay musical about San Francisco - is that statement triple redundant?) The parade seems the perfect showcase for our commercial debut in 3 weeks.

Yes, Insignificant Others opens in three weeks and we are leaving it for a week to do Homeland in Sacramento. Show Business.

See the movie. See our shows. One foot in front of the other... don't look down.

june 18, 2007 in^significant others and homeland in one fell swoop

today is my father's birthday - happy birthday dad! and thursday is my mother's birthday - happy birthday mom! just got off the phone with them and we always talk for quite a while and have a lot of laughs.

so it is time to update this blog: the latest is that i've started working at the z space studio here in san francisco as the interim executive director. check out z at www.zspace.org and see what we're up to over there. three programs: word for word, youth arts and z plays run by three terrific artistic directors, susan harloe, joanne winter and lisa steindler. a great crew of people at the z space, david szlasa our production manager, clayton lord our marketing director and kasa cotugno our administrative coordinator are a small and mighty group. having all of the other theatre companies there sharing offices with us, too (cutting ball, crowded fire, fools fury to name only a few) is exciting. lots of creativity going on there.

in^Significant others - the musical we work shopped last summer @ NCTC (www.nctcsf.org) music and lyrics by jay kuo is opening on july 14 at zeum (www.isomusical.com) and i am having a great time directing this. everyone is doing their personal best. david garcia, our choreographer is doing amazing things with plumbing and office chairs on wheels... all of this is very exciting. keri fitch has agreed to do our costumes (i've worked with keri many times at NCTC and am thrilled to have her with us), cathie anderson who works at brava and did the lighting design for my recent production of songs for a new world at ray of light theatre is doing our lights. owen stephens is doing our set and everything is coming together really well. this show is going to be fun.

homeland again for one night only: you may remember we did a preview of one of jay's other original musicals homeland last december at the magic theatre. we're doing a one night concert performance for the oca national convention at the sacramento community center theater 1301 L street, in sacramento, on june 29, 2007 @ 8:30 pm check out the website www.homelandmusical.com

there hasn't really been time for much else so that's it for now. don't miss jay's daily blog about putting our show up at www.sfmusical.com it is a lot of fun.

- george

Jekyll & Hyde, Songs For A New World, in^significant others

We had a great run through Saturday of Jekyll & Hyde. This cast is really terrific and I think the show is going to be wonderful. We've got lots of work ahead of us and just the right amount of time to get it done. The costumes are looking terrific and all of the elements are starting to come together nicely. We will get on to the stage and our set in about 10 days. ...very exciting. This production opens at the end of April. Don’t miss it.

Check out some great photos at the Palo Alto Players website.



Songs For A New World rehearsals get underway on April 15. Our brilliant musical director, Ben Prince, will take the helm and the cast will be learning and refining the music during the first couple of weeks of rehearsal.
Ray Of Light Theatre is the producer of this show and it will be performed at the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco starting May 11.




Music rehearsals are already underway for in^significant others. Jay Kuo has put up a blog that is a sort of live journal of our whole process in getting this show up. You can take a look at www.sfmusical.com and check out the shows own websitein^significant others for more info about this award winning original musical production.

Musical Theatre Update

Jay Kuo’s musical Insignificant Others was just awarded the Bay Area Critics Circle Award for best original script of a new musical! This is an exciting honor for this show that we’re going to be opening at the Zeum Theatre in Yerba Buena in mid-July. We have a great cast and will be starting rehearsals before you know it in June.
Check out the website for this world premiere musical production.


In the meantime, rehearsals for Jekyll & Hyde at Palo Alto Players continue to be fun and exciting. This is a really big show and we’re doing some fun and exciting things with it. This production opens at the end of April. Don’t miss it.
This is the Palo Alto Players website.


Another exciting project is Songs For A New World a revue of truly marvelous songs by genius songwriter Jason Robert Brown. His music is complex and beautiful. The lyrics are deep, moving, funny and thought provoking. Four talented singing actors will be performing this show for Ray Of Light Theatre Company at the Eureka Theatre in downtown San Francisco starting May 11th.
Ray Of Light Theatre is presenting a concert version of The Secret Garden this month before we start work on Songs For A New World.
http://www.roltheatre.com/index.html

I’m excited to be directing all three of these theatrical projects for 3 different companies! It is quite a busy spring. I hope everyone gets to see these shows between April and August of this year.

On Being Human - Making Mistakes

I saw this today and thought it was great. This is good stuff for me to remember as I am in rehearsals for Jekyll & Hyde and working to foster an environment where actors can create. A safe place for them to make mistakes. I think it is only through making those mistakes and having the freedom to make them that we arrive where we need to be in the process of making a play. The following is out of a book called Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty:

"I can't. I shouldn't. It's my fault." These self-abasing and self-defeating thoughts are expressions of shame. Because repeated thoughts turn into beliefs and long-held beliefs turn into actions, thoughts rooted in shame can lead to tragedy.

People who live in shame come to believe that it is not okay to make a mistake. They imagine they should know what to do without having to learn it. They think their wrong judgments mean they themselves are wrong.

But it is human to make mistakes. If we acknowledge we are human, we are defining ourselves as people who always have something to learn (Thomas Edison failed to perfect the light bulb until his ten-thousandth try). We are saying we have to keep going if our plans don't work out right away (Walt Disney went bankrupt seven times before he met with success).

"Thou shalt not be human" is the command of shame. What rubbish! How can we be anything else? Why would we want to be?

exciting news! ...new theatrical doings...

The big news for me is that Insignificant Others returns to the stage at Yerba Buena Center’s “Zeum” Theatre, in the heart of San Francisco’s Arts District. This Jay Kuo musical (directed by yours truly) roars back bigger and better than ever, with a live band and expanded cast. Don’t miss the must-see hit show of the summer!

Before that, I'm directing a new production of Jekyll & Hyde at the Palo Alto Players. This show opens on April 28th and promises to be a fun new version of this popular musical! I'm really excited to get started. We've assembled a great cast of 23 people, a terrific production team and musical director, Matthew Mattei will be conducting a 10 piece orchestra for this lavish production.

My website has been updated a bit (about time). Tightened up some things and changed some of the images. Let me know what you think!



Happy "Presidents' Day Weekend" - buy a mattress (isn't that what we're supposed to do?) or a truck or something.

Get out and see some theatre. Yeah, that's the ticket. - George

More Auditions (plus that beautiful boat!)

We had auditions for Jekyll & Hyde which I'm directing at Palo Alto Players (performances are April 28 thru May 13 - mark your calendar and buy tickets www.paplayers.org) and they were great. Such a huge turn out. Casting is never easy and made even more difficult when so many talented people turn out. We've got a very exciting cast and rehearsals start in a few weeks.

(just had to put in that photo of the boat!)

I'll be directing a new production of L. Jay Kuo's hit romantic musical comedy, Insignificant Others. The auditions on Feb 18-19 are nearly full. Don't miss your chance to come out for this show! ISO will play at the Zeum Theatre in Yerba Buena from July 13 through the end of August with a possible extension and will be a featured show at the SF Theatre Festival.

Audition dates: February 18-19, 2006

Send resume and headshots to significantjay@yahoo.com

Non-AEA.

Remaining Audition Times: 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. in half hour slots.

Audition location: 42nd Street Moon's rehearsal space at 250 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco at Van Ness and Grove.

Callbacks Feb 26th 6:00-10:00 p.m.

We are casting for the following 11 roles:

Margaret: 20s/30s mezzo with strong range, G to Eb. Plus sized, great
comic timing, nurturing, some cabaret style dance.

Jordan: 20s high bari or tenor, comedic role with dramatic versatility,
charismatic.
Jeannine: 20s mezzo-soprano. Strong belt to D, clear pop vocals.
Assertive, sexy.

Luke: 20s pop tenor - comfortable sustained G with pop to A. Sympathetic,
attractive.

Kristen: 20s Mezzo-soprano. Quirky expressions, patters well and harmonizes
excellently in tricky numbers.

Erik: 20s baritone (float to an E), good folk ballad voice, charming, can
play sexually ambiguous.

Andrew: 20s/30s - Baritone / bass - low G to Eb, dashing.

Ensemble/Understudies: 1 W, 20s mezzo soprano, 3 M 20s-30s, baritones or
tenors. Strong dance experience.
Swings: 1 W, 20s/30s alto or soprano, 1 M 20s/30s bari/tenor, strong dance
experience.

PERFECT

(photo is from "Park Takes The Stage" in Homeland)

This weekend -- the Theatre Bay Area annual general auditions. As a director - an auditor. Being at these auditions, I am reminded of the fact that we are not and never will be perfect. All of these talented Actors with just two minutes to show us what they can do. Just two minutes for us to imagine all of the possibilities for one of our upcoming productions. Whew! Perfectionism. It gets in the way as it imposes impossible, unrealistic ideals that guarantee failure. However, when we do not think we have to be perfect, then we can accept mistakes as learning experiences and be willing to try again.

We are not perfect -- we are growing. Accepting our own limitations makes us more tolerant of the faults and weaknesses of those around us. Together, we progress.

I am thankful that I don't need to be perfect!

I’m sharing some photos here from our workshop of “Homeland” last month at the Magic Theatre.

(photo is from "Across America" in Homeland")

Jay Kuo and I are looking at talent for upcoming productions of “Insignifiant Others” and a new musical that Jay is working on now called “All In.” I’m also casting for “Jekyll & Hyde” which I am directing at Palo Alto Players.


(Yilin Hsu and Luke Klipp as Rose and J.D. in Homeland)

There are so many wonderfully talented Actors here and while they may not think they are “perfect” most of them are absolutely right and wonderful. They provide those of us who love the theatre with endless opportunities for engaging storytelling and astonishing theatrical events.

Go see a play!

Happy New Year!

It is clear the future holds oppor-tunities - it also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to seize the oppor-tunities, avoid the pitfalls, and get back home by 6:00.
--Woody Allen

Sometimes we take ourselves far too seriously, drawing our lives in absolutes of black and white -- no shadings of gray, our whole lives depending upon every decision we make. We see a problem as a crisis rather than another of the ongoing issues that confront all people.

It might be helpful to look at today's problems as a game. Indeed, we would like to play the game well, but it is possible that we could have a good time doing it. If we don't take ourselves too seriously, we might have some fun.

Hope smiles on the threshold of the year to come, whispering that it will be happier.--Alfred, Lord Tennyson

At the start of this year, looking back at what has been, we see that our path has been filled with healing and hope. Now is a good time to make lists of the things we fear, the things we hope for, and the things we are grateful for. These lists serve as a kind of snapshot inventory of our attitude toward the world, pointing us in a direction for today and for the year ahead. Put these lists in a safe place until next year when we will bring them out as a reminder of where we were and a measure of how far we've come.

These inspirational words come from many sources.

The photo is by Ron Henggeler at www.ronhenggeler.com