"Quick, Brown" to come, Michael's musings

We're still planning to do Michael Merino's The Quick, Brown Fox Jumped Over the Lazy Dogs (download the Word file, 399kb). No work has begun yet, though. Parisian actors that would be interested should email us at leopard AT gmail DOT com.

In the meantime, check out Michael's musings. As Jack White says: "Be like the squirrel."

"Shot House"

Shot House is a one-act play set in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama in 1964. Dark, funny and finally heartbreaking, it's about Billy, a man trapped by a desire to be free of all things and a richly colorful talker who sells liquor illegally from his shot house. Billy's house is inhabited by characters Billy sees, but the audience does not: Scooter, a fellow WWII vet whom Billy throws out when he starts to moan about what he used to have — namely, legs and a wife; Creola, whose job is to roll Scooter’s "crippled ass" on out of the place; the Boy, Billy’s son; and most importantly and dramatically, Annie Laurie, the woman of Billy’s life, who even has beautiful feet.

It made its debut in July 2007 at the Ogresse theater in Paris. The playwright, Quinton Cockrell, acted the play, directed by Bethe Ensey.

Thanks are due to the musicians who offered their time and talents to play after the show: Stéphane Beaussart, Zinc-Breaks (Ahmed and Tristan), Chris Kenna, John Simms and Miguel, Lari Lucien of 21st Century Folks and Miles Turney.
And to friends who offered us their help and advice: Mutata of the Ogresse theater, Dietlind Lerner & Chris Thomas, Jack Cannon & Cheryl Hall, Chelethia Williams, Jeanne Bernard and Romilly Masters.




Here is a version of the script of Shot House.

A little visual evidence

Some recent photos:

Two more

The first two performances went swimmingly, and the folks in the audience were all impressed by and appreciative of Quinton's play and his performance.

Thanks to John Simms, Ahmed and Tristan of Zinc-Breaks, Stéphane Beaussart and Chris Kenna, who played and sang after the show.

Next week, Lari of 21st Century Folks will join us on Thursday and Ahmed, Tristan and Chris on Friday. Hope to see y'all then.

A bite to eat?

If you would like to have a bite to eat at the show, please let the theater know, by telephone at 01 4036 9515 or by mail at logresse@free.fr.
For those who would like to eat before the show, we'll be opening the doors at 7 p.m. You can also eat after the show.

Une information de plus - Si vous voulez manger, merci de prévenir le théâtre, par téléphone à 01 4036 9515 - ou par mail à logresse@free.fr.
Nous allons ouvrir à 19h pour ceux qui veulent manger avant le spectacle. On peut aussi manger après.

Bethe's story, and other updates

Thanks to a house move and subsequent nomadic use of Internet in cafés with WiFi, I've not been updating this much. I've got lots to put on soon (and my ISP tells me my service should be working tonight), but for the moment, I'll stick to telling about a few things:

The director

Bethe Ensey has recently directed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and God's Man in Texas for the Little Theater players in Birmingham, The 1940's Radio Hour at the Hoover Library Theater, assistant directed Love's Labours Lost at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and directed numerous children's plays at the Birmingham Children's Theater.

Here's her bio.

What's the play about, you ask?

Shot House is a one-act play set in semi-rural Alabama in 1964. Dark, funny and finally heartbreaking, it's about Billy, a man trapped by a desire to be free of all things and a richly colorful talker who sells liquor illegally from his shot house. Billy's house is inhabited by characters Billy sees, but the audience does not: Scooter, a WWII vet whom Billy throws out when he starts to moan about what he used to have — namely, legs and a wife; Creola, whose job is to roll Scooter’s "crippled ass" on out of the place; the Boy, Billy’s son; and most importantly and dramatically, Annie Laurie, the woman of Billy’s life, who even has beautiful feet.

Q in Paris

As well as being a talented actor and playwright, the bird can chirp. Q's been singing along with los Caballeros Simpáticos at some of our gigs. The proof is in the pictures.

The Ogresse

Here is an article about the theater and the artist who runs it.

Here comes Quinton

Quinton arrives Tuesday, tomorrow. We will be preparing his play, and he will be singing with los Caballeros Simpáticos at some of our bar gigs.

Here's his bio:

A native of Birmingham Alabama, Quinton Cockrell attended Birmingham-Southern College and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Professional Actor Training program.

He has worked with numerous theater companies in New York City and throughout the United States, including the Riverside Shakespeare Company, the Westbeth theater, John Houseman Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Studio Arena Theater, Heritage Repertory, and Birmingham Children's Theater.

He has worked extensively with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival Southern Writers' Project since 2002. Quinton is a recent recipient of the Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship in playwriting for his plays Low Life and Shot House.

Michael's bio is in....

Michael, who will be the next playwright to be produced by us after Quinton Cockrell's "Shot House" in July, has sent in his bio.

"Before hurricane Katrina hastened his departure from New Orleans in 2005, Michael Merino wrote much of and workshopped scenes from The Quick Brown Fox Jumped over the Lazy Dogs at the city's Contemporary Arts Center while he was on a seven-month work assignment for the Department of Defense."

read more

Theater, dammit!

I hate it when Americans spell it -tre, the Brit way. But sometimes I'm a crank.

Brother John is in

John Simms has agreed to participate in the musical portion of the project.

Check out his tunes.

"Shot House" plus concerts in July, "Fox" in the Fall

OK, we're doing "Shot House" July 5-6, 12-13, then looking to do "Quick Brown Fox" à la rentrée.

The play will be followed by sets by local musicians. Already signed up is a great duo mixing European and Berber music, Zinc-Breaks. Click on the flash player below to hear them play their version of Matoub's "O ma pâtrie":




For reservations, contact the theater by email or call 01 4036 9515.

Here we go

I've just set up this blog to publicize a theater production that I'm embarking on.

Quinton Cockrell will be performing his play, Shot House.

I'm currently preparing for auditions for Michael Merino's play, The Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over the Lazy Dogs.

I need two men and two women, plus another person of any sex. If you're an actor, read the play (you can download it via the links on the right), and if you're interested in rehearsing it in June and playing it in July, send an email to leopard AT gmail DOT com with "Quick Brown" in the subject line (You mouthbreathers will be weeded out easily since you won't be able to follow these simple instructions).

The first run will be July 5-6, 12-13 at the Ogresse, 4 rue des Prairies, Paris 20.