Chicago Blues, circa 1927

Over at the Huntington, we're getting ready to open our production of Ma Rainey's Black bottom, the first Broadway hit by August Wilson. It's also the last show in Wilson's Century Cycle to be produced by us; starting with Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Wilson had a home at the Huntington in developing his plays before they hit Broadway, so it's a particularly special occasion. Here's a short teaser trailer I cut together for the show:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-U6Ls5kF0c&w=480&h=274]

God! Of! Carnage!

Here's a new teaser trailer I put together for our upcoming production of GOD OF CARNAGE at the Huntington. The show won the Tony and Olivier Awards in New York last year for Best Comedy, and it's definitely something worth something. It's a quick, 70 minute romp of chaos about two couples in Brooklyn who come together after their children get in a fight on a playground. Hilarity ensues. (There's also a film version, directed by Roman Polanski, simply called "Carnage" that's playing at some small arthouse cinemas around the country right now) The show is directed by Danny Goldstein, who most recently directed the Godspell revival that's currently playing on Broadway, so that's cool, too. Previews start this Friday (when we also have our totally awesome 35 Below after party with booze and a live band and all sorts of fun stuff) and runs through February 5. Anyway, here's the video. Woof Woof.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxcei2FDV0Y&w=500&h=284]

Poetry Out Loud

Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students, encouraging them to explore and perform poetry. The Education department at the Huntington Theatre Company moderates the Massachusetts State Competition (the winner of which go on to the National Finals in DC). Here's a little video I put together about the program: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYqA6Ls5pxs&w=500&h=284]

Partyin' with Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires

The second video feature that I produced based on Evan M. Wiener's Captors, which is currently having its world premiere at the Huntington (before a highly-likely Broadway production). This one focuses on the personal history of Adolf Eichmann, "the architect of the Holocaust," and his relationship with Peter Malkin, the Israeli Mossad agent who captured him in Argentina. It's kind of like a frenemy-bromance, between a Nazi and an Israel. Don't believe me? Check out the video below. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhGgFWUrNG4&w=500&h=284]

Captors: A Thrilling True Story

The first in a series of short behind-the-scenes videos I made, focusing on the world premiere of Captors by Evan M. Wiener. Captors tells the true(-ish) story of the capture of Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann by a group of Israeli secret agents in Buenos Aires in 1960. And, well, everything else you need to know, you can probably find out by watching the video! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZACW2FH1Qyk&w=500&h=284]

Captors plays November 11 — December 11 at the BU Theatre on Huntington Avenue, with plans to move to Broadway sometime later. Check it out!

An Interview with STICK FLY Playwright Lydia R. Diamond

A few weeks ago, I spoke with playwright Lydia R. Diamond, whose play STICK FLY will begin playing on Broadway on November 18. Lydia is a Huntington Playwriting Fellow, and Stick Fly was previously seen at the Huntington under the direction of Kenny Leon as a part of our 2009 — 2010 season. It's really incredibly play, and one worth seeing if you have the chance (like instead of waiting in that endless line at the TKTS Booth for tickets to some lame musical, take advantage of the "Plays Express"). [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVPxmia8as8&w=500&h=284]

Peter DuBois on CAPTORS

Yeah, yeah, I realize that I just posted about the opening of Before I Leave You at the Huntington, but we're also gearing up for another world premiere — Captors, about the capture of Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires in 1960. Based on the memoirs of Peter Z. Malkin, one of the Israeli Mossad agents who held Eichmann in captivity in Buenos Aires until they were able to get him out of the country, the play is written by Evan M. Wiener and directed by my good friend (slash boss) Peter DuBois. The video below was originally filmed in May; it's a conversation with Peter about the play, which opens here in Boston on November 13 before (probably) moving to Broadway (details are still in the works, but that's the plan right now anyway). [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQg00msX9EM&w=500&h=284]

Before Who Leaves Who?

Tonight marks the official press opening of our brand new world premiere play BEFORE I LEAVE YOU at the Huntington. The play was written by Huntington Playwriting Fellow Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro and is set in Cambridge in and around Harvard Square. Here's a little video I cut together of audience reactions after seeing the show. Check it out! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTSPSVpTwic&w=500&h=284]

A Love Story for Grownups

In the marketing copy, we've been calling BEFORE I LEAVE YOU "a love story for grownups" — but what does that even mean? Sure, it's a play about old people. Or at least, it's a play about characters, most of them happen to be transitioning from middle aged to old aged. Playwright Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro play tells a beautiful, seldom told middle-age love story with the freshness and smart sensibility of a young independent filmmaker. While the characters might be older, the humor and the heart of the story are for everyone. I spoke with the cast, director, and playwright about this idea of age that permeates the play, and how we can all relate to it. The world premiere of BEFORE I LEAVE YOU at the Huntington runs through November 13 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfHYN9ORB8k&w=500&h=284]

Behind the scenes of Before I Leave You

This season at the Huntington, we're trying to take a slightly different approach to our video content, this time creating more small and focused "featurettes" instead of one longer, all-encompassing piece about each show (mainly because people have no attention span for 6 minute videos, and this way we can more in). The first up is a series of interviews with Before I Leave You playwright Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro, director Jonathan Silverstein, and the rest of the cast, explaining the story and themes of this new Boston-based world premiere. Enjoy! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QDhFKQuZiY&w=500&h=284]

Peter DuBois on Before I Leave You

Here's a brief video that I filmed back in May, as part of an interview between Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Charles Haugland, Artistic Programs and Dramaturgy, about our upcoming world premiere of Before I Leave You by Huntington Playwriting Fellow (and 40-year Cambridge resident!) Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro. The play tells the story of a group of academic friends living in Harvard Square as they approach the dreaded "old age." I could tell you more but, well, that's what I made the video for! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcK1Zvq3W_c&w=500&h=284]

The Best of All Possible CANDIDEs!

Leonard Bernstein's beautiful score for the Broadway musical Candide was an instant classic — the show itself, based on the novella by Voltaire, was not. Tony Award and MacArthur Genius Grant winner Mary Zimmerman took it upon herself to recreate this musical masterpiece/disasterpiece with a brand new book and a new take on its wonderful music. Following sold out runs at Chicago's Goodman Theatre and Washington, DC's Shakespeare Theatre, Mary Zimmerman's incredible production of Candide officially opens tonight at the Huntington in Boston, and believe me when I say, it is absolutely worth seeing. It's a long show, but it's also one that you'll remember — this is one of those shows that people will be talking about for years to come. Don't believe me? Check this out. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGgq_HZYAs0&w=420&h=315]

CANDIDE runs through October 16 at the BU Theatre on the Avenue of the Arts. Don't miss it!

Just Another Day at Fenway Park

This past Wednesday, the cast of CANDIDE at the Huntington had the privilege of performing the National Anthem before the 1:35pm Red Sox game against the Toronto Blue Jays. So basically I got paid to hang out behind the scenes at Fenway Park and STAND RIGHT ON THE FIELD DURING THE CEREMONY HONORING TIM WAKEFIELD'S 200^th WIN. Just sayin'.

And here's a little video I cut together of the experience. Did I mention I get to ride in a Duck Boat (after only 7 years of living here...):

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZyhFBvK594&w=560&h=315]

The Huntington's 30th Anniversary Season

The Huntington Theatre Company, Boston's leading professional theatre company since 1982, is launching into their 30^th Anniversary Season this year. Tickets went on sale yesterday for a season that includes Mary Zimmerman's acclaimed production of Candide, the completion of August Wilson's 20^th Century Cycle with Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (ironically, his first hit play, and the last that the company is producing), the hit New York comedy God of Carnage (the film of which, directed by Roman Polanski, comes out in November), and Noël Coward's Private Lives, along with three world premieres. I've spent the last few weeks re-designing the Huntington's website to fit with the new 30^th Anniversary branding image, and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the results. Check it out — and while you're at it, maybe treat yourself to one of our shows along the way.

Oh, also? The entire season is going to be presented in SHOCKING REAL-D 3D! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9rjonTUwW0]

Alejandro & the Harbingers of the Apocalypse

Friday night was the first performance of my all-male Lady Gaga cover band, Alejandro & the Fame. In light of the then-impending rapture, we changed our name to Alejandro & the Harbingers of the Apocalypse. We have since returned to the Fame. Audio/video to come, but for now, here's some pictures to tide you over:

Yes, I'm wearing leopard print leggings and jean shorts. No, I do not own the leopard print leggings. Yes, I did make my own jean shorts.

Photos by Justin Seward

Writing, Writing Everywhere, and Not a Drop To Read

I have to apologize for the radio silence here at ThomDunn.net over the last few weeks. Layne Anderson, a close friend and former roommate of mine, passed away unexpectedly on April 7^th, and as much as I've kept up with everything (well, almost everything), time has been rather a blur. I've chronicled the situation as impersonally as possible over at FiveByFiveHundred.com in two posts — Shark Grief, about my own grieving process, and iWake, which as entirely fictional account of a some inappropriate gallows humor inspired by the situation of which Layne would have most certainly approved. Meanwhile, this week's entry steps away from the morbidity and explores the quantum mechanics of one night stands as interpreted through Bell's Theorem, using the Shrödinger's Cat experiment as a proof. Hopefully, that sounds ridiculous (and ridiculously intriguing) enough for you to check out Shrödinger's Cat Call, also over at FiveByFiveHundred.com.

Also in the last two weeks, we've officially opened Sons of the Prophet at the Huntington, which is then moving to the Roundabout Theatre Company Off-Broadway in the Fall. Plus, I did some filming for Art & Design of the 20^th & 21^st Centuries and the Boston Print Fair, did a small reading of my new play, True Believers (which is set at a Comic Book Convention and features a cameo by the Cyborg Head of Stan Lee, among other things), and started rehearsals and arrangements for my (wait for it) all-male hard rock Lady Gaga tribute band, Alejandro & the Fame, which is going to be every bit as ridiculous as it sounds. Come check us out on May 20^th at the afterparty for Propeller Theatre Company's all-male production of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors at the Huntington's B.U. Theatre.

Woo. Okay. I think that's it. Tune in next week for your regularly scheduled programming.

Sons of the Prophet Teaser Trailer

Check out this brand new teaser trailer that I created for Stephen Karam's Sons of the Prophet, which is having it's world premiere at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston before moving to the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York later in the year. Also, featuring Joanna Gleason, who totally won the Tony Award for the Best Actress for the original production of Into the Woods! Ya know, if you're into that kind of thing.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2hLIVECji8&w=500&h=311]

And in case you were wondering, the deer's name is Bruce.