Music To Soothe Your Jangled Innards

Quick update about a few events I've got coming up. One, I'll doing a show THIS Friday, December 14 at the All Asia in Central Square, Cambridge with my / Boston's premiere all-male hard rock Lady Gaga cover band Alejandro and the Fame. These shows are always a blast for everyone involved, and are almost always guaranteed to sell out, so make you get there (lookin' at you, People On The Other Side Of The River Who Missed Our Last Show Because It Was Allllllll The Way In JP Oh BooHoo). Admission is a scant $6, and we hit the stage around 10:30pm! I'm also excited to announce that I'll be performing a short set for MORTIFIED at Oberon on Saturday, December 22. For those who haven't heard of this, MORTIFIED is a night of performance in which real-live grown adult humans read horribly horribly embarrassing things from their high school journals / AIM transcripts / etc, and hilarity ensues. And so, during my set, you'll be treated to some particularly painful gems that I dugout from my high school and middle school songwriting notebooks. Ever wonder what kind of angsty tunes I wrote when I was 14 (including "Dot of my 'I'" and instant never-classic "Fuck You Hotchkiss Lane")? Here's your only chance to hear them live! More information to come when I got it.

And finally, I was asked to write up a few scripts for the 2nd Annual Boston One-Minute Play Festival at the Boston Playwrights Theatre, January 5-7. I believe the evening as a whole contains about 100 one-minute plays (yes, really, but c'mon, that's barely an hour and a half!), so I'm sure there's going to be some great variety. And if you don't like a play, well, just wait one minute! I will say that writing a play, complete with a status quo, conflict, rising action,and denouement is remarkably more difficult than you might expect it to be, but I'm pretty pleased with what I came up with (and I should be blogging a bit more about it soon over at their website).

That's all for now, folks! See you Friday!

Our Town In Boston

First of all, I'd like to take a quick moment to wish myself a Happy Birthday. So, Happy Birthday, Me! Thanks, Me! Fun fact: Our Town playwright Thornton Wilder spent most of his life and is buried in my home town of Hamden, CT. Other fun fact: I never actually knew anything about Our Town or Thornton Wilder when I still lived in Hamden, but I did play lots of shitty punk rock shows in the Thornton Wilder Auditorium, so, ya know, there's that.

Our production of Our Town at the Huntington opens next week, and I'm incredibly about finally having the chance to see this show in this way. David Cromer, the director, won a MacArthur "Genius" Award, largely for his work on this show, and everyone who's seen it so far (it's been performed in several different incarnations across the country before this, but this is the same design and approach, with a new, all-Boston cast) has raved about how incredibly how much, how much the show affected them and blew their minds away.

But don't take my word for it. Here's a new video I made about it:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl_Z1uqkwQk]

(Did I mention that my good friend Jeff Marcus AKA "Calvin Elder" AKA Avenger from True Believers is in the show as well? Sorry, no spandex this time)

Welcome to the C-Wood

The Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts has a very special place in my heart. I was hired there to work as an usher in my first few weeks of college, and it ended up serving as my main place of employment throughout those 4 years. By my Junior year, I had moved up to Assistant House Manager, and started doing some administrative work as well -- which helped leverage me into my current position at the Huntington, as we manage that building as well. (plus my first apartment was right next to it, which was a convenient commute for work, but, well, the story of that apartment is a whole other thing) It's a beautiful modern theatre space with 4 performance spaces as well as rehearsal rooms and more, and it serves a lot of great smaller theatre companies, in addition to our own shows. Here's a video I put together as part of our fundraising campaign at the Huntington, showing the impact that the building has had the community.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k22X0VJMskI]

In Progress

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Today on Five By Five Hundred, I've posted a little preview of a larger prose serial I'm working on. So it's cryptic, sure, as part of a much larger whole, but I think it stands decently on its own. Enjoy!

"The Crash" on FiveByFiveHundred.com

This Saturday — Alejandro & The Fame In JP!

Boston's premiere all-male Lady Gaga cover band plays the Midway Cafe in JP! Doors at 8pm! Be there! I can literally walk my equipment over to the club from my house! Wooohoo!

Oh yeah, and here's the Facebook event. Whoops. Sorry, I got excited.

And remember: just dance, motherfuckers

They Like Me! They Really Like Me!

GOOD NEWS: The 2012 BroadwayWorld Boston Award nominations are out, and my play True Believers has been nominated for a ton of them, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction, and Best Ensemble (they seem to have gotten rid of the "Best Play - Small/Fringe" category this year, jerks) BAD NEWS: Now you have to go vote for me. With every email address you have. Also tell your friends to do the same. Or else The Cyborg Head of Stan Lee will come to your house and destroy your soul. KTHXBYE.

(also, while you're at it, vote for my girlfriend M. Bevin O'Gara's incredible production of Love Person at Company One, in all of those categories, too, 'cause she's awesome.)

(you can also vote for the Huntington in all of the Large Theatre categories as long as you're there, ya know?)

Memory, Time, and Infidelity

Here's a little behind-the-scenes documentary that I put together for our upcoming production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal at the Huntington. This was one of the first plays to famously explore a nonlinear chronology, which is one of its more interesting qualities (basically, LOST owes a lot to Betrayal). Anyway, check it out. Previews start Friday! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBcAW2uCqHo]

Now Or Later Opening!

Now Or Later officially opened this past Wednesday, and we couldn't be happier with the results! Okay, well, I guess we could a little bit, but overall, the reaction has been pretty fantastic for this "heady and provocative" 75-minute political thriller. So here's a little somethin' I put together to show off the overwhelmingly positive audience reaction, along with some footage from the production itself:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyDJCgUDEKc&w=485&h=273]

Because There's Not Enough Political Bullshit Filling Your Facebook Feed....

...so here's a new video I made about our current production at the Huntington, a prescient new play called Now Or Later that's set on Election Night. While the last piece focused on the First Family drama at the heart of the play, this one explores the eerily relevant politics of the play (which was actually written 5 years ago, but feels like it was written right now. RIGHT NOW). Check it out:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8CR3nXxSCU]

Betrayal Begins

We just started rehearsals today (well, rehearsals in Boston; there were a few preliminary days of tablework in NYC) for our upcoming production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal, one of his most highly regarded plays. The show runs November 9 - December 9 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre, under the direction of Maria Aitken aka the mom of the director on SMASH aka the lady from A Fish Called Wanda aka fucking Maria Aitken. Anyway, here's a video I made of our Artistic Director Peter DuBois talking about the production:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOhQBRYb-So&w=485&h=273]

Another Oldie But A Goodie (angsty?)

Not much time to write again today*, after a busy weekend at New York Comic Con that didn't get me back to Boston until midnight, so here's a re-post of an old poem/song I wrote in...I think 2005. Looking back, it's definitely the product of a 19-year-old, but don't think it was necessarily awful, as far as the poetry of 19-year-old Liberal Arts students is concerned. Check back next week for something new!

"Atlantic Avenue" at FiveByFiveHundred.com

*not that I haven't been writing anything at all in the last week, which I have actually quite a lot, but nothing that would be appropriate for 5x500 in either form or content. more articles and/or long form works-in-progress.

Gettin' Personal With Now Or Later

Here's my first short documentary about the American premiere of Christopher Shinn's edgy political drama Now Or Later at the Huntington. This video focuses on the personal family relationships at the heart of the play, which is full of eerily prescient political issues, considering it was written 4 years ago.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ9GLnvEr_8]

The show runs October 12 - November 10 at the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA in Boston, and features my good friend (and fellow Emerson alum!) Grant MacDermott in the lead role. You should probably check this one it now or later (now being before Election Day, obviously).

Now Or Later at the Huntington

Here's my first video featurette on the Huntington's upcoming American premiere of Now Or Later, an edgy political thriller by Christopher Shinn that's set on election night, in which some inappropriate Facebook party photos of the soon-to-be-President's son get leaked to the public. The show runs October 12 - November 10 at the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, and features my good friend Grant MacDermott as John, Jr. Here's Artistic Director Peter DuBois discussing the play. (More to come, obvi) [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUKuJiwdiS8&w=480&h=270]

Another Good People Video

...this one focusing on the themes of class struggle in America as it pertains to the play. Enjoy! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjN4VqNf5TI&w=480&h=270]

Oh, Boston, What A Character

Here's another video I made for the Huntington's upcoming production of Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire (previews start this Friday!). [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X_Yk1t_Q7Q]Following its successful premiere on Broadway last year, Good People is one of the most produced plays in the country in the coming theatrical season -- but we're the only theatre producing this Boston-centric play in the city of Boston itself. I spoke with the director (an Acton native) and members of the cast (one of whom is from Southie, another from Watertown) about the pressures and rewards of doing this popular new play in the city in which its based.  The general consensus seems to be that the city of Boston is in fact the central character of the play, a little bit of universal anthropomorphizing that I can totally get behind (and also feels very noir to me, considering the role that LA plays in the work of Raymond Chandler, hrmmmm....)

(Also, the playwright himself gave his public approval of the piece on twitter. And he's got a Pulitzer. Eat that, Alyssa Milano!)

Thommy on the MBTA

The first show in our upcoming season at the Huntington is the Broadway hit Good People by South Boston native David Lindsay-Abaire. The show tells the story of a struggling middle-aged single mom in Southie who loses her job and looks up an old flame (who got out of the Southie projects and is now a doctor living in Chestnut Hill) to help her out. It's a powerful, Boston-centric play that focuses on class issues in America in ways that are remarkably relevant to the country right now, and that frankly, aren't actually addressed that much in American theatre. But enough of that. Here's a little teaser trailer I put together for the show, chronicling the physical journey from South Boston (Corner of F and Tudor, to be precise) to Chestnut Hill on the MBTA, mimicking Margie Walsh's own journey in the second act of the play. Hear you me: it was a long ride.

(also, don't ever call me Thommy)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh03l2Ds2jU&w=480&h=270]

Good People plays September 14 - October 14 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre. AND, if you're under 35 (which I suspect most of you reading my website are...) tickets are only $25, and we've got a sweet party coming up on September 14, where your ticket also includes a live band and  free drinks after the show.

Good People Design Presentation

Over at the Huntington, we're gearing up for the start of our 2012-2013 Season, and the first show in the lineup is David Lindsay-Abaire's Broadway hit Good People, which tells the story of a single mom struggling to get by in South Boston who looks an old flame now living in Chestnut Hill. Here's a little video I put together of the design presentation at the first rehearsal, featuring director Kate Whoriskey and scenic designer Alexander Dodge. They've got a pretty exciting approach to bringing the streets of Southie to the stage (plus, Alexander's set models are meticulously detailed at such a small scale). Check it out: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=UUHKZbbNa2IRgasTR7D92ApA&hl=en_US]

Good People plays September 14 - October 14, 2012 at the Huntington's Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre.

True Believers Closing and More Reviews

Before I run away to Florida and sleep for 2 weeks straight because I need it, here's a final roundup of more reviews for the world premiere of True Believers:

"Dunn's script is smart and sharply written. He creates memorable and believable characters set in this world who many of us can either relate to, or just be familiar with.  The comedic moments are great and chock full of fantastic one liners. He also is able to create strong and powerful dramatic moments that help balance the comedy.  It doesn't become a parody, but a snap shot of what this world could very well be like. What else can be said about this show except only more praise?"  - MuffinEatsDragon.com

"I was impressed with this show for many reasons, but the foremost was the interesting, thoughtful story that they told extremely well. The second is that it spoke authentically to the nerd fringe community. I know, ‘nerd culture’ is the hip thing right now with comic book movies dominating the box office, but I agree with the sentiment that this newfound cash cow does not represent the community in a real way. Though it does help to normalizesome nerd culture. True Believers by Thom Dunn feels like a play that intimately knows what conventions are like. Their lights are clever, their sound is full of hilarious nerdy references, the script is clever, the characters are interesting, and the actors are brilliant. I could not recommend this show more."  - My Entertainment World

And to top it off, we were the Pick Of The Week in RadioBoston! All in all, I'd say that's not so bad for a nerdy little play about a comic book convention.

Now without any further ado, I'm going to retreat and recuperate for a few years. You'll hear from me eventually...

True Believers Production Photos

Here's a little peek at True Believers, for those of still waiting / unable to see it (or for those of you who want to relive the experience). All photos by Paul Cantillon / LIDEC Photo.[slideshow]

True Believers Updates, Part I

Okay. Breathe. We just made it through opening weekend of True Believers, which saw mostly packed houses and very responsive audiences (and only a few technical malfunctions that hopefully no one noticed but me). All in all, I'd say it's going well so far! We'll just have to wait and see what the critics have to say about it. In the meantime, here's a little interview I did with Jacqui Bryant, a local Boston entertainment blogger, about the show. Full disclosure: I thought she was writing an article, not posting the full interview transcription, so some of my answers, uh, well, they go on for quite a while (I wanted to give her a lot of information to pull from!)

We also got a nice shout out in the print & online version of DigBoston / The Weekly Dig:

Now, you might assume this unconventionally comedic play (penned by local playwright and Emerson College alum Thom Dunn, go Lions etc.) chronicling the interactions between conventional comic convention-types—aspiring artists, single-minded fanboys, haute couturecosplayers and so on—would be a tad nerdy. You would be right. Some World’s Greatest Detective stuff, that is. But just how nerdy are we talking? Try “Cyborg Head of Stan Lee” nerdy. Yes, that’s a kind of nerdy. The “most” kind.

Ha. Thanks, guys (I think...)

Opus Affair, a social group for young professional interested and involved in the arts in around the Boston area, also highlighted the show in their "On the Town" weekly roundup, praising it with favorable comparisons to both Closer and Magic Mike (both of which I assume were intended as compliments though I'm not entirely sure...)

Anyway, stay tuned, True Believers, for more updates, including production photos and...The Cyborg Head of Stan Lee!