Tag: Elizabeth Heffron

Sandbox Radio Live! Makes a Bold New Move

December 2, 2013

Sure bigger isn’t always better, and art doesn’t always thrive when it moves to a fancier-panted venue. I know I’d rather have seen the Beatles work the Cavern Club in Liverpool—or even better, one of the Hamburg dives they learned their chops in—rather than Shea Stadium, where even they couldn’t hear themselves play.
So there are inevitably doubters about Sandbox Radio LIVE’s move to the much larger venue of ACT’s Falls Theatre for its upcoming episode, January 13, 2004. But here’s the thing: for about three years running we have sold out every live taping of SBRL! that we have produced at West of Lenin, our perfectly cozy little venue in Fremont. That means there are people—lots of people—actually, that would like to experience the unique fun of witnessing the live recording of our podcasts who can’t, simply because we don’t have seats for them.
This move can help us reach more people with our unique live performance offering which is quite literally (old-school usage) different from anything you have ever seen, featuring some of Seattle’s finest actors performing brand new locally sourced material generated by some of Seattle’s finest playwrights and (ahem) former playwrights.
In short, this is the kind of bold artistic risk that deserves your reward. So how can you help? Just come! Click this link and order your tickets so that we can have friendly butts in every new seat we’re adding. Help us spread the fun of Sandbox Radio Live! Do it for the Beatles! (It’s what Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe would’ve wanted.)
The details:

January 13, 2014 at 8:00pm

ACT’s Falls Theatre

Running Time: 2 hours (including an intermission)

The Food of Love includes new short audio plays from Seattle playwrights Vincent Delaney, Elizabeth Heffron, and Wayne Rawley, a fresh new episode of Paul Mullin’s noir-angel serial Markheim, the latest adventure of Scot Augustson’s hilarious Cousin Katie, special guest Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings, our fabulous live sfx, original music from Jose “Juicy” Gonzales and the Sandbox Radio Orchestra, and more surprises, all recorded in front of you, our “studio” audience.

Oh, and know that you can always enjoy the fun of Sandbox Radio, going back to our very first episode, by clicking below and downloading the podcasts:
Here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sandbox-radio-live/id452830642
Or here: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sandbox-radio-live?refid=stpr
PS ! You can message me privately for a discount code which will save you 25% off your ticket price.

Posted at 1:23 PM in Locally Grown Plays, Markheim, Sandbox Artists Collective, Seattle, Theatre, Theatre News | Comments (0)

Tags: ACT, Elizabeth Heffron, Jose "Juicy" Gonzales, Leslie Law, Markheim, Paul Mullin, Sandbox Radio Live, Scot Augustson, Wayne Rawley
Sexy New Acting Edition of THE SEQUENCE

October 28, 2013

Original Works Publishing has just released a sweet, sexy and sleek new edition trade acting edition of my play The Sequence, about the real-life race to decode the human genome. The new edition features a flat binding, super-gloss cover, larger print, ample margins for blocking, and extra pages for notes.
Original Works is a great outfit, with plenty of new titles from some of the hottest American playwrights including Elizabeth Heffron, Jeff Goode, Gwydion Suilebhan, Adam Szymkowicz and on and on. If The Sequence ain’t your cup of tea, you’ll still likely find something at OWP that is. Head on over and check out their deeply impressive catalog of hard copy and electronic titles.

Posted at 1:23 PM in Locally Grown Plays, Markheim, Sandbox Artists Collective, Seattle, Theatre, Theatre News | Comments (0)

Tags: ACT, Elizabeth Heffron, Jose "Juicy" Gonzales, Leslie Law, Markheim, Paul Mullin, Sandbox Radio Live, Scot Augustson, Wayne Rawley
Local TV Gives Local Theatre a Glance

June 12, 2013

I have not been on television since my brief, ill-fated appearance on Romper Room in Baltimore, circa 1972. Miss Sally was asking the circle of kids what their favorite drink was and when she got to me, I said, “Whiskey”. Even Mr. Do-Bee looked shocked. (In my defense, my dad had once given me a sip and I wasn’t as horrified by the taste as everyone expected me to be.) When the broadcast was done, my mom yanked me out of WBAL’s studio so fast I thought she was going to dislocate my shoulder. Oddly, I was not asked back.
Happily, last week I made my triumphant return, along with Amy Love, to talk about Sandbox One-Act Play Festival (or SOAPFest, as the kids are calling it.) The festival opens tomorrow night and runs for only this weekend. It features brand new plays by Scot Augustson, Emily Conberre, Elizabeth Heffron and myself , presented by some of Seattle’s very best directors, designers, technicians and actors.
Now that Amy and I are tv stars, tickets to the three night run are unlikely to last long. I recommend getting some while the getting is good. (Order tickets here.)
And if you’re wracking your brain for a gift to bring to celebrate these world premieres, just remember: whiskey’s still my favorite drink

Posted at 1:23 PM in Locally Grown Plays, Markheim, Sandbox Artists Collective, Seattle, Theatre, Theatre News | Comments (0)

Tags: ACT, Elizabeth Heffron, Jose "Juicy" Gonzales, Leslie Law, Markheim, Paul Mullin, Sandbox Radio Live, Scot Augustson, Wayne Rawley
The SOAP Poster!

May 8, 2013

I have said it before: one of the most exciting moments for this playwright is when the posters for a world premiere drop into circulation. Something about it says, “Yup, this is happening all right.” And I really love this one for SOAPFest. (Thanks to Sean Williams of Gigantic Planet for the evocative design.)
I plan on writing more later about why this upcoming festival of short world premiere plays is particularly special for me, but for now, let me simply share SOAPFest’s press release below the fold so you can have all of that important information now.
Remember, SOAPFest is three nights only in a small venue. Tickets are on sale here, now! So . . . you know what to do.
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Posted at 1:23 PM in Locally Grown Plays, Markheim, Sandbox Artists Collective, Seattle, Theatre, Theatre News | Comments (0)

Tags: ACT, Elizabeth Heffron, Jose "Juicy" Gonzales, Leslie Law, Markheim, Paul Mullin, Sandbox Radio Live, Scot Augustson, Wayne Rawley
A Few Things Wonderful about “Something Wicked…”

January 8, 2013

You’re not crazy. You’re just overdue. There hasn’t been a new episode of Sandbox Radio Live! in over three months!
Relax.
Episode Seven: Eye of the Beholder is on its way, packed with the sort of goodies you’ve grown accustomed to: plays by Elizabeth Heffron and Vincent Delaney, music by Jose Gonzales and the astounding Sandbox Radio Orchestra, my own noir-angel detective series, Markheim (word has it Sam’s due for a drop in), all tied together by Leslie Law’s expert, effervescent direction. Plus you can expect some brand new stuff like a poem by Elizabeth Austen read live by the author, or a brand new comic serial by Scot Augustson set in Seattle. (You’ll want to order your tix quick, since we always sell out.)
But before we get to all that, I need to make up for a deleterious omission. With all the crazyness of the holiday season, plus world premiering my first full-length play in four years, Ballard House Duet, I neglected my self-appointed duty of telling you the things I love about the previous episode of Sandbox Radio Live! – Something Wicked This Way (available for download here.)
“Backscatter” by Vincent Delaney
Vince never disappoints with his sharp suspenseful writing, but this turn at modern horror would make Rod Sterling go goggle-eyed. All props to the Sandbox Radio sound fx team. Give a listen and tell me they don’t make it sound exactly like an airport. (This brings up a larger fascination for me when listening to these podcasts: how the live audience participates in and fuels the recording. There’s this extraordinary recursively looping sensation as you listen to them listening to you listen to the show in the future.) My favorite character in this one had to be Big Stu. Somehow Eric Ray Anderson manages to add 300 pounds through the sheer suggestive power of his voice.
“The Back of the 358 – #7” by Paul Mullin
Not much I want to say about these since I wrote them, except maybe that Kathryn Van Meter utterly nails the drunk chick. Oh, and also, the likelihood that there will be any new pieces in this vein is slim, given how King County Metro’s elimination of the Free Ride Zone has completely flattened the floridly diverse ecosystem that was once the back of the #358.
“Muscle Memory” by Omar Willey
This chillingly smooth and nasty pastoral will captivate you into a skin-crawling reverie.
“Quinceñera of the Damned” by Scot Augustson
What do you get when Mexican kitsch culture collides with Austrian Alpine snobbery in a fairytale context? Something you can be pretty sure Scot Augustson conceived. Favorite line (impeccably delivered by the peerless Annette Toutonghi): “Gunter will think I’m a crazy clown gypsy whore.”
“The Back of the 358 – #8″ by Paul Mullin
It’s never not unnerving to have to relive my #358 adventures as staged by some of Seattle’s finest actors.
“Here it Comes” by Charles Leggett with the Sandbox Radio Orchestra
Chuck and friends rock another original blues number, this time folding some astro-physics in, cuz… ya know… Chuck rolls like that.
“The Back of the 358 #9” by Paul Mullin
Please tell me this trip is almost over. If this woman punches or pukes on me, I’m gonna be highly irked. (Favorite line {which I can say in modesty because I overheard it}: “At least in jail I get three meals a day and someone to love me.”)
“The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe
No one intones the American classics like Richard Ziman. And his sweet spot is Poe.
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas, arranged by Bruce Monroe
A mind-crackingly original arrangement: the kind of blastingly cool cut you can only get at Sandbox Radio.
“Markheim – Episode 6” by Paul Mullin
Per custom, I’m including the script for this below the fold.
“The Back of the 358 #10” by Paul Mullin
So long shirtless drunk chick! May you find the peace that eludes your every semi-lucid thought.
“Shadow of Agnes” by Emily Conbere
I raved about Emily’s first Sandbox Radio outing, “Sound Thieves” here, but who knows? She could’ve fluked her debut success. She didn’t. This piece seals the deal and is quite possibly one of the creepiest short pieces I’ve ever heard.
Again, don’t take my word for it. Go to the podcast and listen. And then get your tickets to our brand new show, available here through Brown Paper Tickets.
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Posted at 1:23 PM in Locally Grown Plays, Markheim, Sandbox Artists Collective, Seattle, Theatre, Theatre News | Comments (0)

Tags: ACT, Elizabeth Heffron, Jose "Juicy" Gonzales, Leslie Law, Markheim, Paul Mullin, Sandbox Radio Live, Scot Augustson, Wayne Rawley
Simultaneous Publication: Legit Experiment or Hat on a Hat?

November 26, 2012
Sometimes when you risk a lot with a piece of art, it pays to find ways to risk even more. Or at least that’s the counter-intuition behind the newest wrinkle in the Custom Made Play Project. A couple days ago a box arrived at my house containing exactly fifty copies of my soon-to-world-premiere play Ballard House Duet. Given the unique circumstances of its development (which I blog about in some detail here), the idea light-bulbed to offer a published version of the play simultaneously with its world premiere production. After all, we custom made this play for two local actors, Hana Lass and Rebecca Olson: a Seattle story for Seattle audiences in the purest vein of locally and organically grown new theatre. What better way to underscore how we are trying to change the way plays are made than to offer tangible printed proof of the pudding for sale.
So I emailed my friend and colleague Jason Aaron Goldberg, president of Original Works Publishing in Los Angeles. OWP publishes acting edition scripts and licenses productions of plays by “bold, original, and adventurous playwrights from around the globe.” I currently have three plays in their catalogue: An American Book of the Dead* – The Game Show†, The Sequence, and The Good Ship Manhattan. Other Seattle playwrights have plays with OWP as well. For example, Elizabeth Heffron’s Mitzi’s Abortion received some strong productions around the country after OWP’s decision to publish it.
I think it is fair to say that Jason was less than enthused by my idea. He told me OWP had looked at simultaneous publishing before, but never pulled the trigger. They prefer for a play to have a production history in advance of publishing it. This only makes sense. Productions work the kinks and flaws out of a play, not to mention garner reviews from which you can pull quotes for the script’s back cover. I, however, pressed my proposal. I agreed to absorb the financial risk of printing the scripts if OWP was willing to risk a bit of its institutional reputation on the experiment. Jason graciously agreed.
So now you get to vote on whether this experiment succeeds or fails. I have 45 scripts to sell, each individually numbered and personally signed by me. I have priced them nearly a buck cheaper than what OWP sells my scripts for on their website. If we do another publishing run of Ballard House Duet, they won’t be sold by me, won’t be signed by me, and won’t be part of a limited numbered edition: so why not buy one now while it’s cheap and special?
Here are the ways you can buy, in descending order from best to next next best:
- Go buy your tix to the show now (click here), then buy a script at the door. (While supplies last.)
- Ping me with a way to send you my snail mail address. Once I do, send me a check for $10, and I’ll send you back a script. (I’ll eat the postage on this option.)
- Buy a script on Ebay by clicking here, for $10 plus postage. (This option allows PayPal.)
Vote now: the simultaneous publication experiment: success or failure?
Posted at 1:23 PM in Locally Grown Plays, Markheim, Sandbox Artists Collective, Seattle, Theatre, Theatre News | Comments (0)

Tags: ACT, Elizabeth Heffron, Jose "Juicy" Gonzales, Leslie Law, Markheim, Paul Mullin, Sandbox Radio Live, Scot Augustson, Wayne Rawley
Sandbox Radio Shoots Bumber

August 28, 2012

I know, I know. The biggest complaint about Sandbox Radio Live! is that the super fun recording sessions are always sold out, making it damned tough to watch the magic being made. Of course, the final magic is always eventually available to you as a podcast. In fact, Episode 5: “An Unexpected Twist” just recently dropped and is available here .
But now Seattle’s beloved arts festival Bumbershoot is offering a one time solution to this conundrum. This coming Labor Day (September 3) is your chance to see a “best of Sandbox Radio Live!” at the Center Theatre in the Armory, which has about thrice as many seats as our usual venue. We will start at 7pm and pack an episode’s worth of fabulousness in just one hour.
Here’s what’s in store:

“Notes from the Workplace” by Vincent Delaney

“Why We Run” by Scot Augustson

PSAs for Hanford Challenge and World Arts Access

A blues tune from Charles Leggett and The Sandbox Radio Orchestra.

Ads from “The Back of the 358” and a teaser for what’s coming in Markheim by Paul Mullin

“T-Minus” by Elizabeth Heffron

“Barcarolle” from Tales of Hoffman featuring special guest soprano Heather Curtis Mullin, and more!

You read that correctly. My wife will be singing. And I will be acting: reprising my role of Sam, Prince of the World, in my on-going noir angel detective series, Markheim. That makes this Bumbershoot performance the very first time that Heather and I have shared a professional stage. So come see Sandbox Radio Live! at Bumbershoot and watch some hot history being made.

Posted at 1:23 PM in Locally Grown Plays, Markheim, Sandbox Artists Collective, Seattle, Theatre, Theatre News | Comments (0)

Tags: ACT, Elizabeth Heffron, Jose "Juicy" Gonzales, Leslie Law, Markheim, Paul Mullin, Sandbox Radio Live, Scot Augustson, Wayne Rawley
An Unexpected Twist

June 28, 2012

I’m a Markheim. A sort of angel. But not the sort with wings and a harp and a halo.

Markheims are the black ops. We do things other angels can’t… or won’t. Upstairs pulled me outta retirement for a mission down in this soggy town. But when it was done I didn’t go back. I had questions. And the answers weren’t up above.

Now I’m walking neutral, half-fallen, in what we angels call the Show. But I gotta watch my back. ‘Cuz things can always get uglier.

Make your reservations here.
Can you believe Sandbox Radio Live! has been broadcasting for a year now?
Neither can we. That’s why we’re calling our upcoming fifth(!) episode “An Unexpected Twist”. The Sandbox Artists Collective will be recording our latest offering before a live audience on Monday, July 23 at 7:30 at Fremont’s newest theatre, West of Lenin.
Entirely new, fresh and locally grown, Sandbox Radio Live! is written, produced and performed by some of Seattle’s hottest stage talent. This latest episode, An Unexpected Twist will include new short plays by Scot Augustson, Emily Conbere, and Elizabeth Heffron, plus Episode 5 of Paul Mullin‘s noir-angel serial Markheim, plus an original poem by Reggie Jackson, and special musical guests John Engerman and Heather Curtis Mullin.
Members of the Sandbox Artist Collective currently scheduled to appear include: Megan Ahiers, Eric Ray Anderson, Gin Hammond, Tracy Hyland, Kelly Kitchens, Charles Leggett, Peter O’Connor, Larry Paulsen, Annette Toutonghi, Kathryn Van Meter, Cynthia Whalen and guest Jim Gall.
Original music will be provided by Jose Gonzales and The Sandbox Radio Orchestra: Charles Leggett, Dave Pascal, Dan Tierney and Rob Witmer.
You won’t want to miss this, and you won’t want to wait until the podcast gets posted.
Plus! Before the show and during intermission enjoy our newly added bonus feature from last episode, The Sandbox Bar! Featuring beer, wine, mixed drinks and other refreshments.
Come see it LIVE! on Monday, July 23.
Who:      The Sandbox Artists Collective
What:     SANDBOX RADIO LIVE!: An Unexpected Twist
Where:   West of Lenin (Located at 203 N. 36th Street, a few blocks west of the Statue of Lenin in the center of the universe,Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood.)
When:     Monday, July 23, Sandbox Bar opens at 7:00, house opens at 7:30 with a live music set, show starts at 8:00pm
How much: Donations gratefully accepted at the door. Reservations recommended and Available through brownpapertickets.com by clicking here starting Monday, July 2.

Sandbox Radio is conceived, produced and directed by Leslie Law.

Subscribe to the podcast of Sandbox Radio and listen to past episodes at the iTunes store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sandbox-radio-live/id452830642

Posted at 1:23 PM in Locally Grown Plays, Markheim, Sandbox Artists Collective, Seattle, Theatre, Theatre News | Comments (0)

Tags: ACT, Elizabeth Heffron, Jose "Juicy" Gonzales, Leslie Law, Markheim, Paul Mullin, Sandbox Radio Live, Scot Augustson, Wayne Rawley
One Great Year One–Sandbox Radio Live!

June 13, 2012

Back in April we staged the fourth episode of Sandbox Radio Live, “The Chase” rounding out a year of producing this unique offering of all local theatre talent. The podcast of this last show is now available here.

Episode 4, “The Chase”
recorded at West of Lenin on April 16, 2012

@1:42    “Stewart and Miriam” by Elizabeth Heffron
@10:52   “Markheim: Episode 4” by Paul Mullin
@25:40   “Why We Run” by Scot Augustson
@29:35   “Ain’t Gonna Chase After You” Charles Leggett
@33:25   “The Back of the 358 #4” by Paul Mullin
@34:50   “Straight With Chaser” by Ki Gottberg
@42:54   “Always Disappearing” by Juliet Pruzan
@56:20   “The Back of the 358 #5” by Paul Mullin
@57:40   “Child of the Second Tier” by Elizabeth Heffron
@1:04:32 “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows”
@1:07:53 “The Back of the 358 #6” by Paul Mullin
@1:09:45 “Squeeze Play” by Vincent Delaney
@1:22:00 “Finale/Credits
It was a great evening, as the Sandboxers have really hit their stride generating and performing work intended especially for the pleasures of listening. For me the standouts of the evening were poems by Scot Augustson and Elizabeth Heffron, “Why we Run” and “Child of the Second Tier”; plus Charles Leggett’s hard blowing “Ain’t Gonna Chase After You” blues, getting its sassy behind kicked by Leslie Law’s second mic vocals.
In July we’ll kick off a whole new year, with Episode 5 “An Unexpected Twist”, be there to share the making of the magic.
And per tradition, below the fold you’ll find the script for Episode Four of Markheim, should you care to follow along as you listen.
(And thanks again to John Ulman for taking such great photos!)
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Posted at 1:23 PM in Locally Grown Plays, Markheim, Sandbox Artists Collective, Seattle, Theatre, Theatre News | Comments (0)

Tags: ACT, Elizabeth Heffron, Jose "Juicy" Gonzales, Leslie Law, Markheim, Paul Mullin, Sandbox Radio Live, Scot Augustson, Wayne Rawley
Rain City Projects Rocks It World Class with Vol. 3 of Manifesto Series

April 10, 2012

So I know you are going to find this hard to believe, but I was recently getting into it with a fellow playwright about the failures of the New York-centric hub-and-spoke model of new play development. His argument was the tired old saw: “If you want the best product, you have to get it from the where all the best gather to produce it.” If I recall correctly, he gave as an example: “If you’re were looking for a new sensei for your martial arts dojo, you would to look to Okinawa.” I really have no idea what that means. I did, however, offer the counter that if I want the best cheese, beer, wine, meats, fish, fruit and vegetables, I don’t really need to look beyond the Pacific Northwest. Then I posted a helpful link on his Facebook wall to my essay “Theatre Takes Place: Why Locally Grown Plays Matter.”
The link disappeared within an hour. So much for the free exchange of ideas. I suppose when it comes to thoughts on theatre, the proper direction of flow is one-way from New York City to everywhere else.
But honestly, I don’t even need to argue when amazing Seattle institutions like Rain City Projects regularly put world class money where my big mouth is. Case in point, their upcoming release of Volume 3 of their Manifesto Series, a regularly published anthology of great Northwest Plays.
Can I even express to you how honored I was to be included with the likes of Yussef El Guindi recent winner of The Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, or my personal heroine Elizabeth Heffron, or Stranger Genius Award winner Chris Jeffries or the fiercely incomparable Bret Fetzer and Stephen McCandless, all hand-selected by the nationally renowned playwright and playwriting teacher Naomi Iizuka?
Nope. I don’t believe I can, but— dammit!— I can try.
This coming Sunday we will be celebrating Volume 3’s release with free readings from several of the collected plays. I’ll be there. Yussef and Elizabeth mentioned they might be, too. So why don’t you come on down so we can sign your copy, hot, fresh, and locally sourced, right off the presses!?
Here are all the crucial details from Rain City Projects:
Rain City Projects is releasing the third book in its Manifesto series – anthologies of plays by Northwest playwrights. We’re very excited this time to have an anthology of seven plays selected by Naomi Iizuka who started by writing a manifesto of what theater should be and then chose plays she felt exemplified her vision. Please join us for a reading of short excerpts from Ms. Iizuka’s delightful manifesto and from the plays she chose including:
Language Rooms by Yussef El Guindi
Clubfoot by Bret Fetzer & Stephen McCandless
Mitzi’s Abortion by Elizabeth Heffron
Vera Wilde by Chris Jeffries
An American Book of the Dead by Paul Mullin
Live! From the Last Night of My Life by Wayne Rawley
and Wizzer Pizzer by Amy Wheeler
Sunday, April 15th at 2:00pm
The reading is FREE and will be held at Elliott Bay Book Company 1521 10th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
Manifesto v. 3 will be available for purchase along with Manifesto v. 2 (edited by Steven Dietz) and Manifesto v. 1 (edited by Erik Ehn).

Posted at 1:23 PM in Locally Grown Plays, Markheim, Sandbox Artists Collective, Seattle, Theatre, Theatre News | Comments (0)

Tags: ACT, Elizabeth Heffron, Jose "Juicy" Gonzales, Leslie Law, Markheim, Paul Mullin, Sandbox Radio Live, Scot Augustson, Wayne Rawley