The Butcher's Son

Recently I've had the pleasure of designing some video projections for The Butcher's Son, a musical memoir by my friend and KC colleague Vi Tran - playing soon at the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival!

The show recounts the true story of a young Vi, his family, and their perilous and touching journey as refugees out of Vietnam. It is equal parts dramatization, story-telling, and song, and if you'll be in Chicago this month, I highly recommend you come check it out for yourself (see info at the end of this post!)

A quick & dirty tech rehearsal for Butcher's Son. Photo: Mackenzie Goodwin-Tran

A lot of my design consists of map animations illustrating various steps on the long journey the company describes. Other flourishes include text, emotional abstractions, and the integration of real photos. I think this is the third (fourth?) time the show has been performed,  and my contributions will appear alongside many elements from past productions, provided by director Mackenzie Tran.

 

While I don't consider myself an expert in this sort of thing, I do have a healthy background in video production, and I really enjoy diving into projection design now and then, as it gives me a chance to combine two different mediums about which I'm passionate. I try to be sparing in my own projects; as tempting as it is, sometimes projections in stage shows can come across as cheap, or be way more trouble than they're worth. However, in this case I think the use of images is a perfect choice by the creative team. Carefully selected bits of real photos and illustrative elements help tell the story vividly and immersively, and I'm quite happy to be a part of it.

If I'm remembering right - and I never am - this is the seventh time I've done this type of design. My first couples go's at it came during my undergrad; a trial-by-fire multi-screen fever dream production of Tommy and a prologue for Radioactive Man and One Eyed Electrical Socket, which is maybe the greatest piece of art ever made. Once out of school I made material for personal projects Fountain City Sketch, and surreal fringe-turned-indie show Our Author Died Today. The most recent three have been for Stuffed Buffalo Productions (Vi and Mackenzie's company); with staged charity readings of Finding Nemo and Eternal Sunshine (which I may have spent an obscene amount of time obsessing over) prior to Butcher's Son.

Anywho. Come see The Butcher's Son at The Chicago Musical Theatre Festival. While you're there, come see my show The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe, which I'll be posting about soon! Dammit, just come see all the shows. I'm sure gonna try.

The Butcher's Son
by Vi Tran

Greenhouse Theater Center
2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago

Saturday, 2/10 at 3pm
Wednesday, 2/14 at 8pm
Sunday, 2/18 at 6pm
Friday. 2/23 at 7:30pm

Kiss & Tail 2018

Project role: Writer
Location: Written in Chicago, performed in KC

Kiss & Tail is an annual Valentine's event at the Kansas City Zoo. As far as I can tell it's been going on since 2012; an adults-only evening of wining, dining, and entertainment.

In 2015 my writing partner Brian and I were commissioned by the KC Zoo (or rather, by The Living Room Theatre, which was producing) to write a new show for the presentation part of the evening. In years past, an expert biologist would give a talk about the weird and interesting mating habits of various animals, and the organizers felt that it was time to up the spectacle a bit.

So, in January of 2015 we got down to writing a 45 minute play about animal sex. Play is the wrong word, it was really a series of sketches with a simple through-line for the narrator and his love interest. I grew increasingly concerned about what might happen if someone stumbled onto my google history around this time (how many times can I look up "elephant penis" before I'm put on some kind of watch list?), but the end result worked. Unfortunately, neither of us could be there for the performance, but all reports say it went over great - and they probably weren't lying, because they've had us back to write a new version each year since.

A rehearsal for the 2015 version.

All the media in this post is from the first two runs of the show (2015, 2016), but there have now been four versions total. The first three years we did some recycling; keeping a few sketches that went over big the previous year, replacing a few others. This time, however, the zoo specifically requested a 100% original script. They're noticing a lot of repeat customers, and they want to ensure that no one is bored by material they've already seen. So, with that in mind, we sat down in our Chicago apartment and churned out an all new half hour featuring everything from dance competitions to mooching angler fish to exploding bumblebee testis. The script is now in the hands of director Missy Koonce and her stellar cast, preparing for the big performance on February 10th.

Victor Raider-Wexler, Seth Macchi, Amy Attaway, and Ryan Hruza rehearsing in 2015.

The cast and creative team has changed every year, with a few repeat offenders returning to their roles. The Living Room has signed some top notch talent to this thing every time, and this year is no exception. In addition to our perfectly bombastic director / narrator Missy Koonce, the show will be performed by Donovan Woods, Sebastian Smith, Damian Blake, Emmy Panzika, Missy Fennewald, and Molli McCulley. Each will be playing a wide variety of animals in an eclectic script that we tried our damndest to keep...possible.

Unfortunately, I won't be in town to see it performed, as I'll be here in Chicago doing our musical Lefty & Crabbe. In fact, I've never actually been able to see it, weirdly enough. But I want to wish everybody all the broken legs, and apologize in advance to whomever has to do the penis fight in the flatworm sketch.

If you'd have asked me upon graduating college if I ever thought I'd get paid to write infotainment comedy, I'd say, "What kind of a question is that? How did you get here?" But weirdly enough, this has become something of a pattern. Four zoo shows, something like 40 Did You Know videos, and a history show called Slant KC, which, incidentally, might be getting a revamp this year. I'll take it! It's fun AND I get good and learned!

Huge thanks to both The Living Room Theatre and the Kansas City Zoo for this ridiculous and wonderful gig. 

Tickets and more information here.

Milking Christmas: A New Musical

Project role: Co-Writer/Co-Composer/Actor
Location: Written all over the place, performed in Kansas City

2017 is over and I am officially tired. Somehow, against all odds and reasonable medical advice, my collaborators and I managed to squeeze out a second full-length musical before the year was over. It's hard to know where to begin with this one, so bear with me as I hit ya with some background.

The whole thing started as sort of a joke during late night conversations toward the end of the run of our first musical, The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe. Brian and I had recently watched a fascinatingly awful Christmas movie in the form of an MST3K episode and we were so intrigued by it that we started musing about turning that into our next piece. Then the idea of writing a Christmas show became less of a joke. And Seth got on board. And Ryan (composer/musician extraordinaire) got on board. And the artistic director of the theatre got on board. And then our fate was sealed.

It started with a couple of brainstorming meetings. We really had no idea where we were headed other than "Christmas." We quickly scrapped the bad movie concept, though one or two elements from it made their way into the final piece. By the end of the two days, we had a core concept.

The story would take place in Christmastown. That much we knew. North Pole, Santa's village, sleigh, reindeer, the whole nine yards. In addition to the standard cast, we wanted to use figures that would be recognizable as Christmas characters, but that didn't get featured a lot. The 12 Days of Christmas turned out to be a goldmine. Lords-a-Leaping? Ladies Dancing? Who the hell were these people? We had loads of fun figuring out how to weave them in. We'd landed on one of the eight "Maids-a-Milking" as our protagonist; it felt like kind of a perfect choice. Milk Maid is an inherently low status character, a great place to start for a hero, and it seemed unexpected but not out of place. We knew that this Maid (eventually dubbed "Macey") would make a troubling discovery about Christmastown, and have to fight to save the day.

White board from one of the first writing sessions.

I hesitate to say more because we hope to stage the show again, and I hate to spoil my own stuff. I'll just say that we landed on the title Milking Christmas for three reasons: 1) Milk maid protagonist 2) Themes of exploitation of the holiday and 3) A wink to the fact that that's exactly what we were doing by putting up this show.

The writing process was a bizarre beast. Following the close of Lefty and Crabbe, we had to shelve this project for a bit to get other things done. By the time we refocused, we had about 3 months, in 3 different states, to put together a full script and score.  Brian Huther and I worked from Chicago. Seth Macchi had recently moved to New York. And Ryan McCall and producers Rusty Sneary and Shawnna Journagan were in KC. Thank god for google docs.



 

Writing session from 3 different states.

Once Brian and I, and later Seth, got back to KC, it was really crunch time. We'd have full day sessions with Ryan tying up musical loose ends and finishing numbers, then we'd retire to the building's basement and work a few more hours on book revisions. Lather, rinse, repeat.
 

Since this was such an infant of a piece, we were still playing and writing and adjusting basically up till tech week, which I'm sure caused no shortage of headaches. Luckily, there was an amazingly talented and supportive team on this show remarkably adept at punch-rolling. All four of us writers were in the show (Ryan on keys, though often throwing in a line or an animal sound). Was this a good idea? I dunno, but it was a hell of a ride. Seth had originally planned on being in New York during the run but stepped into the cast last minute to fill a vacated spot.

A production meeting midway through rehearsals.

I could churn out two dozen more paragraphs on this from a writing standpoint, but none of that is as important as the incredible people that really made this thing happen. Rusty and Shawnna at The Living Room, as usual, demonstrated unconditional support, absurd amounts of trust, and ingenious leadership and flexibility in bringing a really odd vision to life. Our incredible director, a Kansas City legend and self-proclaimed Director-of-All-The-Plays, Missy Koonce, pulled a sort of triple duty as set designer and choreographer, which makes me tired just writing it.

I won't gush about each artist individually because this post is already too long, but they are all listed at the close, and suffice it to say that their professionalism, drive, and willingness to go the extra mile for a yet thoroughly unproven idea was tremendously humbling, and I owe these folks a lot.

So - how did it go?

Our goal, as writers, was to have the show go off well enough that we left saying "Yes, we'd like to keep working on this." I think we certainly achieved that. It was a crazed and wonderful first stab - thanks in no small part to the commitment of the actors - and we're already brimming with notions of how to make it better. Some nights, the response was subdued chuckles and warm smiles. Some nights, it was wall-to-wall hysteria. That's fairly typical for a comedy in my experience; there's no telling what the energy's gonna be. But I don't think any crowd left feeling disappointed. And boy did they show up! About a week before it even closed, Milking Christmas officially became the highest selling show on record in the history of The Living Room.

It was well reviewed, well enjoyed, and maybe most importantly for my selfish ass, a wonderful time. A Christmas "cheers" to all of you, team. I love you, I miss you, and this is one holiday season I'll never forget.

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Milking Christmas: A New Musical
Book and lyrics by Brian Huther, Ben Auxier, and Seth Macchi
Music by Ryan McCall, Brian Huther, and Ben Auxier

World premiere: The Living Room Theatre, December 2017
Director/choreographer Missy Koonce
Musical director Ryan McCall

CAST
Elise Poehling.............Macey Maid-a-Milking
Bob Linebarger..........Santa Claus
Seth Macchi................Chris Claus
Ellen Kirk......................Mrs. Claus/Masha/Carol Jolly
Mike Ott........................Jingle B. Elf/Ginger/General Sparkleshine/Lord 1
Nellie Maple.................Citizen Cane/Lt. Puddings/Mildred/Holly Hunter/Lord 3
Brian Huther.................Clyde/Mandy/Lord 2
Ben Auxier....................Krampsnickle/The Christmas Mole/Mike
Margaret Veglahn......Mildred/Toy Soldier
Andrew Stout...............Coal Miner/Toy Soldier/Mika/Lord
Cam Burns....................Coal Miner/Toy Soldier/Mary

Stage management: Lacey Pacheco
Regina Wellner
Emmy Panzica
Shawnna Journagan
Costume designer Nancy Robinson
Lighting design Nicole Jaja
Stage carpenter Kyle Dyck
Scenic artist Regina Wellner
Properties by Shawnna Journagan
Artistic director Rusty Sneary
 

No Sleep November 2017

Project role: Actor / Host
Location: Kansas City, MO

No Sleep November is an annual tradition at The Living Room Theatre. It's a 24 hour play writing event and it goes like so: a handful of playwrights are featured. Each one is grouped with a few actors and a production assistant through a series of draft picks and challenges. Each is also issued a few elements that must be incorporated into their work: a prop, a line of dialogue, and a costume piece. 24 hours later, a brand new 10 minute play from each writer will be performed for the public in a one-time-only showcase.

It's a play festival meets a lock-in, and it's delirious fun. The expansive four floor building that comprises TLR provides housing for a bustling mob of 35+ artists and administrators to develop, rehearse, design, and tech their new works. Also sleep, occasionally, though that's far from guaranteed.

The results of this venture are often hilarious, often touching, and always innovative. The immediacy and live-wire sensibility of the show gives both the artists and the audience a sense of being plugged into something unique and exciting.

The wonderful Curtis Smith and I starred alongside Diane Bulan in "Alamo Love"

As I was already in KC to work on our new musical Milking Christmas, I was excited to get another chance to hop into NSN. This was my third time as an actor for the event and second time as host. I was also a writer one year, but I prefer not to talk about that, as it broke my entire brain. This time around, Rusty and I had fun coming up with new drafting techniques, and I got to play one of my wheel-house characters (the dry and baffled straight man) in a funny, visceral piece by the one and only Ron Simonian, who is maybe the most prolific writer in KC. Big thanks to everyone involved - I think this was the best year yet!

If you live in KC, be sure to check out the next No Sleep November at The Living Room Theatre. It's a night you'll never forget - and a little secret you get to be in on.

MINt (Music Improv Night)

Project Role: Improviser
Location: Chicago

Wednesday,  October 25th, was bittersweet. It was my final night performing with my MINt team before a trip to KC would cause me to leave the season early. Not only that, but the future of MINt itself was up in the air, as its longtime home MCL announced they would soon be closing their doors.

So, I suppose that's the bitter. The sweet, though, was the opportunity to do all these fun shows. Music Improv Night is a long-standing tradition of, well, what it sounds like. It's not quite a class, it's not quite a troupe, it's more like a club - a club for people who didn't know they needed to be in the club until they found themselves there.

I auditioned for MINt waaay back in July, and from there was placed onto one of three teams that performed various long and short form musical improv every Wednesday night at MCL. Few if any of us actually made it to EVERY performance, but teams are stocked with a big enough cast that the show doesn't suffer for it. I think my track record was probably around 50% of the shows between when we started at the beginning of August and when I departed in late October. I wish I could have done more, because this was a blast. Huge shoutout to my friends on the unforgettably named team The Lion, The MINt, and The Wardrobe, and to our coach Ryan Cashman. Let's keep it rolling!

---

Addendum 1/30/18:
MCL Chicago has now officially closed its doors, and will be missed. I'm very happy I got to be at the goodbye party.

The Rough & The Precious

Project Role: Writer / Actor
Location: Chicago

We wrapped our sketch show The Rough & The Precious on Friday, October 13th. The show had a limited run of four performances and was independently produced for the Blackout Cabaret stage at The Second City.

The Rough & The Precious (so named for reasons I now can't fully remember) was written and performed by Michelle Leatherby, Molly Kessler, Brian Huther, and myself, and directed by the wonderful Heather Bodie. It was my first live sketch endeavor in Chicago, and I couldn't have asked for a much better experience. Receptive but small turnout for the first two performance gave way to full houses for the last two as word began to spread, and I'm very proud of what we put together. My sincere thanks to everybody who made it out.

Performance of "When God Made the Universe"

This particular foursome had never worked together, but it wasn't long before the show found a voice. That voice, while definitely eclectic, was mostly very silly and endearing. Even its biting moments were embedded in broad smiles and bouncy melodies. It was a sincere joy to perform. We'll be on the lookout for another chance to put it up when schedules allow!

ScienceLite!

Project Roles: Co-writer, Actor, Editor
Location: Chicago

Friend Dog Studios had its second release in a week with ScienceLite!, an absurdist, satirical sketch on pseudo-science, junk science, and the easy proliferation of bad information on the internet.

In other words, it's a video about sharing made up crap.

I hesitate to list myself as co-writer for this one because it was mostly Brian's work, but I contributed a line and edit here and there as well. The sketch was written for our live show The Rough and the Precious - currently playing at The Blackout Cabaret at the Second City Chicago, Fridays through October 13th.

We decided to adapt it to video for a couple of reasons. First, we liked it and thought it translated well to a social media format (since that's what it's about), and second, we thought it might make good cross-promotion for the stage show. Telling people in Chicago you have a sketch revue is like telling them you have a collection of oxygen; you need something more to catch their attention.

This was one of the easiest shoots we've ever managed; just a few shots on green screen in our apartment's dedicated office space. With some assistance from Michelle Leatherby (another collaborator on the live show), we managed to finish up in about 3 hours from set up to tear down. The post-production process was considerably longer for reasons that will be obvious from watching the video - along with the usual steps of timeline building, color-correcting, and audio-tweaking, every second of every shot was passed through After Effects CC for some fun, albeit kinda cheesy extra visuals. Lucky for me, I've had similar experiences editing various projects such as our Jones-Forrester installments ("Taxes" and "Payday Loans"), so I've picked up a technique or two that help with my efficiency. The result was about 13 hours of staring at my PC to get the final product below:

Making a Masterpiece - Part 3: The Product

Project roles: Improviser / Editor
Location: Shot in Kansas City, edited in Chicago

The long awaited (??) finale to the Friend Dog Studios series Making a Masterpiece was finally posted on Oct 3rd, 2017 to our YouTube and Facebook channels.

This series is bonkers, and this installment is a special kind of stupid that a joy to put together. If you're confused, of course you are. If you'd like some clarify, you can see the series from the beginning here.

The Onion: Steve Jobs Cosplay

Project role: Actor
Location: Chicago

Had a lot of fun on my first ever shoot with The Onion here in Chicago!

I've been a fan of The Onion and Clickhole for a long time, so getting the chance to visit the offices and get in on the action a little was a real treat. Hope there's more to come!

The video was posted to their facebook and twitter accounts on 9/22/17.

Roundup: August 2017

Hey there friends. This is a monthly overview I try to maintain to let anyone who may be interested get a general look at what I've been up to, career-wise. Probably more significantly, it serves the purpose of reminding me what I've been up to, since I have the long term memory of an amnesic goldfish.

Early in the month I did a couple more shows with the Music Improv NighT at MCL Chicago. That's an ongoing project through November that has been a lot of laughs so far - I should really write a full post on that experience soon. You can check out the shows every Wednesday at MCL! I also continued doing shows with Dinner Detective at both their Schaumburg and Chicago locations, and I'm very grateful for how welcoming that cast has been!

Friend Dog Studios got back to posting patreon-supported content; the first two (out of three) installments of a really dumb video series called Making a Masterpiece have gone up this month. Those have been a bonkers but rewarding challenge for me to work on and you can read more about 'em here and here.

On August 9th I booked a last minute commercial job for a startup called Lystr. I believe the video will be used for crowdfunding purposes so I'll keep my eye out for it on their social media. The gadget they're producing is basically an automated shopping-list manager you keep in your kitchen, and it was actually pretty neat. I probably should have asked for one. I drive a hard bargain, by which I mean bargaining is hard and I...drive.

Mid-month I popped back into Kansas City (I can't seem to stay away for more than about 6 weeks) to check a few different things off my list. First I headed over to Hallmark HQ to record some character voice over for a couple of upcoming Christmas products. The staff there is always fun to be around; it was a pleasure to hang out with them and voice a goofy snowman for a bit. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait till 2018 to see the finished products. Damn.

An older picture of me shooting a piece with ej4.

While in KC, I also performed with the KC improv festival (which I wrote all about here), helped run auditions for my upcoming Christmas musical, and shot a few corporate training vids with a cool company called EJ4. Essentially, it's presenter work were an actor (hey, that's me!) reads off a teleprompter while an operator manipulates graphics through a green-screen interface. I've been working with them off and on for a couple of years now, and was happy they agreed to roll with my schedule while I was in town.

Work is getting more earnest on my two major writing projects. The Second City sketch show I'm working on with Brian Huther, Michelle Leatherby, and Molly Kessler now has both a director (Heather Bodie) and a title! The Young and The Precious will go up at The Blackout Cabaret for a total of four performances; 9/15 and 9/22 at 7:30pm, then 10/6 and 10/13 at 9:00pm. This is far from my first experience with sketch, but it's definitely my first go-around with sketch in Chicago, and I'm eager to see what's in store for me to learn and discover.

My other writing project, a new Christmas musical set to premiere this December at The Living Room Theatre in KC, is also making progress! We now have a director and are close to having a full cast - though I'm not sure I'm allowed to announce them publicly yet. We still need to pick a title. Right now the two main contenders are Selling Christmas or The War on Christmas. Which do you like better? I mean, you don't know what it's about, but arguably, neither do I, so. Lemme know.

The Kansas City Improv Festival

Project role: Improviser
Location: Kansas City, MO

Pictured: a KCiF sponsor, 3 members of Business of Otters, a 4th guy who looks vaguely like me but is not, in fact, me.

It was an absolute pleasure to return to my stomping grounds at the Kick Comedy Theater in KC for the 17th Kansas City Improv Festival!

The festival, produced each year by the KC Improv Company, takes place over two jam-packed weekends and features prominent improv acts from all over Kansas City and throughout the U.S., as well as specialized workshops and of course, great after-parties. Despite being (allegedly?) based in Chicago now, I couldn't resist popping in for a couple of shows with two groups that got accepted to perform.

On Friday, August 18th I played with Business of Otters (Andy Perkins, Michael Hudgens, Joshua Gleeson, and myself.) The otters are basically a quartet of college buddies, and when we take the stage together to indulge in what we call "basement-prov" (so named because it originated in inebriated basement shows for no audience), the result is a racing, absurd, joyously stupid time. We've actually won a couple KC competitions despite rarely having any idea what we're trying to do.

We don't get many chances to perform together these days - in fact, this was the first set we'd done since the last annual festival - but once we sat down and started talking, it took no time at all for the old sparks to fly again. The set can be viewed here (time code 21:37). It made very little sense, conveyed nothing of importance, broke several improv rules, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Kate not included in this picture because she wasn't in the group yet when I made it and I am lazy.

Then on Saturday I returned to play with Breakspeare, a novel little group consisting of myself, Tim Marks, Kate Haugan, and Dave Martin. Every Breakspeare show to date has featured some combination of 3 out of 4 of us, this time it was Dave who sat out. The format is somewhat difficult to explain, ya kinda have to see it. But I'll try anyway. One player speaks in modern American English while the other two maintain a Shakespearean style of dialogue throughout. The set is divided into several unconnected scenes, each of which takes place within a genre of film or television, as submitted by the audience before the start of the show.

Crowd for the Saturday show at The Kick Comedy Theater

In short, it's the hardest improv I've ever done in my life. The only way I can think to make it more challenging would be to layer music over top, but that makes my head spin so don't tell Tim I even mentioned it. The festival set was a lot of fun and really well received! Tim and Kate are two of the greatest improvisers I've ever had the pleasure of working with and I was so, so happy to get another chance to tackle this mixed-up style. Video of the set can be viewed here (we go up first after a brief intro.)

If you're in KC, I highly suggest checking out the KC Improv Festival next time it pops up. It's a well-curated fest that won't waste your time, and is guaranteed to introduce you to something new in the improv world. If you're part of a troupe from anywhere at all, submit for next year! You won't regret it.

Making a Masterpiece: Part 2

Project roles: Improviser / Editor
Location: Show in Kansas City, edited in Chicago

Friend Dog Studios released our second installment in the Making a Masterpiece mini-series. The series was improvised on set and I've been having an interesting time creating a story line out of the odd pieces in editing. See my previous blog post for part 1 and more information!

Making a Masterpiece: Part 1

Project roles: Improviser / Editor
Location: Show in Kansas City, edited in Chicago

After a hiatus of about three months to focus on stage work, my comedy channel Friend Dog Studios has returned to creating patreon funded online content! Making a Masterpiece premiered on our facebook and youtube pages this morning, and I tell ya what, it feels good to be back.

We took a premise based, no-script approach to the production of this one. While still in Kansas City shortly after the closing of our musical, we co-opted The Living Room stage and essentially improvised for about two hours while Director of Photography Joe Carey rolled camera. The result was a hilarious mess that I've been picking through from my editing bay for the last few days, ultimately forming the experience into a multi-episode story arc about three colorful playwrights.

I think there will probably be three episodes in all. Look for the next one to premiere in a couple of weeks.

July 2017, a Roundup

This month I returned to Chicago to hit the pavement. The refreshingly mild summer has been a perfect backdrop for auditions, comedy shows, and meeting new and exciting artists all over the city.

On July 8th I joined the local cast of Dinner Detective, which I wrote about in a previous blog post. Looking forward to getting into the flow with the rest of the company over the next few weeks!

Brian and I got back to performing improv as Dog & Friend Dog; a truly welcome experience after a 9 month hiatus (!) from improvising as a duo. Thanks to The Hymn Brothers at The Bug House and the producers of Nite Brunch at The Playground Theater for having us over to shake the dust off and get back to the simple pleasures of makin' stuff up. We also (individually) joined the cast of Musical Improv Night (or "MINT") for their new season! Performances by this large collective will be Wednesday nights at 7:30 at MCL Chicago through November 15th. More info is available here, and I plan on writing another blog post about the experience once it gets rolling.

Logo for The Bughouse Theatre

Work began in earnest for a couple of future productions as well. I'm pleased to announce that Brian and I are teaming up with Chicago comedians Michelle Leatherby and Molly Kessler to write and perform a (yet unnamed) sketch show in The Blackout Cabaret at Second City! Shows will be 9/15 and 9/22 at 7:30pm, then 10/6 and 10/13 at 9:00pm. I'll definitely write an update when we get closer. I'm also thrilled to announce that Friend Dog Studios is partnering up once again with our friend Ryan McCall to create our second musical; a (also yet unnamed) Christmas show that's set to premiere THIS December at The Living Room Theatre in Kansas City! You can read all about our previous musical venture here. More info on that as soon as we...um...write it. Boy I'd better get to work.

I Joined the Cast of Dinner Detective Chicago!

Project role: Actor/Comedian
Location: Chicago & Schaumburg

"It's a thrill!" - TimeOut

After a few years of semi-regular performances with The Dinner Detective Kansas City, I've joined the Chicago/Schaumburg branch where it all started!

Dinner Detective is an interactive murder mystery dinner theatre show, full of surprise suspects, plot twists, and mostly lots of laughs.

Depending on the night, I may be blending into the unsuspecting crowd, waiting to play my part in the story, or acting as Detective, which is the role I usually played in KC. The Detective role is a real blast for me - combing lose script narrative performance with improvisation and stand-up style crowd work. It keeps me on my toes even when I've done a particular show dozens of times; it'll never be the same twice.

The company currently performs public shows in both downtown Chicago (Hilton Garden Inn) and Schaumburg (Chicago Marriott Schaumburg) most Saturday evenings, and is available for private bookings as well. Visit thedinnerdetective.com for tickets and more information.

May - June 2017, A Roundup

As my time in Kansas City comes to an end and I prepare to return to Chicago, I thought I'd do a quick overview of some of what I've been up to while I was here. I've already written blog posts about some of them, so I'll link to those rather than exposit any further on them here.

The reason for my visit to KC has been to oversee and promote the world premiere production of the musical I co-wrote, The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe. As I write this, we've just closed, and while I'm a little heartbroken at seeing it have to go, I'm immeasurably grateful for the experience. You can read all about that at my previous blog post here. I had the opportunity to do a few press appearances for the show - including a profile interview with my writing partners for KC Metropolis which you can read here; thanks to Victor Wishna for putting that together! I also made a few radio appearances, guest hosting The Jonathon Weir Show on 98.1 FM (episode here), and doing interviews on Kansas Public Radio and KKFI (listen here). I self-recorded a radio spot for the show that ran on KKFI as well, which I've posted below. 

While Lefty & Crabbe was my primary focus, I did have some time to venture into a few other performances and appearances. For instance, I participated in a fascinating dissection of Hamlet’s soliloquies with director Ian Wooldridge, which I’ve already written about here. I also participated in a "TLR Talk" - an interview series which is part of The Living Room Theatre's education program, highlighting the work of various actors and writers associated with the theatre. Seth Macchi, Brian Huther, and I sat down with host Rusty Sneary for what turned into almost three full hours of discussion on comedy, collaboration, going viral, and what it takes to keep creating.

Rusty Sneary, Seth Macchi, Brian Huther, and myself at "TLR Talks with Friend Dog Studios"

On May 15th I returned to the Dinner Detective Kansas City to play detective in what turned out to be an exceptionally fun night with a great crowd. "DD" is a franchised murder mystery dinner theatre show, and I've been a part of the Kansas City cast since this branch opened some three years ago. In fact, I think I may be the only original company member still on the roster. I still like to book a show or two with them whenever I'm in town, and will be interviewing for a position with the Chicago branch soon. The show is loose-script, audience interactive, and more silly comedy routine than heavy costume drama. As an actor and improvisor, it's something I've always enjoyed.

Ashley Osborn and I in a duo set at The Kick Comedy Theatre.

I also got to play a couple of shows at my former stomping grounds The Kick Comedy Theatre! The KC Improv Company kindly invited me to return for a couple of guest spots, one being Presto! An Improvised Musical, which is, well, exactly what it sounds like. These are always tremendously fun and usually outrageously weird - this set being no exception. We started with some short form before moving to the music. Video of that show can be found here. My second appearance was a duo set with current Artistic Director of the KC Improv Company, Ashley Osborn! I gotta tell ya, that set was one of my favorites. Nothing complicated, nothing intense, nothing that even made a whole lot of sense, just a giddy time bouncing ideas off a skilled and seasoned improviser. Video of that set is here (starts at 37:20)

I made guest appearances on a couple of comedy podcasts, which was a lot of fun as well. The first is brand new podcast venture from Yes, Co - an improv training startup by my friends and comedy pros Jamie Campbell and Michael Foster! I don't believe the show has premiered yet, but when it does I hope I remember to come back to this post and add a link. The second podcast was Don't Take Out Word For It, a hilarious show about the general anxieties of existence hosted by comedians Havana Mahoney & Anna Smith. I make an appearance as myself (and then William Shakespeare) on Episode 16: Juices For Miles.

And finally, I had a go at one of my first large-scale live streaming gigs as part of an ongoing partnership with trivia company Did You Know! My writing partner Brian Huther and I co-hosted a live quiz show on their facebook page - a first attempt which turned out to be a genuine blast! You can see the video here.

There's so much more to tell about various projects that I've started in on in the last couple of months - but it's too early to delve into details, so I'll say tata for now! See you in Chicago!

The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe

Project role: Co-Writer / Co-Composer / Music Supervisor
Location: Kansas City, MO

"Playwrights Ben Auxier, Brian Huther, and Seth Macchi have put together an absolutely enjoyable evening at the theater. Dialogue is tight. The jokes are funny."
- Alan Portner, Broadway World

I don't even know how to begin writing about this. This has been one of the single greatest experiences of my life, both professionally, and personally.

The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe is a musical comedy that began its life as a 55 minute piece in the 2015 Kansas City Fringe Festival. I co-wrote it alongside my Friend Dog Studios collaborators Brian Huther and Seth Macchi, and the response we received was so wonderfully positive that we all came away knowing we weren't done.

Rusty Sneary and Shawnna Journagan at The Living Room theatre produced that fringe original as well as this new, expanded version. Their trust and support have been absolutely integral to the existence of this piece; it simply wouldn't be around without them, and I'll never be able to thank them enough for that.

A poster design I created for the show.

So, sentimental blubbering aside, what is this show? The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe is the story of a comedy duo who find themselves down on their luck as the vaudeville circuits die and give way to the early popularity of film. Determined to stay in the entertainment business they love so dearly, the two follow a fast-talking agent to Hollywoodland, and are soon dizzy from the rapidly changing industry landscape around them.

The show is lightning quick, blissfully silly, 100% heartfelt, and designed to be a piece of pure entertainment. In many ways, it's a simple show, but in many others, it is fiercely and fascinatingly challenging, and I couldn't possibly have asked for a better team to pull it off. The casting consists of Lefty (Michael Hudgens) and Crabbe (Seth Macchi), surrounded by an ensemble of six actors (Brian Huther, Molly Denninghoff, Mike Ott, Ellen Kirk, Joshua Gleeson, and Elise Poehling) who portray some 46 additional characters throughout the show.

The piece was directed by Rusty Sneary of The Living Room, with choreography by Kyra Weinberger, costume design (no small undertaking here) by Nancy Robinson, lighting design by Lacey Pacheco, and dashes of sound design by David Kiehl. A very special kudos to the stage management team as well - led by Ellyn Calvert - who juggled more elements than I could possibly count in a stunningly flawless manner. I could go on and on about this cast and creative team, but there's too much to cover, so I'd invite you to read the reviews (below) to hear more about the incredible fruits of their labor.

One of the best things to come out of this experience was a new partnership with musician Ryan McCall, who acted as both our music director and our arranger, converting our chords and melodies into fully-fleshed out numbers that are better than I ever could have hoped. Ryan had to leave the production as accompanist after the first week, replaced by the incredible Eryn Bates, but we at Friend Dog Studios know we want to work with him again, and in fact are already getting started on our next collaboration!

"The writers and actors won me over with the sheer joy of performing and love of theater. And that’s something you can’t fake. The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe is part of the Living Room’s mission to produce original work by local or expatriate artists. Other theater companies should take note. I suspect this show has a future."
- Robert Trussell, KC Studio

"Playwrights Ben Auxier, Brian Huther, and Seth Macchi have put together an absolutely enjoyable evening at the theater. Dialogue is tight. The jokes are funny."
- Alan Portner, Broadway World

"The team is also able to tap into some kind of immediacy — whether it’s the small theater, the local talent or the 1920s nostalgia — that makes this production something to savor. (And don’t forget to stay for the post-curtain call sequence.)"
- Christine Pivovar, The Kansas City Star

"The heartfelt performances and unbridled silliness add up to an affectionate evening of escapism. The Ballad of Lefty and Crabbe is the stage equivalent of a summer blockbuster..."
- Liz Cook, The Pitch

"Hudgens and Macchi absolutely carry the show with their singing and acting. They are a joy to watch. The interaction and camaraderie amongst the cast sends electricity to the audience. ★★★★★"
- Bob Evans, KC Applauds

Hamlet: From the Page to the Stage

Project role: Actor
Location: Kansas City, MO

I was honored to take part in Hamlet: From the Page to the Stage, a presentation that was part of The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival's 25th Anniversary celebration in Kansas City.

Veteran British director and master acting teacher Ian Wooldridge waxed artistic on the soliloquies of Hamlet, intermingled with performances of said soliloquies from local talent Nicole Marie Green and myself. I'd like to thank Mr. Wooldrige and the festival for inviting me to be a part of it! 

Below is audio of the entire event, courtesy of the KC Library.

Nicole Green, Ian Wooldridge, and myself. All photos in this post courtesy of Dean Davison. See the full gallery here.

Phillips 66 In-House Spot

Project role: Actor
Location: Kansas City, MO

Had the pleasure of visiting Barkley for some quick work as part of a project for client Phillips 66. I don't believe the spot is being shared or broadcast outside of the company, so there's no video to show, but this was a quick, fun shoot with a wonderful, creative KC group.

I've also been very busy lately working as a writer/music supervisor on our musical The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe, which is currently in rehearsals. Check back for more info on that soon!

"Mazuma Mike" 2017 Campaign Launch

Project role: Actor / Model
Location: Kansas City, MO

My role as Mazuma Mike - spokesman for Mazuma Credit Union - is now in its third year! This time around Mike is getting a makeover; lookin' a good deal sharper and ready to take on the world.

The campaign is one that I've acted and written for over the past few years and I feel so incredibly fortunate to have had this opportunity with such a truly cool and creative company of people. You can check out some of our past work with Mike via Mazuma's youtube page or Mike's facebook page. Here's to another year!