Prohibitive Standards

Scenario (Thar' be spoilers here!)

2007-10-03T11:01:00.000-05:00

ACT I

WHO	ENTER	HAPPEN	EXIT
ROSE	UR w/ JJJ card	Place JJJ card on Table 3	Exit UR
HOBO	DL w/ Hobo Bag (HB)	Sits at Table 3	---
ROSE, HOBO	ROSE UR w/ Bud Vase	ROSE sets Vase on Table 3. Offers food to HOBO.	HOBO w/ HB & ROSE exit UR
GIRLS	UC ( R )	Make sure coast is clear – cross to Stage – tuning – end HAZEL, MILLIE, DOTTY – sing Red Robin	---
JUNE, GIRLS	JUNE UL w/ Clipboard	JUNE tries turning off Radio – stops GIRLS from singing – JUNE gets Cart from UR – Set tablecloths – give list to GIRLS.	JUNE UR
GIRLS	---	The Titanic Saga.	---
ORSON, GIRLS	ORSON DL w/ Orson’s Bag (OB), Journal, Self Help Book	ORSON leaves OB ULC – looks at radio – GIRLS distract & take him to the kitchen.	ALL UR, ORSON w/ Journal & Self Help, Hazel w/ Cart
ROSE, BUD	Rose UL, BUD DL	ROSE scares BUD – talk about band coming – Discuss BUD’S dream/nightmare involving water – ROSE ticks.	---
JIMMY, ROSE, BUD	JIMMY DL	BUD & JIMMY meet	BUD DL
JIMMY, ROSE	---	ROSE & JIMMY meet – we’re not open. JIMMY looking for Vito Poglio Della Mare aka The Tuna – Rose reacts. JIMMY decides to wait for Vito –ROSE gets Coffee Cup UC behind wall & gives to JIMMY. It’s real.	ROSE UL
MOLLY, JOE, JIMMY	MOLLY & JOE DL	Story of running band off road, plan to get $$ & go to Kansas , unhappy MOLLY – wants her stole.	MOLLY DL
JOE, JIMMY	---	JIMMY mistakes JOE for BUD – Learn JOE is “The Barber” & can’t stand to be touched. JOE drinks coffee – it’s real.	---
MOLLY, JOE, JIMMY	MOLLY DL w/ Joe’s Bag	MOLLY thought she was helping by bringing in Bag – JOE upset. MOLLY drinks coffee – likes it. JOE upset MOLLY flirts with JIMMY.	JIMMY DL
MOLLY, JOE	---	*BEGIN BAG LAZZI* Don’t let go of the bag!	JOE DL
JUNE, MOLLY	JUNE UR	Bag tug-of-war, JB flung UC	---
DOTTY, JUNE, MOLLY	DOTTY UR	MOLLY & JUNE looking at JUNE’s wrist, DOTTY see’s JB mistakes it for OB	DOTTY UR
JUNE, MOLLY	---	JUNE gets Coffee Cup	JUNE ULJ w/ Coffee Cup
JOE, MOLLY	JOE DL	Where is JB? MOLLY gives JOE OB.	---
ROSE, JOE, MOLLY	ROSE UC (L)	Passwords, shaking lazzi, need $$ to get the hooch & vice versa	---
JIMMY, JUNE, ROSE, JOE, MOLLY	JIMMY DL, JUNE ULJ	OB passes from JOE to ROSE to JOE to MOLLY to JIMMY when JUNE enters sees JIMMY, panics, grabs OB to hide her face and exits UR w/ OB.	JUNE UR, JIMMY DR
JOE, ROSE, MOLLY	---	JOE & ROSE exit UL, MOLLY follows then comes back alone crosses DR.	JOE & ROSE UL
DOTTY, MOLLY	DOTTY UR w/ JB	DOTTY drops JB ULC – MOLLY finds JB	DOTTY UR
HAZEL, MOLLY	HAZEL URJ	MOLLY crosses DR as HAZEL looks for OB ULC	HAZEL UR
JOE, ROSE, MOLLY	JOE UL, after beat ROSE UL	JOE wants Bag – ROSE angry he walked out of her office. MOLLY hands JB to JOE – looks inside – everything is fine – JB back to MOLLY – sets it down on Table 1 in argument.	---
ORSON, JOE, ROSE, MOLLY	ORSON UR	While JOE, ROSE, & MOLLY argue SL, ORSON enters – grabs JB	ORSON DR w/ JB
MILLIE, JOE, ROSE, MOLLY	MILLIE UR	MILLIE looking for ORSON sets OB down ULC – while JOE, ROSE, MOLLY argue (Goldfish)	MILLIE UR
JOE, ROSE, MOLLY	---	Why doesn’t MOLLY have JB? MOLLY picks up OB & hands to JOE – chases ROSE back to her office.	ROSE UL
JOE, MOLLY	---	JOE realizes wrong bag – chases MOLLY around the room knocking over 3 chairs DR and leaving OB in C	JOE & MOLLY DL
JUNE,	JUNE UR	JUNE cleaning & is nearly missed by JIMMY.	JUNE URJ
JIMMY	JIMMY DR	JIMMY picks up OB & finds Script.	JIMMY DL
JUNE, MOLLY	JUNE URJ, MOLLY DL	Discuss men and sticking up for ones self. JOE hollers off DL. MOLLY hides under Table 1.	---
JOE, JUNE, MOLLY	JOE DL	JOE looking for MOLLY – MOLLY gives her self away – JOE scares JUNE off.	JUNE ULJ
MOLLY, JOE	---	The bag search challenge.	MOLLY DL
JIMMY, JOE	JIMMY DL	Dames! JOE enlists JIMMY to help him find bag – big reward. BRIEF!!!!!	JOE DR, JIMMY DL
GIRLS, ORSON	UR, ORSON w/ JB, Journal & Self help	ORSON tells story to GIRLS – they try to see what’s in the bag – ORSON realizes it’s not OB	ORSON UR w/ JB, GIRLS DR
ORSON, JOE	ORSON UR w/ Journal & Self Help, JOE DR	Silent scene – ORSON writing – JOE watching – ORSON gives Self Help Book to JOE	ORSON UL
ROSE, JOE	ROSE ULJ	JOE is a different man – various aquatic metaphors – ROSE sits Table 3. JOE leaves to get food.	JOE UR
MOLLY, ROSE	MOLLY DL	No hooch – no money – no one goes anywhere.	ROSE UL Molly DR
JUNE	JUNE URJ w/ Clipboard	JUNE looking for GIRLS, put Clipboard on floor Center.	ULJ
JUNE, JIMMY	JUNE ULJ w/ broom & 2 mops, JIMMY DL w/ Script	JIMMY reading, JUNE cleaning – don’t see each other.	JIMMY DR
JUNE	---	JUNE calls for GIRLS 3 times while getting 2 Mops & Broom – placing them on Stage & leaving Clipboard on Stage	ULJ
GIRLS	UR	Looking for JUNE – no one here – Let’s practice on Stage – move Broom, Mops & clipboard UC & Sing	---
JUNE, GIRLS	JUNE UC (L)	JUNE yells at them for singing – “You’re flat!” Orders them to clean kitchen.	GIRLS UR w/ Mops & Broom, JUNE UC(L) w/ Clipboard
JIMMY, ORSON	ORSON UL w/ Journal, JIMMY DL w/ Script	Quick scene. Looking for the author.	JIMMY DL, ORSON UR
ROSE, BUD	BUD DL, ROSE UL	How are things going? Can’t trust JOE. BUD will keep an eye out for him.	BUD DL
ROSE	---	Hears JUNE singing from ULJ.	---
JUNE, ROSE	JUNE UL w/ Clipboard	ROSE & JUNE duet – JUNE falls off Stage.	JUNE UR w/ Clipboard
JIMMY, ROSE	JIMMY DL w/ Script	Discuss who was singing – JIMMY recognizes ROSE from past – discuss new Script – offers ROSE a part.	ROSE UL
ORSON, JIMMY	ORSON URJ w/ Journal	ORSON sits at Table 2 and writes – JIMMY glances over shoulder – realizes ORSON is playwright – initials are O.W. “My name’s Orson.”	JIMMY DL w/ Script, ORSON DR w/ Journal
ROSE	UL	Conversation with 3J	---
MILLIE, ROSE, ORSON	MILLIE UR, ORSON DR	ROSE tells MILLIE to watch the phone – ORSON crosses downstage and distracts.	MILLIE UR, ORSON DL, ROSE ULJ
JOE, MOLLY	JOE UR w/ Self Help, MOLLY DR	JOE hides in URJ.	---
ROSE, JOE, MOLLY	ROSE UR	MOLLY & ROSE discuss MOLLY’s master plan to NY – JOE hiding upstage – ROSE & MOLLY chase.	MOLLY DL
JOE, ROSE	JOE URJ	ROSE needs hooch – JOE agrees to get it and accept a check.	JOE DL
JUNE, ROSE	JUNE UR w/ Clipboard	Everything’s going great!	---
GIRLS, JUNE, ROSE	GIRLS UR	MILLIE: the band called… DOTTY: they were run off the road! HAZEL: They have to cancel. ROSE & JUNE we’re going to be ok - Recovery. At least we still have the hooch!	---
JOE, GIRLS, JUNE, ROSE	JOE DL	JOE screaming the car is gone!	---
MOLLY, JOE, GIRLS, JUNE, ROSE	MOLLY DL, ORSON UR w/ Journal	JOE thinks MOLLY stole the car chases her. ORSON writes in Journal.	---
JIMMY, MOLLY, JOE, GIRLS, JUNE, ROSE	JIMMY DL	JIMMY crosses on Stage – JUNE trips and lands in his arms – “April May?” “June!”	ALL in B/O

ACT II

WHO	ENTER	HAPPEN	EXIT
JIMMY, JUNE, MOLLY, ROSE, JOE, GIRLS, ORSON	ALL in B/O	“April May?” “June!” “You mind if we talk?” “No” “Alone!”	ROSE, JOE w/ 4 Tablecloths, GIRLS, ORSON UR, MOLLY ULJ
JIMMY, JUNE	---	Accusations – quick banter back and forth. ORSON enters UR.	JUNE UR w/ Clipboard
ORSON, JIMMY	ORSON UR w/ Journal	No way Orson’s getting his script back – JIMMY wants rests of pages.	JIMMY DL w/ Script
MOLLY, ORSON	MOLLY ULJ	ORSON explains his problem – needs his script, MOLLY explains hers. A deal is struck to return the bag to MOLLY and the script to ORSON.	MOLLY DL, ORSON DR.
JOE, ROSE	BOTH UR w/ 1 Tablecloth, JOE w/ Self Help	ROSE learning reverse psychology on JOE. She needs hooch – he says he’ll find it and also suggest bathtub gin.	ROSE UL
JIMMY, JOE	JIMMY DL w/ Script	Angelo Dundee scene; 1. Beat them (not full out combat) – maybe not a good idea 2. We could shout at them? - been there done that. 3. Maybe we should just be nice?	JOE DL w/ Self Help
JUNE, JIMMY	JUNE UR w/ Cart & Clipboard	JUNE resets the tablecloths – try to get along – almost but not quite.	JIMMY DL w/ Script
ROSE, JUNE, GIRLS	ROSE UL w/ Recipe, GIRLS UR	We start the substitute booze plot. Go over Bathtub Gin recipe. Tell the girls to clean the bathtub.	JUNE DL w/ Coat, GIRLS UR w/ Cart
JIMMY	DL w/ Script	Sits at Table 2 and reads.	---
MOLLY, JIMMY	MOLLY DL	MOLLY tries to get JIMMY’s attention – slips – falls on his lap – “Monkey Girl” JIMMY leaves Script on Table 2 when he leaves.	JIMMY DL, MOLLY URJ w/ Script
ROSE, JUNE	ROSE ULJ w/ Recipe, JUNE DL w/ Perfume & Sugar	Go over recipe – they’re missing alcohol! But wait – there’s some in TOTAL RECALL the perfume! We’re saved!	---
BUD, ROSE, JUNE	BUD DL w/ Warrant & Wanted Poster	BUD has a Warrant for JOE’s arrest.	BUD DL w/ Warrant and Wanted Poster
ROSE, JUNE	---	JUNE will warn JOE. ROSE will make booze.	JUNE DL, ROSE UR w/ Sugar & Perfume
ALL – The Chase Scene		MOLLY enters from ULJ, crosses Center w/ Orson’s script. BUD calls off stage, MOLLY hides under Table 1. BUD enters from DL crosses Center and exits DR. ORSON enters UR looking for MOLLY, exits DL. GIRLS enter UL looking for ORSON, cross Center BUD enters DR cross to GIRLS, shows picture of JOE GIRLS think picture looks luck BUD, BUD shoos GIRLS off DR BUD crosses UL, ORSON enters DL, MOLLY stands up from Table 1. –don’t see BUD exits DL, ORSON exits UR, MOLLY hides under Table 1 JIMMY enters DR w/ Orson’s bag, crosses UL, DL, exit DR MOLLY stands up from Table 1, crosses Center JOE calls from offstage, MOLLY hides under Table 4 JOE enters DL, crosses Center, exits DR ORSON enters UR, crosses straight to UL and exits MOLLY stands up from Table 4 and crosses Center JUNE calls off stage – MOLLY hides UL Juliet JUNE enters DL looking for JOE, crosses Center, exits DR MOLLY enters UL Juliet, crosses Center HOBO (Sam) enters UR crosses to L in the Center opening of Stage MOLLY exits UC following HOBO BUD enters DL, exits UR JIMMY enters DR, exits DL GIRLS enter DR, exit UR JUNE enters UR Juliet, crosses on Stage, exit UL Juliet MOLLY enter DR, exit UR Juliet ORSON enters UL, exit UR – same time GIRLS enter DR, exit UL-don’t see each other & SILENT!!!! JOE enters DL crosses Center, pauses – looks DL MOLLY enters UR Juliet as JOE exits DL MOLLY crosses Center as ORSON enters UR crosses to MOLLY JIMMY calls offstage MOLLY hides under Table 1, ORSON hides under Table 3 JIMMY enters DL, hides under Table 2 JOE enters DL as JUNE enters UL cross Center FIND A PLACE TO HIDE: JOE tries T3 as JUNE tries T1, JOE tries T2, JUNE tries T4 JOE hides under Table 4, JUNE exits UL Juliet GIRLS enter DL cross Center – 1, 2, 3 look around – stand on stage, pitch, sing (At end of 2^nd phrase “Old sweet song” Hidden bodies: 1,2,3 “YOU’RE FLAT”) GIRLS pause – scream, MILLIE exits DL, HAZEL exits DR, DOTTY exits UR Everyone else comes out from hiding JIMMY sees MOLLY, MOLLY sees JOE, ORSON sees MOLLY, MOLLY sees ORSON, JUNE sees JOE – HOBO (Sam) enters UC on stage slowly crosses UR MOLLY & ORSON exchange script and bag Center ORSON exits DR MOLLY exits UL JIMMY exits DL JOE exits DL JUNE exits DL HOBO exits UR JUNE enters DL & stalls so ROSE can change.
ROSE, JUNE	JUNE UR, ROSE UR w/ Booze Bottle	This should do it! The booze is in this REALLY UNIQUE BOTTLE WHICH NO ONE WILL MISTAKE WHEN WE SEE IT AGAIN. Who can we test it on? DOTTIE! JUNE goes to kitchen. ROSE fixes 3J’s Table before leaving.	JUNE UR, ROSE UL
MOLLY	ULJ w/ JB	MOLLY giving $$ away.	---
ROSE, JOE, MOLLY	JOE DL w/ Self Help, ROSE UL	MOLLY hiding URJ. JOE & ROSE talk about getting the booze. ROSE keeps trying to get JOE out the door and keep MOLLY from getting to JOE.	JOE DL w/ Self Help, MOLLY UL w/ JB
JUNE, ROSE	JUNE UR w/ Booze Bottle	JUNE puts Bottle on Table 3. Booze doesn’t work – DOTTY’s passed out. Party’s canceled. Call the GIRLS.	---
GIRLS, JUNE, ROSE	GIRLS UR	ROSE tells the GIRLS to break down the room – it’s all over.	ROSE UL
JIMMY, GIRLS, JUNE	JIMMY DL	JUNE tells JIMMY about the cancellation. Hand over mouth bit. The GIRLS start to hum. Suddenly JIMMY catches on to how good the GIRLS sound. JUNE comes up with the idea to use them as entertainment. If someone could polish the act, they’d be good enough! But they need money…	---
MOLLY, JIMMY, GIRLS, JUNE	MOLLY DR w/ JB	MOLLY gives JIMMY & JUNE $$, they discuss getting musicians, JUNE instructs GIRLS to practice.	MOLLY DL w/ JB, GIRLS UC, JIMMY & JUNE DL w/ Coats.
HOBO	UC w/ HB	HOBO enters UC alone crosses to Table 3 & sits – turns on radio.	---
ROSE, HOBO	ROSE UR w/ glasses	ROSE offers HOBO a glass on the house.	ROSE UL w/ other glasses
HOBO	---	HOBO drinks from Booze Bottle – crosses Center – coughs – stands up straight “Where the devil am I?”	HOBO UR w/ HB & Booze Bottle
MOLLY, ORSON	MOLLY DL w/ JB, ORSON UR w/ Journal & Script	ORSON doesn’t know what to do about JIMMY’s offer – MOLLY tells him to follow his happiness. ORSON makes a decision and goes to find JIMMY.	ORSON DL w/ Script & Journal
JOE, MOLLY	JOE DL	JOE apologizes, Decide where car really is, JOE & MOLLY reconcile. MOLLY tells him there’s no money – all things considered he handles it well and leaves to get the car.	JOE DL, MOLLY DL w/ JB
JIMMY, JUNE, GIRLS, ROSE, MOLLY	JIMMY & JUNE w/ Dress Boxes, GIRLS UR, ROSE UL	JIMMY & JUNE gives Boxes to GIRLS – they got a hold of a band – the GIRLS can sing – problem: Still no booze.	---
JOE, JIMMY, JUNE, GIRLS, ROSE, MOLLY	JOE & MOLLY DL	JOE found the car! He’ll unload the hooch out back.	JOE URJ
ORSON, JIMMY, JUNE, GIRLS, ROSE, MOLLY	ORSON DL w/ Journal & Script	ORSON and the GIRLS say goodbye. JUNE tells GIRLS to get ready to sing. ORSON decides to stay and hear them sits down Table 2.	GIRLS UC ROSE & JUNE UL
ORSON, JIMMY, MOLLY, ROSE	ROSE UL	ORSON then talks to JIMMY and tells his decision to do the show on radio. JIMMY thinks it’s a good idea.	---
JUNE, ORSON, JIMMY, ROSE, MOLLY	JUNE UR w/ Cart	JUNE gets help from ORSON, MOLLY and JIMMY to set tables for party.	---
BUD, JUNE, ORSON, JIMMY, ROSE, MOLLY	BUD DL	BUD caught the Tuna – Everyone happy – ROSE’s aria about the Titanic – Rosebud revelation – MOLLY explains JOE has one too – BUD leaves to find his brother.	BUD DL
JUNE, JIMMY, ORSON, ROSE, MOLLY	---	JUNE and JIMMY “The Titanic” will make a great show! Wrap it up and go where they feel like going playing as a proposal scene.	JIMMY & JUNE ULJ
JOE, MOLLY, ROSE, ORSON	JOE UR	MOLLY & ROSE look at JOE’s bum and explains the situation – he leaves to find his brother.	JOE DL
ROSE, MOLLY, ORSON, JUNE	JUNE ULJ	Get audience.	ORSON UR w/ Cart
HOBO, ROSE, MOLLY, ORSON	ORSON UR w/ Journal, HOBO UR w/ HB	HOBO explains his memory loss – JJJ & bonds. Drank elixir – Total Recall! “Remember Me” The boys will be here soon -	ROSE & HOBO UC, JUNE UR w/ HOBO clothes & HB
ALL		JIMMY announces shows: 1. GIRLS singing group “Give My Regards to Broadway” 2. ROSE & JUNE duet “Dolly Madison Regrets…” 3. MOLLY DIMPLE’S debut & finale for everyone “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries” THE END.

Bathtub Gin trivia and recipe

2007-09-25T23:19:00.001-05:00

Bathtub gin refers to any style of homemade spirit made in amateur conditions. It first appeared in the prohibition-era United States in reference to the poor-quality alcohol that was being made.

Update: It's come to our attention that the person responsible for posting the original recipe for bathtub gin would prefer we direct traffic her way, which we are only too happy to do. Please turn to Elizabeth Denton at The Tailored Woman for this information.

The Chase

2007-09-25T09:16:00.001-05:00

PROHIBITIVE STANDARDS
The Chase

Molly and Joe have just left the stage – Joe to find the car & Molly looking for Orson.

MOLLY enters from UL Juliet, crosses Center w/ Orson’s script.

BUD calls off stage, MOLLY hides under Table 1.

BUD enters from DL crosses Center and exits DR.

ORSON enters UR looking for MOLLY, exits DL.

GIRLS enter UL looking for ORSON, cross Center

BUD enters DR cross to GIRLS, shows picture of JOE

GIRLS think picture looks luck BUD, BUD shoos GIRLS off DR

BUD crosses UL, ORSON enters DL, MOLLY stands up from Table 1. –don’t see

BUD exits DL, ORSON exits UR, MOLLY hides under Table 1

JIMMY enters DR w/ Orson’s bag, crosses UL, DL, exit DR

MOLLY stands up from Table 1, crosses Center

JOE calls from offstage, MOLLY hides under Table 4

JOE enters DL, crosses Center, exits DR

ORSON enters UR, crosses straight to UL and exits

MOLLY stands up from Table 4 and crosses Center

JUNE calls off stage – MOLLY hides UL Juliet

JUNE enters DL looking for JOE, crosses Center, exits DR

MOLLY enters UL Juliet, crosses Center

HOBO (Sam) enters above stage and crosses R to L in the Center opening

MOLLY exits UC following HOBO

BUD enters DL, exits UR

JIMMY enters DR, exits DL

GIRLS enter DR, exit UR

JUNE enters UR Juliet, crosses on Stage, exit UL Juliet

MOLLY enter DR, exit UR Juliet

ORSON enters UL, exit UR – same time GIRLS enter DR, exit UL-don’t see each other

JOE enters DL crosses Center, pauses – looks DL

MOLLY enters UR Juliet as JOE exits DL

MOLLY crosses Center as ORSON enters UR crosses to MOLLY

JIMMY calls offstage

MOLLY hides under Table 1, ORSON hides under Table 3

JIMMY enters DL, hides under Table 2

JOE enters DL as JUNE enters UL cross Center

FIND A PLACE TO HIDE: JOE tries T3 as JUNE tries T1, JOE tries T2, JUNE tries T4

JOE hides under Table 4, JUNE exits UL Juliet

GIRLS enter DL cross Center – 1, 2, 3 look around – stand on stage, pitch, sing
At end of 2nd phrase “Old sweet song” Hidden bodies: 1,2,3 “YOUR FLAT”

GIRLS pause – scream, MILLIE exits DL, HAZEL exits DR, DOTTY exits UR

Everyone else comes out from hiding

JIMMY sees MOLLY, MOLLY sees JOE, ORSON sees MOLLY, MOLLY sees ORSON, JUNE sees JOE – HOBO (Sam) enters UC on stage slowly crosses UR

MOLLY & ORSON exchange script and bag Center

ORSON exits DR
MOLLY exits UL
JIMMY exits DL
JOE exits DL
HOBO exits UR followed by JUNE

Commedia dell'Hobo 2

2007-09-20T23:43:00.002-05:00

The scene takes place in Rose’s Supper Club, located in the JERMYN Hotel.

HOBO, ROSE
HOBO wanders in a top of show, cold and hungry. He sits at the table with the 3J place card. ROSE comes in, spots him, and takes him to the kitchen to get him something to eat. As they exit, the GIRLS enter.

GIRLS
After making sure the coast is clear, the GIRLS enter and begin to practice. Leaving for NYC January 1. Who’s going, who’s not, who’s not sure and why.

JUNE, GIRLS
JUNE enters, restores order and sets the GIRLS to work setting up for tonight’s party. Very important, particularly to ROSE, so let’s make sure we get things ship shape. JUNE has to check something somewhere. She’s very busy and can’t be everywhere. JUNE exit.

GIRLS
The GIRLS begin to set the place up. MILLIE is relatively new and wonders what’s with the table for 3J? Seems ROSE always sets a table for him at all the club’s events. DOTTY tells how 3J was lost at sea with their sons, a rivet-by-rivet description of the Titanic. Very tragic. HAZEL thinks it’s all very romantic. HAZEL warns MILLIE do not mention ships, sea food, or anything connected with the ocean.

GIRLS, ORSON
ORSON wanders in, cold and hungry. He and the GIRLS exchange intros. Someone suggests (and not for the last time) that ORSON is mighty thin and he could use some meat on his bones. Funny, that, as he could sure use some food. The GIRLS lead a raid on the kitchen. ROSE won’t mind, she’s always feeding hobos. (Especially that one.) Off they go. ORSON leaves his bag.

ROSE, BUD
ROSE enters, singing (why not?), perhaps to check on the amount of coffee left, check the coffee mugs, whatever. COP wanders in, to check on the progress for tonight’s shindig. Going great, JUNE’s got it all under control, shipment of coffee going to arrive any minute, couldn’t be better. Basically all we have to do is open the doors. Speaking of JUNE, the COP is sure he knows her. ROSE fills him in on JUNE’s past. (She levels with him instantly; this is their relationship in fine.) ROSE doesn’t know why JUNE’s here, but if she needs some space, ROSE’ll give it to her. Besides, as good as JUNE is at running the place, I’d be crazy not to keep her. COP goes, but he’ll be checking in occasionally to make sure everything’s hunky dorey.

ROSE, JIMMY
JIMMY wanders in, cold and more than a bit bedraggled. ROSE bids him welcome, but says we’re not open. She enquires after JIMMY, who are you, what you doing here? JIMMY thinks she sure does look familiar, does he know her? Nah, he couldn’t. JIMMY’s not so sure. Anyway, it’s not important as JIMMY’s looking for VITO POGLIO DELLA MARE, A.K.A., the Tuna. ROSE gets more than a trifle nervous. So, you know the Tuna? Sure. (Why is he based in Scranton?) He’s doesn’t go out much, but he stops in here occasionally. Mind if I wait? Not at all. Make yourself at home. Coffee? Sure. Wow! Now that’s real coffee! ROSE exits.

JOE, MOLLY
JOE and MOLLY arrive. JOE is carrying a bag which VERY closely resembles ORSON’s (uh oh). JOE and MOLLY discuss the future, JOE’s commitment to travel to KS to be near Levenworth to run the Family’s business on the outside of stir. MOLLY wants her stole, and goes to get it. JOE and JIMMY commune. MOLLY comes in to report the car having been stole(n) along with the booze shipment. JIMMY tries to help; JOE explains how he would rather JIMMY didn’t. JIMMY thinks he’d rather be about anywhere else; JOE goes to see if MOLLY didn’t get this one wrong, too. He’s gonna leave the bag here, and MOLLY better keep an eye on it. JUNE enters.

BAG LAZZI
ORSON’s bag (OB) is on stage, UL; MOLLY clutches JOE’s bag (JB).
JUNE enters, MOLLY gives up JB; they try to give it back to MOLLY, JB lands US. DOTTY enters and crosses Upstage looking for Orson’s bag – sees Joe’s bag, picks it up and carries off UR. JUNE exit; JOE enter. JOE gets OB. ROSE enters. JOE, ROSE discuss business, get nowhere. JIMMY enters – JUNE enters, OB passes from JOE to ROSE to JOE to MOLLY to JIMMY to JUNE who sees JIMMY, panics, grabs OB to hide her face as she scurries off with OB UR. JOE & Rose exit to ROSE’S office – JIMMY exits DL, MOLLY sees the bag is gone and panics.
DOTTY re-enters when MOLLY isn’t looking at drops off JB to wear OB originally was set down. – MOLLY finds JB and crosses DL with it. HAZEL enters looking for OB doesn’t see any bags and exits.
JOE enters from ROSE’s office followed by ROSE. MOLLY hands the bag to him and explains what a heroine she is to have it. JOE checks the contents (does MOLLY know which bag he has?) and is satisfied. JOE hands it back to MOLLY, who puts it down SR as we return to the argument.
ORSON wanders on, sees JB (there it is) and takes it off UR.
MILLIE (looking for ORSON) brings on OB and returns it to where OB was originally. JOE & ROSE continue arguing while MOLLY finds OB and hands it to JOE mid argument . Still arguing with ROSE – she exits to her office UL as JOE checks the bag and finds it’s OB. He is less than pleased. The argument shifts(JOE & MOLLY SCENE #1) to the bag, MOLLY’s sense of responsibility, JOE’s temper, the shipment, the money. JOE drops bag on floor to free himself in case he needs to throttle someone. This action carries JOE and MOLLY off DL.
JUNE enters to adjust the chairs sees JIMMY enter and ducks under DR table while fixing chairs.
JIMMY picks up OB, finds script and scurries off.

JUNE, MOLLY
JUNE, MOLLY #1: Love Stinks. MOLLY hides.

MOLLY, JOE
MOLLY, JOE: MOLLY comes out of hiding. JUNE exit. Bag search challenge. MOLLY exit; JIMMY enter.

JOE, JIMMY
J/J #1. Women! Searching for bag; JOE tries to enlist JIMMY’s help; JIMMY wonders what’s in it for him; JOE promises a reward; JIMMY tries to bargain before capitulating; JIMMY promises to help. JOE exit.

ORSON, GIRLS
As JIMMY and MOLLY exit, ORSON and the GIRLS enter. We hear a bit about ORSON and what he’s doing here. The GIRLS could care less (he’s SO cute). What’s in the bag? The GIRLS get curious, he gets stubborn. A tug of war ensues (or maybe a game of keep away) and the contents of the bag get spilled. A debate ensues over what to do. ORSON decides “This above all, to thine own self be true” and “neither a borrower nor a lender be”, (perhaps he should quote someone other than Polonius, but he’s young). ORSON decides that the bags probably got switched and that he’ll need this bag to get his back. We’re gonna stash this until we know whom it belongs to and return it to its proper owner. They exit to do so. JIMMY enters.

JIMMY, ORSON, MOLLY
ORSON enters. JIMMY/ORSON #1. MOLLY Enter. MOLLY gets to see JIMMY and ORSON interact and learns something about each (whom to trust or not to trust, who’s taking advantage of whom, what that means to her and what she learns from it and other things she’ll pick up when they do them). JIMMY and MOLLY negotiate about the bag, neither wanting to tell the other what they really want. MOLLY tries out her feminine wiles. JIMMY exits.

ORSON, MOLLY
ORSON/MOLLY #1. JOE is heard off. MOLLY exit.

ORSON, JOE
JOE enters. Stuff happens. Ask them.

ROSE, JUNE
First hint that something may possibly just MAY be wrong with tonight’s soiree. Nah. They assure one another everything’ll be just swell. JUNE wonders what they should do about the HOBO in the kitchen. Just feed him, let him rest. He’s harmless. JUNE exits. JIMMY and MOLLY enter.

ROSE, BUD
BUD comes in to see how things are progressing. ROSE tells him JTB himself is here, not some underling. What’s more, JTB is acting mighty peculiar. ROSE is smelling something fishy (and it ain’t codfish, I can tell ya that), but isn’t sure what’s up. BUD promises to be more vigilant. BUD is interested in the extreme and wants to nab JTB, but no one’s ever been able to pin anything on him. Never any evidence, though it’s often been a near thing, a close shave, so to speak. Hence JOE’s nickname. Oh. Thought it was from (draws finger across neck). Nope. Just a booze runner. Not even sure if he’s not just hiding behind the rep. BUD exits.

JIMMY, MOLLY, ROSE
JIMMY and MOLLY tell ROSE about their various searches, JIMMY for the author of this script, MOLLY for the bag. Each tries to enlist her aid; ROSE wants to keep all possibilities alive, but is more interested in talking to MOLLY to figure out what’s going on with JOE, the hootch and tonight’s soiree, so she deals with JIMMY first in order to get rid of him. MOLLY helps (oh, boy). JIMMY exits.

ROSE, MOLLY
MOLLY and ROSE talk about the situation and begin to form an alliance. This doesn’t get to far beyond the embryonic stage as both are frightened by JOE and we’re not getting anywhere without the booze or the bag. MOLLY still can’t tell ROSE about the missing booze (as MOLLY may need that card later); ROSE can’t tell MOLLY all she has in the world is $500, but that’s earmarked for JOE, so not to worry. MOLLY exit.

ROSE, ORSON
ORSON enters. ROSE/ORSON #1. Sizing up the kid; for ROSE, it’s also connected with how she’s going to handle JIMMY. JIMMY enters; the three talk for a bit and JIMMY finally gets rid of ROSE.

JIMMY, ORSON
#2. ORSON takes in ROSE’s advice and plays it coy with JIMMY and still won’t even admit he can read. ORSON exits.

GIRLS, JIMMY, JUNE
The GIRLS enter. JIMMY tries to enlist their help re: the script. They don’t know about the script and need to rehearse (they also don’t know yet who JIMMY is; i.e., that he’s a producer). They begin to rehearse and JIMMY begins to ponder his next move when he notices them and starts to think they might just have something. JUNE enters. April May! June? Coitain!

Lazzi della Proibizione

2007-09-20T12:57:00.000-05:00

So, last night David encouraged us all, each and every one, to look at the 'blog for hints on developing lazzi. (Incidentally: singular, lazzo; plural, lazzi.) In reviewing what we have, I have decided it would be helpful to create a new lazzi list based on the scenario as we know it thus far. You can still mine previous entries for ideas (just click the subject heading "lazzi" for a compilation of all entries that mention them), but "Edit" this one to add to the list begun below:

The Lazzi of Hiding in Plain Sight: Various characters must avoid others on stage, and there isn't much to hide behind--possibly under a table or behind a coat tree. In this circumstance, the character hiding could shadow another character (possibly even his or her pursuer), or even climb onto someone's back. Alternatively, they could affect some weak disguise, perhaps throwing the coat tree offstage and imitating it, which in turn leads to significant complications.

The Lazzo of Dubious Hypnotism: Rose, being an old vaudevillian (?), remembers how to hypnotize and does so to a character unbeknownst to said character, thereafter triggering a certain behavior in that character. Unbeknownst to Rose, however, someone was spying on her when she performed the act, and has accidentally adopted the same compulsive behavior. Hijinx ensue.

What happened Sept. 19th

2007-09-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

PROHIBITIVE STANDARDS – what happened when we combined some scenes:

The first part of the play – bag lazzi.

June and Molly’s first scene together – boys stink, June helps Molly look for the bag.

June & Joe’s first scene – Joe is raging looking for Molly, June tells him to leave – then asks if he’s ok? Joe thanks her for her concern – while grinding his teeth. Then he asks if she sees Molly to please let him know.

Jimmy & Joe’s first scene – Joe asks if Jimmy’s seen Molly – Jimmy hasn’t and also warns Joe to watch out for women – they are trouble. They leave.

June & Rose – discuss problem of having Joe here – Rose can’t get the hooch and they gotta come up with the money because they are $500 too short. Rose gets sick and runs off followed by June.

Bud & Rose – Bud offers his help and Rose thanks him and tells him that The Barber is here! Bud will track him down and Rose also mentions that Joe has her hooch.

Molly & Jimmy – Jimmy tells Molly Joe was screaming for her – She tells him he has to help her look for the bag – her whole future is in it!

Joe & Orson – Orson is looking for his own bag – Joe scares Orson at first then consults book – Orson tells Joe that quote that calmed him down “Come what may hours & days will go through the roughest day…” or something… Joe is calm – then runs off screaming for Molly.

Girls – cleaning and multitask practicing – they need a dance coach – How do they know June’s in the business? June enters and looks upset because not a lot of work has gotten done – why does she always have to do it for herself? But she will help them with their act – they go in the back to work on it.

Jimmy & Orson – introduce one another – Jimmy found this great script it’s going to make him rich – if Orson sees any writers Jimmy asks him to let him know and also mentions his full name…

Molly & Rose – Rose only wants to deal with Molly

June & Rose – they found the recipe for the booze! Rose tells June that she’s now in business with Molly. They start going through the ingredients they have and June leaves to go to teh store to get what they’re missing – they also have to get the tables set up and hide everything from Joe.

June & Joe – Joe is sorry to catch her on her way out but if June finds Molly he’ll help her with whatever she needs. June asks for doilies – this doesn’t go over well – then she asks for a car radiator – brilliant! Joe’s her man – though he knows June as Nancy.

Rose & Orson – introduce each other – the girls have said a lot about him. Rose offers him more food – and finds out he’s on his way to NY.

Jimmy & Orson – Jimmy tries to convince Orson that they’re a team 0 he has to find the writer and will give Jimmy money to do so. Jimmy reveals the initials on the script are O.W.

Girls & Orson – they are looking for his bag and can’t imagine where it has gotten to since both Dottie and Millie at one time found it. Orson asks them to keep an eye on Jimmy because he has a great suspicion that Jimmy stole his bag – they leave for the kitchen to get more food.

Girls & June – June has a new song for them to sing – they must practice in the back!

Orson & Jimmy – Jimmy is upset because the last five pages of the script is missing – but somehow Orson knows the ending – Jimmy doesn’t buy that Orson’s the writer – that is until Orson mentions the Martians – Jimmy realizes who Orson is and tries to make a deal with him – Jimmy tells Orson that he’s meeting with someone important later on and will show him the script if they work together. Orson agrees – but has possession of the scripts.

June & Molly – June gets the bags for Molly – meanwhile Officer Bud comes in singing about love- Molly is quite confused – he looks so much like Joe. June brings out the bags and Molly finds Joe’s bag YAY! Thank Christ! Molly tips June for her troubles – now June can get taps for the girls!

Rose & Orson – Orson fills Rose in about Jimmy having his script all along and the meeting and wants to put it on the radio. Rose reveals a big problem – Jimmy is a Broadway producer – she tells Orson to watch out for Jimmy – she teaches Orson how to stand up for himself – they go to her office.

Girls – they know Jimmy is a producer and are excited to meet him but don’t know how to get an audition – June & Jimmy enter the scene at the same time and see one another---- JIMMY: “April May??” GIRLS: “June??”

End of Act I

We'll now see what Steve comes up with from here... Stay tuned!

The Bag Lazzi

2007-09-19T11:46:00.000-05:00

Commedia dell'Largo
The scene takes place in Rose’s Supper Club, located in the JERMYN Hotel. Lights rise on the front desk to reveal the GIRLS, practicing their music singing a modern tune then switch to a church tune when JUNE enters.

JUNE, GIRLS
JUNE restores order and sets the GIRLS to work setting up the place for tonight’s party. Very important, particularly to ROSE, so let’s make sure we get things ship shape. JUNE brings on a few boxes of supplies to help the GIRLS set up then hands them a ridiculously long list. JUNE then has to check something somewhere. She’s very busy and can’t be everywhere. JUNE exit.

GIRLS
The GIRLS begin to set the place up and discuss their positions, their ambitions. They’ve simply got to rehearse or they’ll never get anywhere. They can’t do it here. Where can they rehearse, where can they find an orchestra (or even a pianist, tuba player, SOMEthing). Do we all want to go? Do we all want to go to New York?

GIRLS, ORSON
ORSON wanders in, cold and hungry. He puts his bag down UL as the GIRLS start cleaning DR then sits at the UL table to do some writing. GIRLS notice him. He and the GIRLS exchange intros. Someone suggests (and not for the last time) that ORSON is mighty thin and he could use some meat on his bones. Funny, that, as he could sure use some food. The GIRLS lead a raid on the kitchen. ROSE won’t mind, she’s always feeding hobos. (Especially that one.) Off they go. ORSON leaves his bag but takes his journal.

ROSE, JIMMY
ROSE enters, singing (why the hell not?), perhaps to check on the amount of coffee left, check the coffee mugs, whatever. JIMMY wanders in, cold and more than a bit bedraggled. ROSE, thinking he is her distributor asks him the code for the booze - clearly he has no idea what’s she’s talking about. ROSE bids him welcome, but says we’re not open. She enquires after JIMMY, who are you, what you doing here? JIMMY thinks she sure does look familiar, does he know her? Nah, he couldn’t. JIMMY’s not so sure. Anyway, it’s not important as JIMMY’s looking for Mr. J.J. John, the reclusive millionaire JIMMY heard JJJ would be here. This piques ROSE’s interest, which JIMMY picks up on toot sweet. So, you know Mr. John? Sure. He’s doesn’t go out much, but he stops in here occasionally. Mind if I wait? It’s very important for JIMMY to talk to him and avoid his goons. Make yourself at home. Coffee? Sure. Wow! Now that’s real coffee! ROSE exits.

JOE, MOLLY
JOE and MOLLY arrive. JOE is carrying a bag which VERY closely resembles ORSON’s (uh oh). JOE and MOLLY discuss the future, JOE’s milk farm (which he may have inherited, or may have received in payment from a recently-departed co-worker), MOLLY’s aversion to cows and fresh air and whatever else comes to mind. MOLLY wants her stole, and goes to get it. JOE and JIMMY commune – At first JIMMY thinks JOE is JJJ – and ticks JOE off by groveling at his feet – JOE hates being touched. It is revealed that JOE is Joe “The Barber” Barbarra. MOLLY comes in to report the car having been stole(n). I’m pretty sure the booze shipment was in there. JIMMY tries to help; JOE explains how he would rather JIMMY didn’t. JIMMY thinks he’d rather search for clues to Mr. John’s whereabouts; JOE goes to see if MOLLY didn’t get this one wrong, too. He’s gonna leave the bag here, and MOLLY better keep an eye on it. JUNE enters.

BAG LAZZI
ORSON’s bag (OB) is on stage, UL; MOLLY clutches JOE’s bag (JB).
JUNE enters, MOLLY gives up JB; they try to give it back to MOLLY, JB lands US. DOTTIE enters and crosses Upstage looking for Orson’s bag – sees Joe’s bag, picks it up and carries off UR. JUNE exit; JOE enter. JOE gets OB. ROSE enters. JOE, ROSE discuss business, get nowhere. JIMMY enters – JUNE enters, OB passes from JOE to ROSE to JOE to MOLLY to JIMMY to JUNE who sees JIMMY, panics, grabs OB to hide her face as she scurries off with OB UR. JOE & Rose exit to ROSE’S office – JIMMY exits DL, MOLLY sees the bag is gone and panics. DOTTIE re-enters when MOLLY isn’t looking at drops off JB to wear OB originally was set down. – MOLLY finds JB and crosses DL happily with it. HAZEL enters looking for OB doesn’t see any bags and exits.

JOE enters from ROSE’s office followed by ROSE. JOE realizes he doesn’t have his bag, MOLLY hand it to him and explains what a heroine she is to have it. JOE checks the contents (does MOLLY know which bag he has?) and is satisfied. JOE hands it back to MOLLY, who puts it down SR as we return to the argument.

ORSON wanders on, sees JB (there it is) and takes it off UR.

MILLIE (looking for ORSON) brings on OB and returns it to where OB was originally. JOE wonders why MOLLY doesn’t have his bag, sees OB and picks it up. Still arguing with ROSE – she exits to her office UL as JOE checks the bag and finds it’s OB. He is less than pleased. The argument shifts to the bag, MOLLY’s sense of responsibility, JOE’s temper, the shipment, the money. JOE drops bag on floor to free himself in case he needs to throttle someone. This action carries JOE and MOLLY off DL.

JIMMY picks up OB, finds script and scurries off.

Things that Happened Tonight

2007-09-17T23:05:00.001-05:00

Here is the list of things that happened 9/17 which came out of the free for all that David liked:
-June and Jimmy keep trying to hold a conversation and they keep getting interrupted.
-Rose realizes there's no booze and the party has to happen anyway - putting aspirin in juice, etc. This(these) conversation(s) get played out with June.
-Officer Bud gets drunk - possibly off of the booze in the "lost" car
-Perhaps Officer Bud & Joe are long lost brothers? Bud actually may want Jimmy to touch him opposed to Joe. Molly keeps getting mixed up between the two.

I'm wondering if I should post the bag lazzi as well... wondering wondering... but it might change... hm.

The Scenario, as of Today 12:27

2007-09-17T11:26:00.000-05:00

Commedia dell'Largo

The scene takes place in Rose’s Supper Club, located in the JERMYN Hotel. Lights rise on the front desk to reveal the GIRLS, practicing their music JUNE enters.

JUNE, GIRLS	JUNE restores order and sets the GIRLS to work setting up the place for tonight’s party. Very important, particularly to ROSE, so let’s make sure we get things ship shape. JUNE has to check something somewhere. She’s very busy and can’t be everywhere. JUNE exit.
GIRLS	The GIRLS begin to set the place up and discuss their positions, their ambitions. They’ve simply got to rehearse or they’ll never get anywhere. They can’t do it here. Where can they rehearse, where can they find an orchestra (or even a pianist, tuba player, SOMEthing). Do we all want to go? Do we all want to go to New York?
GIRLS, ORSON	ORSON wanders in, cold and hungry. He and the GIRLS exchange intros. Someone suggests (and not for the last time) that ORSON is mighty thin and he could use some meat on his bones. Funny, that, as he could sure use some food. The GIRLS lead a raid on the kitchen. ROSE won’t mind, she’s always feeding hobos. (Especially that one.) Off they go. ORSON leaves his bag.
ROSE, JIMMY	ROSE enters, singing (why the hell not?), perhaps to check on the amount of coffee left, check the coffee mugs, whatever. JIMMYY wanders in, cold and more than a bit bedraggled. ROSE bids him welcome, but says we’re not open. She enquires after JIMMY, who are you, what you doing here? JIMMY thinks she sure does look familiar, does he know her? Nah, he couldn’t. JIMMY’s not so sure. Anyway, it’s not important as JIMMY’s looking for Mr. J.J. John, the reclusive millionaire. This piques ROSE’s interest, which JIMMY picks up on toot sweet. So, you know Mr. John? Sure. He’s doesn’t go out much, but he stops in here occasionally. Mind if I wait? Not at all. Make yourself at home. Coffee? Sure. Wow! Now that’s real coffee! ROSE exits.
JOE, MOLLY	JOE and MOLLY arrive. JOE is carrying a bag which VERY closely resembles ORSON’s (uh oh). JOE and MOLLY discuss the future, JOE’s milk farm (which he may have inherited, or may have received in payment from a recently-departed co-worker), MOLLY’s aversion to cows and fresh air and whatever else comes to mind. MOLLY wants her stole, and goes to get it. JOE and JIMMY commune. MOLLY comes in to report the car having been stole(n). I’m pretty sure the booze shipment was in there. JIMMY tries to help; JOE explains how he would rather JIMMY didn’t. JIMMY thinks he’d rather search for clues to Mr. John’s whereabouts; JOE goes to see if MOLLY didn’t get this one wrong, too. He’s gonna leave the bag here, and MOLLY better keep an eye on it. JUNE enters.
BAG LAZZI	ORSON’s bag (OB) is on stage, UL; MOLLY clutches JOE’s bag (JB). JUNE enters, MOLLY gives up JB; they try to give it back to MOLLY, JB lands US. JUNE exit; JOE, JIMMY enter. JOE gets OB. ROSE enters. JOE, ROSE discuss business, get nowhere. JIMMY tries to help, argument ensures, JOE puts OB down to explain his position more explicitly. JUNE enters, sees JIMMY, panics, grabs OB to hide her face as she scurries off with bag. GIRL crosses US with JB, seen by MOLLY, who grabs JB. JOE realizes he doesn’t have his bag, MOLLY hand it to him and explains what a heroine she is to have it. JOE checks the contents (does MOLLY know which bag he has?) and is satisfied. JOE hands it back to MOLLY, who puts it down as we return to the argument. ORSON wanders on, sees JB (there it is) and takes it off. Other GIRL (looking for ORSON) brings on OB and returns it to where she found it. JOE wonders why MOLLY doesn’t have his bag, sees OB and picks it up. He checks it and finds it’s OB. He is less than pleased. The argument shifts to the bag, MOLLY’s sense of responsibility, JOE’s temper, the shipment, the money. JOE drops bag on floor to free himself in case he needs to throttle someone. This action carries ROSE, JOE and MOLLY off. JIMMY picks up OB, finds script and scurries off.
JUNE, MOLLY	JUNE comes in, perhaps to see if she wasn’t mistaken about JIMMY while MOLLY comes in to find a more peaceful setting. JUNE greets MOLLY. MOLLY thinks they’ve met. JUNE knows they haven’t. MOLLY’s sure they have. JUNE explains her cover story to MOLLY. I’m not sure MOLLY buys it, as she’s not as dim as she plays, but she’s too polite (or too crafty) to let on that she has her doubts. JUNE decides she has other things to do and exits, explaining where she’s going as she exits. JIMMY enters as JUNE exits.
MOLLY, JIMMY	JIMMY wonders whose voice that was, something familiar about it. He also wonders whether JOE is always so excitable. (‘Fraid so.) We hear a bit about JIMMY and why he’s here. It’s all a load of merde, of course, and MOLLY doesn’t buy his saga, either. On the other hand, she has her own problems and lacks the motivation to pin JIMMY down. JOE is heard off stage, and JIMMY and MOLLY split.
ORSON, GIRLS	As JIMMY and MOLLY exit, ORSON and the GIRLS enter. We hear a bit about ORSON and what he’s doing here. It’s all a load of merde, of course, but the GIRLS buy it (he’s SO cute). What’s in the bag? ORSON, gald not to be talking about himself for a moment, looks in the bag as he begins to recount its contents. When he gets a gander at what’s in there, he about swallows his tongue. The GIRLS get curious, he gets stubborn. A tug of war ensues (or maybe a game of keep away) and the contents of the bag get spilled. A debate ensues over what to do. The results are inconclusive.

ACT II?

Like Sharks, We Shan't Stop Swimming

2007-09-17T10:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had a photo shoot to create some promotional materials for the show. This is normally a sketch of the show one's working on, with approximated costumes and such, since it needs to occur early enough in the process to get the word out. It is particularly sketchy when the show doesn't quite exist yet. Nevertheless, I think the results were good.
The show continues to twist and turn its way through permutations, and will continue to do so through opening night, to the last day of the run. Last week at this time we had no idea what characters would be in the show, much less which we'd be playing. Progress is lightning fast, and sometimes we aren't even aware of it until we pause to reflect and realize, "Hey; I seem to be playing a gangster pretty consistently here." I have, in fact, not one thing to copy here that reflects the state of the action as it exists now. In the interest of representing some of the work in the room here on the 'blog, however, here is a scenario Steve created from our improvisations several days ago (no spoilers here--it's already rather completely different):

Commedeia dell'Luna

The scene takes place in the Jermyn Hotel. At one time this might have been a pleasant way-stop on the way to New York, but it now may best be described as sad and run down. Lights rise to reveal MA at the front desk, cooking the books.

SCENE: TORSON enters; gets a job. They exit

SCENE: JUNE and JIMMIE enter separately and bump into each other at the front desk. MA enters and informs them that there is only one room available. JIMMIE and JUNE agree to share. The sluts.

SCENE: MILLIE UM enters, MA puts her in the youth hostel. MILLIE exits.

SCENE: Officer SEAMUS CONOR SEAN LIAM MCGILLICUDDY MCPHEARSON enters, followed by the rest of his name. COP and MA discuss business. Very conspiratorial. COP saunters off; MA attends to needs elsewhere. JIMMIE enters, looking for MA, who ain’t there.

SCENE: JOE THE BARBER enters; meets JIMMIE. They commune. How sweet. MA enters. JOE enquires after a room, as only JOE can.

SCENE: DOTTIE enters looking for MILLIE and a room. Sent to the Hostel.

SCENE: MOLL enters, she and JOE discuss the situation. Loudly. MA calms them; she and JOE inconclusively debate the availability of a room. MA, DOTTIE exit.

SCENE: HAZEL enters, followed by JIMMIE; while MOLL and JOE argue apace. MA enters and tells HAZEL about the charms of the Hostel. Things get loud (again) and MA points to “no performing” and “no screaming” signs. Exeunt (except MA).

SCENE: JUNE enters, tells MA they don’t need extra sheets to divide the room. The slut. COP enters; MA tells COP to go to the back so she can talk to JUNE about JIMMIE. MA exits after COP. JUNE exits.

SCENE: JOE enters; the GIRLS enter; JOE wants to check out the girls’ act. MOLL and JIMMIE enter. JIMMIE helpfully explains “I don’t think you’re allowed to perform”. GIRLS exit. JIMMIE touches MOLL; JOE expresses displeasure.

SCENE: JIMMIE exits as MA enters and chastises JOE. MOLL encourages her. Things escalate; MA holds JOE and MOLL hits him. JOE asks for a room; 213 is opening up. MA calls TORSON to clean up 213 — the broom closet. JOE, MOLL exit. GIRLS enter.

SCENE: MA teaches the GIRLS to waitress. The GIRLS squabble and try to rehearse, basically at the same time. They exit.

SCENE: MA & JIMMIE enter. VITO POLLO DE MARE is arriving before midnight and MA needs JIMMIE’s help. MA heard JIMMIE’s a producer and asks him to stage a diversion. Offers Honeymoon Suite in return.

SCENE: MILLIE enters; MA exits. MILLIE talks to JIMMIE about breaking into Show Biz. JIMMIE discourages; explains producing show no one likes about the civil war. JIMMIE’s real name is revealed; they discuss the musical. MILLIE wants him to produce her and the girls. JIMMIE demurs. MA enters, tells MILLIE to get ready for supper. JIMMIE, MILLIE exit.

SCENE: JUNE enters. JUNE getting cold feet and wants another room. JOE enters to ask about the room. MA says step away from the cupboard. JUNE discovers MA has open rooms. All get new rooms. JOE observes “that one is not all she seems.” Indeed. MA decides to include JOE in tonight’s business.

SCENE: MOLL enters and finds MA and JOE together. MA exits. MOLL jealous (how sweet); she and JOE discuss secrets and who’s keeping track. JOE explains she’s nothing without him. JOE says he has business to do and she mustn’t interfere. JOE exits.

SCENE: MILLIE and HAZEL enter with trays. MILLIE and MOLL discuss a drink — “something clear” — which is, of course, illegal. MOLL reacts to having a bad day. MOLL, HAZEL exit.

SCENE: JOE enters and talks to MILLIE about name for the group. Pretend you’re sisters. JOE suggests the Umers. That which we call a rose… They exit as MA enters.

SCENE: JUNE enters. Discusses her plan for a romantic dinner with MA. JUNE exits.

SCENE: JOE enters and talks further with MA re: tonight’s business. MOLL enters and finds them together – again. Debate ensues re: JOE’s harsh treatment of MOLL. MA offers MOLL job as pastry chef. All discuss the finer points of MOLL’s employment.

SCENE: JIMMIE enters; MOLL, JOE and MA exit. JUNE enters to ask JIMMIE out. Meet around 6. She wants him to wear a jacket; he wants her to be ready to take off after dinner in case anything terrible happens, he wants her to run away with him. He describes the simple life without actresses. He HATES actresses. She wants a simple life, too. NO PRODUCERS! (She HATES producers.) Maybe a couple of chickens. Don’t say chickens!

ACT II

SCENE: MILLIE and DOTTIE enter w/ trays. Discuss lack of viable options. MILLIE tells DOTTIE about JIMMIE. This can be our break. Tries to enlist DOTTIE to sleep with him. HAZEL enters. MILLIE fills her in. Problem “we suck.” Maybe DOTTIE will sleep with him. HAZEL and DOTTIE exit.

SCENE: MOLL enters, distraught. MILLIE offers to help. MOLL tells her about JOE. They discuss MOLL’s various job qualifications, which are few. Stay with JOE if he’s providing for you but stand up for yourself. MILLIE exits.

SCENE: JIMMIE enters and asks MOLL how he looks. Straightens his collar. Date with JUNE, can you help? MOLL and JIMMIE dance. It’s something she can do! JOE and JUNE enter and see them dancing. While JIMMIE AND JUNE debate; JOE and MOLL flawlessly execute “Shut up and sit down” bit. Big night tonight, says he, so don’t give me no problems. JUNE exits. JOE explains he’s a little too stressed to give JIMMIE a proper beating. JIMMIE exits.

SCENE: JOE apologizes to MOLL. Helps her up. Tells her he’s real scared of VITO. MOLL suggests they work together. She could have a back up plan. Please make sense in 10 seconds. She requires more time.

SCENE: JUNE and JIMMIE enter – she’s leaving. MA enters and stops the fight. She suggest J&J talk in the gazebo. They exit. JUNE tells moll to stand up. She does.

SCENE: MA decides “Fish fry tonight!” and rescues MOLL by telling her to make a cake. TORSON shows her the kitchen.

SCENE: JUNE and JIMMY have their date. JIMMIE explains to JOE that they’re trying to have a romantic dinner and suggests JOE make like a banana and split. MA calls JOE over and offers a glass of “water.” MA and JOE discuss tonight’s business.

SCENE: MOLL enters: minor disaster with the flour – cake may take longer than expected.

SCENE: GIRLS come in to deliver menus and sing. GIRLS want to know what JIMMIE thinks re: their act. As MA scolds girls for pestering JIMMIE, JUNE asks what’s going on as she deplores secrets.

SCENE: COP comes in, intoxicated. Decides to arrest J&J because they are drunk. He handcuffs them together and passes out. MA enters; JIMMIE tries to explain, with mixed results. MA summons TORSON and tells him to take COP to the cellar. JIMMIE unlocks handcuffs.

SCENE: MA suddenly grabs COP’s gun and holds it on J&J. MA gives TORSON the gun while she deals with COP. JIMMIE gets gun and reveals he’s really VITO! MOLL enters, and the distraction inspires a struggle for the gun. MOLL kicks gun to JUNE. COP gets up. COP falls. JIMMIE toggles between JIMMIE and VITO (depending on who’s got the gun). JIMMIE gets it and threatens MOLL; lead me to JOE: Walk!. They walk . In circles. Asking MOLL to explain where JOE is gets us nowhere. COP finally manages to stager off.

SCENE: JOE and COP argue off stage. JOE enters and VITO gets the drop on him. Things don’t look good. Girls enter with trays; MILLIE knocks VITO over the head. Everyone beats up VITO. JOE gets the gun. VITO begs to JOE for his life. Someone’s given JOE a new way to look at life and the reformed JOE merely shoots VITO in the knee. TORSON drags VITO out. JOE and MOLL try to make up (with less than stellar results) while the GIRLS sing.

Public Domain Music - Copyrights

2007-09-13T11:06:00.000-05:00

Here's what we know:

Any song published through 1922 is in the public domain. Any song later than 1922 is still under copyright.

This website was really helpful and has a list of songs and song books: www.pdinfo.com

It is not true that it's okay to use only part of songs. That's a myth.

Of the lists that I looked at, here are song I recognize that are in the public domain:

You Made me Love You
When Irish Eyes are Smiling
I Love You Truly
Drunken Sailor
In My Merry Oldsmobile
There's a Tavern in the Town
While Strolling Through the Park
Give My Regards to Broadway
Camptown Races
Little Brown Jug
A Bird in A Gilded Cage
Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay

There are tons more.

I don't have any of the sheet music for these, but libraries might and you students with access to music departments or choir (hint, hint) could get your hands on some.

ciao,
Heather

First Rehearsal

2007-09-04T23:15:00.001-05:00

The latest: We've taken on four student actors from our workshop at Marywood -- Tori Arnau, Rene Arscott, Sean Gibbons and Kelly Williams. Welcome all! Tonight was our first official rehearsal, and we spent it predominantly visiting our forms and style as a troupe. We're looking forward to your joining us out here, Steve. We'll be ready for you . . .

Characters Coming Out of the Woodwork

2007-08-31T11:33:00.000-05:00

Hey gang. Just wanted to update here by saying the busking workshops at Marywood are going very, very well. Our group narrowed down from 20-odd to some dozen last night, and it's a great, open group of perceptive students. La Festa will be a very telling experience for them, and us. It's looking increasingly like Dave and I (sorry to speak for you here, Dave) will be joining them in character for Monday's performance, so those of you who can be there then will have a doubly important task of observing from the outside how things seem to pan out. Very excited, and looking forward . . .

Samantha-n-Characters

2007-08-30T17:53:00.000-05:00

Sam's reel.

A Sampling of humans I've liked:

Women in Power
Women posing as if they're in power
Women pretending to be famous male actors (Ben Afflek, a la Shakespeare in Love)
The "Older" Woman
Lounge Singer, Trish SeaBreeze, ( The Homeland Security mini-Tour approx. 2-mile radius)

A Sampling of humans I'm interested in:

Amateur Female Ventriloquist (I have my "Wille Talk" doll... get it will-he talk?)
A Champion Swimmer/Athlete
A Color Commentator
The sexually ambiguous stage hand or, a love interest (alas, I have been neither)

What's been said about Samantha:

" Every Male's Fantasty Wrestling Match
" The Careful Flower Blooms Against The Shadow of the Cottage"
" Surprised and Caught Off Guard... Again"
" Pippy Long-stockings gets a Pair of Stilettos"

guest appearances

2007-08-29T15:57:00.000-05:00

David & I just spoke about the possibility of guest appearances in the show. He thought it was a workable possibility and suggested that I blog about it. I was thinking that if the show has a cabaret/performance aspect to it, it would be easy to drop in a guest act without changing the flow of the show (kinda like when Todd made his brief appearance in Op Op -- but this time you could schedule your guests in advance.)

For my guest spot: I have a character named Gita Chanteuse who is a one-eyed, Romanian cabaret singer. She sings in German, because she was part of the Berlin cabaret scene back in the day. I would LOVE to bring her back to sing a song for the show. For material, maybe I could do an actual period German cabaret song, or maybe Liz has something perfect, or we could probably work up some intro that she's in the audience and the characters beg her to sing, she finally agrees to and then the only song the musicians and she know in common is Silent Night, which she sings in German as if it's a torch song...

Anyway, that's the idea. David knows the character if you have questions (picture her in evening dress with an eye patch). I miss you all!! big hugs, g

Heather's Character Musings...

2007-08-25T19:24:00.000-05:00

I've been ruminating about this and here are my thoughts: Please know that I am willing to let any and all go or morph for the sake of better show or whatever.

Miss Dimple: I love her. It would be a Miss Dimple before Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel which is logistically possible. For those who don't know her, she is a gum-chewing, full busted, ditzy/wise secretary with a brooklyn/long island/queens accent. Good gangster moll material. She's just lookin' for love in all the wrong places. Concerns: not quite sure if her accent will be jarring to a Scranton set scenario or not...

Down-trodden, scrappy, much-abused sidekick of some sort. - a dresser to the vain radio star, prostitute with over-bearing Madam, the one that everyone looks at when using the phrase "if only we had a human catapult."...

Love interest: I don't mind and often like being the (or a) love interest, but I prefer them fiesty and not milk-toast.

Vamp: (No, Jeff, not vampire.) Sultry, sexy and in charge. Ala "Jessica Rabbit". This would be a challenge for me and I'm interested in seeing what that is.

Sam wrote this!

2007-08-24T13:32:00.000-05:00

Thinking of the rube/human conunundrum (sp?). Does the young man get dangerously close to having an affair with another woman who takes him under her wing only to find out... she's his MOTHER'S SISTER!!!!!!!! (Yes, we've had spanking-the-monkey mother/son relationships, but has there ever been an Aunt/Nephew near miss???) Might the reveal cause a barroom brawl that ends in a group hug/dance when the mounty/sheriff arrive? Does someone need to throw me a rope and pull me in?
xxxooooyyy (y=pats on the back) Sam

Some notes from the Production Meeting

2007-08-23T19:30:00.000-05:00

It was brought up tonight that the last three bottles on top of the set (refer to the green/yellow drawing below) will be practical. We get to play with them! YAY! Just for the sake of your SM please don't break too too many...
Also, I'm just putting up a reminder to all of us that we will have to bring the puzzle mats to rehearsals in the gym & dance studio... I will not be there the first week (27th-2nd) so if someone else can bring them that would be fab.
Finally, as a just so you know - We're going to be presenting some sort of scenerio to the designers by Sept. 16th - just keep it in mind.. I'll be sure to pester you about it later.
I think that it all - can't wait to see everyone!

Jeff's (a) Character(s)

2007-08-23T13:18:00.000-05:00

I revel in unfunny puns.

So, according to our assignment I am creating a list of characters I'd be enthused to play, and my take on them thus far. Bearing in mind that any character may be altered (or vanish entirely) in order to better serve the burgeoning story, I am not wedded or claiming any of these--just expressing interest and some opinion.

In terms of description, I'm resorting to the original system David applied when making characters for Noble Aspirations. Roughly put, each character is defined by some driving need or appetite that informs his or her actions and physicality. I suspect (actually, I hope) that in this particular show some of the characters end up being a bit deeper than all that, but this is a nice, clear and strong way to start, and I've seen how great even impromptu characterizations can come from this approach.

First, from those character lists we have already:

Mime (trying to get into radio) - I love this idea. His drive would be to get a laugh from those around him, a further contradiction to doing radio. He wants to be loved. Alas, a mime can never be loved. He's always in character (too bad we can't do make-up quick changes), which means he sits on invisible chairs, gets drunk off of drinking air and communicates with his hands.

A Gangster - I just dig broad strokes in creating such a character; not sure if I'm the one to do it. Joe "The Barber" Barbara is a FANTASTIC real-life one to emulate. I imagine his drive to be motivated by his need to prove himself a man ("Boy Named Sue" meets Capitano), and his physical presence to be modeled after a barber, somehow. He carries a pearl-handled razor and a pair of shears, no gun because he's trying to lay low, which is also what keeps him from killing anyone who pisses him off.

Anarchist/Political Enthusiast - More than anything, he wants change, of any variety. Invariably, however, when change occurs he finds it doesn't satisfy him. Invariably too, it motivates him to change his politics. He's an activist that's acted on every side of every issue, defined by pure concern for the state of the city, state and nation.

Someone Irish - That's all I got. I just enjoy the dialect.

Coming-of-Ager - This one I'm really not sure I want to play, but I thought I'd put it out there since it seems to be a character I usually play in these shows and there may be some expectation. If it's me, I may need some help in finding a different take on the guy. But if it serves the story or our resources better, by all means, let's have someone else give it a shot.

Now, some other notions what have popped up in me noggin':

Hungry Bum - His drive is to eat, always. That's his primary concern, and he's extremely good at fulfilling it by covert action. (This is kind of the Urbano of the show, David.) Using unexpected gadgets and people's general underestimation of his character, he is constantly filching food and drink, and causing confusion at best and outright chaos at worst. Perhaps he is a German character who plays his lack of English to his advantage.

Priest - Possibly the Irish character here. His drive is to drink as much as possible. He is the biggest drunkard in the joint, but with the greatest priority on seeming sober. He has, to this end, affected a demeanor that incorporates drunken swaying into seemingly ecclesiastic harmony, and his repertoire of excuses for being caught drinking is inexhaustible.

I have left off female characters, not because I don't want to play them, but because we have a glut of actresses! That sounds terrible. But you know what I mean. Yay, new phase of Zuppa! If it's funny, however, I am prepared to don a dress. And now I've given you that in writing, which was REAL DUMB.

We're Branching Out . . .

2007-08-21T14:37:00.000-05:00

It's the first of what I am sure will be many growing pains for Prohibitive Standards, kiddies. Owing to her amazing amount of research and assistance, Kim W. has been granted her own research 'blog. You can link to it here, or over in the "CONNECTIONS" section to your right. Please PLEASE PLEASE, remember to check in with her work there in addition to scanning and contributing to this 'blog. We may eventually share posting privileges to Prohibitive Standards: The KIM W. EXPERIENCE with the lot, depending on how much background research we fickle actors want to post, but in the meantime just keep bringing it to this site.

Thanks be to Kim for meriting this expansion. We are on a roll!

The First "Talent" Meeting (8/17/07)

2007-08-20T11:05:00.000-05:00

That term, of course, being utterly subjective in this case.

So we had ourselves a big ol' meeting last Friday deep in the heart of Brooklyn, conducted some important research by consuming a modest amount of beer and wine, and, most importantly, everyone on the acting/writing side of things finally had a chance to meet one another. Steve, David Zarko, Geoff, Heather, Sam, Erin, myself and even the erstwhile David Berent/Gochfeld were all in attendence. It was quite fruitful, in this actor/creator's (I call us "creactors," but I'm not proud of doing so) opinion. We still have no idea what our story is in any detail, but we do know this: we find ourselves very funny.

So, below is a roughly grouped assortment of ideas sprung forth the frivolous loins of we eight fools (ALL: please feel free to edit this post in order to add or make more accurate any of the following points:

Skillz, musical

Sam: Good with strings, plays guitar, violin or viola (but doesn't own this last); sings with great range with "beef"
Erin: Violin, some guitar; sings soprano/alto with a belt
Heather: On flute (has two) can do simple tunes, maybe some piano or trumpet; sings coloratura
Geoff: Guitar; can carry a tune, and tends to do so baritone
Jeff: USED to play trombone; sings very midrange baritone

Skillz, languages

Sam: French; pronounce German
Erin: German
Heather: Dutch, Italian; pronounce German
Geoff: English (he's wicked good, too)
Jeff: Can pronounce German, and Italian, to a far lesser degree

Skillz, physical

Sam: Excellent stage combatant, yoga, basic tumbling
Erin: Yoga, tango/swing, moves well and with balance
Heather: Tether-ball. Plus acrobalance, commedia and some dance.
Geoff: Pratfalls, stage combat, competitive sports
Jeff: Acrobalance and assorted circus, tumbling, stage combat, Suzuki, commedia

Themes

Radio
Homage: what stars/routines?
Stars before they were stars
Scranton as a nexus. What draws people?
Jermyn = Switzerland of Prohibition
Two-face nature of time
"Fish out of water"
The protagonists lose to win

Background

Vaudeville that couldn't get into radio or adapt in some otehr form began to follow the burlesque circuit
Media tipping point--vaudeville is waning, radio waxing in popularity
Vaudeville opens for move houses, such as the Poli

Plot

Simple, elastic structure, or outline
Plot resolutions through "Goldberg machine" (see Lazzi)
Convince bad guy through foley that Jermyn is haunted

Characters

Mounties--actual Mounty plus gangster nicknamed "The Mounty"
"The Jugs" a female jug band, possibly from Eastern Europe, former circus act forced to adapt to radio format
Single "stop" actor, playing cop, clergy...anyone who causes shenanigans to cease when they enter a room
Mime trying to get into radio (gets an anouncer, boxing-style)
Jackie Gleason
The students , at least until we know what we're dealing with, should be planned as "significant perifery." That is, characters who change the scene by their very presence.

Lazzi

Lots of "jug" jokes
PIE FIGHT (plus much threat of pie fighting)
Rube Goldberg machine made of people, repeatable action--1 action, 1, 2, 3 action, then 1-20
Lazzi should have CONSEQUENCES
Mounty believes foley sound effects
Ventriliquism (it's okay, he forgot his dummy)
Dummy puns
We need a ventriliquism dummy...
Entire clientelle of Jermyn becomes jug band to disguise drinking
The "Fish Out'a Wattah" dance

Dialogue/Vocabulary

"You owe me an umbrella..."
"You got jugs; Use 'em!"
Rube = sucker
"We hide our guilt in our laughter."
"You're not cut out for radio, son."
"No, I've always twitched like this."
"Let's eighty-six it."
"There's coffee in my coffee." -W. C. Fields
Gleason lines

Local References

"Plotkin Shoes Family Hour" radio program

ASSIGNMENTS

All actors create and post a list of characters, either from previous posts or wholly new ideas, that they are interested in seeing/playing.
All actors start, if they haven't already, training for cardio and flexibility.

A Set Notion

2007-08-17T21:48:00.000-05:00

At the meeting tonight, the idea of dual identities was discussed, particularly in reference to the set. Apparently, one of the extant speak-easies in New York still has some remnants of the devices used to disguise a bar. The term, "let's 86 it" is taken from the address of this place: 86 Bedford. Anyway, we got to talking about the possibility of panels or pictures that rotate to change the character of the place and perhaps offer creative escapes or hiding places. Don't know if it's possible, but David wnated it up on the 'blog pronto, just in case it is...

On the Legislation of Prohibition...

2007-08-15T13:35:00.000-05:00

Actually, let me open with a followup: earlier I recommended the book Only Yesterday - I have just discovered the whole thing is online here: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/ALLEN/Contents.html

Chapter Ten, "Alcohol and Al Capone," deals with Prohibition and bootlegging, and the heyday of gangsters (noting, as well, that many in the public found the stories of gangsters pretty titillating). But he also has some important information about how prohibition was enforced -- or, how poorly it was enforced:

Firstly, the number of men enforcing the law was pitifully small and underpaid. The federal government's force of prohibition agents only numbered about two thousand men. If every single one of those agents had been stationed on the borders and coasts to prevent smuggling alcohol into the country, there would still be only one agent for every twelve miles of border. Each agent also only got a salary of only $35-50 a week, which made many of them particularly ripe for bribing.

But smuggling from over the border wasn't the only problem; it was also a lot easier to manufacture alcohol within the country than the government thought. The Volstead Act permitted the manufacture of alcohol for medicinal purposes and industrial use; it was extremely easy for individuals to distill the non-drinkable chemicals out of industrial alcohol and resell it for recreational use. The Volstead Act also permitted the manufacture of non-alcoholic beer, which is made just like regular beer, but then has the alcohol removed; here, it was extremely easy for a manufacturer to "forget" to take the alcohol out of a batch or two now and then and "set it aside for disposal", only to have it "stolen". (Whoopsie!) Also, it was possible to buy a small portable still, enough to produce a gallon of alcohol, for only about seven dollars, and brew your own stuff at home. Still others found creative ways around the code -- one very popular product in the 1920's was something called the "Grape Brick," which was a block of dried, compressed crushed grapes; a small packet of yeast came along with it. Along with both of these items was a flyer warning the user not to add the yeast to the grapes or else fermentation would result. (But if you did that, this flyer went on, then you certainly shouldn't then let the mixture age in a cask for x number of months...oh, but if you still did that, then you certainly shouldn't filter the mixture and store it at x degrees farenheit....oh, but gosh darn you, if you still did that, well then you certainly shouldn't...)

The state governments were supposed to chip in to support the Federal effort, but by 1927, their financial support was less than 12% of what they each spent on their own fish and game laws budgets, and some states just flat-out contributed nothing at all and let the Federal enforcement do all the work.

There was a lot of debate over the law itself -- clearly it wasn't working the way it was intended. But no one seemed sure about what to do about it, because the issue itself was also so divisive. Some proposed changing the law itself; some proposed amending the law to permit the sale of wine or beer, but skeptics said that a public now used to drinking illicit gin and Scotch probably wouldn't go for that. Two interesting proposals came in 1928; Governor Smith of New York, Herbert Hoover's presidential challenger, proposed setting a Federal standard for "the scientific definition of the alcoholic content of an intoxicating beverage" and applying the prohibition laws only to things that fell above that standard; he also proposed letting each state set its own standards higher if they so chose. He also, interestingly, was in favor of letting each state manufacture alcohol for sale for private use only within its own borders (...isn't that actually the way it is today, come to think of it?...). Hoover won the day instead, though, and his Smith's ideas faded.

But Hoover had his own Prohibition issue on the platform -- he promised an exhaustive study of the law and its enforcement to see where things were going wrong. Eleven men were appointed to the committee, and did not complete their research until 1931; all felt that something was clearly wrong with the way Prohibition was being enforced. Each man made an individual report, and each had a different opinion as to "what now"; the majority of them felt that the amendment should either be repealed outright, or altered. However -- even though a majority of the committee believed Prohibition wasn't working as it was -- the committee as a whole recommended that it should be left alone, meekly saying that maybe they could modify it in the future if it still wasn't working. The whole mess caused one wit in the NEW YORK WORLD to sum things up in a poem:

"Prohibition is an awful flop,
We like it.
It can't stop what it's meant to stop,
We like it.
It's left a trail of graft and slime,
It's filled our land with vice and crime,
It don't prohibit worth a dime --
Nevertheless, we're for it."

One more post from Kim and then she sits on her hands

2007-08-14T15:57:00.000-05:00

One more book for the curious: No Applause, Just Throw Money, by Trav S.D. It's a good and quirky history of vaudeville that blessedly doesn't stop once we reach 1930 (as I'm finding happens in a number of places I look) -- he carries it on to connect vaudeville to modern variety shows like Saturday Night Live and tips his hat to "modern vaudevillians" like Penn and Teller.

He also casually mentioned something in one chapter which actually might explain the "Scranton has tough audiences" reputation: during vaudeville's heyday, at the turn of the century, a sizeable part of the audience would arguably have been people who worked in the coal mines -- and thus, would have been recent immigrants who may not have yet had total command of English. So any especially talky, clever-wordplay act just plain might not have worked as well.

Let me make that two links.

2007-08-14T11:18:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when Kim has a bit of down time at work.

http://cip.cornell.edu/Dienst/UI/1.0/Summarize/psu.ph/1129134679

The above link should take you to a page at the Cornell University history department, where you may download a PDF of a paper by one Burton W. Folsom about "The Fall of the Business Elite in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1880-1920". From the very brief skim I've just given it, it sounds like the upshot is about how some fairly successful businesses were built right before the turn of the century -- but when the leaders of the businesses went to turn them over to their sons -- in some cases, the sons moved away from Scranton, or were on the lazy side, or weren't good in business, or nonexistant (in a couple cases, these business leaders only had daughters, all of whom went on to marry respectable young men they met in college in Boston or New York; in others, they didn't have any kids period).

There's also a picture of a very somber-looking John Jermyn on page 17 of the PDF.

And a link --

2007-08-14T10:33:00.001-05:00

Someone else posted a "list of things that happened in 1933" link earlier -- here's another:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933

Although, it is Wikipedia, so have a few grains of salt handy.

And now -- radio!

2007-08-14T10:30:00.000-05:00

Radio had become a big thing in the 1920’s. Not because that was when it was invented – early experiments with radio broadcasting were happening right before the turn of the century (in fact, one of the first radio-broadcast experiments happened in Wilkes-Barre in 1905, when Rev. Joseph Murgas tried broadcasting one of his masses from his Sacred Heart Church).

During the very early century, though, radio wasn’t yet seen as something that could be used for entertainment – it was a way to transmit communication and that’s it. The change came after World War I, when Frank Conrad, an engineer living in Pittsburgh, tried setting up a little radio station in his garage just for the fun of it. He’d go “on the air” for a couple hours at a time, just talking, shooting the breeze, and occasionally playing a record from one of the local record stores. He was very surprised when a lot of strangers started contacting him about his broadcasts; apparently his broadcasts were a lot more entertaining than listening to other available transmissions (which were usually ship-to-shore communications, things like that – it was like trying to listen to a police scanner for fun).

Conrad’s employer also took notice – by the way, his employer was Westinghouse Electronics. And say, they just happened to manufacture radio sets, and say, if this Conrad fellow was producing something that people would want to hear…maybe the public would want to buy radios of their own to listen? And who better to sell them those radios than….Westinghouse? And thus, Westinghouse soon took out a license for broadcast as a commercial radio station, the nation’s first, operating out of its East Pittsburgh offices; Station KDKA first went on the air at 8 pm on November 2, 1920. Their regular schedule soon included church services, public addresses, play-by-play sports, stories for children, and music – first prerecorded, but gradually live music, as performed by their own in-house “KDKA’s Little Symphony Orchestra.” Other radio stations soon formed to jump on the bandwagon; within a year, there were 28 radio stations nationwide, but within only another year after that, that number jumped to 360 (22 in Pennsylvania alone). Many of them were owned and sponsored by electronics stores or department stores, to capitalize on the “want to listen to this? We’ll sell you a radio!” connection.

For the first couple years this was all wreaking a merry havoc on transmission, as everyone was trying to broadcast on the same wavelength – largely because that was the only one the government would regulate. That finally changed in 1923, when radio switched to an “AM” (amplified modulation) format, which gave each station a slightly different wavelength. Frank Conrad was also hard at work helping to develop short-wave radio technology, which could transmit over long distances – in October of 1924, Conrad’s work in short-wave broadcast lead to what may be the world’s first teleconference, as employees of the Heinz corporation in 62 cities and 3 countries were all able to attend a banquet together, relying on short wave radio to hear each other’s speeches. In time, this short-wave technology would enable radio networks to be established, where a performer could be live in one station and his performance could be beamed via short wave to hundreds of partner stations nationwide, who in turn beamed them into thousands of homes.

Because the real news was people actually having radios in their homes; people did indeed take stations up on the “come buy a radio and listen to our broadcasts” sales pitch. In 1922, the public spent $60 Million on radio sets, equipment, and radio parts. By 1929, that figure had jumped to $843 Million. Eventually, one out of every three homes had a radio set – the rich saw it as a trendy, faddish thing, and the poor found it a way to catch some cheap entertainment (maybe you couldn’t travel from Scranton to watch the Philadelphia Athletics play in New York City, but if your pal Eddie next door had a radio, maybe you could visit and listen to the broadcast of the game together).

So -- in other words, radio had been pretty well entrenched by 1933; it's no wonder FDR used it in his "fireside chats".

More on Mafioso...

2007-08-13T11:45:00.000-05:00

1932 seems to have been an eventful year for the Scranton Mafia, particularly in Scranton.

Joe "The Barber" Barbara was part of mob boss Santo Volpe's family, Santo Volpe being the boss of the eastern Pennsylvania mafia. He'd already had an eventful year in 1931, after having been arrested in Brooklyn, New York for carrying a machine gun in a car he didn't own (he was released for lack of evidence). He'd also paid the bail for one Tony Morrale, who was arrested in Wyoming, PA for suspected murder (the victim was a bootlegger who'd gasped Morrale's name out as his last words).

But in 1932, Barbara was again arrested and extradited from Scranton back to Brooklyn, as a suspect in two unsolved gangland murders. (Accounts say that the only surviving witness was still in the hospital, and after Barbara was extradited to Brooklyn, he paid that witness a visit -- and wouldn't you know it, shortly after Barbara's visit, that witness recanted his statement...)

Later that year, one Albert Wichner was found dead in his own car in Scranton. Wichner had been a "hijacker" for the Volpe family -- actually, in today's parlance, he could probably be called a "carjacker"; he would steal competitor's liquor trucks, full of bootlegged or black-market alcohol, and bring them in to the Volpe family for their own distribution.

A witness, who police believed had driven the car just prior to the murder, first accused Barbara of the crime; shortly after, he too recanted, saying he couldn't really remember all that well. Police kept at the case, eventually bringing charges against Volpe himself in 1933; that case too fell apart.

But all the fuss lead to Volpe voluntarily stepping down from power in 1933, turning control of the family to John Sciandra. As for Joe Barbara, he too had chosen to lie low after the Wichner incident, retreating to Endicott, New York, where he took advantage of the repeal of Prohibition to set up a small bottling plant and get a New York State license for beer distribution. He also got a franchise and distribution contract with Canada Dry. But he still kept an eye on things in Pennsylvania -- he is believed to be behind the 1940 murder of John Sciandra. Whether he actually did murder Sciandra or not, he stepped in as the boss of Scranton in 1940 upon his death, and was boss of the family until his death in 1959.

But that murder case of Albert Winchel, from 1932-1933, seems to have been a pivotal event in the Scranton mafia history.

My Book Rules, Too

2007-08-13T11:38:00.000-05:00

I'll bring it with, so no one has to run out and buy it. Battling Demon Rum, by Thomas R. Pegram, gives a very concise and readable history of America's relationship to alcohol from 1800 to 1933. It's great for perspective on just how prevalent this issue was at different times, and cultural effects it rose from and affected.

Vaudeville and a Question (by Kim, via David)

2007-08-13T11:08:00.000-05:00

So my research in this category has hit a small roadblock, but one that I'm hoping that someone actually IN Pennsylvania may be able to find out, as it's possible one very easy question can take care of everything. Let me explain:

What I have found of vaudeville in the late 20's and early 30's in general is that it was in a decline. Specifically, especially in the east, it was being presented as an "opening act" in movie houses; THE JAZZ SINGER came out in 1928, and many vaudevillians were gradually making the switch from vaudeville to either musical comedy theater, straight theater, or movies. Many movie houses were hiring one or two acts to just come in briefly before they showed their main movie feature, and many big vaudeville houses were finding that they could add a screen and draw in a bigger crowd with one act and a movie.

I have also found that one man is largely considered to be responsible for effectively killing vaudeville. Edward Franklin Albee, along with his partner B. F. Keith, controlled a huge chain of vaudeville houses throughout much of the eastern U.S.; but while Albee was good at the business side of things, he was a little dictatorial to the performers. He had a strict "keep it clean" policy which audiences appreciated, but some performers chafed at. Albee also raised his production standards -- expensive costumes, sets, etc. -- and the vaudeville houses were soon pretty much bleeding money. By 1926, only a dozen "big name" vaudeville houses were open in the US; all the rest had turned into movie houses. In 1929, Albee made the switch from the "two-a-day" format for his shows (i.e., two shows a day) to "five-a-day", a move which exhausted the performers and writers, and lead to a number of lesser-quality acts getting onstage simply because "we need to fill the bill". That also sent audiences away -- why bother paying more for lackluster performers, when you could go see Valentino for a nickel at the movies? In 1929, Albee and Keith ended up merging with the Orpheum vaudeville circuit in the west and with one Joseph P. Kennedy, a film producer, to form Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO). Albee tried to maintain control of the vaudeville side of things, but after a while an exasperated Kennedy snapped at him to give up -- "Don't you get it? You killed vaudeville." Albee died in 1930, Kennedy took over control of RKO, and turned most of their houses over into movie houses. Many of the RKO houses did feature vaudeville acts as openers, but the biggest such house in the RKO enterprise, the Palace in New York, went all-movie in 1932. Some houses struggled on until 1935, but then they too went all-movie. One or two small vaudeville houses did hold out -- I've found a story of one in New York who presented four-a-day shows until 1947. But for the most part, by 1933, vaudeville was largely considered to be over.

Now -- that's what I've found about vaudeville in general. I have found some tantalizing information about vaudeville in Scranton in particular: Scranton seems to have been part of "the Mishler circuit", a small chain of theaters founded by one Isaac Mishler of Lancaster, PA. Mishler moved to Altoona at the age of 20, in 1882; in 1894 he opened a vaudeville theater there. The following year he opened another theater in Johnston, PA, and in 1903 opened theaters in Greensburg, PA and Trenton, NJ. Ultimately he controlled 24 theaters in eastern PA along the main line of the Pennyslvania Railroad, from Lancaster through to Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. Altoona was his home of operations.

Now here's where I fall short -- all I know of Mishler is what I have told you above. There is nothing on Mishler in the NY Performing Arts Library, and vanishingly little on Mishler online. I have read something that implies that Mishler's circuit may have been bought out by a New York-based company in the early 1900's (one source says that "Scranton was infamous for its tough audiences", incidentally), but have not found any definite statement to that effect (all the information I've found is of the "by the 1900's, vaudeville was largely controlled by..." variety, rather than a flat-out "Mishler sold out his circuit to a New York company and retired in June of..." variety). It's very likley that the reason that I can't find anything on Mishler after the early 1900's is because he did in fact sell out to a larger New York concern -- but there is also a chance that I can't find anything because the New York Public Library just focused on New York companies.

So -- if someone can definitively find out that Mishler did sell off his circuit to a New York producer, and if someone can find out who that producer is (I'm suspecting it's Keith and Albee, but I'd feel more comfortable with concrete proof), that could answer a lot -- I could connect the Way Of Scranton Vaudeville to The Way Of the Albee Enterprise.

A Couple Book Recommendations....

2007-08-13T09:09:00.000-05:00

I have a couple book suggestions for the interested/curious/anyone wanting to know about the general tone of the times...

1. Only Yesterday, by Frederick Lewis Allen. This is a historic overview of the 1920's -- but it was written in 1931. There are some parts that get a little nostalgic for the prosperity of the 20's, but it's actually pretty clear-eyed about some of the flaws of the age, the causes of the stock market crash, and the like. It discusses things that would have been within memory of anyone in 1933 -- not just the heyday of Prohibition and the Charleston and the like, but also some big scandals of the decade, such as "Daddy and Peaches," a divorce case which featured a child bride trying to divorce her much-older, and creepy, husband; or big business fads, like the huge boom in real estate speculation in Florida in the mid-20's. (A huge push to develop Florida began in 1925, with real estate speculators buying and selling lots at a huge rate and developers preparing to build huge planned communities; two big hurricanes in Florida in 1926 brought the whole thing to a crashing halt).

I found the perspective to be the most interesting part; people in 1933 would have the same reaction to reading this as we would have reading a historical retrospective of the 1990's -- we might learn one or two things we didn't know, but for the most part such a book would be a reminder of stuff we'd lived through, and maybe would present some background information we hadn't had at the time.

2. Hard Times, by Studs Terkel. This is one of Studs Terkel's oral-history collections; this one dealing with the Great Depression. It won't have much about Scranton in particular -- like many of his books, it is Chicago-centric. And, it does feature interviews with people telling stories 40 years after the fact, which always carries the risk of faulty memory. But Turkel does try to get a good cross-section of social classes, and he does try to feature accounts of some of the lesser-known stories from the 1930's (there's a whole section on Huey Long, another whole section on the Federal Theater Project, etc.). It also does cover the whole of the 30's as opposed to just the first three years. But it'd be interesting supplementary reading, I'd wager.

More Notes from Set Designer

2007-08-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

These are notes from Judy Snyder ... First paragraph is for the first picture and the second for the second..

I was able to do a little more on the set design. I took your ideaof the crystal decanters and added them to the design. The basic layout still is the same just the painted panels changed. I also added the tables & chairs and the rolling cart. It gives you a little more prospective. In the two pictures attached I left one blank so you can look at the design. The other one I added text to identify things. Hope they are readable. I'm still looking for a pattern for the curtains. The center one will be opened and the side ones will be covered completely.Please let me know your thoughts on them.

Hello David & Marybeth,I've done a little more on the design.I attached a pix in the text & as an attachment.I think this is the flavor you wanted David.An elegant but farcical look. The bottles on top will (hopefully) be real and glued down.If for any reason you would want to use onewe can make that on free for the actor.I changed the bartender to a glass. He wasto animated...not elegant enough. I alsoplaced the decanters in front of a leaded cut glass panel. Sort of frosted glass like.David, if you think this will work please let me know. I am planning on speaking to the painter, Gary Lippi, on Monday the 13th.FYI: The tables, chairs, stage and roling cartare still as they were in the last set of info.This is just the art work on the back drop.

Spit-Balling

2007-08-09T10:28:00.000-05:00

Work is stifling, and the Fringe is freaking me right the hell out, so I'm free-writing. I'm not submitting this as anything more than a graph of some of the ideas I have floating. It may, as the French say, suck:

A flickering light comes up in the darkness. It's a barrel-fire, and gradually huddled figures gather around it, one-by-one, singing "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?" A wealthy man in top hat walks by, brought up short by their melody, and begins to sing echoes and counterpoint with them. He gets carried away as they gradually stop singing to stare at him. He builds to a climax, abruptly stopping short of it as he becomes aware of their attention. Gradually he realizes their concern.

"Oh. Oh dear. I'm afraid I only have a ten dollar bill."

They chase him off stage as lights come up behind it all to reveal The Omar Room at the Hotel Jermyn. It is empty, save for an old man standing still and staring at the cabaret stage tucked into one corner of the bar. He is wearing an apron smeared with color, and a few odd kitchen utensils hang from its strap. He also wears a mightily abused chef's hat. He advances shyly toward the stage, occasionally stepping back and looking around guiltily. Finally, he mounts the stage, taking a breath to take it all in. He is thrilled to be there. Very slowly, he raises his hat and pulls from under it a grotesque mask (Arlecchino) that snaps smartly over his face. He is instantly transformed, and addresses the audience.

"From the first moment you stepped ashore, you denied yourselves! It's absurd! I'm sorry. The passions rise in me. I can not always contain them. Here, you understand, I am illiterate. Back there I was, too, but it hardly mattered. And here you all are, completely capable of expressing yourselves, and what do you do? You deny. You prohibit. Madness. We see it's madness, why can't you? We servants, we see it all. That is why I come to work here. Here, the Act is still played, but their tongues are pressed firmly in their cheeks, the better to allow the drink to flow into them. This is the best way to get through such strange times, this is the lesson..."

From offstage an Irish dialect cries out:

"Antonio! Antonio, you had better not be up on that stage again...!"

The cook rushes off the stage, concealing his mask under his hat again and plucking a soup ladle off his strap. Onto the scene rushes Shamus McHiney, the bartender and owner. He sees Antonio and stops.

Shamus: Antonio, there you are. What're you doing out here?
Antonio (quite suddenly with a thick Italian dialect): I see the pig.
Shamus: You see the pig?
Antonio: Yes. The pig, she run into this.
Shamus: What pig? Where did a pig come from?
Antonio: The pig, the pig!

Antonio proceeds to imitate a "pig," which in fact seems to be a "mouse." Eventually, Shamus gets it.

Shamus: Oh, that pig. Well, did you finally kill it?
Antonio: No. No, that pig, she is too fast.
Shamus: I swear I'm gon' ta kill that kid. COLIN! (or, COLLEEN!)

Antonio exists, pretending to seek the mouse, as Colin (Colleen?) McHiney enters dragging a push-broom behind him.

Shamus: Colin/leen, dearest second-kin of our blessed parents, may they rest in ever-lasting peace--since it was your pet that escaped and has hazarded the closing of our only livelihood for going on three years now, I put it to you again. Find. That. Vermin.
Colin/leen: Someone saw her?
Shamus: Her or her kin. Antonio just told me.
Colin/leen: Omigosh, where?!

Colin/leen rushes to turn to go back out to the kitchen, in so doing ensnaring the broom between his/her legs and flipping it about, which sends him/her careening into a table. S/he has some trouble getting back up. Shamus watches this all with the air of someone quite accustomed to it.

Shamus: Over by the stage, I think. When you've sufficiently extricated yourself, get the chairs down. We open in five.
Shamus exits as Colin/leen gets up on the stage to look for his/her mouse. He is on his hands a knees, and peers from atop the stage to under, whereupon he accidentally gets stuck, feet up in the air. After he struggles for a bit, a grandiose woman enters with a rolling trunk and surveys the scene.
Woman (in a Bronx dialect, al la Keaton): I never thought I'd double-bill with an acrobat, but this being Scranton and all...
She rolls her trunk over to the stage and stands on it to reach Colin/leen's feet and twist him/her, causing him/her to fall and get back right-side-up.
Woman: Are you McHiney?
Colin/leen: Wha? Yes, yeah, but...
Woman: Just what do you mean by this contract, McHiney? [producing a piece of paper from out of the air] The only thing more upside-down than you is your grasp of legal intricacies. I, Mathilda Rathbone, the most acclaimed vaudevillian of the last five-and-a-quarter years, don't play for no less than my standard fee. I don't care which mob guy sells you your hooch--
Colin/leen: I don't think...
Mathilda: I should say you don't! You seem to think I'm some back-alley dancing girl with nothing better to spend her money on than cut glass and bangles. Well, let me set you straight, mister.
With that, Mathilda pulls a musical instrument, a weapon and a balloon from her trunk, and proceeds to simultaneously perform a song, make a balloon animal and pop it through whilst whistling Dixie. When she finishes:
Colin/leen: That was impressive.
Mathilda: So, you get me?
Colin/leen: Yeah. I mean, yeah, but no. See, I think you're looking for my brother, Shamus McHiney.
Mathilda (after a beat, but never missing one): Ya' know, that is just like me: right timing, wrong fella'/dame. So where is your better half?
Mathilda repacks her trunk and begins to wheel it toward the bar.
Colin/leen: He's.... Say, what is all that? [referring to her trunk]
Mathilda: This? Oh. This is my box. This is my box. I never travel without my box.
Colin/leen: Oh.
Shamus enters carrying a jug. He pours a bit out on a cloth and starts wiping down the bar.
Mathilda: That him?
Col/leen: Yeah.
Mathilda: What'd he do, eat all your food for you?
Shamus: Who's this?
Colin/leen: Shamus, this is Mathilda--
Mathilda: --Rathbone, the little lady somebody's trying to take for a ride with no breaks.
Shamus: And why should I give you a break? I'm broke enough as it is.
Mathilda: Sounds like you could use some glue then.
Shamus: If it's green, I'd take a shine to it.
Mathilda: The only green I ever get is the slippery kind, and if you take a shine anything like you give one, it's gonna be a dull night.
Shamus: This stuff's better for shining the moon than the woodwork.
Mathilda: How about a glass then, while we talk over our terms. You can work on your wood later.
[Pause.]
Colin/leen: I'm gonna go...do...something. Somewhere. Else.

That was fun. Comments? Without risk, there is no art...or, probably, comedy...

A little history, courtesy of John Beck...

2007-08-08T14:41:00.000-05:00

Edmund B. Jermyn, one of the sons of John Jermyn who built the hotel (another source says it was Edmund's brother Joseph who built the hotel, but I doubt this), was 15th mayor of Scranton and served two nonconsecutive terms: 1914-1918 and 1926-1930. A coal baron by trade, and therefore a Republican, Jermyn's entry into politics seemed as quixotic as Steve Forbes's, but he was serious about it and spend the unholy amount of $33,000 on his campaign--which pretty much succeeded in buying the election. He focused on streamlining city government and containing costs.

At the end of his first term, which occurred before Prohibition, he retired from politics; but six years later the itch for office bit again, and he ran again. The election was hotly contested, and Jermyn received 25,901 votes versus his opponent's 26,029. When it turned out that the judges of election had been bribed to inflate the Democratic votes, the results became chaotic, and ultimately a panel of judges gave the election to Jermyn.

His second term was less successful. Toward the end, a major scandal involving slot machine graft erupted. After Jermyn left office in 1930, it turned out that he had been accepting bribes of $4 per slot machine from a gambler named Edward G. Miller (paid to a bagman named Harry Friend) to make sure the police overlooked the slots. James Arigoni, director of public safety, and James Henshaw, chief of police, both pleaded nolo contendere to the charges against them, and Jermyn was sentenced to a year in the county clink plus fines. (He served only 2 months.)

Incidental intelligence: his mansion stood at 601 Jefferson, where the JCC is now, across the street from Cheryl Murnin's office.

The Elusive Kimberly Wadsworth surfaces

2007-08-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

Just wanted to check in and wave at everyone; my earlier attempts were thwarted by having to do battle with a faulty computer.

But I'm working on some basic research for everyone (see the "David just sends interesting emails" post below for what I'm working on), and wanted to report in with at least some of what I've found so far...most of what I've so far found has been about organized crime in Scranton (I've been researching at the day job, and that's lead to some VERY puzzled looks).

So:

It looks like there was one big crime family, mostly involved in extortion among the region's miners. There were a couple minor figures I'm still tracking down info about, but the big name in the region was one Santo Volpe, who is known to have been operating as early as 1908. He was president of a coal company, but also was don over the Pittston mafioso, operating in Pittston, Wilkes-Barre, and Scranton; he also may have had contacts in parts of the Catskills. Vople turned control over to one Giovanni Sciandra in 1933; Sciandra was a former miner and bootlegger. Giuseppe "Joe The Barber" Barbara was named as Underboss; he was also a bootlegger, and also had connections to gambling and prostitution. Barbara also had contacts with members of Brooklyn crime families.

Sciandra controlled the family through the 30's (although Volpe still seems to have had a hand in things), but was found murdered in 1940; Barbara took over after his death. There are rumors that Barbara actually had him murdered towards this end; while there's nothing concrete, we do know that there was little support for Sciandra in the family by this point anyway, so Barbara's assumption of control was seen as a good thing. Barbara also was able to win a "legit" job, much like Volpe; only instead of running a coal mine, as Volpe did, former bootlegger Barbara found more legitimate beverage distribution work, and he landed a contract with Canada Dry for distribution of their beverages in the area. Barbara kept control of the family through 1959, when he died of heart disease; his underboss, Rosaria Bufalino, took over and was Don of the family for the next 35 years until he too died, of natural causes, in 1994. (Speaking of Bufalino -- this is a bit too late for our concerns, but it's still a fun fact that Bufalino was on the list of suspects for the murder/disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.)

I'm working on more detailed information about this and other topics, but there's a start...

Notes from the scenic designer

2007-08-06T16:36:00.001-05:00

Here's what Judy emailed me and asked to post for everyone:

The one first one is a pix of the World Famous Omar Room in the Hotel Jermyn. I like the color pallet and the murials on the walls. The other one is a suggestion for the wall units that will live up stage of the acting area. I am planning to have the center opened similar to the picture. I am also thinking of the tall thin panels to give an illusion of height to the set and hope to have two of the panels (one on each side) curtained to be used as entrances and exits. Also I have a thought of a rollingcart about 3' high, 24 wide and 36 long (I don't have the exact measurements but these are close)It's a sturdy cart that we have used in the past for musical dance numbers. That's about it for now.More to come ....later

Sorry the layout's messy... I'm still trying to get used to this thing...

That is all - MB

Some facts of the act...

2007-08-03T13:13:00.000-05:00

• Illegal to manufacture, sale, or transport alcohol, but owning and drinking were not illegal. (18th Amendment and Volstead Act were referred to together as Prohibition or National Prohibition. Volstead Act defined what was consider intoxicating liquor and when it could/couldn't be used for special purposes [i.e., religious])
• Rhode Island was the only state to reject the 18th Amendment (Pennsylvania signed on late: Feb 25, 1919)
• Miami Beach was known for being one of the open places that rejected and did not enforce the 18th Amendment
• Blind Pigs are another term for speakeasies

This occurred to me in a bar last night...

2007-08-03T09:40:00.000-05:00

...and yes, I was drinking, so I probably either stole it or it's not as funny as I think it is.

Bartender: Heya, Mickey, long time, no see. What'll you have?
Mickey: A Wailing Banshee.
Bartender: Geez, Mick, I'm afraid you got me there. What goes in it?
Mickey (staring and pointing offstage): A wailing banshee...
[From far off, but accelerating rapidly, comes a wail precipitating the arrival of a woman in elaborate costume. She tears across the stage and exits through the opposite side.]
Mickey: Maybe I'll just have a seltzer.
Bartender: Maybe I'll join you.

Hotel Jermyn Menu, 1900

2007-08-02T14:22:00.000-05:00

SCRANTON Images

2007-08-02T11:15:00.001-05:00

Courthouse Square

I guess now we can see why Scranton was considered "the toughest crowd" in the nation.

panoramic view

Oh. That's why they looked so tough.

Images

2007-08-02T08:21:00.001-05:00

Reading List... (or, Books to Drink By)

2007-08-01T13:42:00.001-05:00

Compliments of Megan (who isn't on the team, but is studying to be a librarian), I provide a list of links below to various required reading suggestions:
Mostly novels here, but interesting Hirschfeld book at the end.
Lackawanna History Library! Field trip required!
Published Prohibition graphics.
What Amazon has to offer. (Link your way around here for a while...)
Google Book search on Prohibition in Pennsylvania.
Finally, and holy crap, an entire book on Prohibition...online!

Plot line photo

2007-07-31T21:03:00.000-05:00

Maybe We Should Start us a Jug Band

2007-07-31T20:56:00.000-05:00

So, in my google search tonight, I discovered that jug bands were very popular in the 20's and 30's. Could we create our own jug band?

Here is a link to a jug band dictionary with idioms of the time.

http://www.federalcigarjugband.com/Pages/glossary.html

Also, figured out how to add a connection and found a great website with ton's of links. I was looking at the 1920's because we are so early into the thirties...

Welcome (again), one and all!

2007-07-31T13:29:00.000-05:00

I had dinner with Geoff Gould last night, and it raised a lot of very interesting questions. Some I could answer to an extent, others I had to respond to with the ubiquitous, "That's a really good question." It occurred to me, however, that it might be a good idea to utilize the 'blog for any new members of our happy troupe to attempt to answer likely questions they may have. Many of the answers may be along the lines of the aforementioned "T.a.r.g.q.", but even that is good to know, sometimes. I wish I could have dinner with you all. Instead, this post.

I should also mention here that you should check with the other Zuppianni on anything I claim herein, and, Zuppianni, you all should feel free to contradict me as you please, in Comments or your own Post. As someone who's been with the group for as long as I have, I may be crotchety, and stuck in my ways. That having been said, an F.A.Q.:

Just what in the hell do you guys think you're doing? Are you crazy?

Well, now, that second part is kind of irrelevant. But even if it seems relevant, in the true spirit of collaboration I'm going to ignore it. As to what the hell we think we're doing: We're planning to create a semi-improvised, full-length comic show that is steeped in physical theatre in general and, as we interpret it, commedia dell'arte in particular. We're going to do this essentially from scratch, though you better believe every waking moment not spent on other projects from here on out will be devoted to researching and developing this one.

That seems ambitious-slash-insane. What proof do you have that it will work?

Four years' worth of successful shows, plus a fledgling international course in commedia dell'arte under our belt(s). But every venture is a leap into the void, as it were. There are no guarantees apart from the promises each participant makes his or her self.

Yeah, about that: I could use some definition of terms here. What exactly does "semi-improvised" mean?

It's meant different things for each show we've produced, with a common thread: going off the script (if there is one) in performance is 100% okay. For our first show, Noble Aspirations, there was practically nothing for a script: just a scenario of actions and habits of dialogue. For Legal Snarls we had an ever-shifting script, compliments of Steve and modified continually by our improvisations. Our third, Silent Lives, was hardly improvised at all, but still had no script per se, as it was performed completely without dialogue. Finally, Operation Opera had a script developed completely from our improvisations and table sessions, the which we frequently departed from, and at great length. It remains to be seen to what degree this show will be semi-improvised, but with Steve on board again it's likely it will be based on something much more detailed than a simple scenario.

I see. Sort of. You also said, "as we interpret it, commedia dell'arte." How much do you interpret that form, and in what way?

The original intent of forming Zuppa del Giorno was to approach commedia dell'arte as a living tradition, and use it to create contemporary shows that honor it as such. That is to say, rather than trying to preserve commedia as an historically accurate recreation, we imagine ourselves to tap the spirit and character of the form to create new works. It seems to us that commedia dell'arte has a spirit of constant change and adaptation that lends itself to experimentation and application to (supposedly) different cultures and eras. In fact, it seems to us that the tradition is already living in many forms now-a-days, and an aspect of our shows thus far has been to highlight that by referencing various evolutions of it, such as the Marx Brothers, opera and the silent-film era.

What's essential in our commedia kit is roughly this: full, physically based characterization; a basis in stock characters (though not necessarily the formal ones of commedia history); direct connection and interchange with an audience; improvisation and the rules thereof; use of music and choreographed lazzi. The degree to which we utilize these skills varies with the style of the show, but these are always present.

That makes it a little more clear. So you guys won't quiz us on commedia characters?

No--if you promise you won't quiz us on the same. Still, a passing familiarity might be good, so you know what our references refer to.

Gotcha. So about the style of Prohibitive Standards . . . what is it?

. . . That is a really good question. Dang. Good. Well, style is one of those things that--though other productions may consider it a primary concern--sometimes isn't figured out entirely until we're in a room together. So be prepared to let the show tell us about that as we build it. Mind you, that isn't to say we aren't going to try to figure that out ahead of time. It's just generally a good rule to remain flexible in all choices for a good long while.

Holy crap. That's kind of scary.

Agreed. Sort of fun, too, though.

Ah, okay. Any other rules I should be made aware of?

Good idea. To my knowledge, we've never really tried to codify our "rules," such as they are. (Codification in general being somewhat outside the realm of pure improvisation.) But maybe, just maybe, I can summarize some tips, or guidelines, to working on a Zuppa show:

You do not talk about Fight Club. (It's just counter-productive. It's a great movie and all, but we've got our own story to worry about.)

Be prepared to break any or all "rules." The director will tell you if you're breaking the wrong one, or at the wrong moment.

In collaboration, try to follow the "yes, and..." principle, encouraging people to develop an idea rather than tearing it down for being underdeveloped. If you disagree with something, be prepared to back it up, and to back down if the director makes an executive decision.

That having been said, we have a time-saving saying for rejecting a notion: "That may be an idea for next year's show."

Put ALL your ideas out there to begin with. Everything everyone is interested in, or good at, or is simply feeling on a given day can contribute to the pot. The 'blog is good for this. Not every idea is perfect, but not every idea will end up in the show an one never knows what will spark genius.

Try new things right up to (and beyond) opening.

Be prepared for change at any time. Days before Noble Aspirations went up, the entire show did a 180.

Don't panic. Part of our technique is to face formlessness and make something out of it. We're all in this together.

So, come to think of it: Panic if you need to. Some great stuff can come from panic.

You're instilling me with a lot of confidence. 'Preciate that.

Any time.

Anything new going on this time around, that you're maybe not experienced with?

Well, technically, that's the nature of the work. We never know what to expect. But this time in particular we are work shopping with college students prior to the show, and allowing that experience to inform to some degree the shape of that show. So, yeah. Very new territory. Sort of a meeting of Zuppa's educational aspect and its performance one.

So what can I do stave off the incipient panic of this method of work? And how can I begin to explore the nature of our collaboration from a distance? And whatever will I do with all these ideas I already have?

Post to this 'blog! It's easy and fun, and everyone will know what everyone else is thinking prior to our convening in a single state! Designers, wait not for deadlines! Actors, procrastinate not in thy usual manner! Playwright and director, this site is thy playground! Once we all get in the theatre, the collaboration will, in a sense, grow much more closed. Ideas will have to be streamlined or dropped altogether, and the people in the room will be the ones in closest touch with what we're aiming for. For now, the playing field is even, so get your kicks in.

Kicks . . . hm . . . might have an idea for a lazzo . . .

Fun Stuff

2007-07-30T15:54:00.001-05:00

In the tradition of the past four Zuppa shows, I am going to wax lazzi-etical for a moment or two. These are just the beginning of a list of possible gags for the show. I heartily encourage contribution hereafter.

The Lazzi of the Hidden Booze: So everyone's got their excuse for drinking, right? And even the coppers drink. HOWEVER, when Police Chief ________ saunters through the room, doing the mandatory check, he better not actually see anyone drinking. So every character has his or her own clever way of hiding the booze in this scenario. Someone by the door gives the signal ("Swordfish!"), and all alcohol is hidden or disguised. A nice set of three might be: First time, everyone gets their booze neatly hidden, second time the warning gets miffed and they get it hidden one-by-one just as he passes, third time is so sudden everyone ends up drenched by their efforts, and the cop never notices because he's actually running in to sue the bathroom, or some such. Variant-Boy Who Cried Swordfish: Swordfish, or whatever the buzz word or gesture is, keeps coming up in conversation.

The Lazzo of the Transmogrifying Telephone: The candlestick-style telephone the reporter keeps running in to use is his/her receptacle for drink, the mouthpiece becoming a shot glass and the earpiece pouring liquor. This can be done either as a practical moment or a more fantastical, a la Chaplin moment. Variant-Technical Difficulties: Somebody uses the phone in the above manner, rendering it oddly malfunctioning for the reporter; i.e., he can hear others clearly through it, but to them he sounds all slurred.

The Lazzi of Drunken Variety: This one is owed to John Beck, directly. Basically, that everyone responds to alcohol differently. This creates a variety of states that could be attributed to character, particular alcohol, phase of drunkenness or some combination of elements thereof. A short list:

Goes stiff.

Goes loose.

Gets honest, emotionally overwrought (I love you, man), angry, etc.

Dances.

Takes off clothing.

Reverts to childhood/infancy.

Speaks very, very loudly.

Speaks very, very quietly.

Loses short-term memory.

Goes blind, or deaf, or both.

Farts or burps uncontrollably.

Loses ability to remain standing.

Mistakes everyone for someone they know.

Etc., etc., etc. . . .

The Lazzo of The Keystone Kops: The people don't fear the cops because they fear arrest, but rather because one never knows when they'll suddenly break from their usual group formation. When they do, chaos inevitably and quite accidentally ensues, leaving not a table unturned nor a drink unspilled.

The Lazzo of Murderous Intent: Someone has a grudge to settle, and the only thing that will satisfy him or her is the other's death. Somehow, however, the other remains blithely unaware of the danger to his or her person, as the would-be murderer repeatedly bothces the attempt. Finally, once the murderer is at the end of his/her rope, he gives up and is accidentally murdered by his/her intended victim. The victim feels endless remorse ("we hardly knew ye'"), and vows to perpetuate the murderer's memory.

The Lazzo of The Shrinking Violet: A very shy, incredibly quiet girl or boy actually has an unbelievable singing voice . . . but only when he or she is assured no one is looking. So occasionally people will rush into the room he or she is in and demand to know who had been singing, oblivious of the fact that it was he (or she).

The Lazzo of Unbridled Passion: A pair of characters are such intense lovers that the entire rest of the community finds it advisable to keep them apart at all costs. Whenever someone fails to keep them separate, the two rush together with such force someone gets hurt...occasionally an innocent bystander who happens to be standing between them.

Justa few ideas to get us started, gang. Also, had a character thought. Why haven't we considered an M.C. character? Someone will have to do it, whether it's a double function of the barman, or its own person. Grist for the mill...

The Lazzo of The Temperance Kiss: Woman of the town that's always trying to find her a man, strides into bar and announces loudly "Lips that touch liquor will never touch mine!" Where upon everone in the bar looks and simultanously takes a drink.

Heather's Notes

2007-07-29T13:04:00.000-05:00

Prohibitive Standards Notes

Place: Cabaret or Vaudeville Stage within hotel

Time: Night before repeal of prohibition (Dec. 5, 1933)

Possible Characters:

• Barmaid
• Brother/Sister of Coming of Ager
• Cabaret singer
• Canadian Mountie
• Chief of Police
• Coming of Ager
• Commedia Cook character
• Foley artist
• Gangsters
• Hard-bitten gal (ala Dorothy Parker? She’s been around the block)
• Liz’s Gratiana character
• Love Interest
• Old character in mask
• Paperboy
• Preacher
• Prostitute
• Reporter
• Senator
• Senator’s secretary
• Suffragettes
• Suffragette
• Temperance Ladies
• Town drunk
• Undercover agent
• Vaudeville couple (ala George & Gracie)
• Vaudeville performers
• World Weary Vaudeville guy

Italy Notes:

Possible plot ideas:
Brothers on opposite sides (twins?). One is the coming of age guy other is the heavy
Widowed barmaid makes good
Use of classic commedia devices
Two contrasting characters- idea brought up as might be fun for each to create two chacters at opposite ends of spectrum
Magic Area: stage within a stage
Colorful underbelly in the late 20’s early 30’s in Scranton
Main plot is happening in “audience”
Subplot is on the vaudville stage.

Themes:

Embracing of what Is instead of hanging on to what it could be
Romance of society which nobody ever drinks vs. reality
“If you can’t dream you’d go crazy”

Existing Movies talked about for reference (refering to THEME)
Wizard of Oz place story
Oliver Twist (the Fagin plot line)
Johnny Dangerously
Moulin Rouge

Main Plot:

Centers around 5 lead characters each either living up to or working around the high standards of the time.

Plot ideas:
Hero wants something against the wishes from a parental source
Mountie is looking for undercover guy whom he never meets but tries
Everybody experiences distrust and suspicion

New Idea (Attempt #4)

2007-07-25T16:05:00.000-05:00

Thought it might be interesting to see Our Hero catch the "bug" of his newfound interest (vaudeville, big band, the circus, pirate) right off the bat. Always more interesting to see it happen, this being theater and all. Also, it opens loads of comic possibilities b/c I like the idea that he's also TERRIBLE at whatever it is (like me blogging, fer instance). This gives the audience the chance to see he's making a wrong decision which gives them another rooting interest (to add to the romantic one). Need to figure a way to solve both dilemmas (dilemmae?) with the same solution.

Fogarty

2007-07-25T11:09:00.000-05:00

Hey, everyone. (Except me.)

Heard from Sharon Fogarty yesterday (and forwarded the e-mail exchange between us to one and all) and she seems available except for two Saturdays in September. What next steps shall I take?

I'm a Zuppa kid!!!

2007-07-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

Hi all. just wanted to let everyone know how excited (terrified) I am to be the newest member of this "soup group". I'm also thrilled to be blogging (assuming what I'm typing now is actually going to show up on the blog when I'm done. Computers don't like me.) Anywho, I'll be doing my best to catch-up/research for the next month and, hopefully, using this blog to share what I know and learn what YOU know. Probably more of the latter than the former. See you soon!

David just keeps writing interesting emails...

2007-07-21T12:30:00.000-05:00

I'm going to list some areas that we could use information on that would also make good content. And if possible, it would be great to have the facts (before anything is actually written) by August 20 (or thereabouts).

· The famous performers that played the Hotel Jermyn, especially between 1910 and 1935.

· Prohibition in Scranton. Who came here to do what... what gangsters were based here, what their political connections were?

· Prostitution in Scranton. Where was it, how elaborate, how classy, when did it start?

· The real use of the Jermyn ballroom during the 20's and 30's (this may be difficult from a distance, but it would make a nice subject if someone can research it).

· Vaudeville in the early 30's, and specifically in Scranton. Who the headliners were, which acts that later became famous were just starting out.

· Organized crime in Scranton. Was it here? Was it Irish, Italian? Who were the big names, what did they do business in?

· Scranton society in the 20's and 30's. Who were the big families, what did they do, where did they live, what interesting points of scandal or intrigue were being gossiped about concerning those families or their members?

· The depression in Scranton. How did it affect the local economy? Who suffered, who didn't? When did it hit, if at all? What sector got hit the hardest, what sector wasn't affected at all?

This is just grist for the mill, not a "needs" list. If you have topics that really draw you, let me know. If you have topics you like but can't research, contact Heather Stuart and Mary Clements about maybe finding someone else who would like to do the research part.

Hey

2007-07-21T11:13:00.000-05:00

Jeez. I had to open a Google account and everything (which I did), but I'm such a computer moron that I'm not sure about how to get to Jeff's blog by signing in on my own. Do I have to keep Jff's e-mail forever, or will I be able to figure out how to get from my account to here? Stay tuned. I mean, Jeff said to send an e-mail from here (I think). How? I dunno.

I'll write more cogently after I've read the other entries.

Assuming I figure out how to get back here.

Email from David Zarko, 7/20/07

2007-07-20T18:03:00.000-05:00

These are just some thoughts about ProStan, and the workshop and development processes leading up to rehearsals. Much of this is about script building and story and character development, but I wanted to include everyone in the discussion for now. Jeff will also send all of you a link to the blog he has set up for the show. Feel free to read and participate. Most of the real decisions will be made within the ensemble, but it is most healthy for this process if everyone is aware of the steps that lead to those decisions.

These are just some thoughts about what I think we need to consider or pay attention to, some dates and deadlines, and catching up on recent developments.

First the catch up. Steve Deighan, who authored Legal Snarls in 2004, will be working with the enemble in creating a script. Now, don't get carried away with that word "script". The end product is still going to allow for periods of free improvisation (selectively placed with considerations for pace and personnel), and even those parts of the play that are "set" may never be written down to the extent that the action follows what is on the page. At the same time, there may be sections that are scripted and that never vary, too. The main reason that Steve is becoming involved is to give us an competant, dedicated attention to the story and how it is being expressed in terms of plot points, progressions, and dialogue. He may work via the blog and email on creating a few possible scenarios to begin working on, but otherwise the script will flow from improvisation in rehearsal.

In the meantime, the ensemble has created some basic plot ideas and has a list of characters. Heather will email you notes on that, and will post the same on the blog, so that you can all catch up. Then as more ideas are gathered and agreed upon, she will alert you to updates. For now, know that the action takes place on the day that it became apparent the the 21st ammendment would be, or was, repealed (that is, the end of prohibition), and that the play is set in the main ballroom of the Hotel Jermyn (December 5, 1933 was the actual day of repeal, but more research is needed to discover if that was the triumphal moment or not). The ballroom is, at this point, a kind of supperclub with a stage and some tables, and there are vaudvillian type acts or performers involved in the story. We also want to explore the ways in which the title, Prohibitive Standards, can be viewed and reflecting in the plot and subplots that make up the play.

My main note for now is this: in the past all the Zuppa shows have been genre based; we have identified a modern expression of the commedia dell'arte tradition and use that as a set of limitations for what we create. For example, the Marx Brothers for Legal Snarls, the silent film for Silent Lives. I think this is a helpful limitation, and we should start thinking about what genre reflect what we are so far trying to do with this play. It may be a body of film work, some specific theatrical format, or even something literary, and it may be combination of two or three genre, but from a director's viewpoint, this would help me focus my ideas. So, if the story as it is developing brings something to mind, please let us know.

Another major point in how we approach this process for me is that we hang the story on a single, simple, strong plot device. The one we have decided on is a kind of coming of age story, where the protagonist is a young person involved in someway with the illicit activities of an older brother, uncle, or father. Our hero's desires lie elsewhere, perhaps a career in Vaudeville, or an offer to play in a swing band. The main action arises from this conflict, and any other plots or themes interweave with it, parallel it, or reflect it.

The week of August 27 will be the first week we work on the show. This week will be dedicated to some training in physical comedy techniques related to commedia dell'arte, and other basic principals of playing comedy in that context, and will involve a cohort of up to 26 students from Marywood University. The first four days will be devoted to general training, and the last two to specific preparation for a busking event at Festa Italiana on September 3. (Thinking about this, we may want to make that cut after Wednesday's class, as that would free us up to be more general the first three days, and give us more time to develop the busking event... please give me your thoughts on this). Any of the students who want to be considered for the cast of ProStan will need to commit to the full week and the busking. The first week will be lead by Zuppa members Jeff Wills and Dave Berent. One other actor may join then, but that will depend on the final shape of the professional cast.

After la Festa, a cast will be chosen, that list will be posted on Tuesday morning, and the first workshop in direct support of the show will begin that evening. The week following will prepare the students for the development process. In addition to that, the actors may do some unofficial research and development towards the show during this week. All the professional actors in the cast will be involved during this week.

On September 10, the development process will begin.

We need to have a firm decision as to set and furnishing by August 27, so much of those physical decisions will have to be made via the blog. Judy will provide us with some thumbnails and/or renderings and a floor plan well before then so that we can open a dialogue about these choices. The deadline for props that need to be constructed is September 10. The deadline for props than Marywood has to gather is September 21. Marywood begins construction of the set on September 10. (Judy correct me if any of this is wrong) Rachael Miller is designing costumes, and will take measurements on September 4. The ensemble will get her a list of characters likely to be included, and whatever thoughts they have on costumes or style, by August 27.

This is going to be a really exciting project, also complex. So, we need to keep in good communication about all aspects of this as we go. Heather Stuart is coordinating the workshops portion of the project, so any concerns or questions should be addressed to her. Marybeth Langdon is stagemanager, so all matters of the develpment process should be funnelled through her. Keep me in the loop on all communication, please. Any design discussions should include the full contingent of designers, plus Jim Langan and Marybeth. Any development communication should include the full ensemble, plus myself, Marybeth and Steve. Include Paulette in everything.

The 7/19/07 Meeting, or, Now We Are Roughly Four

2007-07-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

We had a big meeting last night, in which it was acknowledged that David Berent, bless him, wouldn't be able to do the show this year. Nevertheless, he attended to brainstorm, discuss alternate actors, and even invite on a writer: Mr. Steve Smith/Deighan. This reunites Zuppa with Steve for the first time since Legal Snarls, and is an exciting development. What follows is a summary of our notes from this brainstorming session. My apologies for anything left out due to hand/mind fatigue. (But that's the beauty of the weblog! You can post your own!)

Background
· There were “blue” states and cities that remained dry for years after repeal.
· Idiom: “house of ill repute”
· Scranton was a popular place for the New York mob and the Chicago-land to meet and deal, also to hide from the law.
· Scranton, at the time, was the red-light district capitol of the nation.

Setting
· The Hotel Jermyn, re-imagined as a refuge for drinkers, plus a cabaret/vaudeville venue.
· We have a definitive date! (For now.) December 5, 1933, when the final state ratified the repeal. It remains to determine the dynamics of that day and their timing in relation to our story.
· We are hoping for/looking at 2 professional men, 2 professional women and up to 6 students in the cast.

Plot
· Through line: A coming-of-age tale for a young protagonist character. All other story lines branch around this.
· Motions: Mounty looking for a contact in US Government. Old vaudevillian trying to get out of the business. Gangster trying to make a deal with Senator, or others.

Characters
· Young Protagonist: Don’t know if it’s a he or she yet. Probably teenage-to-twenties, at a point of decision making. He/she becomes torn between taking over the bar, or leaving town to become a performer. Has a love interest, possibly “Prostitute” or “Moll” if male.
· Bar Owner: Of some close relation to the Protagonist, represents one of the forces playing on him. Discussed him being a Reverend as a result of trying to make his place legal for alcohol.
· Hard-Bitten Woman: Inspired of Dorothy Parker.
· Senator: Possibly an audience member, possibly young actor. Much is made of his influence, and/or perhaps his role in bringing Prohibition to fruition. See Gangster.
· Cop: Likely one of our Irish characters, he is in on the drinking, but people still have to make a show of hiding it around him. Threatening to Gangster, but not to Bar Owner.
· Cop’s Crew: All students in cop uniforms, as necessary.
· Gangster: In from New York, or Chicago, or both. A colorful character, possibly more than one? Possibly with Dick-Tracy-esque nickname(s)?
· Gangster’s Crew: All students in suits, as necessary.
· Moll: Gangster’s girlfriend. Dare we emulate Ms. Dimple? DARE WE SIMPLY MAKE HER MS. DIMPLE?
· Commedia Cook: Working name for a character who stands apart from the action, has lots of direct address to the audience and seems generally timeless. He is an underling in the place, but has subtle influence. May play in traditional commedia masks, which freaks out his fellow man.
· World-Weary Vaudevillian: Possible alternate identity for “Commedia Cook.” If not, he is an aged performer who can’t help but be successful on stage, and he’s trying to fail. He wants out. He tries to talk the Protagonist out of it. Buster Keaton-type voice, possibly.
· Vaudeville Performers: Roles for students with their own acts. Also may mirror famous acts, such as Gracie & Allen, Abbot & Costello. Discussed possible arc of team trying to conceive their act, getting it right when it’s one of these famous types.
· Suffrage/Temperance Activist: A woman who loves being an activist, whichever the cause, she ultimately begins campaigning for repeal, because it’s what she does.
· Suffrage Crew: Students in Sunday hats and dresses, regardless of sex.
· Prostitute: Hooker with a heart of gold. Or not. Whichever.
· Madam: Runs the “house of ill repute.”
· Madam’s Crew: Students in…er…suggestive attire.
· Canadian Mounty: Down from the Great North, he’s here to find his American comrade, who is undercover in the bar, and not revealing him or her self. He is tall, gorgeous, laughs heartily…and that’s about it. At some point he begins drinking, and things careen thereafter.
· Undercover/Revenue Agent: Someone amongst the cast who is more than he or she seems to be. Maybe all of them are in the employ of the US Government in some regard…
· Reporter: He comes in to phone his editor, and is how we get the scoop on the outside world most of the time.
· Anarchist/Political Radical: Because it’s so darn relevant.

Vaudeville (Acts)
· Balloon striptease
· Ukulele
· “Prohibiting” monologist: “What else can they prohibit?”

Lazzi
· Hiding booze, variety.
· Spilling booze, variety.
· Transmogrification: candlestick telephone into decanter and glass.

Miscellaneous
· The title: PROHIBITIVE STANDARDS. What are all the implications? Standards too high to live up to, your own and others. Standard, as in functional, or even “run of the mill.” Flags or crests. Capital-P Prohibition and prohibition. Prohibitive pricing, etc.
· An air of distrust and suspicion that is dispelled by the repeal?
· Use name: McGilacutty (Lucy Ricardo’s maiden name)

Repeal Revealed

2007-07-19T09:21:00.000-05:00

Click on the title for the link from Heather regarding events of the year Prohibition was repealed. One thing Heather notes: Buster Keaton was kicked off a set for drinking. Surely we can develop some homage (or at least reference) to "Silent Lives"!

The 21st Amendment

2007-07-17T10:22:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of Mr. David Zarko (who, I must admit, I'm impressed with for having discovered Wikipedia all on his own), the goods on the amendment that ended it all.

(Click on the title of the post for link.)

This is pertinent to our discussions about the show begun in June, in Italy, and continued two weeks ago in Pennsylvania when I was there to teach high schoolers how to do push-ups. One of the pivotal ideas we enjoy right now is the idea of the show culminating in a final (or perhaps penultimate) scene in which Prohibition is repealed. This begs the question of what precipitated that event, and when it seemed certain to pass. To put it another way, with what news would the characters feel free to suddenly break out and share their stores of alcohol?

Prohibition was begun by Amendment XVIII of the U.S. Constitution.

Open the Doors and See all the People

2007-05-02T10:21:00.000-05:00

Posting somewhat in response to Grey's post, which reminded me that one of the exciting ideas we all had was about how the era nearly coincided with the vaudeville boom. Remembering our excitement over these possibilities for characters turned quickly to creative anxiety, as I felt overwhelmed by all the possibilities for bizarre and interesting characters to play. So I'm writing to spew some possibilities, or categories for possibilities. Everybody pile on to this types list (read: edit) please:

Vaudeville performers from all over
Cabaret performers from all over
Gangsters, either of Scranton or in refuge from Chicago law
Molls
Prostitutes/Madam
Italians & Irish (tapping into Scranton's cultural history)
Scranton historical figures
"Locals," i.e., priest, business person, newsboy, barkeep, baseball player, moonshiner, farmer, electrician, trolley operator . . .

I figure after we've had a go at this list we can begin a post with specific character notions. I'm still uncertain how this show will be developed exactly, if we're aiming to start with an outline, or script or just get in a room and build. Hopefully, David, you may enlighten us soon.

thoughts

2007-05-02T09:13:00.000-05:00

I think we should all read John Beck's book. I'm curious if we can actually put historical people in the show -- or if we have to go through some kind of legal rigormaroll.

I have a one-eyed cabaret singer who I'd like to resurrect. It might be funny to have a bit with her and my son-- if he responds happily with me in the eye-patch. Strip-tease music as a sound track for chasing mischievous baby. The innocent and the degenerate.

Do we have a band on-board for the show?

Is it still a cabaret-show? If yes, I'm thinking it would be nice to have the story told through the cabaret rather than having scenes outside the cabaret. Or have the show be set in some other place (eg. jail cell, old folks home) and have the cabaret be in somones' mind.

Welcome to the Speak-easy...

2007-04-15T12:47:00.000-05:00

Hey gang. Pursuant to discussion with Heather and in the time-honored tradition begun by Grey, I set up this 'blog as a forum for our ideas for the next show. It seems a long way off yet, and we have a lot of other projects going on this year, but I figured sooner was better than later. I've started us out with some links regarding prohibition-era history and fiction. Have at it!