Honest Abe Review, and 35th Birthday Shenanigans

Cory Vaughn, over at Theatre Louisville, posted a review of the Honest Abe Festival. In short, he enjoyed it! You can read it here:

http://theatrelouisville.org/reviews2009/cv_honestabe.php

It's hard to get reviewed in this town unless you're Kentucky Center, so I appreciate Mr. Vaughn taking the time to do so.

I saw the show Saturday, and was pleasantly surprised when Dan and Amy, two friends from Canada, were sitting in the audience! April had somehow coordinated the logistics to get them here. It was a great birthday surprise.

I had not had a chance to see the show from start to finish, so it was a treat. It was obvious how much hard work had been put into the plays. I enjoyed myself, and when my play was staged, I still got that funny tickle of disbelief that actors down there were saying my lines. Thank you, Juergen, for giving me this wonderful opportunity. And thank you to the cast and crew of the Festival, who did a marvelous job.

Afterwards, the four of us went to 21c Museum Hotel for the night. (We had already had reservations, but somehow, April had also arranged for Dan and Amy's room as well. Unbelievable.) This was our second stay. You would think it's impossible for a hotel to be beautiful, modern, intriguing, have a sense of humor, have friendly staff, and NOT be snooty, but 21c manages to attain the delicate balance. We also had dinner there at Proof on Main, and Tyrone Cotton, you were right: the Bison Burger is pretty darn good.

I could not ask for a more fantastic 35th birthday. April, you're amazing. I love you.

My last plea on behalf of Bunbury and myself: if you haven't come to see the plays, BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW! Two more weeks!

Articles, NCTE, Opening Night

It has been a whirlwind week. First, let's talk about our class podcasting project, Dragon Booktalk. Some major bullets:

• So far, two authors -- Larry Colton (Counting Coup) and Michael D'Antonio (Hershey) -- have contacted me about Dragon Booktalk. They listened to the podcasts and sent their kudos to the students for their work. As if that wasn't enough . . .
• Dragon Booktalk was mentioned in a NCTE INBOX e-newsletter (with 115,000 subscribers), and the site and C-J article was discussed at length in a corresponding blog entry. This has led to . . .
• A lot of hits. It took three months to get the first 400 hits at the site. In the course of 48 hours, we've climbed over 1000. In addition, I've received emails from all over the United States, as well as a Canadian associate professor and a teacher in China!

I'm thrilled for the students, who are getting the opportunity to reach a global audience.

The Honest Abe Festival opened last night, and John Foster interviewed and photographed myself, Matt Orme, Dale Strange, and Juergen Tossmann for a feature article. No pictures online, but you can read the text of the article here, which came out in yesterday's edition.

Oh, and I turn 35 this weekend. What better way to celebrate a birthday than the opening of my play?

More thoughts on the production later . . .

Come to Bunbury! The three week run begins NOW!

Courier-Journal article on Festival!

Apparently, Bunbury is not the only theater with Lincoln on the stage!

I just read the Courier-Journal article online from Sunday's paper. Our Festival is thoroughly discussed; Nancy Gall-Clayton (playwright) and Matt Orme (actor protraying Lincoln in all the plays) are quoted at length; and Nancy is beautifully pictured at her desk.

Read it here:
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090125/SCENE05/901250326/1047/SCENE05

Two more days!

Oldham Era article, and How I Feel About Electricity

First things first: having no electricity, to put it gently, sucks. But I won't complain too loudly. Our house was without power for only two days, and considering as of this post that 100,000 are still in the dark, I consider myself lucky. Also, I had a week off of school, which I spent hanging out with family, so I was glad for the mini-break.

The press release for the Honest Abe Festival actually came out a few weeks ago; I posted links for it at both my personal and Jackpot Tiger site. But in case you missed it, click here.

I've been going to, on average, about one play rehearsal a week. I have to say, I'm very excited about the actors' work, Juergen's direction, and the set and lighting design. (Here would be a good time to give the actors a well-deserved shout-out: Matt Orme, Dale Strange, Ted Lesley, and Mike Burmester.) Actually, I'm impressed with the overall quality of the writing, directing, and acting of all of the plays in the Festival. Counting down to Thursday, February 5 -- the Festival's opening night -- and Saturday, February 7 -- my 35th birthday!

Yesterday, John Foster from the Oldham Era came to interview myself and Juergen, as well as take photographs. The article should run in this Wednesday's paper (February 4). Find a copy in Oldham County anywhere newspapers are sold.

At this point, I'll probably not post until after opening night, but let's hope for broken legs and no more ice storms.