Et maintennant, la froideur...

From the depths of despair I return.
I am so incredibly broke/without resources/jobless
presently it's a little stunning. Seriously stunning
actually. Still, what can I do but keep going on.
Wake up, online job search over tea, resume tweaking
over tea. Edit the portfolios before dinner.
Oatmeal for dinner.

I might be designing a really huge show soon.
But the production company is quite secretive
and really bad at communicating. So we'll see.
I have a partial cast list, but I am not allowed
to tell you who is in it yet. Soon Hopefully.
Hopefully I can get a contract out of them so
I can return to my life.

It's cold here, and kinda hard to live.
But I still happen to like New York.

I've discovered I can be an optimist.


Quelques Photos...des choses un peu chaud:

Nothing But Show

Brief glances caught of the outside world while out collecting
odds and ends for this round of shows. Before the onset of post
Labor Day chill crept into the NYC air, making shorts and A/C
units disappear by the hundreds.








These shows are lovely though, and quite different from
each other although oddly linked.


LEMON SKY is an autobiographical-ish play by the recently late Lanford Wilson,
and the first of his plays to be produced since his death. It deals with his
experiences living with his estranged father and step family in San Diego in
the 1950's. A sort of fever dream coming out story where you are never sure
when the characters are talking to you or each other as the premise is he has
gathered these actors together in order to present the goings on of his past.


Bill Clark's amazingly minimal set.
Shopping Mid-Century with a 1100$ budget was anything but simple.





My hands still hurt from webbing these damn chairs, which was
necessary as you I couldn't find them anywhere for a reasonable price.
So of course we made them.



Play It Cool is also set in 1950's California but in Hollywood. This is the
story of Mary, a butch lesbian bar owner trying to keep her lady from running
off with MGM while keeping her bar open by paying off the cops. All set to
stunning jazz arrangements. I'm not usually one for musicals, but this one
is truly great, and the company and crew are fantastic to work with.




Tom Walsh's amazing bi-level set.
Can you believe this is in the same space as
The Shoemaker & The Pretty Trap?
(see previous post)

Showing the Work

Installation of The Pretty Trap.


Shelving unit for The Shoemaker.





The Shoemaker, as seen from the operations booth.


Wallpapering for The Pretty Trap.


The Shoemaker set behind the set of The Pretty Trap, which was disassembled
weekly during Shoemaker performances and stored behind that set.



Assembled Props waiting to be placed for The Pretty Trap.




The finished set, complete with actors.


Rex Reed telling stories about Tennessee Williams and New Orleans
on the opening night of the Pretty Trap, which is one of two rough
drafts of Mr. Williams' The Glass Menagerie, at The Acorn Theatre.

Where I've been...

Shopping for shows.
Endlessly Shopping. For shows.

What is the big deal with gramophones and
shows recently?! Yes, I can find you a
gramophone but you will not want to pay for
the type of gramophone you are wanting.


Show #1.



Stunning. 20 foot projection screens, puppetry, solid writing.
When it says it's like watching a film onstage it is telling the truth.
It rehearsed here in NYC, came from Japan, and is in crates ready to be
sent to Edinburgh Fringe in August.

Show #2.

The Shoemaker, by Susan Charlotte.

This one is now in previews, sold out previews at that. Not surprisingly
everyone loves Mr. Aiello. The stage managers have to come close to
physically removing people from the theatre after the show's talk backs
as he will talk for hours if you let him.

BTW, recreating a Shoe menders shop on stage is no easy task. Especially when
it has a whole other set hiding behind it. Which would be ...

Show #3.

Tennesee Williams' The Pretty Trap. An alternate version of The Glass Menagerie.
Choc full of antique furniture, real wallpaper and lots and lots of flame
retardant spray. This one opens next month and runs in rep with #2. In the
same theatre.

Next up: Production Design for a small film....we'll see how that goes.

Evenements Recents

One day,after buying a steel bar cart
at a flea market and wheeling it
20 blocks to another flea market
my dear friend Leah and I
waited 2 hours for a van cab
to appear. Specifically, an empty
van cab, unfilled with single
costumed people from Comicon.
While wrestling it into the back
of the van, the silvered glass
top toppled to the street, simultaneously
shattering and freaking out the driver
who demanded we remove oue cart and let
her get on her way to pick up
some solitary superman somewhere else.
This is where we decided to suck it up and
haul our dear meter high by meter wide
cart into the subway. During rush hour.
This is what my life has been like
for about two weeks.

I've also become aware that I'm on
a new diet that involves
walking 80 blocks a day and
eating one high calorie meal a day
with several cups of tea.

and now...Pictures.

The aforementioned bar cart.


The old Shake Shack in Madison Park.



Diet food.

Moet & Chandon with Moroccan street fare.


Very attractive gay nerd on N train.


The best Antique shop in Chelsea, Olde Good Things.



At MOMA,
the screaming installation.


Turntable goodness


The Cinderella Table



Got Pork Slapped at Rudy's


Opening night of Love Divided at Theatre Row.
Joel Gray attended wearing a red D-Squared Blazer and cargo pants.


A T-shirt illustration for the It Gets Better campaign.


Vintage Italian guns at Wallenberg rehersal


Glow Vigil for Gay Suicides at Washington Square Park.

Let's Get Lifted.

So yesterday I had the fortune of helping
carry a truckload of film equipment up to
third floor of an old school in the
East Village (Read, long flights of steps
between landings and no lift to speak of.)
I sincerely thought I would faint.
Lets not talk of how it lasted 4 hours.

Why am I doing this you ask?

In order to get a head in the door
for possible future work in film production
in the future. Will it work? It may kill me first.

The web page however is starting to work.
So far two requests for sold work and a commission have appeared.
The start of which is included in the photo train below.

Also thinking about getting more into photos...

speaking of photos:

The most amazing thing I saw at the Capsule Show.
This hooded jacket by Remi Relief out of Japan,
I hesitate to call it a hoodie because of it's awesomeness,
is made of soft indigo cotton knit with actual knit denim
detailing along the front bottom and hood.
God is in the details.





BarNine on 9th avenue & 53rd
My Monday night dive bar cravings are now satiated.
Also some quite nice acoustic and electric guitar
sets included in the weekly impromptu jam sessions.






Dinner last week at Le Cercle Rouge in Tribeca.
Amazing Steak Tartare, despite the tiny quails egg I was given.





Subway Platform inspiration:

mixed patterns downtown


an incredibly yellow tone poem uptown



The new drawing, in it's pupa stage.