The opening night of my dreams. For reals.

Manzanita, on a perfect summer day

There were 3 perfect days at the Oregon coast this summer.  My boss rented a beach house, and Besaw's all played together nicely.  Sean and Mary Rose showed up and hung out with us for a few hours - Sean here from Calgary to visit.  And we ended up talking not-so-idly about what would be involved in bringing him to Portland to perform Drunken Fucker.  

I got shivers, like you do when you know something's going to happen?  And it might look just like you imagine it's going to? But in a really really good way?

That's how I felt the night I saw Drunken Fucker for the first time. I knew that I would produce the show, and I knew that I would ask for and receive assistance from one of my regulars at the restaurant.  And talking to Sean on the beach this September, I knew it was really going to happen. 

me and Sean (aka Drunken Fucker) plotting our partnership Last night, our preview/opening/pay what you can, was even better than my Manzanita day dream.  But up until the lights came on, and Sean started talking, I felt utter dread.  

You see, we'd teched the show on Wednesday - well, sort of.  I am renting the theater by the hour, and had only allotted 4 hours for tech.  I figured, tech times for fringe shows are usually 3 hours or less - 4 should be plenty.  But I hadn't really considered that tech venues are staffed by people who know the space, the equipment, and are generally trained profesionals.  

When I saw Drunken Fucker this summer, Sean played with a live musician.  They riffed off each other beautifully, but due to expense and time, he wasn't able to reprise his role in the Portland version.  He recorded a soundtrack, and it sounds great, but it means 47 or so sound cues that weren't in the original the stagemanager has to deal with.  

Mary Rose, spa delight or portent of frustration to come? Or maybe it's 47 light cues.  I'd forgotten how light had played such an interesting role in Sean's show.  Having no set, no costume and almost no props, light creates mood and atmosphere in a way most fringe shows can't rely on.  We rented special lights just to achieve certain effects.  

More work for the stage manager.  Mary Rose, acting as Drunken Fucker's stage manager, is taking on a role she has never played.  She is an actress and improv artist, but time behind the scenes is fairly minimal.  However, she is game and affordable (much like a volunteer) and god damn if she hasn't put in her whole heart/soul/mind to this project.

 

Having run out of time on Wednesday, we were back at 5 on Friday, 3 hours before opening, while Alex the lighting designer was trying to build the last few cues, Mary was trying to master running sound and calling light cues for the first time in her entire life.  I asked if we had any pre-show music, and learned that Jay, the live musician, used to play something different every night.  In other words, no, we didn't. 

I drove home at 6:30 to craft a pre-show CD.  (Sean nixed my idea of a setlist of inspirational Bruce Springsteen songs - but to me, that's kind of the mood of the show - dark and hopeful).  He suggested 80's metal - Black Sabbath, ACDC, etc.  Definitely not something I have in my music collection.  But that's what itunes is for right?  Itunes FAILED me.  Got stuck on Highway to Hell and never got over it. 

I switched to Eric's computer and was able to pirate the songs much faster (I tried to be a good citizen- I really did), burned my first ever compilation of glamrock metal, and raced by to the theater.  The usher was already there (bless you Kay Olsen) and ready to fold programs. 

People started to stream in, and I got to greet them all.  I love offering theater as Pay What You Can.  It makes it so much more satisfying.  I feel like people really want to be there somehow.  And even when someone offers me a dollar, I am thrilled.  Because they showed up.  And I removed a barrier for them. Of course, some people paid more than the regular ticket price, and I was delighted to offer that opportunity as well. 

The end result being a nearly full house.  For a total unknown from Canada, with a show, during the holiday season, called Drunken Fucker.  Mary ran the show with almost no missteps.  And what an audience.  At the end, they stood up and clapped (and I didn't even start it). 

Thta feels like a holiday miracle, and i am filled top-full of divinest gratitude.

Thanks universe!

I am producing a show called Drunken F**ker. Am I crazy?

When I sent out the press release for Drunken F**ker, I got an email back from the guy who writes theatre reviews for the Oregonian.  He said "So you don't really want mainstream coverage for this show, huh?"

It honestly hadn't occurred to me that I would run into this problem. 

But ya know, I should have.  When I first saw the title in the Calgary Fringe Festival program, I totally thought "SKIP."  You have to understand, there are HUNDREDS of shows going on at fringe festivals.  You really do have to be selective, and yeah, you do end up judging a fair amount of books by the cover.

When I saw the title of Sean's show, I thought "Rant about alcohol.  Probably hits bottom, finds AA and lived to write a one-man show about it. NEXT!"  But as it happened, Sean's show was scheduled one night right after ours, in the same venue.  We were there already, and it seemed rude to leave (especially since he'd just seen our show).  So I went.

What I remember most clearly is sitting absolutely still for the entire show.  I was transfixed.

Immediately I felt like I was in the hands of an excellent story teller.  Sean is really likable, and that comes across immediately.  He is at home on stage.

The show opens with these stories of drinking through high school- and they are hilarious and evocative - and make you wish you'd been there. 

As the cracks start to appear, you think. Jeez, just slow it down a little and you'll be fine.  Because honestly, you don't want him to give up drinking.  The stories are too good.

The cracks get wider, and the stories get more and more harrowing.  You want to cover your eyes, your ears - you want them not to be true - but you know they are true.  This isn't fiction.  This is someone cracking themselves open and showing you the dark and ugly shadow in his soul.

And it is that willingness to share the very bottom, to unmask the brutal, mean, selfish person that he was, that makes Sean's transformation from a drunken fucker to a person you'd want to spend time with so effective. 

I wished I could tour this show to highschools.  I wish I  could share it with every woman who's ever been fucked over by a man with an alcohol problem, a kid who's dad hits him when he's drunk.   This show gave me a shot of faith for every person out there with what seems like incurable addiction.  If Sean can turn it around, from the depths he found himself, then it is not foolish to hope

This is the kind of theatre I want to see, and the kind of theatre I want to produce.  I left Drunken F**ker feeling like something inside me had shifted- like my heart had been opened.

And that's why I am producing a show that the Oregonian won't list in the theatre section.  

Fuck it.  Throw caution to the winds and hope the show finds the audience that needs a shot of hope.

FRIDAY Nov.27th
SATURDAY Nov. 28th
THURSDAY Dec. 3rd (pay what you can)
FRIDAY Dec. 4th
SATURDAY Dec. 5th

Theatre!Theatre! 3430 SE Belmont.  All shows start at 8pm

TICKETS? 

www.dancenakedproductions.com