Swiss Meatballs

No, that's not a typo. Sweden may be famous for their meatballs, but Switzerland has their own tasty version. And they now have another one to enjoy because Theaterverlag Kaliolabusto of Messen, Switzerland has just published a German language translation of my restaurant farce Million Dollar Meatballs.

This combination publisher/theater company did the same thing for How I Met Your Mummy six years ago. And it's all thanks to the relationship my own publisher Pioneer Drama Service has established with them. Kaliolabusto goes through Pioneer's catalog to decide which plays they want to translate and give the bulk of the performance fees to Pioneer to split with the playwright.

It's a real win-win-win. Kaliolabusto gets market-proven material to translate. Pioneer and the playwright gets increased exposure. And we all make a little money.

I feel honored by Kaliolabusto's selection of my play (it's one of only seven they've released this year). And I'm excited to see how popular this food-centered comedy will be in the land of fine chocolate and fondue.

By the way, that title translates to Meatballs and Diamonds. I may not be able to pronounce it, but I love the sound of it.

Guess I'd better dust off the four years of German I took in college--and never used since!

Instant Five-Timer

I've spoken before about my Five-Timers club, that elite group of schools and community theaters that have performed five or more of my plays. It usually takes a few years to achieve that lofty status. After all, producing groups generally like to mix things up by performing plays from a variety of playwrights.

So I have to give a big shoutout to Plain Dealing High School (Go Lions!) of Plain Dealing, LA, which became the fifth member of my Five-Timers Club--literally overnight--by booking five different plays of mine yesterday. 

The five plays are:

It Happened on Route 66 (my newest blockbuster)

Million Dollar Meatballs (a perennial favorite)

The Butler Did It! (an old classic)

You're Driving Me Crazy! (short and oh so sweet)

The Purrfect Crime (an overlooked charmer)

All five plays are scheduled for this school year, so I'm guessing they may be in-class readings rather than full productions. But they're all officially licensed and paid through Pioneer Drama Service so what the heck. I'll count them.

And no, my Five-Timers Club may not come with a jacket, like Saturday Night Live's version. But it does get you my everlasting gratitude and appreciation.

Thanks, PDHS! And break lots and lots of legs!

Show Me State Bookshop Helps Abused Kids

Just a quick congratulations to the STARS Foundation of Cabool, MO. According to this article in the West Plains Daily Quill, their recent production of How to Enchant a Bookshop raised over $20,000 for the 37th Judicial Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a vitally important volunteer group that helps abused and neglected children. 

This warms my heart. I hope the money raised will have a positive, life-changing impact on many, many kids in your area.

Free Perusal Script of The Last Radio Show

Two weeks ago, I told you about an incredible offer from Pioneer Drama Service: five full perusal scripts of my plays for the amazing price of zero dollars and zero-zero cents.

Well, this week it's a different play with a different publisher but the same low, low price. Heuer Publishing is offering a free perusal copy of my play The Last Radio Show. All you have to do is visit this web page, then click on Download Free sScript. (Note: If you access the page on your phone, you may need to fill out your name, organization, and email address.)

The Last Radio Show is one of my funniest plays and is a lot of fun because it gives the actors an opportunity to make those old-timey sound effects like using coconut shells for the sound of horse hooves or crumpling cellophane for the sound of a campfire.

The play has a cast of 10 (5M/5F), a single set, and runs 90 minutes. Here's the synopsis:

It's 1948, and KUKU Radio is on trouble. Their broadcast tower keeps falling over. The electric company is about to shut off their power. And now they're losing actors, one by one. Can this ragtag crew keep the show going? Or will they be shut down for good?

This hilarious farce brings back the Golden Age of Radio, with crazy commercials such as Kindling Krunch ("the cereal that's like having your own National Park--in a bowl!), and even crazier shows, like The Thing With Two Spleens and Tex King, The Humming Cowboy.

Don't touch that dial! This is radio like you've never seen it before!

But be sure to download the script soon. The link expires on Monday, September 9.

Free Read Friday

Subscribers to Pioneer Drama Service's newsletter are already familiar with Free Read Fridays. At the end of each week, Pioneer promotes one or more plays from their catalog by providing a link to a free downloadable copy of the complete script.

My plays have appeared on Free Read Friday several times in the past, sometimes on their own, sometimes as part of a themed collection (recent themes have included Children's Musicals and Christmas in July).

It's always exciting to see what plays they offer. But today I'm especially excited because for the first time, Pioneer is devoting the week's theme to a single author's works. And that author happens to be, well, me.

The five plays they selected are tied together in three key ways. They're all 60-80 minutes in length. They're all single-set. And they all feature my unique brand of humor (Pioneer's words, not mine😁).

The five are:

It Happened on Route 66

It's a Madhouse!

George Washington Ate My Homework

Million Dollar Meatballs

Whole Latte Love

Unfortunately, if you don't already subscribe to the newsletter, it's too late to download these. But I'd still urge to subscribe as soon as possible because the next four Free Read Fridays will also offer five (or more) free perusal scripts.

Pioneer calls it their Five-for-Five, and I think it's a fantastic deal. Where else can you get 25 perusal scripts--a $200 value--for free? The themes they'll be offering are Halloween shows, murder mysteries, fairy tale courtroom comedies, and contest pieces.

And yes, you can unsubscribe at any time. To add your name to the growing list of subscribers, just fill out their form here.

Kill the Critic! is now available!

I'm thrilled to announce that my 4th play of the year and 28th play overall has just been released by Heuer Publishing. It's called Kill the Critic! and it may be the funniest play I've ever written.

Set in 1955, Kill the Critic! is about Trevor Stanton, an impulsive young actor who kidnaps New York City's most powerful theater critic to prevent him from writing a negative review. There's just one problem. Trevor accidentally poisons the critic, and as showtime nears, he must take increasingly desperate measures to hide the corpse from a parade of outrageous characters.

It's the perfect showcase for a young male actor with serious comedy chops, especially if he's skilled at physical comedy. There's a ton of it in this play. But he must also have the endurance of an ox because Trevor has a whopping 511 lines and is on stage for the entire play, much of it running around in a frenzy.

And then there's Bertram Finch, the theater critic himself, who has much fewer lines but spends the play being dragged, shoved, carried, propped up, and manhandled a dozen different ways as a corpse. 

If you're a fan of my other, family-friendly plays, be aware that Kill the Critic! is not that. Some of the story revolves around alcohol, although none of the characters are ever drunk. Guns are drawn, as is a very dangerous frying pan. The play includes a few gags about sex, with Trevor's matronly co-star asking him whether he's sleeping with her only to get a part in the play. There's also some extremely mild cursing (three damns--that's it).

All of this may make the play inappropriate for some high schools and that's fine. But if your high school has performed shows like Moon Over Buffalo (alcohol!) or Mamma Mia! (sex!) or Guys and Dolls (guns! alcohol! also sex!), I'm confident you won't consider anything in this play objectionable.

Of course, most community theaters won't have those concerns, and a high-energy farce like this would be perfect for them.

The play runs about 90 minutes, has a cast of nine (4M, 3F, and 2 roles that can be any gender), and uses a single set representing a backstage dressing room.

If you love comedies, you really owe it to yourself to check out Kill the Critic! Just visit the play's web page, where you can download a free script sample and view some of the crazy photos from the original production.

Ontario Bookshop Musical makes the grade

  

I love those profiles TV stations do of small towns in their area. It's a great way to remind us that every town--no matter how small--has a wealth of things they can be proud of.

Milwaukee PBS made one for my own hometown of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin four years ago and it was fun to see what host John McGivern considered notable about it. Wayland Academy, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and the Beaver Dam Area Community Theatre are three that any proud Beaver would agree with (sadly, there was no mention of it being Fred MacMurray's hometown).

Well, apparently Smiths Falls, Ontario has plenty to be of proud of too, because this picturesque town on the Rideau River was recently profiled by the Canadian Broadcasting Company. And what they focused on was the town's historic train depot, originally built in 1912. Not only is it the home of the very cool Railway Museum but the Station Theatre, which is where the Smiths Falls Community Theatre performs.

And guess what play they're rehearsing right now? None other than The Enchanted Bookshop Musical (to see it, skip ahead 4:43 in the video above). Host Robyn Miller interviews a couple of volunteers and the young actress playing Margie, and it sounds like it's going to be a fantastic production. I already love the set!

The show runs August 16-25 so if you're in the area, be sure to check it out. This is one theatre company that's definitely on the right track (sorry!).