Todd Wallinger - Playwright
Monday, September 23, 2024
Swiss Meatballs
Saturday, September 21, 2024
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!
Thursday, September 19, 2024
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.
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
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.
Friday, August 23, 2024
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:
George Washington Ate My Homework
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.
Thursday, August 15, 2024
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.
Saturday, August 3, 2024
Ontario Bookshop Musical makes the grade