Rumpelstiltskin rave

The illustrious Bill Wheeler, theatre critic for the Colorado Springs Independent, attended the Black Box Theatre production of Rumpelstiltskin, Private Eye and gave it a glowing review. I'm too humble to quote the whole thing here (no, I'm not), but I'll leave you with this one tidbit because it really gets to the heart of what I try to achieve in all of my plays:

"Wallinger's script has something for everyone. The kids connect to the fairy tale characters and the constant physical comedy. Adults get a big dose of puns. Everyone has a good time, and the good guys win in the end. It doesn't get any better than that."

I'm glad that for this play, at least, I may have hit the mark. You can read the whole review here.

Meatballs in the Middle East

Million Dollar Meatballs is circling the globe. After a run in Taiwan in February, my restaurant farce landed at the American International School in Abu Dhabi last month.

Great costumes, guys! And I love the foodie posters on the walls.

Lester wins big in Ontario

Just got word that St. Peter's Catholic Secondary School of Barrie, Ontario cleaned up at the Sears Ontario Drama Festival district competition with my one-act comedy Long Tall Lester. They won awards for acting (three, actually), stage management, technical achievement, outstanding production and spirit. In fact, it was the most awarded show at the festival. The students now move on, competing April 15 at the West Region showcase in Cambridge, ON.

You can read the whole story here.

Congratulations, everyone! And break legs!

Update: At the regional showcase, the school picked up awards for comedic performance and musical composition/performance. Nice job!

All the news that's fit to print

I just got some very good news. Three more schools have booked productions of my plays. But these aren't just any schools. They're old friends: all three of them have performed my plays before.

One was a middle school in TN that performed Long Tall Lester in 2012 and is now doing Rumpelstiltskin, Private Eye. The third is a high school in KY that performed The Butler Did It! in 2014 and is now doing Million Dollar Meatballs. The third is a junior high in TX that performed The _urloined Letter in December and is now doing Million Dollar Meatballs.

As word gets out about my plays, I'm seeing more and more of this, and it occurred to me that some directors might like to know when I've released a new play.

That's why I've decided to launch a quarterly newsletter, which I've titled The Playful Playwright. It'll be chock full of things that will help you, the drama teacher or community theatre director. Yes, it'll have news on my latest releases, but it'll also include free script offers, costume and set ideas, writing tips and, what may be the most exciting, world premiere opportunities.

How do you sign up? I'm glad you asked! Just look for the SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER box in the upper right corner of this blog and enter your email address. No names, no phone numbers, no credit card numbers, no shoe sizes. Just one little old email address. Simple!

Look for the first issue to come out later this month.