Tulsa Stinky Feet Gang makes scents

This weekend and next, Spotlight Children's Theatre in Tulsa will be performing my wild west comedy The Stinky Feet Gang, their sixth production of one of my plays. And as with the previous five, three members of the cast appeared on local TV to chat it up. You can watch the spot here.

The young thespians also used the time to promote Storytime at the Spotlight, a free public event organized by the theater in partnership with Gardner's Used Books and the Tulsa City County Library. There will be silly stories, songs, and, in an apparent tie-in with the play, some stinky adventures.

Best of all, each child who attends the event will receive a free book. I mean seriously, what could be better than that? (Probably not the stinky adventures.)

Both the story time and the play will be held at Spotlight's historic Art Deco theater, which has to be one of the coolest-looking buildings that my plays have ever been performed in. The story time is on August 1. The play runs August 1-3 and 8-10.

Break legs, all! I'm sure you'll come out smelling like a rose.

Tulsa Purrfect Crime to bring love and laughter

None of the children's theaters that perform my plays get as much local TV coverage as Tulsa's Spotlight Children's Theatre, and they were back at it again today with an interview of three gifted actors from their production of my cat inheritance comedy The Purrfect Crime. You can watch the video here.

The play runs the next two weekends, and the young actors are very excited to be in it, as the interview makes clear.

My favorite part was when the host asked the kids what they hope the audience gets out of the play. Natalie Mayes, who plays Annie, answered simply, "a lot of laughter, hopefully," while Ray Sawyer-Karloski, who plays Little Bob, quickly added, "it also sends a message to appreciate your loved ones while they're still around."

Guess what. Both answers are correct!

Break legs, everybody! And a big thank you to this amazing theater company for their continued support. They've already scheduled a production of my western comedy The Stinky Feet Gang for August (my sixth production with them!) and I can't wait to see what the kids have to say about that one!

Tulsa's Spotlight joins the club

A big shout out to Tulsa's Spotlight Children's Theatre, which became the fifth member of my Five Timer's Club by booking a production of my millionaire cat comedy The Purrfect Crime for next March.

Inspired by NBC's Saturday Night Live, the Five Timer's Club is, of course, the esteemed group of schools and community theaters which have produced my plays five times.

The first four productions that Spotlight so graciously (and tastefully) selected? They were:

• The Enchanted Bookshop, December 2022
• How I Met Your Mummy, October 2023
• An Enchanted Bookshop Christmas, December 2023
• Madhouse!, March 2024

As I've mentioned previously in this blog, I visited Tulsa several times when my older daughter Ashley lived there from 2014 and 2016. I loved the city, being impressed with how clean and modern it was, with a wealth of wonderful ethnic restaurants and surprisingly underused freeways.

Sadly, although I remember seeing My Big Fat Gay Wedding at the American Theatre Company there, I never got around to seeing The Drunkard, the longest running production in American theater history (71 years and counting), performed by the main company at Spotlight itself.

As for the children's theater, it looks like they're not quite done with me. Their 2025 season schedule shows that they've reserved a spot for The Stinky Feet Gang in August.

Hmmm. Maybe it's time for a Six Timer's Club?

For info on all these plays an more, please visit my playwright page on the Pioneer Drama website.

Tulsa Bookshop Christmas gives a gift

Boy, those Sooners sure keep busy!

Just two months after performing my museum farce How I Met Your Mummy, Tulsa's Spotlight Children's Theatre is back at it with a performance of An Enchanted Bookshop Christmas. And this once again, they snagged an interview spot on the local news. You can watch it here.

I love the enthusiasm the kids show for their characters. But I especially love the fact that the theater company will be giving a special Christmas gift to every child who attends the show: a free book! There's no better way to encourage young readers than that!

Break a leg, all!

Okie Mummy on the tube

A big shout-out to Spotlight Children's Theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma for yesterday's interview on the local ABC affiliate. Three young actors from their upcoming production of How I Met Your Mummy participated in the interview and did a great job fielding the host's questions. You can watch the spot here.

This same theater is performing An Enchanted Bookshop Christmas in December. Can't wait to see your next TV spot!

Okie Bookshop in the spotlight

Local TV stations don't give enough exposure to children's theater. Can we all agree on that?

I'm being (mostly) facetious here. Of course, local TV rarely covers children's theater. But then it doesn't give much coverage to any theater productions.

So it was a breath of fresh air to see KTUL out of Tulsa shine a spotlight on none other than Spotlight Children's Theatre and their production of The Enchanted Bookshop.

For the interview, they brought on three actors--one adult and two very charming kids--and asked them about their experiences with their show. It's a fun interview and well worth the four minutes it takes to watch it. To check it out, just click here.

Interesting side note: My daughter Ashley's first job out of college was with another TV station in Tulsa and my wife and I fell in love with this gem of a city when we visited her. Very clean and modern, with a ton of underused freeways (no traffic jams here!) and a wealth of excellent restaurants and cultural attractions (not the least being The Center of the Universe).

I had known about Spotlight Theatre's claim to fame as being the home of The Drunkard, the longest running production in American theater history (69 years and running) and I always meant to see it, but somehow I never quite made it. Now I doubly regret that.

My daughter has since moved to Tucson, another wonderful city. But Spotlight is performing two more of my plays next year, How I Met Your Mummy in October and An Enchanted Bookshop Christmas in December.

Might be time to go back...