The Orbiter 3 launch party
Orbiters with redeye, from the left: Emma Goidel, Emily Acker, Maura Krause, Douglas Williams (partly obscured), James Ijames, and Mary Tuomanen
Orbiter 3’s launch party was last night, and it was quite the place to see-and-be-seen. Some questioned the wisdom of shoehorning a hundred people or so into a tiny coffee shop, but I thought it was genius. It gave the event a feeling of immediacy, whereas the same hundred people plunked in the middle of a warehouse might look sad.
The big moment of the evening was the announcement that Orbiter 3’s first production will be a James Ijames play in July 2015.
The big, personal, self-serving moment of the evening was that I lost the raffle for the flask of scotch, emblazoned with the Orbiter 3 logo. I really wanted it. Lost in the throes of dismay, I consoled myself with a third beer.
General frivolity
On the whole, the event was a success, and I happily slapped down my money to buy two subscriptions to their upcoming seasons. The room was a bit crowded and noisy for my tastes, but I’m growing old and crotchety, and I swear that the movers and shakers of this town get younger every year. Having said that, I was happy to see some important Philly people there, including Blanka Zizka, Ed Sobel, David O’Connor, Bill McKinlay, Seth Rozin, Michele Volansky, and Christopher Munden, all of whom lent an air of validity to a room full of very young and very beautiful people, some of whom were drinking out of jars.
So, congrats to Orbiter 3 for an auspicious start. And let me give them the same unsolicited, pretentious advice I give every playwright: Try not to suck. Because I’m still bitter about the flask-of-scotch thing.
Nick Wardigo and Erin-the-freelance-dramaturg. Photo blurriness due to Michele Volansky’s dubious photo-taking skills.
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