Sam’s Salon, July 2015

Annaliese Gove, Steve Lythgoe, Jenn Jaynes, Nick Wardigo, and Rick Friedman. That's actually a really good pic; none of us look that good in real life. — Annaliese Gove, Steve Lythgoe, Jen Jaynes, Nick Wardigo, and Rick Friedman. That’s actually a really good pic; none of us look that good in real life.

So, this blog entry is a little late, but last month, I was hosted yet again by the gentle ministrations of Sam Barrett’s salon. It’s been over a year since I’ve last heard anyone read my latest play, Circles Circles Circles Circles Circles, and in that time, I’ve complete rewritten the second act. I don’t mean I adjusted it or tweaked it or polished it; I mean, I threw out the entire second act and wrote a new one.

Extreme? Sure. Necessary? Absolutely. Because the one thing I took away from my salon reading last year was that I had a terrific, engaging second act that made no sense.

Steve Lythgoe, Jenn Jaynes, Nick Wardigo, and Lindsay Harris-Friel. Jenn signed a contract with the universe to always photograph well. — Steve Lythgoe, Jen Jaynes, Nick Wardigo, and Lindsay Harris-Friel. Jen signed a contract with the universe to always photograph well.

The reading went really well with an entirely different cast of undesirables. I want to give an extra-special shout-out to Jen Jaynes, for whom, this was her very first Barrett Salon reading. She was one of the Zoeys in the 2008 production of my play, The Do’s and Don’ts of Time Travel, and I hadn’t seen her in a while. I’d seen her perform numerous times with the comedy troupe, High Dramma, over at the Walking Fish Theatre in Fishtown. Also, I ran into her a couple of years ago in the lobby of the theater at Villanova (she was working on her Masters at the time). Looking forward to seeing her take the city by storm. Or gunpoint. You know, whatever it takes.

Steve Lythgoe, Annaliese Gove, Ellen Eschenfelder, and Aurora Johansen-Wardigo, all intent on something really important that Sam is saying.

If anyone cares, I grilled shish kabobs for my reading. There were a couple of pescatarians in the group, so I did a mix of lamb and shrimp. All of them featured peppers, mushrooms, and fresh zucchini from my garden. Special thanks to Sam for letting me use her grill. And for all the delicious vodka.

For whatever reason, Sam isn’t in any of these photos. She must have been camera shy that evening.

Darrin Britting (mostly obscured), Alex Dremann, Tammy, Tony Sortino, and Rick Friedman. I don't know Tammy's last name; we found her wandering around a parking lot. — Darrin Britting (mostly obscured), Alex Dremann, Tammy, Tony Sortino, and Rick Friedman. I don’t know Tammy’s last name; we found her wandering around a parking lot.

In other news, I completed the second interview of the second season of Martinis with Nick last weekend, and I have two more lined up for next weekend. I was hoping to have this tied up by August, but there have been several setbacks, including vacations, rehearsals for PlayPenn, and Tony breaking his finger on a cat. But now, with all of that behind us, I hope to provide my ravenous viewers with some new videos very soon.

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