This weeks' A.P.T. is Isaac Klein who speaks below about the process of developing a show in the Fringe called See Jane Give Up Dick. I have known Isaac for quite some time and saw the show yesterday. It's very funny and he's doing a great job. Have a read and be sure to check it out. Take it away Isaac!
Excelsior!
P.S.- The free PLAE info session is happening this Tuesday! Email us to sign up!
My longtime friend Devin Preston had finally had enough. She’d been mistreated by guy after guy, and, even though she was a self-proclaimed lover of dick, she was sick of it. She needed a break. A dick detox. A time to stop reaching out for disappointing relationships with men, and start building a better one with herself.
On New Year’s Eve, 2009, Devin decided to give up sex for one year, and to chronicle her experience—her triumphs and her hurtles—in blog form, which she ingeniously entitled: See Jane Give Up Dick. I began reading the blog early on, and immediately fell in love. It was brave, personal, candid, and profoundly hilarious. I was amazed; I never knew my dear friend Devin could write like this!
Soon after I began reading, I saw Devin at a party, and the first thing I said to her was “I love your blog and you have to make it into a play, and I want to help you.” Devin’s eyes widened, because our mutual friend, the comedian and actress Ashley Morris, had told Devin the same thing mere moments ago! It was a threesome made in heaven.
Before we knew it, we were in the process of developing the show, and in spring of 2011, we premiered it in workshop at Artists’ Bloc, hosted by Woolly Mammoth in Washington, DC. The workshop was a hit, and hugely informative. We took notes, and took them forward into preparation for our next workshop, this time in NYC, at The Producers Club.
Ashley Austin Morris,our Jane at the time, was being called out to LA more and more often, and it occurred to me that Meghan O’Neill one of my very favorite funny-women, would also be wonderful in the role. Devin and Meghan met and hit it off right away. Meghan brought the material to full and hilarious life, and knocked the NYC workshop out of the park.
We knew we were ready for a production. But what was the best path for us? There are certain shows that are just made for the Fringe; they have low tech, big fun, and catchy, buzz-worthy titles. The festival would fit Jane like a glove…or a sexy cocktail dress.
So, we sent off our application, and this spring, received the fabulous news that we would be part of FringeNYC 2013! (Not only that, we were granted six performances, rather than the usual five. Perhaps Fringe expects that quite a few folks would like to see if Jane really can Give Up Dick.) Rehearsals have been a ball, and Meghan O’Neill is ready to take audiences on a hysterical and surprisingly touching journey from self-denial to self-discovery.
It is intensely gratifying to have ushered this project from a blog, to a rough draft, to a fully realized production. I’m so proud of our whole team, and so excited to share Jane with the world! It just goes to show: you can give up dick, you should give up doubt, but you must never give up on your dreams!
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