Fillin Show Needed
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Play Suggestions
Forum Discription: Need help finding a show that's right for your theater? Ask here.
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5507
Printed Date: 11/22/24 at 5:09am
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Topic: Fillin Show Needed
Posted By: peacfrog50
Subject: Fillin Show Needed
Date Posted: 10/10/13 at 10:28am
We a small community theatre, 75 seat house, about 100 members. We just had to cancel our fall show due to the director being very very ill. i am looking at a possible quick replacement show. Easy set, few actors, not too technical. something that could come together in 4-6 weeks. I was thinking of "its a wonderful life the radio play" does anyone have any input on this show? ease of performance etc?
Thanks
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Replies:
Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 10/10/13 at 3:54pm
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There's always Love Letters by Gurney; two people, no set, no memorization needed as they are reading the whole time.
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Posted By: Scott B
Date Posted: 10/10/13 at 4:39pm
Do it! While some of the sound effects can be challenging, your actors are reading from scripts.
We're going to be doing this one in December with only one month to prepare and we'll lose a couple of rehearsals due to Thanksgiving.
One effect that I'm struggling with right now and even posted here about ... I can't figure out how to do the car engine. I might just have to make that my one, computer generated effect. It sure looks like a fun show.
One other very easy one ... Love Letters ... two actors and minimal, unit set.
Good luck.
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Posted By: JGrigsby
Date Posted: 10/10/13 at 5:32pm
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The Queen of Bingo or Greater Tuna are two shows that are small cast, easy to stage, and quite funny. You could also look into The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged. I hope this helps.
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Posted By: Scott B
Date Posted: 10/11/13 at 12:44am
Sorry jayzehr... I obviously didn't read your post.
I've wanted to direct Queen of Bingo for a long time. I might have to see what my schedule is like at the end of next summer.
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Posted By: peacfrog50
Date Posted: 10/11/13 at 7:03am
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Thanks! we are kicking around teh short version, or "A CHristmas Carol: The Radio Play" its one person. What effect do you need?
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Posted By: Rorgg
Date Posted: 10/11/13 at 11:00am
Yeah, we had a local company all set to do a production of an origial musical, underwritten by the playwrights, but they could not generate the level of interest in the acting circles to find the very specific casting needs the script required. So, about 6 weeks before the date of the theatre rental, they had no show. They decided to do Love Letters instead.
Which my wife and I heard, and went "Oh, hey... fun." Because we liked the idea of us doing a good show with just us (heh) where we didn't have to memorize anything, and there would just be a handful of rehearsals, so we could do other projects at the same time.
And we went out, and got cast mostly. They had 3 weekends to fill, so we (who were not really previously associated with the cmpany) did all the Fridays and Saturdays, and then 3 other pairs more familiar to their circle did each of the Sunday matinees. So, there was a somewhat larger cast to bring in audience -- we certainly didn't mind, 6 performances is plenty. They easily made back what they spent on the show, an the reaction was overwhelmingly positive.
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Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 10/11/13 at 1:46pm
First Night by Jack Neary - A bright, warm comedy about dreams, life and love that had critics and audiences cheering at its premiere. Danny Fleming had convinced himself that life's dreams can't be anything more than dreams. Then back into his life walks his eighth grade flame, Meredith O'Connor - only now it's Sister Meredith Louise, and it becomes a New Year's Eve to remember.
"Considerable charm, zest, imagination, and expertise..." – Variety
"A lovely riff of magic." - The Boston Globe
"What a delight!" - The Los Angeles Times
"You can't help cheering." - New York Post
"A crisp and neatly starched little heart-warmer." – Newsday
1m, 1f – Interior.
Shooting Star by Steven Dietz - Snowed in overnight at a middle-America airport, college lovers Elena Carson and Reed McAllister have an unexpected and life-altering reunion. Elena has stayed true to her hippie-ish, counter-culture path, while Reed has gone predictably corporate and conservative. As the night gives way to laughter, banter, remembrance and alcohol, Elena and Reed revisit a past that holds more surprises than they imagined - and a present that neither of them could have predicted. Filled with laughter and ache, Shooting Star is a bittersweet romantic comedy about the middle days of our lives, and how we got there.
"Steven Dietz sends a tender valentine to middle-age in Shooting Star, a smart and sweet comedy from one of the American theater's most-produced playwrights. Dietz's gift as a writer is an acute attention to our modern language. He elevates ordinary conversation to a kind of music. Dietz makes reality poetic." —Austin-American Statesman.
"Shooting Star is that rare romantic comedy that is funny, but also charming, endearing, and not removed from reality…the entertainment is in the telling, in the playful banter, and there's lots of it. Shooting Star starts bright and doesn't fade. It is bittersweet, and ultimately redemptive." —Providence (RI) Journal.
1m, 1f - Interior
The advantage to these two shows is the single set, and the 'only two cast member' requirement.
Or, go for:
Somewhere In Between by Craig Pospisil - Told in ten scenes, the play begins in the dark, as Jasper confesses his feelings of isolation to the audience. But he becomes unnerved in the dark and calls for lights. In the first scene, Jasper is stuck between floors on an elevator with a claustrophobic man, who goes quickly and hilariously over the edge. At work, a sleazy coworker gives him farcical advice on how to pick up women, and that night Jasper goes to a bookstore and tries to pick up a pretty clerk, Holly. He strikes out badly, but is picked up by another woman, who takes him home…where she lives with her boyfriend. A ride on the subway turns into a comic free-for-all as he and other riders enthusiastically give advice to a lost tourist. Jasper crosses paths with Holly again at a party and gamely starts a conversation, hoping she won't recognize him, but she does and teases him flirtatiously. On their first date, Jasper and Holly go to a cozy restaurant for quiet conversation, but the couple seated on one side of them erupts in a battle of the sexes, while the couple on the other side engages in passionate verbal foreplay. Later, Jasper walks Holly home and their conversation seems mundane, but their fantasies about each other are anything but. A chance encounter with a homeless man forces Jasper to gain some perspective on his life. Back at work, Jasper snaps when a friend tells him Holly is dating someone else. He loses his cool, kicks a chair, breaks his foot, and gets fired. Feeling suddenly liberated, he hobbles to Holly's bookstore and asks her if she is seeing someone else. She isn't. They kiss—and leave immediately for the hospital. In the end, Jasper briefly talks to the audience again, understanding he must accept life's uncertainties, which aren't all bad, and make the best of things.
"…a smart, sharply crafted play." —NYTheatre.com.
"…masterful…delightful…" —Stage Directions Magazine.
"Craig Pospisil does something rare and difficult in his episodic comedy…The laughs come easily and frequently." —City News.
"It's a wonderful play. It's a quirky and romantic comedy…but it's also alive with contemporary social poignancy." —Dayton Daily News.
"Somewhere In Between" is a smart, clever, contemporary piece of theater." —Cincinnati City Beat.
3m, 3f (flexible casting) - 6 (or more) total - Flexible Set
Also, Maine by John Cariani - Twelve conversations about love (told consecutively, but all taking place simultaneously). On a cold, clear, moonless night in the middle of winter, all is not quite what it seems in the remote, mythical town of Almost, Maine. As the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, Almost's residents find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and often hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this delightful midwinter night's dream.
"…a whimsical approach to the joys and perils of romance. Magical happenings bloom beneath the snowdrifts." —NY Times.
"A charmer…Unexpected magic lingers in the air like someone's breath on a cold winter's night. John Cariani aims for the heart by way of the funny bone." —Star-Ledger.
"Utterly endearing…It's hard not to warm up to Almost, Maine. A crowd-pleaser." —Broadway.com.
"Sweet, poignant and witty." —NY Daily News.
"A snowy charmer…These nine tales of love in the time of frostbite have a winning glow that proves surprisingly contagious." —NY Sun.
2m, 2f (doubling): 4 total (or up to a dozen actors) - Flexible Set
The advantage to the second two are simple sets and wildly flexible casting - leaving room for multiple actors whose parts will then be small enough to memorize in a short period of time.
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Posted By: Rorgg
Date Posted: 11/18/13 at 10:18am
I'll toss in a vote of confidence for First Night. My now-wife and I did it at a friendly church looking to start hosting artistic events about 3 years ago. Went over very well. However, there's a fair amount of movement and minor tech for a small show, and you have 85 minutes of dialogue between two characters -- IOW, better suited to a scheduled production than a "fill-in" as being discussed here.
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