One More Time

As promised, I have finished rewriting "The Anniversary Schmaltz." I changed it quite a bit, actually. I cut out a bit that took place on an airplane for a variety of reasons and wrote three new sketches to take it's place, rewrote the beginning of the next sketch to accommodate the change, and just spruced the whole thing up as much as I could.

When I first decided to pursue the making of this show, this script was the first one that I tackled, and rewriting it has made me realize how much I've learned about writing for this medium over the last three years. I've learned discipline in the rewriting process and am much less likely to kowtow to sentiment now. No matter what warm and fuzzies I may feel toward something, if it doesn't really work or blocks the flow of the scene or the script, it has to go.

Now I'm down to the three final scripts: two more episodes of "The Political Thing" and one that combines the main characters from "The Anniversary Schmaltz" and "Bitlle Joinsoin's Adventure Through the Watching Glass." I call it "The Rainbow Coalition."

I learned a lot from recording stuff over this past weekend, as well. From an actor's standpoint, these scripts have complicated characters who beg to be dissected and plots with dramatic tension and varied rhythms. As a director, I learned that these scripts will benefit from more rehearsal, not less, and now I'm planning on scheduling one day for rehearsal of each script before a syllable is recorded. I also need to become more familiar with my own scripts so that I can better guide my actors through the shoals and rapids.