I'm back (I think)

Ok. Ok. So my last entry on here called for my end. It was premature - as are all of our "why am I doing this?" talks. I just had mine in a public forum. I guess I was looking for any signs of support and of course got little to none.

I hope that's because there's no one reading this - not that no one cares. But so what if no one cares. This is my life & I need to make the most of it right?

Shakespeare

I returned to the improv stage with my own crazy self challenge. I had forgotten that months ago I signed up to do my one-man improvised Shakespeare show at The Planet Ant.

So last Monday I went ahead with it. As is usual for shows I'm in, there were very few people there and only one (Jaime Moyer) who came to see my thing. I did my one-man in front of 4 people I did not know and 6 improvisers I fully respect:

Margaret Edwartowski
Dave Davies
Dave Herbst
Tim Robinson
Jaime Moyer
Pete Jacokes

All of them gave me GREAT feedback on the show. They all loved it & I had so much fun.

So I got my confidence back. Sometimes it just takes putting your ass on the line - challenging yourself to do something different.

The OPIES



Last night I attended the Oakland Press Theatre awards, The Opies. It's always an interesting event when so many people from the Detroit theatre community get together. And it's equally great to give recognition to people who do great work.



There is a theme that comes from every award ceremony: we are lucky to have such a great theatre community & there is so much talent here in Detroit. I often wonder how true those theories are. I mean, of course we have great talent, and of course we love our communities, but how much better are we really? I mean is Detroit so lucky to have as much professional theatre as it has?



I don't know. What I do know is that we have a lot of very talented people that have a hard time getting work. And we have theaters that have a very hard time getting audiences.



But here is a glimpse at what we have:



(This list does not include community theatre)



Abreact Theatre

- Downtown, edgy/new/experimental



African Renaissance Theatre

- Downtown, Black Theatre Co. Original / Edgy / Traditional

-- Red Apple Gallery & 1515 Broadway



Gem & Century Theatres

- Downtown, Long running Mainstream popular musicals & plays, Large traditional theatres.



Plowshares Theatre Co.

- Detroit, Black Theatre Co. Edgy - Traditional

-- Variety of spaces



Planet Ant Theatre

- Hamtramck, traditional to experimental. Small blackbox theatre. Award-winning original comedies.



Detroit Rep

- Detroit, Traditional theatre that deals with the struggle between races.

- Detroit's oldest



Matrix Theatre

- SW Detroit, mostly theatre as therapy, but occasionally produces professional shows.



Hilberry & Wayne State

- Detroit, Graduate & undergrad students at Wayne State.



Univ of Detroit Mercy

- Detroit - same as Hillberry - mostly undergrad.



Zeitgeist

- Detroit - Rarely producing now. Experimental & very edgy.

-- Hastings Street Ballroom



Phases Theatre Co.

- Detroit, Black theatre Co. occasionally produces shows that deal with AA culture or history

-- variety of spaces



Waterworks Theatre Co.

- Royal Oak, Summer Shakespeare

-- Starr Jaycee Park



Meadow Brook Theatre

- Rochester Hills, Traditional big musicals, largest local theatre.



The Actor's Company

- Suburbs, Mosty Children's theatre, but occasionally traditional.

-- Variety of places



Detroit Ensemble Theatre

- Roseville, new company, small theatre, traditional



Broadway on Stage

- Eastpointe, small theatre, traditional



Jewish Ensemble Theatre

- West Bloomfield, works by Jewish playwrights. Traditional to edgy.



Second City Detroit

- Novi, Original Comedies & improvisation - opening soon.



Performance Network

Ann Arbor, Large Theatre with a very busy schedule. Traditional to edgy. Blackbox space for new works.



Blackbird Theatre

- Ann Arbor, new company, traditional.



Improv Inferno

- Ann Arbor, new company, improvisation & original comedies, edgy.



Motoprism

- Ann Arbor, new company, original non-traditional works.



Purple Rose

- Chelsea, Award winning original shows, Traditional.



-



Well that's 23 local theatres.



Wow, I didn't realize we had that many. And I'm sure there are some I'm missing.

Hello

Hi there
Hello
How are you?
Welcome

This is my new improv world online. I'm Scott, and this is the first post to the new Scotty's Improv Blog - a birth from Scotty's Improv Pages. There I spent the first years of my improviser life posting my notes and thoughts from Second City, Chicago Improv Festival, and Planet Ant classes. I was wild and crazy then, posting reviews, posting thoughts and posting anything that came along that had to do with, well, me.

Then I woke up and realized how gigantic all of the pages had become and how difficult it was to archive in AOL's Hometown. At the same time I had found Blogger. Joy. I began blogging away from AOL and soon found that I forgot about my improv pages all together.

Over the years I'd meet someone who stumbled onto my improv pages. They'd wonder how I was and if I had drifted away from "the community." On vacation in Los Anges in September 2005 I met someone who was inspired to continue on in classes and performing from reading my notes on AOL. I was determined to get back to those pages, as determined as I was to stay in touch with him and clearly... I have done neither.

Sigh

And so here I am today. Picking up the pieces again, prepared to forge on into a new era of Blogprov! Ready to write like I haven't written before with the new freedom that wireless blogging from coffee shops and theatres brings! Ready to pronounce to the improv community that I am still here - still here... (insert sounds of crickets...)

Well I'm still here for me. :-)