Tickets are now on sale for the Gabriola Theatre Festival, Aug. 26-30! I'll be premiering my new show, "Boy Player," and the amazing performers Katie Ellen Humphries, Jem Rolls, Jon Paterson, and Johnnie MCNamara Walker are bringing theirs to the island as well. Tix at https://www.gabriolatheatrecentre.ca/gtf #theatre #GabriolaTheatreFestival #Gabriola #GabriolaTheatreCentre #GabriolaTheatreFestival2025

"Save Ferris" but with Colbert

I'll be premiering this at the Gabriola Theatre Festival in August. It's about what happened after my parents died when I was a kid and I suddenly found myself transplanted from Edmonton, Alberta to New York City. It's also about how I eventually met Diana, my wife, who'd been through similar experiences as a child, and love, family, and connection. And showtunes. Thanks to Ray Appel for the amazing image! https://www.gabriolatheatrecentre.ca/gtf

I love this story, and the conclusion it arrives at. https://cascadia-journal.ghost.io/in-praise-of-empathy/

For theatremakers, this book speaks to the moment. It's about the killing of the Federal #Theatre Project in the U.S. in the 1930s, but it's also about the many periods of right-wing lunacy and opportunism in the past. While I’d like to say of the current one, “This too shall pass,” it’s not at all clear that it will. However, the book does offer a reminder of how theatre can be used to confront political cupidity, which is probably, now, its most urgent task.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/books/review/the-playbook-james-shapiro.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vE4.AY0m.zmQ7iB6W66OH&smid=bs-share
#theater

"Sanford has taken up the banner of a group of artists he sees as sidelined by an industry that thrives on discovering the latest hot playwrights, yet isn’t exactly diligent about sustaining them over their lifetimes of creativity." NY Times gift link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/theater/tent-theater-company-older-playwrights.html?unlocked_article_code=1.wU4.Rf69.Ynzh5SxPTAEi&smid=url-share
#theater #theatre #playwrights

"When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap."

-Cynthia Heimel

#acting #coaching #inspiration #ActingCoach #ActingCoaching #actorslife

This story rocked Canada, where I live. But maybe a nation whose greatest writer was a laureate of the unspoken needs to be rocked.
"What Alice Munro Knew" (gift link)
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/magazine/alice-munro-andrea-skinner-abuse.html?unlocked_article_code=1.g04.x2jJ.0U3RMJX9GHpK&smid=url-share
#books #writers #abuse

Oh dear. But in a way this should be even more concerning for all the remaining CEOs. They've lost everyone,

After the initial disappointment wears off, we're just left with American libertarianism unsurprisingly turning on itself for not delivering

Errol Morris’s documentary “Separated,” based on the Jacob Soboroff book about the family separations under Trump, is devastating. The trauma inflicted was horrific. And now, of course, they intend to repeat it many millions of times over.

@kat I had to set up a separate bridge from Mastodon to Bluesky. Definitely optional.

@kat Huh. Wonder why.

Haymarket Books has made 10 key antifascist ebooks #free to download.

“Wherever each of us live, work, and are in community: the time is now to build power and fight back, together.”

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/517-ten-free-ebooks-for-getting-free

#USPolitics
#Election2024
#reading

@kat I use Bridgy Fed - see below. It creates a separate Mastodon account for you, however, in addition to your existing one. Something more seamless would be nice. https://lifehacker.com/tech/use-bridgy-feed-to-link-mastodon-and-bluesky

On Bluesky, I’ve been posting gift links from the NY Times #theatre section to lure #theater peeps off Elon’s hellscape. Here’s one of them. For the rest, find me on Bluesky or follow my Bluesky bridge here on Mastodon: @frankmoher.bsky.social
“The ‘Death Becomes Her’ Frenemies Take Their Youth Potion to Broadway” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/18/theater/death-becomes-her-broadway.html?unlocked_article_code=1.bE4.yu0U.2FRoX9qu_1TA&smid=url-share

Mastodon buddies, I save most of my political stuff for Bluesky. If that interests you, you can follow my Bluesky feed from right here in Mastodon. Search for @frankmoher.bsky.social and click Follow. Meanwhile ...

Conway is the Republican Whisperer. "Sir, I was a Republican from 1980 to 2018. Okay? I don’t want to see a Republican Party led by a fascist, but he is a fascist. He cannot help but be a fascist. His personality disorders make him a fascist."

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/george-conway-battles-with-pro-trump-cspan-caller-over-whether-trump-is-a-fascist-you-need-to-look-in-the-mirror/

Testing bridge to Bluesky with pic of two icons: Diana, Manhattan Bridge.

Terrific #theatre story. "‘Ragtime’ Crushed Brandon Uranowitz’s Dream. Now It’s Healing His Wounds."

"They were bleaching my hair and my eyebrows twice a week. There was this effort to hide my true identity behind this character. The reasons for me being demoted, for lack of a better term, were either I was too Jewish or I wasn’t good enough. Both of those options are deeply shameful for a kid, and for me even now as an actor."

Gift link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/29/theater/ragtime-brandon-uranowitz-city-center.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WU4.w-CA.nGAezPDfaO6W&smid=url-share

Laugh all you want, but this is a sign of progress - there was a time when McDonald’s didn’t hire convicted felons.