Dog & Pony Show Theatricals

02/21/2021

If you haven't watched GRIST FROM THE MILL: 1902, you have one more week to do so! This is the first installment in a trilogy of storytelling pieces inspired by dark folklore and murder ballads in which the steel mills of Southwestern PA play an essential role in the action.

Originally conceived as performances for a live audience in an intimate setting, this piece has been reinvented as a short film through Mark Clayton Southers and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Company. The brilliant crew showed up to take my rinky-dink little script and elevate it into something beyond my wildest dreams. Using the Great Allegheny Passage, South Side Park, city steps, and the magnificent Carrie Furnace, they came together to create something that blows me away.

You can watch it TOTALLY FOR FREE until next week by requesting a link on the PPTCO website, in comments.

If you have seen it, I would love if you could share your feedback with me and with Playwrights.

02/17/2021

We send out a great big, heartfelt, brimming with enthusiasm thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! to each and every person who has taken the time to give GRIST FROM THE MILL: 1902 a looky-loo.

This piece, a tale of love, murder, and mills inspired by dark folklore and murder ballads and pretty much the culmination of my life's work, was originally presented as live storytelling. It's been transformed by the steadfast vision of PJ Gaynard, the dulcet tones of Ricardo Iamuuri, and the patronage of Mark Southers into a short film as part of Pittsburgh Playwrights' current online season.

I'm honored by their collaboration and so proud of what we've created, and thrilled by the chance not only to share it, but to do so FOR FREE. This work can be viewed through a link provided by visiting Pittsburgh Playwrights website (link in comments)- just give them your email (you can opt out of future communications) and you can watch at your leisure.

This is free, free, FREE, but you are more than welcome to make a donation to Pittsburgh Playwrights through their website, supporting an important part of our local cultural landscape, devoted to local artists.

You can also contribute to production of the next live installment through the second link in comments, Venmo, or Paypal.

I hope you'll give it a watch if you haven't yet. If you have, I would absolutely love to hear what you think, and if you liked it, to share those thoughts with Pittsburgh Playwrights.

Available through February 28th!

02/09/2021

I am so very honored to have had this lovely, lovely story written by a woman who I respect and adore as someone who makes the community in which I live a better place on so many different levels.

The show is available to watch through Pittsburgh Playwrights website, linked in comments. Provide your email address, they'll send you a link, you have the option to receive information from them and other arts organizations in the future or to opt out of further communications.

It will be available through February 28th FOR FREE. Donations are, of course, always appreciated. You can donate to the company and their upcoming work directly through their website. You can donate to support the next installment of the trilogy, covering production costs for the live performance, directly to me. You can even do both if you like!

I would love it if you could watch the film and I would love it if you would give Pittsburgh Playwrights your feedback if you enjoy it and I would love if you would give me your feedback regardless of what that feedback is. This project is of HUGE importance and means a great deal to me; I'm thrilled that they've provided me this way of sharing it.

To support the stage production of the next installment-
Venmo-
Paymal- [email protected]

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company is hosting its 17th season online. On January 31, PPTCO premiered the second production of its season, “Grist From the Mill: 1902.”

02/05/2021

There are over 700 sets of city steps in Pittsburgh. Within these passageways are over 40, 000 individual stairs, and all together they comprise almost 25,000 vertical feet of elevation. Most are in lower income areas, all- like everything- were built by lower income people, in this case immigrants.

We used two sets as shooting locations for GRIST FROM THE MILL: 1902- Sterling Street, and Eleanor Street. I am not sure how many times we walked up and down; it was not quite 40,000 steps but felt close. I can't complain because I got to go down forwards while the entire crew not only had to walk backwards, but do so while carrying heavy equipment.

I make reference to small journeys made by the characters in the story, but not specifically, not designating locations actual and precise. Of one character, on a path that sets the tragedy in motion, I say, "the girl came down the hill."

These steps could very easily have been how she did it.

GRIST FROM THE MILL: 1902 can be viewed through February 26th at any time on the Pittsburgh Playwrights website, linked in comments. This is FREE, completely FREE!

If you are in a position to so, your donations are most welcome. You can contribute to Pittsburgh Playwrights through the same website. You can also support the upcoming stage production of the next installment of GRIST FROM THE MILL by donating to my GoFundMe campaign or through Venmo.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this work!

Venmo-

02/02/2021

One of the ways I describe the GRIST FROM THE MILL: 1902 is as a murder ballad.

A ballad is a song that tells a story, originating in traditional and folk music. A murder ballad, unsurprisingly enough, tells the story of the taking of a life. It’s a form of oral culture centuries old, originating in Germany, Scandinavia, Iceland, and the British Isles. The ballads crossed the sea with those who sung them and became part of the cultural landscape, showing up not only in folk tradition but moving on to country, blues, hip hop, pop. You’ve heard murder ballads, even if you don’t categorize them as such- “Mack The Knife”, “Hey Joe”, “Streets Of Laredo” all can be considered representative of the genre.

These provide a foundation for this storytelling series not only in terms of narrative, but also in delivery. The language used is heightened, stylized, structured, with repetition and refrains, devoted to rhythm and cadence as much as to content. Thinking of it as a song allows a freedom to be inventive outside of the patterns of conversational language.

GRIST FROM THE MILL: 1902 is available throughout the entire month of February, FOR FREE, through the Pittsburgh Playwrights website! FOR FREE! Follow the link in the comments to receive access, give it a look or a listen, and let me know what you think!

02/02/2021

GRIST FROM THE MILL: 1902 is available throughout the entire month of February, FOR FREE, through the Pittsburgh Playwrights website- connect in comments! I'm so excited! You can go anytime you like and they will send you a link and you can witness me stumble bumbling all over Pittsburgh telling a tale!

If you enjoy this work and want to see it continue, you are more than welcome to donate towards the creation of the next installment, 1943! A campaign is underway to raise funds toward the stage production, covering things like rent, designer fees, crew stipends, publicity, props, sets, and every single penny counts. PM me for the link; you can also Venmo me; anything received will go towards the production. If we go over the goal, I’ll even pay myself for writing! At present and with a month to go, we’re a little more than halfway there.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this piece!

Venmo-

02/01/2021

Much appreciation to all who joined us at Pittsburgh Playwrights FB page for a watch party premiering the film version of GRIST FROM THE MILL: 1902 last night! If you didn't have the chance last night, the show is available through the Playwrights website through February 28th, a link to their page is in the comments.

Take a look, and please stop back and tell us what you thought! With the strangeness of distanced art, we really miss the opportunity to hear feedback and questions in person, so hope to do so in the virtual world.

01/29/2021

Many many thanks Sean Collier! Appreciate you!

Pittsburgh Magazine's Sean Collier has a look at some of the best events going on around town this weekend!

01/28/2021

HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to Sean Collier and Pittsburgh Magazine for the kind words and for helping us spread the word on the show!

Please feel free to share!

In Lissa Brennan’s “Grist From the Mill” series, pieces of Pittsburgh’s industrial past become “dark folklore.”

01/28/2021

Many thanks to Pittsburgh City Paper for including Grist From The Mill:1902 in their Seven Days of Pittsburgh recommendations.

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