What's Next with SMJ? #3
Back half of October 2024 (and beyond)!
Sorry for the delay, friends. My wife Sally & I moved! I started a new job at her school! We adopted a rescue dog! Please welcome our wonderful girl Maxine to the family!
What’s Happened?
The first half of October was insane.
The NYC concert premiere of this old haunt (a wonderful folk musical that I’m developing with Maggie Kane, Dillon Feldman, & Rebecca Wahls) on October 3rd.
Co-producing the Under Construction 4 NYC Reading Series with Mackenna Goodrich & Sarah Groustra since October 9th at Dramatists Guild Foundation & INTAR.
The first NYC reading of i wish i was her(s) as part of the Under Construction 4 NYC Reading Series on October 11th.
Performed another draft of Straight Icons with my co-writer Anne-Marie Pietersma, director/choreographer Mackenna Goodrich, and featured actor Stephanie Orta-Vázquez at Caveat last night (10/14).
Follow all these wonderful theatermakers who were involved with these processes:
Mackenna Goodrich (IG: mack3nna), Anne-Marie Pietersma (IG: annemariepietersma), Sarah Groustra (IG: ladypoachedegg), Maggie Kane (IG: _maggiekane_), Dillon Feldman (IG: dillon_feldman), Rebecca Wahls (IG: rebecca.wahls), Alex Goldie Golden (IG: goldiegolden65), Aline Mayagoitia (IG: alinemayagoitia) Autumn Eliza Sheffy (IG: autumnsheffy), Genesis Adelia Collado (IG: thatssogenie), Julia Rifino (IG: juliarifino), Claire McPartland (IG: claireee_mcc), Carolina Miranda (IG: carolinamakesnoise), Jessie Jo Aka (IG: jessiejoaka), Kathlynn Rodin (IG: kathlynn_rodin), Nick Turturro (IG: nickturturro1), & Stephanie Orta-Vázquez (IG: stephanie.mov)
What’s Next?
The Under Construction 4 NYC Reading Series, which Mackenna Goodrich, Sarah Groustra, and I are co-producing, will conclude this Tuesday and Thursday with the following readings!
Tuesday, October 15th at 7:00pm: Hit Machine by Jonathan Caren - Dramatists Guild Foundation Music Hall
Thursday, October 17th at 7:00pm: Goatman by Jen Jarnagin- Dramatists Guild Foundation Music Hall
Tickets are free and there is very, very limited availability! (RSVP LINK)
In the education part of my life, I’m so pumped to be working with FOUR wonderful schools & organizations this month:
Directing & Auditions for the All-Ohio Production (and high school premiere) of John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower with the Ohio Educational Theatre Association
Directing the Middle School Production of Filthy Rich Blood by Alexis Elisa Macedo (IG: alexiselisamacedo)
Virtual classes with the incredible troupes at Westerville South High School (OH) & New Albany High School (HS)
Put It on the Calendar
Straight Icons (An Official Selection of the 20th Annual New York Comedy Festival)
Saturday, November 9th at 7:00pm - The Second City (NYC)
NEW DRAFT. NEW SPIRAL.
Written & Performed by Anne-Marie Pietersma & SMJ
Directed & Choreographed by Mackenna Goodrich
Featuring Grace Guichard (IG: gracie.guichard)
Tickets are $20 (LINK HERE).
What’s Up with My Friends?
Shout out to the wonderful Alyssa Brown (IG: lyssiebrown)! She’s an incredible poet and hosts an amazing podcast called stay at home girlfriend (IG: stayathomegfpod), which I had the honor of being a guest on. The episode coming soon! Support all of Alyssa’s work!
Shout out to the wonderful Audrey Lang (IG: audreyglang)! She’s an amazing playwright and hosts a really cool podcast called Favorite Child, which features a playwright talking about their favorite play or character they’ve created in their career thus far. I will be featured in an upcoming episode discussing my play small town icons. Support all of Audrey’s work!
Jonathan Caren (IG: jonthecaren) hosts a monthly reading & artist meeting series called The Big Bang: Works in Progress (IG: the_big_bang_wip) at The Gym at Judson in NYC. It features excerpts of work-in-progress that are cold read by audience volunteers. You need to go! Submit your writing, act in a piece, or listen to new pages. I was honored to share pages from small town icons in September!
Sarah Groustra is the founder of 1319 Press (IG: 1319press)! “The goal of 1319 Press is to highlight the talent of emerging playwrights by giving them a way to share their work beyond just a PDF. By publishing their writing with us, playwrights have a way to distribute their script that also provides them with revenue to sustain their livelihoods or even help fund future productions.” The inaugural call for submissions ends TODAY (10/15). Submit here.
My friends at Serials (IG: serialsnyc) had a great return to The Tank on October 3-5! I was so excited to see that some of my favorite theatermakers wrote plays: Emily Bubeck (IG: goplacidlyamidthenoise), Karen Marulanda (IG: karenmarulanda), & Jen Jarnagin (IG: jenny_jarnagin). The next cycle will be in December.
Grace Guichard is currently in performances for The Woman in Black at Weston Theater Company in Weston, VT through October 20th.
My fellow 2023-24 Ars Nova CAMP cohort members were also accepted into the 20th New York Comedy Festival! Sarah Adelman (IG: sarahadelman1) will be performing her show EGG at Caveat on November 11th. Emily Dayton Evans (IG: hotgaycelebrity), Marina Gasparyan (IG: isthatmydaughterinthere), & Maarit Hara (IG: maarithara) will be performing The Supermodel Show at Asylum NYC on November 15th.
My incredible friend Anne-Marie Pietersma runs Trust Your Taste (IG: trust.your.taste), where she helps people find the intersection of food & storytelling through killer cheese pairings. Check it out!
My favorite co-writer Natalie Myrick (IG: noots.mcgoots) writes an INCREDIBLE blog called Noots Letter. I learn more about music every single month and her taste is *chef’s kiss.*
The best Broadway actor (& amazing voting advocate) is Hawley Gould (IG: hawleygould). In addition to their alternate dates, they are taking over the majority of performances as Alice Paul from October 29th - November 10th. They are REMARKABLE in this production. Go see them.
Shoutout to my friends at Fresh Binder Productions (IG: freshbinderproductions) who just started their Fall 2024 cohort!
Shout out to my amazing friends Daniel Kunkel & Annika Morrison who got married a week ago. And another for my friends Jess Honovich & Anya Richkind who will be married this weekend. We love fall weddings ❤️
Time to Read
If you love reading new plays, I would love for you to read new drafts of my plays. If you like what you read, please leave a recommendation on New Play Exchange. These recommendations go a long way in helping more theaters to see my work.
yo ho. - Draft as of 10.1.24
(READ IT HERE)
Aboard a pirate ship, Andy & Mark are drawn to each other through mutual attraction, shared trauma, and a love of games. They meet in a closet to hook up, but discover that they have been hiding a dangerous secret: they’re actually Anne & Mary. Equal parts historical fantasy and introspective sexual & gender exploration, yo ho. is a deeply emotional reimagining and reminder of our queer histories.
i wish i was her(s) - Draft as of 10.11.24
(READ IT HERE)
Alison is a country singer turned mega pop star, who struggles to make friends... until she meets Marina, a fledging indie pop musician and one of Alison's biggest fans. After reaching a career peak, Alison’s career is under intense scrutiny after a popular podcast makes some accusations about her private life. As midnights become Alison & Marina’s afternoons, a concert of Alison’s Eras dissects parasocial relationships, queerbaiting, AI/deepfakes, and the impact of financial success on friendships.
New drafts of a few different plays are on the way including small town icons, SWAY, and Stacy & Mia. You should also check out these incredible plays from some of my favorite writers:
GIANT SLALOM by Jess Honovich (READ HERE)
The Jazmines: a rage play - and for legal reasons, a parody by Jasmine Sharma (READ HERE)
The Hand That Feeds You by Sarah Groustra (READ HERE)
this is not the reunion by Maddie Dennis-Yates (READ HERE)
I’ll be back with updates on November 1st. Let me know if you have something going on so I can add it to the list! See you soon.
Much appreciated,
SMJ