Last month I got the privilege of taking part in BYOT. If you’re a regular here at Honesty is Not Contagious, you’ll already know what I’m talking about. For those unfamiliar, BYOT stands for Bring Your Own Theater. This is a production company in Chicago that assembles monthly to put together several one acts within 24 hours.
Writers, performers, and directors get together on a Friday evening. By Saturday morning writers have prepared a script based on a randomly assigned theme. The cast and crew have the next twelve hours to rehearse and construct whatever kind of a show they can.
If nothing else, it’s always a wonderful evening with some fine folks. As a writer, I also enjoy the challenge. It’s unique, rewarding, and typically forces a person to think outside the box. After all, there’s a good chance everyone will have the same idea about a theme. The trick is to find perspectives others might not explore. A good way to do that is to listen to the cast.
In other news, BYOT is currently gearing up for a full production of an original piece called “Aces ‘N’ Eights” by Ross Childs. He’s a troubadour behind songs such as “Crabman” and “Human Meat”. (You can grab his album Kazoology off Amazon music.) BYOT describes the show as follows:
“BYOT Productions presents the world premiere of Aces & Eights by Ross Childs. Detective Francine Noir’s private investigator career has hit a rough patch. But when two cases converge, a distraught dame trying to find a lost will and a rich art collector in search of a missing painting, she must descend into the dark, grimy, and gut-busting underworld to uncover the biggest case of her life and rescue the only person who knows her filing system… not to mention where to find the cheapest scotch.”
The road to that show is a hard one, however. Though things are underway a few hurdles are left to climb. As such, there are two things I’d like to mention.
August 20th at Mrs. Murphy’s and Sons Irish Bistro there will be a Semi-noir Cabaret fundraiser to assist the production. A variety of marvelous acts will be performing, myself included. I encourage anyone in the Chicago area to come down, have a drink, and a good time. However, those not in the Chicago area are asked, if possible, to donate what you can to the production fundraiser in the link below. Every little bit helps, and if a donation is out of the question for whatever reason – I have bills too and understand money can’t always be spared – doing us the simple favor of sharing the fundraiser on social media is greatly appreciated.
A Semi-Noir Cabaret
https://www.facebook.com/events/1351839498317607/
BYOT fundraising page
https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/bring-your-own-theatre-productions/campaigns/2829?fbclid=IwAR0etFlFF7qc1RIf8ttYzLgIPWqpURCRnPRb_J_s1k6msUFTOKs6DK4xeGs
Writers, performers, and directors get together on a Friday evening. By Saturday morning writers have prepared a script based on a randomly assigned theme. The cast and crew have the next twelve hours to rehearse and construct whatever kind of a show they can.
If nothing else, it’s always a wonderful evening with some fine folks. As a writer, I also enjoy the challenge. It’s unique, rewarding, and typically forces a person to think outside the box. After all, there’s a good chance everyone will have the same idea about a theme. The trick is to find perspectives others might not explore. A good way to do that is to listen to the cast.
In other news, BYOT is currently gearing up for a full production of an original piece called “Aces ‘N’ Eights” by Ross Childs. He’s a troubadour behind songs such as “Crabman” and “Human Meat”. (You can grab his album Kazoology off Amazon music.) BYOT describes the show as follows:
“BYOT Productions presents the world premiere of Aces & Eights by Ross Childs. Detective Francine Noir’s private investigator career has hit a rough patch. But when two cases converge, a distraught dame trying to find a lost will and a rich art collector in search of a missing painting, she must descend into the dark, grimy, and gut-busting underworld to uncover the biggest case of her life and rescue the only person who knows her filing system… not to mention where to find the cheapest scotch.”
The road to that show is a hard one, however. Though things are underway a few hurdles are left to climb. As such, there are two things I’d like to mention.
August 20th at Mrs. Murphy’s and Sons Irish Bistro there will be a Semi-noir Cabaret fundraiser to assist the production. A variety of marvelous acts will be performing, myself included. I encourage anyone in the Chicago area to come down, have a drink, and a good time. However, those not in the Chicago area are asked, if possible, to donate what you can to the production fundraiser in the link below. Every little bit helps, and if a donation is out of the question for whatever reason – I have bills too and understand money can’t always be spared – doing us the simple favor of sharing the fundraiser on social media is greatly appreciated.
A Semi-Noir Cabaret
https://www.facebook.com/events/1351839498317607/
BYOT fundraising page
https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/bring-your-own-theatre-productions/campaigns/2829?fbclid=IwAR0etFlFF7qc1RIf8ttYzLgIPWqpURCRnPRb_J_s1k6msUFTOKs6DK4xeGs
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