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May 13th, 2008
12:31 pm - Founder's Day????
So, today they shuffle us into a conference room at 11:00 for a boring fiscal projection meeting.
Nope. As it turns out, it's Founder's Day at Biap. We had a party and get the rest of the day off.
I love my job. Happy Founder's Day!
Character count: 7
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May 1st, 2008
10:33 am - The First of May
Character sheets begin today.
Well, technically, character sheets began on Monday. I spent the wekend making the template and I already have written the first one and am hip deep in the second (Miss Hannigan). It is my goal to get all 60 character sheets done by the end of July. That's three months and a tight writing schedule.
This is complicated by the fact that I got a part in another show, Glengarry Glen Ross. It is, in fact, my first real drama, and I'm very much looking forward to it. I have one of the smaller parts, but that's ok. It allows me to be on stage without as much work, and memorizing huge diatribes makes me queasy.
In any case, I will be putting a character count at the end of my posts. It's the number of character sheets completed so far. This will give a good example of progress.
Character count: 1
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April 29th, 2008
08:02 pm - Thank you mysterious t-shirt bandit
There was a t-shirt from woot in my mailbox when I got home. It's a keen play on "put the lime in the coconut." I have no idea who sent it, but thanks!
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April 26th, 2008
11:17 pm
OK, Lullaby of Broadway players, I expect to see this at the game:
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April 25th, 2008
12:29 pm - Another LoB Update
Whew. OK, casting is done and character hints have been sent out. I’ve even updated the in game schedule to show what songs will be expected at a minimum. Curious? You can see it at http://www.interactivitiesink.com/larps/broadway/doclib/Players/Schedule.xls
Also, if you are curious, the following characters are left uncast:
- Pepper, Annie (child)
- Pawnee Bill, Annie Get Your Gun
- Jake Oakley, Annie Get Your Gun
- Freddy “Bottle” Bates, Guys and Dolls
- Harry the Horse, Guys and Dolls
- Benny South Street, Guys and Dolls
- Minnie Fay, Hello, Dolly
- Barnaby Tucker, Hello, Dolly
- Bud Frump, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
- Marcy Park, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
- Aldolpho Karpathy, The Drowsy Chaperone
- Winthrop Paroo, The Music Man (child)
- Eulalie Shinn, The Music Man
- Amaryllis Shinn, The Music Man
- Roger De Bris, The Producers
- Linus van Pelt, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown
I recently ran Colonel Sebastian T. Rawhide’s Circus of the Spectacular at Relaxicon. It was a very good run, but one of the things I said to the players beforehand is “the difference between a good run and a great run is the number of players.” Tightly cast games, like Lullaby of Broadway work a level of magnitude better when they are full.
Ah well, I have months before the game runs and should get more players by then. Of course, I’ll also have more unexpected drops by then, too, but that’s LARP. Like any good game, Lullaby of Broadway can run missing a number of characters, and it’s something I always plan for and make contingency plans for who should step in should a character not be there.
So, this weekend will be a well-deserved break and then next week I start writing characters. 60 characters in 3 months; that’s 2 characters every 3 days or so. A brisk schedule, but one I can handle. I’m doing a number of things to make it easier on myself, though.
The first thing I do before I write any character is set up a template. The template will contain the sections the character needs to have (history, who you know, goals and motivations, &c), has formatting, and styles already set. Then when I write new characters, I can just plug them into the template.
For this game, I’m writing character sheets British style. This is similar to what we did in Brassy’s Men with bullet points. Instead of writing a detailed narrative, I’m going to write disconnected paragraphs with section headings. Since the characters have a lot going on, this will help them keep things organized. And, since we are asking the players to be familiar with the characters going into the game, I don’t really have to write a summary they can see on DVD anyway.
Ah well. I’m still very excited about Lullaby of Broadway and it might be all I can talk about here for the next few months. J
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April 24th, 2008
04:26 pm - Whew
OK, casting is, more or less done. I still have to send letters to the players letting them know who they're playing, and we could really use about 4-5 male players (or open minded females), but we have months to get them.
I am pleased with how things turned out. We only had a few square pegs and round holes, and I think things sorted out nicely. And I'm really looking foward to seeing these characters brought to life.
In any case, if you go to the web site, you can see who you're playing. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me.
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April 21st, 2008
09:39 am - Casting Has Begun
Casting for Lullaby of Broadway has begun in earnest. I’ve done the first pass casting; that was easy.
I’ve learned a lot of lessons running “media larps” over the years. One of the biggest is that when you ask people who they want to play, most people will choose the big names everyone has heard of.
This isn’t surprising actually. More people have heard of Eliza Doolittle than Rosemary Pilkington, so more people will ask for her. But there is only one Eliza Doolittle and I always feel kinda bad when I can’t give the character to twelve different people at once.
I mentioned that NBStPD could have been the all Jack and Sally game for what I got for casting. This time it was Dolly Levi, Eliza Doolittle, and Miss Adelaide for the ladies and Henry Higgens, Sky Masterson, and Leopold Bloom for the gents.
In any case, the first pass casting is done. That was the easy part. People who asked for specific characters that nobody else asked for got those characters, even if they were the second choices.
The next step is to whittle down the rest of the crowd, looking at what kinds of characters they want to play, above and beyond their first three choices.
LoB has some extra casting challenges. Oh there is the typical I can’t put X and Y in a romantic relationship; they hate each other. But I also have the added concern Z wants a character where he can perform in front of others, while A wants to never sing or dance at all.
Gotta be careful with the casting there. Even if A put down Sky Masterson, he’ll be put out if he’s asked to do “Luck Be a Lady Tonight.” I have contingency plans, of course. I always have contingency plans. We can do lip sincing, have stand ins just for songs, or – if worst comes to worst – skip the song part. While I feel it would be a better game if Dolly could make a grand impression to the strains of “Hello Dolly,” she can make just as grand an impression without the song. (These are just examples; neither Sky nor Dolly have been cast as of this writing).
Ah well. If I wanted easy, I wouldn’t have chosen the games I do. I’m not complaining, and nothing is going wrong. Just hoping to share some of my life lessons of larp.
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April 18th, 2008
01:05 pm - Guess The Song
So it's been a while since I did one of these. Here are a bunch of lyrics, the first 20 songs with lyrics that I hit on my mp3 player in shuffle. Name the title and artist, or if it is from a show, name the title and show name (if it is from a show, but more commonly associated with an artist, I want the artist). The person who gets the most right wins.
1 My last girlfriend didn’t like me…
4 When my love stands next to your love…
5 Pitter Patter. Tick Tick. Wella baby now, every night in my dreams….
8 I see the birdies in the trees. I see the fishes in the seas.
15 You can’t say that. You can’t say that.
17 My god! It’s alive! 1:15 AM, October 3rd. The first sign of animation!
18 I went to years of public schools, those education tractor pulls…
2 Owww! Help me out! Dig! All I do I grunt and groan… Living With a Hernia, Weird Al.
3 Mott the Hoople in the game of Life…. Man in the Moon, R.E.M.
6 I was cheated by you and I think you know when. Mamma Mia! Mamma Mia! (Also ABBA)
7 She says do you want to go out. I say that’s a nice idea. Little Miss Communication Jim's Big Ego
9 From my heart and from my hand why don’t people understand my intentions? Weird Science, Oingo Boingo
10 [Title][Title Again] Honey? Now would I say something that wasn’t true? Would I Lie To You, Eurythmics
11 You’d be the coolest dude in the nation or the hippest cat in creation… Perfect World (Reprise) Emperor's New Groove
12 Wake up in the morning. Get yourself to work. Workin' Fraggle Rock
13 [Title] They pay me [Title]. You see me walking tall at the shopping mall. $7.50 Once a Week - Schoolhouse Rock (technically Money Rock)
14 I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a congress! Sit Down John 1776
16 In. Stop. Park. Walk. Yield. Enter. Exit. One Way. City Signs Song from The Electric Company
19 You put yourself in stupid places. Yes I think you know it’s true. Everything to Everyone, Everclear
20 Avalanche or Roadblock. Snowball in Hell TMBG
Hint 1: TMBG: 1; JoCo: 0
Hint 2: 7 TV, Movie, or Musical (not associated with an artist)
Hint 3: 2 covers. Be careful.
Score:
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) deboranter: 1
aerynne: 1
jadasc: 3
greykev: 1
leemoyer: 1
natbudin: 1
prehensile_wit: 5
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April 15th, 2008
09:34 am - Relaxicon Report
Just got back from Relaxicon, played two LARPs and ran one. Also was part of a LARP roundtable with Matt Ruane, John Corradin, and Gordon Olmstead-Dea...
Breaking News! Breaking News! Breaking News! Breaking News! Breaking News! Breaking News! Breaking News!
An entirely new card game is now available on the Interactivities Ink website, a new game based on a song by the eminent Jonathan Coulton!
But wait, you may be wondering why it is time critical for you to download and print this card game within the next two weeks. (Click here to download the game).
Well, that’s because it is based on the fine song, The First of May (click to listen; not safe for work). Travel around the park and f*ck everyone who needs f*cking. The player who f*cks the most people wins!
Download and print the game now! and then play it on the First of May.
Here are some safe for work sample cards:
And now we return to our regularly scheduled convention report already in progress.
…nd smashed a chair right across his goddamn face! It was truly the best LARP roundtable I’ve ever attended.
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April 8th, 2008
06:25 pm - I Have the Power!
Yes, I now have the power to record VHS tapes onto my computer. I can then convert the files to DVD, post them on YouTube, what have you.
And, since I believe I have a complete collection of the Dave Singer LARP Archives, I have started ripping them.
However:
1. My VCR sucks. It probably just needs a head cleaning.
2. VHS tapes are old and degrade over time.
This means I'm not getting very good quality videos.
Ideally, I'd like to communicate with Mr. Singer, and certainly will not distribute the videos in any way without his permission. Does anyone have contact information for him?
Thanks!
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April 3rd, 2008
04:28 pm - Play in The Island
The Island LARP
Action! Adventure! Intrigue! Mystery! Shipwrecks, Treasure, Strange fogs, Pirates, Miracles, Reunions, Losing Oneself, Finding Oneself....
The Island still needs players and cast. If you're a fan of Lost, or classic stories such as Island of Dr. Moreau, Mysterious Island, Most Dangerous Game, Treasure Island, Pitcairn's Island, King Kong, Greek and other mythology, etc, come play! We really would like to fill soon, so that we can get a better idea of M/F ratio of characters. The writing team is Moira Parham, Suzanne Wayner and Paul Wayner, with GM and tech support from many others. They are a really good, experienced group of folks working hard on this and have a lot of cool plots and characters, but need people to play them still.
Game setting is modern day. It runs July 11-13 2008, Lenhartsville, PA - go to http://www.islandlarp.com to sign up.
[Suzanne and Paul worked on Brassy's Men. I was one of the first to sign up for this game. It looks great!]
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April 2nd, 2008
10:52 am - Two LARP Notes
1. Don't forget dinner at Duck Chang's http://www.duckchangs.com/ tomorrow night to meet with the editor of a German LARP magazine and to discuss the differences between LARP here and in Germany. 8:00 PM. Tomorrow. Duck Chang's. Be there.
2. Thanks to the cruel machinations of my evil nemisis, Chad1, Lullaby of Broadway is no longer at minimum. Sign up now; we cast at the end of the month!
1Congratultions on your upcoming nuptuals.
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April 1st, 2008
03:00 pm - Penguins!
The BBC has a wonderful video about penguins on thier website today, but you cannot see it unless you live in England.
Luckily, someone pointed me to a link of it on YouTube.
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March 27th, 2008
06:50 pm - On Registrations
Lullaby of Broadway has officially met minimum. That's 40 players, two thirds of the game. We have exactly 20 characters still available. Hooray! We cast at the end of April.
I am running Colonel Sebastian T. Rawhide's Circus of the Spectacular at Relaxicon this year. I use an html form that just emails me the results. If Russian spambots were players, the game would be filled to overflowing. But at least I know where to get vigara, ca1is, and peeny stocks now. I'll be turning that form back off after the game is run, I think.
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March 18th, 2008
09:26 pm
So, in Threads of Damocles, I play a character from Rising Sun, anime Japan. I have just learned of the most famous animal of Rising Sun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhy0tIbGs_0
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March 15th, 2008
11:43 am - Just Another Happy Day in Urinetown
Saw the Reston Players' production of Urinetown the Musical last night. You'd barely know it was community theater, they did so good a job. I strongly recommend it, and yeah, it's slated for Episode 2 of Lullaby of Broadway. My favorite line was when Little Sally asked Officer Lockstock why he was unharmed and Lockstock replied that he was also the narrator and the actors know better than to do anything to the narrator if they ever want the play to end. All I could think of was, "Lockstock's never seen a Sondheim musical, has he?" In any case, it's only up for another week, so I strongly urge you to go see it while you have the chance.
In other news, I'm about two weeks ahead of schedule on Lullaby of Broadway. I talked a bit about my writing phases in a previous message. I expected to still be agonizing over group plots , but we're pretty solid there. All the groups that need to have a plot that makes them cohesive as a group, and makes being a member of the group meaningful within the game. For example, we have groups of all the characters from the Small Town and the Big City. I wanted there to be a Small Town plot to add that cohesiveness, but I didn't feel that the Big City needed such a plot. We've been doing plotting for other groups within the game. And I'd especially like to thank Diana, Dave, Shane, and Kirt (I'm too lazy to put your lj ids) who have all contributed some excellent plot ideas and really got the ball rolling when I was stuck.
In any case, this leaves me two weeks ahead of schedule. It's an odd, almost bizarre feeling. When I'm getting close to the deadline, I start wishing for double time. At one month, I wish I had two. At one week, I want a second week, and so forth. But now I have that extra week. Should take a break and squander it? No! We've built momentum. Let's continue on and bank those two weeks for when we'll need them later. So next week, Broadway writer's list, expect to tackle individual plots. At this point, i honestly don't even think there is a severely underplotted character any more. But there are some who have some lightness to them. But that will change. Oh, that will change.
We're nearly but not quite to 40 registered people for LoB. I'm casting at the end of April, so I'm going to keep pushing until then. The game will fill at 60. After that, I'll have a wait list and people can also sign up just to play bit parts all weekend (for a greatly reduced rate). OK, I'm starting to ramble. Have a great weekend!
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March 12th, 2008
12:04 pm - 76 Kazoos
So, the topic of how to represent the Boy's Band came up on the Lullaby of Broadway writer's list. ferretd suggested kazoos and I recalled something I had in my childhood...
They still make them!
But not only that, they make:
and
They are so cool! Unfortunately, they'll also run $12 plus shipping, but if I trim the band so I'm not buying more than, say, 10, then it's worth it, right? Right?
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March 10th, 2008
09:29 am - LARPzeit Meetup
I was recently contacted by Tara Tobias Moritzen who publishes the German LARP magazine LARPzeit. Tara was interested in reviewing the Book of LARP (of which I have practically none), and in articles about the state of LARP in the USA, which I see as a herculean task.
However, Tara will be in the area on April 3rd, and we will be meeting for dinner to trade LARP materials and discuss the difference between LARP in Germany and LARP around here. We'll be at Duck Chang's http://www.duckchangs.com/ which makes excellent Peking Duck. All LARPers, local or otherwise are welcome to join.
I especially want to invite those LARPers with a blog created especially to discuss LARP theory and who may wish to write about LARP theory in published magazines. You know who you are, Gordon (and others). Let me know by replying to this message so I ca make appropriate reservations.
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March 5th, 2008
11:00 am - The Other Other Other All Batman Game
Intercon H in Chelmsford, Mass. It was 6:00 on a Friday. I had just finished bragging that I wasn't running anything this weekend. Phillip Kelly dares me to write a game for the con. At 6:30 we all sit down to play The Other Other Other All Batman Game. Curse you, Phil Kelly!
Hot on the heels of not having a download for February, The Other Other Other All Batman Game is the new March freebie for my website. You can get to it directly from: http://www.interactivitiesink.com/minigames.
Next month will be a downloadable card/board game based on a Jonathan Coulton song. (Hint: It isn't Re: Your Brains, and it's being released in April for a reason).
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March 4th, 2008
09:52 am - Intercon H Report Part 1
On Sunday, I played in 10 Bad Modules. My character LOU had a tendancy to write bad fanfic about her characters, so here is what I wrote during the rules briefing.
It is NOT work safe. As requested, I am transcribing it as written, including spelling and grammar errors and strikeouts. The footnotes are new for the transcribed version.
( My Fan Fic, Let Me Show It To You )
If I get at least 10 replies asking me to, I will continue with occasional continuations of The Winter Court.
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