30 DAYS OF NYMF: Day 8- Stuck

How I Got Stuck at NYMF

180 Days

Get the call telling me Stuck is a finalist for the Next Link Program at NYMF while at the gym.  Am embarrassingly out of breathe on the phone with the director of programming.

Um… are they sure they have the right show?

 150 Days

Receive notification that Stuck has been officially selected for NYMF while sitting at the bar at Applebee’s in Pennsylvania on a road trip with my best friend.  Proceed to tell the whole bar.

Awesome!!!  But… how do I pay for it?  Panic.

125 Days

Hire Michael Berry as director.  Best decision I made.

NYMF Next Link Launch weekend: share songs, meet other Next Linkers.  Get a run down of how the festival is actually going to work.

More panic.

 125-90 Days

Start fundraising.

Put together a righteous team: Zach Laks (GM), Joshua Stephen Kartes (MD), David Goldstein (Set/Lights), Stephanie Alegado (Costumes), AaRon Dayton (TD/Sound), John Capo (Press/PR)

Buckle down with rewrites and script reworking.

I knew I wanted to make this change, but now I actually have to do it? 

60 Days

Hire Michael Cassara for casting.  Hold open calls and EPAs.

Get first choice for each role: Danny Bolero (Ramon), Mel Johnson Jr. (Lloyd), Beth McVey (Sue), Anita Welch (Eve), Tim Young (Caleb), EJ Zimmerman (Alicia).

Too bad I don’t have a role for a 20-something blonde girl, cause there are thousands.

30 Days

Start rehearsals.  Lose a stage manager, gain a stage manager.

Wait… what do you mean you want to make more changes???

10 Days

Lose an assistant stage manager, gain an assistant stage manager.

Finish all major script restructuring.

Actors are almost off book and in runs.

Now we have to sell tickets!

5 Days

Michael looks at me and says: “Hey… we have a show.”

It’s pretty much out of our hands.

Hey… we have a show.

 

-Riley Thomas, bookwriter, composer and lyricist

 

To buy tickets or to learn more about Stuck go to www.nymf.org/stuck or call 212-352-3101