I'm very excited to be able to tell you all that I will be directing a stage version of "Quiet, Please," which will run as a late-night show on Fridays this fall at the Sacred Fools Theatre Company.
The show will consist of "The Thing on the Fourble Board" and "Whence Came You?"
This will not be a re-creation of the original broadcasts, but a minimalist staging, all the better to immerse a live theatre audience in Cooper's worlds.
Many thanks to everybody on this site; quietplease.org is now linked on the "Quiet, Please" page on our website! (For now, you have to click on "Late-Night" in the top menu bar to find it; eventually, a blurb will be added to the front page of the site.)
The details:
Sacred Fools Theatre Company presents QUIET, PLEASE Two Tales of Hushed Horror
by Wyllis Cooper directed by Corey Klemow
starring Tom Kiesche as "Porky" and "Martin Weaver" Michael Lanahan as "Abe Feldman" & "Billy Gruenwald" and Bart Shattuck as "Austin" and "Ted"
with Josh Petroski as "The State Trooper" and the voice of David Lawrence as "The Announcer"
Nov 19 - Dec 17, 2004 Fridays @ 10pm
at Sacred Fools 660 N. Heliotrope Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90004 (just south of Melrose, between the 101 & Vermont)
Wow, that IS exciting. Congratulations. You'll have to keep us posted on the rehearsals, the audience reaction, the laudatory review in the L.A. Times, etc. Didn't realize you were right there in Hollywood, CA -- I guess you'll have a lot of hungry but talented creative types available.
And maybe some big name producer/director will see the show and ... and ... and ... and ... rip it off. I can just see how M. Night Shyamalan's next plagiarism could be "The Thing on the Fourble Board"! And we'll say we knew you when! No, seriously, break a leg.
And maybe some big name producer/director will see the show and ... and ... and ... and ... rip it off. I can just see how M. Night Shyamalan's next plagiarism could be "The Thing on the Fourble Board"! And we'll say we knew you when! No, seriously, break a leg.
This got me to thinking.... Would Fourble Board (or any QP episode for that matter) make a good movie? I recall the movie version of Sorry Wrong Number and well...... they shouldn't have made it imo
Thanks for the well-wishes, folks! I met with my sound designer today, I'm meeting my lighting designer tomorrow, auditions are this weekend, and then we'll be off and running!
Greg - union rules would prevent me from sharing the whole thing. And getting a clean recording would, unfortunately, be problematic; because this is being staged as theatre, rather than a radio re-creation, the actors will not be miced in any way (it's an intimate, 72-seat house), and sound effects will emanate from speakers placed at strategic areas around the theatre (wait'll the Thing starts scrabbling up from BEHIND THE AUDIENCE!). The only resource I have to record the show would be a single microphone held by someone sitting in the front row (and for a small house, it's a WIDE stage!), so the end result of trying to get an MP3 of the show would probably be kinda muddy sounding.
However, if I do manage to get any sort of listenable recording, I may post bits and tidbits afterwards! Stay tuned, I s'poze...
Hi Corey. Thanks for the reply. I figured that in a theater venue, an audio recording would be a dodgy prospect.
It's hard for me to imagine anyone but EC as the narrator. But still, I'm curious as all get out.
I first heard Fourble Board when the Coolest Fifth-Grade Teacher in the World played it for my class about 25 years ago. But I just heard Whence Came You for the first time this week. A very nice pairing.
Corey Klemow wrote: I may post bits and tidbits afterwards! Stay tuned, I s'poze...
Please do! I think it would make for great listening (wait'll the Thing starts scrabbling up from BEHIND THE AUDIENCE!). all I can say to that is WOW! that is a great idea
Old Timer wrote: I've been rereading the posts here.... and now I'm wondering if you and your lot would be interesed in doing "100,000 diameters"?
Hmmm... just re-read it... my first instinct is that it would be a lot harder to stage than the ones I'm doing. I can get away with not showing you the Thing or Osiris fairly easily, but not showing the giant viruses would be a more convoluted affair... especially in the opening scene, where they're directly dealing with a loose virus they say is scooting about the floor.
Plus, we know a lot more about viruses now than we did in Cooper's day... suspension of disbelief might be a bit harder for an audience today to sustain! (At a couple of points the story implies that the viruses are absorbing something of their victims' essence and intelligence, when the reality is the other way around - viruses turn healthy cells into factories that make more viruses exactly like the invader - in other words, the material making up the cell is literally turned into more viruses! In fact, if Cooper had gotten this detail right, it'd have been even *more* creepy... viruses aren't just "feeding" on us, they're turning us INTO them!)
Besides which, I think I already know what the next two I want to do are, IF (big if) there's a second production.
the material making up the cell is literally turned into more viruses! In fact, if Cooper had gotten this detail right, it'd have been even *more* creepy... viruses aren't just "feeding" on us, they're turning us INTO them!)
Besides which, I think I already know what the next two I want to do are, IF (big if) there's a second production.
Now that I've reread it.... you're right.... it would be a bit harder to do. As for "viruses aren't just "feeding" on us, they're turning us INTO them!" that reminds me (for some reason) of the Light's Out Story "The Fog"
Which stories did you have in mind to do IF you decide to do a second round?
Comments on "Quiet, Please" on stage in L.A. this November/December!
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I'm very excited to be able to tell you all that I will be directing a stage version of "Quiet, Please," which will run as a late-night show on Fridays this fall at the Sacred Fools Theatre Company.
The show will consist of "The Thing on the Fourble Board" and "Whence Came You?"
This will not be a re-creation of the original broadcasts, but a minimalist staging, all the better to immerse a live theatre audience in Cooper's worlds.
Many thanks to everybody on this site; quietplease.org is now linked on the "Quiet, Please" page on our website! (For now, you have to click on "Late-Night" in the top menu bar to find it; eventually, a blurb will be added to the front page of the site.)
The details:
Sacred Fools Theatre Company presents
QUIET, PLEASE
Two Tales of Hushed Horror
by Wyllis Cooper
directed by Corey Klemow
starring
Tom Kiesche as "Porky" and "Martin Weaver"
Michael Lanahan as "Abe Feldman" & "Billy Gruenwald"
and Bart Shattuck as "Austin" and "Ted"
with Josh Petroski as "The State Trooper"
and the voice of David Lawrence as "The Announcer"
Nov 19 - Dec 17, 2004
Fridays @ 10pm
at Sacred Fools
660 N. Heliotrope Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(just south of Melrose, between the 101 & Vermont)
Admission: $10
Reservations: (310) 281-8337
More info:
http://www.SacredFools.org
(Online ticket sales coming soon!)
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Too far away for me unfortunately. Would be interesting to see.
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Wow, that IS exciting. Congratulations. You'll have to keep us posted on the rehearsals, the audience reaction, the laudatory review in the L.A. Times, etc. Didn't realize you were right there in Hollywood, CA -- I guess you'll have a lot of hungry but talented creative types available.
And maybe some big name producer/director will see the show and ... and ... and ... and ... rip it off. I can just see how M. Night Shyamalan's next plagiarism could be "The Thing on the Fourble Board"! And we'll say we knew you when! No, seriously, break a leg.
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Too far away for me unfortunately. Would be interesting to see.
Too far for me as well and Paul's right it would be interesting to see
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And maybe some big name producer/director will see the show and ... and ... and ... and ... rip it off. I can just see how M. Night Shyamalan's next plagiarism could be "The Thing on the Fourble Board"! And we'll say we knew you when! No, seriously, break a leg.
This got me to thinking.... Would Fourble Board (or any QP episode for that matter) make a good movie? I recall the movie version of Sorry Wrong Number and well...... they shouldn't have made it imo
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Thanks for the well-wishes, folks! I met with my sound designer today, I'm meeting my lighting designer tomorrow, auditions are this weekend, and then we'll be off and running!
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Corey,
I'm on the east coast, and can't make the show, but I'm curious. Do you have the technical wherewithal to post an mp3 of the event?
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Greg - union rules would prevent me from sharing the whole thing. And getting a clean recording would, unfortunately, be problematic; because this is being staged as theatre, rather than a radio re-creation, the actors will not be miced in any way (it's an intimate, 72-seat house), and sound effects will emanate from speakers placed at strategic areas around the theatre (wait'll the Thing starts scrabbling up from BEHIND THE AUDIENCE!). The only resource I have to record the show would be a single microphone held by someone sitting in the front row (and for a small house, it's a WIDE stage!), so the end result of trying to get an MP3 of the show would probably be kinda muddy sounding.
However, if I do manage to get any sort of listenable recording, I may post bits and tidbits afterwards! Stay tuned, I s'poze...
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Hi Corey. Thanks for the reply. I figured that in a theater venue, an audio recording would be a dodgy prospect.
It's hard for me to imagine anyone but EC as the narrator. But still, I'm curious as all get out.
I first heard Fourble Board when the Coolest Fifth-Grade Teacher in the World played it for my class about 25 years ago. But I just heard Whence Came You for the first time this week. A very nice pairing.
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I may post bits and tidbits afterwards! Stay tuned, I s'poze...
Please do! I think it would make for great listening
(wait'll the Thing starts scrabbling up from BEHIND THE AUDIENCE!). all I can say to that is WOW! that is a great idea
Senior Member
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Joined: Jun 30, 2002
Total Topics: 14
Total Comments: 100
I've been rereading the posts here.... and now I'm wondering if you and your lot would be interesed in doing "100,000 diameters"?
Junior Member
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Joined: Jan 06, 2004
Location: Los Angeles
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I've been rereading the posts here.... and now I'm wondering if you and your lot would be interesed in doing "100,000 diameters"?
Hmmm... just re-read it... my first instinct is that it would be a lot harder to stage than the ones I'm doing. I can get away with not showing you the Thing or Osiris fairly easily, but not showing the giant viruses would be a more convoluted affair... especially in the opening scene, where they're directly dealing with a loose virus they say is scooting about the floor.
Plus, we know a lot more about viruses now than we did in Cooper's day... suspension of disbelief might be a bit harder for an audience today to sustain! (At a couple of points the story implies that the viruses are absorbing something of their victims' essence and intelligence, when the reality is the other way around - viruses turn healthy cells into factories that make more viruses exactly like the invader - in other words, the material making up the cell is literally turned into more viruses! In fact, if Cooper had gotten this detail right, it'd have been even *more* creepy... viruses aren't just "feeding" on us, they're turning us INTO them!)
Besides which, I think I already know what the next two I want to do are, IF (big if) there's a second production.
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the material making up the cell is literally turned into more viruses! In fact, if Cooper had gotten this detail right, it'd have been even *more* creepy... viruses aren't just "feeding" on us, they're turning us INTO them!)
Besides which, I think I already know what the next two I want to do are, IF (big if) there's a second production.
Now that I've reread it.... you're right.... it would be a bit harder to do. As for "viruses aren't just "feeding" on us, they're turning us INTO them!" that reminds me (for some reason) of the Light's Out Story "The Fog"
Which stories did you have in mind to do IF you decide to do a second round?
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Which stories did you have in mind to do IF you decide to do a second round?
Awww, let me have *some* surprises for the future!