Looo-keen' goood!

- Chico Rodriguez from "Chico and the Man"

Hi!

Thank you for opening and reading my update!

Thank you so much to for your incredible comments last month! They really made me so happy and proud and thankful!

I’m very excited to tell you about the progress of the play!

But first an update on other things.

I work at a public school. So March is a long month - no holidays or breaks. (We did have off for Eid Al-Fitr, but that isn’t every March.) April is spring break, (yay!) which actually makes March feel longer. (boo)

To get through this long month, I decided that I would keep my head down and take it day by day.

1. I decided to run every day. Post brain aneurysm and 2 or 3 brain surgeries, I gained 30 pounds. I want to lose the “extra” pounds. I move more and eat less. Below is the track where I run everyday. I’m losing a pound to a pound and a half every week. A nice steady weight loss.

   By the end of the summer, I will be able to fit into the beautiful clothes that I bought pre-brain aneurysm. :) (I wear a lot of a brand of clothes that I recently learned Beyonce also wears.)

   

2. I decided that I will read at least ten pages of my book each day and be done by the end of the month.

   I’m currently reading about Frank Sinatra - a kid from Jersey like me who I greatly admired until I read 1600 pages about him.

   Just kidding, I still really admire Frank Sinatra and enjoy his music.

   I like Frank Sinatra because my father, a Black man from North Philly, liked Frank Sinatra. (There’s a story in there somewhere.)

   If Sinatra lived nowadays, I think he would have been diagnosed with OCD and/or he would be on the autism spectrum. He was “complicated” and “brilliant”.

   By looking at the character arc of Sinatra’s life, I’m learning the value of taking a step back and looking at the character arc of my life.

3. I’ve seen 1-2 shows every weekend. I go see shows to learn how to make my show.

   a. I’m getting ideas about sets. My idea for a set can certainly work because I’ve seen it done in several shows.

   b. Some shows are too long, some are too slow. I decided that I will keep my show to 80 minutes. That’s about how long I can stand watching a show. However, “Spelling Bee” was close to 2 hours, and it moved quickly. 80 minutes is short and sweet, in and out.

   c. Jokes. The funniest parts of the play are in the first five, ten minutes. That makes sense because the more drama (and there is drama in comedies) the less funny things tend to be. There are jokes throughout, but especially at the top of the show.

3. Fiore invited me to speak to his class! (I don’t have a picture.) The class is made up of veterans. (I think) they are learning how to apply to grad school, grants, etc. Things to help them get to the next level of their career and life goals.

   Several of the students are already in grad school.

   It took me a minute to register that these people are veterans. My idea of a veteran is very limited. I thought veterans were old white guys like Patton. But this class was very diverse, young(er than me) and super smart and experienced and creative and nice.

   I spoke a little about my grant writing experience, my experience getting to work with Terence Winter (creator of Boardwalk Empire, Oscar nominated writer of Wolf of Wall Street) for Sony/Tristar Pictures.

   And you know what? My story is pretty incredible. :) I really hope it inspires people to do what they were put here to do. One of the students even sent me a lovely thank you note. :)

4. The highlight of my month was our table read! It was so, so, so nice! All of the things I wanted to happen happened!

   a. I wanted a nice place to have a reading to invite producers. Welp, huge shout out to Miss Andrietta for finding a space for us AND a caterer! (AND submitted my project to investors!) *THIS is what a producer does.

   b. If you’ve been reading my newsletter for a while, you will know how much I really like LaChanze and would love for her to be a producer of my play. Welp, she sent a rep from her production company! (She’s working out in L.A. and actually apologized to me for not being able to come herself.)

   c. If you’ve been reading my newsletter, you will also know how I really wanted the phenomenal actress Sarin Monae West to read the role of Stephanie St. Clair. Welp, Sarin Monae showed up and did the thing!

   d. It really was a great read. The script was good, but because of the read and all of the really helpful notes I received, the script will be even better!

Next steps:

First, I have to tell you how grateful I am for each of you.

You know, my feelings get hurt a lot.

I know I shouldn’t take the rejection personal, but I do.

BUT what am I gonna do? Stay down? Oh, hell naw.

Staying down is not my character arc.

Your kind words really help me pick myself back up and support me until the next kick in the proverbial “balls”.

Next, I have to rewrite the script.

While I am rewriting the script, I have to reach out to theaters to ask if they will sponsor a STAGE reading.

Keep doing the work. I need to have readings (staged or table) over and over and over and invite investors, producers and make the story better and better and generate “buzz” until I secure funding, investors, producers and get to put on a show!

Friday’s table read was a gem, but just the beginning.

My short term goal: I would love to have my first STAGED reading by June/July. I’m hoping that with LaChanze attached, more doors will open for us to have a staged reading this summer.

However, I am not waiting on or relying on Miss LaChanze (Homey don’t play that).

I want to keep the momentum going (yes, “momentum” is a real thing in this industry) and will apply to and call theaters and producers and send them my deck.

A deck is a portfolio that tells what the show is about, who is on the team, budget, awards, themes, visuals. I am just starting so my deck is basic. I have a synopsis of the play, who is supporting us, what we have done so far and comps.

“Comps” is short for comparables (I think). Comps are shows similar to the show you are making. You show comps in your deck for your prospective producers and investors to have an idea of what your show will look like.

The comps I used are The Great Gatsby Musical and The Buena Vista Social Club Musical. I just saw The Wild Party today so I may add that too. All of the comps I mentioned are musicals. So I state in bold letters that my play has plenty of music and dance (the story takes place during the Harlem Renaissance), but is NOT a musical.

SO if you know anyone at a theater that I can send my deck to and ask them about a staged reading, please let me know. You may even earn yourself a stroll on the red carpet, with me, LaChanze, Sarin Monae and Miss Andrietta! :)

Most importantly, I know that when all of those nos come back, YOU will have my back and help me feel better to do it again and again and again.

Stay tuned…

Love,

Yhane

Oh! This play has been taking up a lot of my time. I am really enjoying it, but that leaves less time for me to make and promote and market my audio dramas.

I said less time, not no time. I am working on more episodes of Mona Mae!

You can start listening here: https://pod.link/1549428590. Thank you!