Our first “class” is at the Latvian Centre in Toronto. People come in dribs and drabs. Additional seats need to be found as 33 of us assemble, waiting for Karen O’Donnell and Kelli Kieley to get here. Usually, the course only has 25 participants. Karen has been running this course for years and this year…
This week, I started the Independent Television Producer (ITP) program which is part of the Ontario Self-Employed Benefit (OSEB) program. Basically, it’s a program to teach me how to run my own business. Last year, I was outsourced and gladly became part of the unemployed. I had hated my job for years. Although it had…
I arrived at the rehearsal for my reading and was introduced to the actors. They were all age and gender appropriate, which is quite a treat. In our playwriting group when we have our plays read, the other playwrights read parts as required. So frequently you have men reading for women or women reading for…
Old situations, New complications, Nothing portentous or polite; Tragedy tomorrow, Comedy tonight! A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum My play “Out to the Folks” is being read tonight at Theatre Aquarius at 9pm. And I’m nervous. Being on stage is less stressful to me than having someone else reciting lines I…
Happy New Year! It’s the day after Labour Day and the start of new beginnings. This time of year means more about new starts to me than January 1, even though it’s been almost thirty years since I went to school. I suppose having kids that still go to school helps keep that feeling going……
A friend asked me how one makes money at the Hamilton Fringe. Although, I’m hardly an expert, I have been involved in three shows that made money; one of which went on to win Best of Fringe in 2011. My advice? Have a hit show. Surprisingly, she didn’t find the advice very helpful. But, with…
On Saturday (July 20, 2013), my brother Mark married his wife Alexandra in Niagara Falls. I gave the toast welcoming Alexandra to our family. Here it is for family and friends that weren’t able to be there: Felicidades, Alexandra y Marchy. Congratulations, Alexandra and Mark (or “Marchy”, as he’s known in Spanish). Before I go on, I…
I remember thinking that I’d be 36 years old when the year 2000 came around and that age seemed so OLD! And today, I’ve turned 50 and I still feel young. If I close my eyes, in my heart of hearts, I feel 25 years old. Of course, the mirror punctures that fantasy. When I…
Writing. The arcane art. Just open a vein and write, as the saying goes. It’s easy, isn’t it? I was chatting with a couple of my playwriting friends and we were complaining how hard it is to write. If we think of ourselves as writers, why would the thing we do that classifies us as…
Man, I love the internet! Someone can write a blog and it can still have impact years later when someone like me stumbles across it. Like a message in a bottle, waiting patiently for someone to discover it. Last week, I stumbled across Kevin Kelly’s blog about 1000 True Fans (written in 2008). Basically, the…
peter gruner 