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Almost Back! Resuming in 2024

Thanks for stopping by. You may notice that the stories ended in 2019. Except for one written in 2020. That's because I switched back to my old love: writing tie-in media fiction. A "hey write a novel in nine months" contract as well as a new full-time job in the arts meant I needed to take a break from Encore  Spotlight in late 2019. Which was fine because I intended to return to writing for Encore in March 2020. Uh, then something happened. As in all the theaters shut down due to a worldwide pandemic. In 2020 I did one theater review. In the new normal, I became the audience in Seattle watching a Zoom performance  in Philadelphia. This article appeared the Baum Bugle . Oh and I did finish the novel, which was published in January 2021. That's Mask of Silver . For anyone interested in entertainment, the roots of this title in the Arkham Horror series came from my deep love for silent movies, fostered by the wonderful Seattle International Film Festival and the Para
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Zooming Into Oz

As veterans of theater festivals can testify, fringe shows need a single-minded commitment from their creators. The “let’s put on a show” attitude in 2020 helped a number of theater originators overcome a truly horrible year where small venues and live productions were shut down across the country.   OZ.org premiered at FringeArts’ Philadelphia Fringe Festival in September. The director and writer Amber Kusching envisioned her own interactive, virtual take on Oz. Like most modern adaptations of the first book, the influence of MGM’s iconic The Wizard of Oz as well as Gregory Maguire’s Wicked could be heavily felt in the science fiction spin that she placed on this reimagining of Baum’s first Oz book. As the play opened, “Dorothee” and the audience were sucked into a Zoom meeting with oddly familiar characters like the robotic 10-MAN, a cowardly guy called Lyman, and the helpful hologram GLINDA. Besetting them all was a certain wicked malware with a familiar cackle to Oz fans. Perfor

Expect unexpected Wooden O casting this summer

Seattle Shakespeare's Wooden O program brings plays to parks come rain or shine. Credit: Photo courtesy of Wooden O Seattle Shakespeare’s outdoor performing company, Wooden O, takes to Northwest parks with two gender-bending productions this summer. For 2019, they will present an all-male Twelfth Night and a Romeo and Juliet comprised of female and non-binary artists. For five weeks starting July 11, both shows will travel to 16 different park venues to offer 43 free performances in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. Last summer the Wooden O shows were seen by nearly 12,000 individuals and families. Director Mary Machala gave personal reasons for her casting choices in Twelfth Night . “I have many reasons why I wanted to do this show as an all-male cast, but the main reason is that I have a 24-year-old son, and I think men have taken it on the chops for the last couple of years,” said Machala. “I think a lot of young men in their 20s are kind of lost and they kind of