To friends of American Machine
WELCOME!
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
OPENING NIGHT BENEFIT
Burlington Schools Food Project
———————–
WELCOME!
This is the first of our every-once-in-a-while newsletters to keep you abreast of all the happenings with ‘American Machine.’ From the day-to-day challenges of producing an independent play, to our opening night benefit for ‘The Burlington Schools Food Project,’ we’ll do our best to keep you updated on our play.
What’s our play about? … Part parable on the American dream, part cautionary tale taken from the headlines, ‘American Machine’ tells the story of a great factory that once made parts for classic American cars. As a makeshift family of six friends come together each night to work, they’re soon faced with rumors that their employer will be downsizing – or even closing altogether. As they begin working on a new order‹making buckets and mops for Wal-Mart‹the prospect of being split up looms before them, and their dedication to the once-proud factory is put to the test.
———————–
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
Cast … After months of auditions that have taken us from the far reaches of Vermont to Ellenville, New York (where the TV antennae was invented!) we’re proud to announce our all-Vermont cast. We’re glad to welcome back
actors Dennis McSorley, Colin Cramer who were part of ‘The Bus,’ and three very talented actresses – Bridget Butler, Teresa Lorenco and Chris Caswell. Seth Jarvis, who directed ‘The Bus,’ is also a talented actor and has joined
the cast, too. Over the next two months, we’ll introduce you to these talented Vermont theatre artists.
Sets … We’ve started building our sets which includes part of a working injection molding machine. We plugged it in last night – and it works! Normally an injection molding machine is about the size of a Winnebego and weighs tons, but between a set animator at the Shakespeare Theatre in DC (thank you, St. Mike’s grad Mark Prey), a plastics factory in Virginia
(thank you Valley Industrial Plastics) and a talented student from Cooper Union (thank you Sam Rudy), our machine will be less imposing as we place it behind an open stage door to fit nicely onstage at FlynnSpace.
Rehearsals … It’s hard to believe it’s only 8 weeks to the opening of our play so rehearsing has already become part of our weekly ritual. We’ve moved to our permanent rehearsal home at The Soda Plant (thank you Steve Conant!).
Fundraising … By far the toughest part of putting on a play is raising our budget. We’re lucky to live in a community where the arts are so generously supported (for instance, I can’t imagine producing ‘The Bus’ in, say, Lubbock, Texas.) … As an independent production we’re not funded by any theatre or organization, so our budget comes completely from corporate and individual sponsorships. So far we’ve raised about half of our budget, but we’ve still got a long ways to go. If you’d like to become a sponsor ‘American Machine,’ shoot us an e-mail and we’ll show you how!
———————–
OPENING NIGHT BENEFIT
Burlington Schools Food Project
See a play and support a great cause! … On Tuesday evening, September 25th, the opening night performance of ‘American Machine’ will benefit The Burlington Schools Food Project. 100% of all proceeds from this show will go to the project to support healthy fruits and vegetables for students at Burlington schools and to support CSA farm shares for food service employees at Burlington school cafeterias.
Want to know more about the Burlington Schools Food Project?
www.bsdvt.org/Schools/EdmundsEl/goodfood.htm
Tickets for the benefit are $15 and may be purchased at City Market in Burlington after September 1st.
———————–
Well, that’s all for now. E-back if you have any questions. As always thank you for your support – hope to see you at the show!
Jim Lantz
Writer/Director, ‘American Machine’
Sept 25 – Oct 7, FlynnSpace, Burlington, VT
