So every time I said I was going to put on a play, someone invariably said "Is there any nudity in it?" and if I said it was a "gay play" I was even told "without nudity good luck getting an audience." or "why aren't you doing it naked if it's a gay play?" People think it's funny but the 100th time you hear "Isthereanynudityinit?" it's harder and harder to smile.
So I used to joke that I was going to call a play Full Frontal Nudity because that was the best way to get an audience. It worked, too! (Having a cast of 21 didn't hurt either.) In my years of producing plays it was our second highest attendance after Angel Project; we averaged about 40-50 folks a show.
Heuer Publishing published the script and it's had three productions since, on tap for two more this year, which is pretty cool actually. Apparently the title puts some people off. It's basically a sendup of community theater where they spread the rumor of FFN to get people to com3e to the show. And the preacher who says his flock must stay out but he must go in to see. I lampooned critics (scene one shows the critic had written the review before the play even started), actors who say "I can't make rehearsals but I'll learn my lines," directors, writers, and other theater companies who use ridiculous tactics to sell tickets. Plus people who are so prudish they refer to body parts as geography, e.g. "Your Fort Lauderdale" or "Your Baja California."
Can't we just call it what it is? asks someone?
No
So, it was fun to write. This season it's on tap at Reedy Point Players in Delaware City DE and Oakland Community College near Detroit.
Break a leg! as they say...well not any more. End of act one...there's a scene where two people are arguing by shouting over someone in between them. The guy in between was a lot taller so they would jump over him to say their lines. One guy landed and cracked his ankle. He had to do act 2 on crutches (fortunately we found a pair), but since the play is kind of a farce, people didn't even realize it was an "add on" until he came out for a bow.
Another performance treated us to some drunk audience members who were upset that the weren't getting their nudity as "promised." They were being really disruptive. The question is, what do you do? Well, they also snuck in some alcohol into the church where we performed, and as this church prohibited alcohol, we kicked them out. It was not pretty. Since I had a role, I was torn between breaking character and getting involved or not, but I chose "not."
Anyway thanks to the folks involved in the productions, best wishes for the upcoming, and for choosing the play! Find a sample at hitplays.com
