To Friends of American Machine:

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TICKETS AVAILABLE!

MORE REVIEWS … “THE PLAY HAS AN IMMENSE HEART”

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR LOAD OUT

DON’T FORGET FRONT PORCH FORUM

MEET ACTRESS TERESA LORENCO

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SEVEN MORE SHOWS - TICKETS AVAILABLE!

That’s right, tickets are still available for our seven remaining shows!

So what’re you waiting for? Come see the show that’s been called “compelling” “powerful” and “poignant” by the local press. Some nights are filling up quickly - so give FlynnTix a call and support local indie theatre! Our remaining shows:

Wednesday 10/3 - 7:30pm
Thursday 10/4 - 7:30pm
Friday 10/5 - 7:30pm
Saturday 10/6 - 2:00pm
Saturday 10/6 - 7:30pm
Sunday 10/7 - 2:00pm
Sunday 10/7 - 6:30pm

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MORE REVIEWS!

SEVENDAYS: In this week’s issue of SevenDays Erik Esckilsen says of American Machine:

“… the play has an immense heart,” “… compelling working-class agitprop rama,” “… a mighty swing at a formidable topic.”

He goes on to say that Seth Jarvis’ portrayal of Ipsy is “touching” and one that shows us, “… that a single character, deeply explored and well-portrayed can speak movingly about the general ‘us’ by confronting the particularities of his individual condition.”

Read the full review in this week’s SevenDays.

VERMONT TIMES/SENTINEL: In an article about ‘American Machine’ actress Bridget Butler, Bill Wargo says she “… turn in a powerful performance as a Mrs-Robinson-like woman searching for love…” “Like Judi Dench and Susan Sarandon (two actresses whom she admires) Butler dominates the stage with her strong, direct attitude.”

Read the full article in The Vermont Times/Sentinel

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DON’T FORGET YOUR FRONT PORCH FORUM!

If you’ve seen our play, one way you can help our production is to place a free notice on your local Front Porch Forum telling your neighbors about our play. Be sure to include our web address: www.AmericanMachineThePlay.com

Not a member of your neighborhood Front Porch Forum? Go to www.FrontPorchForum.com, take a tour, and join. … It’s free!

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LOAD OUT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Now this is fun. Really. … Our show ends Sunday night, probably around 8:00pm. I SO need a group of super volunteers at FlynnSpace to help take our set apart, load it on a truck, and then put it in storage. … And that’s
it!

The last great effort of putting on a play is taking it all apart and making way for the next play. Can you imagine what would happen if the taking apart part didn’t happen? Why there’d be pieces of play all over the stage, all
the time, and wouldn’t that be a mess!?

So e-back and let me know if you can volunteer some hours of your time Sunday night - we could sure use your help!

Come on, it’ll be fun!

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MEET ACTRESS TERESA LORENCO

Some folks have asked me, ‘Who was that incredible actress in American Machine portraying a thirty-something single Latina mom?’ … Meet local actress Teresa Lorenco, a thirty-something single Latina mother of two who somehow finds time to sing, act, perform in Spielpalast Cabaret, record her own CD, and also be a mom to two great sons: Dylan and Forest (happy 10th birthday, Forest!) We were sure glad to find Teresa to portray ‘Lona’ in American Machine. … Welcome Teresa!

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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

www.AmericanMachineThePlay.com

To Friends of American Machine:

OPENING NIGHT WAS SOLD OUT

THE FREE PRESS REVIEW

WHICH CHILDREN?

REMEMBER DENNIS AND COLIN?

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OPENING NIGHT

Our opening night has come and gone and what a night it was! A full house and our cast and crew did an incredible job. I’m so proud of everybody! Of course I would say that but, gosh … you should’a seen it. I feel like a
proud parent!

Of course a couple of days ago I was in panic mode as our machine (which you’ll see if you come to the show) stopped working completely. And I’m talking frozen solid. Nothing. DOA. … The machine is supposed to, well, work during the whole show - moving constantly and making parts. But late last week it just stopped. Like that.

Thanks to a really smart electrical engineer, Tim Ambrose, who came to our rescue and performed an electrical operation. I have to tell you, I was a little nervous seeing all those wires coming out of our machine. But Tim fixed it and now it’s moving and working as we speak.

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THE FREE PRESS REVIEW

Brent Hallenbeck of The Burlington Free Press calls our show “powerful,” and “poignant,” and our set, “…a marvel.”

He goes on to say…

“Humor carries much of “American Machine.” … Most of the play is built around that uneasy camaraderie that develops when people have been together for a long time and either grow to love each other or at least to need each other. Only occasionally during these lighter moments does “American Machine” pull the curtain back to reveal what its real message is. But once it does, it’s powerful.”

Read the full review… go to BurlingtonFreePress.com, scroll down to
‘Living’ and there’s our show!

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WHICH CHILDREN?

American Machine is set in a factory and the humor and language can be crude. It’s not appropriate for children under the age of 15, depending on the maturity level of the child. If it were a movie, it would probably be rated ‘R’ … or PG-15 if there was such a rating.

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REMEMBER DENNIS AND COLIN?

If you saw ‘The Bus’ then you might recognize two of the actors - Dennis McSorley and Colin Cramer. Dennis played the gas station owner, ‘Harry’, and Colin played one of the two boys, ‘Jordan.’ In fact, the last two people you saw on stage in ‘The Bus’ were Dennis and Colin. How nice to have them re-united on stage at American Machine.

Welcome Dennis and Colin!

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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

www.AmericanMachineThePlay.com

To Friends of American Machine:

OPENING IN LESS THAN 2 WEEKS!

MEET NEW YORK ACTOR BILL TOSCANO

BENEFIT TICKETS SELLING BRISKLY

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LESS THAN 2 WEEKS!

Hard to believe it’s less than two weeks ’til opening night. Here’s what’s happening now…

Sound F/X - we’re honored that Jim Wolvington, the man with a couple Emmys (okay, six) on his wall for sound design and sound f/x editing for shows like ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ and ‘Max Headroom’ has starting adding the ‘Ker-chunks’ and ‘Pshhhs!’ that will make up the factory soundscape for American Machine. Some cool sounds coming from his studio.

Thank you,
Jim!

Moving into FlynnSpace - Maria McGrath, our stage manager, has had a tape measure in her hands a lot these days planning how our set, temporarily imagined at The Soda Plant, will fit onto the stage at FlynnSpace.

Postcards - the Lantz family sat around the kitchen table the other night, peeling, labeling and stamping LOTS of postcards that hit the mail today. If you don’t get one (and you’d like one) shoot down to Waterfront Video, pick up a cool flick, and one of our postcards on the counter.

Final rehearsals next week - at the moment, we’re breaking scenes down, andrunning them over and over so the actors can get just the right feel for their characters. Next week, before we move into FlynnSpace, we’ll be
running the entire show from start to finish.

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MEET NEW YORK ACTOR BILL TOSCANO

So we didn’t know what it would be like to hire our first NY actor - and more to the point, we couldn’t imagine what life for a NY actor would be like in Vermont - after all, the actor would have to uproot their life in the city, move to Burlington for six weeks, and work with a first-time director.

But after running several ads in a NY stage paper, receiving hundreds of head shots, and auditioning a bunch of possible actors, we’re glad to have found Equity actor Bill Toscano to play the role of ‘Winkie’ - a challenging and humorous role in our play.

In addition to being a NY actor, Bill is also a director and playwright - and a practitioner of QiGong - a breathing and meditative exercise that’s similar to tai chi or yoga. In NY Bill practices QiGong in his apartment close to the theatre district, or in Central Park with joggers running past him, taxis honking in the distance.

But here in Vermont, most mornings, Bill can be found amidst the quiet of Red Rocks beach, doing QiGong at the edge of Lake Champlain. A few trees turning color, low fog over the lake, a cool breeze.

Life for a NY actor on the road isn’t all bad. … Welcome, Bill!

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BENEFIT TICKETS SELLING BRISKLY

Tickets to all shows are on sale now through FlynnTix, but tickets to the opening night benefit for The Burlington Schools Food Project ($15 in advance/$20 at the door) are available only at City Market.

Last word was the benefit tickets were selling briskly (three college classes and one High School group will be in attendance). I’m glad tickets are selling, but if you’re planning on going to the opening night benefit to support Burlington schools, then make your list: milk, bread, organic green tea - then get to City Market and purchase tickets to American Machine -
soon!

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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

www.AmericanMachineThePlay.com

To Friends of American Machine:

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

MEET BRIDGET BUTLER - ACTRESS, OWL WHISPERER

GOT TICKETS COMING TO YOU?

FRONT PORCH FORUM

BE A VOLUNTEER - HAVE FUN!

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WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Three short weeks to Opening Night! Here’s what’s happening…

Factory tour - Our actors are doing some character research this Thursday and taking a tour of Twincraft, a soap manufacturing plant in Winooski. We’ll probably come back smelling quite aromatic! … Special thanks to Michele Rose and Peter Asch, President of Twincraft, for making this happen!

Posters - We start hitting the streets with our posters this week. Got a place you think our poster would look nice and gets lots of attention? Shoot us an e-mail and we’ll send a poster to you. They look pretty hot (thank you
Lynn!)

Brett Hughes, our music making man, sat in on a rehearsal last week to get a feel for the show and begin the process of recording the old folk song made popular by Leadbelly (and CCR), ‘Midnight Special.’

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MEET BRIDGET BUTLER - ACTRESS, OWL WHISPERER

So our cast is sitting around during a break and talking ‘What did you do on vacation?’ Bridget Butler, who plays ‘Teena,’ starts telling us about her trip to Maine. Picture this: a clear night in the Maine woods, Bridget’s sitting around a fire with family and friends and, in the distance, she hears an owl. As a professional birder, Bridget calls to the owl. The owl
calls back. Then others. A little while later all these owls are in the trees around the fire. Everybody’s staring up at the night sky. Bridget keeps calling. The owls keep answering.

Now that’s cool.

When she’s not on stage playing Teena in ‘American Machine,’ or Connie in ‘Midwives,’ or one of the many other roles she’s played, Bridget is a teacher/naturalist with Audubon, Vermont. You can hear her work, too - Bridget also hosts her own radio show called, ‘BEEKS - A Birding Geeks Radio Delight’ which is webcast weekly at www.vt.audubon.org.

I tell you, we’ve got the coolest cast.

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GOT TICKETS COMING TO YOU?

If you’re a sponsor and you’ve got comp tickets coming your way, you’ll be getting a phone call or e-mail starting in about a week or ten days. Sue Kavanaugh is our administrative assistant (and also my mother-in-law.) Sue’s sweet on the phone, and even sweeter when telling me what needs to be fixed around the house. If you’re a sponsor, thank you so much for your sponsorship - our play wouldn’t be possible without you! … Interested in being a sponsor? Drop us an e-mail.

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FRONT PORCH FORUM

One of Burlington’s great gems is Front Porch Forum, an on-line neighborhood forum created by Michael Wood-Lewis. If you live in Chittenden County, chances are you live in one of the 130 forums that neighbors use for all sorts of communication - finding a lost cat, recommending a plumber, to … letting people know about a new play!

One way you can help our production (and the Burlington Schools Food Project) is to place a free notice on your local FPF telling neighbors about our play and the opening night benefit for the Burlington Schools Food Project. Be sure to include our web address: www.AmericanMachineThePlay.com

Not a member of your neighborhood Front Porch Forum? Go to www.FrontPorchForum.com, take a tour, and join. … It’s free!

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BE A VOLUNTEER - HAVE FUN!

Our production could use a few extra hands…

Load-in/Load-out … Got muscles? Our load-in is scheduled for Saturday night, September 22nd. We’ll probably start loading out of our studio around 7pm, then start loading into the Flynn by around 10 or 11 that evening - anticipated wrap by 2am. Our entire set (including the machine) will move from The Soda Plant (at Recycle North) to FlynnSpace … walls, machine, barrels and skids. If you’re a night owl and want to hang with some punchy theatre folk, e-back and let us know - we’ll provide the coffee and lots of appreciation!

Ushers… At each show we need 3 ushers to take tickets, show people to their seats and man (or woman) the door. If you can commit to ushering at least 2 shows, we’ll spot you a comp ticket. Interested? Check out the show schedule at www.AmericanMachineThePlay.com then e-mail our house manager, Elizabeth Wilkins at ceowilkins@msn.com.

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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

www.AmericanMachineThePlay.com

To friends of American Machine

WELCOME!

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

OPENING NIGHT BENEFIT
Burlington Schools Food Project

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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

www.AmericanMachineThePlay.com

Fifteen days to the hamburger summit. More or less. If we count the dog days of June here as sort of a ‘run-up.’

This weekend the ‘Ex’ and I shipped the kids to far away places, sorted by gender, with her taking the girl to camp for eight weeks and me putting the boy on a plane to dig in Italy for a month.

This week either I said ‘No’ or they said ‘No’ to five attempts at a change of c arrear … kinda like five lottery tickets that wound up crumpled on the floor of the car with the empty wrappers and coffee cups.

So all that stuff that took up June is over, and here it is, all those things I say that keep me from writing … gone.

Though my daughter swears that a month without kids is gonna result in a father with a new girlfriend, I am not so sure. I can’t see that the kids are an impediment in that arena. More that the last couple of years since the last divorce have run more in the direction of ‘crank and recluse’ than down any kind of lover’s lane.

But, I do say those darling kids keep me from writing, and now we will find out if that particular threadbare excuse has any weight to it.

And, I am apparently stuck with the ‘day job’. I am not going to be instantly transformed, merging passion with work, vocation and avocation twining as I ‘following my bliss’, getting paid to write. Or save the world. So, I get to do this ‘on the side’ like all the other poor schmucks trying to make a go of it.

“Moonlight in Vermont,” they say, “or starve.”

Appropriate, really, as I am writing this on the porch of the Bennington Motor Inn, with the full moon just come up over the ridge. Peaceful summer night on the road …

And I want to show my face among bloggers again. So, … time to start writing again. Fifteen days to the summit, fifteen posts? Cool breeze running tonight. After the heat down in NYC, lets anything seem possible.