Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Your Inner Fish

Amazingly relevant to the 'ol play boom, amazing Ars Nova SM Alaina has uncovered This Awesome NPR story about the fish in our past. Awesome!!

I just found out about Meet The Play Group

Thanks to George who received word of a brand new video podcast from Bill Bowles about a small theater company in San Francisco! I'm already almost addicted.

The blurb from Bill:
Its the behind-the-scenes story of a struggling theater company in San Francisco. I will follow the many adventures and misadventures of "The Play Group" as they try to get ahead in the fast paced world of independent theater production. Yes, finally someone has combined the exciting world of small-time online video with the ever-popular off-off-off-off Broadway scene. That someone is me.
Meet The Play Group here

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

and we span the nation once again

I have had a fabulous and intense 9 day stint back home in SF workshopping my play, T.I.C., my commission with a fabulous crew of peohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifple. Some very fun rehearsals were followed by two great readings at Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, the city of my youth. Thanks to all those who came out and watched it, was in it, directed it, hosted it and commissioned it. Now I've got a year to whip the mother into shape.

Tomorrow am back on the eastside of fair nation for some world premiere boom action at Ars Nova. YEEEEAH! i'm feelin it! You feelin it New York? I totally just felt you feeling it.

As you can tell, my brain is somewhat drained of creativity at the moment. I'm hoping some good TV time and Terra Blue chips will refuel the neurons with interestingness.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Reading in Marin tonight and tomorrow

Yes, people, witness the first reading of my newest play, TIC, in globular raw rough early development form in the Bay Area

Marin Theatre Company's Nu Werkz series in association with Encore Theatre Company presents a reading of
T.I.C. (trenchcoats in common)
by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Directed by Tracy Ward
with Marissa Keltie, Mike Reynolds, Phoebe E. Moyer, Liam Vincent, Lance Gardner, Arwen Anderson

Feb 24 & 25 7:30PM, Marin Theatre Company
Post play discussion (be nice) to follow
FREE ($10 suggested donation)

The spiel
A teenager starts a blog about his/her (still deciding) Tenancy In Common apartment building, capturing photos, audio and video on his cellphone and webcams. A collection of "only in San Francisco" neighbors are filterted through his/her eyes. The transmissions aren't going unnoticed, and as increasingly sinister activity begins to take place, it becomes clear that there are quite a few people watching this building.

posters in carroll gardens



Thank you, Jay!

Friday, February 22, 2008

The marketing machine begins!!

Thanks to Jay for capturing these exciting shots of the Boom poster rising in NYC!




Tuesday, February 19, 2008

whither rondalla?



La Rondalla, San Francisco's best Margarita Bar/Restaurantyoushouldonlydrinkat has been eerily dark for maybe nine months now, its leather bar door tagged with silver markers. A sign says they're closed for renovations, but there does not seem to be any sort of activity of a renovating kind.

Rumors are flying and indeed last summer the restuarant seemed to have some general sanitational challenges, further reinforcing the "only drink there" conventional wisdom. Sounds like quite a bit of work has to be done to whip the place back into edible shape. I do remember witnessing with my own eyes a small roachy critter scamper across the bar.

But I hope they come back. La Rondalla was one of the few bars in the Mission that actually was host to the full array of people who live in the Mission; latino and non, gay and straight, young and old, hookers and nonhookers. It was incredibly friendly, low on hipster posturing, and the chips were really quite good too. It had history, legend, great bartenders, strange holiday decorations, and often a thirteen piece Mariachi band in a 200 square foot bar (I may be exaggerating.) It was the first bar I ever drank at in San Francisco when my brother George and I ventured out from my Uncle's house on 20th street, sat at the bar and even got a couple free shots thanks to the bartender's affinity for tall men.

Best of all, it was across the street, allowing for painless heading home after a post pitcher of extra-lethal Margaritas that were really quite delicious, and really quite strong.

Vuelve, Rondalla, por favor.

and the fun don't stop on the west side

Whew!

Back in Cali now for a 10 day period after a 9 day period in NYC. The rain seems to be following me. I missed the trademark "nice week in February" that always seems to happen as the rain has returned. BUT IT WON'T DAMPEN MY SPIRITS! I'm in a weird mood today.

boom is off to a great start in New York. It's a fabulous group of people and they begin to rehearse without me in about twenty minutes. I'm having separation anxiety. I'm already about to tweak one little chunk, I think. Tickets are on sale! Spam email to come soon.

I'm back in SF to workshop an early draft of my play, T.I.C. over at Marin Theatre Company (in collaboration with Encore Theatre Company who has commissioned to play thanks to our Gerbode/Hewlett Emerging Playwright Grant.) It's going to weird moving from a play that's ready for production to one that's only ready to be heard out loud and still has some serious dramaturgical acne dotting its malformed face. But exciting. I'll get to hear what's really sticking, compelling, what balls are flying most interestingly. Interestingly is so not a word.

I'll post the official roster thing soon.

By the way, has anyone seen In Bruges? I thought it was prety darn great.

Monday, February 11, 2008

The N Y and A N

I am in the Nuevo York for the first boom rehearsals at Ars Nova. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to call out my play name when I have decided not to capitalize it. I guess italics is good. Some people go ALL CAPS with it which is good. BOOM (That seems to be the default way for dramaturgs and/or literary managers to call out play name when requesting to read a script and/or when sending a rejection letter about it ;)). That works too, though the intention of no caps boom is to under-emphasize a word that represents a large event.

OK anyway, Ars Nova has some awesome marketing materials and design aesthetic going on. The poster looks pretty awesome. I'll post it here soon. In the meantime Check out and download their season brochure!

broadcasting my vocal stylings

OK, so if anyone hears a Mervyn's Valentines Day sale ad that sounds vocally Peter Nachtrieb-esque, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that it's not just "esque." It's me. I'm currently in a non-Meryvn's territory so I'm SOL.

If you hear let me know! How did make you feel? Where were you? What happened to you after hearing it?

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Farewell Honda



After approximately 18 Years of service to the Nachtrieb household, the 1989 two door Accord is moving on the greener pastures, specifically helping public radio and television remain well funded in the Bay Area.

George has been the driver of the Honda since 1992, previously having been my Dad's car for a couple of years (I first practiced to drive in it), then mine for my senior year of high school (after I totaled my shit brown '84 Corolla) and then finally to George. In '92 we drove it across the country (sleeping in it a few nights to avoid being attacked by skunks at campgrounds), and George took it to Middletown, Connecticut for his final year of college, emancipating himself from pedestrian confinement in a small, not terribly exciting town. The Honda then made its way back to the Bay Area, down to Los Angeles for a decade, and finally back up to the Bay for a final year of service that included a commute to Menlo Park.

Along the way, the Accord had lost its stereo to thieves (a couple times), window rolling capabilities, air conditioning, and occassionally its ability to start. The Honda has visited such wonderful sites as Texas, The Grand Canyon, Great Basin, Zion National, The Corn Palace, The Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota, several Waffle Houses and Cracker Barrels (Cracker Barrel is a big seller of Goo Goos, btw, the world's first combination candy), dropped me off at college, almost got stuck at Mono Lake, trekked to the Gallagher ranch in West Marin and witnessed numerous film shoots and ran errands for political ads in LA, not to mention numerous numerous activties in George's presence of which I have no knowledge of.

A lot of history in that heap. And now it is but a memory, a discarded artifact, and all that will linger is that signature Honda ignition noise faintly wailing in our heads. Farewell.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Superbowl Roundup

We're sort of a Patriots household so we're in a sad place. Sad but full. Mark's chili was a delicious hit and George's cheddary cornbread was the perfect addition to the bowl. We also had Jon's Guac, Kim's famous pepperoni toast, David's robust Krab salad, Matthew's Australian Spinach dip served in round bread, Ali's tantalizing chip and dip assortment, plus Kim's cookies, twizzlers, mike n ikes, m'n'ms, and many delicious light beers, including Bud Light, which Jon informed us is actually called "Party Water." Yep, feeling bloated.

Favorite commercial
The Tide stain pen ad with the talking stain