Frozen Moments

New pics of our show have been posted on the PLUNGE page.  All photos courtesy of Britannie Bond.

A nice rundown of things

I'd like to read this again so I'm placing it here:

How To Steal Like An Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me) - Austin Kleon

The Final Stretch

If you haven't seen the show, then what are you waiting for?  5 Performances left!
Thursday @ 7pm
Friday @ 8pm
Saturday @ 3pm & 8pm
Sunday @ 3pm

Halfway point.

We have officially made it half way through the run of PLUNGE.  The cast is still discovering things every night and I believe with our improved understanding of the play and characters, the play itself has evolved and each night it gets better and better.  I am very proud of the cast and our company.  Thank you all who have supported us in any way.  For those of you who haven't made it out to see us yet, get on it!  Don't let this great show slip past you.

Supermoon!

Donate: http://www.indiegogo.com/Plunge
Buy tix: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1278864117
Blog: thecrookcompany.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Crook-Theater-Company

An image for the ECard

JC was asking if I could get an eCard put together so that you have an image to send electronically and via email out to the world. I've combined the two sides of the postcard into a single image and shrunken it down to an appropriate size.

Click on the image above to bring up the full size image, then you can save a copy of it to your desktop. (Right click or ctrl click) From there you can drop it into an email and send away.

Front with a review

I think that having a review with the main title here makes sense.

Kyle Schaefer - Featured Artist of "Plunge"

Kyle Schaefer (JIM) New York: A Christmas Carol, The Light Inside, Beyond Measure (Reading). A.C.T.: The Tosca Project (World Premiere), A Christmas Carol. A.C.T. M.F.A. Program: O Lovely Glowworm, Her Naked Skin, The Diviners, Increased Difficulty of Concentration, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Critic. Regional: Candide (Berkshire Theatre Festival); Anything Goes, Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson (Workshop) at the Williamstown Theatre Festival; Kiss Me, Kate, The Producers, The Crucible (SRT). Other performances with: Shakespeare & Company, New Harmony Project, Kennedy Center, Collège International de Cannes, San Francisco Symphony. Will travel to Vancouver and Calgary in the Fall with A.C.T.’s Tosca Café. Member of AEA. BS: University of Evansville. MFA: American Conservatory Theater. For more information, visit KyleSchaefer.com.

One of our fearless Artistic Directors.

Postcard Front and Back

Alright, here's what I was able to put together. Please review for accuracy. Make sure we have everything important on there. We sorta ran out of room, so if we need to add something we might have to take something else off. 

Looking at it now, I see that we don't have the blog on there. It might make sense to put that on the front, at the bottom. Anyway, get back to me so that I can order these suckers. Thanks :-)

Backside of the P.Card - The Information

Show Titles with Dates & Times

Alright here's the beginning of the postcard back. Thoughts so far. I've gotta go for now. Dance lessons with my beautiful lady.

Post Card

March 10th, 2011:

LPreserve PCard Ttone

Good thought Joe Clay. 

Here's an update based on the comments. JC sent me the info for the back, so I'll get going on that.

March 9th, 2011:

Alright, added a little something over this image. JC asked for a lot of space. Let me know what else needs to be on the front here. We thinking we'll want to make the back where most details are advertised. Suggestions?

I gave a lot of fuss over nothing I think*, we stretched this image over the size of canvas we needed, but it don't look too bad. Not sure how it'll print up, sometimes hard to tell. I think this'll work. Sorry for the run around Joe Clay.

*Click on the image to view full size.

Haha, I'm obsessed with altering this thing

So, I'd like to reuse the architecture of this verbiage, transfer the info on whichever file we decide for the postcard background. Maybe add it to one of our other online sources even, depending on the reception it receives.

What sort of things should we include. Map? Reviews of the script, dates, venue? quick artist bios?

Thoughts?

Maybe for postcard?

Crooks! What are your thoughts?

So, I've been kinda stuck on the next step for advertising, or I've been just procrastinating. I want to move forward on the design for the postcard that we'll be printing for the show.
This will be a 4" x 6" double sided print on card stock. I'm thinking full color front and B&W back with the show synopsis, maybe cast, and reviews of the script.

For the full color side, I wanted to use that cloud skyscape that I posted earlier, or I also have pulled an image from Google Maps satelite view of a CT home and pool in the woods. It looks pretty cool and could also make an intriguing background.

Anyway, any thoughts? Suggestions? I'll be getting this done Sunday, so act now.

Introduction Video

Change in direction.

Hello theater world.  We have some news.  The Crook Theater Company has parted ways with director John Cooper.  It was a hard decision because of the time and energy Mr. Cooper has put into the show, but it became apparent that our company would not have a process that was desirable for us.  John Cooper is a smart and capable director and has directed and/or produced over 40 shows.  His experience in getting a show together cannot be replaced.  The Crook just found it imperative to begin their existence as a company in a way that gave more of a voice to who we are as artists, as well as a process we felt comfortable with and that we could work best in such a short amount of time.  Having been acquainted with each other's strengths and weaknesses for years, The Crook felt it more likely to achieve its objectives by going in another direction.  The situation itself was probably not a fair one for John, and we had discussed this possibility in the early stages.  Of course it's much harder if such a thing occurs.  We would like to stress again that this decision was not personal, but only due to differences in process, each one just as viable as the other.

We will still be performing the show in Mr. Cooper's SHELL THEATER, March 18th-April 3rd.  And it speaks to John Cooper's professionalism that we are able to maintain a business relationship.  He has been very polite and generous with us and we would like to thank him for that.  So, Thank you John.

The Crook

Hello! from Featured Guest Artist Kyle Schaefer.

Ask questions. Mark your calendars. Tell your friends. We want you to know about our process and see the show--

Donate: http://www.indiegogo.com/Plunge
Buy tix: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1278864117
Blog: thecrookcompany.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Crook-Theater-Company

Online Ad Square

After talking to John Cooper and JC Ernst, I decided to tweak this image one more time.

The purpose of this graphic is to pop at a size of 150 - 200 pixels, which is the common display size for Facebook and our IndieGoGo fundraising site. You can click on this graphic to the left in order to see the full size image... if you want.

I worked with the dimension at the bottom of the pool, and I wrapped the author's name around the edge of the pool. Which was a small bitch to implement due to my rusty skills in Fireworks 8.

John really wanted to add the element of water filling up the pool, but I was never happy with the effects I tried. It turned out to be too distracting. Especially when viewed from a distance. In this form it needs to be concise and clear. Sorry John, I hope this works.

I've got to move on though. I've put enough face time in with this one that I'm sick of seeing it. Next on my list is to make it easier for the players to play with all of us online.

Off for now,
 -Ryan Daniel Fretz

Another possible cloud background

This is a photo that I shot looking West from the window of my plane. A snap of the peaks of the Oaker Mountains in Utah. The city of Tooele lies below the cloud cover.

This would probably be a good image to use since we have full rights to it.

John Cooper (La Coopster), the director of this performance of Plunge, asked for a cloud theme with a door held up by nothing, inviting a fall through to this character exploration. 

Here's a good web image

I'm going to add this image to the fundraising sites. It's succinct and pretty. 

I would like to add the Crook Logo too, we'll see.

Please give me some input, let me know what ya think so far.

Background image?

I know that the pool in the play is in a rustic scene and supposed to be hidden, but this image is rad.

There's also this one, which might fit the bill a little better. The composition is good for the placement of verbiage.

This one is already well processed though. Thanks Google Image. 

I'm going to go forward with this one.

basic aesthetic idea

Things, they are a brewing

A couple of developments:
The cast for the show has been switched around as per our fearless directors request.
The incomparable Amanda Sykes and the outlandishly talented Natalie Hegg will be switching roles.
Kind of a crazy thing to throw at them, but I believe in them, and in all honesty we'd have faith in them no matter what role they'd play.

Also, this weekend Raife is bussing it down to Washington D.C. to see a show our friend, Alex Morf, is in.  But while down there he will be meeting with director and teacher, Leslie Felbain, about a potential clown show we may put on as part of the NYC Summer Fringe festival!  Pretty exciting news.

And most importantly, and big fundraiser on indiegogo.com has commenced.  The goal is to raise $6000 by the day after PLUNGE's closing night, April 4th.  I know it sounds like a lot, but if every one chipped in $5 or $10 we'd get there in no time.  Check out the site and spread a little love.

http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Crook-Theater-Company

New visual themes for the show

A Great Start (in the voice of Desmond Llewelyn)

Yo Adventurers,

It sounds as if you have profited from your efforts. Which is an amazing thing. Well done and I am proud.

You got the word out. That is the most important thing in the beginning. The funds will come if you focus on your craft of really bringing this story to life.

Learning from an adventure is very important, especially if you booty oodles of alcohol; future parties.

You had fun. You've got to remember always just to have a good time, as Panda Bear always says.

Signing Off,
 - Ryan Daniel Fretz

ORDER TICKETS NOW!

You can pre order tickets now using a credit or debit card:
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1278864117

Get 'em while their hot!

A SUPER super bowl party!

Thanks to every one who came to our Super Bowl party and supported The Crook!  We had a great time and had a great turn out.  What's more is that we not only broke even monetarily, but we even were able to come out ahead and raise $120.  I know, that doesn't sound like a lot with all the time and energy we put into it, but there are some plusses that we can name:

1. We were able to get a lot of people to come out and show support for us.  This hopefully will translate in continued support for other events and our shows.  We have a great base of support!

2. We learned how to put together a fundraiser, and how not to put together a fundraiser.

3. We also came out of the party with OODLES and OODLES of alcohol which we can sell at other events and our show. Which is awesome!

4.  We were given a fun and effective platform to show people who we are, what we are about, and generate interest.

5.  We had a lot of fun.

Just wanted to give a shout out to our very own Natalie Hegg who bared the brunt of the stress because the party was thrown at her workplace.  THANK YOU!
And thank you SALUGGI'S PIZZA for giving us a great place to have the party.

Photos courtesy of Britannie Bond

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRITANNIE BOND

First Reading

We had our first reading last night!  It was exciting to have every one in the same room and hearing the play out loud.  Afterward, our director, John Cooper, had some things to say.    He is a very smart man, but not everything he said was what I wanted to hear. But, you got to keep optimistic about things.

We are hoping for a big turn out for our super bowl party tomorrow, and getting supplies now.
After the fundraiser is behind us I can focus on other things.

On tab for next week: contacting design team and hammering out some details with them; setting the performance dates and times; filling out equity showcase contracts; getting the rights to the show; making money; and figuring out what our next fundraiser will be.  Wait, was rehearsing and being a good actor on that list???  Lets hope.

FACEBOOK

Trying to figure out this whole facebook and social network blogathon. I feel like my dad when he is introduced to new technology. I'm getting behind the times. But no worries, you can now find us on "FB" as the kids say. Now I'm off to do more work on the super bowl fundraiser.

Consider us PLUNGED!

Just put the down payment on the Shell Theater which will house our production of PLUNGE by Christopher Kyle in March! It's a beautiful and intimate theater, and smack dab in the middle of midtown NYC. I Can't say that it doesn't come with some stress, as things tend to when a lot of money exchanges hands... especially when my hands are the ones that are giving. We have to sell 500 tickets just to break even! Hopefully, with some good fundraising we can knock that number down a bit. But we still need every one's help to get the word out. There will be a link up to buy tickets very soon.

The Show