The Bride's Side Revisited

So The Bride's Side was rejected for a staged reading by the Colorado Theatre Guild's New Venture Series. I was disappointed by the rejection but not by the judge's positive comments; they are similar to what I have received from other submissions.

• Judge A:
  
  Some funny characterizations; great dialogue - although the people seem to be somewhat stereotypical, especially at first.
  
  Act 1 Scene 2 completely un-stage-able. Has to be a screenplay to get the jokes, etc. Scene 3 impossible to stage nude scene. Cat and dog should not be on stage,and while the cat is supposed to be a trick of lighting, it doesn’t make sense to have one animal real and the other an illusion.
  
  You're kidding me... BUTTERFLIES on stage? NOT stageable.
  
  Reminds me of Seinfeld meets Will and Grace. The ending is a bit worth it and well done. The play needs editing; there are typos. Feels like it hasn’t been workshopped.



• Judge B:
  
  There is only one stage in Denver big enough to handle two functional cars on stage--the Buell (if they can land a helicopter, they can drive two cars.) Unfortunately the Buell will never do a Colorado playwright. I just don’t see this being done as a stage play. Even at the Buell, we wouldn’t be able to see the actors inside the cars well enough. There are just too many sets, characters, technical problems to allow this to be a stage play. But I don’t think it would work to simply take out all the scenes, etc. This just feels like a movie beginning to end.



• Judge C:
  
  The dialogue flows nicely. I like the characters, and they each have a distinct voice. Parts are very funny. But as a movie, not a staged reading.

Impossible to stage a nude scene? Try telling that to Anthony Schaeffer (Equus) and other playwrights who've managed not only to write them but to get them staged! (Wasn't it Barbra Streisand in Yentl who said, "Nothing is impossible"?) And personally, I think a judge who says unstageable is not using their imagination.

Anyway, there you have it. And here, for the first time anywhere, is a video snippet of the November 5th reading. Enjoy!



Now stop drooling, you'll see the whole thing on Broadway soon enough.