Hello!

My name is Dan Pelletier. I am a twenty three year old holder of a B.A. in Theatre looking to be the next big thing in arts and entertainment. I hope to use this blog to keep everyone updated on all of my ongoing projects, life experiences, and general happenings. For more info on my background, I hope you’ll explore my website: http://www.Dan-Pelletier.com

As for what I am doing right now:

My biggest project at the moment is designing lights for “The Taming of The Shrew” directed by my good friend, Samantha Smith. This is probably the biggest production I have lit to date, and I’m excited to push the limits of my knowledge and skills as a designer. Today I’ll be finalizing my color selection, and tomorrow I will be venturing to Durham to watch the first stumble through of the show. Sam has a brilliantly talented cast, and I can’t wait to see what they’ve put together in the two short weeks they’ve been in rehearsal.

On the entertainment side of things, wedding season is winding down, and it as been a wonderfully adventurous year at Sowa Entertainment. Each wedding I MC’d this year was very unique, and I love that I’ve gotten the honor and privilege of making people happy on the most important day of their lives. 2014 is already looking to be just as fruitful as 2013, as my calendar is filling up very quickly. This weekend I’ll be at the Strafford School Friday night for a K-5 and a middle school dance, and then Saturday we will be providing the entertainment at the Bow High School Homecoming Dance. Swapping from weddings to school dances is a fun change of pace and mindset.

Towards the end of the summer, I set a series of goals for self-improvement on a personal and professional level. These goals include getting in better shape, getting my website up and running, writing a new play, revising an old play, reading five text/theory books, seeing ten shows, and reading twenty plays. I’m making good progress on all of them, but still have a long way to go to achieve them before the end of the year.

So far I’ve read:

The Odd Couple
The Taming of The Shrew
The importance of being earnest

I’ve seen:

Annie – Prescott Park
The Burial at Thebes – TheatreKapow
Our Town – UNH

And the books I’ve finished:

Backwards and Forwards – David Ball
Solving Your Script – Jeffrey Sweet

Solving Your Script was amazing, and I already want to read it again. Sweet’s ability to analyze and (more importantly) teach the craft of playwriting, as well as breaking down what makes a good play,  a good scene, and a well written character, has been immensely useful for both writing and directing. I’m currently reading Taking Stock: The Theatre of Max Stafford-Clark. I read a brief passage in another book about Stafford-Clark’s directorial process, and was intrigued by the amount of table work and discussion he does with his actors before ever getting them on their feet. My hope is this text will dive further into the explanation of how and why he does this, which I plan on utilizing in my own productions.

Well, I think that’s enough for now. There is much work to be done after I return from the gym and the comic book store, so I best get going!