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Archives for : directing

Making Noise About Cue Zero

Posted by :Dan Pelletier On : July 3, 2014
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We are a week away from Cue Zero Theatre Company’s opening night and I could not be more excited. There is a great buzz in the air about the show. We recently received some great press from Manchester’s The Hippo magazine. I have included the wonderful article below.

“Heroes On-Stage”

If you’re a recent theater grad who doesn’t have the time or financial stability for an unpaid internship, there aren’t a lot of options — particularly if you want your play produced or if you want to sit in the director’s seat. So, University of New Hampshire 2013 grad Dan Pelletier decided to take matters into his own hands.

Pelletier is the founding member of a new theater group in Southern New Hampshire called the Cue Zero Theatre Company, whose inaugural production, Project Zero, takes the stage for the first time on Thursday, July 10. It will contain two hero-themed original one-acts, Future Endeavors, written and directed by Pelletier, and We Could Be Heroes, written and directed by Joe Nelson. They’ll be performed back-to-back, July 10 through July 12, at the Derry Opera House.
Pelletier, an Auburn native and Pinkerton Academy grad, ultimately decided on this course while driving to a lighting design rehearsal for Taming of the Shrew at UNH in Durham last fall, which he did as a favor for the director.
“I decided that, before my next birthday — which is coming up in July — I wanted to direct an original piece. I started researching the best ways to get that done, and that was to start my own company,” Pelletier said.
He stocked up on books and took advice from local companies like the Windham Actors Guild and theatre KAPOW!, whose monthly open training session he often attends. He gathered his theater friends from school, put out open calls and wrote press releases for the company’s auditions and upcoming performances. He pulled in a few UNH grads, including Nelson and Danielle Pancoast, who works as co-producer, set/costume designer and stage manager. Right now, the cast and crew numbers total 15, and they have been working diligently at rehearsals in his basement.
“There’s this old saying that if opportunity doesn’t knock, make a door. Throughout our schooling at UNH, every professor said you’re going to have to start with your own work to break out,” Nelson said in a phone interview. “You’re going to have to make your own opportunity. It’s something that’s stuck with me. … And I think new works are really what the theater scene in New Hampshire needs right now.”
Future Endeavors is about a small-town wrestler named Kyle Jordan making his way to the big leagues. Pelletier wrote it as part of his senior capstone project.
It wasn’t hard to create the character; if you know pro wrestling, then you probably know it’s more a performance than it is a sport. So in a way, Pelletier and the cast members relate very well to the character.
“When I looked at the script, I saw a lot of parallels between myself and Kyle Jordan,” said Nate Shaw, a Lowell resident who plays the lead role. “It’s easy to become absorbed and really get into the character.”
Nelson’s is a one-man show, to be performed by his good friend (also a recent UNH grad) James Fay. He wrote it last winter. The scene is of a kid living in a “nerd cave” in his parents’ basement. (Think superhero shrines.)
“It’s a one-person show, essentially a ‘nerd’ sharing with the non-nerd world what it means to be part of this demographic, the triumphs and struggles one would come upon while reading comic books and playing video games,” Nelson said.
It’s a lot of work, building a new theater company from the ground up. First there’s the job of finding a location, which Pelletier secured with a pretty successful indiegogo campaign. Then there’s publicity.
“You can have the best show in the world, but if people don’t know about it, they won’t show up,” Nelson said. “You don’t have the name recognition that other organizations in the area might already have.”
But there’s also a wonderful excitement to a new company and a new theater.
“In that mindset, we can bend  and create something that’s completely new for us,” Nelson said. “If somebody’s seen Hamlet six times, it’s uncertain to how the seventh time will be any different. With a new play going on, you have no excuse  not to check it out.”
Pelletier doesn’t expect to make a lot of money with the inaugural show; he said he’d be happy just to break even. But of course, he hopes this first performance will create opportunity for future shows this year.
“It will be a phenomenal learning experience, if nothing else,” Pelletier said.
As seen in the July 3, 2014 issue of the Hippo. http://www.hippopress.com/read-article/heroes-onstage

Countdown to Zero

Posted by :Dan Pelletier On : June 16, 2014
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Rehearsals for both pieces in “Project Zero: A Night of Original One-Acts” have begun and I could not be more excited. This semi-scary bold adventure is taking off at a million miles per hour and there is no stopping it now. I am so glad I have the support of my wonderful friends who have made this process so much easier. From stepping up and taking on very important roles in the company, to helping find actors, to just spreading the word about the show, I am overwhelmed with the outpouring of generosity.

In the year it’s been since I first put up “Future Endeavors” (at the time titled “Cheap Heat”) as my senior project, I have forgotten just how much I love these characters, and what exactly they mean to me. During last night’s rehearsal, it all came flowing back. I had a fantastic one-on-one session with our new leading man, Nate Shaw, who is going to bring some amazing dynamics to the character of Kyle Jordan. This cast is full of some very talented performers who all bring unique perspectives to their work. I guarantee this show will not disappoint.

I don’t want to write an overly long piece just yet. Tho we only have 24 days, 8 hours until opening curtain as of writing this, I don’t want to drown on and on about the rehearsal process. There is so much to do in such little time, and I am looking forward to every moment of it.

See you all at the Opera House in July!

One Full Trip Around The Sun As A Real Person

Posted by :Dan Pelletier On : May 18, 2014
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May 18th 2013, at about noon time I was handed something I had worked extremely hard for during the previous four years… well sort of. I was given my University of New Hampshire diploma…holder. The actual diploma would come in the mail about a month and a half later, but the symbolism was there. I was officially a owner of a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. I was now what I joking refereed to as “A Real Person.” I am an adult, with debt, a need for a career and a whole bunch of scary life choices sitting in front of me. One of my favorite teachers in college, Dan Raymond, usually made us write a “What I learned in this class” reflection paper to end every semester, which was always extremely insightful. Since today is sorta like my “first birthday” with respect to the diploma, I would like to reflect upon everything I have accomplished professionally and personally since graduation.

I guess my first major accomplishment was making my professional directing debut, which took place not long after graduation. The entire process that was “Bye Bye Birdie” was certainly an adventure. It was the first true test of my education while at the same time one of the most valuable learning experiences I ever had as a person. It tested my character. It tested my work ethic. It tested my ability to handle pressure, deal with many of the lesser than enjoyable parts of show biz, and made me realize a lot of things about myself. All things considered, we put on a damn good show. I’m very thankful for the opportunity I got, for the moments of self-discovery, and the continuous affirmation that the world of theatre is the world I belong in.

I also served as lighting designer on two very different productions. Both of these experiences involved me being a bit out of my comfort zone (for different reasons each time) which I find is one of the most important things when wanting to grow as an artist. Risks need to be taken, acceptance over the fact that you don’t always know 100% what you’re doing needs to be had, and you need to alway trust in yourself, and your fellow artists. I never want to accept easy tasks; challenges are where the real fun lies. My fulfillment in life comes from accomplishing, not necessarily the impossible, but the improbable. Now, is lighting design what I want to do forever? No, but it is something that pushes me artistically. Also during the two productions (as well as my time as “emergency technical director” for another production) I believe I earned the deep respect of a lot of people, which is something I value highly. I have nothing but respect for my craft, and I want to be respected for my craft and work ethic. When I lose either of these things, I will need to seriously reevaluate where I am in life.

Something I did not expect to be so life changing were the two major trips I took this year, first to NYC, then to Disney World. Both trips woke me up, allowing me to see there is so much more than just the world just outside my window. For a while I think I had set my goal as being a major player in the arts and entertainment scene in New England, but now I’m not so sure that’s the best thing for me. I think this guy has to go out and see the world as a whole, experience many different places, cultures and people. I can’t let my geography limit myself. So when the time comes, I’m going to explore all of my options across the country, and possibly even globally. I’ve said it for a while, but now I truly accept it: I’ll go wherever the road of life takes me.

Had I not made a pit-stop on an impulse, I would have missed out on an extremely important experience this year, and that was my joining of FRC Team 3467. FIRST shaped a major part of who I am, and I am always in favor of giving back to the community, so the partnership just made sense. What I originally envisioned as a minor amount of helping out burst into a full on mentorship of the team. I really feel like my year with the Windham Windup was very much like Kevin Garnett leaving the Minnesota Timberwolves for the Boston Celtics. I love (the now no longer active) FRC Team 241 of Pinkerton Academy with all my heart, but 3467 was just the right place for me. Everyone on this team has a great mindset, understand the culture, and wants to achieve big things. I don’t want to take more credit than I deserve, but I really did enjoy coaching the team to some major awards, as well as being along for the ride when it came to the robot’s successful season. I hope all of the students learned as much from me as I did from them. I’m not certain that my career path will allow me to continue being as active with the team in the future, but I will give them everything I can for as long as they will have me.

On a purely personal level, it has been a very crazy year when it comes to friends and family. Going back to slightly before graduation, I’ve spent the last 14 months solidifying some amazing bonds with people from all parts of my life. I have surrounded myself with the right people, cutout those hurting me or holding me back, and I love all of them deeply. My friends and family always go above and beyond for me, and for that I will always be forever thankful.

I’ve also put in another year as a mobile entertainer/master of ceremonies/DJ with Sowa Entertainment. The wedding industry is always an interesting place to work, and I have met some wonderful individuals. It’s kinda strange, I never wanted a job where wearing a tie was a requirement, but I never thought there were jobs this fun that require formal wear. I’ve had a very good eight years in the DJ biz. I take pride in the fact that I have had such a successful run since starting to do my own events. I hope the remainder of my events this year are all memorable and exciting for my clients and myself.

So the last thing item to reflect up is the fact that in little over a month and a half, I’ll be making my debut as an independent theatre producer. Creating Cue Zero Theatre Company has been a tremendous undertaking, and against all logical judgement, I knew this was the next step for me. I’ll go into longer detail later as to what exactly sparked this need to produce, but I’m really excited for this, in every sense of the word. I’ve gotten all the encouragement and support of some great people, and I cannot wait for July. There’s so much to do between now and then, but I am not afraid. I say “Bring. It. On!”

So, that’s where I am one year later. Where do I go from here? I honestly have no idea. As I said in a text message to Dani Pancoast the other day: “I feel our entire existence right now is ‘Well, I have several sets of plans for the next six months that may or may not happen… and beyond that I’ve just got some hopes and dreams.” It’s kinda nice knowing most of my friends are in the same boat, unsure if they have under or over achieved, and uncertain of the what the future holds.

I’ve got my goals. I want to be a successful theatre artist/director. I’ve got some ideas on how to accomplish that. I’m never going to stop working until I’m the best. How do I define “successful” or “best?” I don’t know. I don’t think I ever will, but I’ll know it when I reach it.

Thanks for reading.

Recapping a Super Busy March and April

Posted by :Dan Pelletier On : May 5, 2014
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So it’s been a long while since my last update. I really want to get back to making this a weekly (or at least bi-weekly) update on all things me, so I’ll just need to make it a priority.

Theatre related happenings:

April started off with the great experience that was light designing for the Windham Actors’ Guild production of “Oliver.” I had never lit a show quite as big, nor in this big of a space, so it was an exciting challenge and grand learning opportunity. Sticking with my commitment to always challenging myself, I tried a few new things, used bold colors, and experimented a bit with what I could do with the lights. The two parts that made the entire tech process extra “fun” were having less instruments that I thought I had, and the “Murphy’s Law” moment when I spent six hours getting my Act One cues perfect only to mistype a few commands and erase all my work. Despite all of these mishaps, the show still went up with the lights being a hit. I would like to thank WAG for the opportunity to work with them, and hope we can continue to have a good working relationship in the future.

Cue Zero is rolling right along. Being an independent producer has proven to be a little bit more difficult than I had anticipated, but we are still in great shape to open our inaugural show in July. Auditions are this Wednesday night, and I can’t wait to get to share my beloved script with some wonderfully talented actors and actresses.

Non-Theatre related happenings:

My vacation to Orlando was wonderful. It was great to spend time with my family, watch my sister play softball, and hangout with some very good friends of mine at Disney. I was really inspired by the trip, with the countless things to do. Before the trip, I had never really entertained the thought of working down there like many of my fellow theatre friends, but after the trip, I finally understood the appeal and have added it to my list of possibilities for future paths, although I know there is very stiff competition to be apart of any major attraction in the Sunshine State.

FRC Team 3467 had an extremely adventurous end to our season. After being ranked number one in New England going into the event, the team had a solid showing at the New England Championship event, making it to the quarter finals of the event, and taking home the Engineering Inspiration award. Between the award, and the robot’s performance, the team qualified to compete at the world championship event in St. Louis, Missouri. Getting to St. Louis as pure insanity, as we had our coach bus breakdown on us with no replacement available. We were informed of this shortly after midnight the night before we were scheduled to leave. The team somehow managed to find three twelve person vans to carry our team, another team that agreed to transport all our equipment on their bus, and extra funds to cover any additional costs in eleven very stressful hours. Once the team completed the two day journey to the event, our bad luck continued for our first few matches. Luckily our students are very resilient, and never let any of our misfortunes get them down. We came back from some bad losses to still qualify for the playoffs in our division (which had one hundred teams competing, compared to the 40-60 teams we saw at all our other events). Our alliance played brilliantly and we upset the division favorite to take home the team’s sixth medal on the year. We were eventually defeated in the final four by the eventual world championship alliance, but that didn’t take away from how much we enjoyed the entire weekend. I am extremely proud of all our students, and I am very happy I decided to come out of “retirement” from FIRST to be a part of this very special team.

That’s the super brief version of March and April. My life doesn’t get any less busy, between Cue Zero rehearsals and funding finding, wedding and prom season, and figuring out what I’m doing with my life beyond the month of August, the adventure never stops! Thanks for reading.

My Two Days In New York City

Posted by :Dan Pelletier On : January 20, 2014
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This past week, I spent a few days down in NYC on vacation with my good friend Dani Pancoast. Originally we had just planned on seeing “Waiting for Godot” but once we were in the city, we added two more shows to our docket, and that was the best decision we could have ever made. It was a wonderfully inspiring trip that taught me much about theatre, the city, and myself. Let’s recap the week, shall we?

Monday: After the robotics meeting got out at 5, I started on my venture to Dani’s residence in New Jersey. It was about a four and half hour drive from southern New Hampshire, just over 250 miles. To date, this is the furthest I have ever driven in a car alone, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was making very good time until I hit the CT/NY boarder and traffic came to a standstill due to road construction. Fun times. Other than that, my only other hiccup was not being able to make a five lane change at the George Washington bridge. Didn’t set me back too much tho, and I made it to NJ by 9:30. It was great to see Dani, who I believe I hadn’t seen in person since graduation back in May. She’s been very busy and working all over. Even though I was exhausted from the drive, we still stayed up for another three hours and caught each other up on our lives, as well as fun gossip about all our mutual acquaintances. We set our time of departure for the morning and headed to bed. I had a very comfortable couch to sleep on and actually was able to get a very good night’s slumber.

Tuesday: We set out around 10:00a to catch the bus to the city. I would never want to drive in a major city. I don’t even like going into Boston, I always try to stay on the outskirts of the city and ride the T to wherever I need to be. It just seems too dangerous and not worth the hassle.  After walking around for a bit, we decided to see if we could get some discounted tickets to any other shows. We popped into a few box offices, and came to the conclusion that the best course of action would be to see “The Glass Menagerie” that evening and then attempt to get rush tickets for either “Once” or “Pippin” the next morning. I was a little upset that the box office worker at “Glass” was rather snippy and rude, but we didn’t let it ruin our mood. We set out to explore a little, hitting some shops, Dani’s favorite $1 pizza place, and then going to Madame Tussauds wax museum, which was a delightful distraction. After wrapping up at the museum, we found some cheap eats, and then head over to the Booth Theater for “The Glass Menagerie.” Every aspect of the play was mind blowing.  Dani and I spent most of the pre-show examining the set from our nosebleed seats. It was a stunning design, and we were both very impressed with the ambition and imagination in the entire layout. The set had a few fun magically aspects to it, including a very special couch that Celia Keenan-Bolger, who played Laura, entered and exited through at the top and finish of the play, respectively. All four members of the cast brought life to these well-known characters, and the director made many bold choices with every aspect of the show, most of which were extremely effective, and those that weren’t did not detract from the show in any way. Even though I have read this play many times, I found myself praying for a happy ending that I knew wasn’t coming, which is always a sign that a production is top notch. After the show, we did wait by the stage door for a chance to meet all of these brilliant performers, but only Keenan-Bolger and Brian J. Smith, who played Jim, came out. We were a little sad that we did not get to meet Zachary Quinto or Cherry Jones, but we didn’t let it ruin our night. The one unexpected awesome moment of the week was seeing Katie Holmes going in the stage door, who apparently also saw the show that night, so I did get to have my moment of  “Oh my God, I saw a celebrity in public” that everyone likes to brag about while they are in NYC. We caught the late bus back to NJ, and figured we had to get up super early the next day in order to try to get the rush tickets when the doors opened at 10.

Wednesday: We somehow dragged ourselves out of bed and caught the early bus. We got to the street that the two theaters were on, and the line for “Once” was shorter than the line for “Pippin” so we decided “Once” was the show to see, which turned out to be a great decision, but I’ll get to that later. After getting our tickets, Dani took me to visit the theater that she works out, The Pearl Theatre Company theater, which is a nice little theater just outside of the main theater district. She gave me a backstage tour and it was fun to see that the theaters in New York do look and run just like the theaters in the rest of the world. We followed up our tour with a stroll down by the river, then headed over to Jamba Juice for lunch. With our smoothies in hand, we headed up to the Cort Theater to see Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen in “Waiting for Godot.” While sipping our drinks and waiting for the doors to open, Sir Ian did walk by us, and we had a both had to stop ourselves from geeking out and making a scene. The show was brilliantly hilarious. As someone who doesn’t usually find absurd, unrealistic theatre all that appealing, I loved this show. As I have come to learn recently, I don’t always have to one hundred percent understand what a show is about in order to enjoy it and get something out of it. To me, this piece was about how we expect life to have rhyme, reason and logic to it, but it never has and never will. Sir Ian and Sir Patrick had wonderful chemistry with each other and I laughed harder at this play than I have at any performance in quite sometime. After the show, all five members of the cast did come to the stage door, and were wonderful people.My favorite moment of the trip took place at this stage door.

For those of you who don’t know the show, the play consists of two men waiting for a third man named Godot, who never shows up. When Sir Ian made his way to our side of the crowd, a man behind us called out that his name was Godot, and held up his driver’s license to prove it. Sir Ian found this to be the most awesome thing and called over to Sir Patrick to show him that they had finally found Godot. Godot asked if he could have a picture with the two of them, and Sir Patrick said he could only if they could get a picture as well. Patrick then reached into his pocket and asked the crowd if anyone knew how to use an iPhone. My hand immediately shot up and he handed me his phone. I snapped a few pictures (the first one was blurry from my hands shaking a bit) and then took one with my own phone. This is a story I will be able to tell forever, and I am glad that these two knights were such delightful people.

This is a picture of Godot, Sir Ian, and Sir Patrick.

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Dani and I left the theater and went to grab food at the Oliver Garden in Times Square. We sat at the bar rather than waiting to be seated and made friends with the man sitting next to us. After discussing all our backgrounds, we some how got on the subject of “Avenue Q” and the man asked to hear my Trekkie Monster voice, which made me feel like I was a real New York actor, even if most people usually get asked to sing something, rather than just say a line in a crazy character voice. For some reason, I blanked out on actual lines from the play and ended up just growling and then saying “TREKKIE ANGRY” which is what I do in real life when I get frustrated. We had some more time to kill, so we went into a few more stores, where I ended up buying my one souvenir.

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We finished up our shop exploration in Toys-R-Us, where I momentarily lost my scarf, which would have ruined the entire trip for me, as this scarf has a lot of personal meaning to me, but I luckily found it stuck to a box of Lord of the Ring Legos on the third floor. We ran over to “Once” and made it just in time to see the start of the pre-show. This had to be the coolest pre-show I have ever seen. The set for the show consisted of a large bar, which served as the actual concession stand before the show and during intermission. Fifteen minutes before the show started, the cast came out on stage and played a bunch of music, as the actors also served as the pit for this performance. It was really fun watching the actors play around with audience members on stage. “Once” was one of the most beautiful and moving pieces of theatre I have ever witnessed. I have to admit, I knew nothing of this show before going to see it, and I fell in love before the first act finished. The music went “straight to the feels” and all the characters were unique and quirky. That night I immediately bought the soundtrack on itunes and listened to it on the drive home on Thursday.

Thursday: After sleeping in and then eating some pancakes, I hugged Dani good-bye and headed back to New Hampshire. I once again missed an exit, but this time it seemingly worked in my favor. Five hours later, I was home and added my tickets from the week to my collage wall.

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The trip was very inspiring, as I saw three of the best shows on Broadway, all very different types of theatre, and each show makes me want to experience more theatre, as well as work so much harder at being an artist. I now know that I do need to travel more to grow as an artist. As much as I do love the New Hampshire theatre scene, the more of the world I can experience, the more I can bring back to my work. This was the best way possible for me to start 2014, and I once again would like to thank Dani for inviting me.

Thanks for reading!

It’s The Holiday Season

Posted by :Dan Pelletier On : December 11, 2013
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Christmas is right around the corner, and all I want this year is for Cue Zero Theatre Company to have a prosperous first year. While this isn’t really something I’ll know until the end of the summer of 2014, we are already making more progress than I had imagined. The number of people looking to get involved has been overwhelming and I am very moved by the amount of people that believe in the project. The plans for our first show are just about finished, and I will unveil them in January in full detail. On top of that, I’ve already accepted a proposal for our second show, and will be working on the information for that over the next month or two as well.

Quick hits on my other projects:

  • The FIRST robotics build season starts on January 5th, and we have been busy preparing the kids for this undertaking over the past few months. At yesterday’s meeting, I was given the opportunity to help with team bonding, as well gage each member’s public speaking skills. I simply asked each student to talk in front of the rest of the team about something they are passionate about for at least one minute, and it had to be in a positive light. They were not allowed to have written anything down, but they were asked to put a little bit of thought into what they were going to say before they had their turn. I was very impressed with all of the students, and it was a great teaching moment on top of my other pieces of agenda. I was able to point out examples of good things each student did, as well as things they should be aware of and need to improve upon. Everyone enjoyed getting to know their team  mates a little better, and I hope we can do more activities like this in the future.
  • This past weekend, my family attended the Granite Statesmen Christmas Cabaret in Nashua. The Granite Statesmen are an all male barbershop chorus, of which my grandfather was a founding member of all the way back in 1955. While he has since retired from singing due to his age (I believe he is 92 or 93 years old), we still enjoy taking in the show every year, as the performances are always top notch. Some of my favorite childhood Christmas memories are from the Granite Statesmen shows, and I am sure these shows impacted my love for performing. If you are ever in need of some good clean family fun, I highly suggest seeking out these wonderful singers performances. You will not be disappointed.
  • I don’t think I remembered to bring this up in my last post, but I just wanted to take a moment to say that my trivia team finally won the monthly contest at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester. Trivia games has always been something I really enjoy doing, (I’ve often joked my means of making my fortune is going to be winning on Jeopardy) and to win the game after six attempts was very satisfying, especially since the game went to triple overtime.

Well, I think I’ve said everything I need to say. If you haven’t done so already, please like “Cue Zero Theatre Company” on facebook, as well as follow us on twitter @CZTheatre.

Merry Christmas to all!

“Cue Zero” starts now

Posted by :Dan Pelletier On : November 27, 2013
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After weeks of talking about it, I am finally ready to officially announce the formation of Cue Zero Theatre Company! Cue Zero will be dedicated to cultivating and showcasing new works, young directors/designers, and rising actors. It is my hope to produce our first show this summer, ideally the second weekend in July. It took me forever to come up with a name that I liked. It needed to capture the spirit of what I’m trying to do, not come off as cheesy or pretentious, and has to be catchy/memorable. My logic behind the name is when a performance is about to begin, usually the first thing that happens is the stage manager calls the first cue (lights up, curtain rise, etc) which is usually labeled “Cue One.” So before anything begins, you are theoretically in “Cue Zero” (occasionally there is an actual cue zero, which is pre-show). I want every show we produce to have some element of “new” to it, whether it’s an original script, a rookie director, a different lighting technique/style than we’ve done before, or just something as simple as an actor in a lead role for the first time. Every show will be the first time for something. I’ve always been huge on creating opportunities for people that might not get them, especially when it comes to theater. This industry is not easy to break into. In order to get most jobs, you need experience. In order to get experience, you need to get jobs. This paradox slows down the rise of new artists, and this is my way of circumventing that roadblock. It’s not that we will work purely with amateurs, the inexperienced, or people that have no idea what they are doing. We will instead be looking to work with artists who have been training, studying, and are truly dedicated to their craft, but have not had many opportunities to work at a professional level yet. We will have a high standard for quality in every aspect of the productions. Be on the look out for updates in the near future, especially once we hit 2014.

Since I want this post to primarily about CZTC, I’ll be brief in the rest of my weekly update. I took in three very unique pieces of theatre this weekend. Friday night, I once again traveled to Portsmouth to see my good friend Gabby Archambault perform, this time in NH Theatre Project’s production of “Six Characters in Search of an Author.” While I must say that individual performances given were all very strong, I did not particularity care for the writing of the show. There was too much talking and not enough doing for the majority of the first act. It was also the wrong type of witty, as it was smarmy, too self aware, and blunt with the points it was trying to make. It really just felt more like I was watching a dramatization of a textbook on how to create a new play, which I later learned was pretty much the story of how the play came to be. The play didn’t seem very accessible to a general audience that isn’t exposed to theatre and the creative process on a daily basis, which always rubs me the wrong way. This is not to say the production that NHTP put up wasn’t well-acted, well designed, and well directed, because it was, and everyone involved should be proud of their work. I just will never seek out this play again; it just isn’t my cup of tea.

On Saturday night, I found myself once again back at the University of New Hampshire for a David Kaye original. David, who is the department head of the Department of Theatre and Dance, is well known for his unique pieces of theatre. This show, entitled “eStranged” was especially unique in that it was a “telematic performance.” Half of the show took place at UNH, while the other half was taking place on the campus of the University of Maine Orono, with the two campuses connected via the magic of the internet, and strategically placed web-cams and giant projection screens. Going into the show, I knew it was going to be something different, and the pre-show setting helped get everyone in the mood and mindset that this was not going to be your typical play. We were not presented with programs as we took our seats, the set was simply four iMac computers on desks, and there was a large projection screen on the two side walls, as well as upstage. The music playing during the pre-show was also very different. I would describe it as electronic dissonance, with small clips of various pieces of well known pop music, movie and tv show clips, and other pop culture references inter-spliced with the  sound effects. This eased the audience into the world that David, his co-director N.B Aldrich, and the actors and designers had created. The show explored the strange difference between the real world and our on-line persona we created. It’s hard to explain exactly what happens in the show, and is really the type of art that one needs to experience first hand to understand. I really enjoyed it, as it was an extremely ambitious and moving piece of high art.

Finally, my Sunday was spent in the city of Boston taking in a type of theatre that is highly misunderstood and under appreciated and that is professional wrestling.  The show was World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Survivor Series” which is one of their longest running pay-per-view events, and considered part of “The Big Four” events that happens every year, along with Wrestlemania, The Royal Rumble, and Summerslam. Attending each one of these at least one time has been on my bucket list for quite sometime, and this was number two of the big four for me, as I attended the 2011 Royal Rumble, also in Boston. Wrestling is always a fun, high energy, interactive type of theater, as the crowds are encouraged to cheer for their favorite performers, boo the ones they don’t like, and come up with cleaver chants that sometimes do effect what happens in the ring. The show itself was a little underwhelming. The current writing of the storylines is a bit stale, illogical, and sometimes frustrating, but the in-ring product is at a very high level. We had great seats, and were surrounded by like-minded fans who all enjoyed yelling ridiculous things during the matches, which did add to the overall enjoyment of the night, but again, I left the show feeling like I did not get my money’s worth, as the company refuses to take risks and be bold with the direction of the story.

Well in my attempt to be brief, I once again rambled on longer than need be. Hope it was enjoyable, and once again, be on the look out for more info about “Cue Zero Theatre Company” in the near future (including performances, workshops and fund raising)  and anyone looking to get involved, please do contact me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Time is a Funny Thing

Posted by :Dan Pelletier On : November 20, 2013
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The other day I realized I had really lost track of time. Not just for that day, but for a few weeks. I had no idea we were so close to the end of November, with Thanksgiving next week, and Christmas being little over a month away. 2013 is almost over, which is a bit of a scary notion.  As of today, I’ve been a graduate of UNH for 186 days, and I’m still attempting to get my footing in the world. I’m not worried that I won’t get everything figured out, I just thought I’d have a clearer idea of what I was doing at this point. I mean, a lot of people tell me I seem to have a better plan than most, but I don’t know, I guess everything is relative.

Anyways, back to what I did this week. Thursday night, Sam and I went to see “Spamalot” at the Palace Theatre, and both throughly enjoyed the performance. It was a very warm and charming production with the highest of quality when it came to sets, lights and the like. On Sunday, I took my mother to see “It’s A Wonderful Life” at Pinkerton Academy, which was a nice little student production. Pinkerton always puts on a solid production when it comes both to their fall drama and their spring musical. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Mrs. West was still directing the productions, as she has been working at the Academy since 1959! Good for her, I hope my career is as long and fruitful as hers. So with these two shows, I am now one away from my goal of seeing ten different productions in the second half of the year, and there are at least two more shows on my calendar for this coming week, so I’ll probably reflect upon all these shows in next weeks post. Also this weekend I’ll be attending WWE “Survivor Series” in Boston. Not sure if most people would count this, but I do, as I have always argued that professional wrestling is the love child of musical theatre and comic books.

Last week I announced that I hope to self-produce an original piece for public consumption before my next birthday. I’ve set a target performance weekend of July 11th and 12th. I have also settled on exactly what I hope to produce. My idea is to do a night of two one-act plays both written and directed by myself. One play will be my play “Cheap Heat” with some re-writes and modifications, and the second will be a new play that I have begun writing this week. Ideally, I’ll have both scripts “finished” by the end of December. During January and February, I’ll get the script for the second play into the hands of very capable actors so we can “workshop” it, work out the kinks, and re-write it into a piece of compelling drama. Working on both pieces will continue into the spring, with a troupe of 4-6 actors recruited no later than mid-May, and formal rehearsals during the month of June. I’ll obviously have to bring in at least one other person to help out behind the scenes, and maybe even a business manager. Of course during these period I’ll be fund raising and advertising the hell out of the show.  I have a few ideas for a performance space, and I hope to nail it down sometime in the near future. I also need to find out a few more details about the business/legal/management end of producing, which I shall be investigating this weekend. I’m being really ambitious with this project, but I really wouldn’t have it any other way.

This past weekend I attended my first open training session with TheatreKapow, and I LOVED it. It was a great little workshop that crammed so much useful exercises into two hours. We started with a great relaxation exercise, which I am a huge fan of. I am always stressing to both my Sowa Entertainment colleagues as well as my robotics kids that the number one key to a good performance/presentation is being relaxed. After a group body exercise we did a short little active listening scene work, and in that moment I realized since I had been so consumed with directing and writing, I haven’t done any acting since April. Doing this thirty-second, on book cut from “The Seagull” was a great reminder of what I have been missing, and I really should seek out an acting project every once in a while, instead of purely focusing my efforts on directing like I have been over the past few months. While DJing is still partly a performance art, it still doesn’t capture the magic and rush of acting. The TheatreKapow monthly open training session is now marked down on my calender and I will be attending regularly

Speaking of acting, I’m about halfway through “Respect for Acting” and am still in love with the book. It’s been nice focusing on something that’s a bit more foundation level rather than the higher level acting/directing theory things I’ve been looking at over the past few months, as I am sure many of my actors in the near future won’t have as much, or the same type of actor training that I’ve had, and I need to be ready to deal with actors of all experience levels. Uta also discusses a few concepts I hadn’t given thought to before, as well as looking at ones I have but from a different angle, and having this widened perspective will be very helpful as both an actor and director. I am looking forward to applying some of her techniques in the near future.  I’m am also about twenty pages into “Laughter, Pain, and Wonder”  by my former professor David Richman. Since I know David personally, I really can hear his voice in the text, and his seemingly endless insight on Shakespeare, theater history, and directing is always a pleasure to hear. I’ll never forget taking one of his classes and feeling that this man knew everything worth knowing about theater. If asked him a question about theater history, and David didn’t know, I assumed it wasn’t a fact worth knowing, and no longer wondered about it. The last item in the subject of “What is Dan Reading,” I finished “Superman: Birthright” last night, which is a brilliant modernization of Superman’s early exploits. One thing I really love about these hardcover DC collections is occasionally they will include the writers original pitch for the story, which as a writer myself, I love to see thought process, especially when it comes to the Man of Steel. Mark Waid goes over every detail and justification for his choices for the novel, and it really shows his dedication and love for both the character and the history of behind him.

Well, this is certainly the longest post to date. Hope I didn’t bore you. See you all next week!

New Goal Set

Posted by :Dan Pelletier On : November 13, 2013
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Well, “Shrew” has come and gone, and I must say it was a smashing success. We pulled a strong audience every night, both in numbers and in their reception to the piece. More importantly, I believe every person involved with the production grew as a person, and became better performers, designers, theater organizers, etc. because of their work on the show, which is the most important factor when working on a project with Mask and Dagger. I know I personally learned about lighting design, what goes into producing a show, the director-designer relationship, effective leadership, and so many more minor things that will help me become a more effective theatre artist. I hope everyone involved takes time to reflect upon how being apart of this production has changed them, and will use this reflection to not only make them better actors/designers/directors/etc, but also better people. Once again, thank you to Samantha Smith for giving me this great opportunity.

Moving on to my next big project (I have a series of small projects I’m attempting to get going), I have set my next big career goal. As of right now, I am twenty three years old. Before I turn twenty four, I am going to self-produce a performance of an original play, at least one hour in length. This gives me approximately 250 days to go from concept to performance, which I believe is plenty of time, if I put my mind to it. After some examination, I have determined the bare minimum things needed for producing a piece of theatre are actors, an idea, a performance space, and an audience.  Hopefully by this time next week I will put together a schedule of hard deadlines for the various milestones on the project. The place I believe is best to start is to put together a small “brain trust” of a few individuals whom I trust dearly for me to bounce ideas off of, and produce a starting script as soon as possible. Expect a weekly update on the progress of the project, as well as information on how you can get involved along the way.

In other Dan Pelletier news, the more I go to Windham Windup robotics team meetings, the more I am in love with this team. Team 3467 is exactly what a FIRST robotics team is supposed to be, is loaded with bright, young individuals who are all going to achieve great things in life, and this team is primed for a successful FRC season.

I’ve got the ball rolling on a few other projects I’m attempting to get involved with, but until things are official, I shan’t say what they are.  I’m currently gearing up for the holiday season, as many of my friends know, I am a “Christmas Enthusiast.” I cannot wait for the first real snow fall, decorations, FOOD, tv and music specials, and all the other things that go along with this time of the year. Really just Halloween through New Years is wonderful in my eyes. Also, I still have a ton of reading I’m attempting to get done, both for intellectual simulation, as well as for pleasure, although I am on the verge of giving up on one piece of text that I thought would be very insightful, but has turned out to be boring and lacking substance. Since I hate ending on a negative note like that, I will also add that I am finally seeing some great progress at the gym. While I am still technically no where near my target weight, I am feeling in better shape, have gained strength and flexibility, and several people have commented on my physique looking slimmer. With any luck, I’ll be back to “game shape” by the time we are ringing in the New Year!

Thanks for reading!

Shrew, Youtube, Robotics, and So Much More!

Posted by :Dan Pelletier On : November 6, 2013
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After months of planning, rehearsing, designing, building, and millions of other tasks, Mask and Dagger’s production of “The Taming of the Shrew” is finally ready to open! Tonight we have our final dress rehearsal, and while there are still a few kinks to work out tonight, I am certain we will have a fantastic opening on Thursday, and a great show week. The thing that makes a Mask and Dagger production more challenging than some is the fact that we have a very abbreviated tech week. We load in the set Saturday and Sunday (the best we can anyways, usually we have to come in Monday and Tuesday mornings as well) and then we get three tech/dress rehearsals before we open. It can be a bit nerve racking at times, especially with so many people in positions they may not have held before, but somehow, through the magic of theatre, it always comes together in the end. Hopefully audiences will love this show as much as we all do, and I am sure everyone is as proud of all the work we’ve put in as I am.

Check out the event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/355789357890855/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

In other Dan Pelletier news, I will now be utilizing my new YouTube channel (danpelletiertheatre) to give the world a taste of all my different talents. The first video I have uploaded is my final performance for our Acting III class last May, which was an original “New Clown” piece. I should start uploading new material regularly to YouTube starting in 2014, but be on the look out in the coming weeks for a few surprises.

You can check out the clowning video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPr2Nfmr3bA

I have attended my second Windham Windup robotics meeting, and my Chairman’s Award team is now hard at work on constructing our strategy. I love the culture of excellence that the other mentors on the team have created, and the students on the team are enthusiastic about being on the team, learning, and the overalll FIRST experience. Over the next few weeks, I will be developing a series of mini-projects to help prepare my team for their Chairman’s Award presentation, as well as teaching them the finer aspects of creating and developing any sort of collaborative project.

Over the weekend, I was able to take in two different performances: Seacoast Repertory Theatre’s The Odd Couple and the University of New Hampshire Department of Theatre and Dance’s Anything Goes. My dear friend Gabby Archambault was delightful in “The Odd Couple” as Cecily Pigeon, and it was an enjoyable night of comedy. I also had a good time at Anything Goes, despite the less-than-stellar writing/plot that plagues many Golden Age musicals. The tap choreography was fantastic and the lead performers all had their moments to showcase their talent, which made for a relaxing night at the Johnson Theater. After the show, it was great to catch up with people in the show, as well as other alumni that were also in the audience. With everything in life lately moving so quickly, being able to hang out with friends, and carry on conversations as if we still see each other every day is very refreshing.

Well, with all that said, I’d once again like to plug “The Taming of The Shrew” which opens tomorrow night, and runs through Sunday in the Stratford room of the Memorial Union Building (MUB) at the University of New Hampshire. The hours upon hours of hard work were very well spent, and I doubt anyone that sees this production will walk away disappointed. Subscribe to my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/DanPelletierTheatre and be on the look out for my next big project!