The Whispers | a short audio story for Halloween.

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A short audio story for Halloween. A deaf eight year old girl thinks she can hear voices of the dead while she and her father weather their first stormy Halloween without her mother. For each download and listen I will donate one dollar to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention through Nov. 1 2015

I love this time of year.  Though autumn may signify a decay on its way to death, for me the season has always felt like a renewal.  This may have something to do with the school year always starting in the fall.  And this year, more than most, I am missing my east coast fall.  In mid October temperatures were still nearly 100 degrees in Los Angeles.  Heresy.  

Last year I'd listened to an audiobook Halloween short story that Neil Gaiman had posted for free on Audible.  I really enjoyed hearing a new short, scary story and it inspired me to write and narrate one of my own this year.  It helped me beat the heat and reminded me of darker, colder places in the world that are better equipped to usher in autumn.  

Also, Neil Gaiman had released his story to raise money for a charity.  For every download from audible, a certain amount of money went to the charity.  I liked his idea so much that I wanted to do it myself.  So I wrote The Whispers and narrated it.  I don't have nearly the reach that Neil Gaiman has, but I will do what I can with the small part of the world I can reach.  I'm releasing the story on SoundCloud the Monday before Halloween and for every listen and download I get through Nov 1st 2015 I will donate one dollar to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Please give my story a listen.  I hope it brings some holiday cheer to you.  And help support a great cause.  

Raw Cut at Brimmer Street Theatre

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"In Christian Durso's Raw Cut, the bitter ex-boyfriend of a fast-rising pop star signs on to do a TMZ-style smear story on her the night before the release of her first album. The ex-boyfriend is paid a visit by the pop star's shark of a manager who wants him to drop the story, making him an offer he can't refuse. Directed by David Jette, the reading will feature (in alphabetical order) Amy K. Harmon, Emilia Richeson, and Joseph L. Roberts."

--BroadwayWorld.com

http://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/Brimmer-Street-Theatre-Company-Sets-Public-Staged-Readings-for-April-20150319#

IAMA 23 Hour Play Festival

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Katie Lowes, Laura Holloway, Aja King, and yours truly rehearsing Lady Of The Lake directed by Jamie Wollrab, written by me.

Katie Lowes, Laura Holloway, Aja King, and yours truly rehearsing Lady Of The Lake directed by Jamie Wollrab, written by me.

Buzzfeed covered IAMA's 23 Hour Play Festival with a great article about the feat and the company.  On March 14th, the actors, writers, and directors met at Katie and Adam's house.  The writers drew names out of hats to select directors, the directors drew names out of hats to select actors, then the writers drew subjects and themes out of hat to select writing material.  I drew "Echo Park" as my subject and Jamie Wollrab as my director (I've wanted to work with him for a long time!).  Then Jamie miraculously drew Katie Lowes, Laura Holloway, Aja King... and me.  Thrilled about my cast, we met for an hour and talked about feminism, polyamory, gender identification,  threesome unicorns, BUI's, and ayahuasca ceremonies.  With that, I was off-- back to my desk by 11pm to come up with a script by 7am.

The script I came up with was called Lady Of The Lake.  It featured three women gathered at the memorial service in Echo Park for a woman with whom they'd all, at different times, shared one special night.  The woman drowned herself in Echo Park Lake and left her only child to the care of the three women.  They each have different ideas about what to do with the child and rivalries emerge as the depth of this mysterious woman's impact on their lives becomes apparent.  

The part I wrote for myself was small, but one of the creepiest and chilling things I've done in a while.  Thank you theatre for allowing the weird.