tag:www.blog.nightingaletheater.com,2006://1 2006-09-26T16:50:45Z Movable Type 3.33 tag:www.blog.nightingaletheater.com,2006://1.3 2006-09-24T17:41:32Z 2006-09-26T16:50:45Z

For some reason, I thought my first "real" entry to the Nightingale blog would be about theater. Silly me. I met Rusty Goodman Saturday evening. More to the point, Rusty introduced himself to me. For those who have met Rusty,...

Puppets Gone Wild performance when a man poked his head in the front door and asked if anyone was home. As best I can recall, the exchange went something like this:]]> Man: Anyone home?
Me:   Can I help you?
Man: What do you do around here?
Me:   We do plays, you know, performances. We’re setting up for a puppet show...
Man: You politically aligned?
Me:   Huh??
Man: You politically aligned?
Me:   ...uhhh... no, not really
Man: Whatdya mean ‘Not really’?
Me:   Well, we’ve hosted a few liberal performances...
Man: I’m a @#$!^% Democrat @#$!^% Liberal @#$!^% and I’ve got about a thousand vets ready to burn this @#$!^% place to the ground tonight!
Me:   (silence) Someone could be explaining the most beautiful sunset ever witnessed, then tell you your cat died, and all you would remember is exactly what they said about your cat. I would love to share the rapid-fire labels he used for himself, but all I can remember is the part about the vets ready to burn the Nightingale. He got a bit worked up, got way too close to my face, and started jabbing at me wildly with his fingers as he explained how he’d received an anonymous telephone call that said there was a building at 1416 East Fourth Street that was “anti-vet” and that he had a tent city in Claremore with over 1,000 vets ready to “march on this place and burn it to the @#$!^% ground.” I’m guessing the vets in Claremore must be stockpiling torches. I explained that I had no idea what he was talking about, yes, that was our address, and no, we are not “anti-vet.” He said someone was setting us up and we’d better find out who, because he’s got 1,000 vets... you know the line. He then added that it was probably a gay activist that had framed us. I didn’t think it could get any more surreal. He rattled off the names of 5-10 folks; I didn’t recognize any of them. He said it was probably (female name I don’t remember) and that we needed to watch out for her, then began walking to his truck. A red late-model full-size extended cab truck with a dent behind the drivers’ side rear wheel well, if anyone cares. I ran after him, not sure he understood we weren’t against veterans, and not sure he understood exactly how much I didn’t want any pissed off vets picking on us. I repeated that I had no idea what he was talking about, we try to remain somewhat neutral, we were getting ready for a puppet show (I was unaware of any puppet-veteran war), and that I was one of the owners of the theater. He told me his name was Rusty Goodman and he’d call and tell his boys to stand-down; that he and his friends were Nam vets with PTSD; that we need to take a stand, not be neutral. And we need to find out who is setting us up, because he has 1,000 vets... As he turned the engine in his his truck, he told me to tell "them" we talked to Rusty, everyone knows him. So, for what it’s worth, I’m telling you I talked to Rusty. The whole thing rattled me. I don’t know if it was what he said or the aggressive manner in which he said it. Not that I actually believed there was a tent city ready to take down the Nightingale; more that I’d rather not meet a pissed off Vietnam veteran with PTSD, a torch, and a perceived war with us. Whether it’s one vet or one-thousand. After all, I was at the theater with a group of puppeteers. No offense, but they were puppeteers. The night ended, everyone had a great time at the show, and no one arrived bearing torches. And it looks like ol’ Rusty actually is some sort of veteran’s activist. In fact, he’s all over the ‘net. Most folks have strong opinions about him one way or the other. If you’re curious, Google him yourself or check out the links below - you can make up your own mind... OKDemocrat (Rusty’s home) “Rusty attacks Henry - OKPNS takes bait” from Democrats of Oklahoma Community Forum “Gov. Henry Doesn't like Homeless Veterans?” from Oklahoma Political News Service (check out the comments) “Istook Campaign Delivers T-Shirts To Homeless Veterans” from Oklahoma Political News Service (check the comments, too)]]> tag:www.nightingaletheater.com,2006:/blog//1.2 2006-09-22T06:17:43Z 2006-09-26T05:50:36Z

Okay, here it is, the shopworn Internet expression everyone loves... welcome to our blog. Whew. Glad that’s out of the way. A blog? We’ve been online as the Midwestern Theater Troupe since 1995. We had an animated DHTML/JavaScript site in...

blog? We’ve been online as the Midwestern Theater Troupe since 1995. We had an animated DHTML/JavaScript site in 1996, a full Macromedia Flash site in 1998, and have been maintaining an email distribution list since 1994. Online marketing has been with us since our inception, and it’s high time we stepped into the blogosphere. So, here we are. Now what? ]]>

I’m curious how other community theaters make it. I wish more theaters had blogs so we could commiserate and share ideas.

I’d like to allow our audience and fans to have the opportunity to see the theater from an inside perspective, maybe dispel a few myths. Or confirm rumors.

I’d like a place to whine and complain about theater, the business of theater, and the state of the nation. After all, what’s a blog without whining?

For those of you who don’t know me, my official title is Technical Director of the Nightingale Theater. Not a star of the stage, not the shaking and grinning fundraiser, not the writer or director. The tech-dude. My voice is what you will initially hear in this blog; it may not reflect the opinions of the ‘Gale nor anyone involved with her. I may at times ramble, and I have been known to use malapropisms. Be warned. I’ll try to pen entries with some regularity, so bookmark the site or sign up for an RSS or Atom feed to stay updated. For now, turn off your computer and get out of your house. And kill your television, too.]]>