#44 - "Grace Notes from a Bohemian in Wanderlust." "Pass the Salt, Please." a hit in Miami!

("Grace Notes from a Bohemian in Wanderlust" is a series of posts about my 3.5 week May vacation in Seattle, Chicago, Milwaukee, Lake Tomawk, WI and Miami. They are in no particular order.)

Above: My 'dirty little play' - "Pass the Salt, Please.", starring Stephen Trovillion and Elena Maria Garcia (below) at City Theatre's Summer Shorts Festival/Undershorts, May - June 2009, at the Carnival Studio Theater, Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami.

I attended opening weekend and Stephen and Elena killed! I lucked out. At least from an outsider's perspective, these two are the big-hitters of Summer Shorts. I couldn't have imagined a better performance (I've said that after seeing the shows in Cedar Rapids, Los Angeles and Seattle, but it's true - I have no favorite). Stephen's a veteran of 12 festivals (out of 14) and a perennial favorite. The man gets laughs just for stepping onto the stage. And you would have choked up your Pinot and danish if you had seen in Elena in "Kitty the Waitress" by Christopher Durang - very funny. Special thanks to director Gordon McConnell, who was not in attendance opening weekend (bad back). Click on READ MORE! for a couple more pictures.

Bus stop advertisements for Summer Shorts blanket downtown Miami. That's Stephen T. as a gay sheep from last year's festival.

Elena, me and Stephen.



Me, Stephanie Norman - Executive Director of City Theatre, Michael McKeever - playwright, and Artistic Director of City Theatre Stuart Meltzer.

Carnival Tower at the Adrienne Arsht Center. The Summer Shorts Festival was held in this wing. The tower is left over from when Sears used to inhabit the space. After 2 of the 5 weekends (one weekend will be held in Fort Lauderdale), the houses have been consistently full. The Arsht Center house the 2nd largest stage in the United States.