In For a Penny: Shedding the Pounds

CharlesAndHisTypewriter:

My latest Theater Pub piece looks at issues of body image and motivation within the indie theatre scene.

Originally posted on San Francisco Theater Pub:

Charles Lewis III, contemplating sound body and sound mind?

“Heartthrob? Never! Black ‘n ugly as ever…”
– The Notorious BIG, “One More Chance”

I have this thing I do before every show. It’s really not all that different from the pre-show ritual of any other performer: a series of physical warm-ups and vocal flourishes that, to the untrained eye would probably give the impression that I’d been possessed by the kind of demon only Max von Sydow could defeat. Y’know, the usual. At least I think it’s usual. One of my physical moves is to do a handstand against the wall, with a few push-ups for good measure.

It’s a move of such fundamental simplicity that it’s taught small children. But for some reason it’s become my “signature warm-up move”. I’m not even kidding. Claire Rice mentioned it in her intro for me during the third Olympians Festival. Granted, her…

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In For a Penny: Up ‘n At ‘Em!

CharlesAndHisTypewriter:

In which it begins to dawn on me that yes, 2015 has indeed begun.

Originally posted on San Francisco Theater Pub:

Charles Lewis III, jumping back into the game.

“Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years”
– LL Cool J, “Mama Said Knock You Out”

As I write this, I’m a few hours removed from finally seeing Into the Woods. For personal reasons I didn’t take part in Theater Pub’s month-long series dedicated to the stage show, but I went in to the film expecting the worst (given the terrible fucking advertising) and wound up being somewhat pleasantly surprised. It’s not perfect by any means, but this isn’t a review so I won’t dissect it piece-by-piece. It just struck me on my way home that this was one of the first three films I’ve seen in 2015 (after the great-but-flawed Birdman and the campy thriller The Boy Next Door) and two of those films have direct links to theatre. The first stage production I’ve seen has…

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Theater Around The Bay: Talk Is Sheep

CharlesAndHisTypewriter:

With tonight being the final performance of Satyr Night Fever, these are a few thoughts I had about SF Theater Pub being able to perform again.

Originally posted on San Francisco Theater Pub:

Charles Lewis III brings us a special report on the rebirth of Theater Pub’s performance branch.

Welcome back, old friend.

Right now I have three distinct memories stuck in my head.

The first takes place a few years ago when I found myself crashing on the sofa of Clint Winder (tech guru for PianoFight) and his roommate, Rob Ready (the artistic director). It had been a wild night of inebriated debauchery in which I probably did one or two things I’d probably regret if I could remember them. Needless to say, I was grateful to Clint for taking mercy on me and letting me sleep it off at he and Rob’s Chinatown bachelor pad. When I woke up the next morning – throat scratchy from weed and head throbbing from drink – I’ll never forget the first thing my eyes focused on was the blueprint on the wall. For quite…

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In For a Penny: Everyone’s a Cricket

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A Midwinter’s Tale, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Anton Ego, artistic critique, Ayn Rand, Barton Fink, Birdman film, Brad Bird, Charles Lewis III, clichés, Cody Rishell, constructive criticism, criticism, Edgar Allan Poe, Everyone’s a Cricket, everyone’s a critic, evil critic, film criticism, In For a Penny, In the Bleak Midwinter, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kenneth Branagh, Lady in the Water, M. Night Shyamalan, Magic Negro, Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Megan Cohen, Mick LaSalle, Ratatouille, Roger Ebert, stereotypes, straw man argument, The Coen Brothers, The Fountainhead, The Horse’s Ass, The Iron Giant, The Little Man reviews, The Pink Section, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Sixth Sense, tropes

CharlesAndHisTypewriter:

In which the screening of an Oscar-nominated stirs up strong emotions I have about the “necessary evil” that is the critic.

Originally posted on San Francisco Theater Pub:

Charles Lewis III, opening the new year with a chirp!

“In criticism, I will be bold, and as sternly, absolutely just with friend and foe. From this purpose nothing shall turn me.”
– Edgar Allan Poe, in a letter to Joseph Snodgrass, 17 Jan. 1841

Considering the Theater Pub theme for January was supposed to be “downtime and balance”, it’s been… interesting to read how my fellow ‘Pub writers have interpreted that. I won’t pretend that I’m immune to the same anxiety – if you read my “Running in Place” piece from November, you know that isn’t true – but I’ve forced myself to take some deep breaths and enjoy some well-earned relaxation. Case in point: last week was my birthday and I successfully avoided a lot of headaches by cutting off social media, stopping at a few bars, and heading to The Castro to finally see Birdman. I…

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In For a Penny: Of Olympic Proportions – The End is the Beginning is The End

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Allison Page, Bill Cosby, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Charles Lewis III, Delphin, dolphins, Greek mythology, iambic pentameter, In For a Penny, independent theatre, indie theatre, JRR Tolkien, MacBeth, Minas Tirith, Of Olympic Proportions, Poseidon, Rachel Bublitz, San Francisco Olympians Festival, San Francisco Theater Pub, SF Olympians, SF Theater Pub, Sunil Patel, The EXIT Theatre, The Poseidon Adventure, The Smashing Pumpkins, The White City, The White Tower, Tonya Narvaez, William Shakespeare, Wine Dark Sea

CharlesAndHisTypewriter:

My latest Theater Pub post. It’s never too early to start thinking about the Bay Area’s coolest theatre festival.

Originally posted on San Francisco Theater Pub:

“My royal lord,
You do not give the cheer: the feast is sold
That is not often vouch’d, while ’tis a-making,
‘Tis given with welcome; to feed were best at home;
From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony;
Meeting were bare without it.”
– Lady MacBeth, MacBeth Act III Sc. 4, William Shakespeare

For all of us who have been there, it’s no surprise that Stuart’s apartment is often referred to as “The White Tower”. I honestly can’t recall what color the exterior really is, but I do know how exhausting it is to hike up those stone steps from one street to another, followed by another two flights of steps once you get inside – all for the sake of looking out over his balcony at one of the most enviable views of the San Francisco skyline without riding in a helicopter. Of course it’s The White Tower…

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In For a Penny: Label-mates

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Atlas, Black theatre, Broadway, casting against type, Charles Lewis III, Chimamanda Adichie, color-blind casting, coroner tag, Darren Wilson, Do a Good Turn Daily, Eric Garner, ethnic identity, ethnic theatre, Ferguson Missouri, Gina Prince-Bythewood, homosexuality, In For a Penny, independent theatre, indie theatre, Les Mis, Les Miserables, mainstream theatre, Michael Brown, mixed race, Norm Lewis, NYPD, Oprah Winfrey, Pamela Moore photographer, Phantom of the Opera, Pharrell Williams, post-racial America, Raven-Symoné, San Francisco Olympians Festival, self-identification, SF Olympians, This End Uppity, touring productions, Trayvon Martin, typecasting, Veronica Tjioe, W. Kamau Bell, White privilege

CharlesAndHisTypewriter:

In which Yours Truly ponders the labels we have placed upon us, the restrictions they create, and my own place in a world gone mad.

Originally posted on San Francisco Theater Pub:

Charles Lewis III, breaking his own format.

“I wonder if anyone ever notices the cross and Virgin Mary in my hand?”

“Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.”
– Toni Morrison, Beloved

This is about race. You don’t wanna read about it, click on something else. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…

In all my years working with the SF Olympians Festival, I can’t recall a year where there were so many divisive; plays that made the audience grateful for the imaginative power of theatre alongside many plays in which the audience felt their lives ending by the minute. I didn’t catch every single play this year, but if there’s one that still positively resonates with me weeks later, it’s Half-Breed, Veronica Tjioe’s one-act based on the myth of the Minotaur. It’s about a mixed-race (half-Asian/half-White) woman coming to terms with her ethnic identity after…

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In For a Penny: Running in Place

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down time, Gandalf the Grey, In For a Penny, independent theatre, indie theatre, restlessness, San Francisco Olympians Festival, San Francisco TheaterPub, SF Olympians, Willy Wonka, You Shall Not Pass

CharlesAndHisTypewriter:

In which I learn to (try to) embrace my free time after an incredibly busy year, both on-stage and off.

Originally posted on San Francisco Theater Pub:

Charles Lewis III, reflecting.

“We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it.”
– Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

I had an entirely different entry planned for today. I’d been working on it since I’d finished my last entry. It was going to be about the labels used to identify us as artists, those we choose for ourselves and those often placed upon us. It was going to be about how those labels can simultaneously be a help and hindrance, how the definition of each label seems to change on a daily basis, how frustrating it can be to constantly be typecast as one particular sort when you have a menagerie of other sorts trapped inside you just bursting to get free. But I’m not gonna write that one; not yet anyway.

You see, like all of you, I read Allison’s most…

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In For a Penny: Of Olympic Proportions – Let the Monster Out

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Atmos Theatre, Cody Rishell, Greek mythology, In For a Penny, independent theatre, indie theatre, Jeremy Cole, No Nude Men Productions, Of Olympic Proportions, Poseidon, San Francisco Olympians Festival, SF Olympians, staged readings, The EXIT Theatre, The Monster Ball, Theatre in the Woods

CharlesAndHisTypewriter:

My latest column for Theater Pub. Over the next year I’ll be detailing all the work that goes into creating the San Francisco Olympians Festival, an annual highlight of the Bay Area independent theatre scene.

Originally posted on San Francisco Theater Pub:

Charles Lewis III lets the monster out!

Artwork by Cody Rishell

“There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen.”
— Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

It all started with a car ride. That’s what I was told. During a 2009 production of Aristophanes’ The Frogs for Atmos Theatre’s Theatre in the Woods, that’s when we’re told Stuart first pitched the idea of a theatre dedicated to the classic works of Greek and Roman playwrights. As everyone learns when they’re around Stuart for long enough: he doesn’t pitch ideas so much as give you a heads-up on his inevitable plans.

Within a year from the original car ride, twelve local playwrights were staging twelve brand new plays – each one dedicated to one of mythical Olympians. Less than a year after that, three of those twelve plays had full productions. A year after…

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In for a Penny: Introduction – Moment of Claire-ity

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Claire Rice, commentary, criticism, In For a Penny, independent theatre, indie theatre, Pastorella, San Francisco TheaterPub, Stuart Bousel, trolling

CharlesAndHisTypewriter:

Starting today, I’m a regular columnist for the website San Francisco Theater Pub.

Here’s the first entry of my column, “In For a Penny”.

Originally posted on San Francisco Theater Pub:

Charles Lewis steps up to become our semi-monthly columnist on Thursdays.

“I had an inheritance from my father,
It was the moon and the sun.
And though I roam all over the world,
The spending of it’s never done.”
– Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls

Claire Rice scares me. Let me explain…

I’ve been considered for a regular Theater Pub column for some time now. As interested as I always was, I often declined as I constantly ran into a few obstacles. For instance, what would be my regular topic of discussion? How do I make sure my write-ups don’t retread well-worn territory? How would I distinguish myself from the unique personalities of the regular writers (the erudite, refined Marissa; the jocular, relatable Allison; the unapologetically acerbic Dave; and… Stuart)? Most importantly: who the hell cares what I have to say about a given topic?

I’m always surprised…

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Theater Around the Bay: First Time A-Fringin’

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independent theatre, indie theatre, San Francisco Fringe Festival, San Francisco TheaterPub, SF Fringe, The EXIT Theatre

CharlesAndHisTypewriter:

A new piece I wrote for Theater Pub, covering my very first year as part of the SF Fringe Fest.

Originally posted on San Francisco Theater Pub:

Charles Lewis III returns to talk about his first time working behind the scenes at the SF Fringe Festival.

Fringe-official

“Clowns are the pegs on which a circus is hung.”
– PT Barnum

We’re always told that first impressions count for a lot; that you can’t make them twice; that they will forever define you in the eyes of the other person, whether they admit it to you or not. So naturally I wanted to make the best impression as a new house manager at SF Fringe. I’ve always been one of those folks who believes that I don’t just represent myself, but also the company whose logo adorns my shirt/name tag/pay stub. I mean, they don’t just give this bright yellow shirt and laminated badge to just anyone, do they?

So as I stood in front of an anxious, impatient audience, I can only imagine what they thought of…

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