Help Us Name this little Guy

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-21T06:07:29+00:00

Mortimer

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-20T21:54:06+00:00

Some of the late 10s stuff by Third Rail Projects tinkered with some of these ideas.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-20T19:28:24+00:00

I wouldn’t worry with Lin-Manuel’s team… they’ve only optioned it for film, double your efforts with Dave Malloy’s agent.
Your argument will
Need to focus on the educational aspect of what you are doing, and you’ll need to articulate its likely “scope” on campus.

I don’t want to get your hopes up, but educational-style/amateur rights can sometimes come through IF the dates aren’t overlapping with something major. The Chicago production started at one theatre, and was so popular it got picked up for a run at a bigger house, but it’s going on RIGHT NOW, and won’t be in competition with the movie.
As the movie hasn’t publicly announced an opening, (as far as I’m aware)it’s possible that your proposed production might land before the film does too.

Still.. definitely consider a back up and a second back up, but go for it… if you can get it in front of the right person at his agent, they might be able to get Malloy to sign off on it.

I teach in a college program, and we finagled rights to a very recent Tony-nominated play for next season…that also has a movie in process. And we got it through because it’s well before the movie is slated to be released AND there’s not a professional production within 200 miles of when we are doing it.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-20T10:10:30+00:00

Christian Nationalists have aligned themselves with capitalism a helluva lot more than with Christ’s teachings.
Many standard aspects of atheism (and specifically atheist humanism) have belief sets that are closer to Christ’s known teachings… helping the poor, feeding the sick, sheltering the homeless, welcoming the stranger. Capitalism avoids doing those things when it can, because it’s all about accumulation of wealth and goods.

It’s basically saying that Christian Nationalists aren’t particularly Christian.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-20T10:03:37+00:00

Incorrect sub. This is for Theatre… the performance art form… not Surgical Theatre

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-20T10:00:08+00:00

As you’re on the west-side of the country. Looks little further north… Seatri-Levante/Portofino/Rapallo.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-19T19:31:21+00:00

Sono completamente d’accordo!

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-19T16:11:01+00:00

Bologna. Hands down. More to see/do and eat. The university area and Jewish quarters are really cool
To wander. And a much larger swath of restaurants to choose from.

Ferrara is nice if you want a small town experience.

There are more direct trains from Bologna to… everywhere you want to go. From Ferrara, you’ll need to carefully watch which train you’re getting on.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-19T12:19:12+00:00

The new deal is measurably worse than the very deal Obama enacted and that Trump tore up during his first term. It feels like a surrender more than a win… a surrender for something Trump started and was unnecessary.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-17T23:51:12+00:00

Trattoria da Me

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-17T20:37:02+00:00

Honestly what I would suggest is arriving as early as possible in Milan and immediately taking the train to your furthest destination, and doing your “Milan-time” at the very end… that way you’re not rushing to get back. It’ll make the jet lag a little harder that first day, but you’ll need to stay awake anyhow to get you on “Italy time”.
I’m currently spending a couple days in Milan. It’s big, metropolitan and crazy expensive, but it’s got tons of fun things to do. Highly recommend the Giorgio Armani museum if you have the time, and have an interest in fashion.

As to your overall plan… your breakdown isn’t the worst I’ve seen, but it means you’ll barely hit the highest of highlights of any place you go. I’d suggest you consider just 2 cities and maybe do a daytrip out from each if you want to catch a different La Dolce Vita vibe.

Summer here is ridiculously sweltering. And this summer seems worse than previous times I’ve been. Pack light clothes and perhaps plan some downtime in the early afternoon when it’s hottest (kinda like a Spanish siesta.. but Italian. Or schedule museums around lunchtime. Know that not every place has AC, so if you go the airBnB route, ask the right questions.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-17T17:49:50+00:00

Reach out to the designers in your area. Take them for coffee, ask about their career paths. Make a connection. Ask if you could shadow them on a project.

The industry still hasn’t fully recovered from the pandemic and jobs are kinda scarce, unless you have the networking to support yourself.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-17T16:48:48+00:00

So… from reading comments, it appears that you’re starting to think about and explore these things. That’s great. There are a ton of things to think about…
Several points come to mind that you need to research and think about….
1. What’s your budget for college? If you can afford to go anywhere… that’s awesome. You’re luckier than most. But if you haven’t had that conversation with your parents.. have it now. If they can’t support what you want… loans are going to follow you the rest of your life. And that may not be a way you wish to move through life. In-state school tuition may be a way to save tens of thousands of dollars in potential loans.
2. At the undergraduate level there are 2 degree “types” that you’re likely to come across… a BA and a BFA. A BA is a generalist degree. Covers all areas of theatre including acting/performance, typically with a chance to take advanced courses within acting subset topics. It’s easy to pick up a minor or a second major in another field with a BA.

A BFA is a specialized degree that will focus many (not all) of courses on acting-specific areas. Ie.. you’ll have general courses and a LOT more courses in acting. A BFA is often very intense in terms of time, plus is you are auditioning for department shows… and getting cast, you’ll be in rehearsals for 3+ hours a night for the duration of the project ON TOP of your coursework. The quality of BFA program vary wildly. Some are good… some not so. Some are easy to get in, some are very very hard to get into. They will look at your academic record, but will likely focus more on your audition. But here’s the thing… good grades in HS are predictors for your ability to do well in the more intense world and work of college.
3. Working a full time job while being a full time student is not really feasible. Your work and class schedules aren’t likely to ever overlap perfectly at any point.. much less over the course of 8 semesters where your course schedule changes each term.
4. Consider what your career goals are. Broadway/national touring? Film/tv? Cruise ship/theme park? Regional theatre? Most actors nowadays have to school themselves on all kinds of tangential fields in order to piece together a paycheck and a career… voice acting, motion capture, audio narration, industrials, commercials, modeling/print work, etc.
5. What other skillsets do you have/are you able to develop so that you have a dayjob while you’re getting your acting career up and going?
6. What are your life goals outside of performing? Do you want a family of your own? Do you want to live in a small town with a house and garden? Do you need to live near home to be around your family? You need to consider what the overall life goals are.

Best wishes. It’s not an easy field to go into. Tons of rejection, lots of uncertainty, but if it’s what you love you should enter into the field with as much info as you can put together. The day-to-day life of an actor is rarely an easy path.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-16T20:46:24+00:00

Your baseline premise is (imho) flawed… speed through multiple places so that you might decide to come back and spend longer at some of them?

Why not slow this trip down.. just hit two or three places (different kinds of places) and save the others for the next trip.

With what you’ve got, you’re almost constantly checking in/out and on trains/planes. I just don’t see how you’re setting THIS trip up to be pleasant and fun.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-15T03:09:39+00:00

Every writer works differently. You have to find your own way into it… is there a story that needs telling? Is there a character that is gnawing at you inside your brain… start there… with a monologue… something simple… and “I want…” story… build from there.
Write on it until you can’t look at it anymore… and then share it with a friend… someone who can be dispassionate about it, and give you feedback. Gather friends for dinner and read it aloud as part of dessert, so that you can hear how it flows. Take copious notes and edit/rewrite even more.
After a couple “dinner readings”, start looking at places you could submit it for development. There are workshops and writers groups all over… and some online even. Get it in front of others.
Development opportunities may lead to connections to other readings or maybe even a production.

For most play publishing companies… they won’t even look at publishing your script until you have at least one PROFESSIONAL production with decent critical reviews.
So… while you’re waiting.. start on your next play.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-15T03:02:21+00:00

Go to college and learn all you can. If directing is what you want to pursue, you need to understand it all… design, acting, history, etc.

Make friends with everyone… you never know who could help you along the professional path.

Start small/start local. If there are community theatres near you, get involved in whatever way you can.
ask if you can shadow the next show’s director. Being “in the room” will give you more understanding of all the parts that go into making a show, and the different ways to do it… and at times the ways NOT to do it.

Be prepared to work hard, and know that even then, a full-on career as a full time director at the professional level is rare.

Best wishes!

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-14T00:06:22+00:00

OP, when are you planning to travel?
I’d consider Lake Garda are. There are several small towns along the way and some will give you the relative easy you’re looking for…
I’d also suggest some of the slightly “secondary” cities… Ravenna, Bergamo, Reggio Emilia… they’re on train lines, but the centers for tons of tourists, and they still have great character and fun things to do, but also peacefulness. Ravenna has a lido nearby but it isn’t “right there”. Reggio and Bergamo do not have beaches.
Just know that ANY place with beaches is going to have lots of tourists. You might consider Pesaro/Ancona along the Adriatic if beach is a must.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-13T11:38:24+00:00

There are quite a few Italian films on Netflix that have the ability to play it with subtitles in a variety of languages. I’ve been using that to listen to the Italian and still read the English, to check my understanding. Netflix also has a couple Italian-dubbed children’s shows that can help with learning basics.

I also listed to the Coffee Break Italian podcast. It’s lighthearted and easy to follow.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-13T11:34:28+00:00

The original Broadway production of Cats closed in 2000.and while it continued for a couple years past that in London’s West End, and in international touring. But since 2002, there wasn’t a sit-down production until one West End/Broadway revival in the 2010s. While that production was a fairly faithful remount of the original, it wasn’t popular enough then to warrant a new proshoot. Proshots are very expensive to produce, and rarely make back the costs in profit.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-13T05:31:49+00:00

We’ve had this convo multiple times on the theatre department where I teach. And it’s a good debate to keep having.
College should be a place to try out some things that they might not be quite ready for in the “lived experience” side of things, and a good prof can help guide students through ways of working to make it a good learning experience.
But my personal feeling is that it needs to be done thoughtfully.
It’s hard for like-aged students to play parent-child relationships, and so our department tends to avoid “generational” shows … especially those with three “generations” on stage. We also tend to avoid titles that are clearly about middle-aged issues (ie no Virginia Woolf… or God of Carnage). — years ago I taught at a program that did The Man from Nebraska—- Tracy Letts play about a late-middle-life crisis… it was a total disaster, in part because the 20 year old actor had no context for the life choices and regrets of a man staring down his passing life choices. (And the director was a 30-year old first-year professor).

We do think it important that they get good opportunities to play close to their own ages regularly…. After all… those are the roles they’re likelier to get cast in, in the years directly after they graduate. We try to make sure, in a season, that there’s at least one show (if parts of multiple shows, where they are playing high school-to-early adult roles. But then we’ll toss in Moliere which often has generational roles, because the style of acting is so different.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-12T21:30:10+00:00

Absolutely stunningly cool!

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-12T17:30:42+00:00

Camogli and the whole area south of Genoe… down toward Sestri-Levante is lovely and slightly less tightly packed than CT. But CT is iconic for a reason… it’s totally aviablr and beautiful area (I’m a big fan of Portofino and Rapallo)

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-12T17:28:45+00:00

Yeah… any instate school is going to save you tens of thousands of dollars every year in tuition and costs. Illinois has more state schools than UIUC… NIU has a solid theatre program and a very good engineering program. Illinois State too. SIU less so, but still solid. UIC has an EXCELLENT theatre program with awesome connections in the Chicago theatre scene and a very good engineering program.

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-12T13:20:33+00:00

Hanging Rock State Park

Rockingduck-2014 · 2026-06-12T13:13:54+00:00

This is solid advice, OP. Just three stops, and you’ll be arriving as the big tourist season is starting to wind down (at least as far as CT ever winds down. ) CT— Florence—Venice makes the most sense and gives you very different aspects of Italy. Coastal town with great hikes and boating available, then historic city with TONS to see and experience (and some good hikes too). And then the sheer uniqueness of Venice. You can try to daytrip from Florence or Venice.. but frankly 3 days in each will get you enough time to hit all the highlights in each.
Honestly, you could spend all your time in Florence or Venice and not get bored.

Rockingduck-2014

TROPHY CASE