Since Jason brought up porn names (mostly because I brought them up), I thought I'd remind you of the Standard Porn Name Game.
Basically:
FIRST name is the name of your childhood pet.
LAST name is the name of the street you grew up on.
My porn name?
REGGIE NOTTINGHAM.
I should totally start doing porn...
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
NAME GAME PART 3: ASK JASON
Hey, Jason here. I love the Name Game. It’s always capable of getting a “Huh, “ out of people. But I noticed a few “ask Jason” in Jay’s tour de force of blogging, so I thought I’d answer a few and add to my own.
JOEL WHITE and AIDEN: Sadly, not as interesting as one would hope. Joel and Aiden come from the TLC show “Jon and Kate Plus 8”. It’s the name of two of the three boy sextuplets. There is a third, Colin that I was going to try and work in so that all the Gosslin boys were represented, but alas, we didn’t need another name.
PRUDENCE NOELLE: The “Noelle” in her name, I stole from real life. My mother’s maiden name is Noell. And when my sister was born, she named her “Noel” (never asked why she dropped the extra “L”.) Oddly enough we spelled it in the show, the same way Noelle Schmitt spells her name, but the dye was cast on Prudence’s last name long before Noelle was. (bit of slightly related trivia, I misspelled Noelle's last name originally on the Reunion poster)
FOO-FOO: Here is where things really get embarrassing. All the porn names aside from 18th Street, come from my childhood. Nipsey and Vera were family dogs. Daisy was a family cat. And Foo-Foo was unfortunately a pet rabbit. Little life lesson here, if you are on the fence about whether or not to buy a rabbit, NEVER ask the advice of a four year old child. Their answer will always be “Yes”. And I lived on Hermitage Drive, and Memphis Circle in Pensacola Florida, and on Burgess House Lane in Richmond Virginia. I guess I am the original “Daisy Memphis”.
Lastly but one more name. “DR. RINALDI” is mentioned. He was a teacher of mine in college, Dr. Nicholas Rinaldi. He didn’t teach philosophy or inspire anyone to live together and not get married. He did however teach Stage Management and Theater Analysis at UCF. Before that, Dr. Nick worked almost exclusively in the 1970’s as a Stage Manager for Hal Prince. He was the stage manager for the original Broadway run of “Cabaret”, “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman”, and had many a story of working on shows with Tommy Tune and Christopher Walker when they were merely Broadway Dancers.
I got not idea where “Rainey’s” came from. Perhaps Gerald McRainey TV’s “Major Dad”?
More to come
Jason
JOEL WHITE and AIDEN: Sadly, not as interesting as one would hope. Joel and Aiden come from the TLC show “Jon and Kate Plus 8”. It’s the name of two of the three boy sextuplets. There is a third, Colin that I was going to try and work in so that all the Gosslin boys were represented, but alas, we didn’t need another name.
PRUDENCE NOELLE: The “Noelle” in her name, I stole from real life. My mother’s maiden name is Noell. And when my sister was born, she named her “Noel” (never asked why she dropped the extra “L”.) Oddly enough we spelled it in the show, the same way Noelle Schmitt spells her name, but the dye was cast on Prudence’s last name long before Noelle was. (bit of slightly related trivia, I misspelled Noelle's last name originally on the Reunion poster)
FOO-FOO: Here is where things really get embarrassing. All the porn names aside from 18th Street, come from my childhood. Nipsey and Vera were family dogs. Daisy was a family cat. And Foo-Foo was unfortunately a pet rabbit. Little life lesson here, if you are on the fence about whether or not to buy a rabbit, NEVER ask the advice of a four year old child. Their answer will always be “Yes”. And I lived on Hermitage Drive, and Memphis Circle in Pensacola Florida, and on Burgess House Lane in Richmond Virginia. I guess I am the original “Daisy Memphis”.
Lastly but one more name. “DR. RINALDI” is mentioned. He was a teacher of mine in college, Dr. Nicholas Rinaldi. He didn’t teach philosophy or inspire anyone to live together and not get married. He did however teach Stage Management and Theater Analysis at UCF. Before that, Dr. Nick worked almost exclusively in the 1970’s as a Stage Manager for Hal Prince. He was the stage manager for the original Broadway run of “Cabaret”, “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman”, and had many a story of working on shows with Tommy Tune and Christopher Walker when they were merely Broadway Dancers.
I got not idea where “Rainey’s” came from. Perhaps Gerald McRainey TV’s “Major Dad”?
More to come
Jason
What’s in a Name? - Part Two
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Welcome back to Back Table Productions… glad you’re here, and not on Perez Hilton. Seriously, I love that website, but hate Perez. There’s a big conflict there; like having sex with someone that you hate (something that I would never do, but certainly know a lot about having grown up on 90s prime time soaps.)
In this edition of this web log, I am going to take you on a tour of the additional names and places in the script of ‘Reunion.’ THIS is total trivia, as none of the names and places mentioned here are central to the script.
DAKOTA WHITE
This is the name of Pam’s daughter. I just hate this name! I file Dakota in the same category as names like Madison and Taylor. These are the most popular names of the new generation. It’s like the 70s when everyone named their kiddo ‘Jennifer.’ It lacks a certain dignity when you think of Grandma Jennifer or U.S. State’s Attorney Jennifer. I really don’t want to think of having to visit Dr. Dakota. (One other thing: Lindsey Lohan’s brother’s name is Dakota. Don’t ask me why I know that, or why it bothers me.)
JOEL WHITE
This is Pam’s husband’s name. I think Jason chose this one. I’ll chime in and say that I think Joel is a doofy name.
ERIC WHITE
This is Pam’s son. This is a shout out to ‘Eric Wright’ – the character of the youngest brother in ‘Funeral’ (which Jason and I put up last year.)
AMBER mcCLANAHAN
This is Lexy’s kid. Sorry to all the Amber’s out there reading this blog… but I just think Amber is a trashy name.
‘MISS JUNIOR MISS’ and ‘LITTLE MISS PRETTY’ Pageants
These are the names of pageants in which little Dakota White competes. I think beauty pageants are weird and gross, especially for little kids, so I just picked two stupid names. I love the idea of someone taking something called the ‘Miss Junior Miss’ pageant seriously. If I were someone involved, I’d be like: “Guys, get a Thesaurus for Chrissakes! This thing is sinking in its redundancy.”
“HEY, BIG SPENDER”
This is the song that Dakota White sings at the ‘Miss Junior Miss’ pageant. Nothing says inappropriate like an eight year old in an evening gown growling the lyrics to the best known jam from ‘Sweet Charity.’
“U RAH RAH WISCONSIN”
This is part of the song ‘On Wisconsin.’ I went to school at UW-Madison.
KEANU REEVES
Keanu is mentioned in the script as the lead of the STV (straight-to-video) that Gibbs wrote. I actually don’t care for Keanu, so thought that I would fictitiously bring his career down.
PIGGY
This is Karen Frankel’s nickname. ‘Piggy’ is based on an unflattering name that someone I went to college with received and actually went by. That nickname was ‘Sniz’ – which was a portmanteau of ‘Snatch’ and ‘Bizo’ (for those of you who didn’t go to a Big Ten School in the late 90s, snatch is slang for lady parts, and bizo was short for bitch.) Some people think that Piggy’s a harsh nickname, but I think our Karen got off easier than ‘Sniz.’
FUNDAMENTALIST COMMUNE
Lexy’s ex/Amber’s Dad is out of the picture; he’s now living in Utah on some Fundamentalist Commune. This is a shout out to the FLDS. I’m obsessed!
RAINEY’s
This is the college bar where Lexy works. I don’t know if Jason has a story behind this... .
AIDEN
Aiden is Prudence’s boyfriend. We think Aiden’s a hot name, and wanted to give Prudence her very own hottie.
‘CLOSER TO FINE’
The girls sing the Indigo Girls’ song ‘Closer to Fine.’ It’s a requirement for all girls to know this song and to have sung it in a drunken group at some point in their lives.
LIPIDA
This is the name of the illegal weight loss drug that Lexy takes. I wanted her on a pill that was a cross between fen-fen and TrimSpa. The word for fat is lipid, so I just stuck an “a” on the end, and viola: instant addiction!
FOO FOO
This is the name of Karen’s rabbit. For some reason, we didn’t think we had given Karen enough annoying traits, so we decided that her childhood pet was a rabbit. By the way, the name of street Karen grew up on is ‘Burgess House.’ (You do the porn name math.)
That’s all I can think of right now.
More to Come!
Have a great day and Praise the Lord!
Jay S.
In this edition of this web log, I am going to take you on a tour of the additional names and places in the script of ‘Reunion.’ THIS is total trivia, as none of the names and places mentioned here are central to the script.
DAKOTA WHITE
This is the name of Pam’s daughter. I just hate this name! I file Dakota in the same category as names like Madison and Taylor. These are the most popular names of the new generation. It’s like the 70s when everyone named their kiddo ‘Jennifer.’ It lacks a certain dignity when you think of Grandma Jennifer or U.S. State’s Attorney Jennifer. I really don’t want to think of having to visit Dr. Dakota. (One other thing: Lindsey Lohan’s brother’s name is Dakota. Don’t ask me why I know that, or why it bothers me.)
JOEL WHITE
This is Pam’s husband’s name. I think Jason chose this one. I’ll chime in and say that I think Joel is a doofy name.
ERIC WHITE
This is Pam’s son. This is a shout out to ‘Eric Wright’ – the character of the youngest brother in ‘Funeral’ (which Jason and I put up last year.)
AMBER mcCLANAHAN
This is Lexy’s kid. Sorry to all the Amber’s out there reading this blog… but I just think Amber is a trashy name.
‘MISS JUNIOR MISS’ and ‘LITTLE MISS PRETTY’ Pageants
These are the names of pageants in which little Dakota White competes. I think beauty pageants are weird and gross, especially for little kids, so I just picked two stupid names. I love the idea of someone taking something called the ‘Miss Junior Miss’ pageant seriously. If I were someone involved, I’d be like: “Guys, get a Thesaurus for Chrissakes! This thing is sinking in its redundancy.”
“HEY, BIG SPENDER”
This is the song that Dakota White sings at the ‘Miss Junior Miss’ pageant. Nothing says inappropriate like an eight year old in an evening gown growling the lyrics to the best known jam from ‘Sweet Charity.’
“U RAH RAH WISCONSIN”
This is part of the song ‘On Wisconsin.’ I went to school at UW-Madison.
KEANU REEVES
Keanu is mentioned in the script as the lead of the STV (straight-to-video) that Gibbs wrote. I actually don’t care for Keanu, so thought that I would fictitiously bring his career down.
PIGGY
This is Karen Frankel’s nickname. ‘Piggy’ is based on an unflattering name that someone I went to college with received and actually went by. That nickname was ‘Sniz’ – which was a portmanteau of ‘Snatch’ and ‘Bizo’ (for those of you who didn’t go to a Big Ten School in the late 90s, snatch is slang for lady parts, and bizo was short for bitch.) Some people think that Piggy’s a harsh nickname, but I think our Karen got off easier than ‘Sniz.’
FUNDAMENTALIST COMMUNE
Lexy’s ex/Amber’s Dad is out of the picture; he’s now living in Utah on some Fundamentalist Commune. This is a shout out to the FLDS. I’m obsessed!
RAINEY’s
This is the college bar where Lexy works. I don’t know if Jason has a story behind this... .
AIDEN
Aiden is Prudence’s boyfriend. We think Aiden’s a hot name, and wanted to give Prudence her very own hottie.
‘CLOSER TO FINE’
The girls sing the Indigo Girls’ song ‘Closer to Fine.’ It’s a requirement for all girls to know this song and to have sung it in a drunken group at some point in their lives.
LIPIDA
This is the name of the illegal weight loss drug that Lexy takes. I wanted her on a pill that was a cross between fen-fen and TrimSpa. The word for fat is lipid, so I just stuck an “a” on the end, and viola: instant addiction!
FOO FOO
This is the name of Karen’s rabbit. For some reason, we didn’t think we had given Karen enough annoying traits, so we decided that her childhood pet was a rabbit. By the way, the name of street Karen grew up on is ‘Burgess House.’ (You do the porn name math.)
That’s all I can think of right now.
More to Come!
Have a great day and Praise the Lord!
Jay S.
Friday, August 15, 2008
The Name Game – ‘Reunion’ Version
I looked back at some of things that Jason wrote about last time around and I thought this one was interesting: Jason’s “Name Game” Entry for Award/Funeral
This post is about giving you some insight into some of the names we chose for “Reunion.” Creating a names for characters, events, and places is an important element in storytelling. Some of these names mean something to us, and some of them just came out of nowhere.
Let’s talk about the main characters in ‘Reunion’:
Pam White
Karen Frankel
Laura Gibbs
Lexy McClanahan
Prudence Noelle
Mark Getty
For those of you who are big fans of the ‘Golden Girls’ (and let’s face it… who ISN’T?) you may notice a trend in last names. This was our way of being random, yet having a pattern. (Like the Zodiac Killer.) Jason and I are big fans of the show, so we thought – why not give them a nod of the head and a tip of hat? For as much as those ‘Girls’ have done for us, we can give them this little bit.
PAM WHITE
Clearly, the ‘White’ part came from Betty White. I’m not sure where exactly ‘Pam’ came from. Jason might know more. I really just think we were knocking around ideas and the name came out. I do know why I like the name, though. I think the name ‘Pam’ has strength. It’s kind of plain and short – but when you say it, you start with the hard ‘P’ and end it with a powerful ‘M.’ Say it: “PAM.” It’s efficient – yet strong. Like our Pam.
KAREN FRANKEL
This is some ‘GG’ triva… ‘Frankel’ was Bea Arthur’s given name. This kept the theme going, and for some reason tickeled us no end. (Must have been all that beer at the back table.) The name Karen is also pretty much random. I think it sounds harsh. Interestingly, my Mom’s name is Karen. That said, the character is not at all like my Mom, nor did I mine anything from her to create the character. I just thought the name went with our ‘Karen’ – and now I can’t imagine her being called anything else.
LAURA GIBBS
This one is not ‘Golden Girls’ related. I know a tons of Lauras, and I've always really liked the name. We wanted Gibbs to primarily go by her last name and I thought that Gibbs was a nice strong name. I want to school with a girl named Gibbs, but this character is unrelated. In fact, I didn’t realize that until we had finished with the script. I thought for a sec that we might change it, but at that point, I had already grown really attached to ‘Gibbs.’
LEXY McCLANAHAN
McClanahan is in honor of the lovely Rue McClanahan. We both wanted a sexy name for this character – and what name is sexier than Lexy! Sexy Lexy.
PRUDENCE NOELLE
Jason is the one that came up with Noelle – so you’ll have to ask him about that. I picked Prudence. In the show, Prudence actually gets to pick her own name, so I wanted it to be something that defined her character. Prudence is considered a virtue and is defined as “the ability to judge between virtuous and vicious actions, not only in a general sense, but with regard to appropriate actions at a given time and place.” Nothing could be truer about our Prudence. When I mentioned the name to Jason, he was all about it. He mentioned how much he liked the song ‘Dear Prudence’ and how that song really fits with the character. This name was truly a collaboration, backed up by defining character traits and a ‘Beatles’ song.
MARK GETTY
This is the last ‘GG’ reference. A big shout out to Estelle Getty! (RIP) Mark is just one of those standard guy names that I really like. Plus, it reminds me of the classic movie, 'Steel Magnolias'. Clairee says: “ALL gay men are named Mark, Rick, or Steve.”
That’s it for now… more to come.
xxxJay
This post is about giving you some insight into some of the names we chose for “Reunion.” Creating a names for characters, events, and places is an important element in storytelling. Some of these names mean something to us, and some of them just came out of nowhere.
Let’s talk about the main characters in ‘Reunion’:
Pam White
Karen Frankel
Laura Gibbs
Lexy McClanahan
Prudence Noelle
Mark Getty
For those of you who are big fans of the ‘Golden Girls’ (and let’s face it… who ISN’T?) you may notice a trend in last names. This was our way of being random, yet having a pattern. (Like the Zodiac Killer.) Jason and I are big fans of the show, so we thought – why not give them a nod of the head and a tip of hat? For as much as those ‘Girls’ have done for us, we can give them this little bit.
PAM WHITE
Clearly, the ‘White’ part came from Betty White. I’m not sure where exactly ‘Pam’ came from. Jason might know more. I really just think we were knocking around ideas and the name came out. I do know why I like the name, though. I think the name ‘Pam’ has strength. It’s kind of plain and short – but when you say it, you start with the hard ‘P’ and end it with a powerful ‘M.’ Say it: “PAM.” It’s efficient – yet strong. Like our Pam.
KAREN FRANKEL
This is some ‘GG’ triva… ‘Frankel’ was Bea Arthur’s given name. This kept the theme going, and for some reason tickeled us no end. (Must have been all that beer at the back table.) The name Karen is also pretty much random. I think it sounds harsh. Interestingly, my Mom’s name is Karen. That said, the character is not at all like my Mom, nor did I mine anything from her to create the character. I just thought the name went with our ‘Karen’ – and now I can’t imagine her being called anything else.
LAURA GIBBS
This one is not ‘Golden Girls’ related. I know a tons of Lauras, and I've always really liked the name. We wanted Gibbs to primarily go by her last name and I thought that Gibbs was a nice strong name. I want to school with a girl named Gibbs, but this character is unrelated. In fact, I didn’t realize that until we had finished with the script. I thought for a sec that we might change it, but at that point, I had already grown really attached to ‘Gibbs.’
LEXY McCLANAHAN
McClanahan is in honor of the lovely Rue McClanahan. We both wanted a sexy name for this character – and what name is sexier than Lexy! Sexy Lexy.
PRUDENCE NOELLE
Jason is the one that came up with Noelle – so you’ll have to ask him about that. I picked Prudence. In the show, Prudence actually gets to pick her own name, so I wanted it to be something that defined her character. Prudence is considered a virtue and is defined as “the ability to judge between virtuous and vicious actions, not only in a general sense, but with regard to appropriate actions at a given time and place.” Nothing could be truer about our Prudence. When I mentioned the name to Jason, he was all about it. He mentioned how much he liked the song ‘Dear Prudence’ and how that song really fits with the character. This name was truly a collaboration, backed up by defining character traits and a ‘Beatles’ song.
MARK GETTY
This is the last ‘GG’ reference. A big shout out to Estelle Getty! (RIP) Mark is just one of those standard guy names that I really like. Plus, it reminds me of the classic movie, 'Steel Magnolias'. Clairee says: “ALL gay men are named Mark, Rick, or Steve.”
That’s it for now… more to come.
xxxJay
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Meet The Girls...
With REUNION about to open in less than a month, we are beginning to ramp up our press for the show. As sort of an opening bit, I thought it'd be cool to show you guys some shots of our cast.
And here we go...
Kate Cohen is "Pam"
Noelle Schmitt is "Gibbs"
Kate Lambert is "Karen"
Marla Depew is "Lexy"
and Monique Jazmine Thomas as "Prudence"
Stay Tuned for more....
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Process Is Trivia
Process is Trivia”… that’s what Jason and I always say.
This comes from the POV (point of view) that there are certain people that are only concerned with their process… rather that the final outcome of the process, which is product.
I’ve listened patiently (That’s my self-perception. I’m sure I wasn’t THAT patient…) while people have gone on and on about their journey. My opinion: “Eh? Kind of interesting. But did you really have your actors spend a whole rehearsal exploring which animal their character would be if they were an animal (which in fact, they are not) and then have them interact with each other as those animal-characters?”
What can I say? I’m a “product” girl.
Also… I’m not retarded.
JUST KIDDING!
But, as I always say, “In every just kidding, there’s a just truthful”… so find your way through that mine-field. Consider it YOUR “process.”
That takes us to the point of this post…
During “Award/ Funeral” season last Fall, Jason and I set up this “web log” to let people know what was going on with the shows, etc. We wanted to give peeps a glimpse of what it was like to put up a show.
And then… um… I didn’t write anything.
So – my vow this time – is to post some stuff. Give people some insight into the rehearsal process, the writing process, the producing process, and the process of having a process (the last one is so dreadfully tiring!)
At this point in the process, I have some time to get some posts a-rocking.
So here I go… from my lips to your sexy ears!
Jay
This comes from the POV (point of view) that there are certain people that are only concerned with their process… rather that the final outcome of the process, which is product.
I’ve listened patiently (That’s my self-perception. I’m sure I wasn’t THAT patient…) while people have gone on and on about their journey. My opinion: “Eh? Kind of interesting. But did you really have your actors spend a whole rehearsal exploring which animal their character would be if they were an animal (which in fact, they are not) and then have them interact with each other as those animal-characters?”
What can I say? I’m a “product” girl.
Also… I’m not retarded.
JUST KIDDING!
But, as I always say, “In every just kidding, there’s a just truthful”… so find your way through that mine-field. Consider it YOUR “process.”
That takes us to the point of this post…
During “Award/ Funeral” season last Fall, Jason and I set up this “web log” to let people know what was going on with the shows, etc. We wanted to give peeps a glimpse of what it was like to put up a show.
And then… um… I didn’t write anything.
So – my vow this time – is to post some stuff. Give people some insight into the rehearsal process, the writing process, the producing process, and the process of having a process (the last one is so dreadfully tiring!)
At this point in the process, I have some time to get some posts a-rocking.
So here I go… from my lips to your sexy ears!
Jay
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
EARLY NOTICE FOR ‘REUNION’! - Save the Date!
EARLY NOTICE FOR ‘REUNION’!
For release Tuesday, July 29, 2008
SAVE THE DATE!
“Reunion” is the story of 5 college friends who meet up together for the first time in nine years. They had been each other’s closest friends… and now, they have to reconcile the distance that has come between them. The characters juggle love and bitterness, distance and closeness. It's a story about those relationships that mold us, define us, and ultimately, slip away from us.
"Reunion"
Written by Jay Steigmann and Jason Williams
Directed by Jay Steigmann
Featuring:
Kate Cohen as Pam White
Kate Lambert as Karen Frankel
Noelle Schmitt as Laura Gibbs
Marla Depew as Lexy McClanahan
Monique Jazmine Thomas as Prudence Noelle
Where:
Stage Left Theater
3408 N Sheffield
When:
Mondays and Tuesdays in September
Opening Monday, September 8th!
September 8, 9
September 15, 16
September 22, 23
Show times: 8 PM
Tickets: $15
6 SHOWS ONLY! MAKE YOUR RESERVATION NOW!
Closer to the show - we will have an open ticket phone line at Back Table Productions.
In the meantime, you can email me or Back Table Productions to hold your tickets now:
jay.steigmann@gmail.com
backtable@gmail.com
See you soon!
Jay
For release Tuesday, July 29, 2008
SAVE THE DATE!
“Reunion” is the story of 5 college friends who meet up together for the first time in nine years. They had been each other’s closest friends… and now, they have to reconcile the distance that has come between them. The characters juggle love and bitterness, distance and closeness. It's a story about those relationships that mold us, define us, and ultimately, slip away from us.
"Reunion"
Written by Jay Steigmann and Jason Williams
Directed by Jay Steigmann
Featuring:
Kate Cohen as Pam White
Kate Lambert as Karen Frankel
Noelle Schmitt as Laura Gibbs
Marla Depew as Lexy McClanahan
Monique Jazmine Thomas as Prudence Noelle
Where:
Stage Left Theater
3408 N Sheffield
When:
Mondays and Tuesdays in September
Opening Monday, September 8th!
September 8, 9
September 15, 16
September 22, 23
Show times: 8 PM
Tickets: $15
6 SHOWS ONLY! MAKE YOUR RESERVATION NOW!
Closer to the show - we will have an open ticket phone line at Back Table Productions.
In the meantime, you can email me or Back Table Productions to hold your tickets now:
jay.steigmann@gmail.com
backtable@gmail.com
See you soon!
Jay
Thursday, June 26, 2008
It's Happening...
The papers have been signed, money has exchanged hands,and REUNION will be hitting the stage Monday September 8, at the Stage Left Theater located at 3408 N. Sheffield Ave. (Roughly Sheffield, Clark and Roscoe) for a 2 night a week three week run.Jay and I are super excited about this, and of course we will keep updating the site throughout the casting, rehearsal and production process.
So stay tuned, cause this thing now is gonna happen.
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