Archive for the ‘FYI’ Category

Working Title Playwrights has been awarded a $10,000 grant by the Hellen Ingram Plummer Charitable Foundation, a private foundation out of Boca Raton, FL. The support will allow us to fortify and expand our showcase program, the Ethel Woolson Lab.

As you may recall from earlier blog posts, The Ethel Woolson Lab brings together the top playwrights, directors, and actors in the Atlanta theatre community for meaningful collaboration in the creation of new, full-length plays for the stage. 

 We are immeasurably grateful to the Hellen Ingram Plummer Charitable Foundation for this grant, and its recognition of the importance new works bring. This funding will enable WTP to provide arts education through new play and playwright development. The competitively selected playwrights participating in the Lab as well as the public audiences attending these staged readings will benefit. Read the rest of this entry »

First, take action at 1:00 p.m., stroll on down from the Rialto to the capitol steps and let your voice be heard regarding funding cuts for the arts in Georgia.

Then, join Working Title Playwrights and the whole Atlanta theater community at a gathering at Manuel’s Tavern to celebrate the life and memory of our dear friend, Allen Hagler. Share memories, tell irreverent stories (you KNOW he’d like that), and hoist a glass in a toast or two. The fun begins at 7:30pm. Spread the word!

Manuel’s Tavern is located at the corner of North and Highland Avenues in Atlanta.

The Georgia House of Representatives is preparing to vote on HB 1049. The Rules Committee meeting has been pushed to this afternoon, at 2 p.m. Those of us who care about and are committed to the arts in Georgia have only until then to make urgent calls and send insistent emails. One lobbyist says, “KEEP THE HEAT ON! We are still not on the Rules agenda—HB1049 will die if we do not make it on the Rules agenda this week.”

HB1049 gives each county in Georgia the ability to invest a fraction of a penny sales tax to support cultural assets and economic development initiatives in their community, when and if they so choose. Click here for more details on how HB1049 works.

Take action now, and share this message with colleagues and friends who support art & culture. Email/Call members of the RULES Committee asking for SUPPORT of HB 1049 (See members & contact information listed below) The message should be brief. Add a personal note on why this is important to you. Read the rest of this entry »

Please know that our dear friend Allen Hagler passed away on Friday morning, March 19th.  He was surrounded by his family and went peacefully.

A service will be held on Tuesday, March 23rd, 11am, at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

A celebration of his life is being planned for another date, the details of which will be shared as they emerge.

His family invites all his friends and loved ones to attend the service(s) and asks that in lieu of flowers you send contributions to Hospice of Atlanta, The American Cancer Society or the charity of your choice.

Thank you all for the support you demonstrated along Allen’s journey. Fair thee well, Allen.

Monetary contributions keep coming in, from both auction sales from the Fun and Fund Raising for Allen event as well as online gifts. We have currently raised around $14,000 for Allen’s cost of living. With Medicaid and Social Security kicking in, because of your overwhelming generosity, Allen and Olivia are confident they have enough financial assistance to help him through this cancer ordeal at this time.

For those of you who still want to contribute somehow, we ask that you please consider:

1. Sharing your good will with the Atlanta Community Food Bank (or whomever else you might feel inclined to help) with contributions of canned foods or money. As Olivia told me, “God knows that (a) folks have already been UNBELIEVABLY generous with us already and (b) that there are still tons of needy folks out there every day who also need tending to.”

2. Writing to Grady Hospital’s new CEO, Mr. Michael Young, and let him know how you appreciate the quality of care being given to (Patrick) Allen Hagler and encourage him to stay the course on reforming the state’s primary health care system. What you may not know, is that while we have (relatively few) complaints about the quality of care Allen is receiving – genuinely, the staff across the board has been positive, helpful and good at what they do – the fact is the system itself is so flawed that one mistake made by one person will cause a 2-hour appointment to last twelve hours or longer; that nurses are so understaffed some clinics wait for every patient to check in before they start triaging; and that some bathrooms and clinics (particularly in first floor clinics) are so filthy one questions whether a sick person will only get sicker the longer they stay in Grady … and considering how long they have to wait now, it does not seem conducive to healing. Read the rest of this entry »

Allen Hagler and Jo Howarth as G.W. and Latrelle, SORDID LIVES

And it just doesn’t stop! Yes, Sir, we’ll have some more…

Del Shores – internationally known playwright (“Sordid Lives,” “Southern Baptist Sissies”), actor, & director of film & TV – has offered to auction a DVD of “Sordid Lives: The Series” signed by himself and the entire cast (including Leslie “Brother Boy” Jordan) in support of Allen and our efforts to love on him. He’s doing this on his Sordid Lives Facebook site – which has over 15,000 fans!

Please note that Del Lives in LA and has never met Allen. In fact, when he made the offer he didn’t even realize that Allen played “GW” in Process Theatre’s production of “Sordid Lives” last year. He reached out simply because Allen is an actor in need. To quote Topher Payne, “You gotta love sweet Southern boys.”

To get more details and bid, go to the designated Sordid Lives Facebook page now. Thanks, Del!

Last night’s fund raising event for Allen Hagler was a smashing success!  While we’re still counting and have several outstanding bids from the silent auction to be settled, we’re expecting a tally of around $8,000 – 100% of which will go to Allen himself. PRETTY DARNED GREAT for an event thrown together on the sheer will of love. As one friend has said, “It felt way more like a birthday party!”

If you weren’t able to make it, then you missed the opportunity to enjoy a wealth of food, drink and generosity, as friends and family of Allen Hagler gathered together to hear new plays by Curt Shannon and David Fisher in concert readings directed by Betty Hart. In addition, the dynamic duo of Johnny Drago and Emma Crandall wowed the crowd with back-handed compliments that some of us are still wincing from today (but in a happy, codependent way). Read the rest of this entry »

The Atlanta theater community and the community-at- large have really come through with donations to Fun and Fundraising for Allen. We hope you’ll join us and help make the evening even more successful!

Starting at—like, right now—6pm tonight at The Academy, you can graze on tasty treats, purchase something to drink and/or a fabulous compliment from playwright Johnny Drago, buy a chance to win a great raffle item, make a bid on a gift for you or someone you love and hear two new short plays from WTP playwrights Curt Shannon and Dave Fisher. Admission is $10 for those who can afford (every cent goes to Allen) or—for those who can’t—two cans for the Atlanta Food Bank.

Here’s a mere glimpse of the array of goods and services you can win in tonight’s silent auction and raffle: Read the rest of this entry »

At this time, Working Title Playwrights, along with Academy Theatre, is hosting a fund raising event in conjunction with an On Demand reading of two new, short plays by WTP members Curt Shannon and David Fisher.

Tickets are a mere $10 at the door, and we’ll have food donated by area restaurants and beer, wine and sodas for a cheap $2 each.

A silent auction will begin at 6pm, and the readings will begin at 7:30 p.m.  ALL proceeds – 100% of the door, bar and silent auction – will go toward helping our dear friend Allen Hagler with his cost of living during this most arduous time in his life.

WHERE:  Academy Theatre, 119 Center St., Avondale Estates, GA

WHEN:  Tuesday, November 17, 2009

DOORS OPEN: 6 p.m. for silent auction. New play readings begin 7:30 p.m. Silent auction will wrap up immediately following the talkback at the end of the second play.

COST:  $10 at the door, but if you don’t have the $10 DON’T LET THAT STOP YOU – PLEASE COME ANYWAY!

And if you’ve been moved by Allen’s story and want to help, you can make a contribution to his care. Click the pledgie.com ‘DONATE’ button below, or at the top right of column of this blog. Read the rest of this entry »

The good news: two of those prescriptions that Allen got filled were for two different kinds of morphine, so at least his pain was contained for the first time since his ordeal began.

The bad news: when we went to Grady Radiation the next day, the oncologists there were really terrific, but refused to begin his treatments when they learned his Grady Card hadn’t yet been renegotiated.  On the one hand, it is benevolent that the physicians tried to help him not go into insurmountable debt.  But I ask how benevolent is the system that requires such a choice of both doctor and patient? Read the rest of this entry »