Membership Spotlight – October 2023

I am currently working on remounting a project with Teatro Bravo tentatively titled The Carpa Plays. Inspired by the carpa tent shows of 1920’s and 1930’s Mexico and the Southwestern United States, it is a community centered comedy/variety/sketch/news type show that has an aim at creating the most equitable rehearsal and performance process possible. The goal of the project is to be able to create a process in which we can present shows monthly that speak to topics relevant both locally and nationally. We are currently building community through creative brainstorms and skill building workshops offered by local theatre and comedic artists. I am very motivated by this project because I think this has the potential to turn into a very important creative outlet as well as a safe space to have critical intergenerational conversations through the art of comedy.

Right now I am moved by the show Reservation Dogs. Its ability to center the narratives of young people then seamlessly weave the elders in and remind us the importance of intergenerational conversations and growth. It’s just so good! And it’s funny!

I am super excited to get to work with a collaborative of local artists from a variety of mediums such as poetry, fashion, multimedia and puppetry on a developing TYA play about a young Jean-Michel Basquiat. Right now we’re in the research phase but we’re really excited about the potential.

Because the revolution begins with the youth.

Shout out to Anthony Runfola from the Magik Theatre for bringing me out to work on The Hero Twins. I love that you just trust me and my crazy ideas. Somehow it always works out.

Shout out to my fam and community. You keep me humble.

I’m on insta at @ricky.araiza.

This year has been amazing! Two shows developed during the pandemic finally blossomed into productions. The HULA HOOPIN’ QUEEN by Thelma Lynne Goodin with illustrations by Vanessa Brantley-Newton was co-commissioned by Imagination Stage and Childsplay. This inter-generational celebration of  family, community and friendship tells the story of young Kameeka, who is determined to defeat her friend and rival to be the Hula Hoopin’ Queen of Harlem’s 139th Street!  Best memory this year? After the standing O. for the performance at the TYA/USA Conference in March – the audience streamed out onto the terrace of the Tempe Arts Center for a mass hula-hooping party. Filled with squeals of delight, we picked up hoops and had big fun! Sadly, the really cool production of GIRAFFES CAN’T DANCE (based on the book by Giles Andreae & Guy Parker-Rees, co-commissioned by The Rose Theatre and Bay Area Children’s Theatre) was the last for BACT. Though BACT leaves a legacy of exciting TYA theater, their closing reminds us we can’t take the gift of a wonderful TYA theatre for granted.

Walking with Little Amal! I’m overjoyed to be a volunteer with Opera-Matic and the Chicago International Puppet Festival in their creation of a spectacle performance with Little Amal! This 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old-Syrian refugee girl is walking the world to inspire hope and raise awareness about the journey that many refugees experience.  She’ll be in Chicago in October but touring the US through November.  If she’s in a city near you – I hope you are able to be graced by her presence!  As she towers over crowds, the artistry mesmerizes, but even more powerful is how she speaks to our humanity. Check out the Walking With Amal website to get to know her and for dates!

Wow! Both an upcoming project and a dream— literally is DREAM, QUICKIE! DREAM! Opening in October, this co-commission between First Stage and the Marcus Center in Milwaukee is Inspired by the life of Green Bay Packers/Dancing with the Stars champion Donald Driver. Though petite, because he was fast, from the time he was a toddler, Donald was called Quickie. The play is fueled by a series of children’s books by Donald, interviews with him, and his autobiography DRIVEN. We meet Daddy Donald as a tired, frazzled new dad desperate to survive the night with a crying baby who refuses to sleep. When Quickie, his younger self, comes to his rescue—together they journey through stories of childhood challenges and triumphs which soothe his new son and help reaffirm for all how to dream big. DREAM, QUICKIE! DREAM!

In my play BLU, Blu is an outrageously special, strong but fragile, brilliant, artistic child who suggests, “Maybe, it’s important not just to see art—but to be art!”  To me, children are works of art in the best way! They are amazing, unique, complex, wonder-filled, joyous, fearful, courageous, surprising beings. When we link them to the world, to our past, to this moment via the power of story – they become timeless creatures who will journey into powerful futures. I write for children and for the child hopefully still in all of us. Being in artistic conversation with a child is like kissing the sky, swimming in oceans, and eating chocolate – all at the same time! Good for the soul!

Tough one! Like picking a favorite child! Soooo . . Children’s Theatre of Charlotte!  Several years ago, Adam Burke, the AD at CTC commissioned me to adapt Last Stop On Market Street! I was born in Henderson, NC, so returning to work in my home state was definitely a blessing, but I couldn’t imagine the joy I’d experience working with the CTC family. The rich collaborative process birthed work I’m very proud of and that continues to have a life in many other theaters. Since then, I’ve directed the second production of my play My Wonderful Birthday Suit at CTC, both for a great fully staged pandemic Zoom production and the following year for live audiences. I look forward to collaborating with them next year in a to-be-announced project I’m very excited about.

Playwright Suzan Zeder is a national treasure! Her talent, intelligence, clarity of purpose,  generosity of spirit, wit, large laugh, plays and leadership have defined the modern TYA landscape, touched the lives of thousands of children, and educated highly-skilled TYA practitioners. As current chair of Childrens Theatre Foundation of America, she guides others to speak to TYA excellence and equity in service to young people. Early on, I met the dynamic duo of Suzan and her husband Jim Hancock in a whirlwind of week-long summer classes at Northwestern where they changed my perspective on writing for both Big Folk and Little Folk. Many thanks, Suzan and Jim!

To reach out, please use gloriabondclunie@gmail.com.

I just saw a wonderful second production of “Arthur & Friends Make a Musical” (that I wrote with my brilliant composer pal Brett Ryback) at The Rose Theater in Omaha. It premiered at First Stage in Milwaukee last season and it’s thrilling to see it succeeding out in the world. I was also smitten with Imagination Stage’s production of our Nate the Great musical this past summer.

I always have music on when I work. Often I’m playing the demos for a current show on repeat, other times I have 20th century classical playing, Vaughn Williams, Barber, Debussy, etc. Though when I’m with my youngest child, which is often, I am getting a full indoctrination into all things K-Pop. I’ve also recently been reading a lot of essays by favorite twentieth century authors: Eudora Welty, James Baldwin, etc.

Brett and I are hard at work on a new TYA musical, this time collaborating with Broadway playwright and Pulitzer finalist (and one of my favorite playwrights), Will Eno. The musical is an adaptation of “Lilly and the Pirates” by Phillis Root, a book I first read eight or nine years ago. It combines a story of a young girl overcoming her fears, a swashbuckling pirate adventure, and a message of the importance of books and libraries. We have a first draft and a score, and will workshop this January as we develop it with First Stage and Orlando Family Theater. This is both my upcoming project AND my dream project.

I think it is the most important art we can make. Instilling empathy, building community, improving literacy, and a hundred other things; it is impactful in ways nothing else can match.

And there is nothing as fun as watching one of your pieces perform for a school audience.

I love working with composers. Brett is an incredible collaborator; he not only writes great music, but he improves the lyrics tenfold, and always has a thoughtful I on how we construct a story. This is true on the current show Lilly, and also past shows including Arthur, Nate the Great, and Little Piglet Gets a Sister. The same is true for Danny Abosch on Goosebumps The Musical and Eric Nordin on The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors. I am in awe of what they do.

I’ve also written several non musical pieces with Joe Foust reimagining  classic tales like Robin Hood or Greek Myths with humor and contemporary social commentary. And now I am working with Will, which is pretty dreamy. When the collaborative process works right, the process is even more fun than the product.

My writing owes a debt to the whole playwriting faculty from my time in the MFA in Writing program at Spalding University in Louisville, KY. Larry Brenner, Kira Obolensky, Charlie Schulman, and Bruce Marshall Romans. Each one taught me different things, and I’m grateful for them everyday.

www.johnmaclay.com OR sjtheatricals@gmail.com