Report from the "Red Carpet"

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franktangredi · #1 Post by **franktangredi** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:54 pm

I flew out last weekend to California to attend the 29th Annual L.A. Weekly Theatre Awards. (And, no, there wasn't actually a red carpet.) My play Galatea -- the same play being staged in Connecticut later this month -- was one of six nominees in the Best Playwriting category.

First of all, it was a great weekend. I stayed with my brother (former Long Island and current Los Angeles actor Bart Tangredi) and his wife in Burbank. Bart and Alisa are going through the adoption process -- in fact, they passed their home inspection on Tuesday, the day I left. I'll be getting a couple of new nephews at some point in the future.

As for the awards ... no, I didn't win. I didn't expect to win. I was quite sure I wasn't going to win. Yet, in that split second between 'And the winner is' and the announcement of the name, I must have had a moment of hope, because I felt a surge of disappointment. It lasted all of two minutes.

Because being there for the awards ceremony -- a fairly noisy affair, comparable to the Oscars only in terms of the badness of the jokes -- put the whole thing in perspective for me. There were 2500 theatrical productions in Los Angeles last year. Many of them were done by companies that have been there for decades, companies that get nominated for these awards year after year. We were a tiny production at a new company nobody ever heard of, doing their very first original play. And yet Galatea was strong enough to be named one of the six best new plays premiering in Los Angeles last year. If that sounds like boasting, it isn't. I'm trying to express how it feels to get that much validation. Every year, I feel more and more like a playwright. Not an aspiring playwright, a real honest-to-God playwright.

So I came away very, very satisfied.

Now, if only I hadn't flown back Tuesday on American Airlines. If only my luggage weren't still in Dallas. If only my car weren't still at JFK. If only my only set of car keys weren't in my luggage in Dallas. I'm seeing a locksmith tomorrow....

KillerTomato · #2 Post by **KillerTomato** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:57 pm

Repeat after me, Frank:

"It's an honor to be nominated!"

Congrats, friend!

kusch · #3 Post by **kusch** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:02 pm

Sorry you did not win Frank, but I am glad to see you had a great time.

Snaxx · #4 Post by **Snaxx** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:23 pm

Congrats on the nomination. Cool to get a staging reasonably close to home. Bummer about the luggage and keys. I've left keys in my checked luggage to speed through security, and must think twice about that!

.

silvercamaro · #5 Post by **silvercamaro** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:28 pm

This is all good, Frank, especially the whole airline/luggage/car-key fiasco, because when you do win a major playwriting award, you will have a great story to include in your widespread media interviews. You will win that future award, by the way, and the whole travel mess will have become funny by then.

In the meantime, I'm terribly sorry for your aggravation, because I know it's not funny yet. I'm also sorry you didn't win this award, but I'm so proud of you for the nomination. It presages the great honor that is headed in your direction. You are the best.

kayrharris · #6 Post by **kayrharris** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:31 pm

I say a hearty congratulations to MY favorite, honest to God playwright!
I'm glad you had the honor of being nominated, spending time with family that lives across the country and just having an over all good time.

I'm very sorry about your travel woes. I hope you eventually see your luggage. I'm waiting for and expecting an invitation to your next opening, which I'm hoping will be in NYC. As one of your oldest (in time...not age of course!) fans, I'm very happy for you.

peacock2121 · #7 Post by **peacock2121** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:47 am

Listen to Uday.

She is a smart lady.

nitrah55 · #8 Post by **nitrah55** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:17 am

Congratulations, Frank. The world needs more honest-to-God playwrights.

Good luck with the car and the luggage. Sic transit gloria tuesday, or something like that.

MarleysGh0st · #9 Post by **MarleysGh0st** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:31 am

Congratulations on the nomination and the experience, Frank!

franktangredi wrote:Now, if only I hadn't flown back Tuesday on American Airlines. If only my luggage weren't still in Dallas. If only my car weren't still at JFK. If only my only set of car keys weren't in my luggage in Dallas. I'm seeing a locksmith tomorrow....

I know it's a hassle emptying your pockets of everything metal for the security searches, but leaving your keys in checked luggage!?!?!?

franktangredi · #10 Post by **franktangredi** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:13 am

MarleysGh0st wrote:but leaving your keys in checked luggage!?!?!?

Well, I left my jacket in the luggage, forgetting the key was in the pocket of the jacket.

But, anyway, I just got a call. The luggage will be at my door in three hours! Yay!

Catfish · #11 Post by **Catfish** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:11 am

WoooooooooHooooooooooooooo, Frank!

About the red carpet and the success of the play, not about the bad things that happened.

Author! Author!

silvercamaro · #12 Post by **silvercamaro** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:27 am

It seems to me that we should celebrate the return of the luggage and the honor of the recognition for the play by forming a BB chorus to sing a rousing rendition of. . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
DANCING QUEEN!

Frank just loves that song.

franktangredi · #13 Post by **franktangredi** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:29 am

silvercamaro wrote:It seems to me that we should celebrate the return of the luggage and the honor of the recognition for the play by forming a BB chorus to sing a rousing rendition of. . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
DANCING QUEEN!

Frank just loves that song.

Now that I have my luggage back, I would dance to anything.

tanstaafl2 · #14 Post by **tanstaafl2** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:11 am

Congrats on the nomination and glad to hear the experience was a rewarding one!

Now repeat after me:

I will never, ever, put my car keys, house keys or anything else I actually want and need to arrive at my destination with (that I am not forced to check by the delightfully absurd and idiotic federal regulations) in my checked luggage...

ontellen · #15 Post by **ontellen** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:00 pm

Congratulations, Frank on the nomination. I still have copies of a couple of your plays and will show them to family and friends when I can say "I knew him when".

You truly have achieved the status of playwright.

ne1410s · #16 Post by **ne1410s** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:38 am

Let me repeat my congrats from the GC, Frank. Well done!!

silverscreenselect · #17 Post by **silverscreenselect** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:19 am

The important thing is....

Did you sign a film deal while you were there?

Are you going to write the screenplay yourself?

Is Bart going to star in it?

BTW, for those who don't know Frank's brother Bart has appeared on a number of TV shows and a few movies over the years. He's best known for playing Robert DeNiro's father in the films Analyze This and Analyze That (these are flashback sequences; neither Frank nor Bart is quite that old).

Congrats on the nomination and hope you had fun on the trip.

franktangredi · #18 Post by **franktangredi** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:01 am

silverscreenselect wrote:The important thing is....

Did you sign a film deal while you were there?

Are you going to write the screenplay yourself?

Actually, I had already signed the film deal. The guy who directed the play very much wants to make a movie out of it. I did sign an option several months ago allowing a screenplay to be written.

Will this movie get made? The odds are against it, since everybody in LA is trying to pitch a screenplay. But the director assures me that it's going to get done. He is passionate about the piece, and he's already proven to me that he understands it. I think it's in good hands.

As for writing the screenplay myself, I may try that sometime in the future. But for now, I'm happy to see what somebody with experience in that medium does with it.

MarleysGh0st · #19 Post by **MarleysGh0st** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:12 am

franktangredi wrote:
silverscreenselect wrote:The important thing is....

Did you sign a film deal while you were there?

Are you going to write the screenplay yourself?
Actually, I had already signed the film deal. The guy who directed the play very much wants to make a movie out of it. I did sign an option several months ago allowing a screenplay to be written.

w00t!

And we won't dwell on those long odds. This movie will get done!

Spock · #20 Post by **Spock** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:03 pm

congrats

WWTBAM Bored

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