valentine?s day  
       
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      Topic: valentine?s day
       
      Posted By: denise
       Subject: valentine?s day
       Date Posted: 5/24/05 at 10:02pm
       
      
        
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I'm looking for a romantic/romantic comedy script for less than 8 people.  It will be performed off-site, so it can't have a complicated set.  It's to be performed around valentine's day and should run less than 90 minutes.  I'd be happy with a classic or a modern piece, non-musical.  Help! 
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  Replies: 
       
      Posted By: denise
       
      Date Posted: 6/17/05 at 11:39pm
       
      
        
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Ouch.  This is brutal.  I'm getting desperate here.  I know V-day seems like a long time away, but I need to plan ahead, get a script approved, find crew and beready to host auditions by the first of the year.  Proposing and getting approved will take two months right off the bat.  Help me out here! 
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      Posted By: Kathy S
       
      Date Posted: 6/18/05 at 2:35am
       
      
        
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 Barefoot in the Park?  Or what about a grouping of one act plays that center on a romantic theme?  
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      Posted By: casey05
       
      Date Posted: 6/18/05 at 3:17am
       
      
        
          
	
How about Butterflies are Free, by Leonard Gershe. It only needs four
actors, is romantic (about a girl and a blind man falling in love ...
it was made into a movie with Goldie Hawn) and only needs a simple
setting - an apartment in the sixties.  
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      Posted By: tristanrobin
       
      Date Posted: 6/18/05 at 7:44am
       
      
        
          
	
how modern of a romantic comedy are you looking for?
 
 "Beyond Therapy" by Christopher Durang
 "Love! Valor! Compassion!" by Terrence McNally
 "Prelude to a Kiss" by Craig Lucas
 
 are all romantic comedies that we've had success with - 
 however, they're all contemporary and, heh heh, not for the 
 faint-hearted    
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      Posted By: Topper
       
      Date Posted: 6/22/05 at 11:10am
       
      
        
          
	
Two well-known musicals by Harvey Schmidt and 
 Tom Jones borrowed their romantic storylines from 
 original stage plays.  "The FourPoster" by Jan De 
 Hartog is the play from which the musical "I Do!  I 
 Do" came.  
 
 Likewise, "The Romantics" by Edmond (Edward?) 
 Rostand is a classical play from which the musical 
 "The Fantasticks!" came.  It should be in public 
 domain.
 
 "84 Charing Cross Road" from the book by Helene 
 Hanff and written for the stage by James 
 Roose-Evans spawned the musical "She Loves Me" 
 and served as the inspiration for the Tom 
 Hanks/Meg Ryan movie "You've Got Mail."
 
 "Love Letters" by A.R. Gurney is very charming and 
 extremely simple to produce.
 
 Best of luck!
  ------------- "None of us really grow up.  All we ever do is learn how to behave in public." -- Keith Johnstone
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      Posted By: Shatcher
       
      Date Posted: 6/23/05 at 10:20am
       
      
        
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 I agree about Love Letters. Pretty much no set is needed. 
  
A theatre here in town does a show each year for V-day. they get local playwrites to submit scripts and then pick the best ones and put them together for the show. Each piece is between 10 and 20 minutes long. the show sells out every year as soon as tix go on sale.  
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      Posted By: tristanrobin
       
      Date Posted: 6/23/05 at 9:43pm
       
      
        
          
	
for the record - "She Loves Me" was written quite some time 
 before "84 Charing Cross Road" ... I'm kinda sure that it's based 
 on "The Shop Around the Corner" and the subsequent musical 
 version with Judy Garland "In the Good Old Summertime."
 
 Some of my absolute fondest memories is directing "She Loves 
 Me" - it's a monster of a score (SERIOUS singers and 
 musicians are required) - and the set can be cumbersome until 
 you work it out (we ended up with a revolve) - but, my! it's just a 
 jewel box of a play. 
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      Posted By: ronophonic
       
      Date Posted: 6/24/05 at 12:28am
       
      
        
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 ROMANTIC COMEDY 
6 RMS RIV VU 
SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR 
TWO FOR THE SEESAW 
  
  ------------- ronophonic
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      Posted By: dougb
       
      Date Posted: 6/24/05 at 11:17am
       
      
        
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Anyone know what ever happened to the script for "The Shop Around The Corner"? 
It was written by Miklos Laszlo and made into a movie in 1940 starring
Maureen Sullivan and James Stewart.  I have been looking for the
script for years.
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      Posted By: tristanrobin
       
      Date Posted: 6/24/05 at 1:53pm
       
      
        
          
	
I don't think it was a play, was it? It was a novel by Laszlo - and 
 then the filmed version was re-made into a musical for Judy 
 Garland ("In the Good Old Summertime") and it was remade 
 into a different musical a few years ago ("She Loves Me")
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      Posted By: Gaafa
       
      Date Posted: 6/25/05 at 12:50am
       
      
        
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 I like the idea, which Kathy S suggests, of getting a couple of 1 Acts & dovetailing them together. Possibly under a generic title on the marquee - using the same cast! 
On the other hand why do something romantic? Do a 180 & have something sinister &/or a comedy, instead of the mushy hearts & flowers! 
Have a different St V?s production. Like something that might get the blokes to attend as well!  
  -------------       Joe
 Western Gondawandaland 
 turn right @ Perth.
 Hear the light & see the sound.
 Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} 
 May you always play 
 to a full house}
 
 
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      Posted By: Topper
       
      Date Posted: 6/25/05 at 1:23am
       
      
        
          
	
I love Gaafa's idea.  You could even re-enact the Al 
 Capone/Bugs Moran St. Valentine's Day Massacre.  
 THAT oughta get rid of any sentimental mish-mosh.
 
 A version of "Dracula" might be a treat.   "Instead of 
 giving your heart flowers and candy, why not garlic 
 and a thick stake?"
 
 PS to all who wrote in:  You're right, I was confused 
 about the origins of "She Loves Me."  As the man 
 who purchased orthopedic shoes said, "I stand 
 corrected."
 
 Both "84 Charing Cross Road" and "The Shop 
 Around the Corner" involve romance, bookshops and  
 letters to some extent.  "Shop" became a movie with 
 Jimmy Stewart in 1940, while "84" became a movie 
 with Anthony Hopkins in 1986-something.
 
 But hey!  While we're on the subject, how about a 
 little-produced chestnut that also became a movie 
 with Jimmy Stewart?
 
 "Bell Book and Candle" has romance, bookshops 
 plus the added macabre twist of witchcraft and 
 sorcery.  Not your typical Valentine's Day fare. 
 
 The play was written by John Van Druten who also 
 wrote the play "I Am a Camera" which served as the 
 basis for the musical "Caberet."
 
 I love the Green Room!  You learn something new 
 every day!
  ------------- "None of us really grow up.  All we ever do is learn how to behave in public." -- Keith Johnstone
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      Posted By: POB14
       
      Date Posted: 7/01/05 at 5:48pm
       
      
        
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 Shop Around The Corner is a play, but it's called Parfumerie and it is in Hungarian.   
How do you feel about: 
Any Wednesday (cast of four) 
Barefoot In The Park, or just about any of the Neil Simon "Suite"s 
Seems to me that romance works better in a musical.  I'm having a hard time thinking of straight plays that fit the bill. 
  ------------- POB
 Old Bugger, Curmudgeon, and Antisocial B**tard
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      Posted By: tristanrobin
       
      Date Posted: 7/01/05 at 6:49pm
       
      
        
          
	
I agree - Bell, Book and Candle is a delightful play.
 
 Unfortunately, it was made into a very un-delightful film - and I 
 think the boring movie keeps audiences away.
 
 Gillian in the play is a vibrant, exciting, feisty, plucky fun 
 character - but in the movie - that gorgeous Kim Novak is 
 simply one looooooong yawn.
 
 I saw one production of this play (many years ago now) in 
 which the magical spells were accompanied by lighting and 
 sound effects - and the whole thing was hysterically funny. It's 
 also much sexier than the film was allowed to be. 
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      Posted By: NickH.
       
      Date Posted: 7/02/05 at 3:15pm
       
      
        
          
	
By the way, the play on which the Fantastics was based is called The
Romancers, by Edmond Rostand, the author of Cyrano de Bergerac. It's
available from Samuel French, and it's royalty free.
  ------------- If all the world is a stage, what am I doing in the wings?
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      Posted By: denise
       
      Date Posted: 7/20/05 at 3:22am
       
      
        
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Wow, I've been very remiss about checking for answers.  I got discouraged there for awhile, but you guys have been awesome!  Thanks ever so much for all the great suggestions.  I guess I'd better get reading.  Thanks again!
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