New Yorkers, learn how to write comics!
Now back from my West Coast mini-vacation with my uber-lovely wife, I'm hitting the ground running. For those curious, we are not attending San Diego Comic-Con this week but in our absence expect one or two announcements about forthcoming projects (no hints - yet)!And once all of that is done, I'm happy to announce that I'm putting together a comic book writing workshop in New York City next week! The Screenwriters' Collective has asked me to come in and do a seminar on how to turn your idea into a comic book. The details are:GRAPHIC NOVEL WRITING SEMINAR & NETWORKING HOUR BAM! POW! BOOM! HOW TO TURN YOUR IDEA INTO A COMIC BOOK The NYC Screenwriters Collective is happy to present Graphic Novel Writing with Anthony Del Col. With the success of the Marvel Studios films and TV series like The Walking Dead blazing trails in pop culture, comic books have never been bigger. And comics are not just superheroes these days - it’s everything from historical drama to romance. But what does it take to write a comic book series? Acclaimed comic book creator Anthony Del Col (IDW Publishing’s "Kill Shakespeare") teaches this seminar on how to turn your ideas into a comic book. He will address the process behind the creation of a comic, how to write a comic book (it’s not just word balloons!), how to navigate the industry, and everything in between.
WHEN: Thursday JULY 16th -- Seminar 6:30p-8:00p, Networking 8:00-10:00pmWHERE: At the People's Improv Theater at 123 E 24th Street.Price: $25 discounted to $15 with NYCSC promo code. FREE NETWORKING EVENT. If you can't make the workshop, please attend our free Monthly Networking Evening 8pm-10pm...cash bar… located in the bar at the People's Improve Theater. Partnered with the M/E/T. Tickets can be purchased here. This is a non-profit venture - all funds go towards covering costs for the venue and event.So come on out!
Tickets available for Kill Shakespeare in New York!
I posted two weeks ago that Kill Shakespeare: Live Graphic Novel will be performed in New York in March of this year (March 1-5) and tickets are now on sale! If you'd like to purchase tickets (going for $15), you can do so at this link.And the official press release is here.
If you're in New York - go check out the show! It's an amazing cast and production company that really, really love the production. I may try to head down there myself to check it out too...
The Stage Show Returns Next Month!
It was just announced earlier this week that on Friday, November 22nd our KILL SHAKESPEARE: LIVE GRAPHIC NOVEL stage show will be put on in Kitchener, Canada. The opening night celebration of the G33K Art Show, the show will be directed and produced by the multi-talented Miroki Tong. From what Miroki's told us it's going to be an interpretation of the graphic novel like no others before it - it's going to involve some circus arts, illustrations and potentially some animation. Should be great!I will also be attendance at the opening night show (Conor will be attending the Miami Book Fair that weekend) and will also be appearing at the show on Saturday, November 23rd to sell/sign books and tshirts as well as conduct a Pitching and Marketing workshop for attendees.
If you live in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge-Guelph area and have not had an opportunity to see our show, please come out and check it out. It'll be great to again visit the K-Dub area, at which Conor, myself and artist Andy Belanger spent a good amount of time (Conor and I for university, Andy for his youth and high school years).You can purchase tickets by clicking on the poster.
Stage debut in Dubai!
I'm heading off to the second day of the Middle East Film & Comic-Con today but wanted to post this cast photo from yesterday's performance of KILL SHAKESPEARE: LIVE GRAPHIC NOVEL, which took place at the comic-con yesterday to strong audience reaction. Below are Conor and myself with the cast immediately after the show! More information to come.
Auditions begin for our LIVE STAGE READING in Dubai!
We are quite proud to know that this April will see the international debut of KILL SHAKESPEARE: LIVE STAGE READING. Backstage Dubai, the largest theatre company in Dubai, will be presenting the production at the 2nd annual Middle East Film & Comic-Con in early-April (April 5 - 6th) and then will play it the following week in the city.
Auditions begin next week for the production so if you know anyone in the area that would be interested in trying out click on the poster for more info.And we look forward to attending the show again this year to catch the show and again meet with fans and comic readers. (And this year we will make sure that we have more than enough books to sell, unlike last year when we were sold out before the show even began...)
Top Play of 2012!
It came to our attention earlier today that the Halifax stage production of Kill Shakespeare: Live Stage Reading (which played from Oct 30 - Nov 3 with Lions Den/Vile Passeist production companies) was named by The Coast's Kate Watson as the top play of 2012 in the city! Counting down her top picks, the production was listed as #1, stating:
"This was a unique theatre experience: A combination of projections from a graphic novel and radio-play-style dialogue. The engaging format coupled with an intriguing storyline made Kill Shakespeare a high point for me."
In addition, The Chronicle Herald also listed the production as one of the top twelve of the year, showing a great appreciation for Andy's artwork in the production. You can read their listing here.Congrats to the theatre companies, co-directors Dan Bray and Christine Daniels, the cast and crew, as well as our partner in the event, Hal-Con!
Kill Shakespeare is coming to HalCon and the stage!
Halifax has ALWAYS been one of our, if not our absolute, favourite shows on the schedule.
The combination of excellent organizers, a lively and interested crowd, and the hospitality Atlantic Canada is famous for makes it a winner in our books.This year we're going to be doing even more at HalCon than usual -- we're bringing the Kill Shakespeare stageshow!On Saturday at 3:45 PM Kill Shakespeare will be presented by the amazing Lion's Den Theatre in association with Vile Passeist. The two groups have banded together and have been rehearsing the show for almost a month.
Yes, a MONTH. And it isn't JUST because they'll be putting the show on at HalCon.Nope.No siree.You see THIS time around, Kill Shakespeare is going to step beyond the convention scene for THE FIRST TIME EVER.That's right, Kill Shakespeare is hitting the stage in downtown Halifax.
Kill Shakespeare at Bus Stop Theatre (2203 Gottingen Street, Halifax):
Tickets $20, $15 for students and anyone with their HalCon pass.
October 30th - 8 PM. Opening Night: stay for drinks and snacks with the cast, director and co-writer!October 31st - 8 PM Halloween Madness: Costumed guests pay student rate. Free lootbags! November 1st - 8 PMNovember 2nd - 8 PMNovember 3rd – 8 PMNovember 4th – 2 PM Matinee, 8 PM Closing Night/Trivia: Free K.S. swag for winners!We hope all of our East Coast friends will be at HalCon and can catch the free show. We'd also love it if you tweet and post about the Bus Stop theatre run.Better yet, come out with your HalCon pass and get a $5 discount and bring a friend who missed HalCon to the show.This is our chance to prove that comic culture and Shakespeare mix like chocolate and peanut butter!See you soon!Conor
See our Live Stage Reading in Montreal this Weekend!
Fresh off the enormous success of the presentation of Kill Shakespeare: The Live Stage Reading this past weekend in Tucson, AZ, we are back at it again! This Saturday will see us present our show at the Montreal Comic-Con. This is going to be our comic-con debut and we're excited about it!We are presenting our show this Saturday (the 15th) evening at 7:45pm in Room 510AC at the Palais des Congres (1001, Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle).It will be open to anyone that attends the Comic-Con that day and also, I believe open to anyone that would like to come. So yes, it's a free show! The convention ends at 7pm on Saturday so this is the perfect way to finish off the show that day!
We are really excited to be working with the Montreal Shakespeare Theatre Company on this production. They are a great company that does Shakespeare productions in various schools in Quebec and are really jumping on this show. They also put together a really cool production of Cobra: The Musical a few years ago (and a number of 'sequels') and Ace and Aaron, the two heads of the company, are raring to make this their best production yet.So spread the word - it's going to be a great show on Saturday!
Catch our stage show in Tucson on Saturday!
I posted about our upcoming stage show in Tucson just over a week ago but I wanted to post a reminder. Check out the US workshop debut of our Live Stage Reading this Saturday at Cafe Bohemia, part of the Arizona Theatre Company, this Saturday evening at 8pm! Details below in the poster for the event.I am also doing a signing at Tucson's Heroes and Villains the night before - this Friday (the 7th) from 5-7pm!
Signing at Tucson's HEROES AND VILLAINS next Friday!
While Conor heads to Decatur today to take part in this weekend's Decatur Book Festival, I am prepping for what should be an amazing experience next weekend. As already posted about, I am taking part in the Arizona Theatre Company's Cafe Bohemia performance of our Kill Shakespeare: Live Stage Reading show. The details for the performance are here (and below).The day before the show I will be appearing at Tucson's #1 comic book shop (as judged by the Tucson Weekly), Heroes and Villains, to do a signing. I'm quite excited about this - I've heard great things about the store and look forward to checking it out.
I'll be at the store from 5 - 7pm next Friday (the 7th of September) so if you're in the city/neighbourhood come and check it out!And don't forget our show on Saturday the 8th at 8pm at Cafe Bohemia!
The KS Live Stage Reading plays in Tucson next month!
We are proud to announce that our Kill Shakespeare: Live Stage Reading is playing next month in Tucson, AZ. The Arizona Theatre Company on Saturday, September 8th will be putting on our show as part of their Cafe Bohemia series. The show will be at 8pm and tickets go for $5. I will be in attendance at the show and am looking forward to checking it out!
This will be our first opportunity to put on the show in the U.S. (more dates to be announced) and it will also serve as a workshop reading on our revised script. I'm interested in seeing what the reaction will be.I'm also looking to set up a signing or two at a local comic shop whilst in the city so more details will be announced.I'm also looking forward to working with the team at ATC - associate artistic director Stephen Wrentmore, marketing guru Jennifer Spencer, manger Robyn Lambert, as well as local dramturg Carrie Cole. And a BIG thanks to Toby Malone for being the first person to mention our show to ATC - Toby is the best!
Summertime Scripting
It's a quiet time for us here in Toronto as we work on a number of Kill Shakespeare developments, of which we expect to make a number of big announcements in the upcoming month or two.
In the meantime, we took a quick photo of us working earlier today at the Young Centre (which houses Soulpepper Theatre) as Conor and I worked with dramaturge Toby Malone and director Derek Boyes on the script for our Kill Shakespeare Live Stage Reading (of which some announcements will take place in the coming weeks).
All the stage's our world!
I'm still on a high from this weekend.Still.This past weekend saw two performances of KILL SHAKESPEARE: THE LIVE STAGE READING and they were a smash! Our Saturday night show was standing room only and the crowd loved it. The Sunday matinee show went so incredibly smoothly and was a great way to end our weekend. The fans of Kill Shakespeare were treated to seeing a favourite book of theirs come to life while newcomers to our story became instant fans.
The only shame from this weekend is that we were unable to do any recording of the show - either video or audio. If we could have we would have already posted some images her on our site. Alas, 'twas not to be, and thus I do not have many photos to post here today.I have been working on this project with Conor for almost four years now and it was great to see our entire story come to life like it did. The show I felt when Rick Roberts manned the voice of Falstaff for his first appearance in our story - amazing. The crowd loved him. They laughed along with Falstaff, enjoyed the appearance of someone from Juliet's past, were dazzled by Falstaff and Iago's final appearances, and enjoyed Greg's take on our melancholy Dane.
My favourite moment, though - in both shows - was the balcony scene. This was one of the first ideas for a sequence when we first conceived Kill Shakespeare over eight years ago and in doing all of this work I forgot how cool a sequence it is. When the crowd started to chuckle and then enjoy the romantic moment, all of my original love of the scene came back to me in a big way. THIS moment is really what makes Kill Shakespeare for me.And I'm so glad that the audiences enjoyed it. This is why Conor and I chose to work on this project - to entertain audiences. And this weekend we did.There are so many people to thank. First off, Andy for his fantastic artwork and for putting together all of the slides for the show.
The entire team at the Young Centre and Soulpepper - Claire Sakaki, Liza Paul, Lisa Li, Katie Saunoris, T.J. Tasker - everyone. You were all a treat to work with and oversaw so many things for us.Thanks to those that assisted us this weekend - Ken, Christine, Ben, Christine at Balzac's and Spearhead Beer for sponsoring our premiere party.The actors themselves - Sarah (Lady M), Michelle (Juliet), John (Chorus, Shakespeare), Greg (Hamlet), Brandon (Romeo), Rick (Falstaff/Richard 3), Toby (Iago), Andre (Othello). You guys really brought our characters to life and you will leave a lasting impression on our work moving forward.Toby Malone is the dramaturge at Soulpepper and really helped us fine-tune our script into the 90-minute spectacle that it became. Thanks so much for being a fan of our story before even coming
on board this interpretation and guiding us throughout the process.The director for this show was Derek Boyes, who guided the entire ship with a strong eye and vision throughout. He included us in the entire process and was the one insisting that we be on stage with the entire cast.Thanks to Don Shipley for being the first person to reach out to us and put us in contact with the organizers of the festival.And finally, thanks to Albert Schultz, the artistic director at Soulpepper, for being a driving force in the Word Festival and helping to mentor us. Albert is one of the shining lights in Canadian theatre history (if you ask me) and has always been an inspiration for me; to now have worked with him is something I'm quite proud of.And now we move forward with the project, with many more achievements ahead of us...
Top o' The Morning
Conor and I appeared on Canada's GlobalTV The Morning Show earlier today to talk about Kill Shakespeare and our Live Stage Reading this weekend (tomorrow and Sunday!) at The Young Centre for the Performing Arts. It was a fun spot - it's rare to be able to have an 8-10 minute conversation on live television like that. Conor and I really enjoyed ourselves and chatting about the book, the reading, Twilight, inspiration, schools and everything else.To watch the interview click on the image below (thanks to Liz Cunha for emailing us some screenshots from her Blackberry).
See KILL SHAKESPEARE on Stage!
We are very happy to announce that we have formed a partnership with Toronto's Young Centre for the Performing Arts to present a Live Stage Reading of Kill Shakespeare!
On Sat, Nov 26th (8pm) and Sun, Nov 27th (4:15pm) we will be presenting a live stage reading of our epic story, which will combine comic art, performance and music to bring our comic series to life. The reading will be done by actors from Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre, and feature Andy Belanger's art from the series - and perhaps a cameo by Conor or I!Tickets for each show are $20 (with tax/service fees), or if you'd like to purchase four tickets you can do so for $59 (a 25% savings). You can access the box office here or by calling 416.866.8666.
We're really excited about the show. We did a table read last week with some actors - along with our director Derek Boyes and dramaturge Toby Malone - and it was so invigorating to see our characters and story come to life. It will be a show that Shakespeare fans, comic readers, and everyone else will thoroughly enjoy!
We Come to Praise Stratford
On Thursday of this week we will be doing a presentation and talk at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival as part of their TALKING THEATRE summer program. On a weekly basis they host a series of discussions and talks on the themes of the season.
Conor and I will be there to discuss our comic series and our take on the Bard. If you're near the Stratford area come by to visit us - we'll make you laugh, cry, sigh and be entertained. Click on the Stratford logo to see more about the talk and discussion series, and the program description is below.
They Come to Praise Shakespeare, Not to Bury Him Thursday, July 14 - 9:30 - 10:30am - Tom Patterson Theatre (Stratford, Canada)Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col discuss their controversial graphic novel series Kill Shakespeare – the series that takes the Bard's greatest heroes and most menacing villains and pits them against each other in a race to kill, or save, a mysterious wizard named William Shakespeare. The two co-creators talk about why they feel the comic medium is perfect for the Bard, and how their "mashed-up" storyline actually helps readers better appreciate Shakespeare.
A fantastic live reading!
This past Saturday, to celebrate the birth/death anniversary of Mr. Shakespeare, we worked with the fantastic folks at Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto on the first ever live reading of Kill Shakespeare. A number of their company actors did the reading and it took the form of a radio play set to the images of Issue #1 (broken down panel-by-panel).
It was a great event with a full crowd delving into our tale. Kudos to each of the actors involved - Albert Schultz (narrator), Mike Ross (a myriad of roles AND in charge of music and effects), Jeff Lillico (Hamlet and other various sounds), Nancy Palk (Gertrude, Witches, Lady M, dog), Kevin Bundy (Richard III, other sounds) and Sir Toby Malone (various roles) , who also happens to be one of our biggest followers on Twitter. Thanks to everyone else at Soulpepper - Claire, Noora, T.J., Greg, Grant and Peter for their help on the event.We unfortunately couldn't do any video or audio recordings of the event but we should have official photos in the next day or two and will post them once we do.
Sneak Peek at Spider-Man Musical!
One of the highlights of our trip to New York Comic-Con did not actually take place at the Con. On Friday we had the exclusive privilege of meeting Julie Taymor (Broadway's The Lion King, films Frida, Titus and Across the Universe) at the Foxwoods Theatre where she is in the midst of rehearsals for the musical Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. With a book by Ms. Taymor and Glen Berger and music by U2's Bono and The Edge, it's a highly anticipated production years in the making (including a reported inflated budget of $50M, huge compared to even most Broadway musicals) .
Ms. Taymor was gracious enough to give myself, Andy and Conor a walk-through of some of the intentions of the production. We were not able to stick around for the tech rehearsal but the set designs that we were able to see were amazing. Andy immediately declared "Ditko!" when we saw them - they are heavily influenced by Steve Ditko's designs.
The other cool thing is the acrobatic work that they are aiming to do with the production. Spider-Man (to be played by British musician Reeve Carney) will be actually flying with a series of ropes and will actually be able to fly to the balcony. I found it very Cirque du Soleil and really impressed me. If they're able to pull off what they aim to do it'll be quite the spectacle.
As a huge fan of musicals I'm looking forward to the production to see what the final product will be like. In the interim, perhaps I should begin to brainstorm ideas for a Kill Shakespeare musical...
Shakespeare, Ontario
Conor and I were invited to attend the opening night of "The Tempest" at the Stratford Festival two weeks ago. The show, directed by Des McAnuff and starring Christopher Plummer, was quite good (a very unique interpretation of Ariel with great casting).Along the way we stopped in a small town called Shakespeare, Ontario, and couldn't resist taking a photo by the sign...