I was involved every step of the way, from the auditions through weeks of rehearsals, and the cast labored hard, something you’ll know without a doubt when you watch the play-and I truly hope you will, because their efforts deserved to be immortalized. They took a difficult story and gave it heart, and I’m forever grateful for having had the chance to work with them.Īnd I do mean work. And what I must say about this young, local cast is that those actors were simply brilliant. Their resources were limited, so the sets were spare, but this took nothing away from the power of the play because, like in the book, that comes from the characters. Second, it was a small Reno theater company who asked me to write the play and let them perform it.
I wrote the stage adaptation myself, so was able to maintain the integrity of my words. In case anyone here doesn’t realize it, I write novels-in-verse, which rely heavily on poetic devices, and a movie script would likely lose much of the language I spend so many hours creating. When we announced the release on social networking sites, some people commented that it should be a “real movie.” Without even seeing it, they used words like “disappointing” and “lame.”įirst off, I sincerely believe in many ways the stage is a better form than film for the book. Tomorrow, Monday February 2, a filmed version of the stage production of my novel, Crank, becomes available to stream or download, with all proceeds benefitting our nonprofit helping at-risk youth, Ventana Sierra. Thus, the rise of piracy-artists, in too many eyes, should provide their art for free. Young people are especially vulnerable to this and, unless they’re actively involved in these pursuits, seem to lack the understanding of what goes into producing art, whether literature, music, dance, theater, or film. Technology is wonderful, but the instant gratification it supplies has done much to distort the concept of creation. It’s a conversation often shared-mostly by artists. This got me thinking about the way art has become devalued. I sat in sheer awe of the talent and artistry, experiencing love, lust, loss, and humor, all through carefully constructed movements, countless hours spent perfecting. Beyond the sheer athleticism, each sequence is designed to draw you into the moment and elicit emotion. Now, having studied dance in my youth, perhaps I’m more aware than most of what goes into choreographing and rehearsing routines. I posted on my Facebook page that we were enjoying the evening, and one of the comments I got back was that she’d been to the show and it was “cute.” The word struck me as not only inaccurate, but almost dismissive. EllenhopkinsThe other night my husband and I went to a live performance of So You Think You Can Dance, featuring the top ten finalists from last season’s show.
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