Greetings from Sarasota, Florida, where I just returned from the final rehearsal of “We Are Still Tornaodes,” the play I wrote based on the novel by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen.

This production comes in the midst of a whirlwind of theatrical activity for me in Indy and I’ll admit that it’s a somewhat strange experience to be a guest rather than an active participant for a show I helped create.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m VERY pleased with what I saw tonight and I’m convinced audiences for this weekend’s four performances will enjoy it very much. The actors, guided by smart direction, are bringing fresh, vivid life to Cath, Scott and a world of unseen characters, finding its heart and truth.

Yes, I got choked up. More than once. And laughed quite a bit.

It’s an almost out-of-body experience to see it come to life without having my handprints on the production itself — particularly as I have two projects in the works that I’m directing. More about those later.

For this weekend, though, the most I’ll be doing is participating in post-show talkbacks, telling the story of how this gift of a project happened, how I met co-author Kun, how a galley of the book fell into my hands, how I begged to adapt it for the stage, how Butler University allowed me to create a unique semester-long workshop for it leading to its college premiere, how Broadway talent anchored an industry reading in NY, how the pandemic and a movie deal for the book put the kabosh on it, how a gutsy small company in Sarasota found out about the play, and how the talented team who wrote the novel — and the kind person who holds the movie rights — allowed this production to happen.

I hope to sleep well tonight (good luck with that) knowing that new audiences will be experiencing the story that Michael and Susan hatched and that I helped midwife to the stage.

If you are in Florida, I hope you can stop by Tree Fort Productions‘ production, directed by Katherine Tanner.

Sincerely,

Lou

P.S. Are you still a Tornado?