The McCroskey Memorial Internet Playhouse

How to Be Well Groomed Sample

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:54:17 -0700

If you were to ask Don or Sue, the protagonists in this picture, what the three most important things in life were, they'd reply: grooming, grooming, grooming. Of course, if you were to ask Don or Sue to name the the three states in the lower-48 that border the Pacific Ocean, they'd reply: grooming, grooming, grooming. This should provide viewer with at least some clues about Don and Sue's priorities. Still, mock if you like, gentle viewer. (And Larry and I do like). But if these kids had been in our last short, their cleanliness would have helped them survive the atmoic holocaust while the rest of us slovenly slackers sizzled. So laugh it up.

This video is a sample. Go to Rifftrax for the full version.

House In the Middle Sample

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:03:20 -0700

Once upon a time in America, our nation's dedicated paint and varnish salesmen spotted a hole in our nuclear readiness: poorly painted houses. Prevailing on the U.S. government to scare its citizens into buying paint, these patriotic peddlers ushered in a new era of tidiness. How did they do this? Open air atomic detonations, naturally. This is a sample. The full movie is available at Rifftrax.

Coming Unglued Live 5/16/11

Tue, 17 May 2011 01:26:10 -0700

Live Performance at Capitol Hill's Faire Gallery and Cafe of four of the short stories that appear in our new collection, "Coming Unglued". Peter Barlow's "Liberty Bell" is performed by Lezlie Moore. "Koba's Bad Cut" by an unknown author, is performed by Mike Bowers. "Final Dispatch From the Blue Moon Tavern" by Seattle's own Jake Ellison, is performed by Seattle's other own Bob Stahley. Finally, Natasha Grinberg's "The Kiss" is performed by the glorious Alice Bridgforth.

Order "Coming Unglued" at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, or special order it from the independent bookstore of your choice.

The Kiss Encore

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:45:17 -0700

An encore presentation of Natasha Grinberg's "The Kiss", which will be published in "Coming Unglued: Six Stories About Things Falling Apart" in May, 2011.

Velocity Encore

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 15:24:12 -0700

An encore presentation of Doug Heckman's "Velocity" which will be part of our upcoming collection, Coming Unglued, which arrives in bookstores in May.

An Interview with Doug Heckman

Mon, 4 Apr 2011 19:28:06 -0700

In April of 2009, Venice Buhain recorded this interview with writer Doug Heckman about his short story "Velocity", which is slated to appear in the MMIP's first short story collection, Coming Unglued.

Laura Riggs "The Street Corner"

Sat, 18 Sep 2010 00:36:27 -0700

Achille Boudion's father leaves him on a street corner in Paris and heads off to a mysterious appointment, so Achille uses play, memory, and a little shoplifting to fill the hours until his father's return.

Our reader for this story is Mike Bowers, who last appeared as Ari Fleischman in our recent production of "Denial".

MMIP Presents The Street Corner

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:03:29 -0700

Mike Bowers, last heard in our production of Denial, reads Laura Riggs’s new short story “The Street Corner”, a tale about a young boy whose father dumps him on a Paris street and orders him to stay while he attends to a mysterious errand.

Denial--A William Harford Documentary

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:51:35 -0700

Boulder, Colorado-based documentary filmmaker William Harford takes us on a tour of the life of Ari Fleischman, global warming skeptic, intelligent design booster, and Holocaust denier. Ari has lived his life in passionate pursuit of truths, seldom thinking of the consequences, but when his sister comes to tell him that his estranged father is mortally ill, Ari has to reckon what it's cost him to chase after truths that are, by any sensible measure, untrue. A story laden with ironies both cruel and funny, "Denial" will stick with you for a long time.

Denial credits

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:33:04 -0700

Meet the cast of Denial.

Denial Trailer #3

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:05:46 -0700

The third trailer for Denial, premiering Sunday, August 1st, right here at www.theinternetplayhouse.com.

Denial Trailer #2

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 12:25:07 -0700

This second Denial trailer gives a bit more of a taste of our new play. Hope it’ll tide you over.

Interview With William Harford, Documentarian

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:04:57 -0700

Interview 7/15/2010 with William Harford, director of the upcoming audio and film documentary "Denial". Mr. Harford joined Larry in WKPK's studios in Tallahasse to discuss the controversial subject of his documentary, the Jewish holocaust denier, Ari Fleischman. Special thanks to WKPK for allowing us to repost their interview.

Meet Ari Fleischman (Trailer #1)

Mon, 7 Jun 2010 22:39:11 -0700

The first trailer for our upcoming production, DENIAL, a documentary about one man's struggle to deny the undeniable and refute the irrefutable.

Will premiere August 1st, 2010.

MMIP Quarterly Reading Series III--Hard Times

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:59:11 -0700

Three short stories and three poems comprise this segment of our reading series on the theme of hard times: "Final Dispatch From the Blue Moon" by Jake Ellison; "Commune Number Six" by returning writer Natasha Grinberg; "Horace Eaglebottom and the Fabulous Deception of the Brown Suede Jacket" by Charles Musser; and "In Times Like This", "Thanksgiving", and "Sam's Song" by Canadian poet Changming Yuan.

Reading the stories and poetry for this podcast are Seattle actors Lezlie Moore, Colleen Robertson, Dan Niven, and Jim Snowden.

Strictly Kosher

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:23:43 -0800

Yankl is keen to open Manchester's first and only Kosher Pizza place. His daughter Rachel hopes to become an opera singer. Standing between them and their dreams are Yankl's callow assitant Ben and the persnickety rabbi who serves as Manchester's kosher inspector.

Cast:
Rachel: Lezlie Moore...Mrs. Goldblatt: Alice Bridgforth...Ben: John Roberson...Deborah: Lindsay Crain...Yankl, Rabbi H: Jim Snowden

Written by Atar Hadari

Directed by Jim Snowden

Best of '09

Wed, 6 Jan 2010 23:40:41 -0800

Though I enjoyed all the pieces we did this year, Felicity Bloomfield’s Blood still has to take the prize for the best short story we did this year, and Lezlie’s live performance at the Faire Gallery and Cafe on one of last summer’s hottest days amazed all in attendance, so here it is again. (Apologies for the fan noise in the background. There was no avoiding it.)

Incidentally, the MMIP is now sponsored by the good people at Audible.com, so if you want to pick up an audiobook from them, click through our site and you’ll not only get a great audiobook, but you’ll also help support the MMIP.

Strictly Kosher Live 11:2

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 13:31:16 -0800

This is a live performance of Strictly Kosher, a new radio play from the award winning and award nominated English/Israeli playwright Atar Hadari. A studio version of this play will be available in the coming weeks. In the meantime, enjoy this live show, performed at the Faire Gallery and Cafe in Seattle, Washington on November 2nd.

The MMIP Quarterly Series of Shorts Presents "The Kiss"

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:38:46 -0700

For our summer series, a love story set against the backdrop of a decadent Soviet Union: Natasha Grinberg's "The Kiss" read by MMIP veteran Alice Bridgforth.

Natasha Grinberg (natashagrinberg@yahoo.com) was born in the USSR and immigrated to the United States in 1980. Her short stories have been published in AIM, Duck & Herring, Cause & Effect, Amarillo Bay, Prick of the Spindle, Identity Theory, and other literary magazines. Her advice column appeared monthly in the Russian edition of Forward, 2001-2003.

Podcast Photo: Natasha Grinberg on the Farm. (She's on the Far Right).

MMIP Reading Series 8-17

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:47:27 -0700

Live reading of two short stories, including our selection for the Summer issue of the MMIP Quarterly Series, Natasha Grinberg’s “The Kiss”, and a special reading of Jim Snowden’s “Koba’s Bad Cut”, which can be found in bookstores nationwide in the current issue of MAKE literary magazine.

Alice Bridgforth, whom all of you know from GHOSTS and DIARY OF A SUPERFLUOUS MAN reads “The Kiss”; John Roberson, in his Seattle debut, reads “Koba’s Bad Cut”

MMIP Reading series Correction

Thu, 6 Aug 2009 01:05:29 -0700

It has come to my attention that the last minute or so of the video podcast lacked sound right at the end (about 1:06:55). So that you needn’t download the entire file a second time, I’m uploading the final minute, with the sound corrected. I’m also going to correct the larger file and upload it, backdated to the 4th.

I apologize for the mistake and any inconvenience it may have caused.

Jim Snowden
Editor, MMIP

MMIP Reading Series 8-3

Tue, 4 Aug 2009 11:19:35 -0700

Live short story reading at the Faire Cafe in Seattle. 1st MMIP Video Podcast.

Ghosts Act III

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 02:46:23 -0700

The Captain Alving Orphanage burns to the ground. Engstrand tries to use the fire to get his hooks into Pastor Manders. The secrets of the Alving house spill out, and their consequences land squarely on Helen Alving.

Ghosts Act II

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:09:48 -0700

Now that Helen knows that Oswald has made a play for Regina, she must work out how to explain to him the true nature of their relationship. But she soon discovers that she is not the only keeper of secrets in her house.

Ghosts Act I

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:38:26 -0700

Western Norway, 1881:

At the great country estate of the late Chamberlain Alving, his widow, Helen Alving, is consumed with the last minute details for the dedication of the Captain Alving Memorial Orphanage. Still, she's cheerful, because her son Oswald has come home from his artist's retreat to be with her for this important occasion. In the meantime, Jakob Engstrand, a laborer at the orphanage site, is visiting his daughter, Regina, to propose a new business idea to her.

Cast: Chris Shea (Oswald Alving), Alice Bridgforth (Helen Alving), Ashley Flannigan (Regina Engstrand), Bob Stahley (Pastor Manders), Michael Blum (Jakob Engstrand)

Ghosts Program

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:35:38 -0700

Program! Get Your Program! You can’t tell an Oswald from an Engstrand without a Program!

The MMIP Quarterly Series of Shorts Presents "Desert Ice"

Mon, 4 May 2009 03:10:26 -0700

Our final short story, "Desert Ice" takes us on a strange and wonderfully bewildering tour of both artificial sports and the artificial mechanisms couples sometimes use to maintain their hold on each other.

Aaron Heinzen has played Horatio in Hamlet, Tony Blair in Stuff Happens, and has done color commentary on television for Seattle's newest sports team, the Seattle Sounders FC.

The MMIP Quarterly Series of Shorts Presents “Velocity”

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:21:58 -0700

Doug Heckman's "Velocity" is the second story in this quarter's reading series. It speaks to those times when the teller of secret learns more than his confessor does.

Doug Heckman graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy and received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. His short ficiton has appeared in the Beloit Fiction Journal, Other Voices, Weber Studies, and other places. He lives in Omaha with his wife and child.

The MMIP Quarterly Series of Shorts Presents "Blood"

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:35:12 -0700

The MMIP's lead off story in its inaugural reading series is "Blood", written by Australian author Felicity Bloomfield and read by Seattle actor Lezlie Moore. "Blood" is a harrowing tale of young girl's struggle to survive and avenge her family in the midst of the the bloodshed of turn-of-the-century Timor Leste.

Felicity Bloomfield hails from Canberra, Australia. Her work has appeared in the Polish speculative fiction anthology "Nowa Fantastyka" and in "Big Pulp".

Lezlie Moore is a mother and an actress. She has been working in the Seattle area for two years and has done a little bit of everything from stage to film and commercial print to voice-over. Lezlie says that she "tries to commit herself to works like "Blood" which are meaningful treasures that she can share with her son."

Christian Science II, 8 (3)

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:01:47 -0800

Mark Twain reveals the identity of the Pastor Universal (hint: not a person). He also contrasts the profit margins of Science and Health with those of the Bible.