Update: Black List Live! Staged Reading: “1969: A Space Odyssey”
This happened on Saturday, June 14:
With a staged script reading of Stephany Folsom’s “1969: A Space Odyssey, or How Kubrick Learned to Stop Worrying and Land on the Moon,” we officially kicked off Black List Live! on Saturday night to a packed house of over 700 at the historic Los Angeles Theatre downtown. Thanks to all of you who turned out for this amazing night!
All photos courtesy of Robin Roemer Photography
Donning a replica Apollo 11 spacesuit to introduce the event, Franklin welcomed our talented cast — Jared Harris, Kathryn Hahn, Thomas Sadoski, Shannon Woodward, Clark Gregg, Rich Sommer, Aaron Staton, Lance Reddick, Troy Ruptash, Tessa Ferrer and Cooper Thornton — before turning the proceedings over to Stephany, who also directed the read.
Jared mastered the role of Stanley Kubrick (with an impeccable Bronx accent) opposite Kathryn’s fictional Barbara Penn, the plucky White House assistant who convinces the legendary director to fake the moon landing for NASA. Kathryn and Thomas Sadoski, as her NASA partner-in-crime Julian Scheer, had the audience in stitches, an effect bolstered by Mad Men duo Aaron Staton and Rich Sommer’s bickering Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Clark Gregg and Lance Reddick further cemented their reputations as authority figures with believable — yet still funny — renditions of CIA Director Richard Helms and Chief of Astronauts Deke Slayton.
Check out some of the reactions from attendees via Twitter:
@rmbsnik: Great event tonite @theblcklst @franklinleonard @shannonwoodward & the rest of the team.
@HumphriesTaylor: @theblcklst’s first Live Read of 1969: A Space Odyssey was fantastic! Highlight: @lancereddick saying, “Fuck off, Kubrick” as only he can
@MrRobinDFox: Loved tonight’s reading of 1969: A Space Odyssey or How Kubrick Learned to Stop Worrying and Land on the Moon. Great pick @theblcklst
Here are some via email:
Kevin: Thanks again for having us at the event this weekend! My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and it’s very exciting to see how TBL is expanding and finding new ways to expose scripts and writers. Very cool. Looking forward to what’s next!
Mark Lyons: The event was a great time and it’s things like this event and your contacting us that make being a part of the Black List website feel worthwhile and not just another dumping ground for aspiring writers to submit their work (and money).
Ben: I had a great time and I am highly anticipating the next event. The actors did a great job of really making the characters come to life. It was great to see how easily they were able to slip into the roles. The casting was excellent, and the venue was great (I hadn’t been to the L.A. Theater till last night.)
From Franklin Leonard:
I’ve wanted to do something like this in Los Angeles since we did our first Black List staged script reading at the Austin Film Festival in 2009. That reading — for Maggie Carey’s THE HAND JOB — was two hours incredibly well spent by the audience and, I’m told, a big catalyst in getting the movie made. Here’s hoping that the same will be true for Stephany’s beautiful work. Short of my own anxiety about putting on an event that did her script justice, I think I enjoyed the night as much as the audience seemed to, which was a lot.
Finally from screenwriter Stephany Folsom:
I was honored to be part of the first Black List Live! event. Actors I’ve admired for years brought my characters to life, and it was beyond thrilling to share a story that has only lived on the page with an audience. Movies will always be my first love, but there is nothing like the kinetic energy of live theater.
Trade reviews:
What a terrific event and so much in the spirit of the Black List to discover and promote great screenplays and their writers. I’m sure I speak on behalf of the entire Black List crew in thanking everyone involved in the evening’s festivities in particular the actors for their participation.
If you were lucky enough to attend, please take a minute in comments to share your impressions of the evening.
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