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Thom Dunn is a Boston-based writer, musician, and utterly terrible dancer. He is the singer/guitarist for the indie rock/power-pop the Roland High Life, as well as a staff writer for the New York Times’ Wirecutter and a regular contributor at BoingBoing.net. Thom enjoys Oxford commas, metaphysics, and romantic clichés (especially when they involve whiskey), and he firmly believes that Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" is the single greatest atrocity committed against mankind. He is a graduate of Clarion Writer's Workshop at UCSD ('13) & Emerson College ('08).

Oh, Boston, What A Character

Here's another video I made for the Huntington's upcoming production of Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire (previews start this Friday!). [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X_Yk1t_Q7Q]Following its successful premiere on Broadway last year, Good People is one of the most produced plays in the country in the coming theatrical season -- but we're the only theatre producing this Boston-centric play in the city of Boston itself. I spoke with the director (an Acton native) and members of the cast (one of whom is from Southie, another from Watertown) about the pressures and rewards of doing this popular new play in the city in which its based.  The general consensus seems to be that the city of Boston is in fact the central character of the play, a little bit of universal anthropomorphizing that I can totally get behind (and also feels very noir to me, considering the role that LA plays in the work of Raymond Chandler, hrmmmm....)

(Also, the playwright himself gave his public approval of the piece on twitter. And he's got a Pulitzer. Eat that, Alyssa Milano!)

Thommy on the MBTA

The first show in our upcoming season at the Huntington is the Broadway hit Good People by South Boston native David Lindsay-Abaire. The show tells the story of a struggling middle-aged single mom in Southie who loses her job and looks up an old flame (who got out of the Southie projects and is now a doctor living in Chestnut Hill) to help her out. It's a powerful, Boston-centric play that focuses on class issues in America in ways that are remarkably relevant to the country right now, and that frankly, aren't actually addressed that much in American theatre. But enough of that. Here's a little teaser trailer I put together for the show, chronicling the physical journey from South Boston (Corner of F and Tudor, to be precise) to Chestnut Hill on the MBTA, mimicking Margie Walsh's own journey in the second act of the play. Hear you me: it was a long ride.

(also, don't ever call me Thommy)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh03l2Ds2jU&w=480&h=270]

Good People plays September 14 - October 14 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre. AND, if you're under 35 (which I suspect most of you reading my website are...) tickets are only $25, and we've got a sweet party coming up on September 14, where your ticket also includes a live band and  free drinks after the show.

Good People Design Presentation

Over at the Huntington, we're gearing up for the start of our 2012-2013 Season, and the first show in the lineup is David Lindsay-Abaire's Broadway hit Good People, which tells the story of a single mom struggling to get by in South Boston who looks an old flame now living in Chestnut Hill. Here's a little video I put together of the design presentation at the first rehearsal, featuring director Kate Whoriskey and scenic designer Alexander Dodge. They've got a pretty exciting approach to bringing the streets of Southie to the stage (plus, Alexander's set models are meticulously detailed at such a small scale). Check it out: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=UUHKZbbNa2IRgasTR7D92ApA&hl=en_US]

Good People plays September 14 - October 14, 2012 at the Huntington's Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre.

Meanwhile, at my day job...

So when I'm not in rehearsals for / plowing through re-writes on TRUE BELIEVERS, I still, of course, have my day job to deal with (which has been incredibly supportive and helpful through this entire process, so hooray for gainful employment!). While our 30th anniversary season at the Huntington is now over (and what a successful season it was!), we're now busy gearing up for the fall and the start of our next season, which means lots of work (because it always does) but less immediate hard deadlines (which I guess is now...for now, until it's not). ANYWAY, here's a video I made of our Artistic Director, Peter DuBois, discussing the first show in our 2012-2013 Season, David Lindsay-Abaire's recent Broadway hit GOOD PEOPLE (conveniently set in good ol' South Boston). Check it out:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odPjupNifbM]