Casting Dos Coyotes: Seeking Carlos. 30s, male, Hispanic

Casting Dos Coyotes, a full-length play about privilege, home, and escape from “prosperity.” Performances at Manhattan Repertory Theater, 303 W 42nd Street, NYC, March 19, 20 and 24.

SEEKING

Carlos: 30s, male, Hispanic; solid, protective.

Piper: 20s, female, Caucasian; idealistic, energetic, courageous.

Send pix, resumes, and links to coyotes@opprecht.net

Auditions by appointment. Rehearsals to begin as soon as casting is completed, schedule will be flexible, to meet the needs of the actors.

This is a non-union, non-showcase production, Dos Coyotes is part of the Manhattan Rep’s Winterfest 2011. Pays $10 per show.



Piper is escaping from a privileged life, Carlos is caught in the middle of his attempt to achieve American prosperity. They bond and help each other complete their journeys.

DOS COYOTES

A Play by Kurt Opprecht


A Mexican worker on the run from his present finds himself harboring a rich white girl on the run from her culture. Can they be each others’ coyotes?


It’s New Year’s Eve and undocumented Mexican worker Carlos Velasquez discovers a little something special in the recycling bin behind the store where he works; 25-year-old Piper Wills. Disenchanted with her privileged life, she has moved out of her home and into Carlos’s recycling dumpster.

Despite the fact that Carlos has been trying cross into the world that Piper is trying to escape, the two forge a bond as the night carries them into the new year. Like the “coyotes” hired by aspiring laborers south of the border, Carlos and Piper might be each other’s ticket across; but does their journey take them where they thought they were going?

Playwright Kurt Opprecht first conceived the story for Dos Coyotes several years ago in William Packard’s playwriting class at HB Studios in Manhattan. The script has since undergone two readings and at least three major rewrites, and benefited from participation in TerraNOVA Collective’s “Groundbreakers” series. It is Kurt’s first full-length play. One act plays of his include, “Devil in a Pink Slip,” “Parallel Universe,” and “Argentina.”

Kurt Opprecht is a writer and editor in New York City. He was an active member of Billionaires for Bush, and edited their book, "How to Rule the World for Fun and Profit" (Avalon Books). Kurt teaches writing at Gotham Writer’s Workshop, runs the Bananafish Writers Groups in NYC, and is a certified professional coach.

The son of a rocket scientist and a financial planner, Kurt was born and raised in Utah. He earned a degree in Philosophy at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and a BS in Communications at Southern Utah State. After several years in Tokyo, writing, acting and teaching English, he moved to New York, where he currently lives in the East Village.

Blog: www.Opprecht.net
Website: www.KurtOpprecht.com

Email: Kurt@KurtOpprecht.com
Office: 646 233 3567
Mobile: 646 784 4323

Twitter: @opprecht

NYTimes: Iraq War Ends!

A progressive group published a spoof edition of the New York Times and distributed it today throughout NYC. The paper, dated July 4, 2009, "reports" news of a world in which much of the world's ills have been solved, headlines proclaim "Iraq War Ends", "Ex-Secretary Apologizes for W.M.D. Scare", "Maximum Wage Law Succeeds", "Nationalized Oil To Fund Climate Change Efforts" among many others. It's a remarkable facsimile, right down to the advertisements -- the back cover is a full-page "ad" for military contractor, KBR, proclaiming its devotion to peaceful "solutions", hospitals, schools, sanitation and training. Well done.

The legitimate New York Times covers the spoof edition on their own site here: Liberal Pranksters Hand Out Times Spoof

New World Order

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Just like with the Bush years, sometimes our greatest fears are realized, and then some.

Joe the Plumber

(Lyrics mostly by David Bowie)

Joe the plumber
Went to the bar
A couple of drinks on the house an' he said
"Tell you who you are
if you nail me to my car"

Boy, thanks for hesitating...

The Sky IS Falling!

This isn't the story mommy read to me. But it seems more in tune with the times:

Note to a Friend in Boise, ID

Thanks for asking about the political climate here in New York, vis-a-vis Boise, where you say the Obama supporters are mostly "wannabe intelligencia and those who don't pay taxes." I spend a fair amount of time writing and demonstrating, so it's nice to just interact one-on-one about political issues. I often wonder what it is that has divided America so much.

From my perspective, our three biggest challenges are currently:

1 - The environment.
Our thin little biosphere is important to me, go figure. But we're treating it badly. It's MORE important than the economy, but business and personal interests seem to always give it second place. The vast consensus of scientist agree that human consumption of fossil fuels is the primary cause of a potentially catastrophic climate change. Furthermore, it's clear that fossil fuels will eventually run out. Let's change to renewable energy sources as fast as possible and stop talking about drilling and burning.

Also, besides energy policy, our government, on both sides of the aisle, seems to do everything to promote consumption of consumer goods on behalf of their precious economy, and on development in precious habitat when we need to scale back, for the planet's sake. Our consumption isn't making us happier.

2 - Economic opportunity for the bulk of Americans.
We seem to have left the bottom sector of the American economy in the dust. For the past few decades, the rich have gotten richer and the poor poorer in real dollars. I fear there is a growing class system in the US that is becoming more and more entrenched. We need money for education and grassroots programs.

(Incidentally: Why do the Republicans seem to say nothing other than "Tax Cuts Tax Cuts Tax Cuts" especially for the rich and for corporations and for capital gains? It clearly doesn't help the economy, and certainly not the poor.)

3 - The social fabric.
This is a less tangible issue, but we see it all over. The breakdown in civility and the ability to communicate. Television and the automobile have isolated us in our suburbs, malls and homes. Suburban America feels like a wasteland to me. I think we need to address the structural basis of our nation's alienation.

There are other issues that concern me very much, campaign finance, foreign policy and our nation's military/police buildup, including our huge prison population, mostly male. But these three above concern me the most.

I think what you were really asking me about is Obama, so I'll get to that - I like him especially because he seems to see the big picture. Long term environmental and energy policy, not just "Drill baby drill." Whole globe foreign policy for the 21st century, not just Iraq and "We must win." He seems to see the world optimistically, like I do. There is great potential out there, and it flows from courage and innovation and love, frankly. Not the fear, retrenchment and hateful words that I see so much of from the conservative side.

I don't see anyone really addressing issue number 3 above, but I feel the Republican party has completely abandoned numbers 1 and 2. Forget it with the environment, they are atrocious. And they seem to have no idea how difficult it is for the working poor to "make it" in America these days.

Again, I really appreciate your reaching out to me on this. Honestly, sometimes it makes me want to cry when I hear what middle America thinks about some of these issues. I hope I sort of went off in the direction you were asking about. If you can give me a feel for what the climate is out there in return, I'd much appreciate it. Just say what you feel, not what you think I want to hear.

Best,

Kurt

Who's Street? Our street! Wall St. belongs to the Billionaires for Bush

Some of my plutocrat friends, Filmore Barrols, Aila Lorditoverya, and Robin Eublind and I, thanking the hard working masses for the big blank check.

Time/CNN video of the Billionaires for Bush and others on Wall Street.