The seed for “Jackass Flats” was sown in Susan Batson's workshop in NYC.  (Susan was my mentor for years and is now acting-coach-to-the-stars: Nicole Kidman, Juliet Binoche, Tom Cruise...the list is long.)

I became a lifetime member of The Actor's Studio while I was writing “Jackass Flats” and I took the new piece to The Studio where great support came from such highly respected theater pros as Arthur Penn, Carlin Glynn, Frank Corsaro and others.

The first time I worked on the piece at The Studio (when it was called ”Wake Up, Lana Dee”) Paul Newman was the moderator.  It was awe-inspiring to look out and see Paul's ice-y blue eyes over the glasses perched on the end of his nose.  He, too, was encouraging and complimentary.
                                                                                                                                                                                                C.C.

Flyer for a 1994 performance of "Wake Up,
Lana Dee", the original title of "Jackass Flats",
held at the West Bank Cafe Theater.
Lewis Black was the inimitable emcee
for all the shows there.

At this point the play was only one act
and it all took place in the car.
We added the kitchen scene later.

For the West Bank shows, C.C. played "Kay" and
Elizabeth Rossa plaayed "Ginny."
At that point, the child character, Lana Dee,
was  played by a rolled up blanket with a wig on top,
a ‘ghost’ character. 

Then we were invited to perform the play at
The Byrdcliffe Festival in Woodstock and it
was a success. 

And around that time the play
won the Maxwell Anderson award
for the best unproduced play of 1995.

(... there are 3 MORE pages on this website!)