BEAUTY QUEEN TO OPEN THEATRE BOOKSTORE!

Have you guys ever been curious to know what became of Caitlin Upton and her adorably inane ramblings?  Yeah?  Me, too.  Well, I received an email in my inbox this morning and after reading it, it seems clear to me that the former Miss Teen South Carolina is opening Play by Play Theatre Bookstore.  Check it out:

Greetings!  
Welcome to a special “What’s Going On?” Edition of Play by Play Theatre Bookstore’s newsletter. I’m running into lots of “non-theatre” people who are very excited about the bookstore. It seems that everyone has a theatre “connection”, which is very exciting. So, if you are getting this newsletter, please pass it along to anyone you can think of with a theatre or performing arts “connection” - I’d especially like to reach educators, college students, and people who go to the theatre. Pass it on! And thanks.

My first clue that this email was written by Ms. Upton was her need to call this a “what’s going on” edition of the bookstore’s newsletter.  Unless there’s a future “finish this sudoku” edition, I’m pretty sure they’re all going to be giving us some version of what’s going on with Play by Play.  Also, her clear misunderstanding of how to use quotation marks is simultaneously dumb and awesome.  That’s a unique combo that seems to be pretty specific to beauty queens.  Let’s move on.

Lots going on in bookstore land. Here’s just a sampling:  -attended Midwest Booksellers Association trade show and placed our VERY FIRST book order!  -got all of the pesky details of insurance, phones, internet, etc. worked out.  -met with reps from several publishers and wholesalers - credit apps in - accounts being set up - opening orders being assembled.  -two book signings/author appearances in the works.

Bookstore Land.  Bookstore Land.

Oh, and we have picked a space, and hope to get the lease signed this week, and start moving stuff in, painting and getting it all ready! Location Teaser: We plan to have the lease signed and announce our location by the end of this week!!! We’ll send out a special edition so that newsletter subscribers are the VERY FIRST to know! Details coming soon - very soon!  (yes, this is a picture of the location. if you know where it is, please keep quiet for just a few more days….)

Keeping the location of your new business a secret in the very newsletter you’re using to create buzz seems like an odd choice.  I guess Ms. Upton is afraid some other theatre bookstore owner will swoop in and rent the space right out from under her nose.  As unlikely as that sounds, I’ll trust her with this one, and eagerly await the “what’s going on with our location” edition of the Play by Play newsletters.

Play by Play announces Table Read Book Club a monthly gathering, like a book club, but with scripts (but script club doesn’t sound as good) Read the script, or not.  Buy it from us for a discount, or not.  Be part of the discussion, or just observe…

Actually, I think ScriptClub sounds a lot better than Table Read Book Club…but that’s just me.  Anyway, to clarify:  you can belong to this book club and not read or say anything.  Just come and sit.  Ugh!  I’m probably confusing you.  Let’s get it straight from Ms. Upton:

Table Read Book Club is like a book club. It’s not like a table read. That’s just the cute name we came up with. Sorry if anyone is confused. So, you read the book, if you want, and then you come talk about it, or let other people talk about it. Questions? There will be snackies! You should come.

HINT:  This writing style is called stream of consciousness.  Apparently, it’s what small business loan officers love to see on your paperwork when trying to assess your potential risk.

There’s much more on the docket, but we don’t want to overwhelm you just yet. We’ll get an events page on our website soon.

Well, I’m excited.  The TC theatre community could really use a good theatre bookstore.  And if this email is any indication of how well the store will be run, it looks like we’ll have one for about 18 months.