Post 100: The Vagina Monologues!

The Vagina Monologues here in Red Bluff was a smashing success. Nearly 400 people joined us Friday Night to laugh and cry with our stellar cast. Their performance received a very well deserved standing ovation.

I want to thank Kelsey, Jessica, Brooke, Amy, Talia, Bree, Sonia, Beth, Lucy, Suzanne, Clara, and Melissa for their hard work and dedication. What a great team to work with. People loved it!

If you want to see more photos like the one above, please visit http://www.pbase.com/maxeys/vday2009 for the awesome photography courtesy of Tony Maxey.

Bravo, ladies--looking forward to V-Day 2010!

The Vagina Monologues meeting this week

Friends, our next meeting for the V-Day 2009 production of The Vagina Monologues will be this Wednesday at 6pm at the ATV office on Pine Street in Red Bluff. Message or respond for more information. We are having our first rehearsal prior to that, as well!

Youth Play Rehearsal

Our youth met for their weekly rehearsal for the new diabetes play this afternoon. They are split into two teams so that when we travel, we won't be taking the same group of kids out of school time and time again. This is being problematic, though as I have not had one full team here for the past 2 rehearsals, just a mix and match of the teams. Today neither of the actors playing one of the main characters was here, but we had two of the hero and two of the narrator in attendance. So frustrating.

I think the most fun part for them in this one is that they get to wear actual costumes in this one. Usually they are playing teenagers, so they wear regular street clothes. Otherwise our uniform is blue jeans and their black long sleeved theatre shirts. This play is a fairy tale, and we have an evil witch villain, a princess, a knight and medieval townspeople. However, this is more challenging for me, having to come up with, for the most part, two sets of medieval costuming. Our two knights are vastly different sizes, and the two mayors of the town are different genders, so it will be a challenge. The two witches and the two princesses are close in size, so that helps as theirs are the most specialized of costumes. Pictured is the princess dress.

A new grant

I submitted a new grant for my program yesterday. It is only$500-$1,000 but it will support our youth theatre program. We are focusing on diabetes education this spring, so we will need to pay for promotional items and other things to make the program even more dynamic. This grant is for obesity prevention, so this tied in perfectly!

Auditions for the Vagina Monologues

The auditions went great--we had some really talented and brave women come to try out. We have built most of the cast list, with just a few roles left, but our make-up auditions are Friday, so that should wrap that up.

The audtions were fairly hard, as the questions were a little personal: What would your vagina wear, what would it say, how familiar are you with your vagina...but everyone handled them with humor and did a really great job.

I look forward to the first read-thru next Wednesday, so that we can hear everyone's take on their character. Can't wait!

Stupid but Fun Movie, and V-Day

I watched The House Bunny tonight, which I was all prepared to hate. How insulting, transforming smart and unique women into vapid, playboy bunny wanna-bes, right? But it turns out that everyone learns a valuable lesson about being themselves, plus they look cute...well, it's all in the perception, I guess.

I also met with a group of ladies to watch the movie of The Vagina Monologues. All of us are on the Red Bluff V-Day committee, and most plan to audition and be in the show. It is really great, the number of women interested in being involved in the production. It is for a great organization, Alternatives to Violence, plus it is something that hasn't come to Red Bluff before. It is sure to be an exciting experience!

We ate chicken, mashed potatoes and some wonderful baked goods while laughing along with the movie, then talked about how we envision the show. It was great.

Local Theatrical Activities

Our community will host a production of The Vagina Monologues--and I'm directing it! I am so excited and nervous. We are auditioning on Monday, and so far we are getting a lot of great support from different groups and agencies.

Ashland 2008

I just got back from Ashland Oregon, and had the priviledge of seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream on closing night. The show was very imaginative and beautiful, and the fairies were essentially portrayed as gay disco dancers which I thought was really cool.

The weather was what I always expect when I go to Ashland--chilly and rainy. I always feel cheated when I go in the Summer and it is hot in Ashland. It just doesn't seem right!

We had salted caramel hot chocolate at Starbucks and enjoyed a chilly but relaxing political discussion on the porch. The hot cocoa is soooo good. I just love this drink. However, our political talk encouraged another pair to begin a discussion that was, well, racist at best and downright infuriating.

We again ate at the Standing Stone Brewery, and enjoyed some hearty salads with grilled chicken and some honey cream ale, which was quite tasty. I just really enjoy the atmosphere.

We stayed at a really dumpy Econolodge, really run down, not terribly clean, etc. They did have a free breakfast with a waffle bar, but as I am insulin resistant, I cannot eat such sugary foods. It was nice to have a steaming cup of coffee as we had to leave pretty early.

I look forward to next season and enjoying a new set of plays and more great food in this cute little town.

Youth Acting Workshop

As part of the build up to our Missoula Children's Theatre (MCT) residency week, the Tehama County Arts Council hosted a Youth Actors Workshop. On Saturday, nearly 30 kids in kindergarten through 6th grade joined us at the Tehama County Department of Education. The workshop leaders were high school students and veterans of MCT's past. They hosted a series of theatre games in an effort to build confidence and teach some audition skills.

The event started off with a game of charades, which started out as just an activity to pass the time, but as the children arrived it became an excellent icebreaker, and an opportunity for the kids to start getting on stage. Then they were split into 3 groups and participated in creativity games, movement exercises, and volume and enunciation. The youth leaders were great, patient, informative and very supportive. They also were very clear about the possibility of not getting cast in the play, and that they should not be discouraged, but to try again the next year.

I am thrilled to be a part of any opportunity to encourage the arts for children, and loved that this was a youth driven project! We will definitely pursue this project again next year--some of the kids there would like to see it happen every weekend!

Missoula auditions for this year's production, The Wiz of the West are Monday, 4/21 at 3:30 at the Vista School gym. Performances are Saturday, 4/26 at 3pm and 7pm.

Ashland part 2

During my last trip to Ashland, culinary experiences were nearly as important to me as theatrical ones. I took my brother (the other theatre geek in the family) with me, for our almost annual trip together. We had lunch one day at Pilaf, a spectacular poly-ethnic restaurant. I particularly enjoyed the Mediterranean selections, including fabulous pita bread and hummus, and so many of their selections are vegetarian, and so healthy. Really tasty food, and my brother, a confirmed meat-and-potatoes person, was satisfied. The restaurant was closed for a while, but their website says that they will be back up and running.

We had dinner at Standing Stone Brewery. That was fantastic, despite the long wait to get a seat. The atmosphere was exhilarating, with live music, beer brewing paraphernalia adorning the walls and the noisy, talkative clientèle. We had a beer sampler, a cute tray of shooters containing their 7 brews, arranged from lightest to darkest. Their Honey Ale was sweet and refreshing, and my favorite, though the stout was particularly interesting, strong and complex. That was my bro's favorite. The food was great, too. He had buffalo burger, and I ate yellow thai curry. Both dishes were strong enough flavors to really stand up to the beer.

We had another lunch at a little deli on the main drag, but I forgot the name of it. Its a shame, since it was such a great little place. We had hearty soups and some really tasty sandwiches made with excellent bread and cheeses. Attached was a little culinary shop featuring hard to find spices and condiments, a wide selection of wines and other treats.

In the next installment: What else to do in Ashland

Ashland

I am practically salivating to get to go to Ashland and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this year! I want to see their Midsummer Night's Dream. It is difficult to justify the travel costs, the membership and the tickets when everything is so expensive and I am struggling to save money and pay down debt, but Ashland and OSF really rejuvenate my spirit.

Last year I saw The Rabbit Hole, a beautifully done drama about a family coping with the accidental death of their toddler son. It was heartrending and funny, and the tragedy was dealt with in a very real manner, and with a light touch rather than being over the top. It was staged in the New Theatre, which I love. It is so intimate that it makes me feel like we are in the know, we are part of the action. I have always loved black-box staging. The first show I saw there was Macbeth, and it was brilliant! They pared it down to bare-bones, with a mere 6 actors in the cast, no set besides a round stage with a blood pit at the center, plus thrones and other items brought on as needed. It was staged in the round, so actors entered and exited right next to you. During fights, actors would dip their hands into the pit and mark their opponent with blood. No weapons were used, just the pantomime and the blood, but it couldn't have seemed more realistic. It was magnificent.

We also saw On the Razzle last year in the Angus Bowmer Theatre, and I must say, I was a little disappointed with it. It was a farce, with mistaken identities, crooks on the lam, and young lovers trying to elope. All the makings of a great comedy, but it just felt hollow to me; it was over the top with the acting (yes, I realize a farce ought to be over the top--this was cloyingly so) and overdone. The set, I must say, was magnificent, as were the costumes. I just didn't really enjoy this show.

More later on my Ashland favorites!