Posted by Alexis on August 14, 2011
Company Members
For my latest entry in the Know A Monkey blog series, I interviewed the wonderful Joseph Schupbach to find out all about his new job as BOM’s Education Coordinator, why he loves Chinatown, and what he’d rather do than be an underwater welder.
Tell me about the Education Coordinator position - has it existed before?
Not in its current form - so it’s new to me and new to the company. What they did is they essentially split Elizabeth Levy’s job (Program Director) into two because there’s a lot of new and exciting programming that we’re working on for the strategic plan.
So what will you be doing?
Essentially my job is supervising and facilitating the in school residencies. I’ll be maintaining the relationship with those schools; I’ll be supervising the teacher corps and the lead teachers.
What’s the hardest part of your new job?
I’ve only been doing one part of it so far, because it’s the summer and we’re not really in schools right now. So I’ve been working really hard on our big assessment project and processing evaluations.
Read more
Posted by Molly on August 6, 2011
That's Weird Grandma
TWG Weekly Update
Marika Mashburn, BOM Company Member, shares with us her actor’s journey into the creation of her award-winning performance of “Daisy” from “Daisy Never Learned”, a current story in That’s Weird, Grandma. Supporting actress Elizabeth Levy, and male lead Tim Soszko give amazing performances as well.
“Daisy? Daisy. Forget it.” These words haunt me, echoing through my brain like so many footsteps down a lonely corridor.
My name is Marika Mashburn, and I originated the title role from Daisy Never Learned, a heartbreaking tale brought to us by Vanessa M. from the Little Village school. I remember the day we adapted this staggering and gut-wrenching story. So many questions arose. So few answers. Why couldn’t Daisy see Jimmy, the boy who’d given her his heart? Why wouldn’t she answer? And why, oh why, did she never learn?
We are reminded of the timeless classic, Romeo and Juliet, another fable that is fraught with conflict, regret, misunderstanding and, eventually, peril. Daisy loves Jimmy, her Romeo, but so many things stand in the way of their young adoration. When he speaks, she cannot hear. When he stands right next to her, she cannot see. There are busses. However, unlike Romeo, Jimmy gives up on his true love without a moment’s hesitation. He barely tries to get her attention in the schoolyard before abandoning her for the teeter-totters. On graduation day, Daisy has dressed in her very best yellow skirt—a nod to the color she wore when they first met—but Jimmy won’t walk the five to seven feet to gently guide her to pick up her diploma. Even on the day of their marriage, when Daisy is blinded and confused by the bright lights and overwhelming emotions, Jimmy simply lets her walk away, with nothing but a nonchalant “Forget it.”
“Forget” Daisy? How could you, sir?
I am also reminded of a challenge given to us by one Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone. “You’ve got to prove your love to me.” Jimmy: if you truly love Daisy, as you say you do, you mustn’t simply “forget it.” You must prove it. Or else, it seems you will be the one who never learned.
To witness this heartbreaking performance, join us for That’s Weird Grandma, Monday, August 8. For $2 off your ticket, whisper “I will never forget it” to Kassi in the box office.
Posted by Amanda Farrar on August 4, 2011
Company Members
Alexis (aka Ali) Chardon has been volunteering for Barrel of Monkeys for over a year working on various marketing projects, including interviewing staff and company members a blog series called “Know A Monkey”! (Keep an eye out for an interview soon with our new Educational Coordinator, Joseph Schupbach.) Thus, I have decided to begin a “Get to Know a Monkey Volunteer” series. It was only appropriate to begin with the amazing Ali! Please, enjoy getting to know her as much as I have.
AF: Ali, tell me a little bit about what you do in your day-to-day life.
AC: I am a lawyer. I work at a small law firm in Chicago where we do commercial litigation.
AF: What is that?
AC: Well, it actually means a lot of things. A lot of times it will mean contract disputes between companies. We also do a lot of antitrust work at my firm.
AF: Yeah. That’s great. So what brought you to the Monkeys to volunteer?
AC: I was looking for something outside my sphere, to do with some of my mind and some of my free time, something I thought would be helpful but was also interesting to me because as much as I enjoy being a lawyer, it can be a little bit insular in terms of that world. I had a friend named Dixie Uffelman—who I still have! She’s not a past tense friend! —who is a Monkey and so I’ve been to see “That’s Weird Grandma” over the years and just found myself sort of overjoyed every time I’m there.
AF: And how do you and Dixie know each other?
AC: Dixie and I know each other from the way-back machine when we were about juniors in high school. We went to a semester high school program in rural Maine where we lived in cabins and went to school with forty other students from around the country. We had a band together, which was fun, and which makes sense if you know Dixie because she can sing. Makes no sense if you know me, because I can’t. But while chopping wood one day we wrote a song together and a band was born.
AF: Awesome.
AC: I think we just had one song.
AF: Alright, what is the song that you wrote while you were chopping wood?
AC: It’s called “I Don’t Need a Man”, and the other thing you need to understand is we were chopping wood with a maul, which is a kind of axe. Unfortunately no one understands our song because the chorus was “I don’t need a man, I don’t need a man at all. Girl, who needs a man when you’ve got yourself a maul? I don’t need no man to chop my wood, I’ve got a maul that’s twice as good. I don’t need a man at all.” And no one seems to know what a maul is outside of our semester program, and they think we are talking about the place where you go shopping. Totally different meaning!
AF: Amazing. So have you written any songs since that time?
AC: That is the last song I’ve written. I used to love creative writing as a kid and I was a creative writing major in college. And that’s one reason why I’m drawn to Barrel of Monkeys. I don’t do it anymore. I write all day long but it’s … well, hopefully no one would call it creative.
AF: There is a sort of creativity that goes into it.
AC: You’re right actually. Creative legal arguments. But fiction should be staying out of it. So, yeah, it’s definitely something I miss in my adult life and something I really enjoy being around. You know, the Monkeys have their…there’s some kind of door that shuts at some point for a lot of us when we’re done in school with all the classes that kind of foster writing and creativity but the Monkeys kind of kept that door open. And for that reason they’re all a little bit closer to that side of themselves.
AF: That’s interesting. Do you remember anything that you wrote as a child that stands out?
AC: Yeah! I do remember this one…I wrote what I thought was a very long story about a cricket. And I have no idea what the cricket did, but it was epic! I mean it was like, he had adventures and it lasted several several pages of a legal notepad. I wonder what happened to that story. I was actually more into writing poetry as I got older – in high school and college. But for some reason I studied fiction writing.
AF: So, Ali, this is one of my favorite questions that you ask people: if you were a policeman in Chicago, how would you travel around and why?
AC: I would be a horsecop. Like, I would be a horsecop, a horsecop, a horsecop. There is no question, I want to cry when I see those animals they make me so happy. First of all, I love working animals. I love working animals. Like at the airport, German Shepherds, don’t even start! I think it is just so clever—to use any animals in the first place, and I love horses, and that these horses are so well-trained. They can have bikes whizzing by them, they can have little yapping dogs at their feet, and they just, I don’t know, it just gives me pride to see these guys. I guess horses calm crowds, people see horses and they just…
AF: Oh!
AC: Yeah, I didn’t know that. And I just think you’d be like, a cowboy/cop…
AF: That would be pretty cool. Yeah, you don’t mess around when there’s a cop and a horse. You don’t. Because they’re terrifying animals in some ways, just because of their size.
AC: So, yeah that’s what I’d do.
AF: Great, I love it. That’s fantastic. What has been your favorite thing about volunteering for Barrel of Monkeys?
AC: Just in general, I think one of my favorite things is feeling like I’m some small part of it, like helping when I go to the fundraisers or a show I can take a little bit, a little small piece of pride that I’m involved in something. I am so moved by “That’s Weird Grandma” when I go see it that you know, you just feel good when you’re a part of it too, some little cog in the wheel.
AF: Great. Do you feel that door in yourself opening a little bit?
AC: (Sighs.) I think need to go to some more shows.
Posted by Molly on July 31, 2011
That's Weird Grandma
TWG Weekly Update
Molly Brennan, current director of That’s Weird, Grandma, interviews Laura McKenzie, Monkey Music Master and composer of TWG’s new Opening song.
MB: How did you get in the song-writing business?
LM: I never ever ever EVER thought I would write songs. Really. I started writing theater and it just so happened that everytime I tried to write a play, a song always showed up. So working with Barrel of Monkeys has been the perfect mix! (Also, my secret dream until just this moment where I blurt it out is to have Alicia Keys sing one of my songs. Do you think she would sing a song about two girls looking at a pooping dog?)
MB: I do. How many original songs have you written for BOM school shows?
LM: You’d think I’d know the answer to this—but I have no idea. My guess would be anywhere from 15-25.
MB: Is there a favorite, or one that sticks in your mind that you can tell us about?
LM: I’d hate to hurt any of my song’s feelings, but it would be hard not to mention “Gotta Stop The Fighting”. I got the “Importance of Being Earnest” award for that one. And that’s a pretty big deal because I’m rarely earnest. I’m usually writing songs about bunnies being conjured out of toilets (Bunny Madness, another fave).
MB: How did the new TWG Opening Song come to you?
LM: In the shower. That’s where all the magic happens.
MB: Did you have help?
LM: Absolutely! EDD (Erick Deshaun Dorris) and Curtis Williams and I got together a couple of times for some “sessions”. What we did at these “sessions” no one will ever know. I will know. Nobody else will know. Not even EDD and Curtis know.
MB: Were they really help or are you just being nice?
LM: I’m never nice.
MB: Me either.
LM: It was really fun collaborating. I figured writing a new opener was a big deal, and I thought it would be a fun experiment to try collaborating with some fellow monkeys who at one point or another expressed interest in creating a new opener. Also, I thought having a couple of different points of view would come in handy because then if someone didn’t like a line or a phrase I could say “Curtis did that” or “EDD wrote those lyrics”.
MB: What reality-TV-worthy conflicts broke out among the musical creative team?
LM: There was a lot of crying, for sure. A lot of confessing and secret meetings at cafes that were oddly empty in the middle of the day. But the biggest moment was THE HUG. I won’t go into too much detail here, but let’s just say in a moment of unbridled joy at what we had just created, EDD (notorious for never hugging NOBODY) delivered an impromptu side-hug that had us all crying and dancing and eating chocolates.
MB: How would you describe the style of the number?
LM: Sexy/educational.
MB: For those who aspire to be piano playing songwriters, what advice can you give on writing opening numbers for Barrel of Monkeys?
LM: Practice. Listen. Live. Practice the piano for yourself. Listen to other people play the piano. Live life by taking in new adventures— experience is inspiration!
Come see That’s Weird Grandma at 8 p.m.
The secret password is “EDD Sidehug”. Say that to Kassi at the box office and you’ll get $2 off your ticket price!
Posted by Molly on July 25, 2011
That's Weird Grandma
TWG Weekly Update
We had two days to do an almost complete cast changeover from Grandma 8 to Grandma 9. Luckily, Philip Markle and Emjoy Gavino were able to stick with the show, in addition to the irreplaceable Maggie Fullilove-Nugent, and their combined dynamic presence in the room kept us on track. Look for a new man on the keys: Caleb Probst joins Emjoy and Philip on rotating piano duty. His acting chops cannot be denied, and I’m delighted to have him step back into a role he originated: Bowser in “Vampire, Alien, Superbaby, Bowser”. Dynamic duo Matt Miller and Michelle Alba, the former a senior Company Member and the latter one of BOM’s new recruits, will surprise and delight in their Karate Kid/Mr. Miagi take in “Show Day”. The unmistakable voice of Marika Mashburn rings out in a number of singing and narration parts, and her nearly silent “Daisy” in “Daisy Never Learned” is a delightful turn. There’s a new “Sally” in the form of Zoe Schwartz, and Ms. Schwartz sports some sweet action moves in “Stupid”. Tom Malinowski, no stranger to the “Grandma” stage reprises his role as himself in “Hospital for Ninja” as well as interpreting some more eccentric characters including Serial Killer Squirrel and Sebastian. The physical comedy star with the booming voice Tim Soszko’s Duck knocks it out of the park, Tai Palmgren surprises with his 90’s grunge ballad prowess, and Barrel of Monkeys’ Program Director Elizabeth Levy steps out of the office and into the spotlight to bring her spark to “Piranhas Should Not Exist” and others. This cast of extraordinary Chicago Talent will bring the Monkey to Grandma 9 through August 29. We hope you’ll join us!
Take $2 off your Ticket by saying the Secret Password at the Box Office.
The Password is: “Do you have any nachos?”
