Posted by Heidi on March 9, 2009
That's Weird Grandma
Another awesome week of “That’s Weird, Grandma” is on order for tonight. You will, of course, like it. This week we introduce “I am a dog”, a hilarious argument about how dogs should get to wear clothes too. Performer Dixie Uffelman may have described it as a moving parable about class struggle…or it’s a funny story where dogs wag their behinds. You’ll have to judge for yourself.
By the way, you would already have heard that comparison if you followed BOM on Twitter.
Full running order after the jump!
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Posted by Rachel on March 5, 2009
Company Members
Podcasts
Over the summer and fall, we lost a few good men. I wrote a post about Eric and Jonathan’s last school show at the time, and no, I still can’t deal.
When John Dixon left, it wasn’t such a clean break, more of a . . . “checking out the New York scene,” “probably be back in a month or two,” kind of a thing. Maybe he wanted to let us down easy . . . maybe he’s really not sure . . . he’ll come back to us . . . one day, one day . . .
(Hey, wait a second! How John left, that’s a lot like how it sounded when Lauren Sharpe left, and she just got cast as a New York Neo-futurist. Hmmmm. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the Monkeys are happy for her, but . . . but no. This post isn’t about Sharpe. That wound is still too fresh.)
This post is about the men who are featured, together, even in their absence, in our most recent podcast, “My First Girlfriend” by Tyberius W., from, that’s right, that storied Chalmers show.
See, we won’t let them leave. We recorded little parts of them . . .
The voice-of-an-angel Silverberg part . . .
The mad-genius-composer Mastro part . . .
And the “shoot, that boy can rap” Dixon part . . .
(The faces of the spellbound children in this photo have been blurred to protect their privacy—OR MAYBE they’re blurry from trying to keep up with the AWESOME! Dixon’s face has not been blurred to protect his privacy. He can’t keep up with his own awesome.)
Silverberg, Mastro, and Dixon each recorded their parts—individually—in the days before they left town. Przygoda played some guitar, and . . . he stayed. We’re still trying to figure out how this song works. Its powers. Its limits.
And Mike Tutaj FUSED them all together with the magic of DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDING and MIXING and RADIOACTIVE LIGHTNING BLASTS!!! Or something. He did that thing he does.
Then, long after all the other parts were recorded, Christina, and Dixie, and I huddled together between some curtains and eggcrating in Mike Tutaj’s hallway, and it was hard to get around the curtain if you needed to use the bathroom, and we only had one headset for a lot of the time until Christina thought of using her iPod headphones, and our MEN HAD LEFT US! OUR MEN!
It was an emotional time.
We recorded our back-up diva parts in harmony with the robotic shadows of our frontmen. And that’s how you get a song about lost love. Oh, Tyberius, we feel your pain! We’re right there with you!
Posted by Rachel on March 4, 2009
Just wanted to share a few Monkey-verse links.
Young adult novelist Varian Johnson (My Life as a Rhombus, A Red Polka Dot in a World Full of Plaid, and coming soon Saving Maddie) checked out our podcast, and now he can’t get “My First Girlfriend” out of his head.
Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler are featured in the latest American Theatre Magazine. Find out all about the Internet musical they’re developing, Boyfred.
And did you know that we’re one of the 101 things for grandparents to do in Chicago? That’s right. Coming to TWG makes you look hip in front of your grandkids AND provides a kindly reminder to be careful when walking near pools, even covered ones.
Posted by Heidi on March 2, 2009
That's Weird Grandma
This week is the first of what we at the office call “Round 5” of TWG. Basically from your point of view that means:
a) There’s a new cast!
Erick, Alex, Meredith, Tom, Dixie, Curtis and Rachel join returning cast members Brandon, Philip, Tai, Mari, Rani and Donnell.
This is a delightfully large cast after last round’s very talented small cast. Extra kudos to Philip who was the only musician for the last six weeks, and since it was his first time in the show he had a lot to learn and did it well. Erick and Curtis will join him on the keys this round.
b) There’s a new director!
Our lovely Artistic Associate Molly Brennan takes the directing reigns from Artistic Director Luke Hatton for the next five weeks. Luke will be back for the *matinee run* starting in April.
Of course, there are also new stories. “Kung Fu Princesses” makes it’s TWG debut and “Grandma” makes it’s first appearance since 2004. Don’t worry long-time fans, “Going to the Party” and “A Bad Day” are still in the run.
You will like it!
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Posted by Heidi on February 23, 2009
That's Weird Grandma
Only one new story this week. We bid a sad farewell to “A Cold Day” after several months (optimistically I like to think this bodes well for the weather) and welcome the delightful “How the Pitbull got its name”.
Never fear ardent fans in the front row, A Bad Day and Going to the Party are still in. See below for more on the awesomeness that is A Bad Day.
This is also the first week of a new promotion with Leona’s. I can’t get the logo to upload correctly (sometimes the internet is complicated), but if you bring in your program on the same day you see the show, you’ll get a free bruschetta. Delightful!
As always, full running order after the jump!
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