Posted by Tai on February 22, 2009
That's Weird Grandma
Sometimes, in “That’s Weird, Grandma,” there’s a story.
Like all of the stories in the show, it is awesome and fun, and enjoyed by the performers and audiences alike.
But there’s something about it. Something that keeps it in the show week after week. Sometimes for months. Sometimes for years.
If you’ve been to the show before, you know about our voting system: at the end of each performance, the audience gets to vote for 2 stories they loved, and 2 stories they loved slightly less than the others. These ballots get fed into the Grandma-Tron 3000™, and they influence whether certain stories get taken out of the show rotation, or live to see another week. There are many factors that go into selecting which stories leave and which stay, but audience vote is weighted pretty heavily. So when a certain story gets an overwhelming amount of votes week after week, the director has little choice but to leave it in.
If you’re a longtime fan of the show, you may remember a little story called Kung-Fu Guys. Going further back, you may remember a little ditty entitled The Dog Was Dead. Each of these stories enjoyed an extended stay in TWG of two years or more. (The Dog Was Dead is possibly our most popular story ever—it was in the show so long that even after I moved away to Oregon for 2 and a half years and came back, it was still in the show. It was also performed at the TWG 5-Year Anniversary Show, at Theater on the Lake in 2005 AND 2006, and in our 2007 show at the Wilmette Theater. It’s also on our CD—perhaps you would like a copy?)
So, okay, where am I going with this? People, we may have another one on our hands.
A Bad Day has been in the show since August, and it’s showing no signs of leaving any time soon.
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Posted by Luke on February 16, 2009
Podcasts
Our first Podcast (Bomcast!?) is on our website!
It’s called, “The Haunted Piano” and was penned a couple years ago by one of our talented Loyola Park Students.
Laura Grey and I adapted the original performance during a monkey rehearsal a couple years ago.
It was difficult. We read it over and over and over.
One of us had to play the hilariously obsessed girlfriend and one of us the somewhat reserved “straight man” boyfriend.
WHAT WERE WE GOING TO DO!?
Finally, Laura had a brilliant idea.
“You know what, I’ll just play the girlfriend, you be the boyfriend, and let’s get working on this thing because right now we’re just talking in circles.”
It was a major break-through and after that, the adaptation process was cream cheese.
For this version, Mike Tutaj created some incredible “audio environments” and generally beefed it up a lot from the original.
Also, Mary Winn penned and recorded the sweet header and footer with the kids talking.
Do enjoy.
Posted by Heidi on February 15, 2009
That's Weird Grandma
Monkey-o-kee is tonight, but those of you who can’t make it still have plenty of chances to support the Monkeys! Including, of course, by attending TWG.
Two new stories this week, “Coat in the Fog” and “The Man Who Didn’t Know How to Eat”. Full running order after the jump!
This week we also welcome Rachel Wilson back to the cast, she takes over for Christina who is off to LA for a little while. The rest of the cast stays the same for 2 more weeks.
Full running order after the jump!
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Posted by Heidi on February 7, 2009
That's Weird Grandma
There are so many reasons to see this week’s show, I can hardly stand it.
First, all the students from our Loyola Park After-School Program are coming to the show. It’ll be great. A few of them have stories in right now, and it’s always really exciting to have a famous author in the house.
Second, the new stories are excellent. I say that every week, it’s true, and I always mean it (also true), but I extra mean it this week. First, “A Sad Man Named Boogie” features a football player who falls on the ground when trying to punch someone (spoiler alert: the Bears lose). The other new story, “Animales en Amor Peligroso Parts 1 & 2” I will leave unspoiled. Suffice it to say that it is two delightful dialogues.
Third, fan favorites the Dance of Yousaill and Going to the Party remain in the running order. Going to the Party has been in the show since July 2008, and Yousail since September 2008. Both keep getting lots of votes on the ballots each week, and don’t seem likely to leave any time soon. If you haven’t seen either of these stories, than it has really been far too long since you last saw the show, and you should get thee to the Neo-Futurarium!
Fourth, we will be giving away many free passes to a special February 12th screening of the new IMAX movie “Under the Sea 3D” at Navy Pier. You’ll want that, right?
Running order after the jump!
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Posted by Heidi on January 26, 2009
That's Weird Grandma
It’s time for another awesome week of “That’s Weird, Grandma”.
Acknowledging that the New Year has passed, the seasonal “Oh My God I Found My Sister’s Friend” is out, replaced by the beautiful “City Poem” and hilarious “I went to a splash party”.
We hope you’ll come join us. Full running order, as always, after the jump.
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