Posted by Lacy on October 17, 2010
That's Weird Grandma
TWG Weekly Update
Touring Performances
I remember when Mike Tutaj’s iconic adaptation of “The Dog Was Dead” first showed up in That’s Weird, Grandma. We could not believe the audience response.
Well, that’s a lie. We could believe it, because, come on. It was awesome.
The response, nevertheless, was unprecedented. Every week it got the most votes! And so it outlasted every other story in the show, staying in week after week, month after month. In December we did it wearing Santa hats. For Valentines Day we wore headbands with little heart antennae. In the summer we took it to Theater on the Lake. We finally retired it from the show - against the weekly vote landslide! - thinking that nothing would ever have that kind of staying power again.
And then… came “Magical Place.”
And it started all over again.
In fact, “Magical Place” is so darn popular, did you know that it’s the theme of Fancy Schmancy Benefit this year?
Did you know that this Friday night at Fancy Schmancy, you will see an unprecedented and extra-fancy presentation of “Magical Place?”
And most of all, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS???
It means that both “Magical Place” and “The Dog Was Dead” are in the Monday night show right now.
Holy vote explosion! Which one will get the most votes? Will it be the German expressionist fury of The Dog Was Dead? Or the sickening glee of Magical Place?
Well.
Hold on to your silly hat.
It might not be either one, because last week a new story showed up on the scene. And when the votes were all tallied, it blew The Dog Was Dead right out of the water. BJ’s aptly entitled “Dialogue: Suspense Thriller” took last week by storm.
So make sure to come this week, so you can decide for yourself which one deserves to reclaim (or ascend!) the throne!
Warning: Dialogue: Suspense Thriller already has a head start.
Check out That’s Weird, Grandma on Monday as a tasty appetizer to the Monkey feast that is Fancy Schmancy Benefit on Friday!
(You did know about Fancy Schmancy, didn’t you? It’s the special coupon code of the week.)
Runlist and stories below!
The Lost Gameboy
The Reporter and the Crazy Vets
The Day I Found Out I Had Ghost
The Shark that Chops
W-I-A-R-D
DOG by Flome, New Field
The Badest Day Ever
Dialogue - Suspense Thriller
Chair Argument (untitled)
Grannies lean like a cholo
Magical Place
Untitled (I am normal too)
Where I’m From (Underwater)
Cheerleaders
Daisy & Jimmy
The Dog Was Dead
Batman Saves the World
Posted by Rachel on October 11, 2010
School Residencies
We’re off, we’re off!
The fact that a day off from school actually feels like a break tells me we’re well into the school year. Normally, at this time on a Monday, I’d be at Loyola Park, helping the 9-10-year-olds in our after-school program create original superhero characters. And my first residency of the school year, Avondale, is already in its fifth week.
Last week was Dialogue Day, which means the kids get to suggest lots of characters for each other to play when they improvise scenes. Dialogue Day is easily my favorite lesson because it results in conversations like this one from Dewey last year:
ME: Would you rather play Invisible Girl or Nose-Picking Boy?
STUDENT: (after a looooong pause) They’re both good.
Yes, yes, they are both so good, but these are the decisions we have to make as artists.
Last week at Avondale, a girl wrote a dialogue between a girl and the monster who was about to eat her. She gave the girl a line that went something like this: “Wait, let me put on some makeup! A girl has to look her best before getting eaten.”
Who knows whether that gem will end up on stage? We’ll have to wait for November to find out for sure. It’s kind of beside the point, because kids in every single residency we teach write lines that goofy-delicious, and they make us, their teachers, laugh, and I think they have fun doing it whether or not they ever see those words performed on stage.
Posted by Luke on October 11, 2010
That's Weird Grandma
TWG Weekly Update
Woo Hoo!
New round of Columbus Day TWG goodness opens tonight.
Come see JFK meet his tragic end, despite the emphatic warning of a Whopper Jr!
Or come to witness two spooky classics- the tale of the Rocking Chair and The Day I Found Out I Had Ghost.
Password for $2 off at the box office is “I HAVE GHOST”.
Be at it.
Runlist and stories below!
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Posted by Amanda Farrar on October 6, 2010
That's Weird Grandma
School Shows
School Residencies
After School Program
Hello Blogosphere! I’m here to tell you about an amazing event that will be occurring very soon. For the past 9 years, Barrel of Monkeys has been presenting our Fancy Schmancy Benefit for the enjoyment of all and more importantly, to support our programming in under-resourced Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Park Districts. In order to truly embrace the nature of our writing residencies at the event, the theme of the evening will be “Magical Place”, based upon an audience favored story penned by Dulce H. from Columbia Explorers Academy* when she was in 4th grade. Read this story and so many more in our Story Archive!
Be amazed by the Magical Place that Fancy Schmancy will be at 7pm on Friday, October 22 at the Ravenswood Event Center, 4025 N. Ravenswood Ave. More info here! Purchase tickets or make a fully tax-deductible donation here!
The evening will be something like this. (But not quite.)
Fancy 10.5 from Barrel of Monkeys on Vimeo.
We are particularly excited about seeing Magical Place return to the stage after a year-long run and a four month hiatus during the live performance at the event.
Other highlights: New this year is a raffle for a trip for two to New York City to see Saturday Night Live! Includes round-trip airfare for two and two tickets to a live taping of SNL. Sorry to say that raffle laws prevent selling tickets online, but they are on sale weekly at “That’s Weird, Grandma” up until the drawing on October 22 - no need to be in attendance to WIN!
And! We are procuring some pretty incredibly unique and exciting auction items which we will tell you more about in future blog entries. Stay tuned, and monkey on!
*This school year will mark Barrel of Monkeys’ 10th Anniversary of partnering with Columbia Explorers Academy!
Posted by Luke on October 3, 2010
That's Weird Grandma
TWG Weekly Update
Sometimes in Barrel of Monkeys we throw around the term “new piece with words and movement.” Often we give an award at the end of the school year for “best new piece with words and movement” when someone has devised some new physical theater-y piece that’s sort of hard to describe or put in a box.
These pieces can be bizarre or exciting, as is the case with this week’s new story, Where I’m From (Underwater).
So, I will not try to describe it….you’ll just have to come see it or…experience it? It’s more of an experience.
Also this is the LAST show of this round, so many great pieces may vanish next week due to cast turnover.
Grannies Lean Like a Cholo??????
If you haven’t seen this one yet, you’ll wanna come this Monday! It MIGHT be it’s last week. I don’t know. I won’t be in charge of those decisions next week, Lacy will. But she has a phobia of rapping grandmas*, so I wouldn’t count on it sticking around….
It will all be glorious. You should stop in.
$2 off at the box office by simply saying “Starfish”.
Show list with story links below.
*unsubstantiated
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