Posted by Amanda Farrar on April 5, 2011
That's Weird Grandma
Company Members
In the continuing build up to the big show, the 10-Year Anniversary performance of “That’s Weird, Grandma” at 7pm and 9pm on Monday, April 11, 2011 (get your tickets soon - tickets are already half gone), company members continue to remind us of the fantastic stories both old and new!
Artistic Director, Luke Hatton, had a heck of a time picking from all the gems of stories from the last 10 years, made even more difficult having to figure in 2 from every year TWG has been happening, and taking into account the 40 (YES - 40) Monkeys who are performing. I think that may constitute more than one barrel…
Amazing company member, Jen Johnson, shares her epic ideal 10 year show with us!
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If I could make a show of Barrel of Monkeys sketches, all with the original players, this would be it. It would be a really long show. It would need an intermission. We would need to serve popcorn. And beer.
If you don’t know some of the stories, look them up in the story archives!
Snowman from Pluto
The Museum
Funny Bunny
Scarf Lady
The Knowheres
The Dog Who Loved Water
Big Smelly Garlic
Homeo and Rulilet
The Bear With Steel Wings Tells About Opposite Day
Trapped in the Hospital
Bad Car
Two Friends
The Magic Pincil
Thomas and Yemesse
Super Cut Man
Spikey Bones and Rose
Toothless Beaver and Broom
Be Careful What you Say! (Goldy Horse)
Battle for the Light
The Tiny Door in the Back of My Closet
If Chocolate Was Free
Bob and His Neighbor
Mr. Bones
The Women Rampage
Book of Secrets
Bunny Madness
I Believe Everything Needs to Be Chocolate
Tragic Fireworks
There was Nothing
The Red River
He Wrestled a Bear
The Two Girls With There Dog Cookie
Cat Castle
I am the Floor
The Boxer
Joshua and Mariah
Dirty
Sammy the Eel
Posted by Amanda Farrar on March 31, 2011
That's Weird Grandma
Company Members
You may have noticed some of our wonderful company members posting their wish list of runlists for the 10-Year Anniversary performance of “That’s Weird, Grandma” at 7pm and 9pm on Monday, April 11, 2011 (get your tickets soon - tickets are already half gone)!
Artistic Director, Luke Hatton, had a heck of a time picking from all the gems of stories from the last 10 years, made even more difficult having to figure in 2 from every year TWG has been happening, and taking into account the 40 (YES - 40) Monkeys who are performing. I think that may constitute more than one barrel…
Anyway, amazing emeritus member, Kristie Koehler Vuocolo, shares her utopian 10 year show with us!
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So here’s my dream runlist with how I’m feeling on this particular day. NOSTALGIC. So most of these picks are from the first couple of years of TWG. When it was a hot “LATE NIGHT SHOW.” Mondays at 9pm…now that was BRILLIANT MARKETING! :)
1. I AM CELINE DION
Matt Miller Oscar-worthy performance of the Diva herself…complete with an air lift of our tiny co-founder, Erica Rosenfeld.
2. ROGER AND HIS 24 GIRLFRIENDS
Roger swears this is only funny because Austin Powers was popular back then. But I’ll take Roger Ainslie over Mike Meyers any day!
3. THE GEEK
This one really illustrated the power of what we do. A kid wrote a one-sentence story called the Geek. Here it is: “I am a Geek. The End.” We turned it into a 30-second powerhouse opera starring our Turkish star, Selen.
4, THE DOG WHO LOVED WATER
Ahh, I remember it was like yesterday. Twas the middle of the afternoon. Jonathan Mastro as the dog, makin’ love to some H2O.
5. JOSHUA AND MARIAH
We turned this one, about a wife going into labor and her husband taking her to the hospital, into a rap, Fresh Prince style. Here the kid is brilliant… commenting that Mariah had to drive faster to the hospital because her water just broke.
6. THE EXPLODING CHEESEBURGER
(Not sure of the real title, but Jonathan Mastro was the exploding burger and was trying to get a date…Jimmy Durante style, TYPICAL.)
7. THE MUSEUM
Molly Brennan serves up the line, “Would you like some “eyeball ice cream?” and “That was the end…OF CINDI AND DAVID.”
8. MY DOG BISHOP
Lisa Barker introduces us to her dog, Bishop. WATCH THIS!
9. FUNNY BUNNY
My favorite moment was chomping on Ryan Walters’ fingers that portrayed the leaves of the tree where Funny Bunny lived. 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
10. DIRTY
This is story about a homeless guy. Who lived in the sewers. In the suburbs. With the Rats. We turned it into a blues number…but suddenly then Jason Sperling comes along with some Tacks. And ruins EVERYTHING.
11. HE WRESTLED A BEAR
We tried to think of a theme song to end this one…the only thing we could come up with was singing “He Wrestled a Bear ” to the tune of “It had to be you.” I think we were sort of joking, but then it stuck.
12. WOMAN RAMPAGE
One of the first songs not written by the official musical directors…Classic Broadway Brilliance. “Where Women and Men and…FOOD can all be free.”
13. BIG SMELLY GARLIC
Put artistic director Luke Hatton in a smurf hat and give him the voice of an 11-year-old boy going through puberty and you have BIG SMELLY GARLIC.
14. U CAN’T WIN
Tom Malinowski is your host. Elmo is his sidekick and Al Gore is eating meatballs. U really CAN’T lose with this one.
15. HOMEO AND RULILET
Ryan Walters was always drawn to Shakespeare. Poor Homeo. Born in a bathtub.
16. MR. BONES
Whoops!...Mr. Bones
17.CHEERLEADERS
So many versions of this one…but who’s going to fight it out for team captain, you guys? Kayla. Shut it
18. TWO OLD MENS WHO KNOW HOW TO DO KARATE
Picture the title. Now picture Miller and Ainslie with their pants pulled up to their chins. There you have it.
19. FRIENDLY MAN
Jonathan Mastro IS friendly Man.
20. I REMEMBER THE DAY I BROKE MY 2 FRONT TEETH
coined the title of the show.
GRANDMA ME: “My teeth weren’t always so Pearly White. One day they were a BLOODY WRECK.”
GRANDCHILD: That’s Weird, Grandma.
Posted by Alexis on February 11, 2011
Company Members
I got to visit with Monkeys Michael Govier and Curtis Williams during last month’s (awesome) Monkey-O-Kee fundraiser night, and just before they took off for an auspicious adventure!
I have been told that you guys are about to have an adventure. Tell me what it is!
Michael Govier: Curtis and I wrote a musical entitled “The King’s Proposal, or the Marriage of Princess Guido” and it’s going to Seattle to play at Seattle Musical Theater. So it’s a cool place, big venue … and we leave tomorrow.
Amazing – so this is the world premiere of your play out in Seattle? You’re coming back to Chicago right?
Michael: Oh yes, this is just an away game.
When you get out to Seattle, what’s it going to look like for you guys?Michael: Well, the play is already cast - we have a cast of 13 people and then we have set designers, costume designers, and everything is being built as we speak. The Seattle Musical Theater is a cool theater that’s been around for 33 years, so it’s not a brand new company, but this is the first time they’re doing a world premiere musical. I’ll be directing it, and Curtis will be musical directing it.
Curtis: I get a couple lines too though.
Michael: He’s actually in the show. The conductor is written into the play. And another Barrel of Monkeys cast member is coming out there with us, Brennan Buhl— he’s going to be playing one Princess Guido. And we found an abundance of talent in Seattle.
Can I get a quick synopsis of the play?
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Posted by Alexis on December 16, 2010
Company Members
This month’s installment of the “Know a Monkey” interview series introduces us to the executive director of Barrel of Monkeys, Amanda Farrar!
What does it mean to be the executive director of Barrel of Monkeys?
That means basically I’m doing all of the administrative work – you know, doing grants, working with the board, doing the fundraising and the financial management.
How long have you been the executive director?
A year and a half now.
Okay, so what’s a typical day for you at work?
The typical day is usually run by deadlines - whatever is due that week. I go through grant phases and marketing phases, and once a month we have board meetings. It basically depends on what is on the plate.
Do you ever go into the classrooms?
Yes we have been doing a lot of assessment so I’ve been going in to observe.
What’s it like to observe a classroom?
The first time I went in, it was like no experience I’d ever had. I’ve been in the classroom a lot before, and I taught dance for a long time and there is quite a lot of chaos in a dance classroom - imagine 30 9-year-olds in tap shoes. But the five Monkeys coming into the classroom and creating their own controlled chaos is really amazing. Just seeing the kids be quiet and watching the monkeys be insane is really fascinating. And also seeing the kids buy into it and get crazy themselves, and then the silence that comes over the children when they sit down to do their individual writing and just are really concentrated on it. The ebb and flow of the energy in the room is really amazing.
Did you like writing when you were a kid?
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