Playmakers Blog
Posted by Heidi on June 11, 2009
Now that Celebration of Authors and the matinee run are over, we are back to our regularly scheduled performance time.
That’s Weird, Grandma
Monday nights, 8pm, 5153 N. Ashland Ave.
99% Inspiration, 1% silly hats.
Every week this summer, except for July 20 and 27th, when we’ll be preparing for / recovering from Theater on the Lake.
Posted by Heidi on June 10, 2009
Thank you so much to everyone who came to Celebration of Authors last night! 22 of our student authors, along with their friends and family, helped us celebrate the end of the school year. More than 450 people in total saw the show, and most stuck around for some juice and cookies to close out the night.
We’ll have a lot more to say about CoA in the next days and weeks, and I’m pretty sure that there will be some photos and videos making their way online soon. In the meantime, here is a shot of two of the authors taken at the “celebrity author photo booth” where kids got to play dress up and pose for the paparazzi.
Posted by Heidi on June 9, 2009
Just a final reminder! Tonight is our annual “Celebration of Authors” show. This heartwarming event brings together some of our students from across the city, their families, teachers, supporters and members of the public.
We hope you can join us. The show starts at 7pm and is free, though members of the public are encouraged to make a small donation. You can make reservations online or by calling 312-409-1954.
If you can’t join us, never fear…we’re sure to post delightful photos over the next couple of weeks.
Posted by Tai on June 8, 2009
Celebration of Authors is tomorrow night and the Monkeys have been wildly rehearsing. CoA rehearsals are a madhouse, with some 30-plus performers together in our little Loyola Park rehearsal room.
You’re coming to the show, right? Here are some rehearsal photos (and a video!) to entice you:
Posted by Heidi on June 8, 2009
We at Barrel of Monkeys get funding from a lot of sources so that we can continue to work with schools that have the greatest need for our programs. You can see a list of our major funders here, and as you know we also rely on the generous support of some of our individual fans.
One of our largest funders is the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Funding for the arts in Illinois was already drastically cut by former Governor Blagojevich and now it looks like in addition to sustaining those cuts the IAC will endure a further, even more drastic, budget cut. The proposed IAC budget will leave the agency—one of the largest and broadest supporters of the arts and arts education in this state—with a budget equivalent to less than 50cents per citizen of Illinois. This is nearly a national per capita low.
If you support Barrel of Monkeys—and since you are reading this, I imagine you do—please take a few seconds to contact your elected officials to urge them to reconsider. The Illinois Arts Alliance has created an easy template for this, with some suggested facts for you to use and plenty of room for customization so that you can write a letter or email that comes from the heart. Their website will also automatically send your email to the appropriate officials, if you so choose. So please, visit their website and urge support for the arts in Illinois.
While we do not yet know what the specific impact of this budget cut would be on Barrel of Monkeys, we can only assume that cuts this deep would effect the IAC’s ability to fund us. A substantial cut to our grant from the IAC could have an effect on our ability to sustain our program goaks, and we strongly urge you to take less than the time it took to read this post to express your support for the arts.