Posted by Bradford on May 24, 2012
School Shows
I must confess my friends, I’ve been up since 5:30 am and I am absolutely exhausted. But as I sit at my trusty lap top, fighting off the Sand Man (for a few more minutes at least); I thought I’d write a quick blog, stream of consciousness style, about why the Monkeys put the A in Awesome.
Teaching: Though it’s only been a few weeks since the residency ended, it will truly be nice to see all the kiddos at Dixon. Performing in school shows are always a blast, but they’re even more fun when you’ve taught there. You get the privilege of seeing a story develop from the time a student writes it in the class room through the adaption process, from countless hours of rehearsal to the big performance back at the school. It is too, too cool baby.One of many things I love about being a Monkeys.
Musicians: Emjoy G, Jason (J Squad) Sperling, and even my dreaded arch rival Ricky Harris were absolute rock stars in rehearsal this week. Not only great actors, these wacky guys help make a Monkey Show a Monkey Show. Creating ambiance and writing songs; energizing the crowd and helping us warm up the old vocal cords. And who can keep track of the countless mad dashes from behind the keys to intro a scene. All in a days work to you, but it’s what we love about you guys. So here’s to ALL of our wonderful musicians. Thanks for your hard work this year!
Start The Show: Oh yeah, it’s always cool before a round of That’s Weird Grandma. But when you kick it off at a school show and 60 plus students jump in with you, there’s nothing like it. If that doesn’t get you pumped up to take the stage nothing will. You better believe the house is gonna be a rocking about 10am tomorrow at the old Dixon school.
Hope to see you there good people, the show is going to be great. Tune in tomorrow for pics from the show. And with that I bid you adieu. Time to catch up on some much needed rest.
Posted by Bradford on May 22, 2012
School Shows
Oh No!!! The last school show of the year is upon us, and it makes me kind of sad. This was truly an amazing school year and I absolutely enjoyed working with all the lovable kiddos throughout our happening town. But I have to say, year after year, for what ever reason, the Dixon school always holds a special place in my heart. Granted my grand parents use to live in the area, and I spent a lot of time in the Chatham neighborhood as a kid; but even with out that, the Dixon students are wonderful, and always come up with some fantastic tales to share with the word; and this year was not an exception.
So it is upon that back drop that I say…. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS SHOW PARTY PEOPLE!!!!
Our good friend Kurt Chiang led an awesome workshop the first day of rehearsal; exploring new ways and concepts for adapting stories. And with that in mind, our fearless leader Molly B, gave us all the artistic challenge of adapting, casting, and then directing our own pieces. I must say, the process was very inspiring. Seeing how different people work, how their ideas come to fruition; with out a doubt, we came up with some great stuff baby!!! Elizabeth Levy as a dancing leprechaun….. need I say any more good people…. need I say any more!!!
The Dixon Show. Friday at 10am. Come on out and have a good time my friends. There’s no better way to cap off the year!!
Posted by Joe on May 22, 2012
Company Members
School Shows
After School Program
Barrel of Monkeys runs an after-school program at the Loyola Park Field House, in Chicago’s north side neighborhood, Rogers Park.
Monday was our special end of the year show that was written and performed by 7-13-Year-Old Students
There were hand puppets, shadow puppets, songs, dances, movement pieces, sound effects, and much much more
Above are shadow puppets from “Object Survival” by Bella
Here’s the rundown on what happened:
The Red Group Presents:The League of Awesome
By: Mateo, Shiloh, Oliver, Joseph, Paris, Gabby, Ines, Marlone, Gabriel, Jacob, Melanie, Eidan, Frank, & Ronin
The Gold Group Presents: Monkeys on the News
By: Zara, Nyah, Jackson, Jayson, Maluboo, Victor, Nia, Greta, Joshua, John, Feyisayo, Stephanie, Michael Angelo, David, Francisco, Kaitlyn, Maya, & Chloe
The Blue Group Presents:
Object Survival by Bella
One Scary Halloween Night: Beginning by Andre & Busayo
Food by Everyone
One Scary Halloween Night: Middle by Anthony, Jeremy, & Kennedy
One Scary Halloween Night: End by Isabella, Khiyran, & Jaerell
Spooky Family Vacation by Lois, Iris, & Jaerell
The Vase and the Children by Isabella, Busayo, & Jeremy
The Sneaky Girl by Busayo
Tacos by Kennedy
The Basketball Game Show by Jeremy
Isabella’s Summer by Isabella
Crazy by Chantrell
The Assassin by Jaerell
Meeting Oliver by Lois
Dance by Iris
Adapted & Performed by: Lois, Bella, Jaerell, Busayo, Kennedy, Jeremy, Isabella, Chantrell, Iris, Tim, Kassi, Alea, Jenny, & Ricky
Directed by Joseph Schupbach
And now a message from Rachel!
Thanks for Another Fantastic Year! Thank you for allowing us to work with your talented children! Their creativity has inspired us throughout the year. We are grateful to the Loyola Park Staff, to our volunteers, and to our Loyola Park parents for making this program possible. We could not do it without your support! We look forward to seeing you in the Fall!
Sincerely,
Rachel Wilson
After-School Program Coordinator
Posted by M.Govier on May 16, 2012
School Shows
People have been asking about our stockpile of creativity. Well, we
have an underground base we store all of the creativity in. Maybe you
have some cans of creativity in the back of your closet, or under your
bed, or hidden inside those blank pages of paper. Well here is a
recipe from the Monkey cookbook.
Recipe for 1000
You will need:
1 bed sheet
5 wooden dowels
2 pillows
1 picture frame
16 oz’s of creativity (more or less to taste)
Place all of these in the hands of Barrel of Monkeys and wait 10
minutes. You will see images appear such as a giant cake, people being
pulled into a video game, and a giant bed to tell you it was all a
dream.
This meal pairs well with chocolate milk.
Good news, we have so many cans of creativity that we are cooking up a storm!
Bon Appetit,
The Monkey Cooks
Posted by Katie Marie on May 7, 2012
School Shows
Ten glorious days ago, Barrel of Monkeys performed our first of two school performances at LEARN Campbell. It. Was. Awesome. Reading, adapting and rehearsing stories for a school show is always so much fun, but as an actor, the most rewarding part of the process is the in-school performance, when you see and hear the kids react to the adaptations of their own and each other’s writing.
Ten glorious student reactions from the show, in no particular order:
1. The roar of the children when Brandon, as the heartbroken father werewolf in Diante and Miles’ “The Serious Day”, howled at a full moon to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”.
2. The “eeeeeewwww” of the Kindergarteners in response to the prospect of eating fish in Vashanti’s untitled story.
3. The “eeeeeewwww” of all the students in response to a quick stage kiss during the wedding in Bentrell’s “We Got Married”.
4. The collective hubbub when, in an adaptation based on Nakhia’s true story about the time she thought she broke her leg, her mother told her to calm down because if she could move her leg, it wasn’t broken. And a similar reaction to the line “Get your attitude straight” written by Ariejah and Jenay in a dialogue that took place at a zoo. (“Ohhh no she didn’t!”, “Ahhh, she told her!!”, “Oooooo!”).
5. Cheers and dancing along with the cast of “Celebrities” to “The Wobble” (Thanks, Jaali, Aliya, Zuri and Jalen! Our new favorite dance is The Wobble, too!).
6. So much singing to Justin Bieber in Malik’s “Talent Show”!
7. Screams and squeals and giggles when Laura got a pie in the face and Dan got spaghetti in his hair in Kyjuan’s “Weird Party by the Bus Station”.
8. The empathetic “awww” when Dixie let out a sad “Meow” after being berated for not ordering the on sale chicken combo in Lanyah’s story about two cats in NYC.
9. Belly laughs at Dan as a corkscrew-curled Princess and Ryan as a split-personalitied Duchess/Queen’s messenger in Iyonna’s “I Am a Princess”.
10. Hugs! So many hugs! As the cast cleaned up the stage and props after the show, we watched student after student come up to their Monkey teachers to give them a hug and thanks for a wonderful experience. We love you too, LEARN Campbell! Thank YOU!
