First and foremost, big time congrats to all the students we taught during the year, the partner classroom teachers, and all the schools that welcomed us in their doors. Yes. You guys rock!!
Celebration of Authors 2010, what can I say; there’s absolutely no better way to cap off the school year. The chance to reconnect with fellow Monkeys, seeing students you taught during the year, and of course all the wacky things that go on back stage. (IE) The ride em cowboy pre-show warm up…. enough said.
Pulling off the show is such a herculean effort, I always feel part of a rag tag army setting out on mission impossible. And after all the hard work, there’s nothing like seeing the crowd file in and then taking to the stage for Show Time.
There were countless highlights, but here’s a few that stuck in the good kid’s mind: Meeting a few of the student’s parents and taking pictures; running into the house to catch the “Snow Ball Fight”; and trying not to break when Philip came out in his fancy dress and hat as Ms. Basil E. Frankweiler…. hilarious!!
So here’s to another great year Monkeys, I’m already looking forward to COA 2011. Oh Yeah!!!
Sadly, there will not be a performance of “That’s Weird Grandma” this evening. Happily, there WILL be a FREE performance tomorrow night! Tuesday, June 8 at 7pm, Barrel of Monkeys will perform Celebration of Authors at the Harold Washington Cultural Center, 4701 Martin Luther King Dr. Click here to make a reservation!
Because artistic director extraordinaire, Luke Hatton, was so generous in offering me a part in this year’s Celebration of Authors, I have been spending much of my time in the last week watching the brilliant Monkeys at work, attempting to keep up, and on my own, doing some intense Michael Jackson choreography research.
Being in the room with the Monkeys at work is like nothing I have ever experienced in my decades in the performing arts (albeit, the majority of which had a heavy dance emphasis). Just the term “team work” does not really do this group justice. I have seen the Monkeys work as a small group in the classrooms, but that controlled chaos pales in comparison to that in the rehearsal room when there are 35 Monkeys!
I was amazed watching rehearsal for “The Tale of the Twelve Hip Hop Dancing Proncess”. While Carly was reviewing choreography with everyone, Philip was teaching the vocals, and on the side, Musical Director Laura had an idea of layering in some more vocals. She touched base with fellow Monkey musician Erick to see what he thought. As he was encouraging, she went to Philip to see what he was good with it. After a quick agreement from Philip, Laura had Mari and Rachel on their feet playing around with the additional vocals. After some wrangling by Artistic Director Luke Hatton, and approximately 30 minutes, the play was ready to go!
I’ve always loved the process of art making, and the Monkeys have the process to beat all processes!
The most amazing thing is that the passion and dedication of each individual Monkey is inspired by one thing: the children. The intense urge of each Monkey to do justice to the student author’s story and make them proud is palpable. The question after a performance by a Monkey is never “How was I?” it is “What did the author do when we were performing his/her story?”
Come see the Monkeys perform 30 brilliant stories written by students this school year, and better yet, see the students’ reactions.
Hello every one
The Poetry Show is coming
Music
Props
Movement
Memorization.
Did you take note of my well placed line breaks?
Oh yeah, it’s on.
Ok, so I have a confession to make. I majored in creative writing in poetry in college. That’s no joke. My mom’s still mad. And I’m not a poet because a.) I was terrible at it b.) It made me obsess about rhyming things, which only reinforced the fact that I was TERRIBLE at it and C.) I was terrified of making all that famous poet money! But what writing poetry in college did was make me really love reading other people’s poetry. Because reading along with a poem as if you are writing it, speaking it, or painting it is a really cool feeling. You get to experience what it’s like to be a poet, to create images, to capture feelings, and maybe even to uncover truths, one word at a time. And that is what we get to do in the Poetry Show. Poems can pack so much meaning into such a small space that they can make you go “YES!” and “What?” at the same time. So you read it again, preferably out loud. At rehearsal, we read a lot of really good poems that unraveled in unexpected ways. Like this one:
Human Nature
Crazy
Feeling
When you sometimes when
You are happy
You get crazy
And flow up
So this isn’t
Real
-Joshua C. South Shore Cultural Center
I love this poem. This poem made me remember what it is like to be delirious with joy. And the last lines, I read them over and over again…is he saying that once I start to “Get crazy/ And flow up” that I can look down at all my bad day frustrations rooting me to the ground and see that they aren’t real? Or is he saying that this “Crazy/ Feeling” feels really good, and that it lifts you above it all—but only for awhile—because in the end it isn’t real ? Or both? AHHHHHH! POETRY!
At Barrel of Monkeys, we work towards building lasting relationships with each school in which we perform a writing residency, some of which we’ve been working with for almost a decade. Trumbull Elementary School was a new and wonderful addition to our school list last year. Located in Andersonville, cattycorner to the Neo-Futurarium (the home of our weekly long-running production, “That’s Weird, Grandma”), AND being a Literature and Writing magnet school, it was the absolute perfect addition to our Barrel of Monkeys programming.
With this in mind, you may not be surprised to hear that when Trumbull came to us this year and said they couldn’t financially support a residency but deeply and fervently wanted us in their school a second time, we didn’t say no.
Instead, we looked across the street to “That’s Weird, Grandma” and asked how that BOM program can reach out to help another.
Thus, the Trumbull Benefit performances were conceived. On Sunday, March 14 at 2pm and Monday, March 15 at 8pm, a very special Trumbull Benefit ticket is available for $25. The show will feature three stories from this year’s residency at Trumbull: The Twin Enemies by Carolina M. and Kayla R., Prison Break by Anthony G., and The Day I Got Locked in My Room By A Ghost by Cesar P.! See below for the stories as they were written!
Don’t have the cash for that type of ticket? That’s okay – come to the performance, buy a regularly priced ticket ($10 for adults, $5 for kids 12 and under), and any donation you can give will go towards supporting BOM’s residency at Trumbull. Tickets can be purchased here.
Can’t make it to the performance Sunday or Monday but want to help the cause? Make a donation now.
Barrel of Monkeys’ unique writing workshops not only increase writing skills, but also give a hefty boost to the students’ confidence and enthusiasm for writing, and to top it all off, a real increase to self-esteem. But don’t take our word for it! Here’s what the fourth graders from Trumbull say about our program:
“What I learnd from barrel of monkeys is to keep on making good ideas. What I liked best is writing storys. Barrel of monkeys make me feel awesome. They were fun. Its a super program.” – Antawn
“The most thing I have learned is how to be a better writer and reader. They really made me feel special. The barrel of monkeys are alot of fun everyone was a good monkey!!!” – Yekeen
And this is what Jalyssa had to say to the next group of students Barrel of Monkeys works with, but she could just as well be talking to YOU, “That’s Weird, Grandma” audience member!
“They are great and funny. You will have a whole lot of fun. Barrel of Monkeys is the best program. You will have a time of your life. At the end of the year thank them for everything. Trust me its fun.” – Jalyssa
Come to “That’s Weird, Grandma” to support Trumbull Elementary School – as Jalyssa went on to say:
“P.S. Have the time of your life. Make urself fell proud!!!”
The Trumbull Stories: Click here for a podcast of FOOD FIGHT, a story written in last year’s residency. Click here for a podcast of “The Lion Who Tries to Eat Everyone”, another story written in last year’s residency.
Preview this week’s Trumbull stories and TWG runlist below…
