“Loyola Park is a blast!” says old-timer

Posted by Roger on November 20, 2010

School Shows After School Program

“What is this new-fangled blog thing?” asks old-time Monkey Roger, who is back doing a Barrel of Monkeys show for the first time since 2005!  Many of you were younger back then.

Okay, so it’s me, Roger.  Having lived in Los Angeles acting in film & television for the last five years, I am back in Chicago and rehearsing the latest Monkey show that will be at Loyola Park this Monday!  I’m very excited about it!  We have had four rehearsals and have adapted some amazing stories.  Some favorites include “The Orb of Light,” “The Time I Broke the Superhero Code,” and “Untitled (Meat Ribs),” in which I play Zeus, the son of the Titans.  He is a charismatic and powerful character so I understand why they cast me.

Also, I have written my first monkey song in a very long time, based on the story “The Day Cheeseburgers Were Made!!!’ by Diamond J.  It’s a great story about some lovely vampires who only wanted to have tacos for dinner, but after their mother mistakenly made the first cheeseburger ever, which they hated, they developed a taste for blood.  As Diamond writes, “That’s why vampires drink blood and how cheeseburgers were made.”  Now you know.

I have to confess I was very nervous about writing music for the monkeys again after being away for so long.  I wasn’t sure if it would come back to me.  Fortunately, it is like riding a bike—a superfun, slightly stressful, and exhilarating bike.  It mostly just felt great to be creative and contribute to a group again.  In Los Angeles, I loved doing screenwork—being on set is really fun—but I felt like the sense of collaboration and imagination that makes Barrel of Monkeys so wonderful is lacking out west.  I know that may sound like I’m being superior and perhaps you think this kind of self-congratulation has no place in a high-class website like this one (there I go again), but I really feel like I have been gone for so long that I have an outsider’s perspective and that this is in fact an honest point of view from a fan.  There are plenty of talented, wonderful people in L.A. who do sometimes work together and create some great work, but a lot of the focus, especially for people low down on the Hollywood ladder (which is most everybody), is on individual achievement.  Switching from that to creating for something greater than myself feels fantastic.

I also play a pregnant chicken in the show.