July 2022: Summer in the City

Oh hey July. 

Oh hey summer. 

We are summer-ing the summer. And I got the plague. 

Two nights ago, I was in rough shape. Last night was much better, and I'm at 65-75%. 

I'm mostly just sad. And weird about it, as this was always the thing that could 'mess everything up' and now has 'messed some things up', but very very lucky for us, will be okay and fine. It's weird. 

(I'm also so mad. This horrible thing that has killed so many people. A horrible president who politicized masking and killed so many people. And now, as it steps into our house, and reminds us all that it's still real, and thankfully, gratefully, we'll be okay... this stupid beast that comes and hangs out with us for a couple of days and then sludges away.)

I'M MISSING MY SHOW TONIGHT. I'm so incredibly sad. Luckily, the show is in incredible hands and will be f-ing delightful. https://www.bryantlakebowl.com/theater/theres-a-crack-in-everything-a-performance-of-music-and-storytelling-from-here

In spritelier news, the Amplifying Voice 101 had an AWESOME sharing, Camby MN spoiled me beyond belief, as did dressing up like a Golden Girl for Pride, the Twin Cities Improv Festival was a thing of joy and possibly of disease (Nudge and Adorable performed, and I got to play keys for Here: The Improvised Musical #dream), took Tara and Rance's Pretty Flower workshop, and I taught almost-exactly half a week at Children's Theatre until Plague. 

Oh July, what is up? 

The kid-version of the imaginary band Penny and the Bandits marches on! I'm at Midtown Global Market from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Friday July 8th for Family Fridays! Come join us! Mug Cup Can Straw headlines with the grooviest kids' music one could hope for. 

(Look at what happens when Remi plays! Adorableness!)

I think I am doing musical improv in Minneapolis! Saturday July 9th, 9:30 p.m. show with the amazing Hannah Wydeven at HUGE Theater. I'll also be playing piano for this show #bwahahahah

Beloved Nudge is up at HUGE Theater, Saturday July 16th & 23rd, 8 p.m. show for Summer Potluck!! 

On July 23rd, I'll also be guesting with Jennifer's Lawn, a troupe that is near and dear to my heart. It should be so lovely!

I'll be teaching one last camp (if I don't get the plague again) at Children's Theatre, doing a little work at the Bakken, and working to get everything set for August AND THEN IT'S SOMEHOW SEPTEMBER OH I DON'T KNOW. 

I'll share about August, as, barring more plague or more things we can't control, we're scheduled for adventures. It may not all work, but that's okay. Expect much news!

Time is weird. Having a Supreme Court dedicated to killing its citizens is actually, you know, quite weird. Having an actually f-ing coup almost happen is weird. I'm grateful to all who did the research, who testified, who... oh heavens. All of it. 

So.. How are we going to restore abortion rights before more lives are lost or futures squashed? Or, you know, bodily autonomy taken away bit by weird legislative bit? What is screaming into the void? What is movement? 

I am sending so much love to you. 

We did a thing! Canby MN SW Minnesota Arts Council Residency

I was the luckiest duck and was sent to Canby, MN through COMPAS for a Theater and Storytelling residency. 

Joyce of the SW Minnesota Arts Council was my keeper, and just the best person you could ever hope to have in your corner. We did improv in the park with elementary and middle school kids, curated conversation with the residents of Sylvan Place (an assisted living facility in Canby), theater-based play with the preschoolers at the Connection, all wrapping up with a performance by the improv students in the Central Park, kicking off the annual Hat Daze celebration. 

I was told to check out the Rock Room in Gary, SD, was absolutely included in the community of Madison, MN by Kris at the Madison Mercantile, I ate taco Tuesday from Jim's Market, had Dairy Queen at least three times, and truly enjoyed Barb's Potato Salad from Jim's (after Barb at Sylvan let me know that it was her recipe.) 

It was a beautiful week, and I'm so incredibly grateful for it all. Really really cool community-based stuff is happening in SW Minnesota, and I was honored to experience just a bit of it. 

 

We did a thing! Poppa Pia at Strike Theater

So so so very lucky. 

If wondering if we were having fun... we were having such insane fun. 

Such insane fun. Zero chill. All love. 

Will the ABBA jukebox musical return? OH MAN WE HOPE SO. So many thanks to Our Town Improv for putting this new family together. 

We did a thing! 2022 Grand Marshall & Pride Awards

When your friend Carolyn reaches out, wondering if you can dress up like a Golden Girl, hang out with old dear ones, and then yell at lovely lovely strangers at an open bar, you say yes as quickly as possible. <3  

June 2022... Let's find out!

It might be spring/summer here. Flowering tree season landed beautifully in MN, and then disappeared just as quickly. Tornado warnings and thunderstorms and festival season. Here we go!

Our first Midtown Global Market Family Friday happened! Remy Chacon of Mug Cup Can Straw is FANTASTIC. Wanna see some good kids' music? Wanna eat an arepa? Have we got the show for you? I played my kids' music, and I liked what I played, and it was also fine. BUT COME SEE REMY. I'll be there too. June 24th, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m., FREE, at the Midtown Global Market. 

Poppa Pia opens (and closes) next weekend! June 9th - 11th, Strike Theater! I'll be at the Friday 8:30 p.m.. Saturday 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. shows. Honestly, this show is driving on desperate joy and INSANITY. A hoot, I tell you. 

I won't be there for the Thursday show, as I'll be dressed as Dorothy from the Golden Girls at the 2022 Grand Marshal & Pride Awards. Wut. Yep. Speaking of, I need a gd wig. 

AND THE TWIN CITIES IMPROV FESTIVAL!! YAYYYY! Nudge will be up Thursday June 23rd, Adorable will be up Sunday June 26th. 

Teaching-wise, I'm lucky enough to be finishing up an Amplifying Voices 101 at HUGE Theater. I'll also be heading to Canby, MN for a week-long residency through COMPAS: it should be lovely! (Although I'm missing Hat Daze.)

A bit of summer camp teaching that I hope will go well, and a bit of summer wrangling. COVID + strike late school ending = a mishmash of a schedule. Somehow, July makes more sense, but that could also be a lie. I'm working on getting stuff our of the house, while doing the summer-house things that we're supposed to do. 

Wishing us all luck, patience, and grace. Love!

Where I acknowledge that it is, indeed, May

Look! Look what the internet made! 

Happy May Day! I JUST REALIZED WE CAN DO MAY DAY BASKETS TODAY! Forget you, internet! (Minnesota doesn't really do May Day baskets. Iowa does. The mission here is clear, even if my nine year old wants to call it Ding Dong Ditch.) 

May Day in Minneapolis used to mean a lot of things. The May Day parade, an incredible thing, has transformed. I don't know what's exactly happening, but I know that the Southside Battletrain will ride, which is sort of one-part anarchist bike shop, one-part Mad Max, one-part Pryo, and one-part Community care. 

Weather-wise, it's still wet, if not cold. April should never mean spring here: we are a cold, crappy, pandemic-y Seattle, and the sun doesn't believe in us for a long time. 

Folks are experimenting with removing masks, and naturally COVID rates are going up. Theaters are still thankfully requiring proof of vaccination. I've been to restaurants. Is it the best? Probably not, and also, we are all so hungry for joyful connecting things. 

The world is ending in horrible ways every day. We are so grateful to be together. 

The nights I produced at the Bryant-Lake Bowl were a delight, and THAT is because of the incredible and generous energy of the artists in this town. This is not a humble-brag: putting up a show is a whole bunch of futzy business (Do I like making a show poster? I do! Sending press releases? Sure! Does any of it work?  BWAHAHAHANOONEKNOWS) AND it wouldn't fly, in the least, if amazing artists and performers and friends didn't give of themselves. 

Nudge: I would Nudge forever. I love what we do, and just wanna do it more. And there is no one better than James Rone. 

There's A Crack in Everything: A whole bunch of people who don't know me very well said yes to giving, and them recommended their friends. I am so incredibly grateful. It was a beautiful night. 

Bring Your Kids!: We sold out! All the kids said jokes! Jugglers juggled, singers sang, and people were really really funny. Also, I would watch Samantha Baker Harris as a swol supervillain being interviewed any any day. Also, Rita Boersma improvising a children's book. Levi deftly and gracefully handling dozens of kiddos. Benjamin and Sarah loving what they do. OH MAN. THIS WAS SO VERY MUCH FUN. 

And now, we're onto May! We might start wearing shorts or something. How strange. 

Teaching, COMPAS, etc:

 - I finish up with my seniors at Walker Place this week, and I don't know how I'm going to process that. They're the best, and I'm so incredibly grateful. 

 - I head to Chohasset, MN to run a workshop for the Minnesota Library Association. 

 - Get to do some work with Opportunity Neighborhood! 

 - Circus Juventas' summer session starts soon. 

 - HUGE 101 starting also! 

 - For me taking class, the Musical Improv Genre Rollercoaster from the Nursery Theatre starts up again, and I'm so grateful. #joy

Performances:

 - I'll be singing kid songs as Penny and the Bandits at Midtown Global Market, a Friday per month, starting in May. This was all initiated by Remy Chacon of MugCupCanStraw - - please check out his stuff, as it's truly the catchiest. We're up May 27th, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m., June 24th, and then every second Friday after that!  

And that's it for May, which is honestly nothing to shake a stick at; it's just not the weekly vibe of April.  

Hoping to get some music recorded and released into and onto the wilds of the internet, do some writing, and tend to things that need the tending. 

June should have some ridiculousness: more on that later! Much love!  

Sometime's in April, it's SHOWS. Ehh??? Nudge, There's a Crack in Everything, Bring Your Kids!

Hi loves... 

March was a journey. The Minneapolis Teacher strike cut through most of it; I am so incredibly grateful and indebted to the kindness of fellow parents, the strength and the flexibility of the teachers, the clarity of the students... A LOT HAPPENED. It was exhausting for everyone (as much as my kiddo enjoyed the break.)

Work was stressful, as how do you manage anything? Minneapolis parents and teachers, we got very tired. And mad. (The District pulled, and continues to pull, some very gross and enraging tactics. Were these tactics actually tactics? Were they incompetence? IT WAS ENRAGING. And here we are.) All of Minneapolis needs a goddamn nap and funded public schools, please. 

And work was there, and I'm so grateful for it! Much goodness!

COMPAS ARTS: 

I got to go back to Stillwater and work with Family Means again, which is just the loveliest.

 I'm in love with my group at Walker Methodist. So much goodness!

IMPROV: 

My 201 had their showcase and IT WAS THE BEST. <3 <3 <3

The Unnamed Jill Bernard Project was a dream, and I hope we can dissect kids' jokes again soon. 

HEAR HER STORIES AT MILL CITY: 

It was the loveliest night!!! The storytellers all shown like diamonds, they brought their beautiful families and friends, there was a full audience, I will sing about this show from the rooftops. HOW LUCKY ARE WE??

My oldest kid also turned nine years old, which is pretty cool. We've spent a lot of time together the last three weeks, and he's pretty great. <3 

There is much happening in April! 

CHICAGO AVENUE PROJECT - I was the music director of CAP for over 12 years, and this year, I get to act (!?). We'll be performing on Sunday April 24, 4 p.m. show: the scripts are ridiculous, the kiddos are awesome, the show is free. Please come see!

NUDGE MAKES A MOVIE - We are Nudge. We love grounded, slower paced, improvised monoscenes. We are going to do one for you, and record it like a movie. James Rone is going to open. It's going to be great. 6 p.m. Doors/7 p.m., Fridays April 15th & 22nd, Bryant Lake Bowl Theater, Tickets here!

THERE'S A CRACK IN EVERYTHING - Musicians Silversmith, Daniel Bonespur, and myself share a stage with poets Diver Van Avery and Miré Regulus. It should be stripped down and lovely! 6 p.m. Doors/7 p.m., Saturday April 16th, Bryant Lake Bowl Theater, Tickets here!

BRING YOUR KIDS! - A Comedy Variety show for Kids and Their Grown-ups. This should be ridiculous. We've got clowns! We've got juggling! We've got music! We've got jokes! 6 p.m. Doors/7 p.m., Saturday April 30th, Bryant Lake Bowl Theater, Tickets here!

THAT SEEMS LIKE PLENTY. 

It should be fun though. Producing shows is a lot of hustle hustle hustle, and I'm looking forward to the actual act of MAKING A SHOW if front of people and all. Although I am unreasonably proud of my dumb posters. I like my dumb posters a lot. 

Sending so much love!