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!

Hear Her Stories: A Celebration of Women's History Month at Mill City Museum!

Join Mill City Museum and Story Arts of Minnesota for an evening of storytelling in recognition of Women's History Month.

Hear true stories–funny, poignant, and inspiring–from contemporary women inspired by history and women of the past. Storytellers are:

Iris Altamirano, “Becoming Madame Presidenta,"

Beverly Cottman,”Charlene and Beatrice: Two Edward’s Girls of Kansas City”
Christine Jenkins, "Wanda Gag: artist, author, and New Woman"
Jean Loyd, “The Pink Hallway Pass”
Carol McCormick, “Spiritual ROI: U of MN School of Nursing"
Pam Schweitzer, “Dorothy Molter: The Root Beer Lady”
Dawn Tomlinson, " Living in Minnesota: One Mixed Race Korean Adoptee story"
Shayla Walker
Wisdom Young, “Hotcombs and Hardtimes”

The evening is hosted by Twin Cities performer Jen Scott.

Doors open at 6:30 pm. Seating is general admission. Cost is $10-12; MNHS members save 20%.

Please note, the museum gallery will be closed during this event.

Event page: https://www.mnhs.org/millcity/activities/calendar/9010

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/627939681634173/