Barrel of Monkeys Blog

“Not a Thing”

2009-06-29T12:37:50Z

“The same to you Spikey Bones”. It’s back!

If you were at TWG sometime between 2004-2006, chances are you saw “Spikey Bones and Rose”.

It’s a Harold Pinter-esque dialogue, and a company and audience favorite, and we’re bringing it back, starting TONIGHT. That’s what you get in Ye Olde Tymers round of TWG. Well, that and the beautifully eerie “The Woman in the Red Dress”, a new piece which will haunt your dreams.

Come see the show! Yes!

That’s Weird Grandma - Monday 6/22/09

2009-06-21T19:25:48Z

The first summer round of TWG was totally rockin’ last week!

9 Monkeys dancing, singing and acting their hearts out to a crowd of over 100 people!

2 new winning stories are joining the fun this week.

1. The Magical Place in which Dulce discovers a dream world filled with “barbies, toys, clothes, shoes, and lots more.”

2. The Three Friends - 3 old men dance and sing through their day at the park. A+ entertainment.

Buy tix here.

Running order below!

My Argument Why Kids Should Ride Motorcycles
The Magical Place
Untitled (Spies)
Untitled (because I am deaf)
I am the President of the Map
The Three Friends
Star Wars 3
I Am a Dog
The Love Comedy
Buy One House Get One Free
What Mother Nature Does to You
Essentialism Poems
Monkeys are Smart
Going to the Party
The Tiny Door In the Back of My Closet

That’s Weird, Grandma: Monday, June 15th 2009

2009-06-14T15:40:21Z

There are so many compelling reasons to see TWG this week…I don’t know where to start.

First, the wonderful Laura Grey is directing this round!
Second, Founding Artistic Director Halena Kays makes her debut as a performer in TWG (she directed it for basically the first six years).
Third, it’s our first Monday night back after a long stretch of Sunday shows!
Fourth, It’s our House Manager Maggie Block’s last show for at least a few months, as she heads to NY for the summer.
Fifth, there is an all-star cast including many folks who haven’t been able to do the show in, well, years.

Amazing.

Laura’s bringing back some old classics to join new favorites, such as “I am President of the Map”, which made its public debut in Celebration of Authors last week.

As always, reserve tickets by calling 312-409-1954 or buy them online in advance.

Full running order below.

My Argument Why Kids Should Ride Motorcycles
Untitled (brunch)
What Mother Nature Does to You
Untitled (Spies)
Going to the Party
Untitled (because I am deaf)
Buy One House Get One Free
The Love Comedy
Star Wars 3
I Am a Dog
Essentialism Poems
Radio Play (Go Getta the Missing Gem)
Monkeys are Smart
I am the President of the Map
The Tiny Door In the Back of My Closet

MVP 2008-2009: Rachel Wilson

2009-06-12T16:36:01Z

Last year, I told you all about how at BOM’s post-COA party, we are all given silly awards for our various roles in school shows over the year, such as “Best Villain,” “Best Choreography,” or “Best Improvised Line.” There are a few awards given out at the end of the evening that are a little less silly, the most notable being the MVP Award, officially known as The Tom Malinowski Award For Enthusiasm and Commitment To Monkey Greatness. Company members nominate the Monkey who we feel has, in Artistic Director Luke Hatton’s words, “gone far beyond the call of duty in their, well, enthusiasm and commitment to the company.”

This year, the prestigious Malinowski Award went to Rachel Wilson.

Rachel has been in the company since 2000, left for Los Angeles in 2005, and returned (in the oft-repeated words of Ricky Gamboa, “with a vengeance”) in 2007. Since then she has truly been a force in Barrel of Monkeys: teaching multiple residencies including Loyola Park, doing many school shows and rounds of TWG, writing wonderful blog entries, AND being the “Head Twit” on the BOM Twitter.

Here’s a little of what Rachel’s fellow company members had to say about her:

She always creates beautiful adaptations and amazing characters. Her characters also always have subtle mannerisms (her “new girl” in Cheerleaders mouthing the cheers in the corner as she learns them) and intricate backstories, which only she knows, but we all enjoy the results. She knows her strengths and plays to them, but is never afraid to try a different style.

So much love. Involved everywhere.

This year in particular, has been quietly yet passionately dedicated to all aspects of the company and perpetually strives to make us better.

She’s kind to everyone and always has a great outlook at rehearsals, and also is a heck of a Twit.

They’re all totally right, of course. Rachel’s enthusiastic involvement in every part of this company exemplifies the spirit of BOM. She has a lot of love for this company, and we love her too. Congratulations Rachel, from all of us.

“That’s Weird Grandma” now back to MONDAY NIGHTS

2009-06-11T17:32:07Z

Now that Celebration of Authors and the matinee run are over, we are back to our regularly scheduled performance time.

That’s Weird, Grandma
Monday nights, 8pm, 5153 N. Ashland Ave.

99% Inspiration, 1% silly hats.

Every week this summer, except for July 20 and 27th, when we’ll be preparing for / recovering from Theater on the Lake.

Authors, Celebrated

2009-06-10T17:29:58Z

Thank you so much to everyone who came to Celebration of Authors last night! 22 of our student authors, along with their friends and family, helped us celebrate the end of the school year. More than 450 people in total saw the show, and most stuck around for some juice and cookies to close out the night.

We’ll have a lot more to say about CoA in the next days and weeks, and I’m pretty sure that there will be some photos and videos making their way online soon. In the meantime, here is a shot of two of the authors taken at the “celebrity author photo booth” where kids got to play dress up and pose for the paparazzi.

It’s the day of the show!

2009-06-09T13:58:09Z

Just a final reminder! Tonight is our annual “Celebration of Authors” show. This heartwarming event brings together some of our students from across the city, their families, teachers, supporters and members of the public.

We hope you can join us. The show starts at 7pm and is free, though members of the public are encouraged to make a small donation. You can make reservations online or by calling 312-409-1954.

If you can’t join us, never fear…we’re sure to post delightful photos over the next couple of weeks.

Celebration ‘09 rehearsals!

2009-06-08T21:23:18Z

Celebration of Authors is tomorrow night and the Monkeys have been wildly rehearsing. CoA rehearsals are a madhouse, with some 30-plus performers together in our little Loyola Park rehearsal room.

You’re coming to the show, right? Here are some rehearsal photos (and a video!) to entice you:

Mary Winn and Mikala serenade us on the uke.

Brennan and Laura blast off.

Geoff sings about his unusual morning.

Brandon and his pony are exasperated. (He’s just acting!)

I’m not even going to tell you what this is.

And here’s a video of Philip leading one of several (!) big dance numbers:

If you haven’t already, reserve your tickets! It’s FREE!

See you at the show!

Arts Funding

2009-06-08T16:45:52Z

We at Barrel of Monkeys get funding from a lot of sources so that we can continue to work with schools that have the greatest need for our programs. You can see a list of our major funders here, and as you know we also rely on the generous support of some of our individual fans.

One of our largest funders is the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Funding for the arts in Illinois was already drastically cut by former Governor Blagojevich and now it looks like in addition to sustaining those cuts the IAC will endure a further, even more drastic, budget cut. The proposed IAC budget will leave the agency—one of the largest and broadest supporters of the arts and arts education in this state—with a budget equivalent to less than 50cents per citizen of Illinois. This is nearly a national per capita low.

If you support Barrel of Monkeys—and since you are reading this, I imagine you do—please take a few seconds to contact your elected officials to urge them to reconsider. The Illinois Arts Alliance has created an easy template for this, with some suggested facts for you to use and plenty of room for customization so that you can write a letter or email that comes from the heart. Their website will also automatically send your email to the appropriate officials, if you so choose. So please, visit their website and urge support for the arts in Illinois.

While we do not yet know what the specific impact of this budget cut would be on Barrel of Monkeys, we can only assume that cuts this deep would effect the IAC’s ability to fund us. A substantial cut to our grant from the IAC could have an effect on our ability to sustain our program goaks, and we strongly urge you to take less than the time it took to read this post to express your support for the arts.

It has been a busy month

2009-05-25T15:42:42Z

Happy Memorial Day!

Here are some of the things we’ve been up to in May:

*Poetry show performances.
*Loyola Park After-school Program final performance (in which many of the kids took on the starring roles).
*Chalmers School show (our last school show of the year)
*“That’s Weird, Grandma” matinees
*Preparing for Celebration of Authors

...so you can understand why we haven’t had much time to blog. But don’t worry, there will be new blog entries about all of these things soon, not to mention our exciting plans for the summer.

As a reminder, the last matinee (5/31) is sold out, but we would love to see all of you at Celebration of Authors on Tuesday, June 9th. The regular Monday night schedule will resume June 15th at 8:00pm.

Thanks for being a monkey fan!

BOM seeks Executive Director

2009-05-18T16:00:37Z

Monkey fans, after four wonderful and delightful years with as BOM’s Executive Director I will be stepping down after Celebration of Authors. We therefore are looking for a new Executive Director. There is more information here, and if you know anyone who might be interested please direct them to this site.

Poetry Show Pics

2009-05-09T17:13:05Z

You may have heard tell about the Poetry Show we’re doing in collaboration with Words @ Play program as part of the 2009 Children’s Humanities Festival “Stages Sights and Sounds.” We did our first two performances for school groups on Thursday at the Thorne Auditorium downtown. So much fun! There are shows open to the public on Saturday, May 16th if you’d like to check us out.

Here are some pics from rehearsals!

Dixie and Matt rap about a girl named Imani Pastrami . . . “So get my name straight before you come up to my face!”

Laura and Laura play the inside emotions of each other’s cool exteriors in “I Seem to Be . . .”

The Poetry Show is one of my personal faves of the entire year, partly because poetry’s awesome, partly because it’s a public show . . . Monkeys in the Wild!!! And largely because the nature of the raw material for the show forces us to adapt our rehearsal process in a way that’s challenging and personally rewarding. Luke has been known to call it Montessori-style. We might have one big group working on a poem that requires lots of performers and at the same time have several individuals or pairs who’ve retreated into the corners of the room to work independently. And we take some home as pet projects, work them out, and bring them back to share our visions with the group. I did that with one poem about a yoga ball. I have bruises, but they’re worth it.

Dixie went home and made an amazing set of 9 boxes that separate and rejoin to form different images for the poem, “Big Things.”

Laura McKenzie took home at least 6 poems—four she turned into songs, one she turned into a solo ode to Ferrato’s Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce, one she sound designed as a disco montage with voice overlays . . . the lady is a force of nature.

The coolest thing for me personally was that between shows, we had a lunch break. Maggie and I lunched in the park between the MCA and the Water Tower, along with a school group who had seen our first show. They said, “Look! It’s an actress!” and watched our every move . . . “One of them is drinking coffee!” I felt famous and happy they liked the show!

House Manager wanted!

2009-05-07T20:42:34Z

Barrel of Monkeys is seeking a House Manager for our long-running production THAT’S WEIRD, GRANDMA, which performs almost every Monday night (and occasional Saturday afternoons) at the Neo-Futurist Theater. This is a volunteer position available June 22nd through August 31st with the possibility of continuing through next year.

Duties include executing weekly program updates, insuring there are sufficient programs at each performance, checking the reservations and creating a reservations list, working with BOM staff on volunteer staffing and merchandise inventory, sending weekly house reports to BOM staff, and other miscellaneous front-of-house duties. This position requires approximately 2 hours outside of the show every week.

Although not paid in actual money, the House Manager would receive the gratitude of a charming and attractive ensemble of actors and teaching artists, a positive feeling of helping a great non-profit, good karma, great references, comps to the show and, of course, a t-shirt.

Qualifications: Familiarity with Microsoft Office, ability to deal with patrons, strong organizational skills, and a good sense of the ridiculous. Previous house management experience a bonus. Please email for more information.

Reminders/Remainders

2009-05-06T16:43:43Z

Several Things.

Thing 1: I know I recently asked for your support very directly, but there are also ways to support BOM online without giving any money. Thank you.

Thing 2: There are only 3 matinees with tickets still available as the 5/31 show is sold out in advance (we fancy!). Please plan accordingly, you really don’t want to miss the zany delights found within the show right now, or the pleasure on the faces of the children in the audience.

Thing 3: Celebration of Authors 2009 is just about a month away. WOW. This amazing annual event is a chance for some of the kids we work with in CPS schools (plus their teachers and parents and friends) to come see their stories performed in a big fancy theater. This year we’re returning to the Athenaeum, and hope that you monkey fans can join us. Admission is free, though small donations are encouraged.

May 31st show = sold out!

2009-05-04T17:59:17Z

We have sold-out the May 31st show in advance.

More schedule info after the jump. I’m keeping this pinned to the top of the page for clarity, there may well be newer posts below.

The advance sell-out is delightful for us, as we love a full house. However, it does reduce the number of weeks left for you to see TWG on a Sunday so we hope you can plan ahead and come to a different performance.

Also! Our annual (heart-rending, fabulous, and amazing) Celebration of Authors will be Tuesday, June 9th at the Athenaeum Theatre. The show is free, though donations in support of our school programs are suggested and reservations are essential. Lots more about that event in the near future.

Regular Monday night performances of “That’s Weird, Grandma” resume June 15th!