This is that magical time of year when, almost overnight, approximately three-hundred-and-twenty new stories become eligible to appear in That’s Weird, Grandma. This occasion is marked by Celebration of Authors which commemorates the end of our year of school programming. All of the pieces created during this school year can now grace the TWG stage. And there are some new greats coming into the show. SEVEN new pieces to be exact! That means the show is like 33% brand new from what it was just two weeks ago. And if it’s been more than a month since you’ve seen the show? Well, that one you saw might as well have been in Elvish.
The new pieces are…
Daisy & Jimmy - Daisy is just a bunny, but she beats up bears in the forest for fun!
The Icey Ripoff - Alan’s attempts to eat ice cream unperturbed lead to one giant RIP OFF!
Bingo- winning at Bingo gets you the best prizes of all: chips, juice and many back-up dancers.
I’m- “I’m so good on my birthday, I might get an Xbox 360.” It’s a country song, naturally.
The Forbidden Planter- an epic song about the beginning of everything.
Immigration Argument- students from Little Village have some words for the president.
How to Make Me/Diamond- A first date leads to a show-stopping # by Gabriella.

All this and more if you come to the show Monday night.
Get $2 off at the box office by mentioning the password “Ripoff”.
See you there!
Running order below.

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Every June, after the Monkeys celebrate the authors, teachers, and schools that we work with, we reconvene at a secret location to celebrate our fellow company members at our annual post-Celebration of Authors party and awards ceremony. Awards are given out recognizing everyone’s outstanding work in our school performances throughout the past year, such as “Best Shady Character,” “Best Creature,” and “Most Heartfelt.” (This year’s stories featured numerous appearances by our nation’s President, so a “Best Obama” award was warranted.)

At the end of the ceremony, the prestigious Tom Malinowski Award for Enthusiasm and Commitment to Monkey Greatness is presented. Our Artistic Director, Luke Hatton, describes it as such: “It is bestowed upon an individual in the company who made extraordinary contributions toward the success of Barrel of Monkeys this year.” Previous recipients of this award include Sarah Goeden, Curtis Williams, Mike Spatafora, Luke Hatton, Tai Palmgren, Jason Sperling, and Rachel Wilson.

Joining their ranks this year is Donnell Williams.

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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. 

Runlist below!

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Well Avid & Casual Blog readers,
It is our final show of the round tomorrow night.
A handful of Monkeys will likely be in attendance as they’re strongly encouraged to watch the show if they will be joining the next cast. So, if you’re kind of like a Monkey groupie or anything, Monday would be a good night to attend as there will probably be a lot of us. You don’t even have to be a groupie. That’s not important.
Anyway, 2 smashing dialogues will be going into the show this week. One is from a child whom I have fond memories of from Columbia Explorers Academy. Her name is Rosemely and she always had hilarious ideas. She made me laugh, genuinely, every week I taught. As a memento of Rosemely’s comic genius, I have kept one of her stories on my wall at the BOM office for many years. This piece has never been performed, but on Monday night it will be.
It is a dialogue between Orlando Bloom and a “Supertop Model”. The setting is Orlando, Florida. You can read it here. In honor of Rosemely’s fine work, the password for $2 off at the box office is ‘Supertop Model’.
The other dialogue going into the show is a SUREFIRE hit from days of old. It could be a one week only encore performance, so you don’t want to miss it either!
Too much good stuff! (I think that’s am/pm’s new slogan, right?) Yes it is. I just clicked the “get to know ampm” link on their website and it says that at the bottom. Whoops. I mean “too many good things!” 
Running order below!
See u there.

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There’s a volleyball team that came to ‘That’s Weird, Grandma’ a couple years ago.
They were so inspired by a certain story in the show that they named their team after it.
Apparently the team is doing very well. They are called The Foggyloggs.
The Foggyloggs will be attending the show on Memorial Day.
In preparation for the team’s arrival and so we have a week to practice, this week we’re putting in
I Am Foggylogg with a Long Tail.
Originally conceived for glockenspiel by Mike Spatafora, Curtis Williams will do his best to replicate the original sound on our multi-faceted keyboard.
It is a new piece with words and movement, and a treasure.
In fact, that’s the author’s name: Treasure.
Come on up and see this fine play and 19 others!
We will enjoy your company, you will enjoy the show.
The password for $2 off shall be: “treasure”. Use it.
Running order, depending on the precise length of this posting, is viewable by clicking “read more” or by doing nothing.

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