About Our School Programs

First and foremost, big time congrats to all the students we taught during the year, the partner classroom teachers, and all the schools that welcomed us in their doors. Yes. You guys rock!!

Celebration of Authors 2010, what can I say; there’s absolutely no better way to cap off the school year. The chance to reconnect with fellow Monkeys, seeing students you taught during the year, and of course all the wacky things that go on back stage. (IE) The ride em cowboy pre-show warm up…. enough said.
Pulling off the show is such a herculean effort, I always feel part of a rag tag army setting out on mission impossible. And after all the hard work, there’s nothing like seeing the crowd file in and then taking to the stage for Show Time.

There were countless highlights, but here’s a few that stuck in the good kid’s mind: Meeting a few of the student’s parents and taking pictures; running into the house to catch the “Snow Ball Fight”; and trying not to break when Philip came out in his fancy dress and hat as Ms. Basil E. Frankweiler…. hilarious!!

So here’s to another great year Monkeys, I’m already looking forward to COA 2011. Oh Yeah!!!

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!

Read more…

Chalmers is often the last school show of the year, and while we don’t play favorites, it is true that lots of Monkeys come out for this last blast.

One of these Monkeys is Kristie Koehler, former Monkey Program Director and current emeritus member. Emeritus is a fancy way to say she used to be around all the time, but isn’t anymore. You might remember her as Bob Stickle, Funny Bunny, or the Girl Who Broke Her Two Front Teeth. That story was performed in the very first That’s Weird Grandma and is the source of the title! Kristie’s the original “Grandma” on the very first That’s Weird, Grandma posters! I mean, you guys, that is famous!

Here she is with fellow Monkey veteran Matt Miller.

Kristie is a clown, a Neo-Futurist, a college instructor, a sometime TV producer, and one of the funniest people I know.

One of my favorite things about Kristie is that she’s older than me. (I mean, in Monkey years she’s older. Kristie, that’s what I mean. I’m not telling how old anybody is in real years, though young Philip recently described me as “still springlike.” I will take it. ) Back on track—when I first joined Barrel of Monkeys, I was not always sure what to do, so I would ask myself, “What would Kristie do?” and basically rip her off. While I could never be Kristie, it worked great! At the end of that first year, people told me I had grown a lot as a performer, and I thought, yeah, I learned how to rip off Kristie Koehler . . . Secrets. Learning and growing. Barrel of Monkeys, always learning and growing together.

No, but seriously that’s part of what makes a company strong—internal leadership and a shared sense of style and humor. We copy each other and mix it up with our own special sauce, find our inner Monkey. Mine has a healthy sprinkling of Koehler.