Solo Stage Notes

NOTES FOM THE FALL MEETING - September 12, 2005

Since Bentley College is re-decorating the library, we met in a new place, the carriage house at Longfellow House in Cambridge. Quite appropriate since Ted is developing Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as a character. Here is who attended:

Ted Zalewski - aka Teddy Roosevelt, Postman Roulen, E Hemingway, our intrepid group leader and soon to be Longfellow
Sally Matson - aka Susan B Anthony
Bern Budd - aka Mark Twain
Josh Brackett - aka Pythagoras
Deb Goss - The Proper Ladies, Charlotte Cushman, Mother Goose
Mel Simons - The Golden Days ...
Norm Conrad - Mini Minstrel Show
Li Min Mo - China stories
Marianne Donnelly - aka Janis Joplin, Louisa May Alcott, et al
Janet Parnes - Lady J, the Victorian Lady
Elena Dodd - aka Eleanor Roosevelt
Belinda West - aka Emily Dickinson, Dorothy Hancock
Celia Slattery - Moving Target
Mike Francis - aka Galileo

George Jones - soon to be Dr. George Washington Carver

And our host for the evening Jim Shea, Director of Longfellow House.

Everyone seems to be up to something. Some highlights...
Sally is heading out to the great Northwest with Susan B, to a church in Walawala, WA which actually closed their doors to Susan on her first visit, many many years ago. Bern visited the National Storytelling Conference. Josh is now full into rehearsals on Pythagoras. Deb was up at the Nashua Public Library. Mel is opening a new show, "Strictly Sinatra. Norm performed for the Rythem and Bones Society, that's one gig most of us won't get. Li Min is now presenting her new show "Living in Two Worlds". Maryanne is taking Janis Joplin to NY on November 10th to perform at the Cornelia St. Cafe in Greenwich Village, not far from where Janet was just before Big Brother and the Holding Company . Janet has started visiting schools in addition to her trademark teas with Lady J. Elena is heading to Nebraska with Eleanor in October. Celia organized a very successful cabaret performers festival.

Group discussion centered on the idea of actors on the edge, performing characters on the edge. To make your program dynamic, you need to stay right on the edge. Most of us have chosen people who lived that way and it needs to come through in performance. Choices can take many forms. Ed Hooks, an actor and teacher, whose newsletter I get, suggests always having your character choose love. This can be for another person, or in the case of Galileo, I choose to emphasize his love for the church. Find your own way to stay on the edge.

Hint of the meeting: The Massachusetts Cultural Council and the state arts agencies of Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont are putting together a new website to match performers with venues. It isn't fully functional yet, but you may want to visit what's there and bookmark it for future reference. http://matchbook.org .

We don't have a location for the next meeting yet, Bentley may still be fixing things up. A notice will go out when we know or you can check out http://SoloTogether.com or the Calander. Mike Francis
Webmaster SoloTogether

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