A Year In…

by stevie ray on May 15, 2012

 

30 kids have written 30 original ten-minute plays that an audience of more than 400 people has been privileged to see.  Over 40 actors from a wide variety of backgrounds have had the wondrous task of becoming dragons, sharks, cheetahs, robots, dolphins, penguins, cruel lions, innocent zebras, doughnut-seeking aliens, stuffed-bears, kids, birds, socks and imaginative creatures of all kinds.  The Downtown Public Library has been transformed into an incubator of creativity and a show palace on four different occasions.  More than 50 volunteers have gotten together, rolled up their sleeves and said “Let’s put on a show!” and Chattanooga has experienced some of the best entertainment around.  Period.

And we just got started.

It has been a little more than a year since our first production.  The time has gone fast and the work has been fun, intense and there have been a lot of moving parts, but to say what I get to do is rewarding doesn’t do it justice.  It is the most rewarding work I do.  (Even more than my film and stage work.)  I am thankful.  I am honored.

I get to be there when a kid is struggling with what is inside her head and doesn’t quite know how to get it on to the paper in front of her, yet, with encouragement, she perseveres and creates a story. And I get to be there when that idea she struggled with comes to life on a stage under lights with grown-up actors in costumes speaking her lines and singing songs she has written.  I get to see this playwright take in the audience celebrating her work.  And I get to be there when she takes her bow.  It is an awesome experience for her – but selfishly, vicariously – for me also.  This is about giving a kid a chance at success – and I feel successful when she does.  This goes for all 30 Playwrights we have worked with this year.  And this has been a successful year.  How cool is that?

So on we go, into the wild blue yonder of the next year.  Many more exciting things to do. Many more young Playwrights.  And the more we get their stories out, the more our community grows and comes together.

 

 

Look for The Muse of Fire Project’s brand-new, original summer project: “A Shakespeare Mash-Up!” original theater pieces form Shakespeare, interviews and family stories!  Coming Summer 2012.

SR

 

 

 

 

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The Hard Part

by stevie ray on November 10, 2011

We have one class left. All the plays are supposed to be written by next Wednesday.  Some kids are very close to being finished and will have no trouble, others will need extra one-on-one sessions. I wonder if I am doing a decent job of helping them get to the finish line. Are they really taking this stuff in?  Have we challenged them to write their best possible plays?  Do they care?  For some reason, during the last few sessions it felt harder to get my points across to the class than other times in the past.  A friend of mine says that this is good – that I am in a growing/learning place.  I hope she’s right.

We have less than a month before the big shows.  There are a lot of moving parts that need to be pulled together to make it work and right now, that is daunting.  We have sets to build, props to make, word to spread, tickets to sell, programs to make, goodies to bake etc. etc

But before any of it can be done we have plays to be made, (then cast, and rehearsed…)

So, it is this place I have to live in as a Producer/Director – and as an artist.  It is the place of the unknown.  The place that seems impossible.  It is uncomfortable and overwhelming, and at times seems like “why bother?”  Too much work – too little pay.  It’s also a little scary – maybe it will fail.  Maybe we haven’t helped these kids learn anything.  Maybe we are big fakes and everyone will find out…

But – after having been in the professional theater for nearly 20 years – I have learned a little thing or two:  Work. Trust.

Work and Trust. Trust and Work. Trust in the Work. It is all we have.  We work and move forward a little bit everyday – even on those frustrating days when it seems like there is no magic in it, that the muse (of fire) has left the building for good, (or burned it down and skipped town.)

It will come together.  I believe in the power of this work and that it will be wonderful.  I trust in it, but that doesn’t make it easy.

Trust and Work.  Oh – and -that I don’t do this for me – it’s for the kids.  If I can keep that in mind, no matter how hard it seems now, the magic will be there.

SR

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Here we go again…

September 22, 2011

The night after opening night is hardest for some.  It is it’s own peculiar brand of challenge.  The build up of excitement and the adrenaline rush that comes with a first performance is what a lot of people thrive on in the performing world.  You got through it, hopefully with grace and beauty, and you [...]

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Oh For a Muse of Fire….

August 7, 2011

Oh for a muse of fire that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention!…  A Lion Bank.  A scratched video game CD.  An unintended belly flop in front of a bunch of people.  An asthma attack.  The Ice Cream Truck Lady.  A Dream… Inspiration.  Launching pads. It’s funny and wonderfully surprising what kids find and [...]

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“Upstate Manhattan” to Chattanooga, TN : an Artistic Director’s blog.

July 1, 2011

It has been nearly a year since I moved to Chattanooga with my family from Washington Heights in the northern part of Manhattan.  “Upstate Manhattan” we like to call it.  Now I am on a mountain in Georgia.  The view I had in New York was nice – the New Jersey Palisades, Hudson River, the [...]

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