Frog Belly's journey to WEHO

It was last weekend that Frog Belly journeyed to West Hollywood to perform at their delightful and exuberantly inclusive book fair.  I had a devil of a time parking and ended up having to yell my way into a lot because I actually heard from a distance the show had already begun.  The show was terrific and it was great seeing Shannon and Eric again who I had missed both in out and of puppet-dom.  

The crowd grew throughout the performance (a shortened brief Frog Belly at just  40 min) and by the end they had put out so many more folding chairs that the crowd extended far out from under the rear of the tent.  Included in the photos is a picture of a hen that was in a costume which is often the one thing I say... 'this book fair needs a hen in a costume.'  Thankfully it was there which made for a complete perfect and delightful day.  It feels so good to be able to say the Rogues are performing Frog Belly Rat Bone in our community and bringing quality performances to younger audiences that don't talk down to them, while also respecting parent and child alike.  

Masquerade Invitations

Cari assembles dozens of invitations to send to VIPs for the Masquerade.

It lives!

Our podcast is now available for subscription on iTunes. It feels like the Little Engine That Could (please tell me I wasn't the only person to read that as a kid).

To subscribe, just go to iTunes and search for "rogue artists." I'm sure there are other ways to find it, but that worked for me just fine. Click "subscribe," and from then on, every time you update your iPod, you'll get our latest episode.

Right now, we're planning on 1-2 podcasts per month, and we've got some great ideas for the next few. So go ahead and subscribe!

Photocall

Nina and Connor at photocall, approximately two minutes ago. The real
photos will be prettier than this, I imagine.

I've busted through the cyber walls of this blog and finally found my way to the inner sanctum! What rare air in here. Thank you, Cari for sending me the link so that I can contribute. The run is almost over, but I feel I should go backwards and blog chronologically.

So:

Our first read-through was great. There were donuts. It just doesn't get any better than that. I met our new stage manager, Joe. He seems like a very nice guy. He's an Army guy, so I vowed to never be late. (I saw Private Benjamin. I don't want to mess up. I like my toothbrush.)

Tech week was VERY tech-y. I read all my back issues of the New Yorker and started "Everything is Illuminated". An excellent book. (I know Miles and Cari agree.)

The show opened! I am so thrilled! We got such a warm reception from our Gala audience. We're really ready to do this for an audience. They are the most important missing ingredient.

We are into the run now. We decided that the Mermaid needs lots of blood to really make the violence and the implications of it clear. I think it is very effective. However, the MESS that I trail with me through the theatre, down the stairs and into the dressing room is...icky( yeah that's the best word). Plus, it's made with minty sugar and we have an ant problem, so it all needs to be cleaned up nightly. I'm in charge of myself and my bloody shoes, Kerry is in charge of my bloody costume and poor Tim, Tricia and Joe are in charge of the major mop-up duty. Chins up, everyone and thank you for all the hard work!

Ants will go away if you draw with chalk on your walls and surfaces. It's pretty incredible. They hate chalk. Sean says I'm confusing ants with voo-doo.

This coming weekend is our closing weekend. I will miss driving into the parking lot and hearing Tom singing and playing on his banjo. I'll miss watching Tricia putting blood on that babydoll's face, Tim rinsing out the mop, Joe, standing in the middle of the stage doing his mental checklist, fightcall with Dana and Kerr, Miles making me happy with just a hello, Don smoking and saying something wry and cynical, huge hug from little monkey-Sean, and...(drumroll) Cari Turley and the ongoing blockbuster that is her life, and Scarecrow, I think I'm going to miss you most of all.

It's almost time to click my heels and pack all the magic back up into a rental truck. It's sad, but I'll never forget it. Because I can't get the minty blood off my feet.