BARREL
OF MONKEYS ANNOUNCES FALL 2009 TO SPRING 2010
SCHEDULE
INCLUDING
WINTER/SPRING MATINEE RUN
FROM FEBRUARY 7-APRIL
4, 2010
-
BOM Headlines Chicago
Sketchfest for Kids on January 9 -
In September 2009, Barrel of Monkeys
began its twelfth year of serving at-risk Chicago public school students with writing workshops that
lead to professionally-performed theatrical presentations in the show That's Weird, Grandma.
This show has produced over 700 stories and musical numbers since April
2001, when the stage run began.
That's Weird, Grandma
will continue at the Neo-Futurarium,
5153 N. Ashland
Ave. in
Chicago, every Monday night at 8
p.m. (except for the periods 1/25-3/1, and
4/12-19/10). Special holiday surprises will be included
in the shows during Thanksgiving on November 23 and 30; winter holiday shows on
December 21 and 28; Valentine's Day on February 14; and Easter on April 4 and
5.
For the first time during the
winter/spring season, BOM will bring
their popular Sunday, That's Weird, Grandma matinee
series back for a limited run, between February 7 and April 4,
2010, at 2 p.m., also at the Neo-Futurarium (so there will be shows
both on Sundays at 2 p.m. and Mondays at 8 p.m., from 3/7-4/5). There will be a performance hiatus for
all shows on April 12 and 19, with regular Monday, 8 p.m., shows
returning on April 26,
2010.
BOM headlines the kids' portion of
Chicago Sketchfest, the world's largest sketch comedy festival, on
Saturday,
January 9,
2010,
2
p.m., at
Theatre Building Chicago (chicagosketchfest.net).
The next Monkey-O-Kee benefit will be held on January 31, 2010 (details
TBA).
BOM's October 16th Fancy Schmancy benefit grossed $35,000,
including a special audience donation of over $3,500 following a speech by Karen
Love, a participant in the BOM program and literary coach at
Kohn School. All benefit proceeds support BOM's programming in
under-served communities and the Chicago Public Schools. BOM's Hallowed Halls event on October
31st at the Chicago Cultural Center taught 40 kids in their workshop,
and presented That's Weird, Grandma
to over 300 audience members. The
Chicago Tribune featured BOM on
October 14,
2009, saying, "That's Weird, Grandma is an assemblage
of random thoughts and concerns of Chicago children, sculpted into theater, but
so respectful of how kids think ... veering into lunacy, social criticism, even
poignancy ... a show that seems to understand intuitively the pandering and
exhausting tendencies of children's entertainment, and comments without
sacrificing the innocence we associate with children's entertainment ... it
demands respect."
Barrel of Monkeys is an ensemble of
actor-educators whose mission is to create an alternative learning environment
in which children share their personal voices and celebrate the power of their
imaginations, and have served more than 7500 students in 38
Chicago public schools. BOM accomplishes this through creative
writing workshops and in-school performances of children's stories. BOM also
engages the broader community in support of the visions of children through
public performance of their work.
The staff includes Amanda Farrar, Executive Director; Luke Hatton, Artistic Director; Elizabeth Levy, Program Director; Maggie Fullilove-Nugent, Company
Manager; Laura McKenzie, Musical
Director; and Sarah Goeden,
After-school Program Coordinator.
Barrel of Monkeys is generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Polk Bros Foundation, The MacArthur
Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, The Alphawood
Foundation, Peoples Gas, Maurice and Meta Gross Foundation, The Mardi Gras Fund, and the Efroymson Family Foundation. This project is partially sponsored
by a CityArts Program 2 grant from the
City of Chicago
Department of
Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts
Council, a state agency, The Chicago
Public
Schools,
and hundreds of individuals.
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