Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Post Ubergarden

What's next?

Well, our managing director and board heads are currently on vacation, so when they come back, we will congregate, talk about how the Ubergarden went, and set plans for the next step towards the 2011 season.

The Ubergarden went extremely well and was an overall blast. We raised over $1000, everyone got right drunk, and the online world was given a little taste of what GZ has to offer. Karaoke was sung, the fire outside burned, stories were told, people dressed up and looked super fly, playwrights were introduced, the devil called a few times ... I don't know of a better evening, frankly, and, if one exists, don't tell me about it because ... I. Don't. WANT. To. Know.

But ... what's next?

Answer the question, RZ!

Certainly.

Auditions for the 2011 season are going to be sometime in November. The date will be determined at our next meeting. If you're interested in auditioning, please feel free to email your headshot/resume to greyzeldatheatre@yahoo.com and we'll give you a call to come in and read for us. If we haven't seen you before, we'll also ask you to perform a 2 minute monologue.

We're going to send out subscription information soon and get ourselves a snazzy Sarah Stec made flyer. Flyers can be silly, but ... Sarah does a knock up job and they always look like a hundred bucks, imho.

Then, you know ... we'll start rehearsals, keep on fundraising, maybe throw another Ubergarden, who knows? Meeting's comin' up!

If you're interested in helping out on a production in some capacity (stage managing, assistant directing, box office, light board, design, etc, etc), please feel free to contact us: greyzeldatheatre@yahoo.com I'm always looking for an excellent assistant director, so ... let me know, my friends, if you'd like to collaborate with us somehow. We're game.

In the meantime, feel free to head on over to Gene's youtube page where you can watch Dave Lykins and the Crimebusters at the Ubergarden. He's uploading lots of footage from the evening, so keep checking back in.



Talk to you cats soon. Hope you're all doin' well.

RZ

The Lion King Review at Terroristic Optimism

Howdy.

Went to see The Lion King last night with my sis. Here's my review.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Welcome to the Ubergarden!

Welcome to the Ubergarden! We're going to kick off festivities at 5 pm CST today so please join us below. Periodically, we'll have other folks from around the nation join in, so we'll share their links on the ustream channel or you can find their streams directly under ours. Feel free to hang out here for announcements, follow @greyzelda or @rzcrow on twitter, or like GreyZelda on facebook.

Nice to see you! Make sure you join us in the chat window.

Here's our live Ubergarden Stream (If you're unable to click play here, please head on over to our ustream site:

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Chat with us!



Old Mr. Scratch (Click here to be redirected to the ustream site.)



Ask Mr. Old Scratch all your burning questions!



Click here around 8:30 to chat with one of our upcoming season's playwrights:



You can chat with this amiable chap right here:



To donate to GreyZelda, please visit our paypal site or email us at greyzeldatheatre@yahoo.com for further information:








Thank you!

Donor Levels
Donor Gifts
Tonight's Line Up

Friday, October 15, 2010

Eve of the Ubergarden

The big night is about ready to pound through our virtual doors. I thought I'd sit down in the eye of the hurricane to (briefly) reflect on what's been and what will be. I don't have much time to sit down and write this morning because I have a house to clean, food/drink to buy, hair to be cut, eyebrows to be waxed, gels to pick up, songs to sing, and final Ubergarden Central preparations to make. It's a busy day. Throw a 2 year old into the mix and blend. Plus! I have a couple of blog posts to work on once I get a few things from folks.

The idea for this fundraiser came courtesy of Amanda Palmer, who throws lots of Parties on the Internet. I like to throw parties. I've met a lot of friends on the internet who I'd like to revel with. The math added up. I also love being able to share what we do with those who are not in Chicago's borders. If we could take GreyZelda on the road, babies, I'd love it. We'd bring it!

Like all creative undertakings, we put a whole bunch of stuff into a murky pond and waited to see what rose to the top to claim its inclusion during the party. I like my acts to remind me of Grendel, see? I think the line up that you'll witness on Saturday is pretty incredible.

We've had our ups. We've had our downs. Still working through a couple of *surprising to me* downs, but it should all come together by tomorrow. This process has been very organic, yet planned as much as such a thing can be. The night will depend on who's tuning in, who's at the party, how much booze we've consumed, etc, etc, etc. It's a mad, joyous Beast.

I hope you can join us.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

What You Can Expect

The Ubergarden. Coming oh so soon. Saturday. October 16th. 5 pm.

First things first.

You'll see this:



You can watch the livestream here or you can head over directly to the ustream site where you'll be able to participate in the live chat. I'll also embed a link so you can see the live chat.

So, keep a window open with the stream going.

There's gonna be lots o' action and discussion on twitter during the night. If you're on there, search for our #ubergarden hashtag and follow @greyzelda or @rzcrow.

I suggest grabbing a drink of your choice and making yourself comfortable. We'll have drinking games and I'm sure most of us will raise a drink in your honor if you let us know you're watching.

As you know, we're raising money for our 2011 season. Our members will periodically tell everyone about the donation levels, donor gifts, how GreyZelda will incorporate you donation, etc. We're a 501c3 nonprofit theatre company and your contributions help us deliver the type of theatre you've come to expect out of our company. We can't do it without, my friends.

You'll see our partygoers sing songs both with guitar accompaniment and karaoke, perform scenes, tell stories, and generally have a great time. We'd love to hear your commentary and talk with you, as well, so please communicate with us through ustream or twitter. You can also email us at greyzeldatheatre@yahoo.com or leave comments on the blog.

Looking forward to seeing you on Satuday!

To donate to GreyZelda, please visit our paypal site or email us at greyzeldatheatre@yahoo.com for further information:








Thank you!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Line Up, Ladies and Gents

I'm sure you've been running to your computer every morning upon waking, skipping your coffee, teeth brushing, constitutionals, what have you, just to check out our blog to see the list of the Ubergarden performers. Well, today's your lucky day. No need to thank me. Seriously, it's cool. My pleasure.

Here we go. Hold on to your slippers.

5 o'clock - Dave Lykins and the Crimebusters. Or, as I call them this morning, DL and the Rowdy Roddy Crimebusters. A certain founding member and former GZ co-artistic director plays bass for this fine band of musicians. Dave Lykins has acted with us and is an all around favorite friend. And, Phil, the drummer is helping out on the Ubergarden technical end. All while making a big, badass noise.



6 o'clock - The Bindlepunks, featuring Max Koknar, will be joining us, live, from San Francisco. There's going to be fire. And a talk with the Dark Lord himself, Old Mr. Scratch. GZ got to know Mr. Max via "The Twitter" and he's a part of the #2amt crew that I love so much.


6:15 o'clock - Jamie Prahl and Morgan Manasa will be conducting a Horror Readers Theatre session. Ms. Jamie was last seen in The Skriker and Ms. Morgan has been a supporter and fan of the company for years now. They're both swell, beautiful, and full of wit.



6:30 o'clock - Special Storefront Theatre Guests. It's a secret. Teehee.

7 o'clock - Mr. Max and the Bindlepunks, Part Two.

7:15 o'clock - Another visit from a Special Storefront Theatre. Woohoo!

7:30 o'clock - Mr. Eric Ziegenhagen will be joining us to share his most excellent music. Again, I got to know Eric through Twitter and the #2amt crew. He's kind, thoughtful, succinct, and full of revolutionary ideas.


8 o'clock - Max: Part Three. Too awesome.

8:15 o'clock - First Show Announcement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8:30 o'clock - Second Show Announcement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9 o'clock - Scar-y Stories to Tell in the Dark

10 o'clock - The #2amt Hour.

And, scattered in between, like glorious flotsam and jetsam, will be musical performances, scenes, karaoke numbers, drinking games and conversations with our online viewers, as well as GreyZelda members telling folks about the fundraiser, our company's history, etc, etc, etc.

I've been telling you it's gonna be quite a night. I speak no lies.

Monday, October 11, 2010

"Scar"-y Stories to Tell in the Dark


Did you ever get a chance to read the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books when you were little?

Yeah, I did, too.

LOVED 'em. Scared the bejesus out of my impressionable young mind. I learned the word pinochle from the first book. Couldn't pronounce it properly until many years later, but ... that's neither here nor there.

Around 9 o'clock, on the night of the Ubergarden, we'll be heading out to our backyard to sit around a fire and tell stories. We'll start out by telling you a little bit about the idea of the 360 and then we'll get down to spinning yarns.

Spinning yards about what, RZ?

Why ... Scars, of course!

Scars?

Yup. Everybody's got 'em. I'll be sharing the story of how I got a scar on my knee by running into a metal bench at a professional tennis tournament in Indianapolis when I was fourteen. The blood, Mother! Oh, god, the blood.

If you're tuning in from outside of Chicago and would like to participate, here's a few ways to go about doing so ...

If you're on Twitter, start tweeting your story and use the #ubergarden hashtag.

You can email me your story at greyzeldatheatre@yahoo.com and someone will read it around the fire.

You can film yourself telling the story and we can put it up on the ol' bloggy blog the night of. Just email me (Rebecca) at greyzeldatheatre@yahoo.com.

So, 9 o'clock. The Scarring Hour.

Join us.

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Here. There. Everywhere.



Good morning! I've got my first cup of coffee and have put on a pair of warm socks so the day is officially on its way. Clara's watching The Cat and the Hat, just begged for milk and pizza, and is wearing toasty pajamas so she's also good to go.

Wanted to let you know a little more about the Ubergarden on this chilly Fall a.m. This blog (yes, this blog right here) is going to be our Central Online Hub. You'll be able to watch the livestream and prerecorded videos, find out about our donation levels and gifts, see what's coming up next on the schedule, find out how you can participate in what's currently happening, etc, etc, etc. This is the Place to Be, if you can't Be with us in person.

We're kicking things off at 5 pm, CST, and the schedule's chock full of va-rye-a-tay, much to my delight. I'll tell you more about our performers in the next few days so keep on tuning in here for info.

Head on over to our facebook invitation to RSVP, if you haven't gotten a chance to.

What else, what else? Any questions from you, dear Readers? I'll answer them or, of course, The Ubergarden, that irascible scoundrel, can field the inquiries, as well.

Saturday, October 16th. Here. There. Everywhere. 5 pm.