This Could Really Be A Good Life

Ever get that feeling of excitement in your chest when you hear a certain song? It's this flutter. You feel like you can get up and save the world or run for miles or fall in love. "I've Just Seen a Face" by The Beatles does that to me. When it plays on our work soundtrack at the restaurant I usually forget what I'm doing and hum to myself for the next two minutes distractedly. But, I digress. Driving home from today's impromptu lunch with Mary-Liz, "Good Life" by OneRepublic came on the radio.

And maybe it was the thoughts of auditions on my mind but all I could think of was the forward momentum we have right now as a small group of theatre professionals. And with this in my mind, I got that excited flutter. My heart started pumping and I had one of those, "Oh yes" moments. There are times when I wonder if all the work we've put in so far will be worth it. Will it pay off in the end? Will we succeed? And then I remember our mission statement, "We focus on the process, not the product." Every day is a learning experience and every learning experience reminds me, this is the good life. Not the easy life, not the stable life, or even the forecastable life BUT THE GOOD LIFE. The life I want right here and right now - the life I'm putting together with people who share my goals and ideals.

(Dinosaurs.)

I learned so much from play. Discovery this summer and I'm excited to put those lessons to use for Dearly Beloved. (You know, so I can make new mistakes and have new panic attacks. Ha. But seriously...) First lesson: list making will get you far. You can't plan for the half the things that are going to happen and a list will keep you on top of all of it. Second lesson: PLAN THE STUFF YOU CAN PLAN FOR. We've been working for so long under the umbrella KEML that it didn't occur to me how tough it would be to plan out schedules and problem shoot for 13 different people. Holy guacamole. (PS - Thanks, everyone, for being so patient and fabulous.) Third lesson: You can plug two sets of work lights into a heavy duty power strip, but the third set is just going to blow the whole thing.

In all seriousness though, after the overwhelming support we received during both our Kickstarter campaign and play. this summer, I have a new breath of confidence as we head into this new process. Our first full length production. I'll be blogging the whole way through (for serious this time, kiddos.) and you'll get to hear from some the other people involved with the process as well. It's going to be a wild ride, but in the end, I think this could really be a good life. :)

Oh, and you didn't think I wouldn't share this now, did you?!

XO,

Erika

Dearly Beloved By Brendan Doris-Pierce, Directed by Erika Geller premieres September 9-17, 2011, at Unity Church of God in Davis Square. In the mood to audition? We have a limited number of spots left for tomorrow (Tuesday). Click here!

Meet Daniel Bourque

No he's not related to the famous Bruin, but director of Jick and Dane and Love, Dan is definitely making his own mark on Boston.

Daniel Bourque is enormously pleased to be directing for the CoLab Theatre. He most recently directed for the F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company in their One-Act Festival and served as Associate Director on the OperaHub production of The Four Note Opera. His extensive area directing credits include work with the Footlight Club, Another Country Productions and Company One (SlamBoston Series) The Atlantis Playmakers, Turtle Lane Playhouse, Whistler in the Dark, in the Boston Theatre Marathon, for Playwright's Platform and many more. Regional credits include work with Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany NY where he spent two years as Assistant to the Artistic Director/Literary Intern, Stageworks in Hudson NY with the Summerstage Program and as an Assistant Director at the Westport Country Playhouse. A member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, he is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine and a Maine native

See Dan's work on Jick and Dane and Love by MJ Halberstadt as part of play.Discovery July 13 & July 15 @ 8pm, Unity Somverville, 6 William St. Somerville MA. All tickets $5 cash at the door. Reservations are still available for Friday's performance by emailing colabtheatre@gmail.com.

Meet Tony Rios

Meet everyone's favorite dinosaur enthusiast and returning "play."er Tony Rios!

Tony (Dane at 9, Jick and Dane and Love) is a recent graduate of Brandeis University majoring in Theater and History. He is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with CoLab again, they're great folks. Previous theater credits include (directing:) Big Love, No Exit, and The Lonesome West. Previous acting credits include Three Sisters, Love's Labour's Lost, The Game of Love and Chance, Cloud 9, Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls, Measure for Measure, The Einstein Project, among many others. He's looking forward to working his butt off in the Boston area. Big thanks to this talented crew of people.

See Tony in Jick and Dane and Love and as part of the ensemble in play. Discovery July 13 & 15 @ 8pm, Unity Church of God 6 William St. Somerville MA all tickets $5 minimum donation, cash only at the door.

Meet Rob Orzalli

Meet recent grad and new play-mate Rob Orzalli!

Rob (Van, Pendulum) is a recent graduate of Brandeis University and is so excited to be involved in this production! He did a number of shows at Brandeis including Rent (Collins) and Story of My Life (Thomas) as some of his favorites. Now, he is exploring the big world outside of college and this show is a great transition.

See Rob in Pendulum and as part of the ensemble in play. Discovery July 13 & 15 @ 8pm, Unity Church of God 6 William St. Somerville MA all tickets $5 minimum donation, cash only at the door.

Meet Kim Klasner

Here's the hysterically funny Kim Klasner!

(Louise, The Moustache) A graduate of University of Massachusetts - Amherst, Kim is absolutely thrilled and excited to be making her CoLab Theater debut in play. Discovery. Some of her past performances include the Boston Actors Theater’s SLAMBoston, the Continuity Theater and Dance Company’s Savage/Love, and the Actors Refuge Repertory Theater & New African Theater’s The Vagina Monologues. When Kim is not working in the wonderful world of publishing, she enjoys dancing (poorly), knitting (projects she will never finish), listing out her life (top interests: charades and documentaries, top fears: sink holes and giant squids) and daydreaming about what it would be like to be Beyonce (of course, amazing, duh). If you ever see her around, don’t be afraid to say hello!

See Kim in The Moustache and as part of the ensemble in play. Discovery, July 13 & 15 @ 8pm. Unity Church of God, 6 William St. Somerville MA. Tickets $5 minimum donation, cash only at the door.

Meet Tierra Allen

Meet the youthful and lovely play. alum, Tierra Allen!

Tierra (Jick at 9, Jick and Dane and Love) is excited to rejoin The CoLab after the awesome experience of co-creating play. Growing Up, last summer! Since then, she's performed with A.R.R.T. and New African Company in Philomena Across Time and The Vagina Monologues and with F.V. Productions in The 24's. Favorite past productions include Stop Kiss (Callie), Eurydice (Loud Stone), For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf (Lady in Green). She holds a B.A. in Theatre Studies & Dance from Amherst College, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude, and co-directs City on Hill Public Charter School's drama program.

See Tierra in Jick and Dane and Love by MJ Halberstadt and as part of the ensemble in play. Discovery July 13 & 15 @ 8pm. Unity Church of God, 6 William St. Somerville MA.

Cassie M. Seinuk - Playwright

Meet the powerfully poignant playwright of Pendulum, Cassie M. Seinuk.

Cassie's recent successes include: the title of Best Play at SWAN Day March Madness Festival in Boston for her ten-minute play Robin’s Nest, the play also appeared at the Girl Play Lesbian Theatre Festival. In addition, Salem Theatre Company’s Moments of a Play Festival will be producing her play February First is an Annual Thing July 22-25^th; simultaneously her one act The Muse will be performed at the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival directed by Kenny Steven Fuentes, a revival of the Young Actors Winter Festival production. In the past year her play, Runner: The Novel The Play received a staged reading as part of the Inchworm PlayReading Series with Holland Productions. The Free Play Theatre Cooperative produced the workshop script of “Runner” back in 2009. Pendulum is the 4^th play of her 52 Plays in 52 Weeks project. Cassie is currently an MFA student in Writing for Stage and Screen at Lesley University.

See Pendulum as part of play. Discovery July 13 & 15 @8pm. Unity Church of God, 6 William St. Somerville MA. Tickets are $5 cash at the door.