Tag Archives: Strike Story

I Like Art

Sometimes I get a little culture.  For example, last Saturday I went to the Renaissance Pub in Little Falls for a Meet the Artist with Frank Wilcox.   The Renaissance periodically hosts local artists in cooperation with Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts.

I am acquainted with Frank from being in a play with him (Strike Story written by Angela Harris), and I have seen his work in several area venues.  Full disclosure:  my original plan was to write about the Renaissance (or the Ren as it is sometimes called) for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  I missed the deadline for the February issue, so I will try again for a future issue (unless another writer beats me to it).  In the meantime, I wanted to give the place a shout-out, and give folks a chance to go see some of Frank Wilcox’s paintings.

I can’t quite get a good picture of behind the bar.

Of course I sat at the bar and had a glass of wine.  One must support a venue that promotes local artists.  Unfortunately the kitchen was not open yet, because the food there is very good.

It’s hard to take good pictures of pictures.

I was there early enough that it was not too crowded yet, so I did not have to worry about asking a bunch of strangers if it was OK if they were in the picture.  I did not take too many pictures in any case, because they did not seem to be turning out very well.  Therefore, I encourage all local readers to go to the Ren and take a look for themselves.

Erynn Lowery and Victoria Cheney

I was fortunate enough to get a picture of the proprietress and bartender.  Unfortunately Victoria, the bartender, was moving soon.

You really should go see this one.

I took a picture of my favorite painting.  I was happy to get a chance to tell Frank how much I liked it.  Unfortunately, there are no walls in my house big enough to properly show off a picture that big.  As I type this, I look around at all the nice pictures on my walls now, which include at least a few by local artists.  That was my husband Steven’s talent, hanging pictures and interior decoration.  Still, I could retire a couple of pictures if I acquired any more art.  I certainly hope to attend more Meet the Artists at the Renaissance.

The Renaissance Pub is located at 550 E. Main St., Little Falls, NY, phone number 315-556-1006. Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts is located at 401-403 Canal Place, Little Falls, phone number 315-823-0808. You can Like them both on Facebook.

 

A Little Art, A Little Music…

I have just returned from the Renaissance Pub in Little Falls, NY, where I attended a Meet the Artist event with Oscar Stivala.

Oscar Stivala is a jazz trumpeter as well as an artist.  The Renaissance is displaying some of his works, and he was playing music tonight.  Some friends joined him.

They were awesome!

I sat at the bar and ordered a glass of wine.  Oscar was already playing with a guy on guitar.  He was soon joined by a man on bongos and then a woman on trumpet.  The music was wonderful.  As I sipped, I looked at his paintings, which I foolishly did not get any pictures of.  It took me long enough to get pictures of the musicians, because different ones played at different times.

Here were two without Oscar.

I was joined by my friend Angela Harris, who wrote Strike Story, a play I had the honor of being in a few years ago.  She also wrote the cheese plays that were part of Little Falls Cheese Festival.  She is working on one for the next festival.  If there is a part for me, I assured her of my willingness to participate. We were soon joined by a couple other friends, and it was a very nice evening.

Here are Oscar and another musician whose name I did not ask.

I did not get the names of the other musicians playing.  My bad.  I hope to go to the Renaissance Pub again and write more blog posts about it.  I would also like to blog more about Oscar Stivala’s music and art.  However, for today, this will have to do.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

In My Defense, Cheese!

Hands up, everybody who figured I would be making my Tired Tuesday Post late.  Now pat yourself on the back, because you were right.  I could say I was tired after my rehearsal, but the rehearsal was, in fact, not that strenuous.

What rehearsal, you ask?  Well, yes, I am in another play, this one with LiFT, the Little Falls Theatre Company.  I guess I just can’t help myself.  In my defense, it is a short, reader’s theatre piece, meaning minimal rehearsals and no lines to learn.  Additionally, it is in conjunction with the Little Falls Cheese Festival.  How can I resist cheese?  Most importantly, it was written by Angela Harris, the brilliant writer of Strike Story.  I love Angela!

Angela and I at a previous cheese festival.

I was a little stunned to realize that the Cheese Festival is this Saturday, Oct. 7.  I guess I somehow thought there was more space between September and October, or maybe that October had longer weeks.  Widow brain.  It’s a thing.

A shot of the 2019 cast.

The cheese plays are done like an old time radio program, complete with microphones.  The plots concern Mac Blac, the only problem solver in the Little Falls phone book.

A rehearsal from 2018.

This year’s play will be held at Little Falls Public Library at 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.  Come on out and see us!  If you can tear yourself away from the Cheese!

 

Break a Lame?

On the brighter side, I found my shoes, along with a few other things I’d been missing.

On the darker side (not that I ever actually crossed over to The Dark Side, but that’s a whole other reference), this is going to be another foolish post, even for Lame Post Friday.  I can’t help myself!  I have a play tonight and I am flustered!!! (Yes, it needs all three exclamation points, Punctuation Police.)

One problem is I ate something too large for dinner and I am sick to my stomach.  It tasted good going down, but now its just sitting there, tormenting me.  Oh well, it should digest by curtain time.

Another problem, incidentally, is that there is no curtain.  And I don’t need to know my lines.  Strike Story is the reader’s theatre piece beautifully researched and written by Angela Harris about the textile mills strike in Little Falls in 1912.  There is no curtain because we are not doing it on a stage but in a banquet room in the Travelodge Inn and Suites in Little Falls.  I do so appreciate hiding behind a curtain when I am not actually on stage.  The entire cast is on stage for the entire show.  That makes it a fun and interesting acting challenge, because we get to react to everything that is going on.  But there is also no break and chance to hide.  Yes, I am this weird combination of great big ham and little bitty scaredy cat (not too little, but let’s not get into my dieting woes right now).

What I was saying to a friend at work is, this is an important show.  It is important to the writer, director and cast.  It has historical significance.  It is an honor to be in such a play, and it is a responsibility.  In other plays, if I screw up, I fix it as best I can, and I will probably laugh about it, either as it’s happening or later.  There is every chance the audience will laugh, too.  Of course, I always strive to NOT screw up.  It just seems especially important this time.

So this is my foolish blog post dithering about my pre-show jitters.  I have been going over my lines and thinking about my character all day.  And, as I mentioned earlier, I found the shoes I wanted to wear.  I wore a different pair for dress rehearsal, and they were all right, but the pair I found is better, yes!  I am now perfectly well prepared to break a leg.

 

Is a Throwback a Non-Sequitur?

Good evening and welcome to Non-Sequitur Thursday.  I am tired as I can be… OK, that is an exaggeration.  I bet I could be a lot more tired, for example, if I had gone running again today or cleaned my house or worked overtime or… see? I’m making myself more tired just by thinking about it.  Actually, now that I think about all the things I have not done today, I feel a little bit ill-used for being so tired.  What the hell, me?

Never mind all that.  I have a blog post to make.  Just now as I was casting about in my rather mushy brain for an idea, I remembered, Throwback Thursday.  People on Facebook post pictures from the past. Maybe I could do that!  I could even be non-sequiturish about it.  I bet I have some good stuff in my Media Library.  Let’s look…

I am not sure what he is looking at.

This is our late, much missed poocher, Spunky.  I guess sometimes Throwback Thursday can sometimes make you melancholy.

I can’t even believe what he is telling me to say.

Here is something more cheerful.  This is my husband, Steven, and I  as Dr. Chumley and Veda in the Ilion Little Theatre production of Harvey in the spring on 2012.  I believe I wrote a few blog posts about it at the time.

These days we use champagne flutes.

Now here is a REAL Throwback Thursday shot!  This is our wedding in October of 1990.  Look how young and cute we were!  I suppose we’re still kind of cute, for a couple of old folks (some people call us old something else that begins with an f, but I do not care to be vulgar).

I think three pictures is good for a foolish post when I’m tired.  Now all I have to do is slap on a snappy headline and I’m done.  I hope people will tune in again tomorrow on Lame Post Friday.  I will probably be quite flustered, because I will be about to leave for the performance of Strike Story  with LiFt Theatre Company in Little Falls.  I’m sure I’ve mentioned it.  I bet I even included a link to the Facebook event.  I just did again.  So this is not a completely useless post.  Happy Thursday, everyone.

 

What’s the Story?

This is another pre-rehearsal hasty post (which is not the same thing as hasty pudding) (which I have no idea what that is anyways but thought I would throw it in there).  Will I ever take a break from doing plays and rushing off to rehearsal?  Yes, after this one.

And I really wanted to write a good blog post about it, telling a little about the play, its history, the Little Falls history it is based on, the event of its revival, the special guest involved…

And my brain has turned to mush!  The best I can do, it seems, is to tell you the where, when, etc., and link back to the Facebook event.

The play is Strike Story, by Little Falls resident Angela Harris, directed by Matthew Powers, and presented by LiFT Theatre Company.  The performance is 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, at the Travel Lodge Inn and Suites, 20 Albany St., Little Falls, NY.  Tickets are $5.  Guests are invited to arrive early as a cash bar will be available (I’ve been told that my character would NOT enter carrying a gin martini, dammit!).  I have linked to the Facebook event on the word event, above.

And this is my Tired Tuesday post.  I have to take my shower, finish getting my costume together, and get on the road.  I hope to see you all tomorrow, when it will probably be Wuss-out Wednesday.

 

Another Pre-Rehearsal Hasty Post

Well, it was going to be a Bad Attituesday no matter what anyways, but I’m afraid now I have to take a blogger’s sick day.  I have been feeling quite awful since last night, dizzy, nauseous, headache, body aches, stiffness… oh, sorry, now I’m going on and on, whining in a most unbecoming fashion.  I’m pretty sure it is my allergies, and I’m just going to have to ride it out.  Once when I had gastroenteritis, a doctor told me that the body can ride out an astonishing number of things if only you stay hydrated.  With that in mind, I drank water all day, with only the necessary amount of coffee thrown in, and now am sipping seltzer with lemon from a wine glass (woman cannot live by water alone) (at least, not this woman).

Where was I?  Did I mention I’m also feeling kind of out of it?  That’s just MARVELOUS news for me, since I have to drive myself to Little Falls in about a half hour for rehearsal for Strike Story.  I don’t suppose I mentioned Strike Story recently. It is a beautifully researched reader’s theatre piece about the 1912 textile workers strike in Little Falls, written by Little Falls resident Angela Harris.  It was the inaugural production of LiFT Theatre Company, first presented in 2012.  I had the good fortune to take part in it when Ilion Little Theatre imported the production in November of that year (I may have written  a few blog posts about it at the time).

Well, LiFT is reviving the play on Oct. 27 in Little Falls.  Unfortunately, a quick search as I type this does not give me further info as to time, ticket prices, etc.  However, this is a daily blog, so as soon as I find out more, I’ll write another post.  In the meantime, I’ve got to punch holes in my script and put it in a binder.  Thank God it’s reader’s theatre and I don’t have to learn all the lines!

Hmm… this is not the blog post I set out to write at all.  No matter, I have not time to rewrite it.  I hope to see you all tomorrow on Wuss-out Wednesday.