So the Cincinnati City Beat review came out and all I can say is “Thank you, Jane Durrell, Goddess of Cincinnati Print.” Thanks City Beat in general - they are so supportive of this festival. And this festival, BTW, is just wonderful. If you are in the area, just take a day go to some shows. So I put a link to the review in the links section of this blog software. I don’t know how that works, so just in case, here’s the link: http://citybeat.com/fringe/eenie.html. I’m also attempting to upload pix, but not having much luck with that so far. They’ll all flood on once I figure that out, so keep your eye out on this site.

I’m working out some of my Louisville logistics today. Louisville really came together at the last minute and we have Alec Volz and Sara Snyder to thank for that. But I also have Selena (Robert) Ballantine and her former boss Tom Sobel of the Comedy Caravan to thank as well. Tom solved about 17 problems in one phone call. So if you’re in Louisville, go to Comedy Caravan and have a great time.

June 4, 2006

Oy veh, I needed that! The performance went really well today! I was back in the zone – which sounds so cliché, but that’s exactly how it feels. Nothing could shake me out of the moment, and the audience responded in kind. So gratifying. Cheryl Rave’s parents and relatives were there, which was great. Saw them as soon as the lights came up, smiling in the front row. Had lots of people hang out after to comment and congratulate.

Big kudos to Miss Jess. Such a great collaborator she is. As she prepped for the show, the projector wasn’t responding. She wouldn’t let anyone tell me. She had everyone from the festival over checking it out. And kudos to festival producers (Jason Bruffy, Gina Mantione, and Sean Savoie) who were at the venue within minutes of the call. As I’m told, the call went out at 5:15, everyone was there by 5:25, the problem solved and the show went up by 5:35. And all this craziness is happening and I’m just doing blissful Oms in the dressing room. All that and sexy, too. Look at her being all Demi Moore here:

Also had fun mentions in the Cincinnati Enquirer today. The woman who gave the lukewarm review pulled the good stuff she said and wrote a little capsule recommendation. Then, on the same page with a picture was a featurette that she wrote from the interview I gave her. So weird, but I have no complaints. It’s like, wait, I thought you didn’t like me…?

We also saw Amy Salloway’s “So Kiss Me Already, Herschel Gertz!” It’s a solo performance piece about coming of age at the “freakishly Jewish” Camp L’Chaim. We both enjoyed it immensely, but Jess had some serious identification going on, being a Jewish Summer Camp Alum herself.

Later we hung with the karaoke crowd at Mr. Pitifuls. This is us not singing:

June 3, 2006

Today I woke up really early and went to Indianapolis to see my niece, Emily Ann Willis, graduate from high school. I have eight (8) nieces and nephews. This is the seventh to graduate high school. I have been to all but one (Kyle’s was just too short of notice – sorry, dude.) If you’ve seen Eenie Meanie, you know that there’s a scene that happens driving my parents home from Cincinnati for my niece Dawn’s graduation in 1997. So the tradition continues.

I had forgotten all about Emily’s senior-ness with all the Fringe activity, so I got lucky that I was so close and could make it. She is one of the top 25 in her class. She’s beautiful and happy and off to Wittenburg in the fall. I invited her up to Cincinnati for the Fringe – just seems like it would be a fun way to spend a couple of post-high school days. She’s not sure if she can make it, but it will be fun if she does!

Anyway, I’m always jaded going into these things but something always ends up touching me. This time it was my brother. Wayne is cool. Wayne has always been the epitome of cool. The only person that out-cools Wayne is our cousin Bruce, and his coolness resulted in international super-stardom. So Wayne’s cool? Just slightly warmer than Bruce’s. So if you’ve ever seen me attempt cool, it’s just a feeble imitation of my brother Wayne. Just a geeky little sister’s stab at cool.
So I’d be babbling to Wayne something about my evolving Festival manic life and he’d interrupt to tell me that he’s known the kid getting his diploma since preschool. Then he gave this running color commentary of the diploma line. And I could see my brother having one of those moments where he’s just so damned tickled with his life and his kids and wife. My cool brother. Reminiscing about preschool. Warms my heart.

So back to the Cincinnati and the Fringe Festival tonight where Jessica and I saw “The Catholic Girl’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity.” It was brilliantly done. Hilarious writing and performance. I would imagine it would be really funny if you were raised Catholic, but the Protestant and the Jew in attendance found plenty to laugh about as well.

So tomorrow’s my next Eenie Meanie. I’m so excited to get back out there.

June 2, 2006

Well, it went pretty well. Not one of my best performances and that audio glitch came back to haunt and distract – this manifested in a horrific static sound that came in about 30 seconds before every sound cue.

Had about 30 people in the audience which is great for Fringe, I’m told. Had two reviews – one in the Cincinnati Enquirer which wasn’t a total slam, but was a bit wishy-washy. Still waiting for the City Beat one.

How do I feel? I’m fine. Too old to get thrown by one off performance and one lukewarm review. I believe in the power of this show and am not out here for me. I know that sounds a little goofy, but, yes, my autobiographical show is not about me. I’ve seen it transform and affect people profoundly. I know it has that power and I am humbled by that. It’s just my job to stay focused so it will be accessable to as many as possible.

The reviewer busted me on not letting the audience in. And she’s right. Whatever it was, I was removed and distracted last night. I put myself and my crap between the show and the audience. That blocked their access to the piece. Lesson learned. In this show and in all of my life, the answer is the moment. Stay here, now, be fully present. If I do that onstage, you all will follow me anywhere.

So, onward and upward. We had a great night at the after party. I’m fully the oldest person here – fringing is such a youngster’s pursuit. But fun abounds and we made some great connections with other artists.

Then in a fit of nostalgia for nights spent out drinking in my twenties, we hit the IHOP on the way home. Eggs and pancakes at 2 am. Woo-Hoo! I’m in the theatre again!

June 1, 2006

Happy Jose’s Birthday, to my Brighton Street Family! Wish I could be in the driveway with you all tonight! Love and healing thoughts to Jose and all Payos!

Well, tonight’s my opening, and while I’m trying to remain calm, there’s just so many details to deal with. Folding programs, rebuilding my Mom & Dad puppets, rebuilding title cards on the video that weren’t quite perfect (Yay final cut. I’m finally getting it.)

Anyway, can’t blog long, but had to check in on opening night.

May 31, 2006

Was up late last night finishing up all the tech stuff for the show. Learning Final Cut. Yeah. It’s a big program. Anyway, we teched at the space – what a great venue. The Contemporary Arts Center. Beautiful black box theatre. Met up with Jessica Zweiman – AV gal and tour goddess extraordinaire. Tech went well, despite some audio problems – but we think they got it worked out.

I feel good, on top of stuff. Cincinnati will see the first performance of a new piece in Eenie Meanie. It covers 1994 and I’m pretty pleased with it. Maybe I’ll include in the blog once I figure out how all that works.

May 31, 2006

OK, here’s the start of my blog of Mid-East tour adventures. First, just know that I’m regretting the whole Mid-East thing. My thought in naming it the MidEast tour came when I realized that Ohio is called the Midwest & Kentucky is technically the South, being below the Mason-Dixon, but Ohio and Kentucky are actually in the middle of the eastern part of the US – hence, mid-east. This term is most popularly employed to describe a region that we are currently occupying with our military might. So no, not doing solo performance in Iraq, Jordon or Kuwait. Cincinnati, Louisville and Lexington.

So my travel today was not without its glitches. At the airport in Burbank I had just skipped thru security feeling all happy that I was only charged overage for one of my 2 overweight bags when I hear “Dallas Passenger Teresa Willis, please return to the ticket counter. So all the way back into insecure territory to face the cheerful ticket lady who said, “Ms. Willis? Please step thru the counter.” THRU the counter? “Yes, and into the back room please.” As I round the corner, there stands a uniform cop holding up my bag of “pot” - my prop baggie full of dried parsley – with it’s perfectly rolled parsley joint tucked inside. “It’s a prop!” I exclaim, and after much sniffing and testing they believed me. Didn’t stop me from babbling on like a guilty idiot while waiting for the herb (Really. Herb) to be tested. The whole time, the TSA guy continues searching my black case of props. Turning over the roller skates. Sniffing crayons. Poking fingers thru the glasses without lenses. I had the feeling that he knew if he kept searching, the heroine stash would pop up.

I got back to my plane on time and thought, “At least I’ll have something to write in my first blog entry.

To Cincinnati, that is. Check here for Teresa’s reports from the road!