Hi, everyone!
For all who celebrate, Happy Chanukah!
It’s our last jam session before Christmas, which means Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, the workshop of elves, and the reindeer are working overtime right now to be ready in time for their big day!
Jam with us to a sleigh, a sack, and a stocking full of…
Hi, everyone!
After workshops and staged readings, Refracted Light by Dana Hall is getting its world premiere in Chicago!
See the world premiere of Refracted Light at the Edge Theater Thursdays through Sundays from August 29-September 27! Get tickets here!
Lucy is preparing for Penny to leave for college when she discovers information that casts doubt on whether now is the right time. Before she can address her concerns, an unexpected turn of events occurs—Penny goes missing. With loss, mental health struggles, and a whirlwind of changes, the family finds itself unraveling. The question arises: How can a typical suburban family cope with these challenges without losing their sanity?
Cast (in order of appearance):
Penny Harris: Jamie Lee
Ted Harris: Zach Kunde
Lucy Harris: Jessica Lauren Fisher
Dr. David Daker: Charles Schoenherr
Becky Mazur: Kim Wilson Buck
Director: Natividad Selgado
Produced by Eclectic Full Contact Theatre
Being Penny Harris is such a wonderful gift. As part of this world premiere, we really got to help shape and mold our characters as we watched them grow from our first workshop reading, to our first official rehearsal, to even now, as we prepare to open! Through our workshops and staged readings, Dana told all of us in the cast specifically how we each helped breathe even more life into these characters and were in her head as she further refined the script. I find it so amazing that I get to bring Penny to life for the first time and introduce her to the world.
Come see us in Refracted Light!
Hi, everyone!
I had a pretty hectic Halloween season this year, so I wasn’t able to continue my series about Halloween movies. However, I know that my subsequent series on holiday/Christmas/winter movies (and specials) only had half the amount of entries… that is, only two. Yikes.
So, I’m going to rectify that this year, starting…
… now!
For those of you who are new (or just don’t remember), this is how this series works…
This month, I’m going to watch (and, in some cases, re-watch) some movies that are perfect for the holiday/Christmas/winter season. These are not reviews, because I’ll only be writing about films I love and recommend. There’s no plan, method, or scientific algorithm to what movies I’m going to watch or how I’m going to structure these entries. I’m just going to have fun with it, and I hope you will, too!
First up, a TV movie that I believe is ridiculously underrated…
It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)!
I do not own any of the following images or videos!
Here’s the trailer:
It’s ALWAYS a merry Christmas with The Muppets!
It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
Plot: The Muppets are putting on a big Christmas show to save their theater, but when everything goes wrong and Kermit the Frog’s spirit seems broken, an angel comes to show him what the world––– and his friends––– would be like if he’d never been born.
I also have a very personal connection to this movie, which you’ll have to read on to find out about!
Spoilers lurk beyond this point!
This month, I’m going to watch (and, in some cases, re-watch) some movies that are perfect for the Halloween season. These are not reviews, because I’ll only be writing about films I love and recommend. There’s no plan, method, or scientific algorithm to what movies I’m going to watch or how I’m going to structure these entries. I’m just going to have fun with it, and I hope you will, too!
The one promise I’ll make is that I’ll only include spoilers after the jump.
For this inaugural entry, I’m going to write about a movie I just saw for the first time––– well, all the way through, anyway…
The Monster Squad (1987)!
I do not own any of the following images or videos!
Here’s the trailer…
I’ve known about The Monster Squad for a while, though I don’t know exactly how long. When you love the Universal Monsters as much as I do (and I’m sure many of you do), you read a lot about them and other films that reference or utilize them. I was bound to come across The Monster Squad at some point. And I did. I read about the plot, found out some trivia, and watched some clips. All signs pointed to this being a film I’d love.
So recently, I finally ordered the twentieth anniversary DVD online. I watched it with my family, who had never even heard of it until I told them about it. Luckily for all of us, my gut instinct turned out to be a bullseye: we loved every minute of it––– and if you love monster movies, you will, too!
Here’s the basic, spoiler-free rundown…
The Monster Squad (1987)
Plot: Some young friends obsessed with monsters suddenly find themselves face-to-face with the Universal Monsters and must stop Dracula’s plan before it’s too late.
Monsters: Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolfman, the Gillman, and the Mummy
Scare Factor: It may be scary to kids about five years old or younger, but it all depends on the kid. If this kid has already seen some monster movies, especially ones with the Universal Monsters, he or she will probably be fine. For everyone else, watch it and have fun!
Gore Factor: The gore’s pretty minimal.
Family-Friendly Factor: There’s some scattered swearing and some suggestive comments. Some people may find a couple of words offensive.
Look out! Behind you!
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK! Spoilers lurk beyond this point!
Hi, everyone!
For our second holiday jam session… let’s be honest, as much fun as the holiday season can be… sometimes, it’s just not. It can be frustrating. Overwhelming. Stressful. Everyone’s supposed to feel happy and celebrate the holidays in a very specific way, and if you deviate from any of these very specific standards, you can get… iced out. And some people are grumps who won’t be satisfied until everyone’s as miserable as they are. Whether you’re on the naughty list, a Scrooge or Grinch, or just frustrated things aren’t going your way right now, come vent with us on the dark side!
Jam with us to a host of…
Hi, everyone!
We’ve waited long enough! It’s officially after Thanksgiving and officially December, so let’s defrost another series on Jammin’ with Jamie… holiday harmonies! No matter which holiday you celebrate this time of year, if you just like winter, or if you’re hunkered down in your heated bunker until the world thaws out in… let’s be honest, May, jam with us this December for holiday harmonies, with a different theme every week!
For our first holiday jam session, if you feel like you haven’t really gotten into the season yet, now’s the perfect time! We’re putting up the decorations, walking our first crunching steps in the snow… warming up our bodies and voices by dancing and singing to these songs!
Jam with us to a snowfall of…
Hi, everyone!
For those of you who celebrate, I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!
Whether you celebrate and are still digesting dinner or don’t celebrate, this next jam session is all about a tasty topic we can all relate to!
Take a seat at our Jammin’ with Jamie table as we serve up and jam––– culinary pun intended––– to a feast of…
Hi, everyone!
Before Halloween, we jammed to set of super celebration songs, celebrating our accomplishments, progress, and work toward those achievements!
Even if you haven’t achieved your goals yet, remember that it’s just that… yet. I want to expand on that. Even if we haven’t achieved our ultimate goals, we still have plenty to be proud of!
This time, instead of just celebrating what we do, we’re going to jam to a set of…
Hi, everyone!
This is Part 6 of 6 Jammin’ with Jamie jam sessions for spooky season!
For our sixth sinister jam session… for those of you keeping count at home, we’ve run out of pre-Halloween jam sessions. But I did not miscount! I always think it’s weird how we’re supposed to just stop celebrating a holiday the day after it happens. Especially transitioning from Halloween to––– ahem––– those… other… holidays… So we’re not ending when the calendar tells us to!
Once you’re done trick-or-treating, jam with us to a host of…
Hi, everyone!
This is Part 5 of 6 Jammin’ with Jamie jam sessions for spooky season!
For our fifth freaky jam session… it’s our last jam session before Halloween, so we need to make sure we’re ready! We have to put the final polish on our decorations, put finishing touches on our costumes, stretch our trick-or-treat bags to their limits, and finalize our trick-or-treating trails!
(I did not miscount! Jam with us next week for another spooky surprise!)
While we do that, let’s ring the doorbell to trick-or-treat with a host of…
Hi, everyone!
This is Part 4 of 6 Jammin’ with Jamie jam sessions for spooky season!
For our fourth freaky jam session… we’ve summoned the supernatural, we’ve experimented with science fiction, we’ve cut a rug with slashers… but there are still some sinister citizens who haven’t jammed with us yet! They’re the ones who don’t quite fit into any of the aforementioned creepy categories. Some fit into more than one… and some are off in their own Venn diagram circle, all alone.
So let’s give these unique creatures of the night their time in the spotlight with a mix of…
Hi, everyone!
This is Part 3 of 6 Jammin’ with Jamie jam sessions for spooky season!
For our third thrilling jam session… there are a surprising number of spooky songs that are about dancing, teach a dance, or have a specific dance associated with them. So I hope you took my advice and stretched and warmed up, because we’re going to bust a macabre move and get our ghoulish, ghostly, ghastly groove on as we jangle our bones to beats that go bump in the night!
Dive with us into a deluge of…
Hi, everyone!
This is Part 2 of 6 Jammin’ with Jamie jam sessions for spooky season!
For our second sinister jam session…
Let’s get mad! … Mad science, that is! We’re experimenting with a laboratory of lyrics from…