Ron Hansen was here! Again!
(Elise Kauzlaric, Brenda Barrie, Ron Hansen & Christina Calvit)
Author Ron Hansen returned to Lifeline on March 14th to see the finished Mariette in Ecstasy (he’d already come on first preview weekend!) He did a book signing between the 4pm and 8pm shows and a talkback after the latter. We’ve never had such a well-attended talkback — 80+ people stayed for close to an hour and participated in a lively discussion. We found out that Ron’s sister Ginny used to be a Dominican nun and was the source for some of his atmospheric details. We found out which historical stigmatics Ron drew on as inspiration for Mariette. And we had a big ol’ discussion about the everyday questions the story raises about faith, responsibility and community. This sure is a script and production that inspires conversation, big questions and strong opinions! A good time was had by all.
Mariette is rocking the house!
Photo by Paul Metreyeon
Not only did we enjoy rave reviews and we’re selling really well, Lifeline is seeing a lot of new audience members for this show. We are seeing clergy and fans of the book who have never been here before. At the same time, we are gratified by how many of our regular audience members who are not necessarily of a spiritual bent have found the show to be riveting. Outside the theater this past weekend, a Lifeline regular told me: “I didn’t want to come tonight. I had no interest in seeing a show about a bunch of nuns — but I am so glad I did. This is one powerful piece of theater — and relevant to anyone.”
The sign has landed!
Check out our total freakin’ snazziness!
The sign we’ve yearned for lo these many years has arrived! Oh my gosh — is that a MARQUEE? And is that NEON going around the perimeter? Oh yes, it is. It most certainly is. Many thanks to Rene Camargo at DevCorp North for hooking us up with the Business Improvement Plan which paid for half the sign. Thanks to our board, staff and ensemble and ensemble emeritus for kicking in money for the other half. And thanks to Frances for tireless efforts to make this happen. And thanks to our resident genius Alan for his eye-popping design. And thanks also to sign-maker Alex Quinonez who totally rocks.
Brand new education director – and you can see her art while having a cocktail.
Welcome to Lea Pinsky who joined Lifeline as our new education director on March 1st. Aside from her skills as an arts administrator and her background in theater, she’s also a painter and a muralist. Want to see some of Lea’s art work on display? Step on over to the Morseland, go thru the front door, take a right into that cozy nook by the east-most windows and keep an eye out for Wonder Woman. Now you’re looking at the display by Lea and her husband Dustin Harris. As long as you’re there, have a seat, order a cosmo and the best mac and cheese fritters in the world and relax while you soak in the art!
More bragging about our awesome staff
We just received a $400 check from a family in Ohio who came here once to see Zorro back in June. When their cab was late, our staff entertained them. Erica took them on a tour of the building while Bob phoned for another cab and waited outside to flag it down. When these repeated efforts didn’t produce a taxi, Bob drove them back to their hotel downtown. It is not uncommon for our staff to end up taking out-of-towners to other destinations when cabs fail. So this didn’t appear in a report. No one submitted extra hours for his/her efforts. We never would have heard about this incident except for the check and letter that came later. Just one of the ways our staff goes the extra mile(s).
The big shuttle-sharing and expansion pilot project
As you may know (and if you don’t, hear me now!), we can no longer use the Trilogy lot for Lifeline parking. It’s seriously being towed now, so don’t go there! We have a new lot at the NE corner of Morse and Ravenswood (made available to us by our friends at First Commercial Bank and our local SSA). It is further away but easier to find since it’s right on Morse Avenue. We’ve still got our shuttle doing loops back and forth to the (new) lot and a couple weeks ago, we hooked up with near-neighbors and good friends BoHo Theatre and Theo Ubique and the Lifeline van is shuttling to the lot for their shows too. (And did I mention that, like Mariette, their shows have gotten RAVE reviews? Glenwood Avenue Arts District theaters ride again!) Our showtimes between the three theaters are nicely staggered on most nights so the fact that our van only has 7 seats has so far not been a big problem! Oh yeah — and guess what? Shuttle EXPANSION to KidSeries! We are shuttling for Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. We’re doing a kids show for the first time and so far it’s gotten a lot of response. We’ll hope these experimental programs work out and we’re able to keep ’em going for next season!
Dorothy Milne
Artistic Director