Friday, August 18, 2006

Elvis and I @ Madame Tussaud's Museum

Have you ever felt like a superstar? Or have you ever seen one (on the street, at a bar, etc.)? Or have you ever taken a picture with superstar?
A visit to Madame Tussauds Las Vegas (or any other location for that matter) can give you a little bit of that. Except that all the famous people you'll find there won't interact much with you since they are made of wax. They are very well made, though. And you can take as many pictures as you want with them :-)

I really liked the museum. I went there Sat 8/12. It was very interesting for me to imaging how all these famous people would look like in real life. Most of them are very short :-)

A few years ago I personified Elvis Presley in the play "The Ballroom" at the Theatre de la Jeune Lune, so I was very excited to have a picture with the King!

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Las Vegas, LA, San Francisco and Sacramento

Last Saturday I took a plane from Minneapolis to Las Vegas and stayed there until Monday. Now I am in LA until tomorrow, when I head to San Francisco for the weekend. Monday and Tuesday (8/21 and 8/22) I will be working with Diamela Wetzl (an experience Waldorf teacher) in Sacramento and then get back home.

I am taking tons some pics (some good, some not so good) and collecting many stories. I'll write more when I get back to Minneapolis.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Fringe Festival 2006

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2006 started 2 days ago. Since I didn't see any shows last year I forced myself to see a few this year by buying a 5 tickets pass. Yesterday I did a mini-marathon and saw 4 shows in a row:

Die, Clowns, Die!
Presented by Joseph Scrimshaw

To the Winners
Presented by Wilson Loria from St Petersburg, FL

Dance Hall Days
Presented by Christopher Street Dance

Miss Margarida's Way
Presented by Teatro del Pueblo

I liked them all and I was going to write audience review for all of them. That way I could feel part of this year Fringe a little more. But I haven't gotten inspired to write 4 reviews yet. I know.. I've been very lazy this summer :-)
I have worked with Teatro del Pueblo before so I'll start with their show.

Excellent choice
* * * * *
Teatro del Pueblo couldn’t have done a better job choosing a play for the Fringe. This is a very incisive, strong and controversial show. Miss Margarida uses devices such as repetition (or more like drilling!), provocative comments and direct insults to the audience while explaining her unique teaching methods. It’s hard to miss the underlying political statements and many metaphorical insights. I attended the Saturday 8/5 at 10:00 PM performance. I thought the actress did a very good job but some hesitancy in her delivery made me wonder if she was not completely comfortable with the role yet or if the show was a little under-rehearsed. The apology given by her at the end of the show led me to think it was a little bit of both. I say, “Don’t worry, even if we look like eighth graders to you, we are adults and we can take it. Bring it on!” Bravo! And keep it going!—paulino brener