From the Archives- I can't sleep I'm so excited!

October 22, 2011

It’s true. It’s 4 o’clock in the morning and I can’t sleep. I could blame it on the prep work for Monday’s fundraiser at Tolani (www.daytimemooncreations.com/upcoming-events, more on that later) but, having finished as much work as I can and still being unable to sleep, the real reason has dawned on me: I’m way too excited about the start of our program with the Peoples Improv Theater tomorrow! T minus 8 hours. Not that I’m counting or anything.

 

October’s been a huge month for us so far. We started programming immediately with the Little Buddha Arts Class on October 2nd. Tommy Galan, the Director of Corporate Programming at the PIT, who has been a huge support for us as we begin our partnership, started a company called Little Buddha Arts (http://www.facebook.com/LittleBuddhaArts) that provides arts classes to kids, then hosts a gallery of work done by both child and professional artists, the proceeds of which go towards supporting arts programs for kids with special needs–including Daytime Moon! The class on October 2nd saw lots of smiles and the art created was pretty fantastic.

Only 3 days later, Daytime Moon hosted its first fall fundraiser at the PIT–a night of improv comedy, live music and drink specials. The PIT’s bar was open all night long, the house teams were doing improv shows every hour, and Harold Allen and the Bonfire Choir–fresh from touring in Nashville, recording a live album at Arlene’s Grocery and opening for Leann Rimes in Nebraska–provided live music. It was a great night, and we raised a lot of money! Photos from both events are up on the Upcoming Events page.

Which brings me to this week, by the far the most jam-packed of the month:

On Thursday, Daytime Moon kicked off our in-house workshop with the Cooke Center Academy. Already a partner school that places amazing interns with us (again, more to come later!) this fall, Cooke invited us into the school to do an 8 week program for their alumni and SKILLS students, aged 18-24. It’s inspiring for us to get to work with young adults, and we’ve got an amazing group of individuals who are passionate about the arts and very excited to be honing their craft as actors. There aren’t a lot of programs out there for this age group. This is a pilot program at Cooke and we’re honored to be a part of it.

Our group has fifteen actors in it! The participants couldn’t be more different in personality, but one thing is true for everyone–they’re all super excited to be there. Thursday, our first class, was an absolute blast! We played theatre games, did imaginative exercises, and improv-ed scenes about emotion. The group breezed through even the most challenging of the exercises! I can’t wait to see how the sessions and the final play shape up.

That was yesterday! Hard to believe, because today’s been so crazy with planning work. But tomorrow is the launch of Daytime Moon’s second program–an 8 week Saturday program marking the beginning of our partnership with the Peoples Improv Theater!!! T minus 7 hours and 45 minutes. But really, I mean, it’s not like I’m counting or anything.

This program, designed for ages 8-16, is going to be a really exciting event for us. Of the participants, three are returning actors, and I’m really looking forward to catching up with our repeat offenders and seeing how much they’ve grown over the last year. Playwright Meredith Hackman returns for her second program to help our group write an original show to be performed on the PIT’s mainstage (recently named the Best NY Venue for Comedy by the Village Voice!) December 17th. She’ll be assisted once again by Cooke Center Academy Intern Nagisa Mikami.

Continuing in the vein of amazing growth, our inclusive internship program has expanded! In addition to Nagisa, who we’re so excited to welcome back, we’ve also welcomed a new intern from Cooke, Jake, who’s going to be working with DMC Staff Member Michelle Kuchuk to put together and maintain our new video blog!! Jake describes his passions as filmmaking, helping others, and reminding kids that they have the power to imagine and dream anything they want to. In the short time we’ve gotten to know him, he’s already inspired us all so much, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to the team and help him to use his passions to share our work. Michelle and Jake are meeting Monday to edit footage from tomorrow’s session and do the first posting, so check back to see how it turns out.

In other news (no pun intended) the Daytime Moon newsletter officially launched yesterday. You can read the blast here: http://conta.cc/p3HQXD and text DAYTIMEMOON to 22828 to get the future newsletters mailed directly to you. You can also join by clicking the icon on our website. No spam emails here–each month we’ll be sending updates about upcoming events, stories about how the programs are going, and we’ll be featuring one or two of our stars in video segments. It’s a great way to stay up to date, so I hope that you’ll join us! Many thanks to Michelle for getting it all together.

And in case you were doubting how eventful the last few days had been, we’ll be rounding out the craziness this upcoming Monday with Daytime Moon’s biggest fundraiser yet- a wine evening, silent auction and raffle at Tolani Wine Restaurant uptown. The evening itself is free, with wine and hors d’oeuvre provided, and the auction features some really amazing items: tickets to David Letterman, an NFL issued football signed by the 2005 NY Jets, a corporate improv class for 16 taught by Tommy Galan, a vintage 2000 bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne, theatre tickets, spa packages and so much more! And topping off the evening, we’ll be raffling off a private dinner party for four prepared by Executive Chef Luis Ulloa, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris who has lived and trained all over the world. Come join us:

Tolani Wine Restaurant
410 Amsterdam Ave (between 79 and 80th Sts)
Monday October 24th
7-10 PM

Phew! Can you tell why I’m so excited? October’s been a lot of work for sure, but I feel like there’s so much to show for it. And with our programs finally starting, it’s only going to get better. I can’t wait to share everything with you.

Mostly, though, I can’t wait for tomorrow. T minus 7 hours and fifteen minutes. But seriously, not that I’m counting.

Sweet dreams!
Jenna