A Review from "Welcome to THE Show!"

"Welcome to the THE Show" was great!!

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In the videos from rehearsal, I saw the process of writing the show. First, they worked together to tell the story. Each person continued it. Then, they memorized the outline of the story and started improvising scenes. Michelle, the director, typed up the script based on what they said. Then, they rehearsed it. And last week was the performance!

            I think part of this was easy and parts were hard.  I think it’s hard to put on a play because some people get nervous. Coming up with the story and writing the whole play might have been hard, too. But, it looked like everyone was having fun! So maybe it was easy.

I think the show was funny because it talks about the put on a play with the producer getting mad. My favorite part of the play was the argument of the director and producer because it shows that the director is doing his job. My favorite character was the director because she did an awesome job putting the play together.

I think the producer learned he needs to stick with his job and just be a producer. At the beginning of the show, he was mad and didn’t want anybody to talk to him. He was mean. He didn’t get to perform in the final show. He was fired because he was so angry and he didn’t want to be involved—he took a phone call in the middle of rehearsal! But at the end, he apologizes and asks to have his job back. The group forgives him.

If you get the chance to see the show, you should. “Welcome to THE Show” tells a story about working together and sticking with the group. It’s funny, and I think people would like it. Here are some pictures from the show:

Meet the Cast!!

Michelle talking to the cast before the show

Emily D. and Bianca rehearsing

Jacob is ready for the show!

Michelle introducing the show

Jorge as the producer

Bianca and Christina in the show

Emily S. as the director

Jadzia and Jorge

The cast getting for opening night in the play

The producer comes back to apologize

The whole cast celebrating "Welcome to THE Show"

You should come to Daytime Moon’s next show! Because it’ll probably be good like this one was.

Jareth

Meet the Cast!

Last week, Jareth interviewed Michelle Kuchuk, the director of Daytime Moon's current program. This week, I went to yesterday's class armed with a video camera and Jareth's questions for the actors!!! 

I got to interview 4 actors in our current program, and today, Jareth and I went through all of the footage and he created this INCREDIBLE video mashup of all of their answers. It's amazing, and I hope it will get you pumped for the show!

In "Welcome to THE Show," a group of talented young artists get together a write an original show. Their thrilled about its potential and approach a producer to give them the money to make their dreams come true. The producer agrees...on one condition! They have to rewrite the show and make HIM the star!

Will the writers bend? How will they come up with the money? Will the diva of the cast have to be replaced? Will the producer ever learn that money can't buy everything? And WHAT is the secret of the theater owner?


Welcome to THE Show" will be performed at the Peoples Improv Theater (123 E 24th St) on December 13th at 4:45 PM. Tickets are free but reservations are recommended. Email information@daytimemooncreations.org to claim your tickets."

Hope you enjoyed this backstage glimpse! See you next week at the show!
Jenna

An Interview with Michelle Kuchuk

Hello!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Last week during our weekly meeting, Jareth came up with a series of questions for Michelle and for the actors at the CCA SKILLS Program, so that we can give you an inside look at the making of a Daytime Moon show. In this post, I'm thrilled to share Michelle's answers. At the next rehearsal, she'll pass them along to the actors and Jareth and I will share them as well.

So, without further ado... I give you, Michelle and Jareth!

Jareth: Hi Michelle! I thought it would be cool to do a blog post that would give readers more information about Daytime Moon and the show, so thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions. Some are about the show, and some are about you. Let's start with the ones about the show. 

Who comes up with the story of the play?  How do you make the play? What’s the hardest part? What’s the easiest part?

Michelle: The actors actually come up with the story!  Through a bunch of different theatre games, different stories are told and a couple usually start to become popular with everyone.  After we narrow it down to two or three different ideas, we come up with scenes for each choice.  THEN ... one usually becomes the most detailed, and then as a group, we figure out all the details of the beginning, middle, and end!  Between classes, the teachers transcribe what all the actors said in class, and come in the next class with an actual script.  The easiest and most fun part for me is watching the actors come up with the stories and the dialogue themselves.  The hardest part is sometimes narrowing all the ideas down to fit into one script ... but usually we just combine ideas anyway so it ends up being okay!

J: Who casts the show?

 

M: Based on the story we create, the actors cast themselves.  I challenge the actors to come up with the characters we need, and after performing in scenes as exercises, they've already experienced different characters.  After coming up with all the details of the plot, we all discuss who would like to be who.  Everyone walks away happy because each character has lots to do!

J: Last year, I worked backstage on CCA's production of "Peter Pan". For “Peter Pan,” I had to stay backstage and be quiet. Some of my other responsibilities were to read the lines so I knew when things would happen. Then, when that line happened, I knew to open or close the curtain. What will the responsibilities of the crew be? Does the crew need to be quiet for this play, too?

M: The crews' responsibilities are mainly like yours in "Peter Pan," Jareth!  The actors and the crew have to read the lines so they all know when to enter and when a certain scene is ending.  Sometimes, actors backstage might have to say something from offstage, but usually everyone does need to be quiet backstage.  

J: During “Peter Pan,” the actors needed to rehearse their lines and practice. How many times do these actors practice? 

M: We have seven classes all together before the final performance.  Actors usually practice their lines at home once they get the script - but I'm never sure how many times they practice, exactly. They are always prepared, though, so they must be practicing a lot!

J: How long does it take to rehearse for the performance?

M: The actors will have the script for three classes before the show, and then there is a quick rehearsal in the theatre before the audience comes in!

J: Where does the show take place? What is it about?

M: The show takes place in a theatre, actually!  It's about a group who want to put on a Broadway show ... and the rest is a surprise.  

J: How many times will the show be performed? When will it be? How can people get tickets?

M: The show will only be performed once!  It will be held at the Peoples Improv Theater on December 13th at 4:45PM. Once tickets become open for reservations, people can email information@daytimemooncreations.org to reserve seats, which are free.

J: Awesome, and now I'd like to ask some questions about you.

Tell me about yourself. What do you do?

M: In addition to being one of Daytime Moon Creations' staff and teachers, I also am the Literary Director for a company called Nicu's Spoon Theater, and a freelance director.  I also sing, tap dance, and am a Special FX makeup artist around Halloween.  

J: What are your favorite plays? 

M: The hardest question!!  There are so many incredible plays out there ... I really love the plays of Edward Albee, Martin McDonagh, Tracy Letts ... to name only a few... 

J: What is your favorite play you’ve ever directed?

M: Another hard question!  I think the most meaningful directing experience for me was directing a show called Beautiful Thing with Nicu's Spoon Theatre.  

J: How did you become a director? What made you want to?

M: I discovered directing in college (having only performed growing up), and the classes I took completely changed my perspective about directing, the process involved, and what a director can accomplish by merely guiding the actors to her semi-imagined result.  I love how theater and directing and acting is one big collaboration: the more everyone works together and contributes their ideas, the richer the play will be.  

J: How long have you worked with Daytime Moon?

M: I've worked with Daytime Moon for two years!

Thanks so much to Jareth and Michelle for a great interview! Hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at Daytime Moon's latest production. Stay tuned for more videos and stories!

Cheers,
Jenna

Introducing Our Newest Blogger!

Hi everyone, I'm Jareth! I'm 16 years old and I go to school at the Cooke Center Academy. I'm a new intern at Daytime Moon and I'm really excited to be working on the blog. Every week, I'm going to be helping write the blog. I'm going to go through the videos from each class and pick the ones that are really good. Then, I'm going to write about them and share them! When I'm not with Daytime Moon, I like to hang out with friends, watch movies, and have free time on the computer. 

I watched the videos from yesterday's class. They were really funny, really nice! The first game was called "Yes, And." In this game, everyone says a sentence to tell the story. They made four stories. There were two that I really liked. Here they are!

In this story, there's a kidnapped prince who's locked up in a closet. He's so mad. Then, he broke out to find some friends. He finds a friend and they go to a baseball game together.
 

I liked this story. This story might be like a fairy tale, imaginary.

In this story, they're putting on a Broadway show. One of the actors got so sick that he missed rehearsals. When he feels better, he comes back but they cut him from the show because he missed everything.

This story might happen to a Broadway show, so it's more realistic. But if I were sick and got cut from a show, I'd feel mad. It's my part!

After they played "Yes, And" the group made scenes. Some of the scenes were based on stories from "Yes, And" but not all of them were. I chose my two favorites and here they are!

In this scene, the prince is locked up. He feels sad, mad, and scared. One of his friends comes to save him because they have tickets for the baseball game!

I liked this scene. It was based on the story of the Prince that the group wrote earlier. I think they did a good job.

In this scene, two people were having a dance party at the library. Someone who was trying to study comes in and says they can't do that. She gets the librarian, who kicks them out.

I liked this scene. I thought it was funny because they were having a party in the library, maybe because they wanted to because they were bored. But that's not allowed in the library.

So that's this week's blog! I hope you enjoyed the movies. I had a lot of fun today.

See you next week!
Jareth

Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn

You know that age-old expression that goes something like, “I ended up learning more from them than they ever learned from me”?  Whoever said it first really nailed it – especially when it comes to working with Daytime Moon.  On the other hand, it’s not necessarily an outcome one intends or strives for as a teacher…

Let me explain.  I’ve been involved with DMC for two years, and every moment with our students and actors proves that old expression true and true again.  I firmly believe that our actors grow and learn so much in our short time together, but I always feel humbled by all the lessons they end up teaching us!  So as I geared up to start this year’s fall session at Cooke Academy (my first program as head teacher!), I thought to myself, “Well, hmm… I need to do Daytime Moon Creations and these actors proud and instill lots and lots of amazing things unto them” – since I would inevitably learn so much from them, I wanted to make sure to try extra hard!!

And so far, it’s been great: exploring new and old games, meeting new faces and catching up with our alumni, but it was all moving very fast.  As I walked home from our second class, my own nerves and huge desire to be the best teacher I could possibly be threatened to take over my thoughts, and as I started to think about the following week’s lesson plan, I started to get distracted by insecurities and those darn nerves.  So as is my wont to do, I caught up on a little neuroscience research, and made a couple of very important realizations about teaching.  We are intrinsically an exploring species.  And everything we do at Daytime Moon has always supported this: that we need to harness this wandering, this exploration, and create and play and make mistakes and learn from them.   We may sort of believe this to be the truth (that we should learn from our mistakes), but it’s usually easier said than done!  Most of us would rather just get it right the first time!  But we actually get way more out of everything if we do make mistakes – though we are only going to want to keep making mistakes if we are in an environment that makes it totally okay to do so. 

I realized this mistake-making needed to carry over to the teacher’s (my own) mentality as well.  If I was allowed to fail, I could really give it my all.  Though the chance for mistakes might be greater,  I wouldn’t watch myself, I wouldn’t be afraid, and I’d be demonstrating that the class needn’t be afraid either.  That it’s okay!  Teachers, of course, should be as prepared as best as he or she can be.  And I can be completely prepared and get the support I need from Jenna and from my assistant teacher Ella, but that after all the preparedness, I just needed to plunge in!  That it’s okay for me to learn and pick myself up and discover and learn and grow because I am enabling my students to do the same thing.  The way a teacher behaves has more impact on students than how much a teacher knows.  Daytime Moon’s mission seeks to create a joyful environment where we can play, where we can make mistakes – but here I was not affording that to myself!

Truly, the most important thing that we at Daytime Moon strive to keep in our classes is joy.  The brain rewards itself with joy after successes – which aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive with “The Destination.”  The process is sometimes more rewarding than the end goal itself!   And though many of us believe this to be true, it’s true neurologically as well.  We turn our energies to the things that are ours, the things we want to create, to learn, to move through the process of, to challenge, to overcome.   My students will begin to create and to write their own play next week.   And I am teaching those students.  We can own our own processes.

Maybe it’s not who learns the most.  Maybe it’s something we all experience together, helping each other in our discoveries.  It’s comforting to know that we are all in this process together, that we can grow together.   The following is something I hope to keep present in every class, but that I now know applies to my own teacher journey as well: “The joy of learning is indispensable in study as breathing is in running.”  How very true.

Michelle

Finding the Joy

Hello everyone!

From all of us here at Daytime Moon in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, I hope you and your family are safe and sound. I hope the impact was minimal and your personal recovery moves quickly. In times of great loss, I never cease to be amazed at the resilience and compassion shown in this city. I see kindness towards strangers, sharing of resources, and a determination to bounce back better, stronger, and a little more aware of those around us. In these times, when we can so easily feel overwhelmed with sadness, what I find most beautiful are the moments where people come together to create and share in joy. The Daytime Moon community is no different; we feel the pain that has been caused by Sandy, but we comfort ourselves knowing that our work is full of joy. So, despite a heart heavy with the images of my fellow New Yorkers in pain, I am choosing to look at the moments of bravery, of compassion, and of joy.  I hope you will join me as I share updates from Daytime Moon's fall program.

As many of you know, this fall finds Daytime Moon Creations back for our third program with the Cooke Center Academy SKILLS Program and Alumni Association, where we are working with a group of young adults to develop an original play! The program started 3 weeks ago and it's been amazing so far.

As Daytime Moon grows and expands, I've personally felt very lucky to see the caliber of volunteers and artists who want to work with us. You all have, I'm sure, seen the incredible work of Michelle Kuchuk, who has worked with Daytime Moon for two years now: first as a one-on-one buddy and most recently as my assistant teacher. I am overjoyed now to introduce her now as a head teacher! Michelle is teaching this program at SKILLS, and I'm excited to welcome Ella Metuki, also a former one-on-one buddy, as her assistant teacher.

I had the great pleasure of observing their class last week and had a blast! They have a lot of familiar faces in their class, but also a lot of students experiencing Daytime Moon's programming for the first time. It was exciting to watch as the returning students took on leadership roles in the room and the new students were so willing to explore their imaginations.

Check out some of the videos from class!

This clip is from a game of "ImaginAIR," where the group was exploring space. Here, Jorge is pretending to be an astronaut and encounters Emily the space creature!

In this clip, taken during a game of "Group Photo," a group of students works with Michelle to create a snapshot. Can you guess where the photo was taken?

In the live action follow-up to "Group Photo", Charlie, Emily and Michelle share a short skit with the group. Can you guess where they are?

The final show is scheduled for December 13th at 5PM at the Peoples Improv Theater. I don't know about you, but I'm already counting down the days!

Wishing you continued strength, calm, and JOY during the ongoing recovery,
Jenna