It’s here already!? A solo stand up hour where the comic doesn’t hate herself OR her dad!
My debut solo: That Girl, comes to the Comedy Clubhouse in just two and a half weeks, AUGUST 22 @ 18:30 in the Alcove on Via Laietana.
This is a show about my experiences living abroad, and being a broad, with a mix of dry sarcasm and manic theatre-kid energy. I’m a lady who likes sports, a sport who likes men, all wrapped up in a body I’m totally comfortable in, Mom! But mostly I’ll walk you (because I do not run) through what it’s like being a confident woman in the 21st Century.
This is the first stop in the run, opening as a Work-in-Progress, Pay What You Want, preview of the full show, set to feature as part of Barcelona’s fourth annual Fringe Festival in November. Stay tuned and get your tickets!
As we head into June here in Barcelona, I’m left wondering: How the hell did we end up in June already!??
I’ve had a crazy start to the year between festivals and side projects but now I am struggling to keep my cool. It’s hard not to let this momentum fall, and at the same time, keep it from crushing you underneath. I’m feeling a lot of pressure to stay productive, continuously adding projects and ideas to my to-do list. Honestly, I’ve been feeling overinspired. I’m riding the high of working and collaborating with artists already in my circle and meeting new ones along the way. I’m so grateful to live in a community like Barcelona where I can get to know people from all over the world and create alongside them. But geez Louise, I’m 26 and I’ve got a CV longer than my arm! The successes that I’ve had, while inspiring, are pushing me to reach even further. And while that’s not inherently a bad thing, it’s difficult for me to embrace the slowing of pace as the sea breeze slows and the temperature rises.
I recently published an article on the ambitious nature of Americans (in American Dream: Party of One?) and while I love that aspect of my personality, I’m still learning how not to burn this candle at both ends…
My latest technical project: Manifesto 2050 written and performed by Alex Hetrick. Set in a not so distant future it examines hyper-masculinity and just what exactly is technology doing to us…
I will be in the booth as operator and designer. Back in the wonderful BCN Studio, we’ve been hard at work plugging sound cues and programming lights in order to bring this show to life next week May 19th with an additional show the following Tuesday May 26th.
What I love most about designing lights is creating the world of a play. The lights are something that no one notices if they’re done well but makes all the difference in capturing the audience and leading them down the rabbit hole into the mind of the writer, director, performer(s), etc. It’s an indispensable piece of the theatre. And when you can take not only the literal image but the feelings and emotions out of the mind of the artist and throw them across the stage, it is a magical feeling for everyone involved.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to play along with incredibly talented improvisers from all over Europe in Valencia’s Impro Narrativa Festival.
It was three days of absolute shenanigans, whimsey, mystery, tomfoolery, and even some serious tones all formatted in various long form improv. There were classic structures alongside creative new ideas of storytelling and I got to be a part of it all. The picture above is my view from their light desk as I was live busking to the stories onstage. The venue was fabulous and it was a familiar challenge to me color mixing on the fly and following performers around the stage as the light board operator/designer.
My two favorite shows were “King’s Whim” as an audience member and “Sound Off” as a technician. “King’s Whim” featured two players, one straight man, one fool. There were pranks and destruction and panic and speed as the court jester and playwright have 30 minutes to write a show for the “king” based on audience suggestions. It was full of both wit and slapstick and had me cackling from the booth. “Sound Off” was a 45 minute long form, again, with only two players. These women were physical geniuses – as the whole piece was done without dialogue, only music from a live piano player and sound effects from the two players. As the lighting tech, I was able to play along with them with total freedom, becoming a character, myself. I used the lighting to change the time and create a lighthouse – it was one of my favorite things to create their world and environment.
I had such a blast at this festival and exploring the city of Valencia when I was off the clock. I will definitely be pinning this festival for the future and have made plenty of friends to visit in other cities around Europe and beyond.
This spring I’m flying south…well, riding a train…
Held in Valencia, Impro Narrativa’s festival begins March 26, and features workshops and multiple performances each night of their four day improv festival. I’ll be serving as their “Light Magician,” sitting in the sky with their lighting console and looking out over the grid.
My experience in theatrical lighting began in high school where I was recruited by my friends who specialized in design but needed a gofer to sit behind the board and push buttons. From there I learned to use an ETC Element board (no, not one as fancy as the image above, try a model four or five decades earlier), hang lights, secure cables, and a basic understanding of live-busking. At my university, I went on to choose electrics as my area of technical-concentration and continued hands-on training along with the theory behind it all in a class officially called, “The Fundamentals of Technical Theatre Design” – fondly christened by students as “Fundies: where fun goes to die.” But the class, and the manual labor, proved more than useful when I found myself trouble-shooting console control in a museum made theater in Germany. And I really pulled VectorWorks from the depths of my brain when I was commissioned to design and install an electrical grid in a budding theater space here in Barcelona.
I now work freelance gigs like this one as well as design and board operator jobs among my friends, colleagues, and hopefully many more to come.
