Bulletin Board of the Brain » theatre

The Memorial Coatroom Literary Society Reads George Sand

Kj — Sun, 29 May 2011 22:06:15 +0000

Those of us who worked at Intiman Theatre over the past few years, couldn’t fail to notice that nearly everyone employed as Front of House staff had or was working on a Masters Degree, or had attended a conservatory, or was basically just incredibly erudite. This may have resulted from the fact that working FOH positions was an ideal part-time job for students and artists. Or simply, that only over-educated people are willing to get paid a bare minimum just to be around theatre. Who knows?

But with Intiman closing for 2011, we’ve lost that hub of book-recommending, DVD-sharing and music-reviewing that was the Intiman Theatre FOH staff shift.

But for the three of us who traded nights managing the whole shebang, our trinity of Superman/Clark Kent-ness could never hang out because one of us was always being Superman, if you’re following my tenuous metaphor. So now that Intiman is dark, not only have I seen more theater in the past 4 weeks than I did in the 5 years previous (because I’m not in a theater 6 nights a week), but my fellow Superman/ClarkKents and I have formed our own mini-book club.

We’ve tentatively named ourselves “The Memorial Coatroom Literary Society,” after the actual coatroom where we worked that had a memorial placard on it. Yes- someone actually had a coatroom named after them…. It’s a nice little nod to the office we all shared (office literally and figuratively).

We just finished our first book together, meeting at the half-way point of the book, and then when we were finished. So far, we’ve managed to book-end (pun) our book club meetings with attending a theater performance, and we’re sticking with that goal from here on.

The cutest part of our book club, besides us and our tentative name, is the process by which we chose our first book. We each typed up a list of 12 books, then each made a list of 7 books from the 36 we’d submitted, then narrowed it to 5(?) and somehow all agreed on a final choice. Our second book, which we’ve all just ordered, was just a matter of Courtney saying “What about this one?” and Shasti and I saying “sure.” But until then, here’s my review of our first book club book. We all pretty much felt the same.

Indiana by George Sand

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Certainly an enjoyable read, but it necessitated wearing my “early 19th-century” lenses to be carried into it. Not sure if as literature it resonates beyond its own context. In other words, I was really only ever impressed or amused by the book when I tried to imagine how it would have been received by novel readers in 1832. Would they have identified with the heroine? Been annoyed at her earnestness? Would they have rooted for the love affair only to be shocked (or insulted) when it became clear the guy was a narcissistic idiot, and she, a dupe? Or does Sand truly think her heroic? Was Sand playing with her readers’ expectations to mock to mock them or just to mock society?

Having never read Sand’s work before, I couldn’t tell. But the character of Raymon, and our access to the inner-logic of his self-inflation is priceless. If ever there was a more cowardly, self-deluded, empty-headed romantic hero, I don’t think I’ve found him. As much as you hate him (which you are most definitely meant to do), he’s still the best character in the book, or at least the only one you’ll groan over and chuckle about, not just groan.

I recommend Indiana as an historically interesting satirical novel, but really only as that. It won’t stir you much beyond the chance to enjoy a 19th century woman’s critique of men. Though where the line between critique and praise for women is considered, you may be baffled.

View all my reviews

Little Did She Know…

Kj — Wed, 18 May 2011 02:23:43 +0000

Late at night, Friday April 15, I wrote yet another post about the many businesses in my adopted neighborhood of Lower Queen Anne that were closing their doors. What I could never have predicted, is that only 12 hours later, I would receive notice that the place where I’ve worked since 2006, the entire reason for Lower Queen Anne having a gravitational pull on my life, was closing it’s doors, THE NEXT DAY. Yep. I found out during the Saturday matinee that the next day’s show would be the theatre’s last for the rest of the year. After an emergency board meeting that morning, Intiman Theatre announced it was going on hiatus for all of 2011.

Needless to say, we were shocked. While we were acquainted with the financial challenges we and NEARLY EVERY arts organization in the US are facing, we thought we’d cleared the major danger for 2011 and were more or less, set for a solid year of shows. Instead, the closing day of the season’s first production, became the closing day of the entire season.

St Germain, Chartreuse, Violette. We did not get enough time together

Intially, after the shock, I thought I’d blog about it immediately. The excrutiating irony of having just written about the closed-doors of Lower Queen Anne and finding that the doors were closing on me as well, seemed like it had to be addressed, and quickly. But unsuprisingly, the pain was one I couldn’t write about without some distance. I can say now, that on that final Sunday, since I was House Managing, I was the last person in the building- I locked the gates outside, went in through the access door to turn off the lights, stood there in the upper lobby where I’d first walked into the building for my interview in October 2006, and just started sobbing. That building, with it’s green sofas, enclosed courtyard, giant hallways and tall columns, had been a holding place for me during the greatest time of transition in my life. There was only one month of my living in Seattle, where I was not employed at Intiman, and spending some 30 hours a week there.

My last specialty cocktails on display

The loss of the job is certainly upsetting in terms of needing to find a new one, but mostly what I’ve lost is the home and holding place of so many memories. I stood behind that bar reading Martin Buber in my first term of graduate school and sat in front of the bar with my laptop plugged-in writing my thesis in my 4th year. In 2007 I sat in the courtyard and did my Hebrew homework. In 2008 I had to stay downtown during the blizzard so I could make it to our Black Nativity performances. In 2009 I sat in the conference room watching Dr Horrible with Ian. in 2010 I got my first taste of not having to do any class work during my breaks, because I had graduated. And all this doesn’t cover the friendships I made, the friends who joined me in working there, the five years of inside jokes, cocktails created, play-dialogue memorized and repeated, and wine-wrapper dubloons made.

All my Signature Cocktail Menus standing at attention on the tables

It took a while to have a sense of what the rest of the year will look like for Intiman and the building that’s been our home. On the last Sunday, I told my staff, “Just think nuclear winter. Anything you wouldn’t want left to dust and rot for the next year, throw away or lock up.” But the past few weeks have been encouraging as we now know that we’re still going to host some rentals and other performances as usual. It’s our shows that aren’t happening. And that last day when I walked out fearing that I’d ever get to step foot in the building again? Well, I’ve actually been working there a fair bit the past month, manging some events that were planned for the month break between shows.

My last batch of intermission pre-orders

But safe to say, if Intiman recouperates and is able to reopen in 2012, it will be a very differnt Intiman. New staff, new mission, new structure. So even if I end up working for them again, the Intiman I’ve known, loved, served, and been loved and served by, is gone.

With only 2 hours notice that my Saturday April 16 bartending shift would be my last time behind the bar until who-knew-when, I took some pictures as a last-ditch sudden effort at closure. It was only that morning that I’d let myself into the building, walked to the bar which I’d closed down the night before, and breathed a sigh of delight, feeling deep gratitude for how much I loved working there.

Goodbye Intiman of my (late) youth. I treasured every moment of our time together.

Time Wasn’t The Only Thing They Stepped In: Beware Mary Poppins The Musical

Kj — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:13:56 +0000

Narrative Mixology

Kj — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 08:20:24 +0000

I’ve fallen a bit behind in my cocktail recipe posts. Something I’ve been super excited about is that at the end of last season I launched Intiman’s first Signature Cocktail Menu, offering a selection of crafted cocktails in addition to the two Show Specialty drinks we do for every production. The genesis of the Signature Menu comes from myself and Ian, and it’s creation and development is up to me with supervision & suggestions from my beloved Audience Services Manager (boss). With All My Sons opening this week, we’re already in our third collection of Signature Drinks.

The Menu accomplishes many things:

a) Like every other bar in the world, you have some House suggestions and aren’t left to your own cocktail knowledge, thus removing the stress of having to already know for yourself that lime, gin and Green Chartreuse taste amazing together or just defaulting to ordering a vodka/cran.

b) It’s an opportunity to keep some of our popular past Show Drinks in rotation. Further, sometimes when we bring in a special liqueur or flavored vodka for a show drink, we spend the next two seasons trying to get rid of it (Hello Campari). Now we have a coninual venue to use those mixers in new and revisited cocktails for the menu.

c) The menu helps find creative ways of moving product we know longer want, ie: anything made by DeKuyper. (I’ve already rid the joint of Apple Pucker Schanpps. Huzzah!) And more than this, the Signature Menu enables us to stock better liqueurs and brands since we have a way to keep people ordering them year round, not just with show-specific drinks.

d) Now that grad school is done I have no articles to read behind the bar, so I generally just stand there going “is there any way to make a good Frangelico cocktail?” Now that left-over creative energy has an outlet. St Germain and Lillet Blanc- I’m gonna get you soon!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s last fall’s Signature Cocktail menu, which includes the Show Specialty Drinks for “The Scarlet Letter”. (click to enlarge)

And here’s the most recent batch of show drinks. Enjoy!

Atonement

Muddled lemon
4 ct Grey Goose vodka
2 ct crème de violette
Shake and top with soda
Serve up with a lemon

Temptation

Muddled lime
2 ct Cabernet Sauvignon red wine
2 ct Grand Marnier
1 shake orange bitters
Shake and top with Izze Sparkling Clementine Juice
Serve up with a lime

(Seattle Shakespeare Presents)

The Shark Bite

5 ct Jameson’s Irish Whiskey
2 ct Sweet Vermouth
3 shakes Angostura Bitters
Shake and serve up in
a martini glass rinsed with Pernod
Garnish with a cherry

The Pirate Jenny

4 ct Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
2 ct Brandy
1 shake orange bitters
Shake and top with Izze Sparkling Blackberry Juice
Serve up with a lime

The Home Fires Burning

Muddle 2 lemon & 1 cherry
5 ct Dewar’s White Label Scotch
2 ct Dry Vermouth
Shake and serve up with a cherry

The Flyover

Muddled lime
4 count Tanqueray Gin
1 ct Green Chartreuse
2 ct Triple Sec
Shake and serve up in
a martini glass rinsed with Pernod
Garnish with a lime

Molière Would Totally Have Drunk These

Kj — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 07:11:11 +0000

Time for another round of Show Drinks: cocktails we (me) at Intiman Theatre create to coincide with the current production.

For Christopher Bayes’ outstanding production of Moliere’s ‘A Doctor In Spite of Himself,’ we created two fun drinks, the first of which is the best cocktail I’ve ever created (at least up until that show).

Next time you feel like playing doctor, mix some of these up.

The Herbal Remedy

3 counts Tanqueray Gin
2 counts Dry Vermouth
1 count Green Chartreuse
shake and serve up topped with Izze Sparkling Grapefruit Juice
Garnish with fresh thyme sprig

An Apple-a-Day

2 counts Canadian Club Whiskey
2 counts Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
2 counts Sour Apple Schnapps
1 count Goldschlagger
splash of cranberry juice
shake and serve up garnished with an apple slice

Up next: Scarlet Letter cocktails and our new Signature Cocktail menu

**yeah, I didn’t take these pictures, but they’re pretty accurate**

When Good People Makes Bad Films

Kj — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 22:01:03 +0000

The critically acclaimed and greatly anticipated (by myself and Maryann) film “Me and Orson Welles” by Richard Linklater proved one of the biggest film disappointments since, well…it was one of the most colossal movie let-downs in recent memory. Since I find it ultimately undeserving of a review, here instead are quotes from mine and Maryann’s viewing. This list doesn’t include the funniest moments of the night which were simply us repeating the dialogue.

“My kingdom for some pacing.”

“This may be the first occurrence of the actor portraying a famous person being less attractive than the real person.”

“If Zac Efron sings through this movie, it might be endurable.”

“There should be a ban on British actors doing New York accents.”

“We need a drinking game for every time Claire Danes wobbles her head while speaking.”

“Has the plot started yet?”

“Watching Claire Danes here makes me actually miss Vanessa Hudgens’ acting.”

“When did Ben Chaplin turn into Joaquin Phoenix? And why do I like it?”

“This would all make sense if it had been made for TV.”

“Were we supposed to listen to what they were saying in that scene?”

“This film is making me hate theater.”

“Does Claire Danes’ character have Parkinson’s?”

“This film makes me want to not know about Orson Welles.”

Oh How I’ll Miss His Elegant Handwriting

Kj — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 04:40:13 +0000

Reunited for one magical summer (which is about to come to an end), Ian & I have been bar-brainstorming- both for cocktails, inventory, menus, everything. Basically, we need to open a bar together. We could call it popCULTURE and it could be a cocktail bar/dvd&comic book retail store. What do you think Ian?

But for now, here’s Ian’s notesheet from our Saturday concessions shift. Ever wonder what your baristas are doing behind the cookies & coffee? THIS.

Narrative Cocktails

Kj — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:11:50 +0000

Time for another round up of Intiman Theatre’s specialty cocktails, some from last season and some we’re serving right now. I created a lot of these. I did not create the cute little quotes.

Try these at home.

The Year of Magical Thinking
By Joan Didion

The Gin Didion –
A mature, refreshing drink with the strength of a martini and a cool finish.
Muddle cucumber and lime and one sugar cube (peeled & blended cucumber works best)
6-count of Tanqueray Gin
Shake
Serve up
Top with Soda
Garnish with cucumber slice

The Ordinary Instant
A beautifully layered drink, pleasantly sweet but tempered with citrus and tonic.
Make directly on rocks
4-count Citrus Vodka
1.5-count Tonic
.5-count Chambord, poured over spoon to settle
Garnish with lemon

Abe Lincoln in Illinois
By Robert E. Sherwood

Drinkin’ with Lincoln
As comfortable as a slice of homemade apple pie.
Put a solid dash of bitters on a sugar cube, muddle with orange.
4-count Applejack
.5-count Goldschlager
Shake
Serve on rocks
Top with soda
Garnish with a cherry

The Mud Wagon
A drink fit for a Postmaster — or a President.
3-count Kahlua
2-count Dewar’s Scotch
2-count Drambuie
Shake
Serve up
Top with a generous amount of soda
Garnish with lemon

Black Nativity
Book By Langston Hughes
Music Direction by Pastor Patrinell Wright

The Poinsettia
Add a little sparkle to your holiday.
½ flute of champagne
1-count of Grand Marnier
Fill with cranberry juice
Garnish with lime twist

The Winter Warming
A cozy drink for a cold winter night.
Splash of honey in a cup/mug
Fill ½ with hot water
Stir with cinnamon stick to dissolve
Squeeze a lemon wedge, drop in
4-count of Makers Mark Bourbon
Stir & serve

Paradise Lost
By Clifford Odets
The Gold Standard
This smooth concoction is worth its weight in gold.
4-count Jameson’s Irish Whiskey
1-count Peach Schnapps
Serve on rocks
Top with Izze Sparkling Clementine juice
Garnish with lime

The New Deal
Find your own cure for the recession with this tart delight.
Muddle pink grapefruit
5-count Tanqueray GIn
1-count Campari
1-count Grapefruit Juice
Dash of bitters
Shake
Serve up
Top with soda
Garnish with grapefruit

The Thin Place
By Sonya Schneider 
Conceived and Directed by Andrew Russell 

The Shaken Rainier – Featuring locally-made Dry Soda
This elegant blend of muddled lime, Tanqueray gin, Green Chartreuse, and Juniper Dry Soda evokes the verdant forests of the northwest mountains.
Muddle lime
5-count Tanqueray Gin
1-count Green Chartreuse
Shake
Serve up
Top with 2-count Juniper Dry Soda
Garnish with lime (or rosemary)

The Sound – Featuring locally-made Dry Soda
Calm your senses with this delicate combination of lemon, Smirnoff citrus vodka, Chambord, and Lavender Dry Soda; rose-tinted like the sunsets over Puget Sound.
Muddle lemon lightly
3-count Citrus Vodka
1-count Chambord
Shake
Serve on the rocks
Top with 2-count Lavender Dry Soda
Garnish with lemon (or lavender)

Ruined
By Lynn Nottage

The Karibu (Welcome)
Let us welcome you with this delightful concoction. You’ll feel right at home.
Muddle lemon
2-count Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
2-count Brandy
2-count Sweet Vermouth
1-count Red Apple Schnapps
Heavy splash of cranberry juice
Shake
Serve up
Garnish with a cherry (dropped in)

The Sunbird
Fly into the sun with this smooth, refreshing mix of muddled lemon, Smirnoff Citrus Vodka, Amaretto, and Chambord. It’s like rich berry lemonade.
Muddle lemon
3-count Citrus Vodka
2-count Disaronno Amaretto
1-count Chambord
Shake
Serve up
Top with soda
Garnish with lemon

I Like Getting Paid in Gift Cards

Kj — Sat, 08 May 2010 06:36:48 +0000

Because then I “have” to buy stuff.

I did a few jobs for school that resulted in some Amazon.com money. Can’t wait till these folks show up at my door!

We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rules, Partners, Rivals
By Gillian Gill

The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination
By Sandra M Gilbert & Susan Gubar

Sexual Shame: An Urgent Call to Healing
By Karen A. McClintock

How (Not) to Speak of God – Marks of the Emerging Church
By Peter Rollins

Slings & Arrows: the Complete Collection

It’s all pretty much research/resources- but oh so good to have my own copies!

(Un)Common Denominators of the Last Six Films I’ve Watched…

Kj — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:49:30 +0000

Kelly Reilly and Rupert Friend.

Out of this list…

Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Lars and the Real Girl
The Darjeeling Limited
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
The Libertine
The Young Victoria

…Two films of which they were in together.

Just noting a pattern.

Also, a shout out to Rosamund Pike for appearing in 3 of the last SEVEN movies I’ve watched. I feel as though I’ve been watching a repertory company.

Damn I miss theatre.