This year consisted of two seasons–our inaugural season (January through August), and the first half of our first full season, which began September 1st.
We didn’t exactly know what to expect when we began this whole endeavor–we figured we’d produce a show and a residency and a summer camp, and see what worked and what didn’t. Boulder/Denver is different than Chicago (where we did this stuff for ten years), and we wanted to make sure we weren’t trying to make one like the other.
(This is Chicago.)
(This is Boulder.)
(Not really the same.)
Our first endeavor was to conduct a residency at Heatherwood Elementary, with three second grade classrooms, and to make an original show with them centered around some culturally-representative holidays in India, China, and the United States. It was taught by myself (Amanda Berg Wilson), my favorite collaborator, Ben Berg Wilson, and the awesome Sonia Justl. We were there for most of January and February, meeting twice a week with 77 second graders, and then every day as we approached the performance. The kids were awesome, the teachers were awesome, 77 people showed up to our family workshop! We also performed a show, Why the Sun and Moon, and got this response from a teacher in the intensive autism room:
” I just wanted to tell you how much all of my students enjoyed The Catamounts’ performance yesterday. I have never seen them so taken by a performance. They laughed like I have never seen them laugh before and their eyes were glued to the performers every move. What a talented group of performers!”
This kind of blew our minds. We’re pretty confident in what we do in the classroom, having road-tested it in classrooms all over the city of Chicago and its surrounding areas for 10 years, but we were really just delighted by the response we got at Heatherwood. Who knew 7 and 8 year olds could create and perform with such confidence and aplomb? Who knew teachers could be so supportive and on-board? Who knew that 77 family members would show up on a very cold, very icy February night to play theatre games together? Well, we kind of did, but it never fails to impress. We’ll be back there in 2012, and can. not. wait.
Our next endeavor, a production of Emily Schwartz’s Mr. Spacky…the Man Who Was Continuously Followed by Wolves, attracted an awesome cast and crew. It opened March 25th, and sold out four of its six scheduled performances, as well as an added performance. In total, nearly 400 audience members were in attendance at our first production! That was like really, really exciting. It was a blast of a first production.
(Clockwise from left: Joan Bruemmer, Verl Hite, Sonia Justl, and Meridith C. Grundei in Mr. Spacky.)
Next up, was Camp Catamounts, a two week summer camp conducted at The We’re House by myself (Amanda) and Gil Gilmartin. The nine students who participated created a short but incredibly original and hilarious show entitled The Island Desert or Monkeys vs. Humans. (I mean–when something is great, why should it be limited to one title?) Here’s a little video preview we did of the work (click on the link!):
After a summer spent looking at scripts and planning our first full season, and conducting a multi-generational workshop as part of the Boulder International Fringe Festival, the first event of our first full season was FEED: Salt. This awesome event was the first in a ground-breaking, interdisciplinary series where we’re bringing together traditional artistic forms with artisanal foods, integrating the two in such a way that each is enhanced and audiences are encouraged to relate to both in new and revelatory ways. It featured performances by some of our company members and our house band, and the inimitable Control Group Productions. A picture of Control Group rehearsing in the fields of the 63rd Street Farm, where we held the event:
It also featured the incredible culinary magic of our Chef de Cuisine Zachary Wilkinson and his right-hand pastry chef, Kathy Moore (not to mention some much-needed back-up from Chef William Moore.) We had hand-picked beers imported for us by Shelton Brothers Importers. A pretty picture of them:
This event ALSO sold out, and was a blast. We have another one coming up soon, FEED: Short and Sweet, at Avery Brewing on December 17th. Stay tuned for details.
Next, was the first production of our first full season, the heartwrenching God’s Ear by Jenny Schwartz, the tale of one family’s journey through the liminal space created by grief. This one was a hit both with critics and audience, and another nearly 400 people attended the show. We got two fantastic reviews, one by Mark Collins of the Daily Camera which you can read if you click HERE, and one by Patrick Mueller of Control Group Productions and the Living Arts Chronicle, which you can read HERE. We performed for the first time at the Dairy Center for the Arts, which was exciting–it’s a really beautiful space that houses lots of other great arts groups here in Boulder.
Here’s the gorgeous publicity photo for God’s Ear that the amazing Michael Ensminger took one very cold, rainy day up at St. Mary’s Glacier:
(From left: Jeremy Make, Kaelee Hart, and Meridith C. Grundei.)
And here’s a favorite photo from the show itself:
In total, we performed for or taught over 400 elementary school students, had over 800 people attend our 15 public performance events, paid nearly $18,000 to local artists, directors, and artist teachers, received $14,500 in government, foundation, and corporate grants, and–most importantly–connected with an awesome community of creators and audience and supporters. We connected with YOU, dear reader. And got to hang out in the awesome space where live performance takes us all. That is a wonderful thing.
And there is so much more to come! FEED: Short and Sweet on December 17th at Avery Brewing; The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen at the Dairy January 26-28 and February 3-18 at Buntport Theater; residencies at Heatherwood Elementary and Monarch K-8 in March and April; FEED: Smoke in May, Camp Catamounts in June…
We’ll be there, doing our best to make crazy good progressive performance and engage students in excellent arts education. We hope you will too.
Love,
The Catamounts