Welcome Back

This week Lauren Culpepper returns to Open Dream Ensemble after a month recuperating from hip surgery. Tomorrow she will resume the role of Katharine Wright at a performance in Charlotte. Lauren, a graduate of the UNCSA School of Drama, let's us know how she feels....

I am happily back with Open Dream for the final two weeks! I couldn't be more excited. This past month recovering from my hip surgery has been a rough one, but I feel ready to return as Katherine Wright in Dream Machines tomorrow. I must admit I'm a little nervous since I haven't had a chance to do the show in a month, so I'm going over lines and blocking tonight just in case. I really look forward to seeing the rest of the cast tomorrow and couldn't be more excited and grateful to be able to return and close the season with everyone. As for my post surgery recovery...things seem to be going just as planned. I can do pretty much everything except run and kick, etc. which is why Haydee is going to step in for the last two shows of Peril this week. I wish I could do it physically, but I'm also glad to have the chance to hang out with her and the rest of the team.

Glad to have you back, Lauren!

Dia / Diana

This post is from dear Dia Dearstyne. Dia is a graduate of the UNCSA School of Dance and a first-year member of Open Dream Ensemble.



Wooooops!
I was so excited for the weekend I forgot to write my blog! Sorry to all you avid readers, didn't mean to keep you hanging :)

Well, since I wrote last much has happened. I have been taking over the role of Diana in our show "Peril On the Red Planet" for the past month since Lauren had hip surgery. It's been such a treat! From hot pink leggings, to pig tails, adventuring with my BFF Abeona to defeating Zartok 3...I will miss it! But Lauren comes back after Thanksgiving and I'm so very happy to have my friend and roommie back!

I can't believe it's all almost coming to an end. Six months go by very fast when you're working as hard and as often as we do in ODE. I actually feel like I'm finally getting into a routine, where I have a good idea of how things are going to go from day to day, and I'm comfortable with my roles as a coworker and cast mate. Just in time for the contract to be over! But I guess that's how it goes. I'll be sure to enjoy every last performance, road trip, load in and out, and fit of giggles with my ODE family in these last weeks!

Staying Fresh

This post is from the insightful Brian Sutow. Brian is a graduate of the UNCSA School of Drama. He is pictured on the left as a Martian Cop in Peril on the Red Planet.

We are getting pretty close to the end of this wonderful season of the Open Dream Ensemble. It has been a fascinating, thought-provoking and inspiring journey so far, and I'm sure there are still a few more wonderful memories on the way before we finish. One thing that has been really interesting me lately has been how the shows have continued to grow since we started performing them. This is the longest run of a show I have ever performed. I was very concerned that doing the same shows for months on end might lead to them growing stale, or ideas growing tired. Fortunately, that has not been the case at all! Recently the shows have picked up new energy and steam, and some of the performances we have delivered this week have been the funniest, clearest and richest shows to date. It's nice to know that all of these months later there are new things to be mined, specified and deepened in our performances - and that we are keeping the show fresh and finding them (while of course upholding the integrity of the shows, and the directors' vision). Of course, what really keeps us inspired are the fantastic audiences we have been having. Their fresh eyes watching the show help to keep it fresh for us! Now I'd be curious to have an experience like Topol has had with "Fiddler on the Roof." What would it be like to play a role for years? Decades? I can only imagine the richness, insight and heart that experience could give to a performer.

BLOG: 11/16/09 From Haydee

This is our first post from the wonderful Haydee Thompson! Haydee is a drama graduate of UNCSA and has returned to Open Dream Ensemble as a third-year cast member.

Hello Dreamer Followers,
This is my first blog ever! This morning I woke up at 4am, pet my cat Lily, got out of bed, put on the kettle, got dressed, made tea (and a bagel), checked the e-mail, and packed my bag.
Bag Items:
script
water
thermos of tea
lunch
make-up
voice
pillow
Rose picked me up 50 minutes later to make our 5:00am call, meeting in the back parking lot of UNCSA (Egypt). We made it just in time. I hopped in the Ryder Van with James. On the drive we talked about a kid's birthday party he went to this weekend, with a petting zoo and it sounded like James had a great time! It is still dark an hour later when the road begins to wind up these great hills and there is a sign to Turn onto the Great Blue Ridge Parkway, what a treat. The Sunrise was a deep red and quite spectacular. There is nothing
like seeing morning break and I think how lucky I am to see it. I have seen some amazing sunrises, light and landscapes this month on the road with Open Dream.
Other great things I've seen this month:
smiling faces
teamwork
humor
strength
compassion
fortitude
friendship

41.5/25

This post is from Peter Shanahan -- seen celebrating in the photo above. Peter, a graduate of the UNCSA School of Music, is a second-year Open Dream Ensemble member. As you will read in the post, his sense of humor comes in handy when stuck on the road...


Open Dream has landed back on Winston-Salem's terra firma. While our most recent trip didn't include any actual flying, I'm sure all of us wished that we could pull back on the steering wheel, taking off into the clouds to avoid the 25 hours of driving we just completed.

The story goes like this:

Wednesday, November 11
9:00 AM Cast meets in Winston-Salem, NC and departs for Hundington, TN
10:15 Cast stops at Starbucks in Hickory, NC for much needed coffee and potty-break.
11:30 Detour due to a rockslide begins. Total closure of a major interstate highway.
2:30-3:00 PM Lunch break at Wendy's!!!
3:30 Pass through Knoxville, TN
6:00 (Approximate) Pass through Nashville, TN!
7:30 (Approximate) Begin traffic jam caused by terrible accident. Moved fewer than a mile in three hours.
8:15 Practical Jokes begin. Peter starts. Joshua ends.
8:45 Peter gets over the water w/lemon thrown at him and laughs about it.
9:30 (Local Time) Finally get to an exit and take a detour!!!
11:00 (Approximate) Arrive at motel in Hundington.

Thursday, November 12
6:45 AM Cast departs motel and soon arrives at the Dixie Carter Center!
7:00 Load in and set-up with lots of stage crew help. Thank you Dixie Carter Center!
9:00 Peril on the Red Planet showtime!
11:00 Peril on the Red Planet showtime!
2:30 PM EST Depart Hundington, TN with a full stomach!
2:40 Pick up my pillow left at motel.
Fast Forward......
8:45 Dinner break at...you guessed it: Wendy's!!! Yay!
8:50 James is accused of credit card fraud by the Hess/Wilco station manager.
8:55 James is found innocent by said manager. Whew!

Friday, November 13
1:31 AM Arrival of remaining pieces of cast at UNCSA campus in Winston-Salem, NC!

By my quick calculations, done while driving at 1:00 AM on Friday, that makes 41.5 Hours from start to finish, with 25 spent on the road!
41.5/25, a rock slide, a horrible accident, two shows on Mars, two Wendy's meals, and a trip ending on Friday the 13th.

What a trip! Yes, I'm convinced of it: we all wanted to have flying vans.

Role Call

Through the years, Open Dream Ensemble has been fortunate to have a number of talented UNCSA-trained artists as part of the team. Recent reflection has indicated there have been well over 40 people who have used their skills as cast members, writers / directors, composers, set designers, costume designers, lighting designers, interns and so much more. Our honor roll includes:
Kashanna Brown, Megan Cook, Matt Cowart, Lauren Culpepper, Dia Dearstyne, John Dillon, Tim Eulich, Molly Feingold, Amber Ferenz, Jonathan Gordon, Cara Hagan, Laura Hall, Juliane Harper, Jessica Hightower, Isaac Klein, Olivia Kohrman, Ren LaDassor, Chad Lynch, Kjerstin Lysne, Kelly Maxner, Mollye Maxner, Step Maus, Travis McHale, Heidi McIver, Joshua Morgan, Keith Nelson, Rebecca Nussbaum, Jennifer O'Kelly, Patrick Osteen, Cora Philips, Justin Poindexter, Harry Poster, Peter Shanahan, Karim Sekou, Mathew Smart, James Stewart, Brian Sutow, Kate Sutton-Johnson, Haydee Thompson, Colin Tribby, and Ryan White.

Thanks to everyone for their work through the years!

And, if I've somehow overlooked your name and it should be on this list, please let me know!

Four Shows in Two Days and a LONG Drive Tomorrow

Open Dream Ensemble performed Peril on the Red Planet twice yesterday at Southeastern Middle School in beautiful Stokes County. These were some of the first performances with Dia as Diana and they went well! To my knowledge there were only two moments that were a little less than smooth -- one of them when the bamboo staff of Demeter's robot (played by the lovely Kjerstin Lysne) cracked and the other when Dia had a slight slip in memory and got even more power from earth. Good going to all the cast for making the needed changes with two roles switching performers!

Today the cast had the opportunity to perform Dream Machines in at Kimmel Farm and Mineral Springs Elementary Schools in Winston-Salem through a grant from The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County and funding from the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools. Dream Machines is staying tight and Haydee in her seventh performance as Katharine Wright is playing the part with great familiarity and ease.

Tomorrow puts Open Dream on the road. The cast heads east to Hundington, Tennessee for two performances of Peril at the Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center there on Thursday.

Safe travels!

Welcome Back!

Now in her second week of working with us, it is past time to welcome actress Haydee Thompson back to Open Dream Ensemble. Haydee was a cast member in seasons 3 and 4 and has returned this season to replace Lauren Culpepper as Katharine Wright in Dream Machines as well as taking on the role of Demeter, and others, in Peril on the Red Planet.

Haydee is a wonderful actress and person. We are extremely fortunate that she was willing to step in on short notice and, literally, a few hours of rehearsal. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Busy Week

Open Dream Ensemble is currently in the middle of a week of performances, residencies, rehearsals and one meeting.

In the performances category, we just completed three performances of Dream Machines in Ashe County, NC elementary schools. Isaac Klein, co-writer and co-director of the show, was able to attend one of the performances yesterday and give notes to the amazing cast. On Friday, we will perform Peril on the Red Planet at the Montessori School of Winston-Salem.

In the residencies category, we are in residence at The Montessori School of Winston-Salem this week on Monday and Friday. We are enjoying a wonderful group of students and teachers at that school!

In the rehearsals category - we had one rehearsal on Monday afternoon for Peril (working on replacing Lauren with Dia in the role of Diana and on replacing Dia with Haydee in the role of Demeter) and will have another tomorrow morning -- this time, we hope, with a healthy Joshua.

Meeting - the cast and I will be meeting tomorrow afternoon to converse about Open Dream in general, the season in specific, and look into the possible future. We'll also be starting to plan our upcoming residency at the Triad Academy.

So, all in all, a busy week!

Ready Rosie

This post is from the ever-ready Rose. Rose, a graduate of the UNCSA School of Dance, is a third-year member of Open Dream Ensemble and great at being cheerful at 5:00 a.m.!


We had our first day at the Montessori School of Winston-Salem (Oct. 27) and the pace at that school is very different from that of regular public schools. It's interesting to come into a class that has a mixed age group. The 4th, 5th, and 6th graders being combined into one class makes it seem more like one big family. Also, we performed Dream Machines in literally a hallway at that school, and it never ceases to amaze me how our group accommodates so easily and quickly to make the show work in any size of space (as long as we have doorways wide enough for our work bench to fit through).

Now that I've had a chance to rest up over the weekend I can say I'm ready for those 5:00 in the morning call times. I'm seriously learning how to become a better morning person. It's really tough! I don't know how public school teachers do this 5 days a week for 9 months of the year!