Bryn’s Blogging It Up

This post comes from the witty Bryn Harris. Having completed the Open Dream season, Bryn is now in the process of setting up her life in Washington, DC.



I will remember
One Take Thompson
“Don’t forget your British Accent”
Josh’s step ball-change
The colorful silk fabrics that look like “Dragons”
All the Children’s faces and hilarious questions
Mr. Frank Casstevens
JPL
Rebecca’s blue hat
Marina Del Ray
The beautiful Pacific Ocean immediately followed by hell in an airport.
Ago/Ame
Abeona’s Beat Battle
The Kung Fu Challenge
Peter’s Sense of Humor, no I mean his $2000 bottle of wine ☺
Ian’s BOOMBA
Brandon banging on that effing BOOM DRUM
“Shep”, “No Ship”, “At’s wooh ah sed Shep”, “No SHhhhhhiiiiiihhhhhPP!!”
Alliteration
Bob the Robot
Haydee’s Demeter (it’s all about the hair)
“Get on my banana boat”
Mr. S
Many more unmentionables…
Helping Stevie Nix with her wings before the greatest show on earth
“We’re Fashionistas baby, we just off the bloody jet from London.”

It was definitely harder than I thought to…

A. Awake before daylight
B. Believe a word that came out of Peter’s mouth
C. Create engaging and multi-intelligence exercises
D. Describe how amazing JPL was
E. Eat before I fell asleep for the night by 4:00pm
F. Fight with a staircase running through half the stage
G. Grow deeper rather than expand on choices
H. Hold onto the integrity of the show with screaming kids
I. Inform kids how to create their own informances
J. Jam all the curriculum points into the residencies
K. Keep the show fresh every performance
L. Love little kids after they cough in your mouth
M. Make Breakfast before leaving for work
N. Not cuss or say anything vulgar in front of kids
O. Organize everyone to want to eat at the same restaurant
P. Put on wet clothes the second day
Q. Quarterstaff fight with bending and broken fake bamboo stix
R. Repeat the performance three times in a row
S. Shut the Van door after Peter ran it over with the Ryder truck
T. Tell the difference between little boys and girls in 3rd grade
U. Undo actions after they are taken
V. Visualize happiness sitting in LAX for 4 hours
W. Wave the fabric without kids grabbing hold of the end
X. Xerox the ODE logo on colored paper
Y. Yell over that loud Boom Drum
Z. Zip up Abeona’s unitard

I continue to believe in the arts having verifiable evidence in teaching people how to learn faster and deeper. This experience has confirmed for me how arts can not only be integrated into the curriculum despite the budget, but can in fact help deepen the learning of other fields such as science and math. I look forward to continue my study and appreciate the verifiable data we got from the Benton Heights residency.
I’m moving to D.C. because Josh and Brian talked it up so much and because I met Jon Odom, my soul mate.
As a performer I went into the work with absolute commitment and love for the project, I came out of it only slightly tainted, so that’s a good thing. I don’t know if I would want to perform children’s theater for the rest of my life, but there is something very simple and truthful about the work that makes it easy to go out there everyday and perform. I am really proud of us as a cast because we never once let the commitment drop, even if the show was a little off, we were in the world. There were no pranks or inside jokes that were meant only for us. We really performed every time for the kids and that is why they got so much out of it.
I really enjoyed the story that we were presenting. It focused on lessons in science, merging with art, which is a small important bridge in the world today, and anytime stories are able to encompass both I want to see and be a part of them. The dialogues these performances created with students from all fields of interest can be so valuable for their education, and the statistics helped get us that much closer to proving that the arts can be used for more than entertainment. Working with visual arts, music, dance, drama, and a great variety of materials and manipulatives helped make abstract ideas more easily understandable.
The best part of this whole experience was the kids. The residencies were where I learned the most and was challenged the most everyday. These specific age groups, 2-5th graders were remarkable in how fast they learned and their complete willingness to jump into new and engaging ways of learning. The teachers seemed to really find value in the work and our work sparked them to try new plans in their classroom. The kids as an audience were amazing because they were absolutely honest. If they didn’t like you they expressed it, and I learned so much about my craft as an actor because I was literally able to guide how the ship moved forward.

“Ses-Ame and Carry-Away Mixed Vegetables with Angel Hair”: A Recipe for Teaching Artistry

This post comes from our very own Iron Chef, Bryn Harris. A director, actress and fight choreographer, Bryn has filled the shoes of Diana in our production of Peril on the Red Planet.



Even if you think you don’t care for tiny human Brussels sprouts, give them a try in this recipe for Teaching Artistry. The flavors of nutty artists yelling “I say Ago, You Ses Ame” and anise-like carry away seeds of curriculum are a wonderful accent to these tiny bite sized humans.

1 tablespoon “Ses Ame” seeds (Classroom Management)
2 teaspoons carry away seeds (Fun Activities and Theater Games)
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil (School Appropriate Curriculum)
6 scallions, chopped (Colorful Vocabulary Words: Post on the Wall)
3 cups Brussels sprout halves (Classroom full of excited children)
½ cup chicken broth (Various sized pieces of Orange cloth)
2 cups snow peas, trimmed (Handheld Instruments)
½ teaspoons ground black pepper (Verbal Discipline for out of line Sprouts)
½ teaspoon low-sodium seasoning (Airborne, Zycam, Hand sanitizer: after contact)
1 package Angel Hair Pasta (Supportive, Specific Reflections and Review)

Make sure you have a clean clear kitchen to prep your lesson otherwise the sprouts could become bruised or lost. Combine the “Ses Ame” seeds and “Carry-Away” seeds in a large open nonstick skillet over medium heat. Toast the seeds with “Circle Etiquette” by stirring at various tempos. Some like to stir to musical terms such as Andante (walking), Presto (fast), and Largo (long and slow). Use “Uh Oh” to shake the pan up and make sure all the little seeds are toasting on both sides evenly. Stir for 2 minutes, or until the seeds start to ZIP ZAP ZOP out of the pan with glee. Remove to a seated circular bowl.
Heat the appropriate EVOO in the same skillet over medium-high heat by introducing the essential questions of the lesson. Add the scallions and stir-fry for 1 minute (this smell will stay in the room after you leave). Add the Brussels sprouts own flavorful opinions and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Separate into groups. Note: Some sprouts will cook right away while others will need more attention. Keep rotating the sprouts over the center of the heat. Add the broth, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the sprouts are just tender.
Add the snow peas and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes, or until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in the seeds, pepper, and herb seasoning and cook for 1 minute.
Prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and place in a large serving bowl.

Makes 4 Servings:
Serve on a bed of carefully swirled angel hair pasta with a garnish of applause. Top it off with a little Magic Sword and you have a complex and flavorful scaffolding of multi-intelligences.

NUTRITION (THIS WEEK) AT A GLANCE
Per Serving:
610 calories (3 classes a day at this weeks residency),
25 g fat (4:45 a.m. call time),
4 g saturated fat (“Wohh, was that an Earthquake or did Peter just hit the passenger van door with the Ryder truck?”),
21 g protein (still dark, cold, heavy load in at new gym),
76 g carbohydrate (Run Peril to 400 Brussels sprouts at 8:30 a.m.),
4 1/2g dietary fiber (Load out; “Oh My Gosh the stairs just collapsed underneath Jon and Sonny and Jon might have broken his ankle),
5 mg cholesterol (Teach with disabled Jon 5th, 2nd, 3rd grades),
250 mg sodium (Take Jon to Prime Care, “You’ve bruised your Achilles tendon, wow your very lucky”).

SIDE EFFECTS
Haydee gets sick, loses her voice, out for the rest of the week. Between Sonny, Brandon, and Ian, Haydee is covered. Jon can’t walk and might have to do the show in a chair, everyone picks up transitions, which are longer with no waving flagger therefore less interesting, so we up the anti on comedy technique and truthful talking and listening, and we make it through to double show day on Friday.
Now we are home free; Jon’s Achilles is feeling better, One Take sounds like Kathleen Turner, but at least there is sound coming out of her mouth. No residencies next week and we get to go through Asheville. So the only worry now is that Julianne and I have been calling Demeter ‘him’ because Sonny took over for Haydee, and now that she’s back we may slip and call her ‘him’. Ahhhh days off, I think I’m in a Food Coma!