Queens Impact Awards Impact Others

photo (1)Usually I write about being in a room of creatives and loving the energy that wildly erupts. Well, last night I was in a room full of do-gooders who were being recognized by the Times Ledger through the Queens Impact Awards. It was a wonderful night. Lots of gratitude. Lots of love. Lots of service. These 27 recipients covered all of Queens as well as the areas of arts, medicine, higher education, civic scene, entrepreneurs and community service. Whether it was Salvatore Lopizzo creating YANA – You Are Never Alone – in the Rockaways to help the post-Sandy community or Audra Fordin creating Women Auto Know – empowering women about car mechanics, we were all united by one common goal:

To be of ultimate service to others through our best talents.

My friend, Valerie, says that 50% is showing up. I agree. Just by sitting there and listening, I am inspired to do something. And I do with Theatre Beyond Broadway and Friends of Maple Grove Cemetery.

Here’s a great note on inspiration:

When I slow down and listen I find inspiration. In contrast, when I was young, I thought the creative process was putting blinders up to the world with the idea that I could make something ‘uniquely from Me’. I thought that if I could come up with something no one had ever seen before, I would be special; I would be somebody.

Me, Me, Me! I was constantly reinventing the wheel and I thought I was clever in the process, but my resources were limited and so was my output. My childish misconceptions, My Ego, were suppressing my true creative flow. Later, attending artists’ workshops and poetry readings, I came to realize that the creative process is an act of opening up to, not shutting out from, what other artists are doing. I am one, my life stops at the corner of my experiences.  But, when I slow down, and open up to listen to other artist’s stories, I can grow exponentially. My life opens up to the corner your experiences.  It is about being present and listening so we are part of the ebb and flow of taking-in–putting-out –taking-in. Great people have been thinking and rethinking, feeling and re-feeling, since the beginning of time. Ideas are not new. I only have new ways of synthesizing them. When I show up, slow down, and listen, authentic creation comes. I can grow at a faster pace. It is as if I take the ideas and feelings I’ve collected home in a basket and rocked them in an old comfortable rocking chair until they become new again.  – Patty Marcinek Yaverski

 

 

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Reacting v. Responding

51MfVDOlEkL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_Once upon a time, in what seemed like a lifetime ago, I overreacted to every little thing that happened to me or someone else. I didn’t have a filter so I made snap judgments. None of it instinctual. None of it fact-based. None of it fair.  I would act on whatever emotion I was feeling in the moment to the chagrin of my husband and very close friends. I thought feelings were facts and that I had a right to tell the world everything that I was feeling. I asked myself why everything was so complicated, why the world hated me and why was nothing going the way I wanted it to go.

Then I had a moment of clarity. I asked for advice and was told from people I respected that I was the problem. Yikes. That’s a scary thing for an egomaniac to hear. Since I wanted to be released from my own crazy and be a functioning member of society, I started to do some work on myself. I decided to make some changes. The first one was learning how to respond rather than react.  For me, responding is taking the pause to allow the feelings to flow through me. I do this in many ways: writing it down, moving a muscle to change the thought, calling a wise friend. When I am done, I am usually relieved of the crazy I was feeling. I think clearer. I handle the situation better than if I was still in all-about-me land. Not that I don’t love that land. I have my own theme song. If I react, nothing good will come out of the situation at hand for me. That’s because I am going off my emotions and become accusatory.

As someone who has also been on the receiving end of a reaction, it kinda sucks. Though I have learned to not take everything personally (thank you The Four Agreements), it’s still hard not to separate what is being said from why it is being said. Thankfully, I have a special circle of people who I can go to guide me past my impulse to react.  It’s never easy. I don’t do it perfect. I just try my best.

 

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Victorian Wedding of Mary & Jonan Coward; The Gospel According to Josh

imageThis weekend I am going to be a guest at The Victorian Tea Wedding at Maple Grove Cemetery. My husband, Ian, is portraying Jacob Riis as best man. and my best galpal, Amanda Doria is Elizabeth Riis as matron of honor. So there will be a toast and singing and celebration. The bride and groom, Mary and Jonan Coward, were separated during the Civil War and didn’t reunite until 50 years later. Friends of Maple Grove Cemetery is giving them, who are buried side by side, the wedding they never got to have as teenagers.

Very cool!

Planet Connections opens this week. If you follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook or are part of the Facebook Group page, then you’ll be reading all about about the shows that are going up.

Check out the listings to the right and http://www.theatrebeyondbroadway.com for more info.

See you at the show!

Capture

Josh Rivedal returns to New York City with a limited run of his show. I promoted his book last summer and am excited about seeing his one man show.

There’s a group of us attending opening night so I’d love for you to join us. Send me an email at Malini@theatrebeyondbroadway.com for more info.

From The Maury Povich Show to Huffington Post columnist, the critically acclaimed show returns for a limited engagement.
Tortured by his thoughts, Josh finds himself standing on the ledge of a 4th floor window, contemplating jumping out to end it all; in a moment of truth, he must reach out to the only person who can help him before it’s too late. Featuring cameos by Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., and Elvis; The Gospel According to Josh is a comedic and poignant true-to-life tale of love, loss, struggle, and survival. It’s a gospel account of one young man’s passage into manhood:  his 28-year Gentile bar mitzvah.

A journey through depression and coming out the other side…

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, MAY 16 at 7PM,
SATURDAY, MAY 17 at 2PM & 7PM
SUNDAY, MAY 18 at 3PM

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by Categories: TBB Mondays, Theater 1 Comment

Guest Blogger: Linda Gnat-Mullin Shares How Kisses Started

kisses-out-of-the-blueAbout a month ago, I met and interviewed Linda for International Women Artist’s Salon Radio. She was our guest solo artist there to discuss her book Kisses Out of the Blue. We bonded right away because I am a hugger. Those who know me know that I say hi by hugging. It does throw people off but that’s who I am. I asked Linda what was the impetus to transition to the area of wellness. Then she told me the following:

Plastic bags. The F-22. Cigarettes. Nuclear energy. Porcelain collectibles. For nearly thirty years as an advertising copywriter, I wrote glorious junk about serious junk.

In 1999, after a day of meeting with a big banking client, my brain departed for thirty-six hours. Transient Global Amnesia. When consciousness returned, the message was clear: we all come here with a mission and I was screwing mine up.

There were earlier, gentler communications I had ignored. You see, I had always loved intuition and powers of mind. Even as a kid, I was fascinated by hypnotists on television. Starting in the 1970’s, I had learned several systems of healing, including Reiki. But I didn’t see a real place in this world for a healer/helper me. The amnesia finally taught me that it was time to get going.

I opened my Reiki practice in 2001. At the start, some clients had a conventional response to a session: receive energy, bliss out, float home. Neat and simple.

But life isn’t simple, life is messy, life throws you curves. Other clients came to me with strange constellations of symptoms. Clearly, I had to see the body as considerably more than a briefcase for brains. I had to learn its wisdom. I studied several shamanistic traditions and energy systems, Jungian archetypal work, soul retrieval, past life regression, mediumship, parts therapy, and spirit healing. Over twelve years, I learned to assist people in releasing deeply held effects of the past without re- traumatizing, so they could live their truth.

Ultimately, I believe that earth is the planet of distraction. We come here to clean up serious karma and do soul-stuff, but we can get off-course from all that earth demands. So we can also create lots of new karma in quick order. It’s like being at the high-stakes table.

I wanted to offer a gentle reminder, a little perspective, some help in the form of a book. It took me seven years to understand how to write my book. Piles of scribbled, chai-stained pages attest to it. Finally, it came to me: write the book I would like to read. Kisses Out of the Blue offers twenty-two strange and true stories, with lots of room for you as the reader to decide what to take away. At the end, some questions. In this book, I am telling you true and sometimes funny stories about life, work, healing. Showing you what lies beyond the obvious.

Giving you an opportunity to see your own life in a new and different way.

People have told me that these stories move their energy. They love that I don’t tell them what to do. They like how the book widens their perspective. They read it more than once. Readers keep it near their beds, even under their pillows. This is good. Perhaps with Kisses Out of the Blue, any wake-up call you may require will be as gentle and inviting as…well, you know!

Linda Gnat-Mullin

lindagnatmullin@gmail.com

NOTE: Kisses is available on Amazon, B&N, and other online retailers.

Reading and Book Signing

Sunday, June 1
The 440 Gallery
440 6th Avenue (Bet. 9th and 10th) in Park Slope.
4:40 pm
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An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Directed by Sarah Benson

OctaroonSHowPage_3An empty black box save for a microphone on a stand and a single upstage door sets the stage for this smart, funny, and thought provoking theatrical experience. Hang on tight as the Soho Rep hurtles you through time to the antebellum South through quick changes, textured lighting, and one of the most innovative and impactful sets I’ve ever seen accompanied by brilliant acting. See it – to tell you any more about it would spoil the fun. You have to see it for yourself. – Ian McDonald

World Premiere
April 23 – June 8

Soho Rep

46 Walker Street
two blocks south of Canal Street
between Broadway and Church (map)
A/C/E, N/R/Q/W, or 6 train to Canal
1 to Franklin

Click HERE for more info.

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Pieces, The Quest of the Hero & Allie’s Appendix Open at Planet Connections

Geffner WednesdayI am reading at the Inspired Word on Wednesday night at 7pm at Coffeed in Long Island City. Trying out some new pieces so I’d love for you to be there.

Planet Connections opens this month for 3 weeks. I am pretty psyched about the shows that are going up. Besides, Pieces, The Quest of the Hero! and Allie’s Appendix, there is John Patrick Bray’s Donkey, David Caudle’s Downward Facing Debbie and Siobhan O’Loughlin’s Natural Novice. Check out the listings at http://www.theatrebeyondbroadway.com for more info.

See you at the show!

This contest is still open until Wednesday.

Your name will be drawn from my cauldron if you tell me what show has a kick ass poster/logo/brand. You win two tickets to:

THE ANTHEM is a rollicking sci-fi musical about a revolt of the young against an evil state lovingly inspired by the classic novella “Anthem.” Hunger Games meets Ayn Rand in a world where individuality is illegal. Prometheus abandons everything to confront the State — controlled by the overlord of evil efficiency, Tiberius. With a forbidden copy of Ayn Rand’s ancient tome in hand, can Prometheus overthrow the system?

Leave a comment on the Theatre Beyond Broadway Facebook page or below.

 

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Guest Blogger: Valerie Keane says 50% of Becoming a Better Artist Has Nothing To Do With Your Work

Valerie & I visit the Tenement Museum and eat meatballs
Valerie & I visit the Tenement Museum and eat meatballs

Valerie and I spend lots of time, creating art, supporting art, talking about art. We are both in agreement that the best part of being in this community is just being present. I tweet/update statuses about going to an event and feeling inspired and moved. It feels like fireworks.  About a month ago, Valerie and I attended an event. We were invited by our friend, Audrey Dimola. Truth be told, we actually had no idea what the event was about and what it was for – we just knew Audrey’s in it and we never been to the Latimer House in Flushing.  We got there and experienced the spoken word, poetry, food, company in awe and appreciation. Then I wrote a poem about it the next day. So when Valerie posted a status update about showing up, I told her to elaborate:

I’m being reminded a lot lately of the importance of showing up and listening to and/or seeing others’ art. And not the “showing up as an obligation to a friend” kind of showing up. But showing up and being fully present and grateful to be part of the community. When you show up like that, you ARE a part of the art community. Instantly. You don’t need to be the one up there reading or performing your work or the one whose painting is on the wall in order to be *part of it all*. As a matter of fact, if your prime objective is to put yourself on display, you’re really missing out on the juicy stuff that will make you a better artist. It will be evident in your work that you have not, from time to time, just gone to an event to LISTEN and to SEE and to EXPERIENCE. Not to mention, the subtle and insidious isolation that ensues when you only chose to show up when it can be about *you*. Take that suggestion from one who knows that all too well. If your work is meant to be out there, believe me, people will ask you to put it out there if you show up without expectation, without attachment, and without a furious insistence to be heard in an effort to validate yourself. The Universe has already validated your parking voucher, kids. If you have something to say, by all means say it. But remember that that is only HALF of your art. Don’t miss out on the other absolutely glorious 50%. Don’t half-ass your gift by letting your life choices be led by the siren’s call of the spotlight. Yin/Yang, yes? Action/Receptivity, yes? Show up just to listen sometimes. Have the courage to be an absolute nobody. You are already SOMEbody. And so, my dear, is everyone else. Go. Listen to them. They want to love you for just being you. Imagine that.

 

Valerie G. Keane is very honored to be part of the current Queens literary scene, regardless of how late to the party she actually was.  She owes her love and understanding of poetry completely to Dick Allen, Connecticut Poet Laureate.  Two of her poems will appear in the Spring/Summer 2014 issue of the Newtown Literary Journal.  She curates a Poetry & Coffee discussion group for writers and readers that meets in Queens to read great poems and speak wildly and passionately about why they contain all the secrets to life.  Valerie is very excited that it is the only literary group in Queens where you cannot read your own work.  When asked if she is a poet, Valerie says, “I still don’t know how you qualify as one.”  She is, however, currently unemployed – which probably means she is on her way to legitimacy.  You may reach her at valeriegkeane at gmail dot com.  Twitter: @valeriegkeane 

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Josh Rivedal Returns with The Gospel According to Josh for an Off-Broadway Run

CaptureBack in August of 2013, Josh was awaiting the print version of his book, The Gospel According to Josh: A 28 Year Gentile Bar Mitzvah (based on his one man show). He asked me to join his team to promote the book. When I finally read it, I was so moved and was excited about seeing the performance. Tada! The show is returns with an all new script based on the book. So, I decided to reprint his interview today. If you are interested in joining my merry group of supporters for opening night, comment below and I will get in touch with you.

The Gospel According to Josh is back in NYC Off-Broadway. May 16-18. Fresh of of an international tour and with an all new script based on his book. Josh is a writer for The Huffington Post, an actor, author, and public speaker.

Malini: Josh, you know I love your book. I devoured it one night the way I devour a bowl of pasta. My readers know that I respect those who share their truth. It is difficult to do that. Who really wants to admit their shame or expose their vulnerability? And you’ve shared your truth and vulnerability in two forms: performance and the written word. What was the catalyst in writing the book version of the show?

Josh: Great question. I really wanted to make this story more accessible. In three years I’ve reached about ten thousand people with the show version. But I can only do so many performances in a week or month. With the book it’s low cost and able to be consumed at a pace that suits the audience member. It’s much more easily shared as well. You can hand someone a book but I can’t live in someone’s pocket and put on a performance at a minute’s notice.

The book is also loosely structured as a three act play. It has one more act than the one-man show version. During the final act, the book shows my own spiral into clinical depression and suicidal thoughts a few years after losing my father to suicide. Additionally it shows my recovery from depression and bouncing back from rock bottom. In society we are constantly presented with pictures of people who are struggling but rarely are we shown someone in recovery. I wanted people to see someone who is in recovery and living a well-adjusted and productive emotional and professional life.

Malini: One of my favorite parts in the book, without giving anything away, is the use of voices and dreams. I found that they really enhance the story. How did you come up with that concept?

Josh: Thank you and… damn, that’s a tough question!

First on the conceit to use of dreams. I was having dreams on a consistent basis about my father for over a year after he died. I could understand things he was saying and these dreams drove me, in part, to write my one-man play The Gospel According to Josh. However these dreams were freaking me the hell out and it contributed to my deteriorating mental state. I thought I was going crazy (not true) and didn’t talk about it for a few years. The dreams were also a way for me to say goodbye to my father, something I never got a chance to do.

The voices. I think it came to me one day early in the writing process. I was taking a shower and was trying to think of a way to break up the exposition and give insight to my inner thoughts. We all talk to ourselves throughout the day, sometimes aloud, and often when we think no one else is listening. It’s more normal than you think. My thoughts often sound a little ghetto fabulous. I also quote Bible verses at myself because of my Evangelical youth. And I swear a lot in Spanish in my head. In the context of the book, these three voices (religious, ghetto, Spanish) are my friends and enemies. They’re vulgar, compassionate, needling; and they break up and lighten what can be some serious subject matter. They’re probably the most risky part of the book (as a writer) but they’re my favorite part too.

Malini: You discuss your first performance in the book and you are still touring the show, which I think is great. What has shifted for you, if anything, as you continue to carry your message?

Josh: I think the thing that’s shifted is that this message, carried out with compassion and humor, is snowballing. People are embracing it all over the U.S. and Canada. It’s taken a few years but it’s happening. And I’m somewhat known as “the suicide prevention guy” which is interesting. Not something I ever thought I’d be known as when I got into show business ten years ago. But here we are and I’m totally cool with it.

Tickets for friends of Josh, HERE: http://ow.ly/vVY8Z 

About the show:
The Gospel According to Josh is a 30 character, 7 song one man show.

By the time Josh Rivedal turned twenty-five, he thought he’d have the perfect life—a few years singing on Broadway, his own television show, and his face on the cover of the National Enquirer as Bigfoot’s not-so-secret lover. Instead, his resume is filled with minor league theatre and an appearance on The Maury Povich Show—a career sidetracked by his father’s death and a messy lawsuit from his mother.

Tortured by his thoughts, he finds himself on the ledge of a fourth floor window, contemplating jumping out. In turn he must reach out to the only person who can help him before it’s too late.

The Gospel… is a true life tale of one young man’s passage into manhood—his twenty-eight year Gentile bar mitzvah.

More:
Proceeds will be donated to The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. A panel discussion on suicide prevention and mental wellness will follow each of the four performances. Featured panelists will include industry leaders from The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health America, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and Men’s Health Network and more. Dates in May: Fri. 16 at 7pm, Sat. 17 at 2pm and 7pm, Sun. at 3pm.

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The Left Out Festival Closes, Alan Semerdjian, Pieces Extended

imagesI had a moment today when I realized that I need to stop complicating everything. I always want everything to go off smoothly but if I am in my own way, I just slow everything down. Since the last week, which now includes a second loss, I am seeing just how important it is that we live our lives to the fullest. As a champion of dreams and goals, I encourage all of you, as well as myself, to set a goal for the next month and do one thing each day to make that goal a reality. You have 30 days…GO! I’m checking in to see where you all are in the process.

If you haven’t checked out The Left Out Festival, today is your last chance. Antonio and Shylock close out the festival and I am very excited to see it tonight. It’s a work in progress based on Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice by Dikran Tulaine, this exploration of hatred of the “other” explores anti-Jewish and anti-gay bigotry. Was Antonio gay? Hmm, I’ll love to dig deep. Also, fellow poet, and rocker, Alan Sermerdjian is performing this weekend at the Rockwood Music Hall. And if you’re in the mood for an oldie but a goody, check out my pal, Tom Hoefner’s You’re a Good Man. Charlie Brown. Tom wrote and directed, The Unlikely Adventure of Race McCloud, Private Eye which Black Henna produced a few years ago.

I am about to head into Planet Connections with three great shows: Pieces, The Quest of the Hero! and Allie’s Appendix. Check out the listings to the right and www.theatrebeyondbroadway.com for more info. Pieces has two more added dates so YAY!

See you at the show!


You have a follower the moment you put the anarchy sign in my path. So when I heard The Anthem was opening, my interest was piqued.

Your name will be drawn from my cauldron if you tell me what show has a kick ass poster/logo/brand. You win two tickets to:

THE ANTHEM is a rollicking sci-fi musical about a revolt of the young against an evil state lovingly inspired by the classic novella “Anthem.” Hunger Games meets Ayn Rand in a world where individuality is illegal. Prometheus abandons everything to confront the State — controlled by the overlord of evil efficiency, Tiberius. With a forbidden copy of Ayn Rand’s ancient tome in hand, can Prometheus overthrow the system?

Leave a comment on the Theatre Beyond Broadway Facebook page or  below.

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“Everyone has a role to play.”

CaptureThat’s what Ian’s uncle said to us on Saturday when we visited his grandfather. It’s easy for me to forget the many roles I play because I always want to best in whatever I’m doing.

Ian’s uncle repeated that line again on Tuesday at Grandpa George’s wake.  We were the grandchildren, the sons and daughters-in-laws, the nephews and nieces, the cousins, the wives and husbands. We were the family.

Grandpa George was a remarkable man. I feel very blessed to have known him for 16 1/2 years and to call him Grandpa. I could wax poetic about his many huge accomplishments made to our city in the field of print press and the unions. I could be in awe of the great photos of him with luminaries. I could just smile his decision to get his Bachelor of Arts at age 60 even though he didn’t need it.

I did all of those things. However, today I will revel in the memories of the countless rides in the back seat of the old ’89 Buick listening to awesome stories of the old days in HIS New York City.

He played many roles and inspires me and the rest of his clan to play our roles with passion and conviction.

Much love to you Grandpa and luckily I don have to use the restroom that we just passed on the highway 😉

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