EMPOWERMENT DAY

Hello friends!

As our Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival’s 4^th Annual EMPOWERMENT DAY is fast approaching, we thought we’d give you a breakdown of the various workshops and panels that will be offered this year.  

“FROM THOUGHT TO PEN”

This workshop will focus on how to take the idea of a solo show from a thought to a one-person play.

Facilitators: Debra De Liso (Director/Instructor/Actor) and Terrie Silverman (Actor/Instructor/Writer) 

“BUSINESS OF THE BIZ”

This workshop focuses on the many logistics on planning and realizing one’s own show.  Topics range from selecting a team, venue, negotiating contracts and fees, and even co-producing a production.

Facilitator: Yetta Young (Producer/Director)

Panelists: Wendy Hammers (Actor/Writer/Comedian), Sky Palkowitz (Actor/Performance Artist/Instructor), and Clarinda Ross (Storyteller, Actor/Writer/Union Activist)

“SUBMITTING A WINNER PACKAGE FOR A SOLO FESTIVAL”

While simply creating an engaging solo piece is a job in itself, presentation when submitting it to a festival can be competitive and the submission needs to be fully-actualized.  From the right cover letter, head shots, to completing the full application and submitting a DVD with a sample of the work, this workshop is designed to address all of these elements.

Facilitators: Elizabeth Wu (Actor/Screening Panelist) and Valeri Parker-Ross (Actor/Screening Panelist)

“BRANDING YOUR SOLO SHOW IN THE MARKETPLACE”

By learning to utilize new and different marketing platforms, this workshop will support artists in gaining the skills needed to market their work. Whether these resources are free such as social media platforms to contracting with a publicists, these strategies are as essential as the performance itself.

Facilitators: Lynne Conner (Publicist/Actor) and Sky Palkowitz (Actor/Performance Artist/Instructor),

“HITTING THE ROAD WITH YOUR SOLO SHOW”

While touring a solo how may be the ultimate dream of any solo performer, there are many steps one must take when planning the details such as determining market, working with presenters, setting fees, travel logistics and working with local press.

Facilitators: Adilah Barnes (Actor/Producer/Instructor/Author/Retreat Proprietor/Talk Show Host); Vanessa Adams-Harris (Actor/Producer/Writer)

“TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK”

This panel will look at the professionals needed to make a solo show shine from the director and producer to lighting and sound technicians, to selecting the right publicist and more. This workshop will detail how to assemble the right team players that will make a dream show a reality.

Moderator: Barbara Roberts (Actor/Union Activist)

Panelists: Aaron Braxton (actor/educator);  Lynne Conner, Allison Queen, Clarinda Ross and Terrie Silverman (credits)

“EMPOWERED WOMEN: CRAFTING A SOLO CAREER”

As they share their personal journeys to becoming empowered, working solo performers, this panel of professional artists will share their creative process and vision.

Moderator: Adilah Barnes

Panelists: Brenda Adelman (Actor/Producer/Instructor) Jessica Johnson (Director/Actor/Writer); Vanessa Adams-Harris, and Wendy Hammers (Actor/Writer/Comedian)

With this diverse lineup of workshops to expect remember that registration includes an all-day pass. $99 until August 1; $125 thereafter so hurry and get that Early Bird Special! We hope to see you there!

-       Stephanie

"Looking Back: Stepping Forward!" Interview with Cheray O'Neal

The Ivy Substation 

presents

Cheray O'Neal

July 10, 2016

Cheray O'Neal performing 'Journey This'

Q: How did you first hear about the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival (LAWTF)?

A: "I have mutual artistic comrades who have had the great pleasure and priviledge in participating in the festivals past."

Q: How has being a part of LAWTF impacted your life and your performing career?

A: "It has been such a supportive, inspiring, and uplifting environment to be a part of. Obviously how I view my art and life are one in the same. LAWTF provides a wealth of resources and opportunities to showcase and nurture your work. I'm grateful."


Q: What has been your favorite part of your LAWTF experience? 

A: "The opportunity to commune with other artist from all walks of their creative lives."

Cheray O'Neal performing 'Journey This'

Q: What advice would you give for someone just starting out in the performing arts industry, with regards to seeking out opportunities like LAWTF to further their careers? 

A: "Nothing is perfect, go out there and be willing to fall. Every person has a unique purposeful valuable life, and your voice is worth it. Find a mentor and ask a lot of questions."

Q: Are there any moments in your LAWTF experience that you are certain you will never forget? 

A: "The moment I got the acceptance letter for the Festival. I felt validated and so excited."

Q: How has LAWTF helped you promote your show further? 

A: "The connections made have provided access and information. I'm better equipped and, truth be told, the theatre community is pretty small."

Cheray O'Neal performing 'Journey This'

Q: What was your inspiration for your solo show (the one you are performing at the Ivy Substation)? 

A: "I was my grandmother's care giver for the last year and half of her life. It was a beautiful cyclical experience for me. I learned compassion and grew to deeply love and respect the woman she was. She raised my mother, so in turn I have a greater appreciation for my beloved mother, as well. When my grandmother died, my mortality was smack in my face and I had to question, what's important, what do I wish to leave behind. Carrying the legacy my grandmother and mother, looking at my pains and turning them into medicine became the impetus for this show."

Q: Any advice on what it takes to create a solo show and suggestions for someone embarking on their first solo show? 

A: "Be brutally honest, be disciplined, take risks, remain resilient, and know your worth. I will be performing my solo play 'Journey This' in August. Please check www.cherayoneal.com for all future performances."

See Cheray O'neal in her one woman show, "Journey This", on July 10 at the Ivy Substation. For tickets, please go to our website, www.lawtf.org.  

"Looking Back: Stepping Forward!" Interview with Clarinda Ross

The Ivy Substation 

presents

Clarinda Ross

July 10, 2016

Q: How did you first hear about the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival (LAWTF)?

A: "When I first arrived in Los Angeles I saw an ad in Backstage West calling for submissions.  I responded and was accepted.  I believe that was 1995."

Q: How has being a part of LAWTF impacted your life and your performing career?

A: "I’ve been active with the Festival for over twenty years now as a performer, a teacher, and a student. I’ve taken Adilah’s workshops several times."

Clarinda Ross as her grandmother, Willie Sue

Q: What has been your favorite part of your LAWTF experience? 

A: "The friendships and the support network that have grown out of my participation. You always get more than you give at LAWTF.  We are about lifting up women’s voices, women’s stories; which is great, because we have a lot to say."

Q: What advice would you give for someone just starting out in the performing arts industry, with regards to seeking out opportunities like LAWTF to further their careers? 

A: "Just show up to workshops, come to the performances, volunteer.  Adilah Barnes is always looking for talented interns and work trades.  So just show up and offer to help.  No doubt you will learn something."

Q: Are there any moments in your LAWTF experience that you are certain you will never forget? 

A: "Yes, once we did a show at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. My grandmother Willie Sue Tanksley was alive then, living in rural Georgia I used to call her every Sunday like clockwork. That day I performed an except from 'Grandmother', her character Willie Sue, in this gorgeous space, the Barnsdall... I called her as drove home to Santa Monica and said, “The audience really liked you Grandmother,”  and that tickled her; that in a way she was live onstage in Hollywood, California.  That is one very positive thing about LAWTF, we always perform in great spaces around the city."

Q: How has LAWTF helped you promote your show further? 

A: "Yes, definitely. My first play, 'From My Grandmother's Grandmother Unto Me'  had toured extensively in the Southeast but when I moved to LA to focus on TV/film work I ceased touring that show, but over the years I’ve performed segments for LAWTF. It was a great way for me to keep the show fresh. This year is the 30th Anniversary (of) my first performance of the play and marked that anniversary with a sold out run in Atlanta, my old stomping ground. So that was pretty cool."

Q: What was your inspiration for your solo show (the one you are performing at the Ivy Substation)? 

A: "My mother Charlotte is a folklorist, she studied with Joseph Campbell in the 1980’s and the show is based on her stories as well as interviews with her mother my grandmother Willie Sue Tanksley. So I am from a family of big talkers and I had a director, and producer, David Thomas, who had a vision of creating a storytelling play.  This was in the 1980’s and yuppies were all the rage. People were moving to the cities in droves and leaving the rural areas.  I had grown men and women tell me they didn’t know their grandmother’s first name, let alone the details of their stories.  So, I like to think I was a small part of getting people interested in their own heritage, years ahead of ancestry.com."

Clarinda Ross as her mother, Charlotte

Q: Any advice on what it takes to create a solo show and suggestions for someone embarking on their first solo show? 

A: "Have a burning story to tell, something that matters.  My best wisdom is this: in the specific lives the universal. Tell your story. Tell it true. If you do that, it will become everyone’s story. So it goes beyond you and your experience and it affects the audience and becomes a gift to them. They can identify a place where they can see and reflect on their own lives.  And just very practically, the old adage "he who represents himself in court has a fool for lawyer..." I believe...  "she who directs herself onstage..." fill in that blank.  I would never ever attempt a solo play without a trusted director. Adilah and the Board members are all mothers and grandmothers so there is this feeling that as an artist you are cared for and your work is honored and respected, not just because they give us nice theatres, and they pay us, (but yes  I think that is important) but it is more than that. It’s because there’s true care and consideration.  For instance, there’s always water some fruit or  a ‘thank you’ note or a gift bag. Just those tiny touches that say to an artist 'you matter', 'care about you', and 'thanks for playing with us.'"

"...a simple story, beautifully told." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Ross is a master storyteller and part of the vigorous revitalization of that art form." - LA Weekly

For more reviews: www.clarindaross.com/grandmother-reviews.html

Click here for a synopsis of Clarinda Ross' play.

See Clarinda Ross in her one woman show, "From My Grandmother's Grandmother's Grandmother Unto Me", on July 10 at the Ivy Substation. For tickets, please go to our website, www.lawtf.org.  

"Looking Back: Stepping Forward!" Interview with Dina Morrone

The Ivy Substation 

presents

Dina Morrone

July 10, 2016

Q: How did you first hear about the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival (LAWTF)?

A: "I first heard about the LAWTF when I happened to pick up a brochure of the Festival at a local theatre. I really liked the look of the brochure and the idea of a women’s festival really appealed to me so I inquired and … here I am."

Dina Morrone performing at the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival (LAWTF), 2016

Q: How has being a part of LAWTF impacted your life and your performing career?

A: "Being a part of the LAWTF has been a very positive experience for me. Ten years ago, when I first ventured out into the solo show world, I was thrilled to know that there was a professional festival that brought solo performers together from all over and from all different backgrounds and life experiences, and to give them a platform and opportunity to showcase their work, share their personal stories, entertain audiences, meet other female performers and be a part of something that was very respected in the LA Theater community."

Morrone performing "The Italian In Me"

Q: What has been your favorite part of your LAWTF experience?

A: "The audiences! They are smart and they enjoy a good story. When a piece is funny they really laugh hard and as a performer that keeps you charged and wanting to give them even more. When a piece is moving and sad you can feel that they are listening and thoroughly engaged and you can hear a pin drop."

Morrone at the LAWTF 2016

Q: What advice would you give for someone just starting out in the performing arts industry, with regards to seeking out opportunities like LAWTF to further their careers?

A: "I would tell them to seek out any place where they can showcase their talents. And I would tell them to network. If they don’t want to submit to a festival then go out and attend, watch others perform and learn from all that you watch."

Q: Are there any moments in your LAWTF experience that you are certain you will never forget?

A: "Yes. The Tech Team. They are the glue and the magic that make the shows come alive. They work so hard to make sure that the performers looks good. I thank them!"

Morrone performing "The Italian In Me"

Q: How has LAWTF helped you promote your show further?

A: "Having the words LAWTF (Los Angeles Theater Festival) on my resume or in my materials when I promote my show around town gives my show that little extra bit of credibility."

Q: What was your inspiration for your solo show (the one you are performing at the Ivy Substation)?

A: "The inspiration for my solo show, The Italian In Me, was a chance meeting with Federico Fellini while I was living and working in Rome working as an actress. And of course the struggles that came with that journey. It wasn’t always La Dolce Vita."

Morrone performing at the LAWTF 2016

Q: Any advice on what it takes to create a solo show and suggestions for someone embarking on their first solo show?

A: "My advice would be to live! Travel. Experience life. To observe all the fine details of your surroundings, people, and your daily life. And to know that today's bad day or crazy experience could turn out to be the funniest one-woman show. To write a lot and to pay attention to good storytelling. How do people react at a dinner table when you tell a story or something that happened to you? Pay attention to that. Thank you to Adilah Barnes and to the staff at the LAWTF for working so hard at making the LAWTF, a festival for so many years. Adilah really puts so much heart and love into this Festival and she is an inspiration."

See Dina Morrone in her one woman show, "The Italian In Me", on July 10 at the Ivy Substation. For tickets, please go to our website, www.lawtf.org. 

"Looking Back: Stepping Forward!" Interview with Lindsay Halladay

The Ivy Substation 

presents

Lindsay Halladay

July 10, 2016

Q: How did you first hear about the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival (LAWTF)?
A: "I first heard about LAWTF through my good friend and fellow performance poet, Vanessa Hidary.  She had performed in the Festival and suggested I apply.  I thought it would be a great way to get involved in local LA theatre and support women solo performers."

Q: How has being a part of LAWTF impacted your life and your performing career?
A: "Being a longtime part of LAWTF has allowed me to meet so many interesting and artistic women inside and outside of the LA community.  It really opened my work up to new audiences as well as through their many programs at the Book Festival, etc.  I am so proud to be involved in such a wonderful organization."

Q: What has been your favorite part of your LAWTF experience?
A: "I’ve loved all of it, but my very first show in the Festival with LAWTF back in 2007 is a real standout.  It was a sold-out, standing room crowd and I really felt connected to the audience.  I really think they got me and my work.  It felt very magical."

Lindsay Halladay in Norman Lear's "Declare Yourself" aboard the USS Midway

Q: What advice would you give for someone just starting out in the performing arts industry, with regards to seeking out opportunities like LAWTF to further their careers?  
A: "Always be searching out opportunities to do you and grow your art.  Even if you think maybe your work is a stretch for the opportunity, apply and try anyway.  You fail 100% of the shots you don’t take, and the only way to know if your work is really working is to put it in front of people.  It’s hard to be vulnerable, but that is what is being asked of you as an artist.  So get out there and do it!  And don’t be discouraged if you don’t get an opportunity the first time you try, just keep trying and keep showing up! Persistence is everything."

Q: Are there any moments in your LAWTF experience that you are certain you will never forget?
A: "My first time performing at the West Hollywood Book Fair was really memorable because I made some good friends that I still stay in touch with from that event.  Plus, Da Poetry Lounge did their show on the same stage after our show was done and they asked me to stick around and perform with them as well.  It became this awesome fun day of performing with amazing people."

Q: How has LAWTF helped you promote your show further?
A: "LAWTF has always given me a great home to continue my art and is always allowing me to bring my spoken word to new audiences.  I have even had the opportunity to teach through LAWTF, which is so gratifying. I’m not sure that it’s so much about promoting my show as it is about continuing to create great work and perform for an eager audience."

Lindsay Halladay in NYC

Q: What was your inspiration for your solo show (the one you are performing at the Ivy Substation)?
A: "This show is a collection of some of my most favorite and requested poems I’ve written over the years.  For me, they all harken back to exploring my own identity and the different facets of that.  When I first began performing spoken word in NYC, a lot of people really underestimated me because I was this sort of innocent looking girl from Connecticut.  But then when I get up and perform, it would take people by surprise.  So the title 'WASP', to me is meant to be ironic and almost comical, because that acronym is so based on appearances and my poetry explores so much more than that."

Q: Any advice on what it takes to create a solo show and suggestions for someone embarking on their first solo show?
A: "I like to start with journaling.  It helps me personally dig into what is on my mind at the time and what seems most interesting and pertinent to explore.  I try not to constrain myself and worry too much about structure and format, etc in the very early phases.  I think coming from a place of purity and truth in what you’re wanting to say is most important.  Writing is rewriting, so get it all out and then revise.  As far as the performance, I try to bring in someone I know and trust in my artistic circle to come be eyes for me or work as a director if the piece needs it.  But I try to have my vision really clear before doing that so anyone coming on board is really there to help support that vision. I’m excited to perform at the Ivy Substation and really looking forward to the other performances, as well!"

See Lindsay Halladay in her one woman show, "WASP", on July 10 at the Ivy Substation. For tickets, please go to our website, www.lawtf.org.