NOTES FROM THE 2017  MEETING - February 6, 2017

Was it Winter or has Spring arrived.  Whatever the reason, attendance was considerable.  Attending were:

Sally Chetwynd - Sam (a Civil War soldier)

Stephen Collins - Walt Whitman (the younger)

Jim Cooke - John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, et al

Mike Francis - Galileo, The Stargazer’s Apprentice

Libby Franck - Julia Ward Howe

Jackson Gillman - Rudyard Kipling, storyteller

Deborah Anne Goss - Charlotte Cushman, 'Victorian Musicales',  'Anti-slavery songs', Proper Ladies

Gail Hamel - Abigail Whitney

Judith Kalaora - Deborah Sampson, Annie Adams Field, Lucy Stone, et al

JoJo LaRiccia - JoJo’s DreamCart

Sally Matson - Susan B Anthony, Margaret Bourke-White

Tracy Messer - Calvin Coolidge

Jessa Piaia - Susan B Anthony, Rachel Walker Revere, Amelia Earhart, et al

Joan Spinazola - still nailing down a character

Ted Zalewski   - Teddy Roosevelt, Postman Roulin, et al

And visiting guest Paula Matcovici - Fashion Designer/costumer  http://www.paulastudio.com/

Notes

Instead of everyone saying what they were up to we began with just the most important announcements.

John Horrigan and Steve Wood have finished a new episode of  The Folklorist about the 1st assassination attempt on President Lincoln.  Hopefully this program will be distributed far beyond the local Newton cable station.

Tracy Messer is taking to the boards for the first time on April 19th for the Keene Historical Society with Calvin Coolidge and the Monadnock Region as I Know It.

For the remainder of the evening we took on three topics:

• Performing in retirement communities
• Possible venues
• What got us started in solo performance

Trials and tribulations of performing in retirement communities

Judith mentioned that if you aren’t good they will leave.

Always ask about the audience’s activity level when discussing the booking

Don’t wear too much clothing, this audience keeps their rooms HOT.

Think about how your program will affect the audience.  Doing Deborah Sampson once got the audience overly excited during a battle scene.

Don’t get left alone.

Be careful passing around props.  They may never return.

Don’t call these venues facilities…. They are communities.

Possible venues to consider marketing to:

Sally Matson ‘s Margaret Bourke White program played a library in Westwood, but her audience was the local camera club.

Jim Cooke writes letters to places he’d just like to visit.

Mt Auburn Cemetary if you can find a connection to your character.

Historic houses/homes.

Universities.  The National Association for Campus Activities has a conference next November that may be useful for breaking into this market.

Veteran’s or trade organizations.

Public relation societies.

What inspired us to solo performance:

Deb Goss got started because her character Charlotte Cushman connected so strongly with her.

Jo Jo Lariccia had been dreaming about performing from the time she was a little girl.  While selling from a pushcart near the aquarium, she became inspired to develop Jo Jo’s Dream Cart.

Jessa Piaia has been inspired to perform by the women she portrays who have taken a stand.

Paula Matcovici, our special guest, is a Tango dancer who started out making her own dresses for dancing.  She’s now expanding out to making costumes for actors.  If you’re looking for a new costume you can contact Paula through her web site.  http://www.paulastudio.com/

The Spring meeting will be coming up in a little while.  This is the pot-luck-dinner meeting, so start trying out those new recipes.

Mike Francis

Webmaster SoloTogether

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