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MARCH Guild Meeting-An Evening of Performances
* *

Saturday March 22 5-8:30 Place: Vallejo Music Theatre building, 823 Marin
St., Vallejo, Ca 94590
*

Note: Liebe Wetzel's "Object Animation Workshop" is from 2-5 pm.

The Guild meeting will start at 5:00 with drinks (there will be a bar) &
appetizers and a performance piece, *Cirque du Cafe*, by Michael and Valerie
Nelson, with Steve Ventrello, accordionist. This is a cafe style, table top
circus, a spoof on Cirque du Soleil *(whom they opened for last weekend in
San Jose, sort of.)* Arrive early to start the evening with a bang and a
whistle.

POTLUCK SUPPER

Please your favorite dish to share with others. There will be performances
after appetizers, dinner and deserts, so any food course is welcome. There
will be a bar for beverages. Microwave available. Dinnerware will be
provided.

PUPPET DISPLAY

Do you have a puppet that you've made, that you'd like to display? A table
will be provided for an informal puppet exhibit, so bring your puppet (on a
stand) and share your puppet(s) and/or stages with others.

Performance Shorts
*

FREEWAY - the Independent Eye - Conrad Bishop & Elizabeth Fuller

Cirque de Café – Magical Moonshine Theatre - Michael & Valerie Nelson with
Steve Ventrello

Chapeugraphy – Benny & Bebe's Magic Circus - Benny Bendini

WATER – Bigtadoo Puppet Crew - Emily Butterfly

Plus a demonstration of spinning top manipulation and juggling by Leonidas
Kassapides
*

If anyone would like to perform a short piece at the March meeting, or the
May meeting, please contact Lee Armstrong, images@vom.com or 707 738-5906.
*

"Freeway"
*- A young couple take a wrong turn onto the freeway and never, ever get
off.

Conrad Bishop & Elizabeth Fuller are co-directors of The Independent Eye, a
theatre ensemble transplanted from Philadelphia to Sebastopol in 1999, now
in its 34th season. They have toured nationally for thirty years, and their
plays have been produced by many major regional theatres and Off-Broadway.
They are twice recipients of National Endowment for the Arts playwriting
fellowships and produced a radio series, "Hitchhiking off the Map" for four
years on KPFA-FM.

Puppetry has been a part of Independent Eye for nearly four decades - their
3-actor/36-puppet MACBETH toured the US from 1978 to 1995 - but they have
recently focused exclusively in this medium. "Freeway" is an 18-minute piece
from their 1998 duo show MATING CRIES, which the Philadelphia City Paper
called "achingly beautiful." Currently they are in rehearsal for DESCENT OF
THE GODDESS INANNA, a full-length mythic drama with an eight-member cast,
premiering in Sebastopol in May. Website: .
*

Magical Moonshine Theatre with accordionist Steve Ventrello
*present a selection from "Cirque de Café," a table top circus where
ordinary café items (tea cups, salt and pepper shakers, etc.) come to life
to perform circus acts with tiny circus equipment and great costumes-
musical circus fun in the French café style!*

Benny Bendini from the Magic Circus
*performs his incredible chapeau act:

quick-change, magic, mime & physical comedy. Giving the art form of
chapeugraphy

a modern touch, this performance piece won the 2007 Northern California OMC
Stage Magic Contest.
*

WATER – a vignette using hand and rod puppets Emily Butterfly of Bigtadoo
Puppet Crew.
* *

Demonstration of spinning top manipulation by Leonidas Kassapides
*

POTLUCK SUPPER

Please your favorite dish to share with others. There will be performances
after appetizers, dinner and deserts, so any food course is welcome. There
will be a bar for beverages. Microwave available. Dinnerware will be
provided.

PUPPET DISPLAY

Do you have a puppet that you've made, that you'd like to display? A table
will be provided for an informal puppet exhibit, so bring your puppet (on a
stand) and share your puppet(s) and/or stages with others.

GUILD LIBRARY

Karen Prell, TV puppeteer and animator has donated a number of Muppet books
to the library. These will be featured at the March meeting.
*

Directions to March Meeting in Vallejo- As always, check your own maps!
*

The guild meeting and Liebe's workshop on March 22 are at 823 Marin St.,
Vallejo, CA 94590 (corner Carolina and Marin) in the old Federal Building,
now the Vallejo Music Theatre building (on the west side of the street,
directly across from the Listen and Be Heard Poetry Café.)
*

To get there from the south:
*If you are going east. on I-80, take the Curtola Parkway/I-780 exit going
west, just north of the Carquinez Bridge. If coming up I-680, take I-780 W.
just north of the Benicia Bridge.

East of I-80 this freeway will become surface streets. Stay on Curtola
Parkway (about 9 blocks, some of them large) until you come to Marin St. and
turn right (north.) Go up Marin approximately 8 blocks to 823 Marin. Parking
is on street or in back lot (accessible from alley just to south of building
off Marin.)

If you are coming from San Francisco, take either the Bay Bridge (and follow
instructions above) or take the ferry (the ferry terminal is about 8 blocks
from the meeting site. If you would like a ride from the Vallejo terminal,
contact Michael or Valerie at 707-363-4573 (cell phone.) If it is closer,
take Golden Gate Bridge and follow instructions from Marin County (below.)

From *Marin County *you can take either I-580 across the Richmond Bridge
(then go E. on I-80 and follow instructions above) or you can take Highway
37 towards Vallejo from Novato*. Marin and Sonoma Counties*: Take hwy 37
until you come to hwy 29 (also called Sonoma Blvd.) and turn R (south).
Continue to Carolina, then turn R (west) to Marin St. (1 block) and look for
the building across diagonally across Marin on your left.

From North (Sacramento) take I-80 west, and take the Tennessee exit in
Vallejo, going west. Continue to Marin St. and turn left (south) and drive 6
blocks to 823 Marin.