Freedom 31

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I've always been a big fan of the Til Debt Do Us Part lady, Gail Vax-Oxlade. I'd watch her show with my sister  (because I still don't have cable) and read one of her books. One thing she talks about really struck a chord with me was that to get out of debt, you need to do one or two things: 1) spend less money and/or 2) make more money.

It seems really self-evident, but it's a practice that has taken me well over two years to put into practice. If 2011, the year of Hobo Kenny, taught me anything it was that I could live very frugally. 2012 though was the year of make more money. For the entire year, I typically worked 2 to 3 full-time jobs at a time, putting in many 16 to 18 hours days. Of course, the main difference from my usual schedule of working multiple jobs at the same time was that this year I was paid for all of it.

And I am proud to say that for the first time since however long I've had a credit card, I am finally FINALLY out of credit card debt.

Now, I don't know your financial situation, but this debt load I carried oftentimes felt crippling and resulted in my borrowing money and leaning on the generosity of a lot of very amazing people for a very long time. It is an absolute f'n relief to know that I am through that tunnel.

It wasn't easy. I am tired, burnt out even and in desperate need of a vacation.  But the work I've put in has allowed me to set other things in motion. Things that will grant me the opportunity to lessen my "joe job" workload and focus on the career that really matters to me: Creating, Performing, Entertaining.

Big things are in store for 2013 and I look forward to moving through them with a clean slate.

The Part Chooses You

About two years ago, an incredibly talented director friend (or ITDF) told me over drinks that he had a script that would be perfect for me. I was floored. This is a critically acclaimed, award-winning director whose work I admire very much saying that he wants to work with me. ME! That script? Mary Magdalene and Adventures in Sobriety.

Being one of the key members of Evolution Theatre at the time, I immediately approached the company to program it into our next season. It was eventually scheduled for April 2012.  Unfortunately, about a year and a half ago, things changed for ITDF and he had to bail on directing the show. He however insisted that I continue with the project and that I had his blessing to find someone else to direct.  Names were tossed around. Having really enjoyed Twelfth Night at the Ottawa Theatre School, I mentioned Andy Massingham. We had wanted to work together on a project for a while now and, to me, this seemed like a perfect fit.

Andy had wanted to do more directing, but he wasn't sure he would have the time to work on this project. After all, you don't end up with Rideau Award nominations for four separate shows by being "available".  Plus, he wasn't sure he liked the script all that much. So one beautiful summer morning last year, we sat on his porch, script in hand and had a chat. His first question for me: "Why do you want to do this show?"

You mean other than the fact I am dying to perform and the only way I seem able to do so is by producing it myself?

Well, I think it's a great script with a lot of humour and a lot of heart.  If I said to you "homeless alcoholic woman who believes she is the bride of Christ" - hahaha probably wouldn't be the first thing that comes to mind, but Mary M makes me laugh. A lot. (Side note - on the way to NYC I read a few sections of the play out-loud in the car. In less than one paragraph, my friends were hooked.)

But it's more than that. There's a lot of myself I see in this character: East Coast way of speaking (playwright Berni Stapleton is from Newfoundland) - check; troubles with alcohol - check; not having a home and being ok with that - #hobokenny check; filling her bag with free food when it's offered - check; seen as promiscuous even when you're not - check; being so in love with someone you can't be with and spending your whole life waiting for him to come back - check to the check to the double check check.

If you are an actor, have you ever realized that whenever you have a new character to play, no matter how different they are from you, there is always something in there that makes you go "man, I am totally going through that shit in my own life right now." It's almost spooky how that works out.  An acting teacher once told me that you only get the parts that you are meant to play. In essence, you don't choose the parts, the parts choose you.

Mary M is lonely, which is why she overcompensates so much. I get that. Boy, do I ever get that.

He nodded thoughtfully and finally asked me to read. The sun was bright and warm as I read and he stared out at the neighbourhood movie playing in front of us.  The trees frame his street like a perfect natural TV screen and the effect is stunning. By the time I was done, he was quiet for a moment. Finally, he looked at me and nodded some more.  He tells me he's changed his mind. He really does love this script after all.

"We'll make it work."

*************************************************

Mary Magdalene and Adventures in Sobriety by Berni Stapleton Directed by Andy Massingham Featuring Nancy Kenny

Arts Court Theatre 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa, ON

April 18th to 28th, 2012 – 7:30 p.m. Pay What You Can Matinee: Sunday April 22nd – 2 p.m. (no show on Monday) Tickets $25, $20 for Students/Seniors Available by phone by calling Arts Court at 613-564-7240

Hair - It's for a Part

My last haircut was in July 2011. For the first 3 or 4 months, it was just unnecessary, then it was unaffordable (#hobokenny) and finally, I decided to make it work for me. The show I've got coming up with Evolution Theatre - Mary Magdalene and Adventures in Sobriety - is about a homeless woman who crashes into an AA meeting. At some point in December or January, re-reading the script, the theme of hair was coming up. At various points in the script, my Mary M mentions never getting gray hair, drying his darling feet with her hair, soaking up his blood with her hair...

(Luke 7.38  She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears began to fall on his feet. She dried them with her hair, kissed his feet, and anointed them with perfume.)

I had a chat with the director and said that chances are a homeless woman would not have nice hair and I would like to let mine grow out for the show. He agreed and now here I am with hair that probably hasn't been this long since my high school days. The ends are split and dry and, as I realized during roller derby tryouts yesterday afternoon, get caught in my armpits. And there is A LOT of it. I've always had really thick hair and these days it feels like I'm wearing a sweater on my head. A very shedd-y sweater.

So here I am, about a month and a half from showtime, with hair still growing, and having stopped plucking my eyebrows about a month ago.

Mary Magdalene or Cousin It? The things we do for Art.

In the meantime, I know I'm late on the bandwagon, but this one really made me laugh. Personal favorite: "It's for a part."

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19VhrVyqWZQ]

I'm Going to Need a New Dress

Last night, the nominees for the 5th Annual Les Prix Rideau Awards were announced and I couldn't be happier. My little Roller Derby Saved My Soul received FOUR nominations!  They are Outstanding Fringe Production, Outstanding New Creation, Emerging Artist for myself as playwright and Emerging Artist for my director, Tania Levy.  This is all for the production that took place at the Ottawa Fringe Festival this past June. I'm also really pleased that Evolution Theatre walked away with a whopping SEVEN nominations and that my director for the upcoming Mary Magdalene and Adventures in Sobriety, Andy Massingham is so well recognized.

To tell you the truth, I kind of expected the Fringe nod and I had hoped that Tania or I would get the Emerging artist nomination, but I never thought that both of us would, nor did I even expect the New Creation one.  I mean fer cryin out loud, I'm now nominated in the same category as PIERRE BRAULT. That, to me, is just unbelievable.

Maybe four or five years ago, I remember wanting to do a one-person show. I had a theme. Something about roller derby. That was about it.  I had no idea where to even begin, so I contacted the one person I knew who might.

"Hi Pierre, do you ever give workshops on creating a one-person show?"

"Not really, but if you have an idea you want to work on, we can meet for drinks and talk about it."

Now, at the time, I wasn't the NancyKennyRockStar you all know and love. More like NancyKennyRoadie. So contacting the man who created a show that blew me away so much I actually went back and paid for it twice was no small feat. And just like that we were going to have drinks? (Lesson learned: you can pretty much meet any local artist you want if you buy them drinks and maybe lunch... well, at least you can with me #hobokenny)

I still remember the very first thing he said to me when we met.

"Why? Why do you want to do this? Do you really feel the need to sleep on someone's couch in Saskatoon?"

Yes. Yes, I do.

We talked for about four pints and the rest, as they say, is history.

Pierre's advice was a big help in pushing me in the right direction for what was to become Roller Derby Saved My Soul so to even be nominated in this category with him? Whoa.

So much thanks to you, Pierre, my friend and colleague. As they say, it's an honour just to be nominated, but this one feels just a little bit sweeter.

Full list of nominees below:

NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR THE FIFTH ANNUAL PRIX RIDEAU AWARDS

For Immediate Release - Ottawa, February 27, 2012

Founded in 2006 to celebrate, encourage and promote French and English locally produced professional theatre work and its artists, the Prix Rideau Awards is proud to announce the nominees for 2011.  Artists and supporters gathered earlier at Le Petit Chicago, where the nominees for outstanding achievements in the year 2011 were unveiled.  During the 2011 calendar year, two teams of local arts professionals juried 36 English productions and 12 French productions. Nominations were submitted by secret ballot and tallied by independent accountants.

The Prix Rideau Awards will be handed out on Sunday, April 22, 2012, at the Shenkman Arts Centre, in Orleans.  Tickets are on sale now at www.shenkmanarts.ca.

The nominees for English-language productions are:

Outstanding Production

Strawberries in January, Great Canadian Theatre Company

The 39 Steps, SevenThirty Productions

The Fan, Odyssey Theatre

Twelfth Night, St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival

Under Milk Wood, Ottawa Theatre School

Outstanding Direction

Joël Beddows, The Lavender Railroad, Evolution Theatre

David S. Craig, The Fan, Odyssey Theatre

Janet Irwin, Under Milk Wood, Ottawa Theatre School

Kevin Orr, Bifurcate Me, Theatre 4.669

Craig Walker, Twelfth Night, St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding Performance, Female

Mary Ellis, Dreams of Whales, New Theatre of Ottawa

Annie Lefebvre, Under Milk Wood, Ottawa Theatre School

Rose Napoli, The Fan, Odyssey Theatre

Kate Smith, The 39 Steps, SevenThirty Productions

Beverley Wolfe, The Lavender Railroad, Evolution Theatre

Outstanding Performance, Male

Richard Gélinas, The 39 Steps, SevenThirty Productions

Andy Massingham, Exit the King, Third Wall Theatre

Andy Massingham, The Fan, Odyssey Theatre

Andy Massingham, The Shadow Cutter, Great Canadian Theatre Company / Sleeping Dog Theatre

John Muggleton, Speed-the-Plow, Plosive Productions

Outstanding Design

Martin Conboy, Lighting Design, The Shadow Cutter, Great Canadian Theatre Company / Sleeping Dog Theatre

AL Connors, Sound Design, The Lavender Railroad, Evolution Theatre

Ivo Valentik, Set Design, Speed-the-Plow, Plosive Productions

Ivo Valentik, Set Design, A Midwinter’s Dream Tale, a Company of Fools

Sarah Waghorn, Set Design, Dreams of Whales, New Theatre of Ottawa

Outstanding New Creation

Tony Adams, Erin Lindsay and Cory Thibert, Sounds from the Turtle Shell, May Can Theatre

Lawrence Aronovitch, The Lavender Railroad, Evolution Theatre

Pierre Brault, The Shadow Cutter, Great Canadian Theatre Company / Sleeping Dog Theatre

Nancy Kenny, Roller Derby Saved My Soul, Broken Turtle Productions

Julie Le Gal, Andy Massingham and Kevin Orr, Bifurcate Me, Theatre 4.669

Outstanding Adaptation / Translation

A Company of Fools (Adaptation), A Midwinters’ Dream Tale, a Company of Fools

Henry Beissel (Adaptation), Antigone, Third Wall Theatre

David S. Craig (Adaptation), The Fan, Odyssey Theatre

Mishka Lavigne (Translation), Little Martyrs, Evolution Theatre

Charles McFarland (Adaptation), Hamlet 2011, Ottawa Shakespeare Company / Ottawa Theatre School

Outstanding Fringe Production

Glitch…, Ottawa Theatre School

Playing for Advantage, Black Sheep Theatre

Roller Derby Saved My Soul, Broken Turtle Productions

Sounds from the Turtle Shell, May Can Theatre

THE WALK, Moon Dog Theatre

Emerging Artist Award

Katie Bunting, Actor

Pierre Ducharme, Set Designer

Nancy Kenny, Playwright

Mishka Lavigne, Translator

Tania Levy, Director

The nominees for French-language productions are:

Production de l'année

Adieu Beauté, la comédie des horreurs, Théâtre Belvédère

Frères d’hiver, Théâtre la Catapulte

Les Étoiles d’Angus, Théâtre de l’Île

Taram, Théâtre du Trillium

Ti-Jean de partout, Cie Vox Théâtre

Mise en scène de l'année

Caroline Yergeau, Adieu Beauté, la comédie des horreurs, Théâtre Belvédère

Joël Beddows, Frères d’hiver, Théâtre la Catapulte

Isabelle Bélisle, Les Étoiles d’Angus, Théâtre de l’Île

Pierre Antoine Lafon Simard, Taram, Théâtre du Trillium

Pier Rodier, Ti-Jean de partout, Cie Vox Théâtre

Interprétation féminine de l'année

Geneviève Couture, Feu la mère de madame et Un bain de ménage,  Théâtre de l’Île

Jocelyne Zucco, Les Fridolinades, Théâtre la Catapulte /Théâtre français de Toronto

Lina Blais, Les Fridolinades, Théâtre la Catapulte / Théâtre français de Toronto

Marjolaine Beauchamp, Taram, Théâtre du Trillium

Micheline Marin, Taram, Théâtre du Trillium

Interprétation masculine de l'année

Nicolas Desfossés, Autopsies de biscuits chinois, Théâtre du Trillium / Théâtre Belvédère

Alain Doom, Frères d’hiver, Théâtre la Catapulte

Pierre Simpson, Frères d’hiver, Théâtre la Catapulte

Richard Bénard, Les Étoiles d’Angus, Théâtre de l’Île

John Doucet, Ti-Jean de partout, Cie Vox Théâtre

Conception de l'année

Geneviève Couture, costumes, Feu la mère de madame et Un bain de ménage, Théâtre de l’Île

Brian Smith, décor, Frères d’hiver, Théâtre la Catapulte

Guillaume Houët, éclairages, Frères d’hiver, Théâtre la Catapulte

Julie Giroux, décor, Les Papillons de nuit, Théâtre de l’Île

Pierre-Luc Clément et Olivier Fairfield, environnement sonore, Taram, Théâtre du Trillium

Nouvelle création de l'année

Annie Cloutier, Antoine Côté Legault, Marie-Pierre Proulx, Autopsies de biscuits chinois, Théâtre du Trillium / Théâtre Belvédère

Diane Bouchard, Dragon glouton, Gestes théâtre

Michel Ouellette, adapté par Joël Beddows et Marie Claude Dicaire, Frères d’hiver, Théâtre la Catapulte

Philippe Landry, Retour à Pripyat, Théâtre de Dehors

Marjolaine Beauchamp, Taram, Théâtre du Trillium

Prix artiste en émergence

Marjolaine Beauchamp, dramaturgie

Mary-Eve Fortier, interprétation

Lisa L’Heureux, direction de production

Frédérique Thérien, interpréation

Caroline Yergeau, mise en scène et interprétation

Derrière le Rideau Award

Mathieu Charette, régie, Feu la mère de madame et Un bain de ménage, Théâtre de l’Île

Julie Grethen, régie, Les Étoiles d’Angus, Théâtre de l’Île

Lisa L’Heureux, direction de production, Les Papillons de nuit, Théâtre de l’Île

For general information:               Source:

Les Prix Rideau Awards              Élise Gauthier, Communications Coordinator

C.P. 1087, Station B                   communications@prixrideauawards.ca

Ottawa (Ontario), K1P 5R1

info@prixrideauawards.ca

HoboKenny Rides Again

You know, I have a great job. I really do. But this Blog is not called So You Want To  Be a Civil Servant, now is it? It is therefore with great pleasure and pride that I officially announce to you that I will once again be taking centre stage this coming April for Evolution Theatre in the one-woman show Mary Magdalene and Adventures in Sobriety. Yes, Ottawa, I'm coming home!

It's a beautiful, funny and touching script by Newfoundland playwright Berni Stapleton and will be directed by the hardest working man in Ottawa theatre, Andy Massingham.  The whole thing is part of a double-bill that includes [boxhead] by Darren O’Donnell, which will be directed by Alix Sideris and featuring Christopher Bedford and Stewart Matthews.

Check out the Evolution Theatre site for more details on that one and I will be sure to let you know right here when tickets go on sale.

In the meantime, check out this show synopsis and tell me it doesn't sound like the perfect thing for #HoboKenny (which, BTW, I plan on using as the #Hashtag for the show - so go ahead and follow me on Twitter to stay up to date).

Mary Magdalene and Adventures in Sobriety by Berni Stapleton Directed by Andy Massingham Featuring Nancy Kenny

Mary Magdalene has spent the past 2000 years in mourning. She’s wandered the earth, lost her jewels and maybe her marbles, and now sleeps on the streets in Toronto. She crashes (literally) into an AA meeting, where she finds the 12 steps to sobriety lead in divergent directions of spirituality, passion, and a really formidable mother-in-law. Mary Magdalene and Adventures in Sobriety, the perfect after Easter treat.

Arts Court Theatre 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa, ON

April 18th to 28th, 2012 – 7:30 p.m. Pay What You Can Matinee: Sunday April 22nd – 2 p.m. (no show on Monday) Tickets $25, $20 for Students/Seniors Available by phone by calling Arts Court at 613-564-7240