ADE-ventures & T-Shirt Tidbits AUGUST 2008
 

Yup, T-Shirt Theatre Heads for the Silver

Howzit! George Kon and Walt Dulaney here counting up T-Shirt Theatre's run. We ran outta fingers in '05 when we logged two decades, and now we're on Walt's 4th toe. So we suspect 2010 marks the Silver Anniversary for the Alliance for Drama Education's flagship troop of audacious Kalihi performer-playwrights.

T'would be a joy to have reps from each year on stage to blow out candles in 2010. But the master file of alumni has gone missing. So if you possess U.S. mail, e-address, phone number, or married name for any vet of 60 TST shows, please send 'em to alumni@rehearseforlife.com.

It all started in summer of '85 when Going Places blossomed from what was initially billed as a summer workshop. Urata, Rolly, Rayburn & Co. were too talented to abandon. So after discarding "Blue Collar Players" as inept tag for island offspring of hard-scramble inner-city families, T-Shirt Theatre was born.

In '86 we staged a moldy melodrama called the Secret of Yonder Mountain made memorable by the line "he has de-parted!" which challenged our e.s.l. bartender to keep the "p" in place, rather than turn "part" into flatulence. He refused to let us change the line, and nailed it on his 100th attempt.

That moxie persuaded us to pull the Bard's most bloody cuts into an omelet we called Zounds! The Crimes of Shakespeare. Recklessly promising each

actor would have a death scene, those left standing at curtain call were tommy-gunned down as they took their final bows. A promise is a promise.

By '87, Farrington Gifted & Talented students were writing Kalihi Tales for us, and Walt was uncorking original musicals. Occasionally he wrote a tune, but usually the melodies were pre-thirties public-domain hits. The vaudeville songs had built-in "hooks" which explains why TST vets can uncork Gershwin & Berlin hits 20 years after they first sang 'em on the Farrington stage. ADE's website [http://www.rehearseforlife.com] offers a complete list of T-Shirt Theatre Shows, 1985-2008. But what's lacking is a "where-are-they-now" column about the adventures of TST Alumni. Hmmm? If we gain current postal, e-mail, phone leads, married name, etc. could launch that who/where column in our October newsletter.

George & Walt's Day Jobs? auw.. check auw.com to help

Associates chuckle whenever they hear some naïve soul ask what the Alliance for Drama Education co-founders "really" do for a living. Right from the get-go, ADE had two full-time directors. Today they work 40-70 hour weeks, assisted by three part-time associates and a cadre of freelance artist-educators.

If you'd like to help fund the folks who help isle youngsters "rehearse for life by mastering performance skills needed to win jobs, justice &joy," this fall you can dial them into your Aloha United Way pledge.

To secure a form & designate all or a portion of your A.U.W. pledge, take these steps:

1) Go on web [auw.com]
2) Open [donate] link
3) Open [focus my gift]
4) Print [donor choice form]
5) Complete form & in section 2d. write ADE/t-Shirt Theatre code [71731]
6) Staple completed form to your AUW pledge card before submitting.

 If you're willing, we'd proudly list your name on our web site as a backer of ADE-ventures & T-Shirt Theatre tidbits. Just notify us at backer@rehearseforlife.com so we can list your help. We do not receive formal notification of AUW donors until year-end.

The Fourth "R" rehearsing!

Every fall each T-Shirt Theatre player spends a day teaching in Kalihi grade schools. TST's annual 11 campus tour helps illuminate the aloha in Farrington H.S. complex and this year underscores that Manners Matter. FHS Principal Catherine Payne requests a special day release from classroom study to dispatch these young envoys (who returned to campus 3 weeks early to prep tour material and refine coaching skills).

In a warm-up skit, cast winces at fact that 1 out of 100 Americans lan-guishes in prison giving the U.S.A. the world's highest incarceration rate! Quickly demonstrating their affection for carnival bumper car rides, cast leaps up from floor to declare "…in real life the game is to get along with others, not crash into them."

Then each player goes to work helping 4-8 kids prep a 30-word pocket play.

Sample: "What's the difference between bus f-a-r-e and bus f-a-i-r? Bus fare buys your ride. Bus fair means you fill just one seat, and give it up if someone {mime of pregnant, old & handicapped standees} needs it more."

Just before show-time audience A's are re-stated: "1) attend with your eyes, ears and hearts focused on the performers, 2) appreciate everything that goes well, and 3) offer appropriate "golf" applause if nearby classes are in session."

Reflecting on their mission, envoys wrote:

•  I know a lot of kids whose family don't treat them right, so it's good we're teaching good manners. - Chance Kepu
•  Not many kids have a wonderful role model to look up to, that's why we gotta teach then no talk **beep** and hey, don't say anything if you've nothing good to say. - Lopaka Matthews
• ?When kids learn from bad influences that showing kindness is a sign of weakness, or walking away from a fight is being a coward, they teach it to younger kids and the cycle goes on. T-Shirt Theatre teaches otherwise. - Shiloh Melei

JUST SING A SONG AS YOU GO GREEN

For the 24th year eight Castle Complex elementary schools are hosting 8-day ADE residencies that will climax in Culmination Nights that showcase the collaborative performance skills they've mastered. Underpinning the work are the performer P's:

project [loud enough to be heard]

pronounce [clear enough to be understood]

with poise [centered enough to watch]

and personality [convincing enough to earn belief].

The theme is GOING DREEN, and focuses on what just one youngster can choose to do to improve the planet. 500 students will sing public domain melodies recorded by Ron Bright and Pierre Grill at Rendez-Vous Recording.

Wanna cuss when the neighbor's pooch decorates your yard? Replay that 1914 mega-hitBallin' the Jack with Walt's poetic plea.

When your doggie needs his bathroom breaks,
grab a plastic bag, scoop up any gift he makes.
Glove up a hand or bring along the rakes,
and then you scoop it up, poop it up,
whatever it takes.
Don't leave a calling card in our yard,
be a good neighbor though no one's on guard.
It's a dirty job but it's sure not ours,

on Poop patrol - you're the stars.

Traditional kids' favorite Down by the Station got a lyric makeover from Grace Bell Humerickhouse to plug Renewable Resources:

Recycling all the paper, saying "no" to plastic,
solar water heating is the way to go.

Taking shorter showers, water plants at nighttime,

reduce, reuse, recycle now!