February 28/Café Away

This month, the Berlin posse – Annie, Kim, Eric, Holly, Ali, Aaron, Sophie and Garry – performed a Café in the museum FLUXUS + in Potsdam: our first Café away from home. Scenez, Sonnetz and Improv went out to total strangers, fellow artists and some old friends.

February 26th/09 Café

As always, Café DaPoPo this month was a unique experience - a busy blast of performance preparation, rehearsals, organization, and work shopping.... and it all culminated in a very smooth, high caliber, performance night. A few highlights from my perspective were the big ensemble song (Nine People's Favorite Thing) that Andrew (Droodles) re-wrote and taught us - a huge hit -, Shakespeare pouring from every corner with Amy, Keelin, and Nathan falling head over heels for each other in As You Like It, Andrea and I getting to revive our Children's Hour scene for an appreciative audience, and Nathan and Droodles' rendition of Agony - complete with cravats and Andrew chasing Cinderella through the bar! Bonnie kept us on track and focused throughout the night as always - thank you!! - and we had a truly impressive surprise when John Han (who initially billed himself as a 'chord playing' piano accompanist) turned out to be 'ninja-in-training' on the keyboard!! Here's what John had to say about his first Café experience:

When I was asked to join the February cast of Café for piano accompaniment, I was
overwhelmed by the thought of a higher caliber of work than I am used to. But
that didn't last as the thought of all the music, Shakespeare, and monologues to
be consumed that night excited me. I tried to do my best to learn the Sondheim
songs (for me, Sondheim at Café Dapopo is like getting a whole cheese cake to
myself at a real café), and even tried to tackle some classical pieces.

On Café night, we performed to a smaller crowd than I am used to from my previous Café attendances. However, this allowed me to take my time and gave me a chance to take a closer look at the other cast members and observe their Café experiences. THESE ACTORS ARE BRAVE!! I have seen Nathan turn from a Prince (Agony) to George (Sunday in the Park with George), then to Silvius (As You Like It) within matter of minutes. Keelin wowed the audience with her rendition of Cabaret then, within seconds, she was taking shots of tequila with the audience (yes, you can order that.. and you should!). The audience members are so lucky to have such talented actors to put out their 100+%. I was even luckier to get a chance to work with them.

I brought some friends to Café who weren't too familiar with theatre or the Café
scene. They were surprised, delighted, rowdy and thought it was a great way to
spend your evening outing. So... why don't you make the last Thursday of each
month a Dapopo-Thursday?? Drama is more fun when there's more people to share it with.. just sayin!!

p.s. did you check out that new ensemble number? sweet stuff... John

So, off we go to rehearse for March's Café (see side bar). Hmmmm.... I wonder what we'll have on the menu this month?? ......Sher

Some Reflections On Two Years of Café Madness

The Café with its cabaret style à la carte performances has now become somewhat of an institution with its own peculiar history. The Café is no longer a mere fundraiser for DaPoPo. It has grown into a strangely poetic, undeniably popular monthly event for Halifax. Patrons are no longer surprised – have in fact come to expect – classical Shakespeare recitations, German art songs and dramatic monologues to happen side by side. The Café has found a home in Menz, at least for the present, and has come of age. 

Poverty, the Poor Theatre, has proven to be an agent for artistic discovery. Our financial restrictions have proven liberating, allowing us to connect with the community and our audience in a personal, entirely non-traditional way. The Café is a form of People's Theatre: exposing audiences to work they might not otherwise have known about without unnecessary didacticism; whetting theatrical appetites and thickening the bisque of artistic passion; remaining energetic, humble and generous to the max. The poetry, or craft, of what we do reveals itself within the restrictions of the Café environment. 

We have performed in four different venues: the old pre-eviction Mollyz Diner, Ouro Preto, The Good Food Emporium and Menz Bar. Over 40 performers have worked with us at the Café – including three Stev/phe(n)s and three Ann/ies – as well as four designated accompanists. Pieces have been written especially for the Café by more than one writer, including Andrea Dymond and Steve Cloutier. We've seen staff turn-over at Mollyz/Menz, witnessed crowds protesting Harper's cultural slur against the acting community, and watched US elections finally ousting George W. Bush from the White House. 

Perhaps most strikingly, the work for Café is always training, the product always process in an indisputable sense. As we madly mix and stir the creative juices, we've developed recipes (or at least cooking tips), rehearsal techniques for the Café. Our sock puppets function like masks, freeing and sometimes possessing us as we let a Shakespeare sonnet speak through us, or a Mozart duet sing through us. The art of the intimate performance focuses our attention to detail: light, sound, touch, smell, even taste. Café performers learn a mind-boggling amount of material in diverse styles and flavours, exploding and exposing our habits, while forcing us to push the limits of our skill. 

And where do we go from here? In anticipation of our Potsdam Café at the museum FLUXUS+, we have received dozens of submissions by local writers. We now boast a menu bursting with Canadian content including pieces by Jackie Torrens, Natasha MacLellan, Pam Calabrese Maclean, Colleen Wagner, Josh Macdonald, Jenny Munday, Bev Brett, Michael Melski, Marshall Button, Steve Cloutier, Amanda Jernigan, Steph Berntson, Jim Betts and Allen Cole. We have introduced our Academy DaPoPo members Aaron Andreino, Sophie Fong, Ali Richardson and Holly Winter to the Café format at our old haunt the Good Food Emporium. 

We are welcoming new performers, not least of all our wonderful Berlin bound quartet, and attracting new audience members. We are perfecting our technique, tailoring rehearsals and performances to suit the Café set-up. Looking forward to this July, our third DaPride Café promises to be more integrated with Halifax Pride. Could we sustain (as we did this month) two Cafés each month, find host venues in other Canadian cities, provinces and outside the country, find funding to employ a steady Café cast? These are questions that make me dizzy and giddy, with some trepidation, but most of all make me excited for another year of Café madness.  

Jan 29/09: Second Anniversary Café

A massive turnout at Menz Bar last night as DaPoPo celebrated the second anniversary of Café! Thanks to everyone for being there, your good-naturedness waiting for seating or orders and just going with the flow of the evening.

The Pinter combo; original poems by local writers; Steve Cloutier, Natasha MacLellan and Michael Melski in the house to witness the performances of their respective contributions (scenes); Michael's birthday sextangle; Garry's improvized opera; a sneak peak of a "Four Actors" scene; Nathan's new puppet discovering Brutus; DaBig Ensemble number medley frantic, fun and fabulous; so many new faces in the audience too. Wonderfulness.

The winner of the iPod raffle was Sarah McCarthy. Hats off to our Sher Clain for organizing the fundraiser and to all our ticket sellers, especially Holly Winter who far surpassed everyone else in number of tickets sold.

And now - we get ready for Monday! The Berlin-bound ensemble is doing another Café to preview the menu we're getting ready for the Café DaPoPo international premiere in Potsdam, Germany on Feb, 28.

Second Anniversary & TWO Cafés!

There are TWO Café DaPoPos coming up:

January 29th @ Menz Bar
2182 Gottingen Street
7:30 pm - 11 pm
Second anniversary spectacular - as per the side bar over on the left of this page

PLUS

February 2nd* @ The Good Food Emporium
2179 Gottingen Street
3 pm - 6 pm

A special Café for fans, friends and family of our youth ensemble - and anyone else who wants to come . We'll preview the theatrical menu we'll be offering for the international premiere of Café DaPoPo at museum FLUXUS+ in Potsdam, Germany! A mix of Café favorites and featuring the work of Canadian playwrights, poets and musicians.

Join DaPoPo veterans (Eric Benson, Kim Parkhill, Annie Valentina & Garry Williams) along with the DaPoPo Academy ensemble (Aaron Andreino, Sophie Fong, Ali Richardson & Holly Winter) as we dish up theatre the way you like it. Order supper or treats from Good Food's amazing kitchen (until 5 pm) and taste some performances DaPoPo-style. First come, first seated.

(* February 1st as was inaccurately mentioned by none other than me in the CBC-TV announcement. *sigh)

Some December Café Pictures

Blake, our Musical Theatre trained bartender and photographer, provided us with these pictures to wish you a Happy New Year! 

Thanks to everyone who's supported us through the year/s: especially Bonnie (who's never missed a Café yet), Doug (we need to get us more menz like dat) and to all of our patrons. 

December 18/08 Café

a free association block of jan29 café inspired words and phrases
sock puppets finger puppets hand puppets the new and awesome sparkled green grouchy tiny fisted bonnie-made-this-for-garry-from-an-old-slipper puppet singing singing singing carols of christmas and consumerism tintinabulating rounds bosom buddies darryll dishing drinks good show tonight you guys improvized german song with bells for birthday girl droodles makes a monologue a dialogue shtick for everyone what is shtick oh shtick shtick shtick they have to leave at nine thirty ten ten thirty time now now now annie andrea chris meghan sher keelin cast in audience galore plus old friends new friends pptp-ing friends the people-met-on-set friends the director who-cast-you-in-your-first-show-when-you -returned-to-acting friends shakespeare at the disco and in the garden incubating scenes gun song previewings la cages and julius thanks brutus blake takes photos photos photos cast photo now cast past cast all cast casting shadows of a christmas tree in the wake of a masked santa claus morality play garbled gargoyles of the god of the sun and he saw anyone for a ticket on an ipod? secrets juicy secrets hugs and a partridge in the menz tree