November | 2017 | Intimate Excellent

Dionna Daniel and the GirlPower group at A Place Called Home.

by Dionna Daniel

I had the pleasure of joining the GirlPower group at A Place Called Home on November 1st, 2017. The Fountain Theatre is always excited to have the students of APCH come see the productions at our theatre. For the first time ever, I was able to lead a short post-show workshop with the youth through our educational outreach program, Theatre as a Learning Tool.  

When I visited the students at their space, we began the afternoon together with a round of theater games.  The laughter echoed in the room as we all introduced ourselves with funny gestures and sounds. Then we began to discuss the Fountain’s production of Runaway Home and how they connected with the show. Many of the students said that they connected with the rocky relationship between the character Kali and her mother. We then began to talk about the historical context of Hurricane Katrina. It was eye opening for me to realize that these students were just babies when one of the most disastrous storms to ever make landfall hit the southern United States. They really didn’t have much context to this show at all.

The group dives into a writing exercise.

As I showed the students video coverage of the devastation that Katrina caused, our discussion shifted to the themes of displacement in Runaway Home and how it relates to people in Los Angeles. Many Angelenos are being displaced due to the growing housing crisis in LA and the rise of gentrification in LA’s east side. We discussed the erasure of black and brown neighborhoods and communities that is currently taking place in LA. A lot of the gentrification looking very similar to what happen to New Orleans’ black communities. We ended our session together with a quick free-write and said one word that resonated with us in that moment. While some students said such words as “inspired” and “hopeful”, I reflected on how this experience was equally inspiring for me.

As I say often, I believe art must do something. During my time at APCH, I witnessed that theater can be utilized as a gateway to empathy, to not only discuss the historical context of the traumas of people in New Orleans but to also reflect on ourselves and our own communities. Art is vital to understanding the human condition. Theatre matters.

Dionna Daniel is a playwright, performer, and Outreach Coordinator at the Fountain Theatre.

Posted in Arts, Arts education, arts organizations, Education, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, Outreach Program, performing arts, Theater, theatre

Tagged A Place Called Home, Dionna Daniel, educational outreach, Fountain Theatre, GirlPower, Los Angeles, Runaway Home, Theatre as a Learning Tool, young people, youth

Neuroscientists have now proven what theatre folk have felt for years. The heart beats of audience members actually synchronize and beat together in unison when watching a live performance of a play or musical. 

The research was conducted by the University College London Division of Psychological and Language Sciences.  The team studied the heart rates and skin responses of  twelve participants as they watched a live performance of Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre on the West End. 

The scientists found that as well as individuals’ emotional responses, the audience members’ hearts were also responding in unison, with their pulses speeding up and slowing down at the same rate,  regardless of if they knew each other or not.

Dr Joe Devlin, who led the study, said: “Usually, a group of individuals will each have their own heart rates and rhythms, with little relationship to each other. But romantic couples or highly effective teammates will actually synchronize their hearts so that they beat in time with each other, which in itself is astounding.”

According to Encore Tickets, 59% of people say they have felt emotionally affected by a live performance, and 46% say they enjoy the theatre experience because of the atmosphere that comes with being in the audience. 

Fountain Theatre

Dr Devlin said, “Experiencing the live theatre performance was extraordinary enough to overcome group differences and produce a common physiological experience in the audience members.”

The study went on to find that couples and friends continue to have synchronized heart beats during the intermission.  Dr Devlin explained: “Our hypothesis is that it’s at this point, the intermission, that the audience members are engaged with each other, discussing the show within their social groups. During this social interaction with each other, we can see that their in-group arousal synchronizes with each other but not with the audience members as a whole.”

Past studies have shown that in environments that cause bodies to synchronize in this way, people are more likely to bond and like each other. 

“This clearly demonstrates, ” says Devlin, “that the physiological synchronicity observed during the performance was strong enough to overcome social group differences and engage the audience as a whole.”

In other words, this unified beating of hearts when experiencing live theatre can help break social differences and bring people together. 

Can there be a higher calling? We don’t think so. We believe theater’s fundamental and most sacred purpose is to bring a diverse variety of individuals to a common place where they share a meaningful human experience together, as one. This new study proves it, physiologically. Our hearts actually beat together. 

This beautiful information comes as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving. It reaffirms, for all of us at the Fountain Theatre and to you, how much we are thankful for. 

Posted in Art, Arts, arts organizations, creativity, Drama, Fountain Theatre, performing arts, plays, Theater, theatre

Tagged audience, connection, Dreamgirls, Encore Tickets, Fountain Theatre, heart beats, Joe Devlin, live performance, Los Angeles, Savoy Theatre, Thanksgiving, theater, theatre, University College London, West End

To many college students, class assignments can seem boring and meaningless. But for teacher Alan Goodson and his students at Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, the ongoing visits to the Fountain have become one assignment they eagerly look forward to undertaking. For years, Goodson regularly pulls his students out of the classroom and into the Fountain to benefit from the educational and life-enhancing experience of live theatre.  

The student visits are made possible by Theatre as a Learning Tool, the Fountain Theatre’s educational outreach program that makes live theatre accessible to young people throughout Southern California. 

The FIDM students arrived at the Fountain on November 4th to see our acclaimed world premiere of Runaway Home by Jeremy J. Kamps.  The play is set in New Orleans, three years after Hurricane Katrina. 14 year-old runaway Kali embarks on a journey to pick through the wreckage of what used to be her life. Rhyming, stealing, and scamming her way through the still-destroyed neighborhood, she grapples with the real cost of what she lost and is forced to confront the higher risk of moving forward. A funny, moving, and powerful new play about community and the power of family.

Returning back to their classroom, the students wrote essays expressing their thoughts and feelings on seeing the production. Take a look at these excerpts:  

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“The small black box-style theater that The Fountain offers made for an utterly intimate show, leaving tears swelling in every audience member’s eyes as they watched these characters and their troubles unfold. . . . As someone who had no experience with the post-Katrina trauma, this show was a huge learning experience for me. In a way, it caused awareness for tragedies like Katrina, and how the devastation is anything but short-term. In my mind, three years sounds like a very long time, but seeing how devastated these families and communities still were three years later really put it into perspective. Also, the intimate environment of the venue made me feel even closer with these characters, and I truly felt a connection with each and every one of them throughout the show. Kamps’ writing exposed the ugly truths of a natural disaster, but mainly expressed the importance of acceptance, family, and growing up.”

*

“This play was directed in a way that really involved the audience emotionally. When watching the play, there were times when I literally felt as if I was in the scene. Aside from that I was sitting in the first row, I felt as if I was immersed in each scene, embracing every dramatic and/or even comedic moment. The actors in the play all performed extremely well. They really embraced the importance of how the aftermath of the hurricane effected so many people.”

*

“My personal opinion of the play is that it was a very emotional, but strong story. The actors played the parts effortlessly, especially the actress that played Kali. . . . Overall, the play was very inspiring. It was told in a different way, with these monologues that were extremely poetic. The experience was very cool being so close to the actors. It felt like I was in the story. The was definitely worth watching.”

*

“These close quarters allow for audience members to analyze every detail of the actors on stage, whether that be gestures, dialogue, or facial expressions, we can see it all. With that said, the small proximity of the theatre made the execution of Runaway Home that much more impressive and admirable. For audience members like myself, I could tell that each cast member was fully engaged in the story and connected to the characters they played.”

*

“Intimacy and raw emotion are concepts that are commonly taken for granted, but when they are used to enhance a piece of art, they suddenly become indispensable. With a smaller-sized venue located at the Fountain Theater in Hollywood, and a close-knit cast of animated actors, they were able to incorporate intimacy as well as capture raw emotion in one jam-packed performance. . . . This play provided not only insight into an event, but shed light on the darker aspects of our government’s behavior. Both the venue and the personnel chose to play each character worked perfectly in articulating the message that Kamps was trying to convey. The audience can expect to get giggly as well as a bit teary eyed during this performance. The range of emotion and intimacy that is put on display makes for an extraordinary production.”

Posted in actors, Arts, Arts education, arts organizations, Drama, Education, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, Outreach Program, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre

Tagged Alan Goodson, Arts education, educational outreach, Fashion Institute for Design and Merchandising, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, hurricane Katrina, Jeremy J. Kamps, Los Angeles, outreach, Runaway Home, students, theater, theatre, Theatre as a Learning Tool

Dan Bonnell

The Fountain Theatre will present the funny and powerful solo play A Piece of My Mind, written and performed by Eric Barr, on Saturday, Dec. 16th at 8 p.m. as a fundraiser for L.A. theater director Dan Bonnell and his family. Bonnell suffered a massive brain aneurysm in April while in a meeting at Sacred Fools Theatre in Hollywood. He remains in rehabilitative care.

With A Piece of My Mind, Barr shares his inspiring true story of how he survived a series of devastating strokes, robbing him of speech, movement and all his future plans. But it didn’t rob him of hope, or his sense of humor and optimism. His solo play takes audiences on his journey from near-death to recovery and reinvention. It is a celebration of life, love and the human spirit.

Eric Barr in “A Piece of My Mind” (photo by Joshua Montez)

“I have known Dan Bonnell for over 25 years as both a director and a friend,” says Barr. “When I was chairman of the UC Riverside Theatre Department, Dan directed a number of shows for us and he always raised the level of our students’ work and of our productions. Our students loved Dan.”

Fountain Theatre co-artistic director Stephen Sachs is also a longtime friend of Bonnell. “Dan is a warm-hearted human being and a respected member of our L.A. theater community,” Sachs states. “I offer the Fountain as a way to use theater as an instrument for healing and raising awareness. This night will bring L.A. theater artists and friends of Dan together to show Dan and his family that they are supported.”

A stroke impacts more than the patient. It affects the entire family. Proceeds from the one-night performance will benefit Bonnell and his family as they face mounting medical expenses. A silent auction is also planned to raise additional assistance.

Eric Barr, “A Piece of My Mind” 

As a stroke survivor, Barr knows the struggle Dan is experiencing. Visiting his friend was a sobering reminder. “When we arrived at the nursing facility, Dan was barely conscious,” remembers Barr. “Sitting next to him, I was suddenly flooded with distant memories of my own experience. I knew what it felt like to be trapped in bed, trapped in an unresponsive body. I could feel it all over again.”

After his stroke, Barr feared his life was over. Instead, his one-man show demonstrates he has a new future. Barr now performs his solo play to enthusiastic audiences around the country.

“On stage, I feel completely healthy. I feel more like myself than anywhere else.”

Eric Barr taught acting and directing at University of California, Riverside from 1975 until 2013 and is now a UCR Professor Emeritus of theater. He has directed over 100 productions and was the founding director of the UCR Palm Desert MFA program in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts.

Dan Bonnell is an award-winning director whose work has been seen in Los Angeles at the Falcon Theatre, Colony Theatre, Pacific Resident Theatre, Matrix Theatre, Open Fist, Theatre of NOTE, The MET, Boston Court, Cornerstone, [Inside] the Ford, ASK Theater Projects, Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, Highways, Moving Arts, Nexus Theatre Company, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and HBO Workspace. Dan is the recipient of directing awards from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, LA Weekly and the NAACP as well as the GLAAD Media Award, and has been nominated for Theater Communications Group “Alan Schneider Award”

A Piece of My Mind will be performed on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $50. All proceeds will benefit Dan Bonnell and family.  More Info/Get Tickets

Posted in Acting, actors, Arts, arts organizations, director, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre

Tagged A Piece of My Mind, aneurysm, Dan Bonnell, director, Eric Barr, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, Sacred Fools Theatre, Stephen Sachs, stroke, theater, theatre, UC Riverside

First rehearsals are remarkable things. They can be dicey affairs. Actors, newly bound together for the coming months, meet and size each other up for the first time. The director faithfully plots the course ahead. Schedules are planned. Design diagrams are plotted. All of it based on the belief that, through magic and hard work, everything will wondrously come to fruition by Opening Night. How? As confirmed in the movie, Shakespeare in Love, “It’s a mystery.”

There was no mystery at last night’s first rehearsal for our upcoming premiere of The Chosen. Judged by the high quality of the actors, director and design team, this stage version of the acclaimed Chaim Potok novel will be unforgettable for audiences in January.

Sam Mandel and Alan Blumenfeld

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the most beloved novel about the American Jewish experience of the 20th Century, this acclaimed stage adaption of The Chosen is more timely than ever. Set in Brooklyn, 1944, It is a coming-of-age story of two observant Jewish boys who come from very different homes. When Reuven is injured by Danny during a heated baseball game, a unique friendship is born. As the boys grow to manhood, they are forced to learn important lessons about each other, their fathers and themselves.

Adapted for the stage by Aaron Posner and Chain Potok, The Chosen is directed by Simon Levy. It features  Jonathan Arkin, Alan Blumenfeld, Sam Mandel, and Dorian Tayler. 

Performances begin January 17, 2018. More info/get tickets

Posted in actors, arts organizations, designers, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, Jewish, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre

Tagged Aaron Posner, Alan Blumenfeld, Chaim Potok, Dorian Taylor, Jewish, Jonathan Arkin, novel, Sam Mendel, Simon Levy, stage adaptation, The Chosen, theater, theatre

The company of Runaway Home celebrates after final performance 

There was a moment yesterday during the final curtain call of our acclaimed world premiere of Runaway Home that crystalized our expeirience throughout the entire eight-week run.  The audience leaped to their feet in an exuberent standing ovation, stomping and clapping, while the actors lovingly tossed colorful mardi gras beads from the stage. Both sides of the stage shared a joyful moment of festive celebration that captured the spirit of this funny, endearing and poignant new play. 

Following Sunday’s final performance, a lively reception was held in our upstairs cafe. The rain forcasted for the afternoon never appeared as the cast joined friends and patrons for a warm-hearted reception that included bowls of hot chili and plates of sweet potato pie. 

Enjoy these photos from the post-show party. Another splendid Fountain Theatre production completes its successful run.

Posted in actors, arts organizations, cafe, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, Theater, theatre

Tagged Armando Rey, Brian Tichnell, Camille Spirlin, Deborah Lawlor, Fountain Theatre, Jeremy J. Kamps, Jeris Poindexter, Karen Malina White, Leith Burke, Los Angeles, Maya Lynne Robinson, party, Runaway Home, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre