Official Dickens Fair Performer Page
Official Dickens Fair Missive Page
Back to Dickens Christmas Fair Backup Performer Missive Page


Dickens Christmas Fair 2007 November Missive #2
(sent November 8th, 2007)

Hi there everyone and thanks for a great weekend! It's a lovely school and most of you were great, but we did have some problems with food in classrooms, chairs taken to other rooms and artwork taken down off the walls. Please, let's not mess this one up and lose the use of this lovely school. Please see the rules as forwarded by Sondra (Security) below.

Just a reminder, we will be at the school again this weekend and at the Cow Palace the following weekend. the schedule for the latter will be forthcoming.

Updated schedules for this weekend may be found at http://www.cattaylor.com/missives.html

Note: If you need to see me this weekend please do so before 3:00 on Saturday as I have performances with Avalon Rising on Saturday and Symphony Panassus on Sunday. Thanks.

In This Missive:
School Rules
No Animals
Helping Sunset Ridge School
Lost & Found
Dickens' The Magic Fishbone on Project Gutenberg
Detailed Information on Workhouses
Sikes Needed!
The Benevolent Order of Christmas Keepers!
Male Villains Wanted for Inspector Pearce's Mystery Tours
Thanks for the Costume Donations to Katherine's High School
OT: New Playwrights in Rep Contest


School Rules
Please...
Stay off the desks and tables...they are not chairs.
No consumables except water in the buildings, including hallways, except the multi purpose room.
DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!!!
If it's not in the room you may not move it from one room to another... sit on the floor if necessary. 
Nothing but water may be brought into the buildings for any reason.  That includes beverages made with water...tea...juice...coffee...etc.
DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!!!
Don't leave cigarette butts anywhere.on school grounds, or on the street in front of the school.
The books and projects are not for your entertainment value.  Don't touch them.
The art work etc., on the walls is for looking at, not touching.
If you have small children, please monitor them, they probably won't understand these rules.

So, I'm sure you get the idea... the rules are few and simple but oh so important...  Please help your workshop teachers by watching out for any potential problems.

No Animals at Workshops
And one more rule: No animals. It's the school district's rule and ours, please follow it.
(Exceptions may be made for pre-approved service animals only)


Helping Sunset Ridge School
On the other hand, here's a way you can help the school that's being so nice to us:
(from Elizabeth Schluntz aka Mrs. Fezziwig)

I just wanted to share with you something fantastic that Fezziwigs did this week to thank Sunset Ridge School for allowing us to use their site for workshops.  Danielle Goudeau, a veteran Fezziwigger, looked up the school at Donorschoose.org.  This organization allows teachers to list needs they have for their classrooms and request funding to meet those needs.  Donors on the site choose which need they want their money to go toward.

Danielle set up a challenge to the Fezziwigs that we fund a $350 project to provide musical instruments for the kindergarten classes.  Within 48 hours, we had donated the money to make it all happen.

I'm telling you this not only to crow about the great people I work with, but to suggest that maybe other groups, or the fair participants as a whole, select another need the school has and donate to make it happen.  There are several needs listed for the school.  Even $10 a person could make a huge difference to the students at that school, and what a wonderful way to say thank you for allowing us to invade these two weekends.  (And also a wonderful way to leave the name of the Dickens Fair in a positive light to the families of the students involved.)

Elizabeth Schluntz
Mrs. Fezziwig

(note from Cat: here's the link:
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?keywords=sunset+ridge&zone=402&x=0&y=0 )


Lost & Found
We had a lot of lost and found items last weekend. Any queries can be sent to office@redbarnproductions.org


Dickens' The Magic Fishbone on Project Gutenberg
(forwarded by Laura Kalessia)
A little known Dickens children's Christmas tale just came up on Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/23344
The foreword says that it was written in 1867 for an American children's magazine around the holidays.  This version is gorgeously illustrated, too!
-Laura


Detailed Information on Workhouses
(Gwen Warfield - director of the Twist cast - forwards this)
My ex-Monks, now Flash Toby, sent this link to us Oliver scum, and I thought I'd pass it on... It's a very detailed informational page on workhouses.  Some of the other scum out there might find it useful and informative... it also mentions Oliver Twist on the home page, which of course I love :)
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/


Sikes Needed!
Oliver Twist is looking for a full or part time Bill Sikes.  Part time would need to be at least one day per weekend or more.  Bill is the baddest of the bad, a cunning brute who strikes fear into the hearts of our fine Londeners!  The story tracks his and his companions' decent into a tragic end as they interact with young Oliver and suffer the karma they incur.  It's a long, fun day with a fine group of actors, culminating in Bill's eventual slip into the murder of Nancy, a bit of madness, and just a hint of justice (for Nancy, not Bill!).  If a full change of clothes, manner, and appearance can be made, there is time at the end of the day to buy a drink and catch Sals last show!
Please contact Gwen Warfield at <gwen@yellowness.com>


The Benevolent Order of Christmas Keepers!
There is still time to jump on the jolly seasonal bandwagon!  If you are interested in joining the Christmas Keepers, or are already onboard, plan to meet with Sharon Collier and Therese Porter after workshops in the same area as the Other Books cast.  Meetings will take place on both days of this weekend and Saturday of next weekend.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Therese at mrs.finching@gmail or Sharon at sharon@collierfam.com


Male Villains Wanted for Inspector Pearce's Mystery Tours
Looking For:
Daniel Good: Low-class, hard-edged, cockney speaking villain, 20-30 years old.
Lord Trenchard: Sinister, corrupt nobleman with diabolical schemes. 40-60 years old.
Annie: Good-hearted prostitute who fell from middle class into the gutter. The inspector's former girlfriend. 20s-40s.
 
Inspector Pearce's Mystery Adventure Tours
The Mystery Tour is 3 part interactive show in which guests are led throughout the fair by a police inspector and engaged to participate in solving a crime mystery. In each of the three parts, guests are led to certain locations where they discover clues, encounter characters and observe staged events taking place. The mystery builds over the course of the three chapters, which are approximately 20 minutes long and are performed once each day. To describe this attraction in Dicken's Fair Terms, it is like a series of elaborate gigs, strung together by a plot, and played out for an audience that literally follows and interacts with the scenes.
 
If you are interested in playing a character, contact the writer/director/tour leader, Maimone Attia (Inspector Pearce) at (510) 978-6450 or maimoneattia@gmail.com.


Thanks for the Costume Donations to Katherine's High School
Hello, this is Katherine Pruyn. Last year I asked for costume donations because my high school's theatre had been hit by vandals. Thanks to your donations, we managed to triple the amount of costumes we started with. We put on three very successful shows last year. They were Our Town, Dearly Departed (a comedic one act used for competition) and Seussical the Mussical. Thank you very much for your donations!"

-Katherine Pruyn


OT: New Playwrights in Rep Contest
(Lynn Combs forwards the following)
With a generous competitively awarded grant from the City of Fairfield's Cultural Arts Awards Program, the award winning non profit Solano Repertory Company announces the launch of the New Playwrights in Rep contest.

SRC will be selecting three or more scripts to be produced in rep. at the Missouri Street Theatre in Fairfield.
For information rules and requirements, please visit www.solanorep.com



To sign up for the missives, please email missives@redbarnproductions.org, and request to be added to the missive list.


Link to Cat Taylor's Homepage