Joined in Might

Tonight is closing night. It has been nearly 3 months of hard hard work and it's soon to be over. This show was my return to theatre after a long hiatus, and I am SO happy I decided to get back out there. This cast is one of those casts that feel like family.

The first two months of rehearsals were tough and everyone seemed to leave as soon as we were finished, and I did not start truly developing relationships until hell week, so essentially in 4 weeks, I have bonded deeply with these people. I absolutely love when casts jive in such a way, the last show that resembled this cast was Wild Party. I feel it's because we were all so intimate with each other onstage and the show was hard so we had to be there for one another.

I am so proud of this show, my co- workers just kept giggling over lunch the other day reminiscing about all the quirks of the opera; and I could not help but smile. My one fellow art teacher said, " the guests were trashy, you guys in the studio audience were just as trashy, and then here we were as the actual audience watching it. We are all the same." She absolutely loved the show and I feel the people like her were the ones that needed to see it. 

Not everyone has been entertained by this show, or moved, or changed; but at least they came to see a show that is bold, fearless, and quite sweet ( even though I'm pretty sure every review had the word "blasphemous" in it). I will genuinely miss the "slut junky," "crack whore," "strip slut," "hillbilly," "loser," and the "chick with a dick." I will say that my everyday vocabulary has been changed due to my time with this opera, I am definitely sneaking the word "cunt" in much more than I used to.

Back to this extraordinary group of people, you all are amazing and I adore when shows bring us together in such a positive way, I mean I am so lucky to be in the girls dressing room every night. My fellow studio audience member Rey posted the sweetest thing on Facebook the other day of how protective we are of one another, and it was such a perfect observation. We, indeed, are taking care of ourselves and each other. 

Thank you, Jerry Springer.

Since the Dawn of Time

Lately, I have been realizing that the only way for people to see my artistic ideas is to actually produce them! The idea for this artwork came to me while rehearsing and I wasn't going to do anything with it, but my boyfriend encouraged me so I went for it. This artwork will be in the lobby right before entering the theatre. Below is my artist statement.

Michelle Sauer

Since the Dawn of Time, 2015

India Ink on papyrus

12 ½ x 17 ¼

Lately, I have become increasingly intrigued with the concept of time and recurring themes.  Patterns of power, destruction, class, and love have been around for centuries, always repeating themselves. The more I am exposed to current realities, the more of a connection I see between our current problems to those of the past.

This artwork was inspired by my involvement in Jerry Springer the Opera by Richard Thomas with New Line Theatre. A phrase, a line, or a lyric can mean so much to one person, for reasons unbeknownst to the everyman. We all connect with something and I wanted to bring our cast together by assembling moments of the opera that stick out to them as individuals. I asked my fellow actors to write down their favorite lyric from the show and I replicated their handwriting with India ink onto papyrus paper. The variety of line is unique to each individual involved in the show and lends itself perfectly to visual interest.

These lyrics represent not only something personal to the actors involved, but they unite the way we treat each other to the ways we have always treated each other. Difference in language and tone of course applies, but the theme is forever present. As we look to the future, I must ask: Can all people unite through love?