Welcome to the THIRD week of
Masquers on Demand
We hope you are enjoying Masquers On Demand so far! This week, we bring you more exciting music from Birches Bend and Sing for America! We also have a special performance from Black & Brown Theatre featuring a monologue written by our board member Carlos-Manuel Chavarria. Featured photography this week comes from Mark Decker. And, we want to remind you about last week’s silly short play from John Hull. We are still looking for your video interpretations! Also, enjoy an article from East Bay Times theater columnist Sally Hogarty about Masquers. Scroll on and enjoy!
Music
Lyre at the Crossroads and Old Gnarly Oak – Chad Manning (fiddle/guitar) & Jasper Manning (mandolin)
These are a couple tunes I wrote well before Jasper was born, and it is so exciting to be playing these tunes with him! The first tune is Lyre at the Crossroads named after the Lyrebird which can sing about any sound, including the songs of extinct birds. The second tune is Old Gnarly Oak which I wrote after hiking with my brother in an Oak Grove over looking the San Pablo Reservoir.” – Chad Manning
Birches Bend performed for Masquers Playhouse in 2018 for our holiday production Appalachian Christmas and also provided entertainment at last year’s film screening of White Christmas. They have become Masquers patron favorites! Learn more and support Manning Music Studios and Birches Bend.
SFA Chorus & Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir – “Blessings, Honor”
Watch the SFA Chorus and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, sing “Blessings, Honor” for the 2015 Sing for America Benefit Concert at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco on April 19, 2015. The Sing for America Foundation of San Francisco combines your love of the arts with social media skills to help you fund your charitable interests – arts, health, welfare – whatever social good you serve. For several years now, Masquers has been a recipient of these vital funds. Learn more about Sing for America.
This video features soloist Alexis Lane Jensen, a member of the Masquers extended family!
PERFORMANCE
Mauricio Dominguez performs Rivalry written by Carlos-Manuel Chavarria
“Black and Brown Theatre in Detroit, MI is holding monologue competitions for playwrights. Actors from the company ask what they would like to see in a monologue, and playwrights submit. The submitted piece has to be original, never performed before, and needs to fit the actor’s needs and requests. I saw several requests, but thought my chances were better with a Latinx actor, so I wrote a short piece from Mauricio Dominguez requesting ‘comedy while holding tension.’ The result: RIVALRY, a short monologue that is bilingual (English/Spanish) and that highlights Mexican culture.” -Carlos-Manuel Chavarria
Carlos-Manuel Chavarria is member of the Masquers Board of Directors. Many congratulations to Carlos-Manuel! This video shared with permission from Black and Brown Theatre.
WRITING
Click to read The Giant Booger from Outer Space by John Hull
“I first performed this at McGucken with Jerry Teller, and again, more recently, with Paul Seliga. We dressed up like hillbilly hayseeds. Paul had his shirttail sticking out of his open fly, just like Masquers stalwart Don Waight when the curtain opened on him, opening night of Most Happy Fellow in 1986. Fond memories! I hope you like it.” — John (Jack) Hull
Feeling creative? We invite you to take this script and video your own home performance of it. The two best video home performances will get a pair of tickets to an upcoming production! Send your submissions to secretary@masquers.org or submit to us on Facebook.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK DECKER
“This is a collection of some my favorite images! I hope you enjoy” -Mark Decker
Lux Aeterna is a phrase from the latin requiem mass that means “Light Eternal”. I’ve sung it many times in my years as a choral singer, but it has significance to me as a photographer because light is the very essence of photography. As an amateur photographer I’m always striving to make better use of the light I find in my photos, and now as a computer animation lighter I’m striving to create better light for each of my shots.
MASQUERS UPDATE BY SALLY HOGARTY
East Bay Times columnist Sally Hogarty writes an update on what is happening at Masquers Playhouse! Read the article here.
Special thanks to Sally and the East Bay Times!
