Meet the cast! June 2012

Hello Beauty Love Truthers. It’s time for the final Get to Know Your Cast for this month. The show is today! Let us know if you enjoyed this new feature when we see you today at the show, 8PM at The PIT (123 E24th St). Get tickets for the show here. OK, time for Matt Higgins to inspire us to no end:

3 things I have done, invented, thought
• On a very personal level, I am most grateful for my relationship with Tracie, my beautiful and gifted wife. Tracie is, hands down, the funniest person I have ever known. And I have known a million hilarious people. The luckiest/ smartest thing I ever did was, 21 years ago, to commit myself forever in love and friendship to Tracie. Because of this, I experience a profound truth; with commitment comes freedom.

• Another thing that I did, for which I am so happy, was to say yes to Todd Stashwick when he asked me to be part of an improvisation group he was forming. I have such fond and vivid memories of breaking into an abandoned Hell’s Kitchen apartment on hot summer nights with Todd, Kevin Scott, Jay Rhoderick, John Theis, and Shira Piven. It was our theater laboratory. We loved it. It’s all we wanted. Then one night, as we were hanging out on the fire escape laughing our asses off, Shira said, “I know you guys said you don’t want to, but I really think we should do this for an audience”. Todd named us Burn Manhattan.

• I’ve often thought that many, many more people, maybe most, are artists of some kind or other, but they may never have the means or opportunity to reveal it, or have it revealed.

3 things in the future I am looking forward to

• I am whole-heartedly looking forward to July 14, 2012; my daughter Kierstin’s wedding day.

• I am looking forward to Beauty Love Truth rehearsals and performances, Jam Man Stables Friday July 27, 2012 The PIT Underground, and Up Theater Company’s fall production of “K Coma Joseph” by Kirby Fields.

• I am so looking forward to jumping waves this summer with my daughter Oona.

What Springs to mind when I hear…

Beauty
Tracie
Oona
Kierstin
New York City

Love
It’s the ultimate goal of all we do, isn’t it, to have a more loving life.

Truth
Openness
For some reason, as I know think of “truth”, I think of something Keith Johnstone wrote in Impro; “It’s no good telling the student he isn’t to be held responsible for the content of his imagination, he needs a teacher who is living proof that the monsters are not real, and the imagination will not destroy you. Otherwise the student will have to go on pretending to be dull.”

The truth is I feel profoundly grateful to play with Beauty Love Truth.

The BLT Q&A

By Peter Russo and Kaitlin Fontana

Rolo Vincent is the head-honcho of the nationally respected education and media organization The Story Pirates. Founded in 2003, Story Pirates believes every child has a story to tell that deserves to be heard. By pairing world-class teachers with first-rate actors and comedians, Story Pirates offer a variety of tools to make learning more engaging and effective. Dually based in New York and Los Angeles, they are best known for the Idea Storm Program, a master-class writing workshop that brings teaching concepts to life, followed by a musical sketch comedy show featuring stories by students and performed by professional artists. Story Pirates’ acclaimed programs and professional development services for teachers are in place at over 200 schools from coast to coast.

When Rolo isn’t sailing the seven seas looking for stories written by kids to be turned into songs and sketches, he enjoys playing with his pet dinosaur Amber, remodeling his ship and macrame. You can check out Rolo’s vlog here:http://youtu.be/QvL5er53vpM, or come see his special guest starring turn at Beauty Love Truth at the PIT on June 28th at 8pm. We sat Rolo down for a chat.

Peter: Rolo are you there? Can you hear me?

Rolo: (garbled)

Peter: Hello? Rolo, It’s Peter, I’m trying to get in touch with you about Beauty Love

Truth the show you are doing.

Rolo: —why can I never get this thing to—oh, here we go—Hello? Am I coming in?

Peter: Yes I can hear you Rolo. It’s Peter, I have those questions to ask you.

Rolo: Who has questions for me?

Peter: Uh, Kaitlin, remember? She’s Louies friend that is doing interviews for

Beauty Love Truth, you know, for the show…

Rolo: Oh that sounds great! She knows that I’m not a real Pirate right?

Peter: Yes, she knows that you are a Story Pirate, not a bloodthirsty Buccaneer or

anything like that…

Rolo: Good, I wouldn’t want her to think that I would come to get her or anything if she

misquoted me or whatever:

Peter: I am sure that she doesn’t think that, Rolo. So, the questions?

Rolo: Right, go ahead.

Peter: OK, Here goes. Tell us something you think is beautiful.

Rolo: I’ll tell you what is beautiful: watching the sun rise and set out on the open sea;

hearing the laughter of an old friend; the smell of a Honeysuckle Rose; the taste of a good

sandwich; a perfectly round cannonball…

Peter: Wow Rolo, that’s a lot of things.

Rolo: And that’s just the beautiful stuff that’s nearby! You know, I have two lazy eyes, so

I see beautiful stuff all around me, all the time

Peter: Ok let’s stick to these questions. Tell us a lyric of yours that includes the word

love.

Rolo: Wait but I don’t write songs! I am not a musician, I am a Story Pirate…we take

stories written by kids and turn them into songs and sketches for the whole family to enjoy…

Peter: What’s your first memory of something beautiful?

Rolo: When I first opened my eyes and saw my mother’s long flowing moustache.

Peter: What’s something/someone you love that it would surprise people?

Rolo: Actually I did write a song once, to help people write… it’s kind of like an old sea shanty…the chorus goes: Think with your head/feel with your heart/put them together and then you can start/to write your story/you’re bound for glory/if all that you do is be true to you/ you’ll succeed in all that you do!

Peter: That was kind of nice, Rolo! Ok, Tell us something true.

Rolo: I am not a lyricist.

Peter: What’s one thing in your life that is beautiful, you love and is true?

Rolo: I guess it’s when I get to see a kid who deserves it get celebrated for their

achievements, in front of family and friends.

Peter: Have you ever performed at a live theatre show before? What are you

expecting?

Rolo: Oh yeah all the time. I am expecting a nicely dressed crowd, and cake. There IS going to be cake right? Or Pie, I also love Pie.

Peter: When did the truth get you in trouble?

Rolo: Maybe in this interview! Does Louie know I am not a musician? How embarrassing if he finds out in the interview! Oh no, maybe he won’t want me in the show anymore!

Peter: Just relax. Who do you love?

Rolo: Anyone that is not afraid to make and take love is OK by me.

Peter: The aliens have landed and one asks you to explain beauty/love/truth [choose one]. How do you explain it to them?

Rolo: Wait the Aliens have landed!!! I hope they look like E. T. or Gizmo and not the Predator or the Alien from Aliens.

Peter: Have you known other people who have done Beauty Love Truth, what are

you expecting? What are you looking forward to?

Rolo: Yes! My musician friend (and fellow Pirate) Heather Robb is a singer/songwriter and her band The Spring Standards performed on the show and had a great time. You know maybe I will start a side project with her. Kind of like a Zooey Deschanel/M. Ward kind of thing. But more like Louis Prima and Keely Smith. Now that I’m a musician and all…

Peter: And, what are you looking forward to again?

Rolo: The pie.

Peter: Of course. Thanks Rolo.

Rolo: Over and out.

3. TRUTH! A big book!…??

Hey gang. Louie from Beauty Love Truth Headquarters here with a new, regular BLT feature: Get to Know Your Cast. Over the next few days, get ready to hear some excellent answers to questions posed to the cast for our upcoming show! You can see these splendid folks improvise on June 28th, 8PM at The PIT (123 E24th St), inspired by our musical guests Amazing Jellies. Get your tickets here!

First up, BLT newcomer Lauren Ashley Smith drops us some knowledge:

3 things you have done, invented and/or thought!

1. When I was 15, I ziplined through the rain forest in Costa Rica. That was pretty rad.

2. For the past few years, I’ve written some pretty involved recaps of the trainwreckiest show on television, “Teen Mom.”

3. Everyone deserves to be treated with fairness and love. Everyone. This is what I think.

3 things in the future (immediate or far) that you’re looking forward to:

1. The weekend! Doesn’t matter which weekend. Any weekend will do. They are the bomb.

2. Seeing my favorite artist, Robyn, perform live again sometime soon. She is beauty, love, and truth rolled into one platinum blonde pop star.

3. What is this, a trick question? The Beauty Love Truth show, of course!!

What springs to mind when you hear:

1. BEAUTY! My grandparents. They’re in their 80s, have been married for 56 years, and met during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. They are two of the coolest people on planet earth. Their love for family and each other and their service to the community is beautiful.

2. LOVE! My puppy, Jelly!! He loves life and the world with no filter or bias. It’s amazing to wake up to every morning.

3. TRUTH! Love. You can’t have real love without total truth.