17th Annual Garvin Gate Blues Festival

Nora Jean Wallace

So today I feel like a real legitimate professional blogger. For the first time, I have someone shadowing me to learn more about blogging and writing.

When it came time to write an actual blog post, I told Rachel-- my job shadow-- to visit the bulletin board here at Heine Brothers Douglas Loop and come back with an event that seemed interesting.

I love the fact Rachel came back with an event that I've never heard of and that sounds fantastic! And it's free! I'd like to say that I taught her well, but I think she's a natural.

The 17th annual Garvin Gate Blues Festival takes place on October 12-13 in the Garvin Place neighborhood in Old Louisville. This event is the largest free neighborhood street music festival in Louisville and features food and merchandise vendors. Proceeds from sponsorships and vendor sales benefit The Garvin Gate Association and the Old Louisville Preservation District. The event takes place  from 630pm- 11:15pm on Friday from 3pm -11:15pm on Saturday on Oak Street between 4th and 6th.

Bring chairs or a blanket, but leave your pets and coolers at home. No outside food or alcohol.

I'm so psyched that Rachel brought this to my attention. You know how much I love outdoor music events. Maybe going to the Garvin Gate Blues Fest will make me feel a little better about missing the Jug Band Jubilee this year.

For more information visit their website: http://garvingatebluesfestival.com/index.html

CityAnchor Wins Startup Weekend Louisville

So last week, I told you about Startup Weekend, the first event of its kind here in Louisville.

I've been a little slow in getting this out on the blog because (a) I was so exhausted after the event that I spent Monday on the couch with my sick Guy watching a Wire: Season One marathon (b) I've been so busy promoting CityAnchor that I haven't had the chance to write about it on my own damned blog and (c) I will be covering IdeaFestival for WFPL this week, and I need to bang out a bunch of work before I can go and be smart for a couple of days.

The news in a nutshell: I was on the winning team for Startup Weekend.

I was the only woman at the 40+ person event.

Our team was the smallest team.

We were the only team to launch with a live product: a local arts, culture, and food blog aggregator.

We were the only team to launch having earned revenue.

The team: Dave Durand, the designer, is the CEO of Forest Giant. Shane Logsdon is a back end web developer with Blackstone Media and a freelancer. Ukiah Smith is a front end web developer for Power Creative and owner of Faction42, a company that creates websites. And me, of course... doing project management and networking.

But rather than reinvent the wheel, I direct you to the three articles I wrote for Insider Louisville:

Day One: The Woman-Problem

Day Two: Dream Team

Day Three: My wild weekend

Our story also got picked up by Business First, our local business newspaper.  Here's an example of why I adore my team so much... This story references Dave as being the "team leader" and doesn't mention the rest of us at all. At Startupapalooza, where CityAnchor managed to field a booth even though we'd only existed as a company for a couple of days, Dave brought up the article and said, "I am not the leader, and I hate that he did that. I'm sorry guys."

We're going full speed ahead with the venture. I'll keep you posted!

In the meantime, follow us on Twitter (@CityAnchor), like us on facebook, and visit the beta website at cityanchor.co.

Jug Band Jubilee: The Happiest Music is Back

While I am super excited-- and a wee bit nervous-- to attend Start Up Weekend, I am terribly crushed that that means that I won't be able to attend one of my very favoritest festivals of the year: the Jug Band Jubilee.

I gushed about the Jubilee last year on the blog. I had such a good time the year before that I decided to make the Jubilee extra credit for my American Literature students. You don't get more "American" than jug band music, and heck, it was popularized right here in Louisville!

On my way into the festival last year, I bumped into several groups of students-- some coming in, some leaving. And to a person, these 16 year olds were stoked. They loved it! A full one-third of my students attended the event-- it IS free, after all-- and every one of them said they never would have gone if I hadn't "made" them, but that they would definitely go back next year!

I hope that's the case. I'm not there, of course, to give them the nudge.

But I can give YOU the nudge.

It really is one of the very best events in the city. Nine jug bands will be in attendance at the Brown Foreman Amphitheater. The music starts at 1pm, and there's a special BBC early-bird happy hour from noon til 2pm. And at 3pm there will be jug band workshops where you can learn to blow a jug or play the kazoo.

If you're free on Saturday at any time, you should really check it out. It is, of course, very family-friendly. Bring a blanket or a chair. Visit the website for the schedule. Have a killer time. You won't be able to help yourself. They don't call jug music "America's Happiest Music" for nothing.

And while you're there, tell Heather I said hi.

Sad Melissa.

Menu & Hours Gets Big-Time National Attention

The question is... can I sit still long enough to write this post?

I am so dang happy that I am squirming and chair-dancing-- in public! Sorry patrons of Vint on Frankfort.

There's nothing better than when good things happen to good people.

The lovely and talented Michelle Jones of Consuming Louisville, who gives so much so unselfishly to the Louisville community, launched her Menu & Hours app just a wee bit ago and this app is BLOWING UP.

Fast Company, which is quickly becoming my second-favorite magazine after Garden & Gun, just released an article called: "This (Perfect?) App Offers Just the Menu and the Hours."

Mark Wilson writes:

Menu and Hours may be the smartest restaurant app ever created. It’s a directory of over 100 restaurants across Louisville, Kentucky (sorry, nowhere else yet). And rather than giving you tales about slow waiters during bachelorette parties, it offers the two things that matter most about any restaurant: Its menu, and its hours.

Not only are we so wicked happy for Michelle on a personal level but we're also tickled pink and purple that this app makes our foodie city look so damned good! And you know what's awesome? I know for certain that if Michelle suddenly goes all Zuckerberg, she'll still be the nicest woman in town.

Thanks, Michelle!  And good on ya!

I Vant to Suck Your Blood! Early Halloween with Actors

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Actors Theatre Generation One Board. I am one of the Social Chairs (a little funny if you know me and know that I am not exactly a social butterfly), and I manage the GOBoard Twitter feed. You'll be hearing a lot from me about the GOBoard's activities. We're pushing hard to recruit new members this season. If you're young (we don't really have a cut-off age, but 45 or younger is the unofficial "young" -- woo hoo!) and you support Actors Theatre, we'd love to have you!

Remember when we all thought Tom Cruise was weird when he bleached his hair blonde to play The Vampire Lestat? Remember when that was the weirdest thing he did?

I loved Anne Rice's vampire books. And I'm not kidding all that much when I say that those books were one of the reasons I ended up in New Orleans for nine years. They were dark and sexy and arty and the literary companion of my musical diet of the Cure and the Smiths.

Those books made New Orleans seem so damned exotic, and the best part about New Orleans is that it lives up to every promise of grand beauty and sultriness that has been conjured by authors-- usually it exceeds these expectations.

As did the "real-life" vampires who roamed the streets at night in New Orleans. Some were just your standard Goths, but some were all-in living the lifestyle.

Don't think about that too much.

Anyway, to celebrate Actors Theatre's production of DRACULA, the Actors Theatre GO Board is throwing a Vampire Ball in the Victor Jory Theatre on September 29 at 9pm (or after the show).

Tickets are $30 or $20 with a ticket stub from any showing of DRACULA. Come dressed in costume, come dressed as a vampire. We have food and drinks from some awesome sponsors, and this promises to be a fantastic time. Get your Hallowe'en on a little early.

You can buy tickets at the box office or call 502-584-1205. If you're already a GO Board member, don't forget to ask for your discount. If

Life Aquatic on the Waterfront

THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX may very well be in my top five very favorite movies. I've only seen it the once in the movie theatre, but I can still hear the soft tones of George Clooney's gentle Mr. Fox voice, and I laughed so hard I nearly tinkled myself at the running "cuss" joke.

But I'm not 100% on board the Wes Anderson train. I wish he'd just make animated films from now on. MOONLIGHT KINGDOM, which was adorable and twee, would have been vastly improved if all the little kids had been squirrels... (although I'd hate to lose Bruce Willis from that movie... he can do no wrong in my eyes... I've adored him since his David Addison days).

I don't get the TENENBAUM love. And it doesn't matter that Bill Murray is up there on the list with Bruce Willis, I definitely didn't love THE LIFE AQUATIC.

That being said, I'd be willing to give it another shot in this case. Because, as the producers' name implies "OUTDOOR MOVIES GOOD." Outdoor movies are ALWAYS good. And when they take place at the Brown-Foreman Amphitheater, one of the prettiest venues in the city, they're even better.

Right now the website redirects to their Facebook page. But all the info is on the poster I photographed at Java on Bardstown Road.  It's Thursday, September 13, at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater. Gates are at 630p and the show starts around 8p.

Bring a blanket or a chair. Not outside food or beverages (bummer that).

Take advantage of these fading summer nights!

Startup Weekend Louisville

A few weeks ago, lured by the "early bird discount" and a sudden loathing for the job-hunt process, I signed up to take part in Startup Weekend Louisville.

Startup Weekend is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, but held events in over 100 countries in 2011 and its event facilitators are located in more than 200 cities worldwide.

I still don't really know all that much about the event. It basically runs from 630p on Friday night til 9pm on Sunday. It's a team competition, but it seems a little less cutthroat and more creative. Check out the schedule here. But here's what the website says:

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

Whether entrepreneurs found companies, find a cofounder, meet someone new, or learn a skill far outside their usual 9-to-5, everyone is guaranteed to leave the event better prepared to navigate the chaotic but fun world of startups. If you want to put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur, register now for the best weekend of your life!

Back in the summer before my Junior year in high school, my economics teacher nominated me for a place in a nerd summer camp. It was called Business Week or something like that, and it was a gathering of Connecticut economics nerds at Connecticut College. There we were to live in the dorms, take business and marketing classes, and -- in teams-- create an imaginary ballpoint pen company, finance it, and market the pens. All of this took place over the course of a nigh-sleepless seven days. 

I was accepted, but the tuition was too much. Just as I was about to turn it down, my grandpa swooped in and paid it for me. 

It was the Best. Week. EVER! (at least to 16 year-old me). I made fast friends with a bunch of nerds. Totally fell in ooey-gooey love with the cutest guy on my team, Dave, who lived all the way across the state (he might as well have lived in California for car-less Melissa). 

We pulled all nighters (no, not for teen hanky panky, although there may have been a smidgen of that-- for planning and marketing). We made a commercial for our pen that was set to the tune of George Michaels' "I Want Your Sex" and featured me and a couple of other of my female teammates dressed up like the women in Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" video. Because even at that age, we all knew what sells.

I had a blast. My team won. Dave and I dated on and off through freshman year of college (more off than on) until he became an intolerable stoner. And my entrepreneurial spirit was born.

I hope Startup Weekend goes as well. I don't need to "win," and I don't need a "Dave." But I do need a little nudge and a lot of inspiration. There are still spots available for Developers, Designers, and Non-Tech types (like me). The cost is only $99 and includes 7 meals. It's a steal. Maybe you can come join us?

Kertis Creative Creates Videos About Katrina

Just a few days after the press release about this post landed in my inbox, Hurricane Isaac took aim at the Gulf Coast. So I decided to sit on it a little while.

While Isaac caused some problems in my former hometown of New Orleans and total devastation in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, it was no Katrina. Although, really... how do you gauge this stuff? Many people whose houses withstood Katrina lost everything in Isaac. The people in Plaquemines Parish would disagree that Isaac was "no Katrina."

I'm not going to pontificate on this stuff. If you read my blog, you probably know that I moved to Louisville in July 2006 after having lived in Louisiana for 9ish years. I considered New Orleans my "forever home" and was devastated when my school couldn't hire me back as a full-time teacher. I survived what I now think of as the "Treme Season One" period in New Orleans-- moved back to the city the October after Katrina and lived there until I relocated to Louisville to teach at the Louisville Collegiate School.

I have strong opinions and strong feelings about Katrina, and Isaac tore me up.

And so did this video that local documentarians Stephen Kertis and Brett Marshalls created for the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation.

I normally hate reprinting press releases, but this one is super good:

Seven years since Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast with devastating wind and flooding, low-wealth and minority communities in coastal Mississippi continue to struggle with rebuilding their neighborhoods. 

The nation’s attention has turned elsewhere, but innovative social justice groups in the region are continuing to fight to make sure these residents receive the same opportunities as their neighbors.

“I think that most of America has forgotten the extent of the damage that was done along the Gulf Coast,” said William Stallworth, the Executive Director of Hope Community Development Agency in Biloxi, Mississippi. Unfortunately national attention and resources continue to dry up. So, how do you solve this dilemma? “One family at a time,” says Stallworth. 

The FEMA trailers are mostly gone, but there are still more than 17,000 families in need of assistance. Some need affordable housing that is close to employment centers, shopping and hospitals. Others need help securing repair funds for their homes, that seven years later, still bear the scars of Katrina.

“These programs are not currently solving the needs of thousands of underserved, invisible, and increasingly desperate residents who want to build back their homes where they live. These citizens deserve better treatment than they currently have received,” said Reilly Morse, a policy director at the Mississippi Center for Justice in Biloxi.

Morse notes that low-wealth and minority communities in Gulfport and Biloxi have not received sufficient help in rebuilding, particularly when compared with what residents in wealthier neighborhoods have received. These residents are hamstrung by legacy zoning laws, red tape and a belief that enough time has passed since the storm to absolve funders of further assistance. In many cases, residents have just given up, tired of fighting for what we all want: a place to call home.

Social justice organizations such as the Hope CDA and the Mississippi Center for Justice play a critical role in keeping the recovery front and center long after the storm has passed. They have the commitment and knowledge to push for change, and they also have the trust of the communities they serve.

“Experts determined, in the early days after Katrina, that it would take 15 years for the Gulf Coast area to recover,” said Stallworth. “This is proving to be a very good estimate; while it is my belief that we are a little ahead of the curve, we still have a long way to go.”

For these groups to be successful, they need long-term investment in their programs and missions, not just from the Gulf Coast, but also from elsewhere in the United States. Funders, including the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation--whose mission is to move people and places out of poverty-- have been important to these social-justice organizations in the Gulf Coast.

When I lived in New Orleans, my go-to weekend vacation destinations were Biloxi and Bay St. Louis, both of which were nearly leveled by Katrina. So this video speaks to a happy place for me. A place where I used to go to escape the sweltering summer heat of New Orleans. A place where I could sit on the beach and read a book and pretend I was with my family on the beaches of New England.

Kertis Creative, the local force behind this video, is responsible for some of the most beautiful photography and videography coming out of this town, including the combined efforts of Kertis Creative and Michelle Jones of Consuming Louisville called Secondhand Stories. This video for the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation made me proud and made me cry.

Please share this video with others and donate to the causes as you see fit.  I met with Stephen Kertis shortly after this press release was sent to me, and he is the nicest guy imaginable. Good cause. Good people. Gorgeous video. A trifecta of reasons you should care.

GUEST POST: Kyle Ware on the Hows of Le Petomane

As with previous Non-Profits of the Month, My Loueyville is proud to feature a guest post from one of the members of this month's NPOTM-- Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble. 

Kyle Ware is a Louisvlle-based actor, artist, and educator. He is a co-Producing, Founding Artistic Director of Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble; serves as Executive Director for Tourism Honors Academy, an academic leadership program for high school seniors in Louisville; and is a freelance artist, illustrator, and designer. 

If I were a betting man—which I’m not, but if I were, and you asked me—I’d wager our most frequently asked questions here at Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble Headquarters fall somewhere in the category of “how do you do that?” with the “that” in question most often being a production of WhateverWe’veJustMadeUp.  To that point, it’s one of the things Melissa Lou suggested I talk about for this very post.  Sometimes the question is “Why would you do that?” depending on the show, but that’s another matter entirely.  And the “how” is actually easier than the “why” anyway, which I’m happy to share with you here.  For your consideration: How to Build a Show Like Le Petomane in 3 Easy Steps:

Step 1: Find somewhat like-minded friends, with enough variation in background and skills to make things interesting. 

Step 2: Set a performance date.

Step 3: Play with aforementioned friends until performance date arrives.

Now, to be fair, I may have glossed over a few things.  Step 2, for instance, can be tricky in Louisville, where performance spaces are tough to come by and hotly contested by the bevy of quality theatre groups in town.  For our current show, TIME FLIES, we’ll be back at The Bard’s Town (1801 Bardstown Rd).  This will be our fourth show there, and I don’t mind telling you, Scot and Doug are good people and very supportive of the arts community across the board.  We’ve been fortunate there: Ken and Sheila Pyle at the Rud, the good people at the Speed and their Art After Dark series, the producers of Actors Theatre’s now-defunct, sorely missed Late Seating, and on and on.  All great people.  We’ve been lucky.  And to the scarcity issue I mentioned before, there is good news on that front: a promising new space, Vault 1031, which should open in the neighborhood of soon.  Vault 1031 has been our base of operations for our last week of TIME FLIES rehearsal, and Jon and Barb have some exciting things in store for all of us.

Step 3 is a little more involved and changes with each show.  Some shows may require more research; others may need to gestate in a room consisting of various combinations of the six of us and seeing what happens by the end of the night.  Some are heavily scripted; others closed years ago and still don’t have a full script.  All of that is dictated by just a few factors: what’s the show about, what’s it need, and who’s available to do it?

For TIME FLIES—September 6-16, every night but Tuesday, all shows: 7:30—it was a combination of heavy research and attempting to make each other laugh while in the room together while fashioning all of that into a story statement with a dramatic structure, such that it is.  We travelled to different art museums for inspiration; we discussed the history of time; eras of civilization; what it means to have lived and be alive; who celebrates our first step onto the world’s stage and who will remember us past our final bow.  We scrawled our notes and discussion points on a giant roll of paper, with dates and facts and figures alongside characters, scenes, and ideas yet unformed.  Most of that won’t make it to stage, by the way, but all of it informs “play,” and that’s what you’re paying your $8-20 sliding scale (call  609-2520 or us@lepetomane.org for reservations) to see.  

And here’s the thing about Step 2: it only really works with due diligence and care on Step 1.  Step 1 is the one that makes the show what it is.  If the show is your recipe, Step 1 is your list of ingredients.  The way we work, that means your writers, directors, designers, costumers, choreographers, composers, producers, as well as your singers, dancers, and actors:  you drop one out or add one in, you get something a little bit different.  And you’re going to need people you respect.  People whose work you enjoy and admire.  People you know will work with the same dedication and passion that you have.  People with whom you may have disagreement of taste or aesthetic from time to time, but never of their motivation to produce the best work possible.  People you like spending time with long past any reasonable expectation, because you’ll see them more than anyone else.  Friends.  You do that?  You’re golden.  

There was a great article with our pals over at Theatre [502] in The Paper (shouts to all), in which they talk about much of this.  “How do you work with three Artistic Directors?”  “Well, we all like and respect each other…” seemed to be the sum up.  To which we say a collective, “Yep.”

We came together back in 2005 for one show, a 6-person adaptation of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, brilliantly and beautifully cut by our own Greg Maupin.  A mutual professional friend asked what we would be doing next, and well, there was no next—that was to be it for us.  She paused for a while, looked up and asked, simply, “Why not?”

We didn’t really have a good answer for that. 

And so we stayed, the six of us. More family now than company (helped along by two-thirds of us being married to each other already).  Or a theatre gang, which may be about the least threatening thing this side of West Side Story or the backup dancers in “Beat It.” (“Officer!  There’s a group of people doing high kicks and a box step.  With a knife!”) That’s what I think we’ve cultivated over the years.  And I think ultimately, that’s what you see when you come to a Le Petomane show. 

Not coincidentally, there happens to be a way for you to see for yourself.  Our season opener, in case I haven’t said, is just around the corner: TIME FLIES, at The Bard’s Town (1801 Bardstown Rd), September 6-16, all shows: 7:30.  

Episode 4: Louisville, Not Kentucky

Good mamas don't play favorites. But I am not a good mama. This episode of LOUISVILLE, NOT KENTUCKY is my favorite, thus far.

Linda and I talked about the Jug Band Jubilee, one of my favorite events in the city. We talked about the Tyler Park Jazz Festival. And Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble was gracious enough to let us give away two tickets to their new show: TIME FLIES  (You need to follow us @LouNotKY on Twitter and then tweet us to win-- enter by 9/10! We hope you'll "like" us on Facebook too!). We also jibber-jabbered about Louisvillagers on Reality TV-- go #TeamGunnar!

But the highlight of Episode 4 was our guest podcaster, Scott Kirkpatrick (aka Bro. Stephen) a local musician and a bartender at Rye.  Scott was such a great interview that our podcast ran 20 MINUTES over its usual run-time. We talked about his life and what brought him to Louisville and about narcolepsy (which he suffers from) and his guilty-pleasure music.

If you can't listen to the whole podcast, you need to listen starting at 40:00, where Scott plays a beautiful new song based on LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, one of my favorite books.  "Contagion" is lovely and will give you chills.

Scott brought two drinks for us to try during the "What are we drinking?" segment-- a drink that's on the menu at Rye called the Schnitzelberg and another off-menu drink called the "Alma Lesch" named after a folk artist featured prominently in the KY Museum of Arts & Crafts, downtown.

Scott was the best first guest we could have hoped for-- chatty and sweet and already a LOUISVILLE, NOT KENTUCKY listener.

Hope you enjoy this supersized episode of LOUISVILLE, NOT KENTUCKY.

Non-Profit of the Month: Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble

One of the many things I love about Louisvillagers is their willingness to come together and share ideas. The idea for Non-Profit of the Month sprang from a conversation I had during a lunch with the lovely and talented Robyn Sekula in late May. So next time you see her, thank her.

Each month for the foreseeable future, My Loueyville will feature an ad and promoted content from a non-profit that I believe in and want to celebrate. On the website, you'll see a prominent ad and throughout the month, the blog will feature guest posts, contests, and/or special posts related to that non-profit.

I will neither confirm nor deny that I saw Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble's A DERBY CAROL five or six times.

It was just that every time a friend or friends said that they were going, I wanted to go with them. Not just because I loved that show that much, but because I wanted to see my friends' faces when they caught certain jokes and to see how they reacted to this surprise or that. Most of my friends were, at the time, Le Petomane newbies-- I wanted to watch them become Le Petomane converts. It only takes one show.

Am I a superfan? A groupie? Am I a stalker?

Yes. Yes. And if so, I need a better disguise because they recognize me all the time.

The first article I ever wrote for The Paper was about Le Petomane and their production of 5 THINGS. It's still my favorite article. I had such a good time watching them rehearse. I had so much fun figuring out how to best represent their unusual process in the article. And it was that article that introduced me to Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble-- I was a newbie then myself--  which I now know is one of the most consistently excellent theatre organizations in town-- if not THE most consistently excellent.

But, you know, I can't help it if part of the reason that I like them so much is that I like them so much as people.

And that's also why I'm so happy that Le Petomane applied to be this month's Non-Profit of the Month.

The 2012-2013 Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble season opens on September 6 at the Bard's Town theatre with TIME FLIES. Here's what their Facebook page says about it:

... and boy, are their arms tired. Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble returns to the Bard's Town for their season opener, Time Flies, September 6-16. Four weary travelers race through time from beginning to end, from the prehistoric muck to the great beyond, with a few layovers along the way. Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble proudly presents a comedic exploration of the Annals of Time through song, dance, and bare-knuckle boxing.

Le Petomane has six members, and each show features different combinations of these performers. This show is being brought to you by the same foursome who performed in last season's ONCE IN A BLUE MOON: Heather Burns, Tony Dingman, Kristie Rolape, and Kyle Ware.

TIME FLIES hits the stage September 6-10 and September 12-16. All shows are at 730p, and admission is by sliding scale from $8-$20. Heck, $8 is cheaper than a movie, and I'll vouch that the Bard's Town bar makes a dandy and reasonably priced Manhattan.

As I said, last time I went to a Le Petomane show, I ended up going five or six times... and that was because I brought friends who loved it so much they told more friends, and more friends, and so on. A Le Petomane show is pretty much a sure bet.

The second show of the season will be a relaunch of 5 THINGS in November, a show which ranks right up there with Actors Theatre's CHAD DEITY as one of the best things on stage in the 2011-2012 season.

Le Petomane only does comedy and almost always does wholly original comedy (they'll slip in a Shakespeare now and again). That means that every member of the six-member ensemble is a writer, a director, and a performer. TIME FLIES was built from the ground up by Burns, Dingman, Rolape, and Ware-- script, music, lyrics, choreography and all.

Reserve tickets at: us@lepetomane.org or by calling 503-454-4477. Here's their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LePetomaneTE