{"id":25495,"date":"2017-08-25T03:56:26","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T10:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=25495"},"modified":"2017-08-22T14:25:54","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T21:25:54","slug":"the-fringe-is-coming-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2017\/08\/25\/the-fringe-is-coming-soon\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fringe is coming soon!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seattle comedy couple Clayton Weller and Sophie Lowenstein are bringing Naturally<\/em> to the festival. (photo from Amanda Smith)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Fear of death, making comedy and fighting prejudice are but a few of the topics Jewish community members will be exploring in their productions at this year\u2019s Vancouver Fringe Festival, which runs Sept. 7-17.<\/p>\n

Seattle comedy couple Sophie Lowenstein and Clayton Weller are bringing Naturally <\/em>to the festival. It\u2019s not one show, but two, with audiences deciding which they want to see: the one about grief, which also contains a dating scene, \u201cthe worst theatrical audition ever\u201d and more; or the one about what sketch comedy is, how to make it \u2013 and why to bother making it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a variety of choosing activities at the top of the show, which culminates in the audience throwing paper airplanes at the stage for the show they\u2019d most like to see. It\u2019s going to be bonkers,\u201d explained Weller. \u201cAs far as seeing both shows \u2013 how flattering would that be?! \u2013 the final two performances we\u2019re locking in which show will happen.\u201d So, Good Grief<\/em> (Heart<\/em>) will be on Sept. 14 and Understanding Sketch<\/em> (Head<\/em>) on Sept. 16; for the other performances, you\u2019ll have to take your chances. Though, having seen them on video in preparing for this interview, it\u2019s not much of a risk \u2013 both shows will have you laughing, and crying. There is a reason they dub Naturally<\/em> \u201cserious comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a duo, this has always pretty much been our style,\u201d said Weller. \u201cWe\u2019ve both done a bunch of plays, both serious and completely frivolous\u2026. We thought that a laugh never feels as good as after you\u2019re done crying. The contrast makes both the dark and light pop out more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would also say that we find a lot of beauty in that line between joy and pain because it\u2019s not a very thick line. It\u2019s blurred and sometimes nonexistent,\u201d added Lowenstein, who is part of the Jewish community. \u201cWhen you\u2019re working with comedy, experiencing other emotions besides happiness while you laugh is sort of taboo \u2013 at least rare. We play in that playground. I think, individually, we are both curious about people\u2019s emotions and we investigate them in our own ways, so we came together to run a joint study.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the press material, Lowenstein and Weller have been performing comedy together for more than 12 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cSophie and I went to the same college, University of Puget Sound, and both got cast in our college sketch comedy group,\u201d Weller told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cWe performed in several shows before we actually started living together as roommates, then we started living<\/em> together, with feelings and stuff. Humour and comedy definitely permeate every part of our lives. Lots of laughter keeps our hearts light.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the comedy group Ubiquitous They, the couple produced about 15 shows. However, said Weller, the group \u201cis more of an alumni network at this point. Several members have moved on to work in L.A., or across the country. We produced really regularly from 2007 to 2014, but, for the most part, it\u2019s more of a club that hangs out every couple of months, and goes, \u2018Wow, it\u2019s tough to be an adult, am I right?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past few years, Lowenstein and Weller have been focusing on their performances as a duo. \u201cBasically, Naturally<\/em> is the only comedy project Sophie and I do now,\u201d said Weller. \u201cWe\u2019ll do a variety show or small play here and there on our own, but, because our lives are so crazy, we\u2019ve pared the work we do down and this is where we put our real <\/em>artistic push. I\u2019ve never made work I\u2019m more proud of than what I\u2019m currently making with Sophie. She\u2019s awesome. (Secret: This is all just an excuse for me to hang out with her more!)\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOther secret: I feel the same way about him,\u201d added Lowenstein. \u201cHe makes this process happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Naturally<\/em>, Weller runs two performance venues \u2013 the Pocket Theatre and the Slate Theatre \u2013 and Lowenstein works as a nurse practitioner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at it like this: some NPs have kids and they can do it. I have theatre and I can do it,\u201d said Lowenstein about balancing her careers. Her recipe for success? \u201cSave as many of your nights for rehearsals as possible. Dinner no earlier than 10 p.m. most nights. Make sure the other member of your group does all<\/em> the administrative stuff and keeps you motivated when you\u2019re dragging your butt and snarling. And, if the project doesn\u2019t give you deep joy, don\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one of the Naturally<\/em> shows, Weller mentions that he once had a lucrative high-tech job that he gave up for comedy. Does he have any regrets?<\/p>\n

\u201cI started a company called Freak\u2019n Genius in 2012,\u201d he said. \u201cWe made animation software, and we raised over half a million dollars in financing. At first, I was working with cool creative people and helping them make awesome things \u2013 then we slowly turned into an iPhone app for tweens. I learned a ton, but I 100% do not regret leaving. I give about three hours a week\u2019s worth for tweens. Not the 60 hours a week I was putting in. Artists are who I really care about!\u201d<\/p>\n

About how he became one, or at least got into comedy, Weller said he had terrible stage fright until eighth grade. \u201cI decided I was tired of being scared, and did improv comedy. After the first laughing crowd, I got bit by the bug, and I\u2019ve been doing it ever since. There\u2019s no better way to make friends than to make art together. Our relationship is proof to the point! I\u2019m super<\/em> lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her part, Sophie said she first got into comedy \u201cby loving<\/em> that feeling of making my friends laugh. So, I practised how to do that more and more. I also had very<\/em> funny friends. Now, I\u2019m friends with the<\/em> funniest human I know, and he also has a heart and mind. Bonus. As for the theatre part, I started performing when I was a little kid then throughout school: musicals, Shakespeare, etc. Stuck with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple has been doing Naturally<\/em> for a couple of years now. \u201cAfter every performance,\u201d said Weller, \u201cwe can\u2019t help but do the \u2018Oh man, next time why don\u2019t we blah blah blah.\u2019 The script is never permanent, and every remounting of the material we go through a rewrite and punch up all the scripts. Also, finding new ways to fit it together is a whole other way to make the thing new for us. Mostly, we just like hanging out and this is a great excuse.\u201d Lowenstein agreed.<\/p>\n

Naturally<\/em> runs Sept. 8-16, at various times, in the gym at False Creek Community Centre on Granville Island. The 55-minute show is rated 14+ for coarse language and sexual content. Running Sept. 7-17 at the Firehall Arts Centre, also at various times, is the Canadian premi\u00e8re of Cry-Baby: The Musical!<\/em>, which is being presented by Awkward Stage Productions. It, too, is rated 14+ for the same reasons.<\/p>\n

Jewish community member Erika Babins, who is artistic associate of Awkward Stage, choreographed the Fringe production, which features \u201ca cast of 16 emerging artists\u201d and runs 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Erika Babins choreographed Awkward Stage\u2019s production of Cry-Baby: The Musical! (photo from Awkward Stage)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 1950s Baltimore, the conservative squares face off against the leather-clad delinquents in this rockabilly musical based on John Waters\u2019 cult film,\u201d reads the press release. The 2008 Broadway show was nominated for four Tony Awards, including best choreography, and won a Drama Desk Award for outstanding choreography. So, where does Babins begin?<\/p>\n

\u201cI start my choreographic process by obsessively listening to the music of the show so that it can live in my body,\u201d Babins told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cBefore we start rehearsals, I\u2019ll meet with the director and we\u2019ll talk through the shape of the show so that we know what purpose each song serves in the show, where we\u2019re coming from and where we\u2019re going, and how we\u2019re going to get there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, when I get the cast in the room, I can take the story I know I\u2019m going to tell and use them to tell it, using movement and music as my storytelling techniques. If I\u2019m really stuck about how to tell a part of the story, I might look up a video or two on YouTube to see how a different company made something work, but I\u2019m careful to only watch it once so that it only ever is for inspiration and I don\u2019t accidentally steal something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Awkward Stage decided to mount Cry-Baby<\/em> for several reasons. \u201cAwkward has made a tradition out of presenting hilarious, and culturally relevant, full-scale musicals at the Fringe Festival,\u201d said Babins. \u201cCry-Baby: The Musical<\/em> came to us via artistic director Andy Toth. He brought it forward as a show that features a mostly young cast, great music and a lot of interesting and fleshed out female characters. Not only that, the messages in the show about systematic prejudices, classism and living your own truth so long as it\u2019s not hurting anyone else, are still so relevant today.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is Awkward\u2019s eighth musical at the Fringe Festival. \u201cIn that time,\u201d noted Babins, \u201cwe\u2019ve won three Pick-of-the-Fringe\u2019s and the Joanna Maratta Award. We are committed to bridging the gap for emerging artists coming into the professional theatre scene in Vancouver and paying our artists for their efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the full Fringe schedule and tickets ($14), visit vancouverfringe.com<\/a>. (Note: a $5 Fringe membership is required for all shows.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seattle comedy couple Clayton Weller and Sophie Lowenstein are bringing Naturally to the festival. (photo from Amanda Smith) Fear of death, making comedy and fighting prejudice are but a few of the topics Jewish community members will be exploring in their productions at this year\u2019s Vancouver Fringe Festival, which runs Sept. 7-17. Seattle comedy couple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[4422,7325,3119,4420,1242,7323,6296,7324,1742],"class_list":["post-25495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-awkward-stage","tag-clayton-weller","tag-dance","tag-erika-babins","tag-fringe-festival","tag-improv","tag-musical-theatre","tag-sophie-lowenstein","tag-vancouver"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}