North East and South the Mississippi Flows

Check out this .mp3 of the kids in the show rapping about the West Side. Listen here:

http://ia311012.us.archive.org/3/items/WestSideOfTheRiver/KidsRap.mp3

Pay attention, make the right connections
As the nippy Mississippi flows in all directions
When it reaches our city, the waters run East
So the South becomes the West Side of the river for a piece

St. Paul's West Side is not the same as West St. Paul
No it's North of the 'burbs West and South St. Paul, Y'all
East of West Seventh and South of downtown
It's West of the East Side and the river south bound.

North, East and South the Mississippi flows
North, East and South around the West Side (West Side)
Three of our borders are water here
On the West Side of the river (the West Side of the river)

We did it! Three show for big audiences. It was a hit!

WSTP in the News!

Article on the Twin Cities Daily Planet

Article in the St. Paul Voice (scroll down to page 12)

Craig's Shop, sketch by Jake Lenertz

"The Studio of Art Davidii"

sketch by Jake Lenertz while working on the set for West Side on the South Side

We're going to the West Side!

Working on the Set

Sustinance!

Rehearse, rehearse, and re-hearse

Rehearsal on the Stage

The Cast and Production Team of
West Side on the South Side

Rehearsals:

Preview performance: Saturday, Sept. 19, 2 pm

WHAT: A free preview performance of selected excerpts from The West Side Theater Project's West Side on the South Side, a new play by Al Justiniano created by and for St. Paul's West Side Community.
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 19, at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Riverview Branch Library, 1 East George Street, St. Paul, MN
Brought to you by The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library. For more information...click here!

Westside on the Southside...on YouTube!

First Rehearsal and Read-through with Cast

The cast gathered and read the script for the first time tonight. It was thrilling and inspiring to hear the voices in the room. The show opens one month from today and it's gonna be great! Tonight I am feeling grateful to the many many people, businesses and organizations that have contributed so much to make this happen. Don't miss the show!

Readings and auditions

We held readings of the script-in-progress and got community feedback at sessions on Tuesday August 11, 12:30 p.m. in the Dunedin Community Room and 1:30 p.m. at Neighborhood House.

On August 14, 15 and 19 community members aged 9-80 (or thereabouts) auditioned for roles as community actors, set builders, box office help, costume construction, and more.

Mark your calendars and plan to come to the show in the theater space of the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building, 179 E Robie St., St. Paul 55107.

Performance dates and times are:

Friday Sept. 25 and Saturday Sept 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday Sept 27 at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets are Pay-what-you-can and will be available at the door

E-mail westsidetheaterproject@yahoo.com for more information.

Production is upon us: Save these dates!

Spread the word! Auditions for The Westside on the Southside the new play by Al Justiniano inspired by stories from the West Side of St. Paul are coming soon. Community members are invited to come audition on Friday August 14 from 6-9 pm and Saturday August 15 from 10am-1pm. We'll post locations soon.

Also, mark your calendars for the performances September 25, 26, and 27.

WSTP needs musicians, volunteers

West Side Theater Project seeks musicians to audition to participate in the creation and production of music for the upcoming September performance. We want to include musical the diverse cultures represented in the neighborhood. If you or someone you know is interested, please call Becky at 651/216-0060, or e-mail westsidetheaterproject@yahoo.com for more information.

We are also currently interviewing for several volunteer positions to assist with the production. Volunteer positions available include: stage manager and assistant stage managers, set construction, costume shop, community outreach, box office, music director, assistant stage director and more! For a complete listining with job descriptions, or to request an application, email westsidetheaterproject@yahoo.com or contact Becky at 651/216-0060.

We would like to fill as many of these positions as possible by mid-July, so contact us today!

Time to Start Writing

We are moving into the playwriting, music-composing stage of the project!

Between late January and today we have held 12 story circles in 5 locations in and around the Wellstone Center, Dunedin Homes and El Burrito Mercado. We are going to have a few more story-listening sessions in the next couple of weeks, especially hoping to hear from youth.


We have heard many rich stories. We know we've barely scratched the surface: we could keep listening to stories for months to come. While we do hope to hear more stories for a future projects, it is time now, to start writing a play and some music! We have lots of inspiration and ideas and are ready for this next step.



We are looking for musicians! If you know of musicians in the neighborhood who might be interested in pariticipating in this project, let us know. We hope to include music from the neighborhood's many cultures.


Watch this space for a preview of what's to come as the play starts to take shape. Also, watch for specific dates and times of upcoming events related to the project. In July we plan to host community readings of the play, a collaboration workshop, and community art workshops to create set componants.

Cinco de Mayo WSTP Update

The annual Cinco de Mayo Festival passed through the West Side this past Saturday (el dos de Mayo). Since today is the actual Cinco de Mayo (May 5) it seems a good day for a long overdue update post.

Here’s what you’ll find below:

1. What we’ve been doing: Story Circle update
2. Last open-to-all chance to share stories: May 19, 2009
3. What’s coming up: timeline to a Sept 24-29, 2009 Production
4. Volunteer Opportunities
5. New Cause on Facebook for WSTP
6. More ways to help

(I’m not sophisticated enough to make that list links, so you’ll just have to scroll through to get to what you want to read.)


1. What we’ve been doing: Story Circle update

As we expected, there are lots and lots of stories in the 4-block area surrounding the Wellstone Center. We have met with residents of the Dunedin single adult high rise and family town homes, Neighborhood House staff, Elementary-aged children in the All Around the Neighborhood Spring Break Camp, and community members at El Burrito. We’ve heard stories in English, Spanish and Hmong. During May we will meet again with Hmong Families from Dunedin, youth and adults and Neighborhood House, and host another story circle open to the community at El Burrito.


2. Last open-to-all chance to share stories: May 19, 2009
HELP SPREAD THE WORD

If you have stories to share about the West Side, especially the area around the Wellstone Center, PLEASE COME join us at El Burrito (in El Café) on May 19 from 3:00-4:30. This is the last open to anyone story circle we’ll hold, so we hope to see you there. Tasty El Burrito snacks will be provided, so don’t miss out. I’ll send another reminder about this next week. Reservations aren’t necessary but do help us plan for food, so if you think you can come, send an e-mail to westsidetheaterproject@yahoo.com to let us know.


3. What’s coming up: timeline to a Sept 24-29, 2009 Production

January-May: Story Gathering
June: Creation of First-draft of Script
July-August: Community readings of the draft script and script revision
Early August: Community Auditions
mid-August to September: Rehearsal
Sept 24-29, 2009: Performance!!!


4. Volunteer Opportunities

We now have a list of volunteer opportunities and a volunteer application available. If you are interested in working on the project, e-mail westsidetheaterproject@yahoo.com and we’ll send you the list and the application.


5. West Side Theater Project Cause on Facebook

Stay in touch and help spread the word about the project to others by joining our “cause” on Facebook and inviting friends who might be interested:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/262039


6. More Ways to Help

Help bring the show to life! Make a donation to the West Side Theater Project at www.nautilusmusictheater.org, click "donate online" and follow the process. Indicate that your donation is for "WSTP." You may also mail contributions, payable to Nautilus Music Theater and indicating WSTP in the memo, to Nautilus at 308 Prince St Ste 250 St Paul, MN 55101. Thank you!

Link to story in the St. Paul Voice

The article isn't online any more as their May issue is now up. I don't know if it's possible to upload documents here, but if I figure it out I'll maybe add it that way later

Publicity and More Stories

Yesterday the April issue of The St. Paul Voice arrived at doorsteps around the neighborhood bearing an article about the West Side Theater Project! It does a lovely job of describing the project. The April issue is not yet on their website, but we'll post a link when/if the story is on there.

Since the last post we have had 3 more story circles at Dunedin, 2 with the single adults in the high rise and one with the families who live in the Dunedin Family homes. The stories are rich and inspiring. We're putting together a schedule of story circles in April and May which we will post here on the website soon.

We are still raising funds to support the project. Please make a contribution (large or small) by going to www.nautilusmusictheater.org, click "donate online" and follow the process. Indicate that your donation is for "WSTP." You may also mail contributions, payable to Nautilus Music Theater and indicating WSTP in the memo, to Nautilus at 308 Prince St Ste 250
St Paul, MN 55101. Thank you!

First Story Circle

We had our first story circle today! In a story circle the artistic team meets with community members to hear their stories and experiences. Story Circles may include casual conversation, questions that trigger stories, cultural mapping, writing exercises, theater games and more.

Today we met for informal conversation with a group of folks in the Dunedin High Rise who play Loteria (Bingo) every week. They call themselves the Forget-Me-Nots. They reminisced about the neighborhood, winters past, fear of heights, laundry, watching airplanes take off (their laundry room is on the 10th floor with lots of windows overlooking the downtown airport), living in the midst of the Cinco de Mayo festival for 2 days a year, the generosity of neighbors and more. We hope to go back to meet with them again in a few weeks to hear more stories.

West Side Theater Project - Creating theater for and with the West Side of St. Paul.

What is it?

The West Side Theater Project is and artist-led effort to create theater for and with the people of the West Side of St. Paul. Professional theater artists gather stories from neighborhood residents, create a script with community input, audition professional and community actors, musicians and production members, and produce and perform a professionally directed and designed show in the neighborhood.

The first “pilot” production will focus on a small 4-block are of the West Side between State, Cesar Chavez, Anita and Winifred Streets and including The Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building, Neighborhood House, El Rio Vista Rec Center, the Business district at State and Cesar Chavez, Parque Castillo, and Dunedin Homes. The play will be performed somewhere in this same area, as yet to be determined.

Project partners include Neighborhood House, Teatro del Pueblo, and Nautilus Music-Theater. The artistic team leading this project includes Becky Dale as producer/composer/music director, Harry Waters, Jr. as stage director, Al Justiniano as playwright, Ben Krywosz as process dramaturge, and Sandy Agustin as advisor.

Timeline for first project: We will gather stories and craft a script in the winter and spring of 2009, with auditions, rehearsals and a production in late summer or early fall of 2009.

How can you get involved?

We are looking for the support of businesses, organizations and individuals to make this project work. Here’s how you can help:

Promote the project – help spread the word about story circles, auditions and the production by telling your friends, colleagues, or customers about it. Post promotional materials as they become available
Join a story circle to share your stories
Audition to be a part of the production
If your organization or business is in the project zone, host a story circle
Make a financial contribution to help this project come into being! Project sponsor acknowledgements will be made in all publicity materials and program advertisements are available. If you’d like to make a donation you can do so online or by mail to Nautilus Music Theater. Be sure to designate “West Side Community Theater Project”By mail: Nautilus Music-Theater 308 Prince St Ste 250 St Paul, MN 55101Online: https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=411721692

For more info contact Becky Dale at westsidetheaterproject@yahoo.com or 651/216-0060.

This activity is made possible, in part, by funds provided by the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council from and appropriation by the Minnesota Legislature