Hello Everyone!
My students and I have been hard at work for the last few weeks and we have had some exciting breakthroughs. Check out what's new below:
-Our incredible Booster Team secured enough funding for us to buy a travel LED system. This has added a whole new depth to "Firefly" because we're able to use more colors than ever before! We can now use purple and red for scenes and I am loving it!
-We have a FULL HOUSE! We have 35 amazing kids in the Production represented and crazy enough, we added two more last night bringing us to 37! I love seeing all their faces and hearing their names!
-13 days until performance! We're beyond excited to see this show come to stage.
-Our school district will be filming "Firefly" and doing a special on the process on the night we open. We're excited to share this video too!
Thanks for all the love sent our way! We're getting there!
-Cab
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Blocked
Hi friends!
It's Cab again. Here's our latest updates:
1. We finished blocking all of "Firefly"
2. We went through and marked all lighting, sound, set, etc. cues this week
3. We all went through a fairly emotional upheaval.
I knew this show would be emotional. I knew it would rock my students and really take them out of their comfort zone. I was ready for that, but I didn't know what it would feel like until this week.
When I was writing "Firefly," I was really struggling with how to end the story. I knew what had happened with Parker in real life, but I was honestly scared to put it on paper. It felt raw. But, once I had talked to a few families who had lost their kids to DIPG, I realized very quickly that it was the ONLY way to honor these families. No child has survived DIPG. They have either passed from it or they are STILL fighting with it, stable tumor or not.
But, putting it on stage, and seeing the kids work through the scene the first time. Oof. It was a lot...
A lot of times when I am blocking, my students are normally laughing, caught in their own lives. They snap to attention when I call them to stage, but for the most part, I let them do their thing in rehearsal.
This rehearsal was different. You could have heard a pin drop as I blocked the last few pages. And when we ran it, there was NO NOISE. Everyone was transfixed like it was an actual show run. Kids were crying. One of my boys had his head in his hands.
Everyone felt it. And it was the first time we had ever done it.
But, I don't hesitate. Because, as much as that scene hurts, it also calls the action. It's going to make people uncomfortable, and maybe, just maybe, that will make them think twice about this "orphaned" disease.
Love always,
-Cab
It's Cab again. Here's our latest updates:
1. We finished blocking all of "Firefly"
2. We went through and marked all lighting, sound, set, etc. cues this week
3. We all went through a fairly emotional upheaval.
I knew this show would be emotional. I knew it would rock my students and really take them out of their comfort zone. I was ready for that, but I didn't know what it would feel like until this week.
When I was writing "Firefly," I was really struggling with how to end the story. I knew what had happened with Parker in real life, but I was honestly scared to put it on paper. It felt raw. But, once I had talked to a few families who had lost their kids to DIPG, I realized very quickly that it was the ONLY way to honor these families. No child has survived DIPG. They have either passed from it or they are STILL fighting with it, stable tumor or not.
But, putting it on stage, and seeing the kids work through the scene the first time. Oof. It was a lot...
A lot of times when I am blocking, my students are normally laughing, caught in their own lives. They snap to attention when I call them to stage, but for the most part, I let them do their thing in rehearsal.
This rehearsal was different. You could have heard a pin drop as I blocked the last few pages. And when we ran it, there was NO NOISE. Everyone was transfixed like it was an actual show run. Kids were crying. One of my boys had his head in his hands.
Everyone felt it. And it was the first time we had ever done it.
But, I don't hesitate. Because, as much as that scene hurts, it also calls the action. It's going to make people uncomfortable, and maybe, just maybe, that will make them think twice about this "orphaned" disease.
Love always,
-Cab
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
A Weekend of Listening...
Hello Readers!
It's Cab again! It's been a crazy couple of days, for sure! When I started this project, I had one child with DIPG in mind: Parker. The muse that started this whole adventure. But, the more I started writing, the more I began to realize that there are so many kids dealing with this every single year, and I would be remiss to forget about them. So, I started, kinda delicately, contacting people on facebook who had similar pages to Parker. I just wanted to see if there was interest, and there was!
I met an incredible Mom, Danielle, who is the mother of Drake, a little boy from Louisiana. I met her before Drake lost his battle, and I was overcome with the family's strength and energy. When Drake died, I wasn't sure if they wanted to be a part of the show anymore, but boy was I wrong! Danielle has been a force in getting me connected to families. It's been so moving to meet every single new family!
Over this past weekend, I have met 10 new families. Every single one of them has their own story and I love learning about their kids. It makes the project that more important and valuable to both my kids and I. I feel their energy, thoughts and power behind every move that my actors are making. They are breathing life into this show in ways I never expected.
It's been a blessing.
A job that an actor forgets about sometimes is the job of listening. I talk to my students about this all the time. YOU MUST LISTEN. Don't enter on the stage with your line ready to go without really listening. I don't care how many times you have run the show. If the actor you are sharing energy with changes that energy, you must adapt. That's human nature and that is true acting.
So, I had to listen this weekend. I had to let the stories wash over me.
And I was blessed by it.
We're going to keep listening, and then we're going to keep fighting.
Thank you to all,
-Cab
It's Cab again! It's been a crazy couple of days, for sure! When I started this project, I had one child with DIPG in mind: Parker. The muse that started this whole adventure. But, the more I started writing, the more I began to realize that there are so many kids dealing with this every single year, and I would be remiss to forget about them. So, I started, kinda delicately, contacting people on facebook who had similar pages to Parker. I just wanted to see if there was interest, and there was!
I met an incredible Mom, Danielle, who is the mother of Drake, a little boy from Louisiana. I met her before Drake lost his battle, and I was overcome with the family's strength and energy. When Drake died, I wasn't sure if they wanted to be a part of the show anymore, but boy was I wrong! Danielle has been a force in getting me connected to families. It's been so moving to meet every single new family!
Over this past weekend, I have met 10 new families. Every single one of them has their own story and I love learning about their kids. It makes the project that more important and valuable to both my kids and I. I feel their energy, thoughts and power behind every move that my actors are making. They are breathing life into this show in ways I never expected.
It's been a blessing.
A job that an actor forgets about sometimes is the job of listening. I talk to my students about this all the time. YOU MUST LISTEN. Don't enter on the stage with your line ready to go without really listening. I don't care how many times you have run the show. If the actor you are sharing energy with changes that energy, you must adapt. That's human nature and that is true acting.
So, I had to listen this weekend. I had to let the stories wash over me.
And I was blessed by it.
We're going to keep listening, and then we're going to keep fighting.
Thank you to all,
-Cab
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Hello and Welcome
Hello and Welcome!
I am guessing you have stumbled onto this blog for one of a few reasons: you googled DIPG, you know about our show because you have seen it, or you're one of the cast members of this show.
Well, this post is going to start at the beginning. So, hang on tight.
I've always been a writer, since I was very little. I wasn't able to put things to paper, but I came up with all kinds of stories. When I did learn to write, I began to pencil in different odd stories, mostly about horses to be completely honest. But, I wrote.
When I began to work in the Theatre, my writings turned to plays. I found it fascinating that I could literally bring my work to life. WITH REAL PEOPLE. How cool was that? And when you're a theatre teacher, you get to test a lot of your writing. My kids are my harshest critics. They have turned down multiple stories that I have started writing. I love them, but they're snobs. (Also, when I refer to my "kids," I mean my students. I don't have any biological children).
But, they didn't turn down "Firefly."
"Firefly" is the short name for a show I started writing in 2016. I have always been affected by childhood cancer or really, any rare disease. My cousin, Megan, was diagnosed with a very rare disease when she was only 3. It was so rare, it's named after her. She was given a terminal diagnosis and they were told she wouldn't live very long. Boy, did she prove them wrong. She lived for 26 incredible years.
Megan taught me so much about growing up with a disease you can't control. I was so inspired by her, so I could say that I was easily drawn to kids like her.
But, in 2016, when I began writing "Firefly," I didn't know that while I was writing, the child who would go on to drive the story was being diagnosed. I didn't know that her story would take me on a path I never expected to be writing.
That child was named Parker Monhollon.
Parker was 8 years old when she was diagnosed. She was a dancer. I have danced my entire life. It's as much a part of my being as my love for the color green and the mountains of my home. So, I connected with her story. I came across it by pure facebook accident in January of 2017, and I found myself checking with her often...desperate to keep up to date on her.
Parker was battling a rare brain cancer called DIPG or Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. I have sensed learned that some families are calling it DMG or Diffuse Midline Glioma due to different manifestations. DIPG affects the pons system of the brain which controls all body functions: lungs, movement, etc. But it leaves the child with the tumor fully mentally intact. They can feel themselves losing control, but they feel no different mentally. It's horrific, and unfair and even unimaginable.
But yet, 300 kids a year are diagnosed with it.
And a large percentage of those kids will die within 9 months of diagnosis.
Parker passed in the summer of 2017. And I sobbed. I sobbed for a little girl I had never met. I sobbed for all the kids and their families living this nightmare.
And I began writing. And I wrote, and I threw things away and I wrote some more. And then, I was bold. And I shared a tiny snippet with one of my students and surprisingly, she liked it.
So I wrote again, and I listened to moody music and I cried over telling this story. I researched and read, and imagined. And then, it was done. It was written and "Firefly" was born.
But, I had named the main character "Maddie." I love the name, but it wasn't right. And it hit me, I had been inspired by Parker. So Parker was the name. But, I didn't want to name our character Parker without permission. I felt stuck, but I got bold again.
In October of 2018, I contacted Parker Loves Life, the foundation set up for Parker in the midst of her illness. And I asked, and she said yes. And so "Maddie" became Parker and it felt like every piece of the puzzle connected.
I would spend the next few months reading over things, editing them and rewriting parts. I began reaching out to other families who were on facebook and fighting (more on them in another post).
And now, here we are. The fall of 2019. It's time. We have an incredible cast and crew and we're ready.
It's time to put on our big girl pants and take on this show.
And so, my characters began to lift off the page.
So begins "The Story of a Firefly"
Want to donate to our cause? Find us at tinyurl.com/storyofafirefly
Future links coming soon
Love,
Cab
I am guessing you have stumbled onto this blog for one of a few reasons: you googled DIPG, you know about our show because you have seen it, or you're one of the cast members of this show.
Well, this post is going to start at the beginning. So, hang on tight.
I've always been a writer, since I was very little. I wasn't able to put things to paper, but I came up with all kinds of stories. When I did learn to write, I began to pencil in different odd stories, mostly about horses to be completely honest. But, I wrote.
When I began to work in the Theatre, my writings turned to plays. I found it fascinating that I could literally bring my work to life. WITH REAL PEOPLE. How cool was that? And when you're a theatre teacher, you get to test a lot of your writing. My kids are my harshest critics. They have turned down multiple stories that I have started writing. I love them, but they're snobs. (Also, when I refer to my "kids," I mean my students. I don't have any biological children).
But, they didn't turn down "Firefly."
"Firefly" is the short name for a show I started writing in 2016. I have always been affected by childhood cancer or really, any rare disease. My cousin, Megan, was diagnosed with a very rare disease when she was only 3. It was so rare, it's named after her. She was given a terminal diagnosis and they were told she wouldn't live very long. Boy, did she prove them wrong. She lived for 26 incredible years.
Megan taught me so much about growing up with a disease you can't control. I was so inspired by her, so I could say that I was easily drawn to kids like her.
But, in 2016, when I began writing "Firefly," I didn't know that while I was writing, the child who would go on to drive the story was being diagnosed. I didn't know that her story would take me on a path I never expected to be writing.
That child was named Parker Monhollon.
Parker was 8 years old when she was diagnosed. She was a dancer. I have danced my entire life. It's as much a part of my being as my love for the color green and the mountains of my home. So, I connected with her story. I came across it by pure facebook accident in January of 2017, and I found myself checking with her often...desperate to keep up to date on her.
Parker was battling a rare brain cancer called DIPG or Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. I have sensed learned that some families are calling it DMG or Diffuse Midline Glioma due to different manifestations. DIPG affects the pons system of the brain which controls all body functions: lungs, movement, etc. But it leaves the child with the tumor fully mentally intact. They can feel themselves losing control, but they feel no different mentally. It's horrific, and unfair and even unimaginable.
But yet, 300 kids a year are diagnosed with it.
And a large percentage of those kids will die within 9 months of diagnosis.
Parker passed in the summer of 2017. And I sobbed. I sobbed for a little girl I had never met. I sobbed for all the kids and their families living this nightmare.
And I began writing. And I wrote, and I threw things away and I wrote some more. And then, I was bold. And I shared a tiny snippet with one of my students and surprisingly, she liked it.
So I wrote again, and I listened to moody music and I cried over telling this story. I researched and read, and imagined. And then, it was done. It was written and "Firefly" was born.
But, I had named the main character "Maddie." I love the name, but it wasn't right. And it hit me, I had been inspired by Parker. So Parker was the name. But, I didn't want to name our character Parker without permission. I felt stuck, but I got bold again.
In October of 2018, I contacted Parker Loves Life, the foundation set up for Parker in the midst of her illness. And I asked, and she said yes. And so "Maddie" became Parker and it felt like every piece of the puzzle connected.
I would spend the next few months reading over things, editing them and rewriting parts. I began reaching out to other families who were on facebook and fighting (more on them in another post).
And now, here we are. The fall of 2019. It's time. We have an incredible cast and crew and we're ready.
It's time to put on our big girl pants and take on this show.
And so, my characters began to lift off the page.
So begins "The Story of a Firefly"
Want to donate to our cause? Find us at tinyurl.com/storyofafirefly
Future links coming soon
Love,
Cab
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