LTYM Spokane, Sunday, May 8, 2011

(All photography for the event by Follger Photography.)

There are not adequate words for Sunday afternoon, these incredible women or their stories.

The awe-inspiringly amazing cast of LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER Spokane 2011. From back left: Elise Raimi (co-producer), Kristina Mattson, Jeni Steeber, Michele Burkey, Courtney Clark, Ivory Coghlan, Cherie Killilea and Teresa Schock. Front row: Christine Goodell, Mindi Finch, Lisa Fairbanks-Rossi and Stacey Conner (co-producer/director).  Photo credit:  Follger Photography.

Teresa Schock - "B-R-E-A-T-H-E"

Kristina Mattson - "Prize Package"

Elise Raimi (producer) - "Love, Actually"

Christine Goodell - "Dear Kim"

Jeni Steeber - "Invisible Mother"

Lisa Fairbanks-Rossi - "Demoted from Miracles to Pains in the Ass"

Michele Burkey - "Unfaltering" and "Sweetness"

Mindi Finch - "Diagnosiversary"

Cherie Killilea - "Between the Laundry and the Library"

Ivory Coghlan - "Motherless Mother"

Courtney Clark - "Tears of Rachel"

Stacey Conner (producer/director) - "A Revelation of Sorts"

Curtain call. It was over far too soon.  Thank you for coming.  See you next year.

Tickets!

Buy them here:

www.listentoyourmotherspokane.eventbrite.com

We can't wait to see you there this Sunday!

At the edge

Ann Imig, our national director, put these last few days before the show into beautiful words.  Read her words. And then buy your tickets to LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER Spokane.  We promise, you want to share in this experience.

Help us spread the word

We have buttons! If you are planning to attend the Spokane LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER show, grab one and help us promote the event on your website or facebook page.  The codes are all posted on the national site.

It is truly not to be missed.

Tickets on sale:  www.listentoyourmotherspokane.eventbrite.com

BlogHer joins LTYM

BlogHer, the premier website for women in social media, is the national media sponsor for LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER.  Read the exciting announcement on the national LTYM site.  We can't say it any better than Ann did. Elise and I remain giddy and grateful to be a part of a brilliant idea that is quickly becoming a national phenomenon in women's voices, creativity and online community.

Don't miss your chance to be at the inaugural Spokane production of LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER.  Tickets are on sale right now through our on-line ticket site Eventbrite. 

LTYM Spokane tickets on sale now

The cast, producers and director of LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER Spokane would like to invite you to celebrate Mother's Day with us. Come to the Spokane Community College Lair Auditorium at 3:00 p.m. on May 8, 2011 and let our twelve amazing readers take you on a ninety minute journey through the joys, griefs, groans, laughter and tears that are motherhood.

Tickets for LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER Spokane are on sale now through our Eventbrite page. Tickets are $10.00 plus a processing fee from the Eventbrite site. Remaining tickets will be sold at the door for $12.00. Children under four are free. Please remember that there is profanity and some of the readings include adult topics.

The LTYM show promises a great Mother's Day afternoon out for groups of friends, mothers of all ages, and anyone who has a mother!  Don't miss the first annual Spokane LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER show. It is sure to become a Mother's Day tradition.

LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER Spokane will donate 5% of net proceeds to the national charity, City of Joy, a group supporting community reintegration for survivors of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo. An additional 5% of net proceeds will be donated to our local Crosswalk Teen Shelter, which provides, among many valuable services, parenting classes for young, at-risk families.

Local Cause: Spokane Crosswalk Teen Shelter

LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER is committed to supporting motherhood, not just creatively, but also through financial contributions to non-profit organizations that support families in need.

In 2011, all five LTYM productions will donate 5% of net proceeds to our national cause V-Day City of Joy, an initiative that supports healing for women survivors of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  In addition, each production will donate 5% of net proceeds to a local community cause.

We are pleased to announce that LTYM's cause in Spokane is the Crosswalk Teen Shelter, a project of The Volunteers of America, Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.  Crosswalk is an emergency shelter serving more than 1,000 children ages 13-17 in an average year.  The project is dedicated to restoring hope and encouraging personal responsibility among homeless youth in order to break the cycle of youth homelessness. In addition to providing medical and mental-health care, substance abuse treatment, life skills and self-sufficiency classes, job placement assistance and family reconciliation services, the shelter holds attachment and bonding classes for teen mothers and fathers and hosts an on-site Head Start program for young, struggling families.

Thank you to the staff and the many volunteers that make this safe haven for at risk teens and their vulnerable children possible. We are thrilled to support this project.

Listen To Your Mother: Spokane 2011 Cast

We are absolutely thrilled to announce the 2011 Spokane Listen To Your Mother cast:

Michele Burkey

Courtney Clark

Ivory Coghlan

Lisa Fairbanks-Rossi

Mindi Finch

Christy Goodell

Cherie Killilea

Kristina Mattson

Teresa Schock

Jeni Steeber

** Elise Raimi will also read and Stacey Conner will emcee and read at the event.

Last call

Auditions are Saturday.  We can hardly believe it ourselves.  The final schedule just went out by email.  If you contacted us to schedule an audition, you should now have received two scheduling emails from us.  Please contact us if you are not receiving our emails!

If you are still wondering, reading and rereading, wanting to tell your story, but unsure, we do have a time slot or two open. Email us (listentoyourmotherspokane@gmail.com) and ask for an audition time. 

For you brave, wonderful people who are on our schedule for Saturday: Yes, it's a little scary (it's really not) and yes, it's hard to speak your soul with the possibility of not being cast.  Keep in mind that your listeners will be two women who have told their own stories in public and know how vulnerable it feels.  We'll honor your story and your courage even if we can't cast you this year.

Read this about the magic of auditions and the hell of casting by National Director Ann Imig. I promise, you won't be sorry, whether you're in the audience or at the podium on show day.

Stacey

Audition Day Approaches!

We are so excited about the response to Listen To Your Mother in Spokane. It is going to be an amazing and emotional experience of story sharing - both at auditions and on show day.

Responses have gone out to all audition request emails - in most cases very promptly.  If you wrote for an audition and have not received a response, please write to us again. We have just discovered that a few emails went to our spam folder and some may have been deleted by gmail before we caught them!

We'll be contacting all auditioners with their audition time tomorrow.  We truly can not wait to hear your words.

What kind of reading?

I'm not sure what you're looking for?

An essay? A poem? A story?

Do I have to be a mother?


That's the beauty of it. We're not looking for anything in particular; at least, we're not looking for any form in particular.

We're looking for you. Your words. Your perspective. Your unique voice on motherhood.

An essay? Sure. My readings are in what might be called short essay form. This post made the top 100 blogposts for BlogHer Voices of the Year last year. (BlogHer has a community reading event similar to LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER, although not focused on motherhood.) And here's another more recent example of my work that might work well for LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER.

But, these are only ideas. Mine is only one style.

A poem? Yes. A story? Yes. A moment in time, described in gorgeous detail? Absolutely. An editorial on a passionate issue? Yes. About your mother? Perfect. Your wife or partner as a mother? Fabulous. The kind of mother you'd like to be some day? Yes. A spoof? We'd love it. Infertility? Without doubt. Adoption? Yes.

You needn't be a certain kind of mother.  You needn't be a mother at all.

My words are too heartbreaking. They aren't.

I think of motherhood in funny or ironic terms. Make us laugh.

There aren't any rules to this. Wit. Wisdom. Heartache. Poignancy. Show us your heart.

You can see the video of the Madison 2010 LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER show here. Read National Director Ann Imig's lovely words on auditioning. We direct you there only for guidance, we want our show to be as unique as you are.

Be inspired and then be you. Come and read for us. Auditions are February 26. Email us at listentoyourmotherspokane@gmail.com.

Come On, We Know You Have It In You!

LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER seeks Spokane writers to read their own original essays on any aspect of motherhood at the Lair Auditorium, Spokane Community College, for one 3:00 p.m. performance on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8, 2011.

Auditions will be held on Saturday, February 26 at Manito Methodist Church on the corner of 32nd and Grand Blvd.  Audition times are by appointment only.

LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER began in Madison, Wisconsin last year as the brilliant concept of stay-at-home-humorist Ann Imig.  The Spokane show is directed and produced by local moms, writers and bloggers Stacey Conner and Elise Raimi.

All ages, types, backgrounds and experience-level writers are invited to audition.  LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER is a community-oriented celebration of the beauty, the heartbreak, the trials and triumphs that is MOTHERHOOD.  No previous stage experience is necessary.  Bring your own original, humorous, poignant, painful, joyful and soulful words on mothering.  Previously published work accepted as long as the author retains full rights or has express permission to read the work for this event.

Commitment for cast members includes two group read-throughs in April and a pre-performance run-through at the Lair Auditorium prior to the show.

To schedule an audition time for Saturday, February 26, please email listentoyourmotherspokane@gmail.com. Include your name and your availability on February 26 for an appointment.  (Please also email us with questions or if you are in need of encouragement!)

We would love to listen to your words.  Come and audition and help us to create a new Spokane Mother’s Day tradition.