SoHa Happenings in Colorado

"I tell people I do improv because I can't remember lines," joked Pam Roth O'Mara. "I do improv acting because I love improv, but memorization has been a problem since I was a teenager. I looked all over for help, but finally stopped auditioning for traditional, scripted acting roles." Pam was still determined to find help with memorization. Photo © 2014 by  Andreea Matei Recently she came across Garrett Ayer's How to Remember blog that mentioned a workshop at the Denver Center Theater Academy, and enrolled. "It helped!" she says, and has been applying the knowledge in her role as a park interpreter at South Platte Park in Littleton, CO.  "As a park interpreter there's a lot of information to learn quickly about everything to do with and around the South Platte Park, and about the programs we offer to the public and schools. I now approach learning the materials with more confidence, which makes the delivery even more fun....

Hold the presses... you heard it.... Kids Like to Write. And here's the reason why. It's called  ThumbPrintPlays™. "Say, what?" "You heard me!" "Run it again. Please." "Okay. Listen closely...."  The book version of my popular  ThumbPrintPlay Kit™ for Kids is now available on Blurb ( http://blur.by/1nidIsE ). $9.95. Get it now for your kids, your kids kids, your nieces and nephews. Just get it... Rules of Thumb by Pam Roth O'Mara Questions? book@thumbprintplays.com SoHa  Happenings  in  Colorado ™   produced by...                         reported by...        Pam Roth O'Mara | pam@sohappens.com

www.oyimprov.com Two local talents, Cherie Karo Schwartz and Pam Roth O’Mara, have pooled their experience and skills to create  OY ! Improv ™  Creative Jewish Experience.  OY ! Improv ™  is a collaboration of improv, creative dramatics, and storytelling that provides an avenue for post-Bar/Bat Mitzvah learning. “ OY ! Improv ™  is an engaging, interactive, in-the-moment experience of living Judaism that captures the minds, hearts, and imagination of Jewish teens, their teachers, and their families,” said Cherie. Drawing from Jewish cultural, historical, and religious themes, including Torah, holidays, life cycles, and traditions of world Jewry, this collaborative approach guides Jewish teens through their own personal discovery of the people and scenarios, and helps them create a path through events, history, and traditions. While primarily geared for teens, a customized  OY ! Improv ™  program works wonders for all age groups and backgrounds. The...

Just in from Kathryn Winograd, Director, ACC Writers Studio... Got an itch to write, to hone your craft?  How ‘bout . . . Exercises in Brevity and the Mini-memoir; The Brilliance of Juxtaposition in Poetry; Mouth to Mouth for the Limping Book; Deep Attention and the Turn; Chasing the Devil Toward Bigger Truth in Fiction “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ―  Maya Angelou Join AWP Nonfiction award winner Jill Christman , AuthorU Judith Brilles , National Endowment of the Arts recipient and past winner of the Yale Series for Younger Poets Award Leslie Ullman , award-winning poet, novelist, teacher, editor, and reviewer Bill Tremblay , and award-winning fiction writer and poet Seth Brady Tucker for a day of Workshop, Readings, Food, and Networking. When: Sat, April 19 2014 $45 for full day workshops, reading, and lunch. $25 for morning or afternoon workshop, reading, and lunch. $20 for students. RSVP  by April 16:  writ...

Just in from writer, improviser, and roving SoHa reporter, Mollie C. Rue aka Ninja Gramma… Submitted by: Mollie C. Rue aka  Ninja Gramma  (more on  that  later)... Review: We experienced Stories on Stage last night - terrific! Because, "Nothing is Trash", we heard, saw and felt a collection of "found" stories, some as small as a scrap  of paper discovered in a father's pocket, a lost pet poster, or a kid's passionate postcard. Later we were taken on a bumpy ride along with the dysfunctional communication between two lover's during their acrimonious break-up, finally ending in a court of law with one seeking - you guessed it - a Restraining Order! Mostly laugh-out-loud funny, but sometimes bittersweet, all were read and well-acted by the Buntport Theater Company in the perfect setting of a messy, trashed-up stage at the Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center. Next:  The next performance of Stories on Stage will be in early April featuring ...

If you missed last night's Cherry Creek Chorale performance - the weather wasn't really that bad - you have a final chance to see their 2014 winter concert celebrating Celtic Women complete with sing-a-long of your favorite traditional tunes tonight ... We loved it! Fun for all ages!! When . Sat, March 8, 2014, 7:30p Where . Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 W. Hampden Ave, Cherry Hills Village, CO Tickets . Available at the door. Good to Know . Arrive by 7p for best seating. SoHa  Happenings  in  Colorado ™   produced by...                         reported by...        Pam Roth O'Mara

It’s always flattering to be included in a group of high caliber talent. Yesterday, Thursday, March 6, 2014, I had that opportunity at the Arapahoe Community College Writers Studio event: From Page To Stage To Pixel To Beyond: Or "So I Wrote It--Now What Do I Do?!" Writer and ACC Writers Studio Program Manager, Kathryn Winograd assembled the crew: Film Maker Coleen Hubbard , Stories on Stage Producer/Director  Anthony Powell , and Flash Fiction Monster Opera Writer and ACC Writing Instructor Nancy Stohlman , and myself. I quickly responded, “I do,” when Kathryn asked us, “who wants to go first?” There was no way I could follow those acts! So there I was doing applied improv for a roomful of writers. I used a game I had invented that morning – SLA – Story Line Assistance. I asked for a volunteer to suggest a character that was giving him or her trouble. No takers. Writers can be quiet people. I picked (on) a writer I know – so happens (pun intended) that she was one of my ...

Summary . According to its brochure, Imagine 2020 , Denver's recently announced initiative “… provides a strategic vision for arts, culture and creativity. It makes a call to action to city agencies, cultural institutions, businesses, civic leaders, neighborhood- and community-based organizations, and residents to make this collective vision a reality.” Details. If you’re into details you can read the full plan: Imagine 2020 Plan and survey results: Imagine 2020 Survey Results Presentation . My Take. Very few artists can be – read that: live the life of - an artist from the moment he or she realizes the calling, and even fewer can earn a living as an artist. M ost artists fit into one or more of these categories: discovered their potential and put it aside to earn a living and/or care for others; didn’t have the opportunity to discover their potential because they were always earning a living and/or caring for others; were discouraged from being an artist for a variety of re...

It was a dreary New Hampshire winter day back in '03. Just looking out the den window, hanging with the dogs. When what did I see? A fisher cat. He hung out and ate berries from a nearby bush. Even the dogs were quiet. For a while. (Sorry about the old filming technology) SoHa  Happenings  in  Colorado ™   produced by...                         reported by...           Pam Roth O'Mara

Finding your way to the  From Page To Stage To Pixel To Beyond: Or "So I Wrote It--Now What Do I Do?!" Panel …  Just in case - like me - you have a little trouble finding your way around the labyrinth that is Arapahoe Community College, here's the floor map to find Room 3750... When : Thursday, 6 March 2014 @ 4:00p Where : Arapahoe Community College Main Campus Rm 3750. Cost : $5 suggested donation for Writers Studio Scholarship Questions?  303.797.5815 | writerstudio@arapahoe.edu SoHa  Happenings  in  Colorado ™   produced by...                         reported by...        Pam Roth O'Mara

  Is there a creative voice calling in you, or writers' voice that expresses fantastic nonfiction? Join us for an adult writing group that will provide support and insights to strengthen your craft. Get motivated to start your writing and learn where to aim it. When:  Wednesday 3/12/2014 @ 7:00 PM.  Where : Koelbel Library. Corner of Holly & Orchard  Register online:  Writers Circle RSVP Questions?  www.arapahoelibraries.org

Nature, Nurture by Pam Roth O'Mara Nature, Nurture, my latest collection of ThumbPrintPlays™ and ThumbPrintPlay Art™ is about to be released in eBook format.  ThumbPrintPlays™ are one-page stories or musings that I write on a 4x6 index card in one sitting. Questions ? pam@thumbprintplays.com |  www.thumbprintplays.com SoHa  Happenings  in  Colorado ™   produced by...                         reported by...        Pam Roth O'Mara

Ruthy Wexler Signs Her Book, Autumn Romance, for Mollie Rue  I've been a Ruthy Wexler (fka Carol Denker) fan since the moment we met a few years ago. We were participating in the  MACC  JAAMM  (Mizel Arts and Culture Center Jewish Arts, Authors, Movies & Music)  Festival . Then we met again at a Denver Pen Women ( www.denverpenwomen.org ) meeting. She's the author of an amazing, heart warming book:  Autumn Romance: Stories and Portraits of Love after 50 - which you no longer have an excuse  not to own. Read that: get it now! Available at amazon.com in Kindle format, paperback, and hard cover.   www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00A9GO0RY . And now she's also the Denver Pen Women President. Congrats, Ruthy! You're the perfect person for the job. Denver Pen Women:  www.denverpenwomen.org Book:  Autumn Romance: Stories and Portraits of Love after 50   |  www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00A9GO0RY SoHa  Happen...

Writers Studio Presents this Thu, March 6... From Page To Stage To Pixel To Beyond: Or "So I Wrote It--Now What Do I Do?!" …    Want to do more than just publish your work?  How about a little Improv?  A little Stage Reading? A Film Documentary? A "Monster" Opera? Hear from the writers (and one Stories on Stage director) who have ventured beyond the printed and pixel page. They will share their experiences, how-tos, and creative work.  Featuring award winning film maker,  Coleen Hubbard , Improv artist  Pam Roth O'Mara , Stories on Stage  Anthony Powell , and Flash Fiction Monster Opera Writer  Nancy Stohlman . Says author, artist, and improv performer Pam Roth O'Mara (also known as Pam OyMara):  It’s about playing and what comes from it. I love how all of these creative forms play off each other – improv, writing, visual works, performance. This presentation is about the evolution of the concept of ThumbPrintPlays™ and wh...