Ronald Feichtmeir

Ryan Alpers’ “Union Meeting” Comes to Life

| playonwordsanjose
union meeting
Ryan Alpers, Ronald Feichtmeir, Melinda Marks and Julia Halprin Jackson perform “Union Meeting.”

On October 19, Play On Words was thrilled to return to San Francisco’s LitCrawl to participate in a raucous evening of storytelling, good food and friendship. Thank you to our friends, new and old, for making the show possible and for coming out to support our work. Thanks, also, to the more than 40 donors who contributed to our fall t-shirt drive—it is thanks to you that we will be able to start incentivizing artists to do their thing in the coming months.

What kind of rad art are you supporting by buying our shirts, you ask? Look no further than “Union Meeting,” a hilarious short play written by #powsj digital asset manager Ryan Alpers and created by him and #powsj alumnus Andrew Christian. We kicked off our Play On Words: Live in San Francisco show with this great piece, performed by Ronald Feichtmeir, Julia Halprin Jackson, Melinda Marks and Ryan Alpers:

Big thanks to Cleveland Motley for filming and Branden Frederick for acting as our resident photographer, as well as to the wonderful folks at Stage Werx in San Francisco.

 

Ronald Feichtmeir reads Michelle Qiao’s “The City Across the River”

| playonwordsanjose

On February 24, we were thrilled to perform work by Play On Words’ youngest contributor, eighth grader Michelle Qiao. The multitalented Ronald Feichtmeir closed out our New Terrains show at the San Jose Museum of Art with his performance of “The City Across the River”:

Thanks to Ryan Alpers for filming and Branden Frederick for taking photos, as well as all of the amazing writers, performers, artists and friends who helped make this show happen. We hope to host more POW shows in the months to come, so stay tuned to learn how you can participate!

Ronald Feichtmeir reads “Shrine of Sain Sakhianwala” by Anniqua Rana

| playonwordsanjose

Ronald Feichtmeir has an undeniable stage presence, one that he communicates in a careful, hushed voice, and elevates with unique characters and gestures. We knew while reading Anniqua Rana’s “Shrine of Sain Sakhianwala” that he was the right man for the part. And he didn’t disappoint–check out his wonderful performance from our February 24 New Terrains show at the San Jose Museum of Art:

This piece is an excerpt of Rana’s forthcoming novel, Wild Boar in the Cane Field. She will be reading from it on May 19 at the Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino.

Thanks to Ryan Alpers for filming this and to Branden Frederick for taking photos.

Where Everybody Knows Your Story

| playonwordsanjose

What’s the story, friends? Tonight we are delighted to present Nostalgia-rama at Dragon Theatre in Redwood City. Five years in, we have an amazing cast of Play On Words regulars who are hungry to share the stage. We’re dedicating tonight’s show to our childhoods–to good writing, bad hair, terrible puns and overall awesomeness:

wishbone
Wishbone
“Flea-bitten Bargain”Written by Vincent Brown and Mo Rocca

 

cheers
Cheers
“Fairy Tales Can Come True” (1984)
created by Glen Charles and Les Charles
written by James Burrows and Sam Simon
TalesFromtheCrypt
Tales From the Crypt
“Top Billing” (1991)
created by Steven Dodd
screenplay by Myles Berkowitz
based on comic by William M. Gaines
twilight zone
The Twilight Zone
“Shadow Play” (1961)
written by Charles Beaumont

We’re grateful to our amazing readers and to the Dragon for making tonight possible: Melinda Marks, Ronald Feichtmeir, Jeremy Ryan, Adam Weinstein, Erin Southard, Tonya Duncan, Nita Duarte Lambert and April Culver. Artist Clif Gold will also be live drawing the event tonight, and photographer Branden Frederick will be there to take photos.

Join us at 7:30 pm tonight in Redwood City for a wonderful evening. RSVP on Facebook for more details.

Until tonight!

Ronald Feichtmeir reads “The Fisherman and the Cloak” by Charlene Logan Burnett

| playonwordsanjose

We fell in love with Charlene Logan Burnett’s mythic “The Fisherman and the Cloak” this year and were lucky enough to find the perfect person to perform it. Many thanks to the talented Ronald Feichtmeir, who made his Play On Words debut on April 11 at Cafe Stritch:

Many thanks to Ronald for capturing the tone and tenor of Charlene’s beautifully written story. To read more of her work, check out “Boardwalk ’62,” published this spring in Blackbird magazine.

Our next Play On Words show will be a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience taking place on August 29 at Redwood City’s Dragon Theatre. Stay tuned in the next few weeks to learn more!

Our New Horizons

| playonwordsanjose

On Monday night we gathered to rehearse for tonight’s show and the air crackled with electricity. Each story, poem and piece is dynamite, and our seasoned cast is more than ready to light up the stage at Cafe Stritch. Play On Words has existed for five years, and in that time we’ve gotten to meet so many amazing artists, writers, performers and patrons of the arts. Every show is special and every show is different. Tonight we bring Play On Words: New Horizons to life.

29790535_1241367555997066_1930253660190529930_nJoin us at 7 pm to witness amazing performers read work by the following fabulous writers:

1) “Teacher of the Year” by Arcadia Conrad

performed by Melinda Marks

2) “The Boy in the Van” by Marilyn Horn-Fahey
performed by Arcadia Conrad
3) “Dear Espanol” by Anjela Villareal Ratliff
performed by Ivette Deltoro
4)  “Bearded Lady” by Allison Landa
performed by Laurel Brittan
5) “Pence” by Michelle Myers
performed by Michael Weiland
6) “Receiptless” by Dallas Woodburn
performed by Jeremy Ryan
7)” Bleeding Heart” by Christina Shon
performed by Laurel Brittan
8) “Rite of Passage” by Tania Martin
performed by Arcadia Conrad
10 MIN BREAK
9) “Your Superpower” by Ann Hillesland
performed by Ivette Deltoro
10) “Construction” by Jon Ford
performed by Adam Weinstein
11) “Sister Fowl” by Maria Judnick
performed by Ivette Deltoro
12) “Toilet Paper Glove” by Valerie Fioravanti
performed by Melinda Marks
13) “Birthday” by Valerie Castro Singer
performed by Laurel Brittan
14) “Fisherman and the Cloak” by Charlene Logan Burnett
performed by Ron Feichtmeir
15) “Journalissimo” by Griffin Lamachy
performed by Michael Weiland
New Horizons will also feature live drawing by Michelle Frey (Instagram/boule_miche and @michellange on Twitter) and Clifton Gold of Luna Park Arts. Michelle teaches weekly live drawing classes at the School of Visual Philosophy. Special thanks to our photographer Branden Frederick and videographer Ryan Alpers.