Hats and Hot Cocoa: Fancy Nancy Holiday Tea

The only thing we at BACT love more than Fancy Nancy is drinking hot chocolate with her!  Last month, some very special fans and donors enjoyed a cup of hot cocoa and a behind the scenes talk with Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas creative team members costume designer, Amy Bobeda, and director, Hannah Dworkin.

Hannah presented the model box--a tiny version of the set, and explained the role of director, making comparisons to the responsibilities of a teacher managing a classroom.  She demonstrated how the scenes shift from store to living room, bedroom to neighbor's house.  Amy displayed several mood boards--a designer's tool for conveying mood, color, and fabric ideas, while explaining the challenges of buying costumes rather than buying clothes, especially for adults playing children.

Generously hosted by Revival Bar and Kitchen (which is family friendly and now open for brunch!), families enjoyed delicious treats, cocoa with extra marshmallows, and when they weren't snacking crafted fun foam wreathes to take home. 

After the presentation and "tea," guests were surprised by a special appearance by Fancy Nancy herself!  They struck their fanciest poses while comparing boas, tiaras, and fascinators--a fancy word for "tiny hat."

Thanks to all those fancy and fabulous guests who came out for what we're hoping is our first annual Fancy Nancy Tea Party, and to our friends at Revial Bar and Kitchen for the scrumptious treats!

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Charlette's Blog: A Holiday Interview with Fancy Nancy

Charlette caught up with Fancy Nancy star, Allison Meneley, after a performance.  Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas

Tickets and More Info: http://bactheatre.org/shows/FancyNancyChristmas

November 26-December 29 at The Osher Studio in downtown Berkeley.

I interviewed Allison Meneley who plays Nancy in Fancy Nancy's Splendiferous Christmas. Her mother inspired her to act. When she was about 8 years old her mother put her in a drama camp during summer. She liked it so much she caught the theater bug. I asked what she liked most about this play. She said she really liked her theater family. She met them a few months ago. Her theater family makes it fun to act and work for B.A.C.T. She didn't like the hair piece because it's alot of maintenance which is a fancy word for alot to take care of. It's almost like it has its own part period. She got her experience by going to the same drama camp every summer, and then she even started to teach it.  She started with singing and loved it then she did dancing and loved that too.  She went to college, and now she's getting her masters in theater education, so she can inspire kids like me.

 When she started working for B.A.C.T.  she helped out back staged for the play Edward Tulane. She was an understudy which is a fancy word for someone that knows your part and can fill in for you when your too sick or tired, for the original Fancy Nancy, Rhonda the 2 sport twins. She also did the Lady Bug Girl tour. She really likes all her parts for many difference reasons. Like the original Fancy Nancy because she made all her best friends in that show. She read the Fancy Nancy books and she was so happy to bring it to life on stage.  She did have to look in the book to see how Fancy Nancy poses and her clothes. 

She grew up watching plays and her first one was Phantom of the Opera when she was 9. One of her favorite plays in New York is Spring Awakening.  She saw it last year.  She also really enjoyed Finding Neverland. The advice she would give all young actors is to never lose sight of who you are and don't lose sight in the fun.  She is a great actor and I hope I see her again. I really enjoyed the show. 

Julietta Blogs: Meeting Nick Bruel and the Kitty Creative Team!

BACT Blogger Julietta shares her perspective on a special donor event during which author Nick Bruel and members of the Bad Kitty On Stage creative team spoke about the show's creation.

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The Bad Kitty BACT donor event was really cool! Donors who give money to BACT support them because they appreciate the work they put into making a play. BACT gives back by writing plays and musicals for the whole bay area to enjoy! Donating to BACT helps them to create these plays and musicals for school kids who have never seen a play before. Nina Meehan, the executive director, said that at one of their school day matinee performances, almost everyone raised their hand when they asked who had never seen a play before. Even donating a small amount can make a huge difference.

Julietta gets her book signed by Nick Bruel!

At the donor event, they had the Bad Kitty author, Nick Bruel, the Bad Kitty On Stage costume designer, Amy, the director, Benjamin Hanna, and Min Kahng, who is the one who brought bad kitty to stage, talk about how they made Bad Kitty On Stage! The actor playing Bad Kitty even stopped by while on lunch break! Bad Kitty is a book series by Nick. He creates a character by drawing it and using a pen instead of a pencil so he isn't tempted to erase anything. Nick said it was easiest to find what bad kitty looks like because he had a cat named Zuzu who was all black, except for a patch of white on her chest. It took him 9 months to make the first book in the series, and now it takes him 6-7 months because now he knows the characters and what they look like so he only needs to make up a story with these characters.

I had never heard of Bad Kitty before, and now I'm a huge fan and cannot wait to see the play! At the end, I had my book, Happy Birthday, Bad Kitty! signed by Nick Bruel, and I also got a Bad Kitty mask signed! I was so excited to read the book after that, so I read my book all the way home and it is one of my most favorite books now! If BACT hadn't chosen great books like Bad Kitty, I wouldn't had known about Bad Kitty and a lot of the other books BACT turned into such great plays! I like that even the authors appreciate the plays BACT makes from their books! BACT makes the best plays I know and I cannot wait to see Bad Kitty On Stage soon!

Charlette Blogs: Meeting Nick Bruel and the Kitty Creative Team!

Sango Tajima & Nick Bruel signing posters at the show!

When I was invited to see the author Nick Bruel I was so excited. I heard him talk about his books Bad Kitty, and I heard the BACT theater people talk about the play that they made from his books. The author Nick Bruel has 2 cats now, but he had one when he was a child. Bad Kitty looked like his childhood cat named Zou-Zou. The cat was black from the tip of his ears to the the very tip of his tail, but just a big clump of white on his chest.  It took Nick Bruel nine months to finish his first book. He went to college and got a degree in English. Nick Bruel started out with board books for younger children and he really really wanted the kids to continue loving Bad Kitty books even when they're older.  So he started making chapter books of Bad Kitty, so older kids can read Bad Kitty too.

 

Amy Bobeda was the costume designer for the play. Some white feathers was used for Bad Kitty's chest of its costume. She clipped it onto overalls that Bad Kitty wore in the play. I am so excited to see the costumes that everyone will be wearing. I think maybe it was really hard to sew and put together all the costumes. I think she is very talented. 

Sango Tajima played Bad Kitty in the play. She came in on her lunch break so she couldn't stay there the whole time because she had work still, but I still think it was nice of her to come. Bad Kitty does not talk. She makes cat noises like purr or meow. She had to practice making the cat noises. She also had to look in the book and see how the cat positions looked like. I think it was hard for her to make cat noises to go with the feelings of Bad Kitty.

 

Min Kahng wrote the play Bad Kitty.  Min Kahng really really wanted for the audience to be excited and wowed during the play. He mentioned that in a comic book, on every page you see a pow or a boom it makes the reader excited. Min wanted that for every scene of the play. He worked with the director named Benjamin Hanna. I think it was hard for him to to direct all the characters. I bet he worked very hard.

 

The pianist and narrator of the play was Phil Wong. I think it was amazing that he can talk normal and play piano at the same time. He said he had to practice alot! The music was live because when in the play someone stomps or jumps really hard they would make a sound on the piano and match it with the action Bad Kitty was doing. I think he is awesome. 

Our BACT Bloggers: Kara, Julietta & Charlette!

After they were done speaking, Nick Bruel the author of Bad Kitty signed my book, Bad Kitty for President. Now, I am so excited to see this play and see everything come alive on stage.

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You can also see this play and see everything come alive on stage! Bad Kitty On Stage runs in Berkeley thru February 21 at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse. The show then has a run in San Ramon from February 27-28 at the Dougherty Valley Performing Arts Center, and in San Francisco from March 5-26 at the Children's Creativity Museum Theater. Purchase your tickets today!