If you missed the December 18 performance, watch the recording (1:05:34)
Five unforgettable performances by Atim Udoffia and Brennan Villados of five 2020-themed submissions from Northern California writers Deborah Pittman, Elison Alcovendaz, Diane Kallas, Maia Evrigenis and Kevin Sharp.
Five unforgettable performances by Atim Udoffia and Brennan Villados of five 2020-themed submissions from Northern California writers Deborah Pittman, Elison Alcovendaz, Diane Kallas, Maia Evrigenis and Kevin Sharp.
Join Stories on Stage Sacramento for our last performance of 2020!
We put out the call for stories and essays on the theme "2020" from local, Northern California, writers, and they delivered, abundantly. Our judges (the four Stories on Stage Sacramento Board members) were challenged to choose just five pieces for this last performance of the year.
Now that we have our five stories, we couldn't be more pleased. This group of authors, and the topics that inspired their work, are as diverse and varied as this challenging, startling, at-times terrifying, undoubtedly unforgettable, year has been.
And our authors are . . . imagine a drum roll . . .
Elison Alcovendaz and "#girldad"
Maia Evrigenis and "Just Another Day at School"
Diane Kallas and "My Teeth Will Go On"
Deborah Pittman and "Dear Neighbor"
Kevin Sharp and "The Coffin"
And our actors are . . . imagine another drum roll . . .
Brennan Villados
Atim Udoffia
We promise you an hour of stories and conversation that will by turns move you to laugh, cry, nod your head in agreement and commiseration, and, above all, to reflect on what a long, strange trip this year has been . . . and it isn't over yet.
We put out the call for stories and essays on the theme "2020" from local, Northern California, writers, and they delivered, abundantly. Our judges (the four Stories on Stage Sacramento Board members) were challenged to choose just five pieces for this last performance of the year.
Now that we have our five stories, we couldn't be more pleased. This group of authors, and the topics that inspired their work, are as diverse and varied as this challenging, startling, at-times terrifying, undoubtedly unforgettable, year has been.
And our authors are . . . imagine a drum roll . . .
Elison Alcovendaz and "#girldad"
Maia Evrigenis and "Just Another Day at School"
Diane Kallas and "My Teeth Will Go On"
Deborah Pittman and "Dear Neighbor"
Kevin Sharp and "The Coffin"
And our actors are . . . imagine another drum roll . . .
Brennan Villados
Atim Udoffia
We promise you an hour of stories and conversation that will by turns move you to laugh, cry, nod your head in agreement and commiseration, and, above all, to reflect on what a long, strange trip this year has been . . . and it isn't over yet.
Actor Brennan Villados is based out of Sacramento, California. His most recent acting credits include in The Picture of Dorian Gray with Freefall Stage, A Soldier’s Play with Celebration Arts, and Marat/Sade with Falcon’s Eye Theatre. Brennan made his directorial debut in 2019 with Romeo and Juliet for Freefall Stage’s Shakespeare in the park. He attended The American Academy of Dramatic Art and has worked for the UC Davis School of Medicine Standardized Patient Program for the last six years. His other favorite roles include Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet with Falcon’s Eye Theatre, Patrick Stone in Inventing Van Gogh with Big Idea Theatre, Eddie in Fool for Love, and Tom in the one-man show Poster of the Cosmos, both for Blank Canvas Theatre. He is delighted to be a part of this production and looks forward to discovering new ways of connecting and storytelling in this unprecedented time.
Actor Atim Udoffia is also a director and teaching artist working in theatre, film and video. Recent theatre credits include MACBETH (Sacramento Theatre Company), THE ROYALE (Aurora Theatre Company), ZENITH (SF Playhouse), THE TEMPEST (Sacramento Theatre Company) and DISGRACED (Capital Stage). Her directing debut of OTHELLO at Big Idea Theatre was well- received, and has since directed several original works for theatre, including a staged reading of THE DRILL at Capital Stage. Also a writer, Atim's Creative Nonfiction piece "Woman in Question" was selected First Runner Up by the Los Angeles Review in 2018. At the moment she is working on a short film script. After earning a cross-disciplinary degree in Human Biology from Stanford, Atim went on to complete the post-graduate drama program at the London and International School of Acting. While living in Los Angeles for several years, she studied with Judith Weston and performed in a number of plays, short films and dance-theatre productions. Atim currently teaches SEL Theatre to elementary and high school students with Northern California School of the Arts and the East Bay Center for Performing Arts.
Author Kevin Sharp is a lapsed screenwriter and current comicbook industry reporter. Despite all the excitement since, his childhood dream of working with apes still sounds like maybe the best gig in the world. Find more of his writing at kevinsharpwriter.com
Author Maia Paras Evrigenis writes and teaches in Sacramento, CA. She received her MFA from CalArts and BS from NYU Steinhardt. Maia writes fiction novels and short stories with a focus on the body and illness. She is currently pitching her first novel titled Neon Jane, a story about a character from a young adult book about cancer a decade after they’ve finally beat it.
Author Elison Alcovendaz's work has appeared or will be appearing in The Rumpus, Psychology Today online, The Santa Monica Review, Ruminate Magazine, under the gum tree, and other publications. He received an MA in Creative Writing from Sacramento State and was recently selected for inclusion in the Best Small Fictions 2020 anthology. He lives in Sacramento with his wife and daughter. To learn more, please visit: www.elisonalcovendaz.com.
Author Deborah Pittman holds BS and MA degrees in music performance from the Brooklyn College Conservatory and has done doctoral studies at the Manhattan School of Music. She’s Professor Emeritus after 23 years as Professor of Clarinet and Musical Theatre at California State University, Sacramento. Ms. Pittman played second clarinet with the Sacramento Symphony, (1981 to 1990), as well as with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the State Symphony of Mexico, the Orchestra of New York, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and pit orchestras of musicals on Broadway. She was Artist in Residence for the Sacramento Light Opera Association’s Theater Education Project and Artist in Residence at the Crocker Art Museum, where her multi-media work, Small Shoulders/Big Dreams, was created to support the 2013 Norman Rockwell American Chronicles touring exhibition. She received a Creative Economy Pilot Project Grant from the Office of the Mayor, to create this work. The Sacramento Regional Community Foundation awarded her trio, MOD Artists, a “Transforming the Creative Economy,” grant to create a three-part documentary on the history of Oak Park. Each event included a short film as well as live music.
Author Diane Kallas has trouble finishing projects which explains all of this: her interest in the flash fiction form, her status as a fallen-away Catholic, retired technical writer, non-practicing attorney, amateur upholsterer, and also the piles of clean, unfolded laundry that decorate her home. Kallas's tragic-comic work has been featured at past Stories on Stage Sacramento events to great audience appreciation.
Actor Atim Udoffia is also a director and teaching artist working in theatre, film and video. Recent theatre credits include MACBETH (Sacramento Theatre Company), THE ROYALE (Aurora Theatre Company), ZENITH (SF Playhouse), THE TEMPEST (Sacramento Theatre Company) and DISGRACED (Capital Stage). Her directing debut of OTHELLO at Big Idea Theatre was well- received, and has since directed several original works for theatre, including a staged reading of THE DRILL at Capital Stage. Also a writer, Atim's Creative Nonfiction piece "Woman in Question" was selected First Runner Up by the Los Angeles Review in 2018. At the moment she is working on a short film script. After earning a cross-disciplinary degree in Human Biology from Stanford, Atim went on to complete the post-graduate drama program at the London and International School of Acting. While living in Los Angeles for several years, she studied with Judith Weston and performed in a number of plays, short films and dance-theatre productions. Atim currently teaches SEL Theatre to elementary and high school students with Northern California School of the Arts and the East Bay Center for Performing Arts.
Author Kevin Sharp is a lapsed screenwriter and current comicbook industry reporter. Despite all the excitement since, his childhood dream of working with apes still sounds like maybe the best gig in the world. Find more of his writing at kevinsharpwriter.com
Author Maia Paras Evrigenis writes and teaches in Sacramento, CA. She received her MFA from CalArts and BS from NYU Steinhardt. Maia writes fiction novels and short stories with a focus on the body and illness. She is currently pitching her first novel titled Neon Jane, a story about a character from a young adult book about cancer a decade after they’ve finally beat it.
Author Elison Alcovendaz's work has appeared or will be appearing in The Rumpus, Psychology Today online, The Santa Monica Review, Ruminate Magazine, under the gum tree, and other publications. He received an MA in Creative Writing from Sacramento State and was recently selected for inclusion in the Best Small Fictions 2020 anthology. He lives in Sacramento with his wife and daughter. To learn more, please visit: www.elisonalcovendaz.com.
Author Deborah Pittman holds BS and MA degrees in music performance from the Brooklyn College Conservatory and has done doctoral studies at the Manhattan School of Music. She’s Professor Emeritus after 23 years as Professor of Clarinet and Musical Theatre at California State University, Sacramento. Ms. Pittman played second clarinet with the Sacramento Symphony, (1981 to 1990), as well as with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the State Symphony of Mexico, the Orchestra of New York, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and pit orchestras of musicals on Broadway. She was Artist in Residence for the Sacramento Light Opera Association’s Theater Education Project and Artist in Residence at the Crocker Art Museum, where her multi-media work, Small Shoulders/Big Dreams, was created to support the 2013 Norman Rockwell American Chronicles touring exhibition. She received a Creative Economy Pilot Project Grant from the Office of the Mayor, to create this work. The Sacramento Regional Community Foundation awarded her trio, MOD Artists, a “Transforming the Creative Economy,” grant to create a three-part documentary on the history of Oak Park. Each event included a short film as well as live music.
Author Diane Kallas has trouble finishing projects which explains all of this: her interest in the flash fiction form, her status as a fallen-away Catholic, retired technical writer, non-practicing attorney, amateur upholsterer, and also the piles of clean, unfolded laundry that decorate her home. Kallas's tragic-comic work has been featured at past Stories on Stage Sacramento events to great audience appreciation.
Read the latest SOSS blog posts for Sue Staats' interviews
with our five December authors, and Jessica Laskey's interviews with our two actors
AND
Stay tuned for updates on our SOSS 2020 anthology (alas, not in time for holiday gifting)
The anthology will include the five stories performed on December 18,
with additional stories to be selected from a very strong pool of received submissions -
with our five December authors, and Jessica Laskey's interviews with our two actors
AND
Stay tuned for updates on our SOSS 2020 anthology (alas, not in time for holiday gifting)
The anthology will include the five stories performed on December 18,
with additional stories to be selected from a very strong pool of received submissions -
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Find the books featured on Stories on Stage Sacramento at Capital Books on K, our local bookseller partner, and receive postcard-sized art of the bookstore and their neighbor, the Crest Theater. Free with your book(s). Heidi and Ross Rojek have been getting stories to readers in Sacramento and beyond much faster than the big guys during this crisis, so let's reward them for that! In addition to mail order and curbside pickup, the store is now open, so you can browse again (appropriately masked of course!) |
Capital Books & Crest Theater, by Kyle Thaw and his mother, Heidi Rojek. This beautiful artwork FREE with your book purchase!
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Visit and subscribe to the Stories on Stage Sacramento youtube channel for recordings of 2020 performances! Sign up to receive our newsletter for announcements of upcoming performances, workshops and more!
Stories on Stage Sacramento In the News
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INSIGHT with Beth RuyakInsight host Beth Ruyak in conversation with Sue Staats and Jen Palmares Meadows
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SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEWSue Staats: "Outgoing coordinator for SOSS - A New Chapter"
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