at the YWCA Santa Monica/Westside
2019 14th Street, Santa Monica CA 90405
Listen to inspiring true stories from professional and amateur storytellers.
Volunteer to share your own.
Doors Open at 7:30 for Guest Storyteller sign up, music and mingling. Stories start at 8.
$5-10 Suggested Donation
This monthly night of stories features 10 storytellers and live musicians who make stories into music. Most storytellers are *invited and pre-booked, but there will be two open slots at each event for audience members to put their names into a hat for selection at the door to be Guest Storytellers.
“It feels like professional storytellers are reading you Chicken Soup for the Soul–-something you may not know you want until it happens...Like having your parents read you a story before bed, SHINE! can have a comforting and settling effect on an otherwise hectic evening in Los Angeles.” Jenna Pittaway, Life in LA
Invite friends or RSVP on Facebook
Story Guidelines:
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1. If you'd like to be an *invited storyteller for SHINE, you must submit a story and bio three weeks in advance of your desired date to the event host Jen Bloom at jen@santamonicarep.org. If you miss the deadline, you can put your name into the hat for one of the two volunteer spots at the event.
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2.Use the theme (see below) to shape a story about a revelation or a-ha moment that your experience led you...the moment you put down the baggage and felt the freedom of insight. We are interested in the positive life changes that arrive from story crafting, telling and listening. Please note this is about STORIES- this is not a platform to vent, complain, or test a motivational speech- this is where you share the story of a moment that opened you to growth, self-discovery, a new opportunity.
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3.The most successful storytellers for this event have been honest, authentic and surprising with a clear beginning, middle and ending “aha”.
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4.Each story must be true to the teller as first person or witness, and under 7 minutes long. We will ring a warning bell at 6 minutes, cut off at 7.
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5.Teller's choice- Stories can be read off a page, or told without any notes at all.
Questions? jen@santamonicarep.org
SHINE upcoming event dates & themes-
June 20 "Big Dreams"
Dreams get realized, change, or fade away. Sometimes dreams offer concrete goals or solutions; sometimes they offer unreasonable expectations. What was, or is, one of your Big Dreams? Did it come true, or not? Or maybe it came true in a surprising way...
July 18 "Family Vacation"
Vacation can be for relaxation, inspiration, or education, while a vacation with family is a whole other experience. What did you learn on a family vacation?
August 15- tbd
September 19- tbd
October 17- tbd
November 21- tbd
December 19- tbd
May Performers
Live Music
Storytellers
Stacie Chaiken A Los Angeles-based writer-performer whose solo plays include Looking for Louie, Next Year and Jerusalem, and The Dig: death, Genesis & the double helix. She has appeared in her own plays and the plays of others on and Off-Broadway and in theatres in the U.S. and abroad. She’s the founder of What’s the Story? Workshop, a Fulbright Scholar in the field of Story and Performance, and has taught Master Classes in autobiographical story at NYU, Hebrew Union College, Bar Ilan, and Tel Aviv Universities. Stacie teaches acting at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts.
Lili Dove is a mixed-medium artist & writer. As a conduit for self-realization, Lili uses language, art, and movement to foster growth or healing. Whether standing at a personal fork in the road or curious about modern economics, an introspective meander into the hidden nature of mixed messaging offers helpful insights, which fosters transformation by deepening consciousness. By learning to recognize and understand our motivational patterns, we can exchange limitations for resolutions. Please join her on Facebook or Blogger as 'Twisted Premise' if you are interested in her philosophical musings, personal development coaching, or business solutions. Blog: Twisted Premise
Stephanie Hosford is a happily married mother of three living in Los Angeles. She holds a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy from Tufts University as well as a black belt in taekwondo from a dojang down the street. She is a new member of the Speaker’s Bureau for the City of Hope Medical Center. When not shuttling her children about town in her minivan, she can be found writing, at the gym, helping out in her kids’ classrooms or dashing around Trader Joe’s. She can be reached at baldfatandcrazy@gmail.com.
Rachel Kann’s writing (poetry and fiction) appears most recently in Eclipse, Permafrost, Coe Review, Sou’wester, GW Review, Quiddity, and Lalitamba. She also appears in anthologies such as Word Warriors from Seal Press, His Rib from Penmanship Press, and Knocking at the Door from Birch Bench Press. She’s performed her poetry with people like daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra, Sage Francis, Saul Williams, and Rahzel, at venues such as Disney Concert Hall, Royce Hall, The Broad Stage, The San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, and the Vans Warped Tour. Her work has received accolades from the James Kirkwood Fiction Awards (short story), Writer’s Digest Short-Short Story Awards (micro-fiction), LA Weekly Awards (best supporting actress - thanks to Erik Patterson's brilliant script, Yellow Flesh/Alabaster Rose,) Backstage West Garland Awards Critic's Picks (also thanks to Mr. Patterson,) and both the audio and video award for the International Slam Idol (poetry). Rachel was commissioned by The Broad Stage to write and perform a contemporary retelling of Peter Pan from Tinker Bell's perspective, accompanied by Maestra Rachael Worby's 18 piece orchestra, Muse/Ique. Rachel's music video, "Lie Down Beside You," has received screenings at the 4 The Camera Film Festival and Landlocked Film Festival. Most recently, Rachel was invited to perform her poetry at TEDx UCLA. She teaches poetry and fiction workshops through the Writers' Program at UCLA Extension Writers' Program. Interview with StraightForward Poetry Journal - check it here. http://rachelkann.com
Jim Mueller Originally from Albuquerque, NM. Graduated from Univ of New Mexico, eventually earning an MBA, Jim moved to Rochester NY. While in the computer industry, Jim wrote plays, winning a production grant from the NY State Council on the Arts in 1989. Since moving to SoCal in 2007, Jim actualized a lifelong interest in film and theater. He adapted his stage play, Dewitt & Maria and in 2010, produced it as a feature film, now in distribution at Amazon Prime. In 2012, Jim produced the first Los Angeles revival of The Gin Game (directed by Tony Torrisi), and performed as Weller Martin. Jim has appeared in several scene showcases directed by Barbara Gannen at Santa Monica College and around the South Bay. He is enthusiastic about the prospects for Santa Monica Rep.
Anita Stuppler is a law professor and attorney and poet(have done poetry readings), comic(have performed stand up in the Belly Room at the Comedy Store), and actor(had 20 lines in an independent short). She has lots of experience on the stages of law school, and acting sets.
Andrea Schell is a documentary/reality web producer and content creator, performance artist and overall creative consultant and has lived in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and a handful of small towns throughout America. She has worked at The Simpsons (worked in guest star casting from 2007-2011), Fox Studios, Oprah Magazine, Henry Winkler, Angelique Kidjo, and New Line Cinema. Andrea wrote and performed a one woman show called From Seven Layers to a Bikini Top in Less Than Five Hours, wrote a comedic screenplay about the health insurance industry, wrote treatments for reality clients, produced documentary shorts, pitched to companies like Pie Town and Mark Burnett, had a pilot of a show commissioned by WeTV and produced the web show What Would Men Say? ShesSoGreat.com is her love note to awesome women. She appeared as Claire in Santa Monica Rep’s production of Proof. www.andreaschell.com
Bernard Sklar has been writing stories since he was ten years old. His first job was a reader at the Scott-Meredith Literary Agency in New York City. But his checkered career followed a very different path, a Ph.D. in engineering from UCLA, where he still teaches. Since 1984, his consulting company, Communications Engineering Services, has kept him moving around the world. Now that he is mostly retired, he has time for being a student at Santa Monica Emeritus College, and for doing volunteer work at the WISE and Healthy Aging Center. Best of all, he can now pursue his original passion, writing stories.
This event is a co-produced by Jen Bloom and Isabel Storey, and presented by Santa Monica Rep, Storey Productions, UCLArts & Healing and the Westside YWCA
Jen Bloom is the host and curator of SHINE. She is the Co-Founder and Director of Education and Outreach at Santa Monica Rep, and teaches classes at the YWCA. www.StoriesBloom.com
Isabel Storey is co-producer of SHINE. She is also a theater producer and President of Storey Productions, a production company specializing in live theater.
