Odyssey Storytelling Presents: “Red Flags”
Curated By Sharon Schneiderman
Produced by Jen Nowicki Clark
Thursday, August 2, 2018
Doors at 6:30, show at 7
The Sea of Glass Center for the Arts
330 E. 7th Street
$10 Adults, $7 Students
tickets available online here!
Warning signs ignored. Hunches disregarded. Persistent doubts that refuse to go away. With the benefit of hindsight, our storytellers share true stories of red flags they should have heeded…or at least noticed.
Storytellers include:
Claire Swinford is a writer, performer, activist, and the best electrician you know. A second generation tradeswoman, she has over 25 years of experience taming electrons and keeping the lights on. She keeps a busy schedule working full time, attending PCC full time, performing, volunteering and enjoying time with her wife. Her dream is to someday enjoy a full night’s sleep.
Manuel “Manny” Mejias serves as a Reentry Coordinator for Pima Prevention Partnership where he works with the Fortaleza Reentry Collaborative. Manny is responsible for the day-to-day coordination of the Fortaleza Programs. Manny has more than 20 years of experience working reengagement projects with high risk multicultural offenders. Manny’s volunteer experience includes public speaking and presentations of his “Choices” and “Manny’s Story” videos. Manny serves on the Safety and Justice Challenge Steering Committee and is a volunteer board member for the Primavera foundation.
Jeremy (Diamond J) is a big fan of science fiction. When asked to write a biography about himself for this event, he intended to rip off Zaphod Beeblebrox’s from the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy and leave it at, “Jeremy’s just this guy, you know?” We told him that was too short, so he wrote this instead.
Ana Gaskin recently moved here from Baltimore, has lived in Iowa, raised in California and was born in Mexico. Ana has tons of stories to tell, and loves to talk, so be careful getting her started. She’s currently working on writing her stories, preferably into a book that you may even enjoy some day. Ana has read several of her stories out loud for events and has also performed monologues. By day she removes her cape and tiara and puts on her glasses so no one recognizes her. Then, she just pretends to be an HR expert.
Mel Blumenthal is on the executive board of FST! Female Storytellers and is launching pilot programs to bring storytelling into the public school system to empower the next generation of tellers of tales. She is a retired professional ballroom dancer who still enjoys a good milonga and loves to salsa and bachata until unreasonable hours of the evening. She is the Vice President of the Advocacy Council for the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Arizona. The other cape she wears during the day is as a retirement consultant and community finance educator specializing in financial education and financial planning for women. Likes: Boozy cereal and bathrobes. Dislikes: Right wing politics and skinny jeans.
By day, Nancy Stanley works and teaches at the University of Arizona. She took up comedy as a hobby mseven years ago at the age of 56. She is the founder of The Estrogen Hour, a local and regional comedy show that provides development opportunities for women comics and raises funds for charity. She was twice a semifinalist in the Arizona’s Funniest Comedian Contest and a Wild Woman of Comedy at the Laughlin Laff-Fest, and performs frequently in Tucson. Storytelling is a new passion: this is her second time at Odyssey
Sharon Schneiderman (Curator) is a Tucson native. She is a recent graduate of NAU with a BAS in early childhood education and works as a preschool teacher. She is married to the love of her life, “Odyssey sound guy,” Miles. She spends her free time reading, playing board and role-playing games, and crafting.