Summertime!

The summer here at Matrix may have a dark stage, but there is a lot going on upstairs! Here at Matrix, we use the summer for planning and organizing the wonderful upcoming season. Prepping the season includes planning out and putting on fun events to keep Matrix alive in the city.

This past weekend, Matrix Theatre Company came together with the UAW and the NAACP in the city to commemorate the 50th anniversary of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech that he practiced right here in Detroit. The march down Woodward Avenue, from Forest down to Hart Plaza, featured the Matrix Theatre Company’s giant puppet versions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., A. Phillip Randolph, and Dr. Ralph Bunche. The march was a huge success due to the great efforts of Maryann Angelini and Mary Naoum, and we want to thank everyone who came out and supported this momentous anniversary. Here’s a couple of pictures from the event!

Here's Matrix Theatre's giant hero puppet Ralph Bunche with Matrix Board Presiden Sue Sattler, IHM (right), long-time Matrix supporter Mary Beth Seymour (left), and our fabulous puppet walkers!

A. Phillilp Randolph marches behind the UAW group, Women Creating Caring Communities, with open arms.

Pretty cool, right?

One of the things we do during the summer months is our Summer Creativity Camps! Kids (ages 8-18) can join the Matrix School of Theatre for a couple of weeks over the summer as we begin our second year of the Detroit Dreaming Initiative and focus on “Building the City” through performance, playwriting, and puppetry. In these fun and engaging summer intensives, youth and teens will work with professional artists and use the great art of theatre to explore the community and their place in shaping its’ future. Check out our website for dates, times, and more information!

Adding to all the excitement around here, we have a new intern! Jennifer came to us from Troy, MI and will be helping Megan throughout the summer with media, marketing, and whatever else she can get her hands on. She’s very excited to be working with the amazing staff at Matrix and looks forward to a fun and educational summer!  Thanks for being here, Jenn!

Looking for some fun trivia?  Today in history, acclaimed poet, short story writer, novelist, dramatist, and lyricist Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio. Go ahead, go quiz somebody.

Okay, off to work on that season brochure!  

BIG events, BIG changes

Happy Friday, everybody!

When last we met, we were gearing up for the Cabaret, featuring Kate Brennan, Harvey Reed, and Paul Keller, and WOW was it a great night!

The whole staff came together and helped make the night a wonderful success, and we heard nothing but compliments from the attendees!  (And, rumor has it, the food was even. better. than last year!)

Now that we're over that major hump, though, we have two HUGE - or should I say "giant" - things going on this weekend!  First, have you heard about the march down Woodward Avenue commemorating MLK's 1963 march and rally?  He practiced his famous "I Have a Dream" speech right here in Detroit - 50 years ago (!!!), and tomorrow morning, the NAACP, the UAW, and the city of Detroit will come together to remember Dr. King and his message as they march down Woodward Avenue from Forest down to Hart Plaza.  And who better to lead that march than Matrix Theatre Company's giant puppet versions of Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Phillip Randolph, and Dr. Ralph Bunche?!  That's right, look for our giant heroes tomorrow, marching side-by-side with thousands of people in support of our freedoms!  It's a free event, so come check it out!

The other truly giant piece of importance happening tomorrow is that our Executive Director and Co-Founder, Shaun Nethercott, is leaving her post as ED and traveling cross-country with her husband (Co-Founder Wes Nethercott)!  The pair will be on the road early tomorrow afternoon and will make their way to Portland, Oregon to begin their travels (on BICYCLES!!!) all the way to Portland, Maine.  (I know, right?!)  When they get back - in early January - Shaun will return to Matrix at the CEO, which means there's a bit of a ripple effect here in the office:  I (Megan Buckley-Ball) am being promoted to Artistic Director, Andrea Scobie, though keeping the same title of Director of Education, will take on some added responsibilities within her School of Theatre domain, and Jake Hooker, the newest addition to the staff, will make the move from Operations Manager to Director of Operations.  Though we've played around with a couple of nicknames for this shared leadership plan, nothing has really stuck... yet.  (Though "the triad" was dangerously close.)

Sooooo.... like the subject of today's blog states, there's a whole lot of BIG stuff going on right now at Matrix.  Onward we go!

Happy 1st day of summer!

Sometimes it rains....

What a beautifully rainy day!  I hope none of you got caught in this downpour, but I know that all of plants that were put in or cut back last week during the Neighborhood Beautification Day effort appreciate the nice long drink!

We're inching forward on work for next season, but now that the Dreaming at Daybreak: A Matrix Morning at Marygrove event is behind us and Frog Belly Rat Bone has closed, we only have one more big event before we go dark for the summer!

This is an event that we're super excited about, and all of the proceeds go toward the 2013-2014 production season!  Cool, right?  PLUS, it's a really great night of music and laughs and food and drink and FUN!!!

This is the second time we've done an event like this, and believe me when I say that it was a BLAST last year!  (And the food this year is going to be even BETTER!)

Once we get past this cabaret event, things really slow down in the office for the production side of the company.  School of Theatre summer camps start up the week after the 4th of July, so the education department is busy-busy prepping for all those kids to head our way, but the production office will get a little quiet.  Some great news, though, is that we'll have a volunteer intern hopping on board to help us out with planning for next season as of MONDAY!  We're so excited to welcome Jennifer to the team!

Oh, boy... now to swim home for the day.... 

Have a great one, everybody!