The Mad Mechanicals' Blog

Happy 2012!

robinstarveling — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:55:06 +0000

Happy New Year! We hope the holiday season has been treating you all well. In true Shakespearean tradition, we Mad Mechanicals do not believe that Christmas ends at December 25, but begins. We know that most of you know this, but for those standing in the back shuffling their feet pretending like they know what I’m talking about…The twelve days of Christmas begin on December 25. The play Twelfth Night? Yep, happens on the twelfth night of Christmas! See, sometimes Willy did things that made sense So we have been spending the past few weeks preparing to celebrate and now we are. Presents have been exchanged and more food than we’ve ever seen before has been eaten. Including the massive amounts of cookies. Ever wonder where Robin gets her energy? Andi has an addiction to baking enough Christmas cookies to feed a small army. Robin has an addiction to eating any cookie she can get her hands on. Yeah, that’s my excuse… We spent a lot of time with our respective families (some via Google talk – thank goodness for the internet!) and lots of time together. Games have been played and plans have been made. Yep, we multi-task and have some interesting ideas to launch upon you in the new year. Living and working in the northeast means a quite winter performance wise for us, but it allows us the time we need to catch up on some writing and extra rehearsals. Not to mention super-secret projects that we keep teasing you with but haven’t had time to work on since we’ve been out playing with you all summer! We’re hoping to see the fruition of some of these projects, as we’re excited about them as well. We have a busy spring lined up already and are working on plans for the summer and fall. As always keep your faces glued to our website and Facebook pages for updated information. My New Year’s resolution? To try to provide you with more content on the Facebook page. Keep in mind most New Year’s resolutions don’t make it to the end of January, but I’ll do my best!

~Andi

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

robinstarveling — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:38:27 +0000

I woke up this morning with that song stuck in my head and I don’t mind. I love this time of year. For some reason even work seems more fun. Of course, then again, when you work with The Mad Mechanicals things are crazier than normal Robin, Thomas, Nick, and Snug are taking a much deserved holiday, but will be starting the new year off with lots of hard work, next year is already looking like a busy one again! December will see the Cratchits and the Fezziwigs return to Bellefonte, PA. December 10 and 11 is their Victorian Christmas celebration with dinners, teas, craft shows, home tours, and fun with your favorite Dickens characters. Come on out and say hi and do some of your holiday shopping. The rest of the month we will be spending time with the most important people in our lives, our families. We hope you are able to do the same, but no matter who you spend time with this holiday season, we hope you have a very merry time!

End of the Renn Season

robinstarveling — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:42:13 +0000

Our season at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire ended as strangely as it began. The first few weeks saw ark worthy rain storms and a tropical storm. The season unexpectedly ended a week early due to a freak October snow storm that dropped 6 inches on the area! We missed not having the opportunity to say goodbye to all of our friends and the opportunity to meet some of you for the first time, as we know people often bring their friends to our shows! The weeks that we had were a lot of fun though! We were able to perform all three of our current shows multiple times to enthusiastic audiences, and to interact with even more people with our Random Acts of Shakespeare throughout the shire. We loved our ever evolving crowd at the Gazebo show. Because the Gazebo is right by the main entrance, twice each day we were the first thing some people saw when they arrived or the last thing they saw as they were leaving, and many stopped to at least listen to one song or watch one game. All in all we had a lot of fun working at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire this year.

In December we will be in Bellefonte, PA with a different queen. The Cratchettes and Fezziwigs will be roaming the streets the weekend of December 10/11 celebrating the Christmas season Victorian style. It’s a fun event and we’d love to see you there!

In the meantime we’re busy working on putting together our schedule for next year, so as always, keep an eye on our website and Facebook page for updates as to where to find us.

Until next month…Happy Thanksgiving!

Sad News

robinstarveling — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:36:38 +0000

I started thinking about our October post towards the end of September. I wanted to tell you about all of our fans who have purchased t-shirts and remind you all to take pictures with your English teachers or other English nerd friends and post them on our Facebook page. I wanted to tell you about the excellent food on Octoberfest Weekend, the fun we had with Henry V on Pirate weekend. How we will miss performers who finished their season with us and how excited we are to welcome our friends Coyote Run, Rising Regina and Tera Serpentis. I wanted to thank everyone for coming to visit us this past Saturday when we had record attendance.

And then Sunday morning happened.

We received news that Lorraine Sullo, who has portrayed Duchess Sussex at PARF for many years, passed away during the night of Saturday, October 8.

Lorraine means a lot to a great number of people. She was a great friend, teacher and coworker. Lorraine was one of the people who taught us that playing a Noble was impossible without the support of the peasants. She encouraged us to embrace who the character is. We also learned a lot about Elizabethan life and culture from her, allowing us to put finishing details in our characters. Working with her was always a pleasure, knowing that you would be challenged and entertain the audience. The shire of Mount Hope will never look the same. Lorraine was responsible for the signs on site. Most people probably never think about the creation of the sign they’re reading, but Lorraine made sure that each sign not only conveyed information, but added to the ambiance. She was a staple presence on grounds and she will be missed.

It is hard to summarize what one person means to many. If you have any memories of Lorraine or Duchess Sussex that you would like to share, please do.

The Mad Mechanicals will never be banished to Belgium by a nicer person. Rest in peace Lorraine, you will live on in our hearts and minds.

In with a Roar

robinstarveling — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:09:28 +0000

To heck with March, September has made it’s presence known. It’s been an exciting season at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, and we’re not even quite halfway through! We’ve had colossal rain storms, and earth quake, a hurricane and a tropical storm. And yet the show has gone on, and it has been even more amazing than the weather! We have been lucky enough to spend some time with old friends and blessed enough to make new. Our daily show on the Rose Stage on 1:30 has been going wonderfully, as has our 4 pm Gazebo show (The Mad Mechanical Variety Hour). Lucky for us we have had plenty of people to tell us what to do at our Variety Hour show, as that is our Shakespeare unscripted show, so we need audience input. We have daily reunion with Francis Flute as we join him for Popcorn Theatre as the Everyday Kazoo Band. Our new red shirts are proving to be quite popular, so if you’re on the fence, jump off and get one before we run out! Of course there are always Random Acts of Shakespeare occurring on the shire of Mount Hope and we keep a close eye on Willy to make sure he’s not spending that money he owes us! All in all this has been an amazing season so far and it only promises to get better!

The Final Countdown

robinstarveling — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:12:08 +0000

And now that you have that earworm stuck in your head (Mwahahaha-teeheeheehee)…

The last faire of the year for The Mad Mechanicals begins this weekend! Come visit us at The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, we’ll be there every weekend (August through the end of October). We’re very excited, as Robin and Thomas will be back, though keep an eye out, the Mechanipals aren’t going away It will be a very interesting season, as there have been many exciting changes to the grounds of the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire since we’ve been there last, so I’m sure there will be new ways to play. Along with finding new ways to play, we’ll be bringing some of our shenanigans from other shires to you. We can’t wait to meet up with old friends and start making some new ones. So, when you come to visit us, bring a couple of friends along

And we’re back in 5, 4, 3, 2…

Thomas Snout — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:37:24 +0000

Hello all. Adam here.

Adam, remember? Wore a green hat, silly accent, yelled a whole lot?

Yeah, that’s the one.

As most of you have noticed, I haven’t been around much recently. Things at the homestead have been very…interesting to date. For the astute amongst you, I’m sure you’ve already heard: I’m a Dad now. So my days have been filled with exhaustion, joy, pain, excitement, panic, terror, wonder and diaper creme. Because of this, we (meaning Andi and myself…Andi having played a small part in creating this baby) have been taking it easy this summer. We’ve been doing our best to get used to the idea that there is someone relying on us and all decisions must include that person. It’s not easy. The world looks like a much different place to me, and I still am not sure exactly where my place is in it.

And yes, I had to stop that sentence half-way to go deal with a quick crying spell.

From the baby. Don’t get excited.

But all that aside, I will be back on stage in August. Thomas will be with me, and I believe Robin will be there to pester him. What would Thomas be without her? Happy? We can’t have that, can we?

So when you see that huge green hat on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire this year, try not to notice the bags under the eyes, or the concerned looks into the audience when he hears a baby’s cries. He will get back to the script and will remember his lines* and the show will go on.

*as much as he did before, anyway.

Let me take this time now to thank the MechaniPals for helping us out during the scary opening weeks of our baby’s own show. Andrew Dell, Bri Kube, Rick Tennant and Erin Maggie Stroyan were real troopers out there at the Virginia Renaissance Faire and the New Jersey Renaissance Faire. They took about ten years of work and had to learn it all in about two months. Luckily they had the skill and the talent to pull it off.

Given the status of baby-sitters and the like, we may have to rely on their skill a few more times this year, but I sincerely hope that they can take the rest of the year off knowing that they have performed better, harder, and wackier than anyone ever expected.

A round of applause for the MechaniPals!

Summer Vacation…sort of

robinstarveling — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:27:24 +0000

The month of July is typically a quiet one for us performance wise and this year is no different. So we take the time to take a vacation or weekend trip and brainstorm on new projects. For those who are on Facebook you may have heard that there is a new script in the works. No promises as to when it will debut, but pen has been put to paper again. We are also looking into two other projects we have been wanting to do for quite some time. One of which is NEW T-SHIRTS! Right now we’re brainstorming on the design we would like and what color to get. If you have preferences let us know because we want you to love them too. This isn’t a guarantee that your idea will be used nor is it a contest, just a “hey if you have an idea you’d like to share, please do”. The other project is a much larger undertaking and will take more time for us to put together, but it is one we have given a lot of thought to. When we have a better idea of where that project is going we’ll let you know. Other than that we are preparing for the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire starting in August and running until October and then it’s off to the holidays :) We’ll see you in August!

~Andi

Busy-ness

robinstarveling — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:22:01 +0000

Welcome to June! Summer will officially arrive this month, thus ending our very crazy spring season and giving us a little bit of time to prepare for our fall shows. Let’s see, this spring we visited the New Hope Renaissance Faire, Spoutwood Faerie Festival, Virginia Renaissance Festival, and New Jersey Renaissance Festival. At the same time we had to teach four new Mechanicapals our scripts so that they could jump in at a moment’s notice when Andi and Adam’s daughter decided to arrive. And she arrived in dramatic style earlier than anticipated, but healthy. We have received emails from some of you, which we love, so keep sending them. Our Facebook page has been growing, so send your friends our way as well. Facebook is probably the best place to keep up on current news, but always keep an eye on our web page as well, as we are able to feature things there that we cannot post on Facebook. We’d also want to remind you of the t-shirt challenge. We have many fans out there with t-shirts, so next time you find yourself wearing yours in a fun or interesting place, take a photo and post it on the Facebook group. We’d love to see where you’ve been! Until next time!

One Newborn Kinsman….and Other Stuff!

snugthejoiner — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:13:52 +0000

As you may or may not know, there is a brand new mini-Mechanical in our midst. Adam and Andi have just welcomed a daughter into the world, and we are all super-excited for them! Of course, that means some changes for a while.

We will still be performing at all our scheduled venues, though Andi and Adam’s presence will be a bit more…variable at least for our spring performances. But never fear, Mad Fans! We’ve got a solution…Mad Mechani”pals!” Yes, we have a team of four fantastic actors ready and able to join us in our craziness.

I’d like to take a moment to introduce them to you–in no particular order–other than alphabetical!

Andrew Dell–as Doctor Caius (from Merry Wives of Windsor)–”Dell” joins us from the wilds of studying Secondary English Education. He wants to TEACH children this stuff! Wonder if it can count for credit? His performance and interaction resume is supplemented by skill in stage combat and improvisation, as well as vet medicine. Hey…someone has to keep the Donkey healthy!

Brianna Kube–as Phoebe (from As You Like It)–Bri steps into the Mechanicals bringing her degree in English literature and a vast amount of Shakespearean knowledge! Bri has portrayed numerous nobles in her tenure of performance at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, but we’re happy she’s slumming to peasantry with us! Bri has also performed with Seat of Our Pants Players in too many roles to count, but most recently as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.

Erin Maggie Stroyan–Celia (from As You Like It)–Erin Maggie has lived and performed Shakespeare on both coasts–most notably as a cross-cast Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet in Washington state and Don Joan (John) in Much Ado About Nothing in PA earlier this spring. Her educational background in the performing arts makes her a perfect addition to the Mechanicals. And we hear she mixes a mean drink!
Rick Tennant–as Angus MacPorter (from Macbeth)–Rick is a trained fencer, actor and musician (well versed in period instruments and possessing a repertoire of songs larger than DAN’S!). Rick has over a decade of Renaissance performance to his credit, as well leading roles in Seat of Our Pants Players productions of Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing.

In conclusion–Welcome to all our new friends, and we hope you’ll all hang on for what promises to be one wild ride!

Jill