The Step Right Up Program!!!

Summer Fun!

2011-06-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

It’s SUMMER time and that means that it’s FUNdraising time!

Our goal is to raise $5,000 for the fall program at The Green School in Brooklyn. This will cover the Teaching Artist fees, as well as the materials we need to build a set, make costumes and props, and purchase lighting and audio equipment. Additionally, it may just allow us to provide an extra special opportunity for the kids to see some live, professional theater. Something we’ve always wanted to do with them as we create these productions.

We’re going to raise this money by way of a number of FUN events for you, our community. And to you, Community, we hope you know that you have ABSOLUTELY been the sole reason this program has lasted so long. You are the reason that The Return of Super Ice Wolf, The Legend of the Zombie Curse, Lost Caribbean, Lies II Dream, Moon Changers, Agent Phoenix and The Last Sound exist. That’s so awesome!

During the 2011-2012 school year, we will produce our SIXTH work of original theater with PS 15 and our THIRD with The Green School. Let’s say it again…that’s so awesome!

More information to come, but we assure you, there is lots of fun to be had for a very good cause in the weeks ahead!

Much love,

Bonnie & Mary

Show Time!

2010-12-15T14:22:00.001-08:00

Join us!

The Step Right Up Program at PS 15's original production of

Agent Phoenix

Thursday, December 15th

5pm

PS15 Auditorium

333 East 4th Street @ Avenue D

New York, NY

Agent Phoenix!

2010-12-13T13:56:00.000-08:00

Robin Canon has taken over our program over at PS15, check out what she has to report on their semester:

I began teaching with this awesome program last year, and was excited to join Step Right Up again this fall

(at PS15 on the lower east side) for another exciting experience! Our small group of 5th graders were eager

to get started, since they've had the privilege of seeing the SRU 5th grade play the past few years.

We began with improv games and lots of creative movement as an ensemble. The students also began to learn

about what it takes to create and produce a play. Over the next few weeks, we began to share ideas and create

characters to use in our script. They were divided into two groups. Each group had to come up with a specific

character and give as many details about that character as possible. Then they began to write scenes involving

their characters. Their imaginations ran wild! Daryl and I had so much fun watching them brainstorm and practice

working together.

Once the basic script was written, Rob Bryn and I sat down and ironed out the ideas. We had an exciting script full

of Phoenixes, Secret Agents, and Robot Pilgrims! Auditions were held, the play was cast, and rehearsals began. One little boy made the comment, "This is hard...but fun!"

Mary Meyer came in to paint a backdrop with the kids and they loved it! We were very pleased with how well the kids

worked together and the beautiful piece they created. See pictures below. Last week we also made giant pieces of candy and worked on a couple of sparkly trees for the set!

We are entering our final week in the process and are very eager to share such a fun and creative piece with the

audience. Alan Ostroff designed a poster using several drawings from the students, and Clayton Colwell created original music and sound cues for the piece. The students are learning a dance tomorrow and we will be putting the finishing touches on some phoenix costumes and set pieces. Whew! It's been a great 10 weeks and I am really proud of this group and their play, Agent Phoenix! Come check it out!

Robin

The Last Sound

2010-12-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

Thursday, December 9th

6:30pm
The Green School Auditorium
223 Graham Avenue between Maujer and Scholes
L Train to Graham Avenue

Don't miss it!!!

Behind the Scenes…

2010-12-03T08:41:00.000-08:00

In October, we started up again at The Green School, a public high school in Bushwick. This is our second program at the school, and coming back in we were met with such an awesome and enthusiastic group of students. Guess we did something right last year! I mean, these kids are choreographing scenes on their own during lunch break and after school and then showing us what they’ve done when we meet up! High school kids! They even came in for the program on Election day and didn’t even have to go to school that day. Gotta love it. They are awing me and inspiring me every time we meet up.

As usual, we spent the first couple of weeks focusing on the art of story telling, and developed what is surely our darkest script to date, THE LAST SOUND. We held auditions, cast the play and started rehearsals. We are proud to announce that today, one week before the show, we made it through the entire script. With just ten weeks to write and produce a show, this is HUGE. This is true testament to the hard work these students are putting into it. Aaaannnd….I won’t ruin the ending, but I will say that Mary got a little teary eyed today!

So, as usual, there are many people to thanks…Big Thanks to JAMES THACHER! He is creating the to-die-for projections that will be part of this show. Also, need to thank Jeremy Davies for spearheading the set construction and the dutiful workers, Mads Lynnerup & Stephanie Levy.

This one’s not to be missed, folks. You can tell just by looking at the flier! There’s a little something for everyone… Post apocalyptic New York City, star crossed lovers, battle scenes, trash can drumming, dark visuals, high drama, Doritos! Can’t wait to share it with you.

See you next week!

Bonnie

December is here

2010-12-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends & Supporters of The Step Right Up Program,

We are just too long long loooong overdue to give you an update from headquarters. And we just can’t believe that next week, the awesome students of the program will be starting to perform their original works.

Here’s how this semester has been made possible…

First things first, at the end of last year, thanks to the amazing Tania Ryalls, we were included in PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ end of the year giving campaign as one of the charities the employees of the firm could give to. We got the news in February that $5,000 was raised from that for us. A MILESTONE for us! We’d never gotten that much money in one big chunk. So THANK YOU TANIA!! And YAY to the generous folks at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Then, in July, we held The FEST. Oh my goodness. Leave it to us to have an OUTDOOR SHOW on the HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR!! It was such a wild day, complete with dunk tank madness (thanks to a donation from Ryan Luce!) We raised a couple thousand that we donated to the program. So if you came out, sweated, danced, hung out, laughed, jumped in the dunk tank, sprayed someone with a hose, and SPENT YOUR MONEY and made that day so awesome and memorable, we thank you!!!

There were so many people that helped make that day successful:

Thanks to Roberta’s for letting us use the garden and donating a keg and like so much other stuff. Thanks to Anjali Suneja, superstar! Thanks to the bands: Hunter, Papertwin, Glazz.tv, Steel Phantoms, Cult of Youth, Violent Bullshit & Golden Triangle for rocking our faces off. Thanks to our awesome volunteers (money collectors and passageway trolls): Tania, Claire, Christina, Sarah Romney & Ben, JPF, Gregor, Jonny, and we’re probably forgetting someone but geez, it’s been 6 months! Thanks to Union Pool and SAGE!!! They donated sound guy Eddie and the awesome bouncer dude Harry.

And then for the last little push of money we needed, we did a Kickstarter campaign in September and these awesome people donated to us:

Stephanie Levy

Sarah Forbes Keough

Roberta Parachini

Gregor Goldman

Olivia Wyatt

Anthony Mathile

Catherine Virga

Priya Bhatnagar

Meryl Williams

Kate Murrin

James Thacher

Emma KP

Molly Surno

Cally Martin

Nayantara Banerjee

Nora Tennessen

Ralph McGinnis

Dawn Mauberret

Cielle Taaffe

Jenny Rockwell

Allison Nelson

Aaron Harris

Monica Kapoor

Kevin Donahue

Daniel Barry

Angela Lawson

Jesse Carmichael

Sitcom Serf

Lena Ghaleb

Robin Cannon

Lila Marshall

Lori Krauss

Mary Hall

Lisa Levine

Annie Kurtin

Jennifer

Kalim Armstrong

Kendra Brody

Chas & Puja Peruto

Katie Robbins

So there it is. All the people that made this Fall Semester of Step Right Up Possible. We started up in October with us (Mary & Bonnie) teaching the high school program at The Green School and Robin & Daryl teaching the elementary school program at PS 15. This will be our second production at The Green School and our FIFTH production at PS 15. Go us!! Go YOU for being so awesome and supportive!!

Stay tuned for more information about the individual programs this year and the upcoming performances. In the meantime, please keep these dates in mind….

December 9^th at 6:30pm

The Last Sound

The Green School

December 16^th at 5:00pm

Agent Phoenix

PS 15

More info to come!!!

Love,

Bonnie & Mary

LIES II DREAM!!!

2009-12-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

Performance 12/17

7pm

The Moon Changers!!!

2009-12-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

This Friday, 12/11/09, at PS 15 333 E 4th st between Ave C and Ave D Come see our 4th production to date at this school!

5 pm

Step Up!!!

2009-12-02T11:32:00.000-08:00

Funds And Fun

2009-11-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

Friends!

We just wanted to give you a brief update on what’s going on this semester with The Step Right Up Program. We have now expanded and are working in two schools...and we jumped in head first…

Mary Meyer and Bonnie Pipkin are teaching the program for the first time with high school students at The Green School. This is in right in Williamsburg on Graham and Maujer in Brooklyn. Watching the students unleash their creativity has been incredibly inspiring. We’ve written a teenage, Shakespearean, romantic comedy called Lies to Dream—complete with mistaken identity, and a haphazard spell caster. Over at PS 15, we hired a new teaching artist, Miguel Mendez, who is teaching with Step Right Up’s co-creator, Anjali Suneja. PS 15 is the elementary school in the lower east side that we have worked with since the first program in 2007 and are committed to providing the program to for years to come. The play we're creating over there involves moon workers who chisel at the moon rock day in and day out, and some explorers that land there to stir things up!

Now, back to the part where we jumped in head first... We jumped in head first because this program is important in our community. It is giving opportunity to kids in communities and schools without many creative outlets. Theater making is a great instrument as there are so many different ways for the students to express themselves in a positive way. So we jumped in… because we all grew up with arts education and we all know how important it is…

We'll just be straight up… as it stands now, we’re still trying to raise $2,864 to get us through the rest of the semester. The party we threw in October was a great success for funding one program but we’re still inching to get funds for the second program.

This is a difficult economic climate in which to make donations and we know that. That is why we’re only asking that those that can will consider making a donation this month to carry us through to the end of the year in both schools. That's right, we're aiming high and aiming to raise the rest of this money by the end of this month... heck, this week if we can swing it!

Now, we always find a way… with or without the money… but it always helps to rally up our community and work together on this important cause.

We’re asking for donations of $25-$250 to help close the gap. It’s a lot to ask, we know… but if you are in a position right now, we would be so incredibly grateful.

Donations are accepted online through our mother company, Arts for All. Just make sure you earmark it for Step Right Up!

click here:
Arts For All

If you do make a donation at this time, please email Bonnie bonniepip@hotmail.com and let us know that you’ve done so. That way we can make sure when it gets to Arts for All, it’s going to our program.

Best wishes for the upcoming holiday season and the new year… and expect an invitation to the performances at both schools coming up!!

Here's to fightin' the good fight!

Cheers!

ART & ROCK 2

2009-09-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

FALL OUT!!!!

2009-09-11T15:20:00.000-07:00

Fall is upon us, folks, and that means that The Step Right Up Program is starting! This time around, we’re proud to be expanding and providing our program to TWO public schools in New York. We will, of course, be sticking around with the 5th Graders at PS 15 in the Lower East Side. Anjali Suneja and the newest addition to our team, Miguel Mendez, will be the Teaching Artists over there. We’re excited to have Anjali back in action and equally excited Miguel has agreed to join up! Something amazing is bound to come out of that school this semester.

Also, we are expanding to a new school! Bonnie Pipkin & Mary Meyer will be working over at The Green School, a public high school on Graham Ave & Maujer in Brooklyn! We’re very excited to work within the community that we live and to see what high school kids come up with for their final performance!

Sooooooo……. Since we’re expanding to work in two schools this semester, we need your help! We’re throwing another party on October 3rd at Mary’s house. Again there will be art and fashion auctioned, as well as ROCK…. The Nasties are back at it, this time with Necking and The Brass Cups. Come hang with us and support arts education in New York City!!!

Next Performance May 1st!!!

2009-04-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

PS15's almost ready!

2009-03-18T20:23:00.001-07:00

The year speeds by and we're almost ready for our next performance on May 1st. This year the performance is going to be a mix of live acting and film.

Here some pictures that Shaun Kessler took of us building a stage out of donated clothes!

Round Three

2008-11-14T10:11:00.000-08:00

The next Step Right Up production is a-brewin’ over at PS 15. This is our third program at this school and we are excited to continue our residency with them. The 5th grade students in Project C.O.O.L. are a creative and energetic bunch and we look forward to working with them for the entire year. We started the creative exploration in October and our production is scheduled for May 1st. Keep checking back for updates!

We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Pipkin for their generous donation to this round of Step Right Up. Thank you so much!!

Arts for All, Inc. Fundraiser

2008-11-14T07:48:00.000-08:00

Arts for All, Inc. sponsor Step Right Up and we think they are awesome! This weekend is their annual fundraiser at Barnes and Noble in Tribeca. All books purchased from this store on those three days will go directly to Arts for All. This organization is doing amazing things for in-need youth communities through arts education. Please come down and check out the event and buy some books!

Zombie Pics!

2008-11-14T07:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple cool photos and videos for our last chilling, zombie production! Wait till you see what we have in store for the 08/09 program!

The Legend of the Zombie Curse!

2008-05-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Zombies! At PS 15!! We've spent the last 10 weeks perfecting the art of Zombies with the third grades of PS15. Come on down Friday the 30th at 5 pm and check out what they've done. Find out what the zombie curse is and what the humans and zombies must do to break it!!

PS 15 333 East 4th Street @ Avenue D

Back At It

2008-04-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

We are deep in the midst of out next production with the 3rd graders down at PS15. This is going to be some play folks, we're super excited. Check out some of their improv moves!

FOX & FAWN

2008-03-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Fox & Fawn, a vintage buy sell trade shop in the Lower East Side is having a party for us!

Come on down!

Friday March, 28th
6pm-11pm
Fox & Fawn
112 Suffolk Street (between Delancey and Rivington)

Live Performance by Sam Jayne (of Love as Laughter)
Free Beer
Art Auction

30% of All Sales will go to The Step Right Up Program

Donations will be accepted.

Come show your love!

THANK YOU!!

2008-03-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to the following people for making the carnival possible(in no particular order... oh what the heck! in alphabetical order!

Anna and Arts for All for the ongoing support and guidance
Chris Parachini and Roberta’s for the van and for the gift certificate
Christian for attempting to run the cotton candy machine and for being a great supporter
Christina for slinging macaroni and cheese and for general awesomeness
Claire for being an awesome ticket mistress and for bringing over her A+ pooch to the carnival
Daria for donating her wonderful prints to the raffle!
Delio for handling those kegs like a champ and lugging heavy stuff around and for playing mandolin beautifully and for being awesome and supportive always
Djuna and Marissa for donating a Fox and Fawn gift certificate and being awesome enough to put together another fundraiser show for us
Erika Anderson for helping with set up and clean up and for loving that hammer and nail raffle prize
Gideon, our new friend, for so spontaneously becoming our strong man
Jana for donating that amazing piece of art that Delio won in the raffle and for helping us get that place in order
Jessica for singing those tunes with Roger. Your voices are like magic.
Jonny Meyer for helping load and unload the van all those times
Jules for donating the amazing Starr Space
Kate for generously donating a free haircut to the raffle
Kit who never met us before and did so so sooooo much for us while we were setting up/running it/and cleaning up. The cotton candy bubble is going down in history.
Laura for singing beautiful jazzy tunes
Mahinder and Puja Suneja for showing up on time and donating the water!
Marissa even though I already thanked her up at Djuna for being so so supportive
Michael Mason and the Wimpee brothers for putting together that beautifully absurd performance
Noah for letting us steal his car for multiple days and for being an amazing swami and an amazing support person
Ralph for donating free passes to Go Yoga for the winner of the ice cream eating contest John Hoppin! And for the ongoing donation from his meditation group.
Roberta’s Oscar and Super Bowl Crew—you guys are awesome
Roberta Parachini, herself, for coming down to the carnival with her generous donation
Roger for playing those beautiful country tunes. Oh, and for running to get us plastic forks.
Sarah Romney and Ben Relf for helping paint the signs and for always supporting all of our wacky endeavors

THIS SUNDAY!!!

2008-02-28T10:42:00.001-08:00

Step Right Up!

Try your luck at the Smodg Toss or the Hammer a Nail! Settle in with some cotton candy, mac and cheese and a cold beer!
Spend some time our all knowing FORTUNE TELLERS!
Get your face painted!
Enter a contest! (Strong Man? Ice Cream Eating? Egg Toss? Musical Chairs?)
Buy tickets for the raffle and win a dinner at Roberta’s or a Bumble and Bumble Haircut from Kate or a lil shopping spree from Fox and Fawn.

There is lots of fun to be had
this Sunday, March 2nd…. ALL DAY!!!

Starting at 1pm there will be games, performances, food and more!

Come early and dazzle at the people on stilts! Come a little later and catch some awesome old time-y musical acts. Better yet... Strap on your banjo, accordion or tap dancin' shoes and come down and perform for us. It's a free for all!

What’s more is all of this is for a good cause! This is to raise money for Step Right Up’s Spring Program at PS 15. (www.steprightupprogram.blogspot.com)

So come on down and stay ALL DAY with us!

Sunday March 2nd
1pm-8pm
Starr Space
108-110 Starr Street (@ Knickerbocker)
L Train to Jefferson St

Love,

Bonnie, Mary and Anjali

CARNIVAL FUNDRAISER!!!

2008-02-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

Spring 2008 Program

We just could not imagine being anywhere else but at PS 15 for our second round of Step Right Up! Starting in March, with the support of Project C.O.O.L. and Arts for All, Bonnie, Anjali and Mary will be back in the Lower East Side, working with 3rd grade students for nine weeks. The program will run in a similar manner: creating an original performance from the voices of the students with their creations in music, costumes and props. We could not be more excited and look forward to seeing you all at the performance in May!

To make our next project possible we are raising money at our very own Carnival! Fun and games and races and kissing booths and everything you could imagine!

March 2nd 1 to 8pm, 110 Starr Street Brooklyn NY

Stay tuned for details!

THANK YOU!!

2008-02-10T14:28:00.001-08:00

Thank you so much to everyone that showed their support to the program by donating time and money. Without your generosity, we never would have been able to bring to you the wonder that was THE RETURN OF SUPER ICE WOLF!

Super Ice Wolves (Over $1,000)
Abra Nowitz & Michael Gordon

Professor Kirby ($200-$500)
Arts for All/Capgemini

Warm Hearted Students ($100-$199)
Ben Ghambi, Bill Higgins, Jason Lamberth, Katie Robbins, Mahinder Suneja, Mary Meyer Clothing, Pat Munoz & Alice Mellen, Roberta Parachini, The Mony Group, Jennie Haydel & Daniel Della Ripa

Ice Cubs (Up to $99)
Ashlea Bonds, Daniel Baer, Marissa Johnson, Morgan Mirvis, Sandra Roman, Sarah Romney, Calleen Martin, Adrienne Reese, Kate Schlichter, Lila Marshall, Marie Cartusciello, Wills Bates and Sarah Bereza, Inder & Uma Grover, Kathy Santora, Jennifer Rockwell, Alexandra Gershman, Evans Henkey, Loren Goetz, Penny & Loren Greeneich, Raj Kaup, Sukey Fontelieu, Yi-Chen Lai, James Rickman, Bonnie Pipkin Presents

Magicians
(those who contributed time, materials, moral support)

Project C.O.O.L.:
Guin Ellsworth, Nora Zoographou, Marissa Perez and Aida Baez

Arts for All:
Anna Roberts;

Robert Bryn
Chris Parachini
Katie Robbins
Christian Serra
Christina Vassallo
Lisa Levine
Mateo Costa

and everyone who came to the performance and donated at the door

The Return of Super Ice Wolf!

2007-11-12T07:51:00.000-08:00

The Step Right Up Program is pleased to announce our first play, The Return of Super Ice Wolf. It's scheduled to preform one night only on friday November 16, 2007 at PS 15 333 4th St., between Ave C and D. Please come and see what you've helped to create!

2007-08-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

The Step Right Up Program!!!

Weeksville Elementary, Brooklyn NY, March 2007

The Step Right Up Program is a free New York based after-school program that unites its students in the common goal of creating a play. We take the children through all steps of bringing a play to the stage: from the creation of the script, to the acting, directing, costume making, set design, music, prop making and more! There’s a lot more to theater than the people you see on stage and there’s something for everyone to do!

Weeksville Elementary, Brooklyn NY, March 2007

Our first program starts September 25th at PS 15 – 333 East 4th Street between Ave C and Ave D in New York City. A group of 5th graders will meet with us after school twice a week for 8 weeks. Together, we will collaborate in making their play from start to finish. Theater provides a multitude of creative outlets. One child’s strength may be in writing, while another may be a natural costume designer and yet working backstage might inspire a third. Through workshops, we will allow the children to explore these many different art forms and discover their strengths and abilities. Each hurdle that must be tackled in the course of production will be met with resourcefulness, a positive outlook and a team approach. We hope to inspire the community to get involved in the project as well as continuing to build the relationship between New York City arts organizations and the public school system.

Arts education is sorely under-funded in New York City. Many schools rely on outside programming to provide their students with this facet of education. Arts in education not only teaches us about ourselves but also about history and culture. Step Right Up’s intent is to go into schools particularly lacking in arts programs. Our aim is to fund the program wholly on donation, thereby making it free to the kids involved. The root of theater is essentially storytelling and we want to use creative play and art to encourage each kid that their story is worth telling.

Anjali Suneja and Bonnie Pipkin at Career Day, Weeksville Elementary, Brooklyn NY, April 2007

Significant Collaborators:
Arts for All works hard to provide opportunities to those who have had little chance to take part in the arts as well as youth who have experienced extreme challenges in life. The organization hopes to create a new and exciting venue for these communities to explore, create and express their own feelings and experiences.

Bonnie Pipkin Presents (BPP) is a Brooklyn based theatre company dedicated to producing original, collaborative and cross-disciplinary performance pieces. Since December of 2003, the company has developed new works of theatre and music by emerging Brooklyn artists and produced eleven shows. These shows were performed in galleries, small theatres and alternative spaces in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Admission to events has been at a low cost or by donation, encouraging active participation from the community and an exchange of ideas between audiences and artists. BPP is a dedicated supporter and believer in the creative community.

Teaching Artists :
Mary Meyer is a local clothing designer and also has 10 years experience as a children’s teacher. She worked extensively at the Park Day School after-school program, and with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her clothing line is made sweatshop free and donates 10% of it profits to charity. You can find it at high-end boutiques across the country and on her website.

Bonnie Pipkin is a California transplant that has been living in Brooklyn for four years. Within that time, she founded the collaborative and multi-disciplinary theatre company, Bonnie Pipkin Presents and currently works as the Producing Artistic Director. Her efforts with the company have been shifting towards arts education in underserved communities and she now works as much as she can as a Teaching Artist. She holds a BA in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and an MA in Performing Arts Administration from New York University.

Anjali Suneja is an actress, a director, a dancer, a choreographer, a costume designer and anything else that has to do with the theatre. She was trained at the Atlantic Acting School and is the Associate Director of Artistic Production and Education with Bonnie Pipkin Presents. Significant collaborations in her repertoire include Agora II, the interactive dance performance in Brooklyn’s Mccarren Park Pool, as well as seven BPP productions. She was the Director of a Chelsea-based contemporary art gallery for five years where she curated and co-curated over 40 exhibitions. She received her BA in Art History & Communication from UC Santa Barbara.