What We're Thankful For

For this week's post, the SU crew and I are thankful. 

I want to say thank you to our fabulous donors. Thank you to the people who gave for Give to the Max. Thank you for those who came to the shows, thank you to those who wrote about us, thank you to those who volunteered with us. Thank you to all our collaborators and thank you to all the venues who've hosted us. Thank you to the Fringe Festival. Thank you to the bulletin boards that have held our postcards. Thank you, porta potty at the Hollywood. Thank you, Marcus Bachmann. Thank you Kate Chopin and 3AM Productions. Thank you, Russ's neck beard.

And from me, thank you Savage Umbrella, for giving me Danny. 

 

What are you thankful for?
Rachel: I'm thankful to live in a city that supports art. I'm thankful that we have farmer's markets and the ability to learn how to grow our own food.  I'm thankful for friends that like to hug and people who believe in hope.
Eric: Time with my loved ones.
Hannah: I am thankful for my supportive family. Even though they probably wish I’d gone to school to be a lawyer, they always try to understand why I need to do the work that feeds my soul.
Blake:  I am thankful for space heaters and beauty.
Candy: I am thankful for friends, family, marshmallows, and sunshine.
Russ: I'm thankful for the time, my income, and the support of loved ones to be the kind of artist I've always wanted to be.
Shira: Coffee, music, water, wine and laughter. The people in my life, the ability to climb mountains, fresh air, and the feeling of the sun on my skin.
Carl: I am thankful that I get to live in a great, working city with a lot of creative energy, bike lanes, coffee shops, and smart, opinionated, considerate people. I am thankful for my family, and my love, and friends, and confidantes, and sparring partners. I am also thankful that we have made it to mid-November without snow.
Christina: I am personally thankful for Russel, the earth, my family, my house on the East Side of Saint Paul (represent!), dread-locks, oreo cookies, my classroom and students at Woodbury Middle School, and sweedish fish candy!
Heidi: I am thankful for friends, family and that liquor store on Lake where you can get 6 bottles of wine for $36.
Tanner: A year ago, I was sitting around my apartment a lot, being generally consumed by all things INTERNET. And I was working a 9-5 job that was not horrible and paying the bills, but it wasn't really fulfilling me. A year later, I've embarked on a career in the nonprofit world with my new gig at The Loft Literary Center. And I've officially joined Savage Umbrella, which stimulates all areas of my brain and heart. It's been a huge change for me and so, so wonderful for my emotional health and well-being. Also, my wife, Emily, and my kitty, Henry, are pretty great, too.
Laura: I am thankful for my family, my cat, kittens in general, honey badgers, my mom's mapleine cookies, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, traveling, naps, mountains, and all the happiness in my life.

What new work excites you in the Twin Cities?
Rachel: New art! New art!  I'm thankful for PlayLabs Festival of New Plays at the Playwrights’ Center.  So awesome!  I'm thankful for Dykes to Drag and Madame and Queertopia and all the awesome weird performance corners of the scene. I'm thankful for The MovingCompany for always keeping it beautiful.
Eric: The MovingCompany
Hannah: I’m really just thankful that there is new art happening in this community. I don’t have an extensive knowledge of companies, but I look forward to experiencing all the work happening in the Twin Cities.
Blake: I am thankful for how the arts community has continued to grow in my absence so that I could come back to a place even more beautiful than when I left it.
Candy: All of it! I love that the Twin Cities has such a rich artistic culture and history and an unparalleled level of support for contemporary artists in the USA. All of the art that is birthed from it surrounds us, making our lives better and our communities stronger.
Russ: I'd be silly for not being thankful for Savage Umbrella, but I must say that I'm always floored by how much joy I get out of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  There's always something new and breathtaking there.
Shira: Savage Umbrella!! And fun and exciting artist collaborations and mixes that are happening...
Carl: I love that we have talented, collaborative artists that are getting national recognition, people in film like Dan Huiting and MPLS.TV's "City of Music" series for Pitchfork, bands touring the country like Polica and Fort Wilson Riot. On top of that, visual artists like Nick Howard and Broc Blegen, literary magazines like Paper Darts and great, innovative radio stations like KFAI, Radio K and The Current. That and theater. I mean, so much theater. So much.
Christina: I am artistically thankful for TU Dance, Zenon Dance, Brave New Workshop, the new Nimbus Theatre space, and Art-a-Whirl in the Twin Cities!
Heidi: After two years away, everything feels new! It’s like I forgot how awesome and arty the TCs are!
Tanner: There is the vast array of great companies that create new work here in the Twin Cities, and they all get me twitter-pated (wait, what?). The idea of more collaborations and interactions among these companies and Savage Umbrellas, like a Twin Cities new theatre network, excites me, and I hope we can make more of it happen in the coming year.
Laura: I'm thankful for amazing theatre companies that are creating new work in town, like The MovingCompany, Live Action Set and to the Playwrights' Center for supporting new work. And you know, giving me a paycheck. And I'm really thankful the Walker is bringing Young Jean Lee to town in January - awesome sauce.

What are you thankful for about SU?
Rachel: I am so thankful to have a performance family that loves as passionately and hangs on as tightly as Savage Umbrella does.  For me, we really are critical shelter.
Eric: To have such brilliant people constantly making me look good.
Hannah: I am thankful for SU’s willingness to invite me to play “under the umbrella.“ I was a complete stranger only months ago, and I already feel like an important part of a new community.
Blake: I am thankful for all these people who have big ideas, who are both thoughtful and bold, and again, for all of the beauty.
Candy: I'm so thankful to be working with such talented, thoughtful, creative, and caring individuals. It's like a deranged, single-generational, wildly inappropriate, wildly appropriate, and wonderful family.
Russ: I'm thankful for the safety net that they have created for me. It's tough to take that first step out of your comfort zone (for me that's performing). It's because of Savage Umbrella that I'm able to take that deep breath and try my hand at something like play-writing. Really without them it would always be a shoula-coulda-woulda.
Shira: It's a wonderful, dedicated, talented eclectic group of individuals that can come together and create exciting, meaningful and socially-relevant theatrical experiences.
Carl: I am absolutely astounded by the generosity of our donors and supporters- on Give To The Max Day, at our Happy Hour Fundraisers and most importantly the incredible audiences at our shows. I believe that our company is so full of beautifully talented people, and we work so hard together, take so many risks, that to have people along with us for the ride is the thing that I am most grateful for.
Christina: I am savagely thankful for all the wonderful, awesome, generous people who unselfishly gave to Savage Umbrella for Give-to-the-Max day (!), and I am so thankful for collaborative creation in Down Draft Meetings!
Heidi: The momentum and energy is palpable and AWESOME. There’s pride in where everyone has come and so much excitement in where we are going, together.
Tanner: My first few years out of college, I basically sat around moped about my lack of direction and missed my good friends from college. I sort of resigned myself to the idea that it's really difficult to make close friends after college in this supposed "real world." But then I got involved with Savage Umbrella, and I don't feel so directionless and lonely anymore. Together is better than alone! SU4LIFE!
Laura:  The gratitude and happiness Savage Umbrella brings me is ever-expanding. So, here, I'll just mention the people. I am thankful to Eric, Blake and Ben for founding this crazy experiment with me. To Sarah for helping propel SU forward during our infancy. To Candy for staying involved, even though she moved far, far away. To Russ for pushing himself to write, even though he's nervous about it. To Shira for being the Snack Queen. To Hannah and Heidi for jumping wildly and bravely into the unfamiliar. To Christina for being tough as nails. To Amber for reminding us to be as thoughtful as we can be, and for giving us 'yikes.' To Tanner for simultaneously being the consummate professional and telling endless fart jokes. To Rachel for reminding us to hang out, and for keeping everyone's feelings in mind. To Carl for always thinking deeply about where we're headed and the best way to get there, and for wearing short shorts in every flipping show. And finally, I am so thankful to all our audiences, donors and fans for the continual support (Give to the Max day, what what?) and for constantly pushing us to be even better. I love everyone. My cup runneth over.