This week I'm performing in Brief Encounters 19. Produced by The Tomorrow Collective, this performance series pairs 10 artists from different disciplines together, gives them two weeks to create, and then throws them onstage for three nights to perform. I was contacted by the producers a few months ago. They had seen me onstage before, and knew I could sing, act and (somewhat) dance, but they were intrigued that I was also a lawyer. They wondered, would I be interested in being one of the Brief Encounters artists with my lawyer hat on?
The thought of meeting another artist, writing something (I don't usually write music or plays - this blog, my columns and the odd short story are about as far as I go), and then performing it - well, frankly, it terrified me, which is why I had to say yes. So I did.
I was pretty sure (and some of the artists have since admitted) that the person who got the lawyer as their partner was going to be choked and feel like they had to carry me through our 15 minutes (max). And when I got paired with comedian Wes Borg, I was quick to reassure him that I had some artistic background to help us out.
The first challenge for our pair was that Wes lives in Victoria, and I'm in Vancouver, and really stupid busy, between my jobs and Spamalot. On my last free Saturday I flew over to Victoria to meet with Wes at his place to write our piece. Instead, we ended up brainstorming a few ideas and then going to the Beacon Hill petting zoo to look at the baby goats and baby pigs. Wes seemed unconcerned with us having something written that day, so I didn't press the issue. It felt like a weird first date.
Anyway, tonight's our first show, and I think it'll be fun. Before we even met, Wes had the idea of us doing "Copyright Infringement: The Musical," and he kept going back to that throughout our brainstorming and writing process, so that's what we're doing. I think you'll like it. I've been sitting in dress rehearsal watching other pairs today and the other pieces are fascinatingly eclectic and cover a diverse array of themes. It's really worth checking us out. It's like the Pick n' Mix of art - if you don't like one piece in the bag, reach down a little further and you might find one you enjoy.
Brief Encounters runs tonight through Saturday at Performance Works on Granville Island. Tickets are available online here. Use promo code "DANIELLE" to get a discount. Be sure to listen to North by Northwest this Saturday morning on CBC Radio One, as Wes and I will be talking about our collaboration.
The thought of meeting another artist, writing something (I don't usually write music or plays - this blog, my columns and the odd short story are about as far as I go), and then performing it - well, frankly, it terrified me, which is why I had to say yes. So I did.
I was pretty sure (and some of the artists have since admitted) that the person who got the lawyer as their partner was going to be choked and feel like they had to carry me through our 15 minutes (max). And when I got paired with comedian Wes Borg, I was quick to reassure him that I had some artistic background to help us out.
The first challenge for our pair was that Wes lives in Victoria, and I'm in Vancouver, and really stupid busy, between my jobs and Spamalot. On my last free Saturday I flew over to Victoria to meet with Wes at his place to write our piece. Instead, we ended up brainstorming a few ideas and then going to the Beacon Hill petting zoo to look at the baby goats and baby pigs. Wes seemed unconcerned with us having something written that day, so I didn't press the issue. It felt like a weird first date.
Anyway, tonight's our first show, and I think it'll be fun. Before we even met, Wes had the idea of us doing "Copyright Infringement: The Musical," and he kept going back to that throughout our brainstorming and writing process, so that's what we're doing. I think you'll like it. I've been sitting in dress rehearsal watching other pairs today and the other pieces are fascinatingly eclectic and cover a diverse array of themes. It's really worth checking us out. It's like the Pick n' Mix of art - if you don't like one piece in the bag, reach down a little further and you might find one you enjoy.
Brief Encounters runs tonight through Saturday at Performance Works on Granville Island. Tickets are available online here. Use promo code "DANIELLE" to get a discount. Be sure to listen to North by Northwest this Saturday morning on CBC Radio One, as Wes and I will be talking about our collaboration.