I hope that it’s been a good week and that you and your family had a fun and safe Halloween!
I’m headed back to the Marsh in San Francisco this weekend to resume the run of my new hit solo play, Grandma & Me; An Ode to Single Parents. It’s the tragic/comic tale of how my
grandmother took on me and my four sisters (ages 1-15) to raise alone after our mother’s death, transposed with my story of taking on my three kids (ages 6-12) after a divorce. It’s an emotional autopsy of sorts on how Grandma did it and what I learned from her actions during my own trying times. The audiences and critics have been very kind!
San Francisco
Chronicle
“Brian Copeland… is fearless with introspection, acute with observation, deadly with wit and compassionate with his audiences.”
Theatrius
“Brian Copeland’s reservoirs of talent and empathy make him a unique, unforgettable artist. A must see.”
San Francisco Examiner
“If you are a single parent or you have a single parent in your life, you have to see this play.”
BroadwayWorld
"Brims with humor and humanity"
"a preternaturally gifted entertainer and storyteller"
"Copeland really shines"
"well worth the wait"
"hits that sweet spot between funny and
moving"
"tells a tale not quite like anything I've seen onstage before"
"It's a feat of dramaturgy, really, that we get two complete stories, two emotionally satisfying journeys, equally well-told and deftly tied
together at the end"
SF Theater Blog
"Very funny as well as deep"
“A testament to single parents everywhere.”
Theater Dogs
"Every parent should
be so lucky to have a child who pays such a beautiful tribute as Copeland does for his grandmother"
“A show that overflows with love.”
Goldstar
Members:
FIVE STARS!!!
Come on out! Performances are Fridays at 7:30 and Saturdays at 5 through 11/19. For tickets go to www.themarsh.org. Use the code Me15 and get your seats for only $15. If you are a therapist, counselor or social worker for single parents, use the code ChildRearing and your seats are free! Bring the single
parent in your life!
Here's what else I’ve been into this week…
READING
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
By
Matthew Perry
I’ll fess up to having seen most of the episodes of the show "Friends." I get a pass because my teenage daughter controlled the remote. I’ll also confess to laughing out loud on more than one occasion. Okay, MANY more than one occasion. As monocultural as I found the show to be, its core
cast of six consisted of some of the most gifted performers to ever grace the small screen. At the show’s peak, its young stars were being paid the then unheard of sum of $1,000,000 an episode. They were worth it.
You’d think that fame, riches and the public adulation that comes from starring on a hit
network series would be enough to fill any “holes” a person might feel inside of them. In his new memoir, Matthew Perry (Chandler) illustrates once and for all how that is not always the case as he takes us through the drug and alcohol addiction that plagued him during the show’s original run and in the decades since. It’s a story of the depths of despair and the grace of redemption.
Copie’s Choice: Read
