Episode Ten

It takes courage...

I think we made history that day, with our tired eyes and childish grins.
We walked along the narrow path, knowing that we might fall, we might break.
But, with strong hearts, we embraced the alameda.
And it opened up to us as we began to sing.

Thank you to everyone who made this possible. Thank you to all who came out to support us.
"It takes courage to remember, it takes courage to forget."
See you all at the next one!

Un abrazo,

Marilo

Episode Nine

Staying at the Four Star Hotel!

Whew! We did it! We opened on the 17th! It was amazing and powerful! Standing ovations practically every night!

The panel discussion on Sunday the 20th was magical to say the least. A gentleman who is a torture survivor from Chile approached me after the play and sobbed in my arms. He was so moved, so raw because he had, for the first time in his life, seen himself and his experience on stage. He shared his story with us during the panel's q & a and magically spoke about a Canadian woman who had helped him in the transition when he first arrived in 1974. He mentioned her name and someone pointed out to him that she was sitting but three seats away from him. Unbeliveable! We all got teary eyed as they hugged and said hello after so many years.

We are all really, really proud of the work that is being done in The Refugee Hotel. You don't want to miss this show! To buy your tickets logon: www.artsboxoffice.ca or call 416-504-7529. For more information please call Alameda Theatre Company at 416-428-7638.

Catch it before we close on the 4th. You won't regret it!

See you at the show!

Un abrazo,

Marilo

Episode Eight

Here we go....!!!!!!

I've been in the thick of it all. Haven't really had a chance to stop and take stock. So, here I am trying to make sense of it all. I think the blog episode this week says it all. I would write more, but I am trying to check off all of the last minute details that I need to get done. I will write more later, about this process, about the ups and downs, about everything.

Until then, watch the episode, forward it to all your friends. We need to get the masses out to see this show. It's important. It's important that we support a new voice in canadian theatre. Buy your tickets here: http://www.artsboxoffice.ca

See you at the show!!!!!!

xo Marilo

Episode Seven

We open in a week!!!

Wow, a week away and it seems like there is so much to do...wait, there is so much to do! I'll keep this short and sweet then. I've seen two run throughs of the play already and I am blown away at how good this play is! I always laugh and cry when I see this play! (Oh, and there's this part that had me rolling on the floor...it was so hilarious. I won't give it away because what I find funny, maybe you won't find so funny. But oh my god is this play amazing!) I know I'm gushing. That's a good thing if the producer is gushing, right!

Carmen and an actor visited the Refugee Hotel here in downtown Toronto last week. Refugees from Afghanistan and Iraq that have arrived in the last two weeks are living at this hotel. It's true what Carmen says. This play is NOT historical. It is relevant and it's such a shame that these issues are still present today. Which is why this play is important.

Great episode this week. Makes you want to run out and buy tickets for the play....so what are you waiting for? See you at the show!

Thanks for watching.

Un abrazo,

Marilo :)

Episode Six

Designing our way to the top!

So, we're one week and a half into rehearsals. Everything is going really, really well! The actors are working hard, the director (and writer) is working really hard...and the designers are building and prepping for the run of the play. All around me I feel a buzz about this play. People are beginning to talk. I myself can't wait to see what all of them are creating!

I just want to say to all of you who read this blog, we are still raising money for this show. The best way you can help us out is by buying your tickets early. Buy them today. Please. it's the best way to help. I can't tell you how much it would help us if you bought your tickets today...

Our latest episode delves into the minds of our talented designers. A behind-the-scenes look at the design and look of the show. Very exciting!

Now, what are you going to do now? Buy your tickets! Arts Box Office

Thanks so much for your support.

xo Marilo

Oh, almost forgot to mention, Alameda Theatre Company was featured in the Toronto Star yesterday. Have a read here: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/theatre/article/688568

This work, our work, is making a difference. One play, one writer, one designer, one actor at a time.

Episode Five

First day...

Yesterday we began. I am feeling quite excited! The whole cast and design team, plus a few guests and the production team were present. The room was full with the euphoric feeling of the first day of a journey, a new beginning.

The first read through made us all cry and laugh. Julie, one of Alameda's board members, was so moved and excited about the story and the words. She said she loved the fact that the funny bits helped you to get through the really moving and tragic moments in the play. It took you along on a real journey.

We had a special guest present. Señora Carmen Rosa Santos. Her bravery and strength were so admirable and inspiring. It hit home to everyone, I think, that this play's themes are as real as the words that she spoke to us in the room. A survivor of the atrocities of Pinochet's regime, she was unwavering in her conviction and belief in the struggle to fight human rights abuses. I realized why we are doing this, with even more conviction. For her, for all the political prisoners around the world, for all the disappeared and for all of the exiles. This story, this play is for you.

And Carmen spoke the truth when she said, the survivors don't speak from a place of feeling sorry for themselves. They speak from a place of clarity and truth. Gracias señora Carmen Rosa por sus palabras.

Enjoy episode 5.

Un abrazo,

Marilo

Episode Four

A hard day for producing....

Today was a hard day. I can't lie. It was one of the hardest days I've had in a long time. I'm so frustrated and depressed by the fact that it feels as if no one wants to give us money to produce this play. I've been turned down by everyone it seems! It's been a rough day. I wanted to just curl up and cry. But my husband and my daughters kept me going. Also, I received an email, from out of the blue, from Marcelo Puente a week ago that I've posted on my wall. It literally came out of the blue, at a point when I was beginning to question it all. No joke. It has now become my mantra. I wanted to share it with you just so you know how powerful a mantra it is...And how much I love Marcelo for it.

Querida Marilo:(Dear Marilo)
Hoy por algun motivo (Today for some reason) he estado pensando en tu Proyecto de Teatro Alameda (I've been thinking about your project, the Alameda Theatre) , que es algo asi como una monta~na de bellas ideas (which is something like a huge mountain of beautiful ideas) y gente actuando con acentos y sin acentos (and people acting with accents and without accents) , pero cargados de un futuro lleno de girasoles.(but full of a future full of sunflowers).
No te detengas jamas (Don't ever stop what you're doing)
No pares jamas (Don't ever stop)
Que nada te haga dejar todo (Don't let anything stop you from doing it all)
Que sigas eternamente luchando por ese escenario (Keep fighting, eternally, for that stage, that idealistic stage)
Que cada dia crezca mas y mas (and that each day let it grow more and more)...y mas y mas(and more and more)....y mas y mas (and more and more) con el cari~no, dedicacion y amor con que tu sabes hacerlo(with the love, dedication and tenderness that only you know how to do it with)
Un abrazo y un sol (A big hug and the sun to you)
Marcelo

I don't need to say any more than that. I will not give up. I will keep going. I know I can do this. Please help me to do this by seeing the show. It's all I ask.

Marilo

Episode Three

Finding the source

As each day passes, I am feeling, at times, so terrified of failing. Yet, in the same turn, I feel exhilarated by the movement of this piece in my life, in the lives of others. I can't lie, this has been one of the hardest processes that I have ever had to endure. In the beginning, when I first got wind of this project, I knew that I had to be a part of it no matter what. I wanted to act in it so badly it hurt my insides. I remember telling Carmen that this play had brought us together for a reason. She smiled in agreement. That was the beginning.

Fast forward five years, after everything, and I am still as passionate and moved by this piece as I was when I first read it. Never before have I connected so viscerally to a piece of theatre. I am more grounded now in why I feel it needs to be produced. I now only want to share it with Canadian audiences (hopefully international audiences). I know for a fact that Carmen has been carrying this play in her soul for over ten years. It's time to let it out, let it have it's own life. (Right Lusha?)

Today is a big interview day for me. Peter is going to ask me personal questions about why I am producing The Refugee Hotel. I'm nervous and really want to do justice to the work, the play, because it is not just for personal reasons that I am producing this work. It is for much more universal and selfless reasons.

I will leave it at that. Watch the next episode...coming in a few days.

Thanks for reading.

Marilo

Episode Two

On my mind...

Two week have passed since my last entry and my anxiety levels have definitely gone up. I am continuing to fundraise...does it ever end? No! But that's just part of producing a play! I have to laugh though, because in every production that I have ever produced, we (the administrative staff) always ask ourselves how we can continue to put ourselves in this position! It's incredible how stressful this job is. Looking for Sponsorship, asking people for donations, getting contracts out to the artists, making sure designers are beginning to put their ideas in place, marketing, marketing, marketing... But we continue because it is so rewarding when the production is on. Incredibly rewarding! Just think of the collective synergy that happens in a dark theatre as the lights come up! It's pure magic! For the artists, for the designers, for the producers, and especially for the audiences. I can't wait to see the show!

The buzz has begun within the community, I can feel it in the air. Just yesterday I got an email from a young woman who is starting up a business venture for business people within the Latin American community. She's Chilean herself and arrived here in Canada in 1985. She wants to help me sell as many tickets as possible for this play because she is excited about what the play talks about: being from someplace else,being an exile, being a new immigrant in Canada. The plays are few and far between that can speak to and connect with the Latin American audience in Canada. My friend Bea (who is in Refugee Hotel and who has her own company, Aluna Theatre) also struggles with trying to reach out to the Latinos...but we must. It is imperative that we create an outlet, a voice, a forum for this growing voice in Canadian theatre. How else can we create positive changes within and outside of our community?

For those who are not Latin American, Refugee Hotel will speak to anyone, and everyone who is from someplace else. So that basically means every Canadian! LOL!

We've got a new episode of the blogumentary up for you. And so it moves forward...

Thanks so much for joining me on this journey. It makes me feel less alone.

Marilo

Episode One

Making The Refugee Hotel

So, I feel really, really lucky to have married a man with so many talents. He (my husband Peter) is a filmmaker, a web designer, graphic designer, carpenter, father...my point is, when you are doing the biggest project of your life, with not a lot of money to do it with, it really helps to have a man like Peter in your life. He's designed the website (check us out at www.alamedatheatre.com), he's designed all of the marketing materials for this show (see above) and, AND he's making a documentary film about The Refugee Hotel (this enormously ambitious play that I decided to produce back in 2004). I have to count my lucky stars. Truly.

So, what exactly is this little documentary about, you ask? It's about a play, written by a Latin American Canadian, produced by a Latin American Canadian, with some Latin American Canadian (and non-Latinos as well) actors in it. The play was written by Carmen Aguirre over ten years ago. It's never been produced. Ever. We will be producing the World Premiere. A small, independent theatre company run by Latinos. Yes, we are crazy. I think as the documentary unravels it will capture the essence of the play we are producing. Love, Exile, Love...But you never know with documentaries. I may have a nervous breakdown along the way, there may be some screaming, there will be tears (of joy and frustration, for sure!). I have money to raise (I don't want to scare the cast and crew) and we are 10 weeks from opening. Just writing that scares the shit out of me. This journey has been really, really difficult. I will not lie. But, it has been a labour of love for me and all those involved. The play, this play, is so good. When we did the staged reading in 2007 at Harbourfront's Lakeside Terrace, 300 people showed up. I was staggered! Three hundred people to hear a reading of a play? Unheard of, I was told. And when the audience leapt to their feet at the end, and a gentleman yelled out, "Viva Chile!", we cried. Tears of joy. (I'm Chilean and so is the playwright).

This play is big. Twelve actors in a hotel...I will leave it at that for now. Join me, join us on this journey. I promise you, you won't be disappointed. Thanks for coming here today. - Marilo Nunez