chaotic heart

A Sneak Peek at the SF Fringe

2008-08-15T00:14:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I'll perform an excerpt of "Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" at the EXIT Theatre's "A Sneak Peek at the Fringe", along with nine other companies. It'll be fun! And it's free!

From Gary Carr, the San Francisco Fringe Festival publicist:

On Saturday, August 16, at 8 pm, EXIT Theatre’s A Sneak Peek at the Fringe presents a potpourri of some 48 shows coming to the 2008 Fringe Festival, September 3-14. The “Peek” is emceed by Mark Romyn, host of EXIT’s Thursday Night Combo.

Ten companies for the 2008 Fringe will perform preview excerpts from their shows.

Mary Ann Boyd – 51 & Counting (musical cabaret)

Pi, The Physical Comedy Troupe – After-party (clowning extravaganza)

Mia Paschal - Along the Path of Larks & Swallows (solo)

Melinda Bailey – There’s a Monster in the Well (sketch comedy)

CatchyName Productions – Mitch (post-modern version of Agamemnon set in a SF restaurant)

Supersonic Theater – Exit Sign: a Rock Opera

Harvey Rabbit – Madge’s Box (clowning, burlesque, & song)

Alicia Dattner – The Punchline (solo comedy)

Zoe Sheli Sameth – Taste of Enlightenment (solo comedy)

Mercedes Segesvary – Theatre that Moves (comedy in a 15-seat tour van)

Some Fringe Background

The original Fringe Festival began in Edinburgh, Scotland, nearly 60 years ago, and has since become an international phenomenon. Fringe Festivals currently bring cutting-edge theatre to more than twenty cities across the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Europe and Asia. San Francisco’s is the second oldest in the U.S. Traditionally, international performers appear at the San Francisco festival, many of them having appeared at other Fringes, such as Toronto, Edinburgh, and Prague.

About EXIT Theatre

EXIT Theatre celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. It produces the San Francisco Fringe Festival, the second oldest Fringe Festival in the United States and is a member of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF). 2008 will mark the 17th annual San Francisco Fringe Festival.

San Francisco magazine picked EXIT Theatre for its recent “Best of ‘08”issue and called it “the mother of San Francisco’s underground theatre scene.”

The EXIT Theatreplex includes EXIT Theatre, EXIT Stage Left, and EXIT Café at 156 Eddy Street, and EXIT on Taylor, around the corner at 277 Taylor Street, all in Downtown San Francisco. Visit the EXIT Theatre web site at www.theexit.org.

SF Fringe Festival – EXIT Theatre – 156 Eddy Street – San Francisco, CA 94102 415-931-1094 www.sffringe.org

Along the Path of Larks and Swallows: Mon amour trailer

2008-08-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'll perform "Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" at the Marsh tomorrow night, as part of the Marsh Rising series.

Along the Path of Larks and Swallows
The Marsh
1062 Valencia Street (@ 21st St.), San Francisco
Wednesday, 6 August 2008, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $ 8 - 12 (sliding scale)
Advance tickets:www.themarsh.org

"Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" at the Marsh

2008-07-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

"If only you could break up with somebody, right at the beginning, see how they behave, it would take a lot of the guesswork out of it, wouldn't it???"

And on that note, I'm returning to The Marsh for one night only with Along the Path of Larks and Swallows, my dark comic valentine of love, heartbreak, and passion. Looking forward to it - it should be fun!

Along the Path of Larks and Swallows
The Marsh
1062 Valencia Street (@ 21st St.), San Francisco
Wednesday, 6 August 2008, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $ 8 - 12 (sliding scale)
Advance tickets:www.themarsh.org

"Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" at the SF Theater Festival

2008-07-26T18:00:00.001-07:00

"Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" will represent the EXIT Theatre in the Bay Area's Largest One-Day TheaterExtravaganza!

"What good is being female unless you can wield it like a sword?"

Winner of the Best Female Solo Award at the San Francisco Fringe in 2004 and 2006, Mia Paschal returns with Along the Path of Larks and Swallows, a dark comic valentine of love, heartbreak, and passion.

"..beautifully written and performed...Cheerfully delivering crisp aphorisms, delving into the nitty-gritty of relationships gone bad, Paschal's forceful stage presence can be hypnotic. She hones in on little bits of life that all of us experience but never bother to articulate." Donald Munro, the Fresno Bee

"... she dived into my heart and soul....acting out the truth of our collective, yet unique, experiences of romance, lust, comfort, and longing for connection." Joy, audience member

"...intense, deliberate, dreamy, poetic, rhythmic, entrancing, human in every sense imaginable, profound.... phenomenal." The Undercurrent

"The theme is, (among other things) Love. She nails it." Eric Field

Come see a 30 minute performance of "Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" at the San Francisco Theater Festival onSunday, July 27 at Yerba Buena Gardens. It's an amazing and unique one-day FREE event. 100 professional Bay Area theater groups and solo artists will perform at 14 stages, all located within the Yerba Buena Arts Complex from 11 am – 5 pm. The event runs the gamut from comedy to drama, musical to improv, hip-hop to solo, Shakespeare to kid's shows.

The performance of "Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" will take place at the Action Theatre stage (Metreon, 2nd Floor) at 4:00 pm.

Also, the EXIT Theatre (www.sffringe.org) will have a stand at the festival (from 11 am - 5 pm) - come by and say hello!

Visit the festival website, http://www.sftheaterfestival.org/, for more details.

For more information about "Along the Path of Larks and Swallows", visit www.miapaschal.com.

Admission to the festival is FREE.

Yerba Buena Gardens is located at Mission/Folsom and 3/4th Streets in downtown San Francisco. Easy access from BART (Montgomery or Powell St. Stations), MUNI, and there is street parking (Sunday rules) and nearby garage parking at 5th & Mission.

Directions: http://www.ybae.org/GetHere.php

http://www.sftheaterfestival.org/

upcoming performances in SF and Berkeley

2008-06-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

I will perform excerpts of "Along the Path of Larks and Swallows", my new solo show about love, this Thursday, June 19th, in Mark Romyn's Thursday Night Combo at the EXIT Theatre in San Francisco, and next Tuesday, June 24th, as part of Tell It On Tuesday, at the Julia Morgan Center in Berkeley.

And here's the information about the performances:

Mark Romyn's Thursday Night Combo:

Yes Friends, we've got a Titanic Thursday Night Combo Show blasting thru The Exit Theater's Main Stage on Next Thursday the 19th! So Much Talent--So Much Entertainment! And YOU will be there to Applaud and Laugh and Cry! YOU Must SEE It With Your Own Eyes!!
LOOK!!!
Magic Man, Christian Cagical, does the Jaw-dropping "I don't know how he did it?"
Improv Madness from the quick-thinking smarties known as Rover Hendrix!
One-Woman-Show-Stopper, Mia Paschal, takes poetry, drama and comedy and Makes It Her Own!
No Moving Lips from the Inspired, comedy and drama Masters, Coulter and Star Ventriloquists!
Storyteller, Writer and Reader Extraordinaire , David Pardini, brings the world under his Dark and Witty Eye!
A Musical Mash of Comedy, Story, Song and Guitar by International Super Star, Jeff England!
Adorable Host, Mark Romyn, Enchants with Whistling, Stories, Dance & Puppetry
PLUS MORE!!!! (Corinne Oprinovich!) AND MORE

IT ALL HAPPENS THURSDAY, JUNE 19TH AT 8:30PM AT THE EXIT THEATER, 156 EDDY ST. PLEASE TO COME AND BRING FRIENDS!! ONLY 5 DOLLAR!! 5 DOLLAR! FIVE DOLLARS!!!

Tell It on Tuesday:

It's our THIRD Anniversary Performance!
Thanks to you all for being a part of the wonderful community that keeps Tell it on Tuesday going! Please join us this month for the first performance of our fourth year - we'll have a small anniversary celebration at the end of the night, so plan to stay and have some wine and share your stories with us! ~ Bridget and Rebecca ~

Tell it on Tuesday
Exploring the Potential of Individual Stories
Tuesday, June 24
3rd Anniversary Performance!

Steve Budd, excerpt from "When You Rise"
Jeff Nichols, excerpt from "Ask the Question"
Paul Sussman, "The M. Word"
Mia Paschal, "Along the Path of Larks and Swallows"

Music (7-7:30):
5 Cent Coffee
Neo-Skiffle Junk Yard Blues
Doodles Larue, Smitty "Spitshine" Delacroix & Slick Macoy

Tell it on Tuesday celebrates the expression of individual voices by promoting the art of storytelling and solo performance. Coming together as a community to share works crafted by theater artists and storytellers, we provide an East Bay home to the solo performer.

Tickets: $8-$12 - at door only
Julia Morgan Center for the Arts
2640 College Avenue, Berkeley

www.tellitontuesday.org
Advisory Committee: Charlie Varon, David Ford, Jeff Raz, Loni Gray
Producers: Bridget Frederick, Rebecca Fisher

Words First at CounterPULSE

2008-06-03T01:38:00.001-07:00

I've been invited to perform an excerpt of my new solo show, "Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" at Words First this Wednesday, June 4th.

Words First is a monthly solo performance series, co-produced by Bruce Pachtman at CounterPULSE, and I'm excited to be a part of it. Other performers are Jenny Overman, Leslie Beam, Dakota Brown, Coke Nakamoto, and Ron Jones.

CounterPULSE is located at 1310 Mission Street @ 9th. Tickets are $7 - $10, and the show starts at 7:30 pm.

Along the Path of Larks and Swallows: Trailer 1

2008-05-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Along the Path of Larks and Swallows

2008-05-21T00:41:00.000-07:00

"Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" is my third solo show.

A big French kiss of a show. With a bite.

It's about passion. It's about heartbreak. It's about the sleepless nights, the overwrought romantic flights of fancy, the tormenting insecurities (depilate, depilate, depilate!), and all the silly, embarrassing, wonderful things we do as we dance and stagger and rage through this life, hoping to find someone to love us back.

Love is crazy, isn't it? What else could it be, this magic that can unfold a kiss into a castle, this dream that can make you feel as if you’re flying or falling off a cliff, where you can surrender to an embrace and find yourself trapped to strangling in a teeny tiny cage?

There's nothing else like it.

I've performed "Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" at the wonderful Rogue Performance Festival in Fresno, where it received a great response this past March, and better yet, I was able to see my friends from last year, and make new ones. I fell in love with the Rogue (and the Roguers) last year, and I'm happy to have had the chance to start a show there. Love!

(Also, the Fresno Bee chose it as a Top Ten Pick of the Rogue.)

After the Rogue, I performed two excerpts at the DIVAFest Cabaret, which was tons of fun. The sharp and effervescent Sean Owens hosted, and the cool and dreamy Don Seaver accompanied me on the piano. (I do so hope we get to do a whole show together one day.) More love!

And a few weeks ago, Theatre Bay Area awarded "Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" a generous CA$H grant to expand and continue the production. Again, love...

So there's more of "Larks" coming up this year:

Previews

San Francisco Fringe Kick Off Party

EXIT on Taylor

277 Taylor Street (between Ellis and Eddy), SF

May 31: 7 pm

Tell It On Tuesday

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts

2460 College Avenue, Berkeley

June 24th: 7:30 pm

Tickets: $8-12 (sliding scale)

San Francisco Theater Festival

Yerba Buena Gardens (3rd and Mission Streets)

July 27th: performance time TBA

EXIT Theatre's 25th Anniversary Fundraiser

The Bayview Boat Club

489 Terry Francois Boulevard (China Basin St.), SF

July 28: 6 - 10 pm

Full Performances

The Marsh Rising Series

The Marsh
1062 Valencia Street (between 21st and 22nd Streets), SF
August 6th: 7:30 pm
Tickets: $8 - $12

The 2008 San Francisco Fringe Festival
Phoenix Theatre
414 Mason Street (at Geary), SF

Thursday, September 4th : 8:30 pm
Friday, September 5th: 10 pm
Saturday, September 6th: 7 pm
Thursday, September 11th: 7 pm
Friday, September 12th: 10 pm
Saturday, September 13th: 8:30 pm
Tickets: $ 9