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Listen to your mother
The Listen To Your Mother Reading Series this spring will feature more than 300 inspirational women in 24 cities across the United States, giving "Mother's Day a Microphone."
The Listen To Your Mother Reading Series is a unique national event that showcases moving, socially relevant and humorous stories about a range of modern mothering experiences. In each city, the series will feature local established writers and performers taking the stage with local first-time writers and performers as they share poignant personal essays in front of live audiences, making for an unforgettable experience and celebrating motherhood in a meaningful new way.
Some of the participants who will be performing include Stacy Morrison, editor-in-chief of BlogHer.com and former editor-in-chief of Redbook; Adrian Culp, former vice president of TV development for Adam Sandler and Chelsea Handler; Liysa Callsen, who was raised by deaf parents and will sign her story; comedian Jaime Fernandez; and Barb Patrick, a mother from Newtown, Conn.
Born of the blogosphere and mothers who publish online, the Listen To Your Mother Reading Series is changing the way America celebrates Mother's Day, one story at a time. Started in Madison, Wisc., in 2010 by humorist and blogger Ann Imig, it has evolved into an exciting national storytelling series. Every show's process - from auditions to rehearsals to the final performances - are shared online via social media. Each show/city also donates 10 percent of all ticket proceeds to local nonprofit causes that support women and families in need. Last year the series took place in 10 cities.
The live-reading series features a number of Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop faculty and attendees. This year's readers will include Tracy Beckerman, Nancy Davis Kho, Wendi Aarons, Marinka (Motherhood in New York), Amy Wilson, Yuliya Patsay and Karen King. Alexandra Rosa is producing and directing the show in Milwaukee. Founder Ann Imig's 2012 EBWW roommate, Shari Simpson, is the assistant director for the New York show.
Past participants have included Anna Lefler, Lisa Page Rosenberg, Molly Campbell, Kyran Pittman, Jennifer Sutton, Missy Stevens and Alexandra Rosa.
The cities taking part this year are:
• New York City (5 p.m., May 12, at Symphony Space)
• Austin (7 p.m., May 9, at the University of Texas)
• Boulder (7 p.m., May 12, at the Dairy Center for the Arts)
• Cedar Rapids (2 p.m., May 12, at Legion Arts)
• Chicago (2 p.m., May 5 at the Athenaeum Theatre)
• Denver (7 p.m., May 7, at the Elaine Wolf Theatre)
• Fayetteville, Ark. (7 p.m., May 30, at the Walton Arts Center)
• Indianapolis (7 p.m., May 2, at the Indiana Historical Society)
• Kansas City (7 p.m., May 11, at Unity Temple on the Plaza)
• Madison (3 p.m., May 12, at the Barrymore Theatre)
• Milwaukee (3 p.m., May 5, at the Wehr Hall at Alverno College)
• Lehi, Utah (7 p.m., May 9, at Thanksgiving Point)
• Oklahoma City (2 p.m., May 5, at the Will Rogers Theatre)
• Plumas County, Calif. (7 p.m., May 15 at Plumas Arts)
• Providence (2 p.m., May 4, at the Providence Public Library)
• Raleigh (7:30 p.m., May 8, at William Peace University)
• Sacramento (7 p.m., May 12, at the Crest Theatre)
• San Francisco (7 p.m., May 12, at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco)
• Spokane (7 p.m., May 12, at the Bing Crosby Theater)
• St. Louis (11 a.m. and 2 p.m., May 11, at St. Luke's Hospital)
• Twin Cities (7 p.m., May 9, at the Riverview Theater)
• Valparaiso, Ind. (7 p.m., May 10, at the Memorial Opera House)
• Washington, D.C. (2 p.m., April 28, at the Synetic Theater)
• Wilmington, Delaware (6 p.m., May 12, at World Cafe Live)
For more information, click here. Videos from all the shows will be posted here during the summer.