Stage Banter: The Arena Stage Blog

Tonight's Rising Generation Event - Striking 12 on the 12th!

by Janine Sobeck

 Want to be part of a younger theater scene at Arena Stage? Come join the Rising Generation crew as we party in the holidays with Striking 12 on the 12th.

On December 12th, following the 9pm performance of the hit holiday rock musical, Striking 12, the Rising Generation crew will throw an after party that's bound to whet your holiday whistle. For just $25 you see a rockin' show and stay after for divine eats, decadent drinks and a chance to win free CDs-all while mingling with "just your typical violin/piano/drums theatrical power trio"- GrooveLily.

Space is limited, make sure your name is on the nice list 'cause we'll be checking it twice.

To purchase your tickets to the festivities, click HERE or call the Group Sales Office at (202) 488-4380.

There's no greater way to deal with the holidays.

Questions? Email risinggen@arenastage.org

 

 

A Christmas Carol it is not

by Janine Sobeck

We're just one day away from our first performance of Striking 12 and let me tell you...I'm pretty excited.  I've been listening a lot to GrooveLily over the past few weeks and I can't wait for the chance to hear them live.

I'm also interested to see how people are going to react to this gem of the show as part of the "holiday show cannon." As the Washington Post said in their recent feature, "It's not every day that a holiday show is built around the story of a little girl who freezes to death on New Year's Eve. And is scripted as a comedy. But then Striking 12,... is not your grandma's Christmas pageant." 

If you haven't read the feature, then check it out.  Also, there's lots of great information on Sub/text to whet your appetite for what you're about to see.  And get ready...because we're gonna be rocking!

Groovelily's Valerie Vigoda Checks In

Valerie Vigoda, electric violinist/singer from GrooveLily here.

My bandmates and I could not be more thrilled to be coming to Arena Stage for 2 weeks, to perform our holiday show STRIKING 12. I grew up in the area (for the first 5 years of my life I was Valerie Vigoda from Vienna, Virginia...and my parents ended up settling for good in nearby McLean), so for me this will be an extended homecoming.

When I started the band and moved to New York 15 years ago, one of the first songs I ever wrote with Brendan Milburn (my bandmate/collaborator and also my husband!) was about my home state: we recorded it way back in 1995, and it's called "Goodbye Virginia."

I'm still proud of that song, and at the same time, I think we've come a very long way since then. I think it's perfect that we'll be performing at Arena's Crystal City location, because we'll be saying "Hello Virginia" in the most literal sense.

We'll also have even more to celebrate upon our arrival: 1) the re-release of our STRIKING 12 CD on PS Classics, including for the first time a special card to allow you to download the new songs we’ve written for the show since that CD was released; and 2) our first-ever official published song folio, courtesy of Warner/Chappell and Alfred Music! Eight songs from STRIKING 12 will be included, in full beautiful old-fashioned piano/vocal sheet music style.

See you at Arena Dec 2-13; we can't wait.

Striking 12 Sub/text is now live!

by Janine Sobeck

   
The groovin' musical Striking 12 is fast approaching!  To get some more info on the show, including some background info on the band GrooveLily, insights into the story that inspired them, and even the great Christmas duo of Bing Crosby and David Bowie (and so much more!) check out Sub/text.  It will definitely get you in the mood...

A note by the bed

by Janine Sobeck

In the middle of pulling together information for the Sub/text page for Striking 12 we stumbled across a piece of information that I just had to share.

As previously mentioned, part of the Striking 12 story is based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Little Match Girl.  While looking into Andersen's life story (a VERY interesting read - I highly recommend it), some of Andersen's...shall we say oddities?...have been popping up.  This one is definitely my favorite.

Andersen, who had a nervous temperament, had a perpetual fear a being buried alive.  This fear was so consuming that every night before he went to bed he would place a piece of paper on the nightstand that read "I am only apparently dead" so that no one would take him and bury him while he was sleeping.

With stories like this, I'm beginning to understand more and more the unconventional themes of his tales...

More to come!

The Holidays are gonna be Rocking!

by Janine Sobeck

This morning we announced that GrooveLily's production of Striking 12 will be playing at Arena this December. 

Awesome. 

This is definitely not your typical holiday musical.  Performed by the 3 member band of GrooveLily, the musicians turned actors Valerie Vigoda (electric violinist and D.C.-area native), Brendan Milburn (pianist) and Gene Lewin (drummer) take you on a witty journey through the ups and downs of the holiday season. 

GrooveLily has been performing around the country with this gem, and the New York Times has said that "this modest show is more artfully crafted and engaging than virtually all the standard-mold musicals coming our way these days…"

If you haven't had a chance to hear GrooveLily, then check out the video below for a little sample of the show.  I think you'll agree that Arena's going to be rocking this holiday season in way it never has before...