At Rochester Spoken Word, we get our inspiration from many places. For our July Speak Easy, that inspiration came from Sejal Shah and her Memoir Writing class at Writers & Books. Back in March, Sejal floated the idea of having her class read at one of our events. We loved the idea and set July 9th for Speak Easy: Memoirs. Sejal and six students from her class took the stage along with a couple Speak Easy favorites to entertain another sold out crowd at Cheshire with personal stories of this thing we call life. Some were funny; some were sad. All were heartfelt and very entertaining.
Next up, our August 13 Speak Easy will be open topic and will feature one of our participants from Listening to the Future. You won’t want to miss it! Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.
Please be sure to check out the pictures from the July Speak Easy below, and don’t forget to sign up for our mailing list so you know what’s coming up!
Lineup for Speak Easy No. 7, Sunday 7/9/2017 at Cheshire: How to Pack for MDA Camp — Sally Bittner Bonn A Shelf Life — Donna Jackel The World is Full of Paper. Write to Me. — Sejal Shah Fortepiano — Evvy Fanning Meet the Widex — Stacey Freed Soaked Gloves — Pete Strub Burying Betty Boop — Julie Cicora Astrophysics, John Glenn, and My Father— Nadia Ghent Introvert Action — Kristin Kelly
Special Thanks to Sharon Elmer for Photography!
Speak Easy No. 7!
Don’t forget your program!
The audience trickles in.
Evvy and Julius work on quenching some thirsts.
Speak Easy is a great place to catch up with old friends.
Stacey Freed chillin’ with her program and her drink.
It wouldn’t be a Speak Easy without the free popcorn!
It’s a Listen to Your Mother reunion!
Scott wearing his (invisible) MC hat as he covers for the vacationing Julio.
We kick things off with first-time reader, Sally Bittner Bonn.
Sally reading How to Pack for MDA Camp.
Sally is one of our great Writer’s & Books partners.
Next up: Another first-time reader, Donna Jackel.
Donna sharing her story, A Shelf Life.
Sejal proudly filming her student.
Great job Donna!
Sejal Shah takes the stage.
Sejal showing off some of her mad dance moves.
Sejal reading her piece, The World is Full of Paper. Write to Me.
The audience is enjoying themselves.
RSW co-founder and Cheshire proprietress, Evvy Fanning at the mic!
Evvy sharing her story, Fortepiano.
As always, Evvy’s work is top notch.
Reader No. 5, Stacey Freed!
Stacey shares her piece, Meet the Widex.
this is Stacey’s third time on our stage.
Intermission! Time to refresh your drinks and mingle.
Scott and Stacey chat about the program so far.
A happy Speak Easy couple.
Act II begins with another first-timer, Pete Strub.
Pete reads his story about growing up on a farm, Soaked Gloves.
Great job Pete!
Up next, first-time reader, Julie Cicora.
Julie cracks up the audience with her story, Burying Betty Boop.
Stacey reacting to Julie’s story.
Julie has everyone laughing!
Great job Julie!
Our 8th reader, Nadia Ghent.
Nadia sharing her piece, Astrophysics, John Glenn, and My Father.
This was Nadia’s third visit to the Speak Easy stage.
Our last reader of the day: first-time reader, Kristin Kelly.
Kristin reading her humorous piece, Introvert Action.
Kristin came prepared!
It’s Writer Q&A time!
Nadia answers a question.
Everyone enjoys the Q&A portion.
Evvy leaves them laughing.
And Speak Easy: Memoirs is in the books. See you next month!
