I'll be performing in the South Bay this coming weekend, November 15-16 @ 8 pm at MACLA located at 510 South 1st Street, right next door to the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles (which I am eager to explore). Although I myself don’t quilt, I have fond memories of watching las señoras sewing and carding the wool to make colchas when I was a muchachita.
But I digress. Tickets very reasonably priced -- $20 and $10 students, online purchases at: http://bit.ly/IrmaMACLA. If available at the door, they will cost $25 and $15, so best to get them ahead of time.
Last Friday, my director Rebecca Fisher and I drove together to the theater for tech rehearsal and I dropped her and my props off before parking my car a few blocks away. I spotted a café nearby and decided to pick up a cappuccino enroute to the teatro.
As I paid, I did what I typically do: told the barista my name was Maria. As she wrote that down I spotted a picture of a coffee cup with the name IRMA on it. That’s odd I thought and then I figured out I was looking at the postcards produced by the theater. I had not previously seen these promotional postcards or the fabulous design. Thrilled with the card, I proceeded to distribute them and introduced myself to the 8-10 folks at the café who enthusiastically peppered me with questions about my show. Must admit I felt a bit awkward when the barista called out “cappuccino for Maria.” Fortunately. the back of the promotional postcard has a picture of me, so the folks at the cafe didn’t think I was some wacky person who walked in from the street claiming to be a performer.
The last few weeks I’ve had people who saw my play recognize me. My 15-minutes of fame is perhaps extending to a half-hour. I was getting onto BART @ Oakland West and smiled at a man dressed like a nun; I always smile at men dressed like nuns as I assume they are members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who have been a staple of San Francisco parades, protests and fairs for 40 years. If you care to read more about the Sisters, click here. The gent smiled back and then his companion said, “she’s the woman whose show we saw in Berkeley.”
"What? you saw my play?"
They had been at the theater the night we lost power, which made for a very memorable evening. No, he is not a member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, they were enroute to a Halloween Party in San Francisco.
The following week, while visiting a friend in a hospital in San Francisco a woman greeted me very warmly by name, and I said hello to her although for the life of me I could not remember how we knew each other. She immediately said, “I saw you play in San Francisco, so I know your name.” I introduced myself.
It is a bit jarring, and a lot of fun when these things happen. In every case folks share with me how much they enjoyed seeing Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name? How could I not feel great about that!
If you live in the South Bay or have friends in the San Jose/Santa Clara area, please tell them about my show. Check out this three-minute trailer filmed when I performed at The Marsh in Berkeley. These two MACLA shows on November 15-16 will be my last performance of 2019. Hope to see you there.