Happenstance Theater's Pocket Moxie

Sunday, June 29 at 7:00 PM (doors 6:30 PM), 75 minute performance with no intermission

Tickets are available for $20 in advance, $23 at the door, and $30 for preferred seating (pay-what-you-can available)

All Ages

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POCKET MOXIE: A Happenstance Vaudeville is a light-hearted homage to the style and spirit of the Great Age of Vaudeville - an immensely popular theatre from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries made up of specialty acts, song, and dance. Happenstance Theater's five versatile players breathe new life into classic old routines from a ventriloquist’s dummy to a magic act that goes awry, from novelty songs and a musical saw to waiters juggling meatballs, all with full live “foley” sound effects.

This show is teeming with hijinks, harmonies, nostalgic beauty, and physical comedy. Something for everyone and family friendly!
Happenstance Theater brings old Vaudeville back!

Featuring Happenstance Theater’s Ensemble: Gwen Grastorf, Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon.

“The Happenstance players present not a story with beginning, middle and end, but a string of precious jewels suspended on a glittering thread, with matching train-shaped clasps at each end.” - Broadway World

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Artist Bio:

Award winning Happenstance Theater is a professional company committed to devising and producing original, performer-created, visual, poetic Theater. Washington City Paper says, “Happenstance Theater’s ensemble comedy is a gut-busting kind of funny.” Talkin’Broadway says, "The members of Happenstance Theater are so adept at what they do that they turn tomfoolery into an art form” and The Washington Post calls Happenstance “DC’s leading peddler of whimsy.”

www.HappenstanceTheater.com

https://www.facebook.com/HappenstanceTheater

IG: @happenstancetheater

SABRINA SELMA MANDELL
Artistic Co-Director/Executive Director / Visionary Tornado / Ensemble Performer / Costume Designer/Visual Artist

Sabrina Mandell grew up in Nova Scotia beside 40 foot tides. Her family moved to Montreal where she began devising theatre with Children's Creations under the direction of Clare Schapiro. Sabrina spent much of her twenties working on traditionally rigged schooners. She stopped for a spell to study Art History and created the solo street performance VentDeLaMer in which she dressed in 18th century costume and recited original poetry, sang songs and performed classical monologues. She studied the Lecoq pedagogy with Dody Disanto at the Centre for Movement Theatre. Then in 2006 she founded Happenstance Theater. As the company's Artistic Co-Director and Visionary Tornado she has written, produced and performed prolifically since the company was established. She was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actress in 2017. As the company's Executive Director she has created and maintained a sustainable structure for operating the organization, and as the costume designer she has won two Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Costume Design. Sabrina performed for 10 years with the Big Apple Circus’ Clown Care Program in DC and Baltimore. She has also taught Theatrical Clown and Physical Comedy in a variety of places including at the Shakespeare Theatre, Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, Round House Theatre, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She is also a visual artist, graphic designer and poet.

MARK LINDEN JASTER
Artistic Co-Director / Structure and Ground / Ensemble Performer / Builder

The Washington Post called Mark Jaster a “clown extraordinaire and one of the most graceful performers you will ever see on a stage.” The Baltimore Sun called him “immensely gifted.” In 2009 he received The Montgomery County Maryland Executive’s Outstanding Artist Award, and in 2016 Mark was honored by Washington Theatre’s Helen Hayes Awards with The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play for his performance in Happenstance Theater’s IMPOSSIBLE! A Happenstance Circus. The show was also awarded for Outstanding Ensemble and Costume Design. With Sabrina Mandell, in 2007, he created The Seven Ages of Mime, for an extended, sold-out run at the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring. The Washington Post’s review said, “Jaster’s sturdy body, like Chaplin’s and like Marcel Marceau’s…is a jeweler’s tool, adroit and precise…each athletic movement is exquisitely controlled…”

Mark trained with 20th-century masters of mime Etienne Decroux and Marcel Marceau, along with careful observation of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harpo Marx. Jaster served as teaching assistant to Mr. Marceau in a series of seminars in Michigan, and he teaches frequently in Artist residencies, theatres, and academic programs. He was a presenter at the 2014 Mime & Movement Theatre Symposium at Ohio State University. He often serves as mime and movement consultant for DC area theatres, including Ford’s, Round House, Theatre J, Olney, Constellation, Adventure Theatre, and Center Stage in Baltimore.

In addition to frequent performances with the Washington and the Cambridge Revels, and over 30 years as a featured stage act at The Maryland Renaissance Festival (A Fool named ‘O’), he has enjoyed numerous collaborations with world-class musicians like Piffaro, Celtic Harper Sue Richards, Hesperus, and the late, great jazz bassist, Keter Betts. For 20 years Mark was a proud member of The Big Apple Circus’ Clown Care Program, performing as “Dr. Baldy” at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Mark’s long career of solo performances continues along side his work with Happenstance….

GWEN GRASTORF
Company Member / Ensemble Performer / Social Media Maven

Gwen Grastorf is an actor and performer in the DC metro area. She has collaborated with Happenstance Theater since 2007 and is a proud company member, as well as the official Social Media Maven. Gwen has worked with many companies in the DC metro area, including Constellation Theatre, Faction of Fools, The Hub Theatre, Source Theatre, Taffety Punk, Rorschach Theatre, Forum Theatre, and Washington Revels. Gwen grew up in Frederick MD, and got her theatre degree from the University of Maryland, College Park.

SARAH OLMSTED THOMAS
Company Member / Ensemble Performer / Puppeteer/Visual Artist

Sarah Olmsted Thomas is a fifth generation artist. She has been with Happenstance Theater since 2012. Other collaborations include The Kennedy Center, Center Stage, and Bread and Puppet Theater. Sarah is one half of the puppetry duo Alex & Olmsted which was awarded a 2017 Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant. Alex & Olmsted has played The Puppeteers of America Festival, Black Cherry Puppet Theatre, La MaMa NYC, among others. Sarah trained with the Pig Iron Theatre Company in Philadelphia and Le Samovar, Ecole de Clowns, in Paris.

ALEX VERNON
Company Member / Ensemble Performer / Puppeteer/Builder

Alex Vernon is an actor, puppeteer, and builder who has been with Happenstance since 2012. Other area credits include Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre, and Submersive Productions. Additionally, he makes original puppet shows with his wife Sarah (see above), under the name Alex and Olmsted. They received a grant from The Henson Foundation to create their full length puppet show, Milo the Magnificent.

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PAY WHAT YOU CAN

No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please use this online form or contact MSA at 207-879-4629 or info@mayostreetarts.org to take advantage of pay-what-you-can admission.

EVENT PARKING

Free on-street parking is available in Mayo Street Arts’ neighborhood.

There is one paid parking lot conveniently located a six-minute walk from the venue: Top of the Old Port Parking (119 Pearl St, Portland ME 04101)

Mayo Street Arts is accessible by Greater Portland Metro bus routes with nearby transfer points 7, 9A & 9B. Click here to learn more.

ACCESSIBILITY

All performances and most other events held at Mayo Street Arts are wheelchair accessible. There are two accessible spots directly in front of our building, however there is not yet a curb cut out at that location.

If you would benefit from additional information or accommodations, we invite you to contact us at info@mayostreetarts.org or 207-879-4629.

COMMUNITY HEALTH

Audience members — in addition to artists, staff & volunteers — who feel sick or exhibit symptoms of illness should stay home out of respect for others.

SEATING POLICY

We will save your reserved seat until showtime, at which point any unclaimed seats may be offered to other people. Please call our box office at 207-879-4629 if you are running late.

CANCELATION POLICY

MSA has a no refund policy for all reservations. In the event that MSA is forced to cancel an event due to weather, illness, etc., refunds will be offered via the Ticket Tailor platform.