Shine Storytelling: Crossroads

Promenade Playhouse, 1404 3rd St Promedande, Santa Monica

The turning points of our lives can happen unexpectedly and almost anywhere. On Sunday evening, July 10, SHINE storytellers will share true stories of their “Crossroads.”

The stories are set in places as varied as a “dream room” surrounded by mystical books and crystals, a rock star’s home in Germany, a high-intensity fitness class, and a Miami airport for a chance meeting with Mother Teresa. They involve everything from choosing whether to be a dancer, painter or trapeze star – to deciding whether to be a man, woman, or both!

Invited Performers:

Cynthia Brando * Cindy Chau * Cassandra Christenson * Jon Epstein * Judith FLEX Helle * Oree Holban * Roxana Ortega * Sheila Raznick

Guest Host:

SHINE will be hosted this month by Andrea Schell, a dynamic monologist and solo performer. Her newest show, Sexy Maus, premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in June. Her solo show From Seven Layers to a Bikini Top in Less Than Five Hours was produced by Santa Monica Rep at the Miles Playhouse in 2014 and went on to performances in the United Solo Festival in New York City, Bali, North Carolina, and the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, DC. Andrea has told stories locally at The Moth, WriteClub, BUSted, Tattle Tales, ReBoot, and SHINE. www.andreaschell.com/

Musical Guest:

Live music will be performed by Cynthia Brando, a singer/songwriter who performs regularly as a solo artist and duo with her unique brand of "vintage-vibed folk rock." She has been described as “one of the most fascinating and amazing singers you’ll ever experience. To see her perform is simply captivating” (Buddy Sampson, LA’s Scoop). Cynthia has received an honorable mention in Songdoor’s International Songwriting Contest for three years, and has many songs played on popular online music stations. www.cynthiabrando.com

Scheduled Storytellers:

Cindy Chau was born in China and lived in Hong Kong for two years before moving to Pasadena, California when she was five years old with her family as first-generation Chinese. She graduated with a BA from UC Berkeley and works in research support for a Dept. of Energy research lab at UCLA. She speaks English, three dialects of Chinese, and perfunctory Spanish. While living in Southern California, she has taken numerous classes in acting, writing, improv, and most recently, stand up. Most of her subject matter is on family matters, and particularly her nemesis: her mother.

Cassandra Christenson, a retired RN, is a published poet, speaker, and workshop leader. She is the author of educational materials that provide practical information and encouragement on how to be there for another person when death is near. Her BA in Psychology from Immaculate Heart College, self-study in areas of holistic health and hospice, along with years of hospital and home nursing, helped her create Project Nightlight during the AIDS crisis. Project volunteers went to the bedside of the dying with love, often in the middle of the night.

Jon Epstein is a poet who grew up in Hollywood during the 60s and 70s. The middle sibling in a family plagued by alcoholism, Jon self-medicated for emotional survival. A week prior to his 29th birthday in 1986, Epstein found Twelve-Step recovery. Husband, father, grandfather and brother, Epstein’s now sober 29 years and a regular contributor to the West San Fernando Valley Twelve-Step and art communities. Jon writes and paints from his experience of life’s hazards, pitfalls, and discoveries. His work can be found in The Judean, Pierce College Voices Collective, Out on The Stoop, Poetic Diversity, Foliate Oak, Forge Journal, Sanskrit and Poetry Superhighway.

Judith FLEX Helle began dancing, choreographing, and producing professionally in Berlin, Germany. She danced in ballets and operas with the Deutsche Opera Berlin, performed in film, TV and music videos; and performed as a trapeze artist internationally. In 2008, Judith founded Luminario Ballet of Los Angeles. She has won several choreography awards, a nomination for a World Dance Award, and in 2014 was named one of the Top 5 Women Leaders in SoCal Dance by Dance Magazine. The LA City Department of Cultural Affairs awarded Judith / Luminario Ballet a grant for the eco-ballet “TRAILS” and in 2015 awarded a two-year grant to continue creating new work.

Oree Holban is a multidisciplinary artist currently living in Los Angeles and originally from Tel Aviv. Oree is a serious player and meditator who spins and shifts between being a performer, singer-songwriter, and the creator of neon worlds. His work is inspired by contemporary 1950s Americana, "The Middle Way" of Buddhism, and childlike old wisdom. Holban recently graduated from the MFA Studio Art program at UC Santa Barbara. Before that, he studied at Rhode Island School of Design while earning a BFA at Bezalel Art Academy of Jerusalem. Oree likes to travel across the world and look for positive signs of change and spiritual growth.

Roxana Ortega is a Los Angeles based actor-storyteller who has worked opposite Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and a can of whipped cream, though not all at the same time. She graduated from UC Berkeley, trained at the American Conservatory Theatre and is an alumna of the prestigious Groundings Sunday Company. Her credits include HBO’s Togetherness, NCIS, The New Girl, The League, Rules of Engagement, and Comedy Central’s Idiositter. She’s voiced characters in film, video games and commercials and narrated the Pulitzer Prize-winning book A Visit from the Goon Squad. She’s a proud MOTH Slam Winner and the writer and star of two short films.

Sheila Raznick was born in London, England in 1929. She was happily married for 60 years and celebrated her diamond anniversary in June 2010 before losing her husband to terminal cancer in August 2010. She has two children, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. She worked for four years as a schoolteacher, 10 years as an attitude and motivational research interviewer and 17 years as a social worker for a local government authority in London. She moved to Santa Monica in 2003 and now attends the Emeritus College. Classes include yoga, acting, play reading and autobiography. She has spent her whole life as a volunteer.

SHINE is presented by Storey Productions with Santa Monica Rep and UCLArts & Healing.

For more information, visit www.StoreyProductions.com. Those interested in becoming a storyteller are encouraged to visit the website in advance for monthly themes and submission guidelines.