Anomolie Productions

anomolie, we're basically shortcake on stage

2009-08-18T20:28:00.001-07:00

At Anomolie Children’s Theater we believe that great theater is more than just some fantastic performances. Great theater is about collaboration. It’s teamwork. It’s a little hard work. But it’s fulfilling. Ever sat on the sunny shore of some far away place and sighed contentedly? If you have, you know the feeling…almost. We work hard at Anomolie to create that environment minus the sand in the shorts. Now obviously it’s crucial that we teach the basics of great theater. But it’s like 73.8 times more important for us that these kiddos walk away not only as better actors, dancers, and vocalists, but they walk away with some sort of confident swagger. And believe it or not, swagger equals community. People forget that sometimes. Anomolie actors know what it feels like to work as a team. A team is like strawberry shortcake. Everyone wants some. Anomolie, we’re basically shortcake on stage. We’re still working on what that means…but it sounds awesome.

- jon reisinger

i heart the anomolie staff...

2009-08-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

What a fabulous week of camp!! AND what an incredible staff... I miss them all already. Hard working, easy going, and super talented at their skill set. We had an amazing camp mom (carol), who bandaged kids up, sat with those who needed to sit, and ran around like crazy helping wherever we needed help. Jon (nerd), Sean (big foot), and Travis (frenchie), with the help of our adorable aides (beyonce, show boy, and legos) made game time extravagant, we indulged in pure guilty fun! I've never heard the campers laugh so hard, or cheer so loudly. The music was of course top notch thanks to cheryl (hot rod) and the scenes were well rehearsed and creatively staged thanks to sean (big foot)... and a one our newest additions, jill (black cougar) spent the mornings reaching out to the community to get the word out about our tiny little theater... something we've been in need of desperately... don't be surprised if you hear an anomolie ad on the radio, or see a few new ads around town thanks to jill.

The showcase looked great, the lights were fantastic, the mic's were well placed and perfectly timed, the music cues were right on time... the backstage was quiet, and the because of all that, the kids shined.

All in all it was a crazy fun week, and there is no way we could have pulled it all off without such an incredible staff. Thank you all for your hard work, your volunteered time, your encouraging words, and your spit fire to get the job done no matter how tired we all were!

love you much!!

summer camp anticipation #31

2009-07-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

(purely selfish) - LaCk of BuSinEsS CasUal!!

two full weeks of shorts, flip flops, and anomolie t's!!

LAST early registration day!!

2009-07-01T08:36:00.001-07:00

this is it guys! get those registrations filled out and pop them in the mail TODAY!
We'll accept the early registration price ($125), as long as it's postmarked for July 1st.
So hurry hurry!!

see you at camp!

- a*

11 interviews in 3 days! oh my!

2009-06-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

Doing interviews!

Exciting stuff!!

anomolie has 11 applicants for new teaching positions for this fall. really talented, folk-a-roo's from all over the country. (chicago, new york, california, london... no kidding) each of them bring freaking sweet ideas for new classes, and exciting events for the upcoming year. The anomolie team truly desires that each semester get better and better, as we continue to grow, and with people like this that trend shall continue. Today I will celebrate this by doing jazz hands at 2:37 p.m. Seriously. I heart jazz hands... (ask the aladdin class!)

i'll keep you posted on who we hire, the new classes we'll offer in the fall, and possibly... a second location for classes! :)

summer camp anticipation #59

2009-05-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

WaTeR DAy!!

I stinking LOVE water day. Today... on this 90 degree day, I would love to be out of my office stomping around on freshly cut grass, throwing water baloons and splashing in a pool. This is a picture from last year... jon's job was to get the kids jumping in the pool even wetter... hillarious!!

camp discount special!!

2009-05-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

gonna try something a little fun!
in light of economic yuckiness...

we're running an anomolie special for camp that will end on Monday May 11th.
call it a mothers day special, or an anomolie economic pick-me-up...

We're discounting the registration fee to $100.00 till Monday May 11th.

You're registration (you can download it at www.anomolie.com) must be filled out entirely, then pop it in an envelope, don't forget to include your registration fee (100.00 till may 11th) and mail it to the anomolie offices. c/o j. reisinger 7303 pioneers blvd. #626 lincoln ne 68506.

It must be postmarked before May 11th for the discount to be affective. :)
if you have any questions you can comment on here, or just email me at anomolie@mac.com

Love you all!

a*

lincoln kids paper

2009-05-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

So exciting!! We're in the Lincoln Kids Paper!!
Well, I mean... we paid to be there. But hey, there's nothing wrong with celebrating our first marketing attempt right!?!? (even if our email address IS wrong...)

Big Thanks to Dee, Jen, and Ben who made this thing happen. It's an exciting day. We'll frame it and hang it on the wall in the anomolie offices! which is our garage... in a little area right next to jon's ducati. but it works!

I'll sit in our "office" and stare at the beauty of our first ad while I munch on anomolie sugar straws... :) Why do you think we're always out of them come summer camp time?

spring showcase!!!

2009-04-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

anomolie Spring Showcase is Here!!

Wednesday April 22nd.

Lincoln Berean 6400 S. 70th.

(in the chapel)

7 p.m.

Admission is Free

Cookies and Punch to follow the performance!

summer camp anticipation #21

2009-04-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

making brand new "bff's"!!

summer camp anticipation #10

2009-04-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

i can almost taste the multi colored sprinkles and cheap generic chocolate syrup from the ice cream relay. one of my fav's!! even if you do sorta smell like spoiled milk the rest of the day...

the story of lil' ben...

2009-04-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

I’ve had a few people ask me;
“How in the World do you keep all these kids in control when they have so much energy”?!?
And I answer; “You mean besides my Nyquil Kool Aide”?

I joke I joke…

Well, I learned the hard way. Every time I walk into a classroom I think of my very first teaching experience… and this adorable little guy I lovingly tagged “little ben”. But before I tell you that story… let me take you back a few years.

I had this amazing fifth grade teacher. Mrs. Reese. She was incredible, but in the first few weeks in her class, she was… well, harsh. You couldn’t get away with anything in her class. You couldn’t back talk, you couldn’t complain, you definitely couldn’t punch the kid sitting next to you in the face because he hadn’t learned how to shower yet. (Earned my first pink slip for that one). But, by the end of the semester, we LOVED her English class with all of its “How-to-Eat-Fried-Worms-Goodness.”

Before we left her for the much anticipated 6th grade… she shared her secret with us. Starting a class a little harsh, a little mean, keeps those kids that WILL test you from ever trying it. It creates an environment where every child understands who is in control. So in turn, they trust you, they respect you, and get this… they listen to you. Children want to know that if someone hurts them in class, you “the adult” will not tolerate it. It gives them the freedom to relax, feel safe, and do what they are best at… create.

You know, when I walked into my very first class of 45 screaming kids almost 9 years ago my first reaction was to balk at Mrs. Reese’s sagely advice. I didn’t want to be “the mean teacher,” I wanted them to like me! And I regretted that mistake for the entire semester. They didn’t “like” me… they walked all over me. It was terrible… kids were making fun of each other, learning nothing, and I think some kid took his pants off.

That’s where “little Ben” enters. Little Ben was adorable, VERY talented, very smart but he was also very poor. He wore the same thing every week, his hair was always scruffy, and he was tiny for his age. The kids made fun of him, messed with him, and bullied him. Because I was such a lame teacher, I didn’t know, until Ben stopped showing up. And never came back. I had unwittingly fostered an unsafe environment for this tiny little guy. He was scared to come to class. How terrible is that!?! It was my job to keep him safe, like Mrs. Reese did for me, and I failed.

I wish I could scoop up little Ben and bring him into a class now. I’d protect him instead of myself. And I would apologize for being a selfish teacher, in wanting the kids to like me, I lost them, and I lost Ben.

I learned the hard way. And now, when I walk into a class of tiny faces daring me to be their teacher I think of Ben, and then I think of Mrs. Reese’s advice. And I take it.

a night of Magic!

2009-04-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

Saw the most beautiful moment in Anomolie’s history last night. Back in January when Dee and I first started working on what anomolie’s parent committees would look like, I was nervous that nobody would be particularly interested in adding another activitiy to their agenda. I should note, Dee was not nervous! She had full confidence that, all we needed to do was ask. See, why I LOVE her!!

But you understand right… Let’s be honest. All of us are busy people… we’re slammed with activities, and adding another one is NOT exactly on the “what a sweet idea” list.
But, our Anomolie parents blew me away with their enthusiasm. Seriously… I was not prepared for the incredible amount of talent that would ooze into Anomolie filling it with life and energy, and most importantly; a sense of family.

Wednesday night took off with a shot, tiny voices rang out in anticipation of our first full dress rehearsal on stage. This is always a big, exciting night for Anomolie. It’s amazing how the use of microphones changes a relatively calm child into a little ball of craziness. But the magic was not in the hands of the teachers this Wednesday night, not in the hands of the children who’d worked all semester on their showcase, not even in the hands of the microphones, no, the magic was in the hands of our amazing parents.

Beth with her piles of gorgeous fabric, and attention to details. The girls squealed and giggled around her as she turned each one of them into a tiny Arabian princesses. Little ears, and full face masks worn with pride in the Jungle Book class. The children were giddy with pride and Beth was beautifully flushed with a glow from dressing 65 children in a little under 30 minutes.

Then we pan upstairs. The stage has been beautifully transformed from a pastel pink, sparsely lit box to the magical land of Arabia, oh, with a Jungle twist to incorporate both classes. A hand painted drop has been carefully hung, ceramic pots, and wicker baskets add depth and beauty to the scene proving that our parents KNOW what they are doing. As everyone Oooo’s and Awww’s at the transformation, Tabetha, notes she’s still not finished with the painting, and has some more ideas. As if it's not beautiful enough!!

my heart can’t take it any more… We are so blessed with smart, talented, creative, organized, ambitious beautiful humans beings willing to walk together as a family to ensure that Anomolie grows!

Thank you so much for the amazing pizza party, for the posters and programs! Thank you for the brilliant idea of a cookie exchange, thank you for the gorgeous costumes, and the incredible set, props, and paintings. We are so blessed by your talents!!

You are loved. More than you can ever know, from the bottom my little Anomolie heart.

This hurts.

2009-04-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

So this is how the conversation went down:

A*: "Let's create a children's theater that's affordable, and fun, and effective, and QUALITY."

J: "Neato. that's a swell idea, let's do it."

A: "Bangerang."

And we did. (although with less 1950s style colloquialisms)

Now, two years later...

It's FUN for the kids, and a CrAzY amount of work for us. It is actually EFFECTIVE. We're giving the kids a platform to perform, shaping their creative brains and building incredible self confidence. But it's also been massively effective in creating loads of stress for Jon and me.

Sure, the classes are QUALITY but we have yet to make enough profit to put on a full production. It's AFFORDABLE to the kids and family but we're personally dropping extreme amounts of money into to it to keep it floating and to pay our teachers... so it's really not affordable for us. In fact, we're thinking about taking up flying as a new hobby instead!

So why are we doing this? We don't have kids. We don't have a family yet. It's takes up all of our free time. And we're paying to make it survive.

I don't know.

Then you see it You see the kids change in front of our eyes. Watching them start to believe in themselves differently than they did when they first walked in. Then there is the massive amount of hugs I get on a weekly basis. It's the parent that tells me the story of a kid dancing around the house after classes on Wednesday. Or maybe, it's me wishing that someone would have created this type of theater when I was kid.

But I'm not going to lie. It's hard. It's hard when teachers quit on you. It's hard when Anomolie can't pay it's own bills (You know who you are insurance bill). It's hard when you have to send out an awkward email explaining to your teachers that their paychecks are going to be late. It's hard when your struggling to make it work. We wanted to have fun and foster creativity and now we spend all our time "managing," worrying and being accountants. No offense if your an accountant.

i "heart" anomolie

2009-03-15T10:42:00.001-07:00

top TEN REaSoNS i LOVE being an ANoMOLie teacher:

10. The Shake Down looks silly. But it’s a great tummy toner.

9. RedBull is the “milk and honey” of aNomOLie!

8. it’s an amazing feeling to watch a “wall flower turn into a drama queen”OR to watch “crazy A.D.D.ish energy focused into a dynamic character” on stage it’s incredible.

7. dressing up in crazy costumes, not just on halloween!!

6. freeze dance. Enough said.

5. snacks! I “heart” fruit roll ups.

4. calling my co-worker “nerd” cuz it’s his name.

*admit it… you’d love to call some people you work with nerd with no repercussions* 

3. after facing 60 screaming kids every Wednesday… nothing scares me.

2. greatest stress reducer ever: belly laughing with seventeen “9” year olds.

1. this is the one place “belting musical theater at the top of your lungs” isn’t weird. It’s cool!

Audition Night

2009-03-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

i absolutely LOVE this article ben wrote. it's a very sweet snapshot of a night at anomolie.

Audition Night

by: Ben Zuehlke

Tonight is the second “anomolie” of the semester and auditions for Aladdin and Jungle Book are in full swing. A young girl steps to the stage as the music starts—then stops.

"Hold on…I'm out of tune," she says. The CD playing the accompanying music is rewound and after a short pause, the bouncing rhythm of "One Jump" begins again.

As each would-be Aladdin steps to the stage, the postures of many betray their nervousness, their bowed heads their shyness. For others, this is old-hat, and they belt out the solo as if to a Broadway crowd. Rookie or veteran, they all finish to the applause of their peers.

It's time for the next song of the audition now; the audition for Jasmine. As the familiar strains rise from the CD player, the kids hardly have to look at their lyric sheets. Though the movie Aladdin was released long before any of them were born, not one voice falters as they sing out together, "A whole new world…"

It's break time now, and it came quicker than expected. The tenuous order shatters into dozens of little bodies flocking to the snack table. Quarters and dimes clink and jangle as they change hands. Soon the metallic crinkle of chip bags provides a staticy soundtrack to the conversations now springing up all around the room.

"…Spongebob; it used to be my favorite cartoon…"

"…and he was giving me a piggy-back ride…"

In one corner of the room, an impromptu chorus line breaks out engulfing all who stand near.

Suddenly—"Heeeey!"

The kids don't even blink, they know to respond: "Hoooooo!" They clap their hands twice, stomp their foot once, and shush each other as they dash for their seats. They pick up their audition sheets again, smudging them with Dorito-stained fingers. All eyes are on Alicia as she takes her seat and declares that it is now time for the acting auditions.

The CD is played again; this time a recording of Alicia and Jon performing the lines. It is clear that they had way too much fun making this recording, but the kids get the point—as each potential Aladdin, Genie, Jasmine, or even, Guard #3 steps to the stage, they deliver their lines with pitch-perfect emotion.

One-by-one, by the end of the night, everyone has had the chance to audition. Some demonstrate their singing prowess, while others are delighted to illustrate their "crazy voice" (one such "crazy voice" comes off with a distinctive southern drawl causing the room to erupt in laughter).

As the clock winds closer and closer to 8:00 pm, parents begin pooling at the door, some peering around the doorframe smiling at their "stolen" glance of a work in progress.

It seems impossible, but scarcely 20 minutes later, the room is silent. The last light is turned off and the door closed. But from away down a hallway, a child's voice is suddenly heard, "A whole new world…"

Next Wednesday can't come soon enough.

anomolie

2009-03-01T02:27:00.000-08:00

this is how it started...

About Two and Half Years Ago Jon and I moved from the crazy busy life of Chicago to try our hand at living in Lincoln Nebraska. Quite a change! We enjoy it here, we love the families that we’ve met and we love the small town feel. However, after living here about six months we realized… what we missed the most from our Chicago life (besides the incredible eateries and adorable shopping boutiques... just being honest!!) was working with the Children’s Theater we had been very involved in.

We tried to find one here in lincoln. A Children’s Theater that taught classes, aimed to someday put on full Musical Theater productions, and involved the WHOLE family. Oh yes… and was affordable. Well, we had a hard time finding that… and so we decided to start our own. While in Chicago we ran a small production company call “anomolie” thus anomolie children’s theater was born.

And little by little it’s growing.

Each semester we try to add a new element to anomolie. Whether it’s new classes, a newsletter, or like this semester, parent involvement. (which I’m super excited about)

After two years of providing fun and nurturing theater classes, we, the anomolie family have decided it’s time to grow. We’ve decided to pursue the avenue of Not for Profit in hopes that this route will open new doors for us in the Community, as well as allow us to raise money to put on our very first FULL MUSICAL PRODUCTION.  Which all the kids know I’ve been dreaming of for two years! We covet your prayers, your encouragement, and your advice!

Thanks for believing in “anomolie” and thanks for all you do to make it successful!