Speak Up storyteller: Lynelle Abel

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, March 29th at Real Art Ways in Hartford. Doors open at 7:00 PM. The show begins promptly at 8:00 PM.

There are still some tickets available, though we are expecting a sell out, so purchase them now before it’s too late. Tickets available here.

This week we introduce the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night. Hope to see you there!
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Lynelle Abel is a blue collar girl at heart and finds that her best stories come from her small town roots. She credits her keen interest in storytelling to her mother and her 7 brothers and sisters. They are the consummate story tellers – and have shaped Lynelle’s life in indescribable ways through their stories of resilience and humor in the face of incredible hardships.

Lynelle is proud of her not so picture perfect childhood – and while she and her husband went through great lengths to provide a more wholesome life for their two sons – she secretly hopes they are creating their own life stories filled with interesting people, happenings and experiences they’ve had along their journey through life. She can’t wait to hear some of their law and order stories when they are ready to disclose them…

Lynelle holds a master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational psychology and in her now adult white collar world; works as the director of Volunteer Services for Yale-New Haven Hospital and feels genuinely blessed to witness daily the extraordinary acts of kindness from ordinary people.

Speak Up storyteller: Robert Fiedler

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, March 29th at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Doors open at 7:00 PM. The show begins promptly at 8:00 PM.

There are still some tickets available, though we are expecting a sell out, so purchase them now before it’s too late. Tickets available here.

This week we introduce the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!
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Robert Fiedler is a New York raised, Connecticut educated attorney (family law, real estate and criminal law in addition to the assorted odds and ends).

He is the husband to one and father to three. Self-employed, Robert celebrates waking up in the morning and going to sleep at night. He enjoys music, sports, theater, and embarrassing his daughter whenever possible.  

Speak Up storyteller: Phil Woods

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, March 29th at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Doors open at 7:00 PM. The show begins promptly at 8:00 PM.

There are still some tickets available, though we are expecting a sell out, so purchase them now before it’s too late. Tickets available here.

This week we introduce the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!
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Phil Woods was born and raised in NJ. He has six brothers and seven sisters (this honed his survival instincts). He spent three years in the Air Force in North Dakota before being kicked out. He graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle with a degree in chemical engineering.

He is married to Liz Woods, and they have three children. Since he was not fit to work with others, he started and ran Woods Restoration 20 years ago. He’s only been in jail three times. He is currently unemployed, waiting for next offer.

Speak Up storyteller: Robin Gelfenbien

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, March 29th at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Doors open at 7:00 PM. The show begins promptly at 8:00 PM.

There are still some tickets available, though we are expecting a sell out, so purchase them now before it’s too late. Tickets available here.

This week we introduce the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!
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Robin Gelfenbien has written jokes for emcee Rosie O’Donnell at The Matrix Awards where featured presenters included Martha Stewart, Rupert Murdoch and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her original comedy songs have played on Sirius Satellite Radio and The Wiseguy Show hosted by Vinny “Big Pussy” Pastore. She’s been on VH1’s “Awesomely Badder Videos,” AMC’s “Liza Life Coach” with Cheri O’Teri, and she starred in a commercial directed by Spike Lee.

Her critically-acclaimed solo show, “My Salvation Has a First Name (A Wienermobile Journey)” premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival. As a storyteller, Robin has performed at The Moth, RISK!, Mortified, and she is the creator of the monthly storytelling series, “Yum’s the Word,” that features her homemade ice cream cakes. She also created the web series “Auntie, Do Tell” with her 72 year-old aunt, she's been featured in Marie Claire magazine, and she writes for Huffington Post Comedy. www.robingelfenbien.com. @robingelfenbien

Speak Up!

Tickets for our upcoming Speak Up storytelling show on March 29 at Real Art Ways in Hartford are now on sale through the Real Art Ways website. If you plan on coming to the show, please order your tickets soon as they will likely sell out well in advance of the show.

The theme of the night is Law and Order. We have a fabulous lineup of storytellers for you with some amazing, amusing and hair raising tales.

In the coming weeks, we will be featuring our storytellers here and on our Speak Up Facebook page.

Tickets can be ordered here.

Speak Up storyteller: Rachel Leventhal-Weiner

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, January 18, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

The show is sold out! Hope you got your tickets already!

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!
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Rachel Leventhal-Weiner is a sociologist mom living in West Hartford.  A native of New Jersey, Rachel has been writing creative stories since she was a little girl and is thrilled for another chance to take the mic with Speak Up at Real Art Ways.

By day, Rachel teaches in the Educational Studies Program at Trinity College. By afternoon, evening, and weekend, you can find Rachel filling every minute of the day with adventures with family and friends. 

She is the mother of two exuberant little girls who keep her on her toes. She loves to cook most things from scratch, wishes she had more time to crochet, and is never going to give up on her dream of running a (half) marathon. She loves a good hike, a great cocktail, and time with her incredible husband, David. Rachel spends her “free” time clicking keys on her laptop and sipping on coffee at Hartford Baking Company, writing scholarly papers and blogging at www.roguecheerios.com.

Speak Up storyteller: John Leahy

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, January 18, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!
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John Leahy works at CT valley electric exchange (Convex) supervising the electric power grid for the State of Connecticut. He spent almost 9 years in the United States Nuclear submarine service.

Married to my wife Alisa, they have father of three daughters. He enjoys golfing, running, traveling and fine Irish whiskey. He was born in New York City and lives in Rocky Hill.

Speak Up storyteller: Andrew Mayo

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, January 18, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!
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Andrew Mayo received a Bachelor’s Degree from Princeton University, a Certificate in Jazz and Popular Music Performance from the Hartford Conservatory, a Master’s in Music Education from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford and a 6^th year certificate in Educational Leadership from Central Connecticut State University. His teaching career began with Teach for America in Brooklyn, New York in 1990. He is now the Supervisor for the Department of Fine and Performing Arts for West Hartford Public Schools.

Besides teaching, Andrew is also an avid songwriter and composer, and has written a mix of classical, pop, rock, and folk music for many different projects. Credits include soundtracks for children’s radio (Captain 5-A-Day) and TV show pilots (Let’s Go Mathing), as well the lullaby CD Miracle, created for St. Francis hospital. His rock opera The Clowns was staged in January 2013 at Playhouse on Park in West Hartford, and his next project, a musical for tweens called The Tweets, will be workshopped in July, 2014. Samples of his music can be found at www.andymayomusic.com, www.soundcloud.com/andymayomusic, and www.soundcloud.com/andymayomusicthetweets. Andrew lives with his wife and three children in West Hartford.

Speak Up storyteller: Chris Hall

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, January 18, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!
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Chris Hall is an aerospace engineer by day and an amateur storyteller by night. He can occasionally be seen in Hartford telling tales of his family in Other People’s Stories, and is excited to finally tell a story about himself for a change.

When he is not on stage, Chris enjoys running, volleyball, soul music, and New York style pizza. Originally from Long Island, NY, he now resides in Vernon, CT.

Speak Up storyteller: Jennifer Stanish

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, January 18, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!
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Jennifer Stanish is a teacher, mentor, musician, songwriter, vocal performer, and nature lover. She received a Bachelor's Degree from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, and her teaching certificate and Master's Degree in Elementary Education from CCSU. She adores her students and has spent her entire teaching career at Wolcott School in West Hartford, CT.  

Her most important role however is mother to her two children. When Jennifer is not in her classroom, she enjoys singing (especially blues and jazz), playing piano and saxophone, camping trips, hiking, bike riding, playing setback, taking pictures, and spending time with family and friends.  Jennifer is happiest when she is outdoors; day - night, winter- summer!  

She has been a resident of Southington her whole life and resides there with her husband, two children, and two funny cats.  A long-time performer, she is excited to do something a little bit different and is thrilled to be a part of Speak Up!

Speak Up storyteller: Nathaniel Bates

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, January 18, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!

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Nathaniel Bates is a storyteller born in Mystic, CT but now living in New York City with his wife and pug. He's a Moth Story Slam winner and been featured on the RISK! Podcast.

By day he does the lighting for film and TV shows (Boardwalk Empire, 30 Rock). His favorite trip ever was either to China or any of his visits to Block Island.

Speak Up storyteller: Christina O’Sullivan

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, January 18, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!

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A Rocky Hill native, Christina O'Sullivan studied film production in college before teaching English to kindergarteners in South Korea. She's written for Southeast Asia Backpacker Magazine, and performed, directed and stage managed numerous plays and musicals. She likes yoga, the board game Taboo, and traveling, sometimes.

Speak Up storyteller: Cara Paiuk

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, January 18, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.

Hope to see you there!
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Cara Paiuk grew up in Canada where she had a Candy Crush -- dreams of Jolly Ranchers and 100 Grand bars led her to move to the US. She left corporate America a few years ago to pursue more creative endeavors. Cara has since been published on The NY Times, Huffington Post, CT-Moms, Kveller and many others. Her obsession with photography is her new endeavor and she also runs a food company (nuttycow.com) with her husband.

If that doesn’t give her enough to talk about, ask about her three-year-old son and twin baby daughters and she will never shut up. Cara is doing her part to keep redheads from going extinct; she and her husband are both gingers and together they have three of the reddest redhead children you’ll ever see.

Due to her an irrational (yet extremely common) fear of public speaking, Cara has not given a public speech in twelve years. Wish her luck.

New Speak Up dates announced

We have finalized dates for our next three shows and wanted to give you a chance to mark those calendars now.

 

As you probably know, our upcoming show is on Saturday, January 18. The theme of the night is Travel. Doors open at 7:00. Stories start at 8:00. We are well on our way to another sell out, so if you haven't purchased tickets yet, please do so soon. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Starting later this week, we will begin introducing our storytellers to you on our Facebook page. If you haven't "Liked” the page yet, please do so to receive more Speak Up info throughout the month: 

The following are the dates for our next two shows:

March 29: The theme is Law and Order

May 17: The theme of the night is Bad Romance.

When tickets are available for these shows, we will be sure to let you know. For now, mark those calendars and hire those babysitters!

We are still looking for storytellers for both shows, so if you'd like to tell a story, send us a pitch that includes a summary of your proposed story and a brief bio telling us who you are.

Hope to see you on January 18th! We expect another fantastic show!

Speak Up stories wanted

As 2014 approaches, Elysha and I are in the process of preparing lineups for our Speak Up shows for the new year. If you have a story that you’d like to tell on a Speak Up stage, we’d love for you to pitch it to us.

We are currently planning for shows in January, March and May. The themes for these shows are as follows:

January 18: Travel

March (date TBA): Law and Order

May (date TBA): Bad Romance

If you would like to pitch us a story idea for an upcoming show, please send us an email with a summary of your story (the more detail, the better), a brief bio and your contact information  to speakupstorytelling@gmail.com. 

We hope to have the lineup for the January show finalized within the next two weeks, but there are still spots available, so if you have a great travel story that you’d like to tell, don’t delay. Write your pitch and send it to us.

As you prepare pitch, a few things to keep in mind:

• The length of your story should be 6 minutes or less.
• Your story should have a beginning, a middle and an end.
• Your story should be true.
• Your story should be an actual story. It should reflect events in your life that ultimately caused you to change in some meaningful way as a person for better or worse. We are not looking for inspirational speeches, a series of strung-together anecdotes or lectures.
• If you’ve never told a story before and want some help, I’ve included a good example of a the kind of story that we are looking for below. It’s a story told at The Moth by Micaela Blei, who performed for Speak Up back in November.
• Elysha and I work with our storytellers to help revise and refine your stories, so if you’re nervous or uncertain, have no fear. Even the most experienced storytellers are nervous before taking the stage. Elysha and I will ensure that you are well prepared and as confident as you can be before your big night

Thanks! We hope to see you at Speak Up in January for what promises to be a great show! 

Speak Up storytelling: Anita Flores

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, November 9, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night. Hope to see you there!

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Anita Flores was born in Astoria, grew up in West Hartford, CT. She currently works on MTV's True Life. She tells stories and does a web series for My Damn Channel called Questionable Drawings where she interviews comedians and animates their responses. She writes for Nerve.com on a column called "Talking with Strangers" and also does a sex advice column where she asks comedians for romantic advice.

Speak Up storyteller: Donna Gosk

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, November 9, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night. Hope to see you there!

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Donna Gosk is a mother of three and grandmother of four children. She loves to spend time with them. In the meantime she plays golf, reads and follows the Red Sox and Patriots. She teaches fifth grade, loves her job, loves her students, loves her colleagues and enjoys every day of her life.

Speak Up storyteller: Sam Dingman

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, November 9, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night. Hope to see you there!

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Sam Dingman is a writer, performer, and podcaster in Brooklyn, NY. His is a winner of the Moth GrandSLAM, and his work has been featured on RISK!, SplitSider, UCB’s "A Funny Thing," TBTL, the First Person Arts Festival, The Los Angeles Comedy Festival, Seattle Sketchfest, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, and beyond.  He is also the host and producer of a storytelling podcast called "Dingmantics."

Speak Up storyteller: Diana Spechler

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, November 9, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night. Hope to see you there!

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Diana Spechler is the author of the novels Who by Fire and Skinny and of stories in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, GQ, Esquire, Paris Review, and elsewhere. A six-time Moth StorySLAM winner, she has been featured on NPR and The Moth podcast. She teaches writing for Stanford University's Online Writer's Studio and in New York City, where she is at work on her third novel.

Speak Up storyteller: Micaela Blei

Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, November 9, at 8:00 at Real Art Ways in Hartford.

Tickets can be purchased online here or purchased at the door, provided that we don’t sell out prior to Saturday.

This week we introduce you to the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night. Hope to see you there! ____________________________

Micaela Blei is a teacher, writer, storyteller and doctoral student. She was a 3rd grade classroom teacher for several years and now does all kinds of work with, for and about kids. She currently works with national nonprofit The Moth as one of their primary storytelling instructors and as manager of education program development. As a storyteller, she is a Moth GrandSLAM champion and has appeared in storytelling shows throughout New York City as well as on tour nationally with the Unchained Tour. Her stories can be heard on The Moth Radio Hour on PRX. She’s currently pursuing a PhD in Education at NYU. When it's above 50 degrees, she can be found on her bicycle all over New York City. Find her at micaelablei.com.