Applied Theatrics — Event Edu-tainment

Participation is the best communication.

2011-05-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Corporate Events
Tradeshow • Experiential Marketing
Sponsorship Marketing • Company Party
Sales Training • Leadership Retreat

"Barbara drove traffic to our booth and made the entire booth experience more compelling to our audience."

—Melissa Hibbard, Percussion Software

Non-Profit Events
Fundraising Gala • Public Event
Conference • Reception • Board Retreat

"You are delightful and talented! Our "Open House" was a huge success and lots of the credit goes to you."

—Susan Fink, Open House Chair
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Community Events
Festival • Parade • Wedding Officiant
Party (Adults & Kids) • Milestone Event

"I would definitely hire her again and recommend her to anyone looking for creative, outside-the-box entertainment."

—Maria DiStefano, Boston Main Streets

How Companies Hire Barbara

2008-10-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Event Marketing • Trade Show • Holiday Party • Product Launch
Award & Incentive • Education & Training • VIP Reception

Themed Events: How do you make the theme or message of your event personally memorable for guests? Put our solo or ensemble custom-crafted characters in the mix to connect guests to each other and to your event mission.

Trade Shows: When attendees are bombarded with pitches, how do you focus an individual's attention on you? Put our solo or ensemble custom characters on the aisle to create curiosity about you and charm attendees into your booth.

Scroll Down for Stories & Photos...

Make Our House an Art House

2008-08-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

Neighborhood Watchman
Art by Oliver Twist!
photos by Liam Breck

Oliver's Bats for Balloons!

Small Kate is working steadily to design a clown face for herself. I'm face painting outdoors at the Windemere Housing Development Open House in San Ramon, CA, thanks to Organized Chaos Events. I'm joined by painter & balloonist Oliver Twist! Kate is using a template I made with a big oval smiley face on it. We'll paint her design onto her face together as soon as she's signed her innocent masterpiece. Her magic markers touch the page with determination, "The man has to make a big mouth. Two times as big as his mouth." OK, I tell her, we can make you a big, big mouth. "And then the man has to put on some fake hair on his head." I am laughing. She is so sincere about how a clown must look. She was visited by a clown at school, so she knows.

Oliver's T-Shirt Pteradon

Kate's parents are strolling the housing models with their younger daughter. Kate fills in the super-big red outline I've made for her clown mouth. She's expert at drawing inside the lines. She took a full minute to color her design's red cheek and devotes equal time to it's twin on her own cheek. I love the improvisation of collaboration with kids. We are the artist. Kate's parents return as I am adding the crowning touch - fake blue hair. She's holds up her paper to her face, proudly showing her mom they are the same.

Dazzling Direction for San Francisco Theater Fest

2008-07-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Now You Know The Great Actors' Secret!
photos by Liam Breck

Now Eat the Script!

Going to a show? Be the Show! At the San Francisco Theater Festival, Sesame the Director sees talent in everyone! This annual community event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts features over 100 free performances in the span of just one afternoon. Sesame essentially acts as the festival mascot, creating silly and sudden performances all around the grounds -- starring event patrons! With a quick 'somewhere in Europe' accent, Sesame delivers the Theater Festival's marketing message and more, "Everywhere you go at the San Francisco Theater Festival, there is a show! And you? You must be an actor, too! Yes, you are a show!"

KGO-TV Interviews Barbara!

Sesame informs theatergoers that they are the lucky "stars" of a show happening right now, right here! "Says who? Sesa-me! Sesame the Director!" Their friends & children make temporary, and amused, audiences. Sesame directs guests in simple dramatic actions of emotion as their "show" -- the pout, the wish, love, a theft, and more! Now it's bravos & applause... and the next instant curtain...yours!

This Time: More Sweet!

This Time: More Glee!

Clowns Cool Down Chelsea Town

2008-06-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

Make Your Own Cool Breeze!
photos by Michael Koran & Rebecca deGraw

"Personal Shade" Team

It's our third year at Celebrate Chelsea Day in Massachusetts, brought in by the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce! It is so hot, hot, hot today that our best laughs come from gifting "personal shade" to individuals of all ages via an umbrella hat! Chelsea is a very diverse neighborhood and a magnet for recent immigrants to the United States. For the many guests who speak little or no English, our antics fanning folks with scarves communicate the universal language of "cool!"

C'mon! I can Juggle 3!

The festival has spread to two locations this year. At a midway intersection, we juggle balls with young children. Giggles. Drops. More giggles! Kids delight in co-juggling, in which they can toss a ball into my simple pattern of three. Tots just play catch. Older kids lean in, keeping alert to when I'll toss them a ball. At the far end of the fest, my sweet and silly clown partner is scarf juggling with another group of gigglers. She instigates a run around the park's central statue. Not a race, but a dash in which kids of all ages zip along, making their own breezes to float the scarves in their hands. Now, that's cool!

Eden Trauma Center Gala Appeals to the Gods

2008-05-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Nominated for a 2008 Special Events GALA Award!
Best Event Produced for a Non-Profit Organization
Produced by Method 42 Productions & Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery

Ancient & Modern Greek Goddesses
photos by Liam Breck

Greek Physique

Our flowing robes fall still, matched in white by our motionless painted arms and faces. We're regal, romantic Ancient Greek statues... until we wink! Or dance! We're here at Ruby Hill Winery with Method 42 Productions, gracing a Mediterranean feast honoring the life-saving work of the Eden Trauma Center in Castro Valley, CA. We love responding to a theme with custom theatrics; for this evening's travel theme, we invent a new Ancient Greek God & Goddess!

Greek Chic

I'm aglow as "Miraculae, Goddess of the Golden Hour." Physicians refer to the first crucial hour after a major injury as The Golden Hour, during which victims who receive medical care have a better chance of recovery. The Eden Trauma Center is an emergency destination for such extreme accidents. I hold a themed version of the staff of Asclepius, its symbolic winding snake rising into Eden's logo.

Kindred Spirits

My partner in our pantheon stands benevolently as "Eden, God of Generosity." He embodies the evening's fund-raising mission — white coins bearing Eden's logo spill from his hand into a vessel at his feet. We interact from atop high podiums and fool many mortals into thinking we're real statues! Later, we come down from the clouds to play in a beautiful Grecian-themed courtyard. My favorite 'move' is draping guests in my 27 foot sash for photos, revealing the divine in each man and woman!

To Your Health... and Yours and Yours!

Witty in Pink Over Wave Petunias

2008-03-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

Pink Pot? Peggy Wants Wave!

photos by Liam Breck

Retailers Rave about Wave

Wave petunia mavens "Rose-Anne" and "Peggy" are merry marketers at Ball Horticultural's 2008 Pack Trials in Santa Paula, CA, an industry event for flower growers and retailers. These "sisters-in-law" from "Bloomington" are fully acted characters based on Ball's spring TV spot in which Wave fans adorned in pink confess adoration for Wave, a hybrid petunia that can spread a few feet in a garden. Our job is to bring attention to Ball's new marketing campaign and encourage retailers to grow the Wave brand by using easy-to-spot hot pink pots in stores.

The ever-smiling "sisters" tell linked back-stories from their petunia-positive lives to attendees from growers to garden-writers. Busy with kids and careers in Bloomington, they want impressive yet easy gardens to entertain their book club... enter Wave!

Waves Abound & Rebound

A host of zany, original pink props support our targeted antics. We proudly display a "Petunia Family" photo album and interview guests about their fave Waves over a petunia microphone that's "plugged" into a pot of pastel Waves. Technical attendees are delighted by our "reboundability study" in which we subject a hand-made pocket-garden of fabric flowers to mock weather conditions from a spritzer bottle and pocket fan. Photo opportunities put our multi-national audience in the pink with boas, beads, and flower pot hats. Product marketing, meet on-message improv comedy!

Party at the Library! Shhh? Hooray!

2008-03-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

Barbara Michaels is a wonderful community partner! She really helped to capture the excitement and passion that we wanted the community to feel as they celebrated the renovation and improvement of their beloved branch library.

- Mary Abler, Friends of the SF Public Library

A New Author

photos by Liam Breck

Making History About History

Each year, BarbaraInCharacter gifts original characters to selected community events. The San Francisco Public Library Eureka Branch renovation closing party catches my eye -- my mother is a librarian! In a costume reminiscent of Mother Goose, I join guests in celebrating their love for the Library by making a book together. Folks from ages 6 to about 75 finish the sentence, "Once Upon a Time in the Castro..." They pen lovely neighborhood memories and fantastical visions! The book can be on display when the Library reopens.

Remembering a Raincoat

Grandpas write for their toddler Grandkids. Others linger in thought, remembering... adopting a child, losing an expensive raincoat, falling in love. One fellow even runs to the dictionary to be correct for posterity! A five year old insists that a frog is pretending to be superman. I realized recently that all the amazing tall tales I was told as a child have stayed with me. I still believe that I should be capable of magical things, like changing the color of a car just by looking at it! Perhaps performing in character and transporting guests to another time and place is a bit of modern magic itself? Abracadabra!

Once Upon a Time in the Castro... Barbara was In Character!

Ms. Bio/Diesel... Global Cool for Biodiesel Expo

2008-02-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

Praise for Ms. Bio/Diesel: "Our company engaged Barbara for our annual two-day national trade show. We created a theme ("From farm to fuel!"- for alternative energy) and asked Barbara if she could create a character to match the theme. She did — and it was very successful. We will use Barbara again next year!"

- Steve Austin, General Manager, SunBio Systems

From Flower to Fuel at the Biodiesel Expo
photos by Liam Breck

Smiles: A Renewable Energy

Half sunflower and half... gas pump? Organic meets mechanic at the National Biodiesel Expo in Orlando, FL. I'm here with SunBio Systems, a supplier of biodiesel fuel technology and feedstock. My stilt-walking costume realizes their slogan, Farm to Fuel, in eight feet of intriguing, informative entertainment. On the Farm side, my arm is draped with sunny petals and my long leg is a green stem festooned with leaves. I always plant surprises in my costumes, like the little red ladybug on my inner arm! On the Fuel side, I'm a metallic, angular biodiesel fuel pump, complete with working "gallon" and "$" counters. There's even a place to "swipe" a card, from which attendees can nab one of the company president's business cards!

One Costume... or Two?

Men and women, steeped in technical workings all day, circle round, happy to engage creatively with the only 'art' at this trade show. I hand out packs of SunBio-labeled sunflower seeds as I pitch SunBio's services and direct listeners to our booth. Questions about my costume lead right back to Farm to Fuel, SunBio's slogan.

Open Arms to Green Living

I'm a natural photo opportunity with both attendees and other exhibitors. Entire booth teams bring Ms. Bio/Diesel over to snap group photos, with SunBio's name shining from her flowered headdress! Vibrant, themed costumes sidestep competition in favor of enjoyment and connection.

See also Sunshine Clown at Biodiesel Expo 2008

Sunshine Clown Enlightens Biodiesel Expo

2008-02-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

Sunshine Grows Prospects from Seeds

photos by Liam Breck

Global Warming?

Oh, no! I can't swim!

Got it! Biodiesel!

To SunBio Systems!

"Well, hello there!" Sunshine Clown sparkles beneath her sequined hat. She's on a mission for SunBio Systems, a biodiesel fuel technology supplier. With the sidewalk panache of a street salesman, she grins and begins, "You wouldn't just happen ta' need any new sources of feedstocks, wouldja?" Sunshine has planted herself at an intersection of Aisle 400 at the National Biodiesel Expo in Orlando, Florida. Her mission is to direct folks at the trade show to SunBio's booth... and make friends in the process! Her luminous levity is appreciated at this engineering-focused conference and fosters general good will for SunBio among attendees.

Sunshine leans into the shoulder of her prospect, "You wouldn't just happen to need any modular biodiesel making equipment... wouldja?" Throughout the day, attendees and other exhibitors wonder from her specific questions if Sunshine is a SunBio employee.

She then draws closer and glances over her shoulder, hinting a privileged tip. "You wouldn't happen to need any sunflower seeds for your sweetie at home, wouldja?" From an upturned golden umbrella doubling as a sunflower, Sunshine plucks a bright SunBio-labeled packet of sunflower seeds, a biodiesel feedstock. She gifts the seeds and rolls her pitch for SunBio's soup-to-nuts biodiesel services, then points or personally escorts her new pal to the nearby SunBio booth and crew, "Tell 'em Sunshine sentja!"

See all Ms. Bio/Diesel at Biodiesel Expo 2008

'Fortunate Teller' Charms Fletcher School

2007-10-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

I Recognize Your Soul...

photos by Liam Breck

Your Glasses are Hypnotic!

With flickering eyes and a British-ish accent, Primrose pops, "Yes, you can be whatever you want, as long as you focus!" With that, the 17th Century "Fortunate Teller," lightly bops her young client on the crown, "Next!" At Fletcher Maynard Academy's Halloween Party, Primrose is culling notions about her young guests from objects they choose from her table of toys. With arched eyebrows, she demands a reason for their choice (never mind that she's supposed to know!) Otherwise perky children, costumed from superhero to bride, are befuddled with nervous hope. Some barely blink as Primrose holds their sweet faces in a theatrical frame! Most listen extremely seriously, revealing how impressionable they are. All of Primrose's fortunes are positive, inspiring children with special talents they have to share with the world.

Behold the Horn of Happiness!

Two young teens giggle into my chair and when I tell them that they work well together to help others, they erupt in shrieks of "It's true! It's true!" Next, a younger boy picks a small mirror and immediately explains that he helps people see what's good about them. I tell him he has told his own fortune and he puffs with pride. As theater is stories of our lives, it is not hard as a practiced actor to weave a tale to fit the picture I see before me. Call it magic, call it sensitive attention, call it a lot of fun on Halloween. Boo!

The Secret Stories of Objects:

Golden Drum
Colorful Ball
Bicycle Horn
Compass
Golden Bell

Others will follow your lead
You bring happiness
You know when to speak up
You know your direction
You say beautiful things

Picaso-so Draws Lakeville to the Arts

2007-09-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

Picaso-so, Painter Extra-Ordinary
photos by Liam Breck

Picaso-so's Public

There is Picasso, world-class painter, and then there is Picaso-so... a zany doodler of thick, if dubious, European accent. At the Lakeville Arts and Music Festival, I revel in quick-sketching guests' portraits on give-away index card "canvases." My posture is serious, refined, but my banter is ridiculous! Picaso-so gushes, "Ooh, I mahst draw you now. Picaso-so eez brilliant painter, no? Vhat!? Yes, zee answer eez Yes! I see you ahgree!" He boldly swirls for the youngster a likeness of her face and hair that would make any second-grader's mom proud. An exchange of grins closes the deal. Next stop, Sotheby's?

Picaso-so's Palette

A rainbow of butterflies dally on my palette as dabs of paint. Each splashy line I draw changes hue (thanks to a pencil filled with multi-colored lead!). In Lakeville, I have the honor of making the first-ever drawing of weeks-old infant Violet. Next, a young boy clutching his plastic pet dinosaur is awarded a triumphant sketch in which he rides his prehistoric steed. Next, with crafty delight, I capture the love I see in a couple's clasped hands. Picaso-so lahvs lahv! And Barbara loves Fall Festivals!

Don't Go, Picaso-so!

Brighton Twins Celebrate 200th Birthday

2007-09-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

"Regency" Era Mom and Her Baby Towns
photos by Liam Breck

Style Watch: 1807 Meets 2007

Happy 200th, baby Brighton! For Allston-Brighton's annual miles-long neighborhood parade, I stroll majestically along wide avenues in an 1807 "Regency" era costume. With my empire-waist dress, long gloves, and historically accurate hairstyle, little girls keep asking if I am a princess! In my arms, I carry two baby dolls: the twin neighbors of Allston and Brighton! My sign plays with the "It's a boy!" theme, reading, "IT'S A... TOWN!"

Little Brighton is Adored

I engage parade watchers at street-side, playfully pointing out which baby is Brighton, which is Allston. I receive many hearty laughs and smiles from Allston-Brighton's diverse community, from skateboarding teens to clusters of elderly women to non-English-speaking families to young kids to patrolmen. Allston-Brighton is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods I have visited, making for a parade experience that truly feels like the whole world is meeting up in celebration!

Κλόουν (Clown) Plays Ελληνικά (Greek) Festival

2007-09-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

Γειάσου, παιδιά! (Hi, kids!)
photos by Liam Breck

Μάθημα τσίρκων (Circus Lesson)

I've just arrived in my new flowered pink hat at the annual φεστιβάλ (festival) of St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church. I'm here as a clown to engage children while their parents eat and talk and eat and talk! Let your nose imagine savory gyros and spanakopita and sweet baklava! Εύγευστος! Delicious!

Χορός κύκλων (Circle Dance)

After circle games, I present my stilts and show children how I put them on, step by giant step. I ask lots of questions to ensure they understand. We're all enthused to dance after an energetic performance by a Greek dance troupe in the church hall. Beckoned by Greek music from the loudspeakers, children reach up for my hands and we swing in a circle, dancing as people have for generations. Αγαπάμε να χορεψουμε ο ένας με τον άλλον! We love to dance together!

Kindergartners Pass Clown Exam in Dorchester

2007-09-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

Sharing Test: How Many Friends Can you Find in the Mirror?
photos by Liam Breck

School Picture Test

Smile! At Fields Corner Main Streets' Countdown to Kindergarten, Nurse Dot is conducting clown exams to make sure children are ready for the wild world of school. Tests include the School Picture Test (at right) to assess smile width, the Sharing Test (above) to determine cooperative inclination, and the Hand Raising Test, in which each giggling "patient" uses a back scratcher to reach up and tickle Nurse Dot under the arm! All the children pass their Kindergarten "Tests" with flying colors and numbers!

Parade of Promise

We then parade down the sidewalk to local businesses who cheerfully meet us at their shop doors to donate school supplies to the children. Dorchester's newest students fill up treat bags while I play a cymbal, drum, bell, and kazoo all at once, adding a friendly cacophony. We visit a bank, restaurant, real estate office, and more! Main Streets programs serve to link a neighborhood's residential and business communities in mutually supportive ways.

Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Clown...

Share One Chair
Cry & Laugh Loud
Surprise Yourself

Surprise Another
Be True
Wonder Well

Silliness Can Save You
Do Your Best
Know the World is Funny

Circus Girl Rocks the Radio

2007-08-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

Rock & Roll Blondes

photos by Liam Breck

Hoopy Birthday!
(click the pic to read his t-shirt!)

I've gone "golden blonde," to join the ecstatic hair flinging with Boston hard rock radio station WAAF. I'm here courtesy of StageCoach Improv with stilts and my hula hoop to set the mood for the Dirty Summer Circus Concert. Guitars peal from huge amps; hands hail the stage; heads begin to nod! At right, a fellow celebrates his birthday, having been merrily cajoled by his friends (and me!) to try my hula hoop. He laughs uproariously during his hooping debut, as people all around applauded his success. The big hula hoops are much easier than the small ones we may have tried as kids. Adults, especially guys, are often amazed to discover that they can keep the hoop spinning!

Seeing Eye to Eye

How do you have a tête-à-tête with someone on stilts? When I stilt at a festival, I carry a pole so I can slide down to eye level for playful conversations. Kids especially enjoy how far I must slide down to reach them. I've also used my pole as a cane for tap dancing on stilts and as a sword for stilt fencing!

Horsing Around & Around & Around

2007-07-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

A Hug on Horseback
photos by Liam Breck

A Lively Lead

Giddy-up! At Fletcher Maynard Community School Night of Sharing, we are getting giddy with pony rides. I hold the reins while any number of giggly cuties climb into the "saddle" by pulling my stuffed horse's suspenders up over their shoulders. We "ride" two at a time at first to allow everyone more turns to prance and gallop in our roped-off riding ring. Trying to navigate a pony-sized stuffed animal with another person gets very silly! Some teams show their horse sense and some tangle up in a puff of laughter. For our grand finale, one of the older girls bravely charges our steed through a "flaming" hula hoop!

After the pony rides we sit down for circle games...

The Big Sneeze
video by Liam Breck

Lion Loose at Wedding, Circus Ensues

2007-07-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

A Roaring Good Time

photos by Liam Breck

Grrrreat Dress!

I'm roving as a Lioness at the circus-themed wedding reception of Michael and Jill. My queenly mask is the brilliant work of Eric Bornstein, creator of Behind the Mask Theater. I greet guests at the door with gregarious yet gentle growls, playfully pounce family and friends at the cocktail reception, and, paws and "claws" extended, flirtatiously invite young and old to dance. Cameras pop while champagne chills.

Juggling

During the dinner buffet, I change costumes, becoming a a romantic European-style clown. I visit guests at their tables with juggling and you-can't-believe-it card tricks. (My secret? 52 versions of the nine of hearts!) Later, I enlist the cheerful help of a pre-teen family member of the bride and together we tour tables with spontaneous team juggling. She tosses me one ball to start my pattern of three. We trade one of the three back and forth, keeping the pattern going. The bride's mother loves our act!

The Bouquet is Mine!

Summer Discovered at Columbia Park

2007-07-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

Supergirl Moves

photos by Liam Breck

Parade of Hands

The dance-club quality DJ's voice booms across the small family park, bringing all the girls and boys. Our impromptu parade—around the block!—celebrates the first annual Columbia Park block party, a kickoff for the Arts in the Park series from Fletcher Maynard Community School. From high on stilts, I hand out shakers, bells, kazoos and rainbow umbrellas as we gather around festive parade cloths, a rainbow parachute and a long, shiny silver streamer. Of course, some children want to do everything at once and wobble to carry the rainbow cloth and play an instrument while holding an umbrella under their chins! The DJ turns up his groove and we're all making music together now, our sounds traveling down the street ahead of us!

Wake Up, Clown!

We keep the beat going after the parade with my drum in rounds of theatrical freeze-dancing. All the girls want to be superstars and show it in their sassy dancing and all-that poses. I love to see multiple ages of kids playing together. Then, I set the parade props into service with the smallest children, playing snooze and seek under the silver cloth. Good morning, Summer!

General John Glover, Still in Marblehead

2007-07-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

General John Glover, 1732-1797 + 2007
photos by Liam Breck

Hilarious History

Merry Christmas, Marblehead! In 1776, on December 25, General John Glover of Marblehead and his 1,000 strong Marine Regiment rowed Washington's army across the Delaware River to deliver a "present" to the Hessians at Trenton. In 2007, for July 4, I'm presenting a living statue of John Glover on Washington Street at the Marblehead Festival of Arts Street Festival. Thanks, John! My costume, created by Liam Breck and myself, is based on the statue of Glover on Boston's Commonwealth Mall. Some parents take a moment to enact a history lesson when reading my plaque about Glover's famous mission.

Two Step

As a statue, I'm not speaking, but communicating volumes with eye contact and body language. With no verbal agreement, two sisters attentively mirror the measured steps of my slow-motion roving. A band of boys try to make me laugh with zany jumps and goofy faces, but having been a whimsical theater teacher for almost ten years, I stand no chance of cracking. I'm smiling big on the inside, of course! Parents ask their smaller children: is he real or is he a statue? Thoughtful small faces watch my occasional movements. The jury is still out among the under-4 set!

The Fashionable General

A Day in the Life of John Glover, circa 2007
People of all ages enjoy the surreal experience of playing with a statue:

Staring contest
Lift my arm
Try to make me laugh
Say, "Move"
Say, "Don't Move"
Pet my bird

Ask for a kiss
Step on my foot
Tap my shoulder
. . . and hide
Share salutes
Wink back

Hoop Happy with Burton Associates

2007-06-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Team Hula: Next Show in 5 Minutes!

photos by Liam Breck

I'm smiling to be back at Commitment to Community Day, sponsored by Burton Associates Real Estate. I'm hula hooping on stilts. I meet a happy hoop buddy and we invent a four hoop routine on the spot! We circle the Franklin Park playstead, serenading lunching families enjoying the free BBQ (did I mention the homemade brownies and fresh watermelon?), the conscientious cooks serving this sumptuous feast, and even the community non-profits hosting information booths along the sidewalk. When I hand the hoop to ladies, boys, girls, and men for solos, people of all ages are swirling with a smile.

Later, we twist over 300 balloons. So many children want inflatable swords, dogs, butterflies, and flowers that my photographer Liam has to put down the camera and help man the air tank! Imagine 4 year olds in pink balloon bunny ears. We teach the older kids how to twist their own balloons and start a new fashion trend: inflatables! Imagine ten year olds wrapping themselves in balloon garments from balloon leg warmers to belts to a sash to a balloon vest! Now that's hip! Pop!

River Spirit Revels at Chelsea Creek

2007-06-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

Can You Name My Pet Fish?
photos by Liam Breck

"Bob. . . the Fish!" Kids and adults are brainstorming funny names for my 'pet' fish, a shiny mitten puppet accenting the teal river costume I've fashioned with Liam Breck. At the 4th annual River Revel, I'm sparkly as the Spirit of the Chelsea Creek. I encourage everyone to pet my fish and some children say its smooth, slippery fabric feels like a real fish. Some adults say it looks tasty!

Chelsea Creek is a waterway between East Boston and Chelsea used for transporting oil tankers. Once a year, its Meridian Street drawbridge closes to trucks and teems with musicians and community arts and advocacy groups. Changing to stilts, I join a parade of families waving tall fish and singing an environmental message: "See Green, Hear Green, Speak Green!"

Fish Names

Karl
Bob
Buster
Ben

Shimmery
Fishy
Mr. Swimmy
Fish

Nemo
Vladimir
Yuliana
Fluffy

Clown Stops Traffic at Chelsea Day

2007-06-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

Over & Under the Rainbow
photos by Liam Breck

Looking dapper in my red and black velvet hat, I enthusiastically shake hands with over 100 people of all ages in one hour. I could be running for office at Celebrate Chelsea Day! I befriend the public in a shoe store, a hair salon, and at a bus stop. I even give a short speech to a group of young marines. Later, I actually do my civil service, helping a traffic cop with my clown's version of waving cars by . . . by waving hello!

Some of the children recognize me from last year and excitedly ask for another parade. I unfurl my new rainbow parachute and pass around shakers, clackers and bells. We parade across the pavement, a rhythm rainbow circling amused parents and friends. Then, I gather my small band under my pretty parachute and introduce whole body peek-a-boo. Each time we fling off our parachute, we try another child's idea, "Jump!" "Turn Around!" "Wiggle!"

Giggles & Wiggles

Clowning by Numbers with Kindergartners

2007-05-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

How Do You Play a Drum?
photos by Liam Breck

"I see her! It's Barbara!" I'm hailed by tiny voices as I sneak across the gym before my show begins. Seven of the 60 kindergartners know me from my

EMTs: Excited Munchkin Team

zany Cambridge Performance Project after-school circus class. The whole room feels empowered by our friendship and throughout the show children dash onto the stage to play with me. They talk to me from the audience, chase me around the gym, and even revive me when I flop to the floor by wafting me with air from my own red fan and balloon hand pump!

While all their teachers are at an open house for incoming students, I'm presenting a new educational and interactive clown show custom built around the teachers' requests: numbers, alphabet, shapes, and colors. We make alphabet sculptures - an 'O' requires 15 children; the 'Q' calls for three more. Next, I ask them to throw all 120 of their shoes at me. They gleefully comply, lofting sandals and sneakers. Together, we count how many shoes I can hold before all their laces and velcro tumble to the floor. Later, we count how many children can sit on a clown, "1, 2, 3 . . . 9!" They jump into action. I love a show in which the kids become my fellow actors!

Counting Game: How Many Children Can Sit on a Clown?

Iris Blooms at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

2007-04-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

Praise for Iris: Thank you so much for being our "Iris". You are delightful, engaging, beautiful, talented and whimsical! I loved conversing with you these past few months and was charmed upon meeting you. Our "Open House" was a huge success and lots of the credit goes to you.

- Susan Fink, Open House Chair, Museum of Fine Arts Boston

The Wandering Iris Exhibit at Art in Bloom
photos by Liam Breck

"Oh, you're so beautiful," ladies say as I bow gently, letting my long leaf tickle their toes. I'm gracious and graceful as a life-sized Iris flower roving at Art in Bloom. My glittery cheeks peek out from my sculpted purple headdress, designed and hand-crafted by Liam Breck and myself. This beloved 31st annual exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts invites floral designers and garden clubs to respond in flowers to artworks all around the museum.

Every room is filled with ladies in pastels who know their flora. I jest softly, "My name is Iris," and receive giggles and knowing fun looks. I travel the expansive corridors, a flirty flower taking a tour of the world through the arts of India, China, the Renaissance, and Africa. I dance with children to a barbershop quartet, fondly befriend ladies and their gentlemen, make silly serenades to diners in the museum's two restaurants, and ride the escalators in strong statuesque poses. I name myself the "Wandering Iris Exhibit." Visitors see me again in other parts of the museum and grin, waving and calling to me, "Hello, Iris!"

The Content Fairy Hits the AIIM Trade Show

2007-04-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

The Content Fairy Conjures a Spell for Percussion Software
photo by Liam Breck

Bear Facts
photo by Rob DiNinni

I drop my pink feather boa back onto its hook and pull off the purple bear suit. I'm about to change costumes over my black bodysuit for the 30th time today at the AIIM tech tradeshow. I'm representing StageCoach Improv for Percussion Software, a website content management business. I switch into a skinny blue tube dress, green glasses and star wand; I'm literally embodying Percussion's message: "Fast Changing Content." I tell attending techies that I'm the Content Fairy and get big laughs - everyone in web content wishes the Content Fairy could magically grant users "compelling content experiences," which is Percussion's motto.

I'm also providing interactive juggling and stiltwalking to drive traffic to their booth. There are no other circus people at the tradeshow, other than a couple magicians that I can identify, and some folks head our way when they see my red hat bobbing almost 9 feet in the air. After three days, I have befriended attendees across the industry, most notably by passing hacky-sack sized juggling balls back and forth. My antics are on message: Juggling content!

Towering Over the Competition
photo by Rob DiNinni

Who Wears the Pants at Arlington Town Day?

2006-07-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

The Big Pants, featuring ACA Executive Director John Budzyna
photos by Linda Shoemaker

I'm in a pink dress too large by eight sizes, papering the crowd with fall class schedules for the Arlington Center for the Arts at Arlington Town Day. My costume theme for the day is "big." There are so many people passing by that I'm flipping left and right in quick succession to catch the smiles of as many adults and kids as possible. I offer with a ballpark shout, "Arlington Center for the Arts," and many

PR Princess

people stop with a yes; the name carries clout in the community.

I change costumes, bringing out The Big Pants, a pair of size 68 khakis that I often can wear with another adult, one leg per person. I'm hoping to get Executive Director John Budzyna into The Big Pants with me for flyering, as the pants always draw grins. Budzyna comes through, setting an example for his devoted staff. Go for the gusto in marketing! Wear The Big Pants!

Yankee Doodle Rides Rudolph Reindeer in NH

2005-12-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

Praise for Yankee Doodle: Barbara did a phenomenal job at the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce 2005 YANKEE DOODLE DANDY Children's Christmas parade. She entertained the crowd with her fun-loving personality and wowed them with her creative costume. Barbara Michaels is a first rate performer!

- Ginni McNamara, Parade Chairwoman, Hampton, NH

Yankee Doodle Rides Rudolph Reindeer . . . Dandy!
photo by Ginni McNamara

I'm stilt-walking up gentle hills behind an oom-pah marching band in downtown Hampton, NH. It's windy, so I've set my six foot legs in brisk time with the band to keep warm. The road flattens and the band strikes up Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Parade watchers in puffy coats and head-hugging hats point at me excitedly, recognizing Rudolph, the horse-turned-reindeer I'm "riding." As the song builds, the crowd quiets, softening into the romance of Christmastime. Charmed adults become both parents and children again, and some begin to sing with their kids. I love to pass onlookers who find my costume as amusing as I do. I listen for the belly laughs and wink and wave!

Stilt Walking in the Urban Wild

2003-10-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

East Boston
Open Studios
2003

I wander the industrial landscape befriended by the son of a sculptor showing in this annual exhibition and sale of work by artists in their own studios. Boston's Tobin Bridge is in the background.

photos by
Josephine Schiele

Jesting in the Dark at the Museum of Science

2002-03-18T17:53:00.000-08:00

Einstein's Gravity Rules at the Hayden Planetarium
photos by Dan Dowling

I'm trying not to jingle my bells while quickly swapping my jester hat for a football helmet in the dark. The laser sky show is running up above in the Hayden Planetarium. Lights up! I'm on, dancing with the stars, barreling through space. . . oh no, right into a black hole! I'm playing Jack the juggling jester, explaining principles of gravity in Gravity Rules as part of Science Live!, the theater department of Boston's Museum of Science. I play Jack, Albert Einstein, and Sir Isaac Newton, all in accents different than my own while sporting various wigs, hats, and mustaches. This interactive show takes place in the

Science or Snack?

round in the Planetarium, a delightful performance space that allows me to be close to, and in some cases sneak up on, the audience.

My best audience was a room full of teenagers, not the target audience for this show. I must have made my grand entrance with just enough sass to push their "irreverent" buttons. By the time my faux reggae finale was hitting the heavens, many of the teens were out of their seats rocking out to my predictable 4/4 melody. One tall blond boy remarked, "That was the best thing I've ever seen." I was an ageless, goofy, theater hero. I suspect that may always be true of me!

More About Barbara Ann Michaels

2001-12-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

Artist Biography: Barbara Ann Michaels

Barbara Michaels is an actor, dancer, and physical comedienne specializing in character improvisation, audience interaction, and original shows. She is also a writer and arts educator. She performs internationally, both solo and in ensemble, including performances in Brazil, Germany, Scotland, and US cities New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and many New England towns.

Instant Friends
photo by Liam Breck

Barbara's interactive roving characters range from sweet to elegant to zany. She often creates new characters & costumes for corporate and community events nationwide. Appearances include Museum of Fine Arts Boston, First Nights Boston and Portland, the AIIM tech tradeshow, North Shore Spirit Baseball, and in numerous town festivals and parades. See how Barbara creates characters and read praise from her clients.

Barbara creates original one-woman shows and ensemble productions, often drawn from her life, usually serious topics dealt in a funny way. Her current project, The Doormen, is a look at how lovers change our lives, opening doors for us that we may ultimately walk through alone. This interactive, site-specific performance delivers its content ever anew as each show changes form to incorporate found structures & objects in each locale. Debuts include a walking tour version in downtown San Francisco at the annual Fringe Festival, and a stage version in The Garage, an avant garde theater space. Her show Prayer to the Cookie God, about the personal lessons that teachers learn from children, ran at ImprovBoston in a series of new work and in live-broadcast on SC-TV. And Now, presented in the round at Massachusetts College of Art, examined holding simultaneous changing connections to others and ourselves. Collaborations include Gender Conniptions, a musical about gender freedom with Eve Chosak and many episodes of A Human Among Humans on CCTV with Michael Koran.

Sun Hat for Two
photo by Liam Breck

Barbara's work is informed by the historical art of clowning. Her clown shows for adults have played at the New York Clown Theater Festival, in residency at Nantucket Island School of Design & the Arts, and at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. She also performs for children and has visited youth in hospitals with Clowns Doktoren in Germany and New York's Big Apple Circus. Barbara and Wendy Kinal toured as a clown duo to Brazil, New York and Scotland. Barbara was in Only Fooling, Boston's all-women clown company, and performed with Circus Mirage. More on the New Clown artform.

Barbara's contemporary stage credits include interactive productions such as the national tour of Foodplay as juggling Coach Tobe, as Jumpin’ Jack Flash the jester in Gravity Rules at Boston Museum of Science Planetarium, as Primrose the 17th century tour guide with Ghosts and Gravestones, in the regional tour of Tribal Rhythms children's theater, and in repertory with both Behind the Mask Theater and Mystery Café dinner theater. Barbara appeared on Discovery Channel Australia as a living statue. Barbara also danced in the dystopian space musical Curve 9 and has been in a number of comedic short films.

Selected Theater Credits

Behind the Mask Theater
Cambridge Art in the Park
CCTV
Chronicle (WCVB TV/ABC)
Clowns Doktoren, Germany
Comedy Studio Boston
Curve 9: A Space Musical
Discovery Channel Australia
Downtown Clown Revue NYC
Feverestival, SP, Brazil
First Night Portland
Foodplay Productions

Ghosts & Gravestones Tour
ImprovBoston
Museum of Science Boston
Mystery Cafe
Nantucket Island School of Design
New York Clown Theater Festival
Only Fooling Clown Troupe
People's Improv Theater NYC
SCTV
Tribal Rhythms
Vagina Monologues
Vorpmi Improv

Artist/Educator
Barbara has taught ages 2 through senior adults in physical theater since 1998. She presents classes, workshops, and performing residencies for colleges, schools K to 12, performing companies, and community organizations. More on workshops with Barbara.

Media Attention

M.O.N.A:
My Offering, Neighborhood Art
photo by Pixel

Barbara was featured as an Art Car artist on Chronicle news magazine (WCVB-TV; ABC affiliate) and in the Boston Globe's City Weekly. She was Artist of the Month on SC-TV. Her beloved art car Mona featured a rooftop stage from which she and area poets performed "Poetry Drive-By's" for people waiting in outdoor lines around Boston!

Education & Training
Barbara has an MFA in performance art from the Studio for Interrelated Media at Massachusetts College of Art. She holds a BA in Modern Culture and Media with a focus in documentary video from Brown University. She completed the documentary writing program at the Salt Center for Documentary Field Studies in Portland, ME.

Her education in physical theater includes training with Avner the Eccentric and Julie Goell at Celebration Barn; Daniel Stein at the D'ell Arte School of Physical Theater; Ricardo Puccetti and Lume Teatro in SP, Brazil; Philippe Gaulier; the New York Goofs; Tony Montanaro (mime), Ruth Zaporah (improv), Debra Bluth (dance improv), and attending Motionfest. She is a regular student of dance, including contact improvisation and partner dancing. She also studied voice with R&B vocalist Louise Grasmere.

Barbara began studying theater improvisation in elementary school through Creative Theatre Unlimited in Princeton, NJ . . . encourage children in the arts!

See Also: Artist Mission & Creative Influences

Your Event - Our Collaborative Process

2001-12-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

What We Do for You

People naturally engage with and remember faces, interactions, and stories. We apply this principle to your specific event mission, whether marketing, fundraising, educating, or celebrating. We create participation in your purpose via up-close interactive theatrics. Some of our effective techniques include custom characters, participatory activities, and on-message theatrical improvisation — all designed to lead your guests into enjoying the best conversations about you, your brand, and your event mission.

How We Work With You

Artist at Work
photo by Liam Breck

When we work with you, we first ask questions? What is your mission? Who is coming to your event and why? Do they know each other? What do you want people to talk about? How do you want your guests to feel?

Second, we design interactive theatrics to help you achieve your goals. Perhaps you want roving characters, a stage show, greeters, or official presenters. We employ an open-door process and welcome your ideas. We are passionate collaborators. We want you to feel inspired with us.

Third, we clarify our communication. We are your messengers, your hosts, your fans, and your educational team all-in-one. Our communication with your event attendees is verbal and visual, both because we are physical actors, and because 80% of human communication is actually non-verbal.

Fourth, we perform at your event, which can include conveying specific concepts and details to guests, acting as ice breakers, collecting information from attendees, being photo opportunities, jovially honoring special people, and more.

Fifth, we tell you everything we learn.

Where We Work With You

Corporate
Trade Show
Training
Conference
Party

Non-Profit
Gala
Conference
Retreat
Party

and more...

Community
Parade
Festival
Party
Wedding

Your guests delight in us... and remember you.

Contact

2001-12-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

Floral Satellite Dish
photo by Liam Breck

• 646-648-0128

• For dates and rates:

MyEvent@AppliedTheatrics.com

• Join our mailing list:

Elist@AppliedTheatrics.com

• Applied Theatrics

Barbara Ann Michaels

Planetarium Station

PO Box 715

New York, NY 10024

Travel to your event locale gladly considered.

Creating Custom Characters

2001-10-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

We invent new interactive characters for most events — case studies follow. Your event mission fuels our creative process:

• Character Design
• Original Costumes
• On-Theme Scripts

• Casting Interactive Actors (1-10s)
• Performing & Photography
— all tight with your style & theme

Petals Meet Logo

Original Sketch

Petals & Pump Belt

Arm of Petals

Embodying a Corporate Message

SunBio Systems' Request
An attention-getting stilt character on their brand message, "Farm to Fuel," for their major trade show, the National Biodiesel Expo, in Florida. Audience: international bio-fuels technologists, investors, farmers, sustainability advocates, press.

Creative Response: Literal Translation
SunBio's products bridge

Handle

Leg Leaf/Grass

farm and fuel — so does our costume. At 8 feet tall, "Ms. Bio/Diesel" is designed around a two-toned top and pants. On the left side, she's a bright sunflower — with petals for arms, leaves on leg, and grass at foot. On the right side, she's a metallic, mechanical gas pump — with working digital counters, a slot to "swipe" a card (of the company president!) and a hose arm feeding a pump handle hand. SunBio's sunflower seed give-aways continue the conversation after the initial Wow! inspired by our costume among attendees.

See Ms. Bio/Diesel on the Show Floor

Statuesque Face

Original Statue

Jacket Likeness

Uniting a Community Through History

Marblehead Arts Festival's Request
A living statue for the annual July 4th street celebration in the New England seaside town. Audience: families, young adults, middle-aged adults, locals & tourists.

Creative Response: Historical Accuracy
We call Marblehead's Historical Society to discover their favorite historical figure: Revolutionary General John Glover.

Shoulder Bird

Snazzy Boots

We survey his bronze statue on Boston's Commonwealth Ave, then recreate this likeness down to waistcoat, britches, and (at the time) broken sword. For humor, we land a small seagull on his epaulet (reminiscent of statues worldwide!) and add high-heeled boots. Though he speaks no words and holds a stony expression, he communicates by the subtleties of when and why he moves, and at whom he looks.

See Glover's Living Statue in Action

Rose-Anne

Peggy

Pink Gear

Pocket Garden

Supporting a Marketing Campaign

Ball Horticultural's Request
Two characters derived from a new marketing campaign and TV spot about Wave petunia fanatics for their annual greenhouse show near Los Angeles. Audience: Flower growers, sellers, garden writers, competitors.

Creative Response: Stories and Props
We develop two full-storied characters fitting the consumer demographic. Sisters-in-law "Rose-Anne" and "Peggy" from "Bloomington" are comic foils — one bubbly, the other earnest. We devise on-message sketches for improvising with guests. Wave petunias are sold in pink pots; we enthuse, "We're so busy with work and kids, we just look for easy-to-spot pink pots!" We craft specialized props,

#1 Hand

Petunia Mic

including a pocket garden for "weather tests", a petunia microphone for "interviews", an album of "family photos" full of petunias, and a sports-fan hand to bridge to our mostly male flower growers and sellers. We acquire a pile of hot pink paraphernalia, including handbags, spray bottle, ruler, spatula, pocket fan, parasol, and feather boas to support our funny interactive stories and decorate guests in photo ops.

See Rose-Anne & Peggy in the Greenhouse

New Mom of Twins

Regency Style

Baby Towns

Personifying an Event Theme

Allston & Brighton Community's Request
A commemorative parade character for the 200th birthday of adjacent Boston neighborhoods, Brighton & Allston. Audience: local families, officials, press

Creative Response: Poetic License
We invent the charming and funny Regency era "mother" of Allston & Brighton, taking the liberty of calling the towns "twins." In a period-style empire waist dress, hairdo, and shoes, our proud new mom carries twin dolls, nestled in caps monogrammed A and B. She weaves across the parade route,

Towns' Birthdays

Regency Shoes

engaging crowds up-close on both sides with quick laughs. Waving and beaming, she coos over her babes, and crows, "This is little Brighton, he was born first, and this is Allston!" A banner proclaims the towns' birthdays and cradles the twins in its lace top. She's the only "historical" character in the parade!

See Mom Parading her Twin Towns

"Sunshine" Clown

Dots & Dashes

Umbrella Tote

Succeeding Even If Things Go Awry

Argh! Our elaborate stilt-walking costume was delayed by the airline.

Creative Response: Improvise
We speed-shop every gift store within walking distance. "Sunshine Clown" appears in polka dots & stripes, accented by a sparkly hat, boa, pearls, and a yellow umbrella, inverted to tote her give-aways. We devise an effective spiel for ground level.

Our Client's Words: "We never worried a bit; we just knew she would pull it off, and she did. The most valuable part of her service is commitment to get the job done. I wish all suppliers were as committed as Barbara! Of course, on day 2 when her costume was there, she was fantastic! We will use Barbara again next year!"

— Steve Austin, SunBio Systems

See Sunshine Clowning at the Expo

Collaborative Process with Clients

Understand Your Mission - Learn your event's particular style & energy, guest profiles, site layout & design, and performer locales.

Character Design - Craft character(s) with original costumes, personalities, mannerisms & accents, and messaging. For themed events, we can create an ensemble of "vocal locals" with inter-relationships who convey place & time & story with theater-quality scripts.

Pre-Event Proofs - Present characters, and major costume & story elements. Iterate based on feedback. For trade shows, role-play hand-offs with staff, collect any qualifying questions.

At Your Event - We join your team with a variety of interactive skills:

• Natural charm
• Themed improvisation
• Crowd gathering
• Qualifying leads

• Knowing who & how to engage
• Artful message delivery
• Inspiring memorable photos

Our observer & photographer blends with guests & helps performers tune characters, interactions, and positioning during the event.

Post-Event Wrap - Meet to share stories, kudos, feedback, photos.

Meet the Cast: Roving Characters, Clowns, Stilts

2001-10-01T23:00:00.001-07:00

April 2008
See New "Creating Custom Characters" Article!

Barbara's characters are engaging and amiable, endearing guests to your event. Her repertoire ranges from elegant to sweet to zany. She often creates new themed characters and hand-crafts costumes for events. Barbara works with both corporate and community audiences nationally.

Each character below was created for a specific event. Imagine what we can invent for you...

Iris Flower

Cirque Clown

River Spirit

Cleopatra

Revolutionary Statue

June

Jester

Purple Bear

Yankee Doodle

Dot Dash, Clown

Interactive/Roving Characters

Archetypes
Court Jester
Cirque Clown
Artist Jester
Clown Nurse
Cleopatra
Princess
Movie Star
Flapper
Renaissance Bard
Revolutionary Statue
Early 19th Cent. Lady
Dot Dash, Clown

Magical Creatures
Iris Flower
Butterfly
Fairy
Angel
River Spirit
Seasons of the Year
Big Purple Bear
Living Statue
Stilt-walker

Holiday Celebrants
Santa's Elf
Red Nose Reindeer
Christmas Eve
Yankee Doodle
Fortune Teller
1600's Grave Digger
Haunted Tea Party
Witch (Good/Wicked)
Cupid
Leprechaun
Telegram Singer

. . . and your idea!

Circus Skills

Stilt-walking
Living Statue
Wearable Balloon Sculptures
Hula-Hooping on Stilts
Interactive 3-Ball & Scarf Juggling

Barbara has performed her characters in/on/at a...
Public park Public library Restaurant Schools K-12 University Night Club Baseball game Day care center Senior center Street corner Opera house	International festival Street fair Town parade Corporate party Tradeshow Fundraiser Kids party TV special Short film Rock Concert Circus tent	Park bench Hay bale Roof of a car Abandoned bridge Drawbridge Greenhouse Under an overpass Moving trolley Graveyard Store Window Squash court Living room

Corporate Clients & Praise

2001-10-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Trade Shows, Company Parties, Marketing Events, Fundraisers

Ball Horticultural
Chronicle (WCVB TV/ABC)
Discovery Channel Australia
East Boston Main Streets
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

North Shore Spirit Baseball
Percussion Software
Stagecoach Improv
SunBio Systems
WAAF Radio, Boston
Windemere Housing Development

National Biodiesel Expo: Barbara was a great ambassador. She engaged the trade show, starting conversations and bringing visitors to the booth. Her costume exceeded our expectations for quality and imagination. I wish all suppliers were as committed as Barbara! We will use Barbara again next year!

- Steve Austin, General Manager, SunBio Systems

AIIM Tech Tradeshow: Barbara drove traffic to our booth and made the entire booth experience more compelling to our audience. I was very happy with my dealings with StageCoach Improv and how professionally and smoothly things went.

- Melissa Hibbard, Director of Marketing, Percussion Software

Non-Profit Clients & Praise

2001-10-01T19:25:00.000-07:00

Fund-raising Galas, Educational Conferences, Cultural Events, Workshops

Arlington Center for the Arts
Clowns Doktoren, Germany
Dance Across the City Day
East Boston Main Streets
Eden Trauma Center
Friends of the San Francisco Library
Foodplay Productions

Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Nantucket Island School of Design
Lowell Middle School
Lullalee Publications
Merrimack Repertory Theater
Museum of Science Boston
San Francisco Theater Festival
Tribal Rhythms Theater

Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Art in Bloom: Thank you so much for being our "Iris". You are delightful, engaging, beautiful, talented and whimsical! I loved conversing with you these past few months and was charmed upon meeting you. Our "Open House" was a huge success and lots of the credit goes to you.

- Susan Fink, Open House Chair, Museum of Fine Arts Boston

San Francisco Library Renovation: Barbara Michaels is a wonderful community partner! She really helped to capture the excitement and passion that we wanted the community to feel as they celebrated the renovation and improvement of their beloved branch library.

- Mary Abler, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library

Community Clients & Praise

2001-10-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Festivals, Parades, Parks, Parties (Adults & Kids), Telegrams, Weddings

Arlington Arts Center Camp
ArtsUnion Festival
Behind the Mask Theater
Boston International Festival
Burton Associates
Cambridge Art in the Park
Cambridge Community Schools
City of Cambridge Human Services
Cambridge River Festival
Celebrate Chelsea Day
Chelsea River Revel
Cohasset Village Holiday
Community Arts Advocates
East Boston Kindergarten Parade

First Night Boston
First Night Portland
Fletcher Maynard School
Lakeville Festival of Arts & Music
MaineArts Festival
Marblehead Festival of the Arts
Morse Community School
New York River to River Festival
New York Clown Theater Festival
St. John's Greek Orthodox Church
Town of Hampton, NH
Wake Up the Earth Festival

Burton Associates RE Community Day: You have to be the coolest clown in town!! The children truly loved everything that you did. (Adults also) This was a day for families and you helped to make it such a success. We love you and thank you for giving above and beyond to the community. It is our hope that you will join us next year.

- Gregory & Dora Burton, Owners, Burton Associates

New York River to River Festival (stilts):"My altitude-enhanced amigo, thanks for adding all you did to yesterday’s extravaganza. On behalf of all, large and small, it was a sweet day in the park and your lovely performance added greatly to the tone and tenor of the whole."

- Chris Wangro, The Usual Suspects

Hampton Christmas Parade: Barbara did a phenomenal job at the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce Children's Christmas Parade. She entertained the crowd with her fun-loving personality and wowed them with her creative costume. Barbara Michaels is a first rate performer!

- Ginni McNamara, Parade Chairwoman

East Boston Kindergarten Parade: Barbara not only entertained, but really engaged the children at our Countdown to Kindergarten Parade with her array of tricks, sounds, games and costumes. I would definitely hire her again and would recommend her to anyone looking for creative, outside-of-the box entertainment.

- Maria Nigro Di Stefano, Boston Main Streets

Foodplay Educational Theater: A parent from Ichabod Crane School in New York called this a.m. She raved about your shows there, and passed on that the principal said that in his 30 years in the field, you handled the audience better than anyone else he's ever worked with. Wow! Congratulations!

- Amy Martyn, Foodplay Productions

Ben's 6th Birthday Party: Barbara taught clowning at my son's party. She helped me plan for it--ordering clown noses and peacock feathers--and she executed the event beautifully. All ten clowns had a silly, happy time. I was grateful for Barbara's professionalism, talent, and gift with children.

- Cathie Zusy, Parent

Theater Workshops & Residencies

2001-10-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

Barbara teaches physical theater, improvisation, drama, and the art of clowning. Since 1998, she has taught ages 2 through senior adults in a variety of venues from master classes to artist residencies and from colleges to after-school to summer camps.

Balloon Hat for Four Heads
photo by Liam Breck

Barbara links workshops and residencies with performances. She also can lead a group in creating an original presentation, such as a play or theme event. Clients can include performing companies, school classes, celebration committees, community groups, and corporate teams.
View her Curriculum Guide.

Adults & College

Residencies
Nantucket Island School for Design and the Arts, Clown 2004
Visiting Artist Workshops
Tremont-Crotona Day Care, Teacher Training, Performing Arts, 2009
Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Clown 2006
The Goddess Dancing Belly Dance Company, Physical Comedy 2006
Dance New England Camp, Juggling 2005
Classes
Funplay Symphony of Laughter Club, Laughter Leader 2005-07
Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Juggling 2006
Massachusetts College of Art, Undergrad, Art Meets Activism 1998

Praise from Belly Dancers: Thanks, the class was a blast! I learned so much more than I expected. Thank you for sharing your gift and your passion.

- Cathy Moore, The Goddess Dancing Belly Dance Company

Teens & Middle School

Residencies
Brown Univ./Nathan Bishop School, Providence, Video 1993-4
Visiting Artist Workshops
Harlem School of The Arts, Teens, Comedy & Body Language, 2009
Harlem School of The Arts, Middle School, Clown, 2009
Merrimack Repertory Theater Improvisation Camp, Clown 2005-07
Merrimack Repertory Theater Young Artists at Play, Clown 2004-07
Boston Latin Academy Drama Club, Physical Comedy 2003
Robinson Middle School, Lowell, Writing 2002
Classes
Merrimack Repertory Theater Young Company, Clown 2004-07
For Kids Only After-School, Clown 2003
Summersongs Camp, Dance 2002
Arts in Progress, Story Theater and Journalism, 2001-02
Massachusetts College of Art, August Studios, Performance Art 1999

Praise from Middle School: You are the coolest dance teacher on the planet to me! Bye for now. P.S. You are the best teacher.

- Jessica, 13, Longfellow School

Praise from a Camp Director: Barbara was great at finding that creative outlet that allowed a child to express a character. She has a great "bag of tricks" for keeping children actively engaged in interesting activities.

- Penelope Kleespies, Director, Summersongs Camp

Elementary & Pre-School

Residencies
Tribal Rhythms, In-School & After-School 2002-07
Visiting Artist Workshops
Cultural Exchange, Salvador, Brazil with WAK & BAM, 2006
Merrimack Repertory Theater Young Artists at Play, Clown 2004-07
Forest Hills Educational Trust, Interactive Art Tours, 2003-06
FleetBoston Celebrity Series Dance Across the City Day, Clown 2006
Jeffries Point East Boston Neighborhood Association, Theater 2002
Classes
Cambridge Performance Project, Circus, Theater, Dance 2001-07
Harrington Community School Summer Camp, Circus 2006
Jump for Joy pre-school site visit program, Dance, Gymnastics 2004
Artbarn Community Theater Brookline, Set Design 2000

Praise from Elementary School: The best part is when we played acting. I learned that we can all get along with other people and we can do all kinds of things together.

- Malik, Grade 5, Charles Taylor School

More from Elementary School: Thank you for teaching us. I am happy because it is fun for me and I am enjoying theater. We like you a lot and thank you for the dance activities. Thank you for making a good play and song and making it work out. You are the best. We love you.

- Elisa & Janisa & Hewan, Grade 4, Fletcher Maynard Academy

Children's Educational Tour: Barbara Michaels, an artist, clown, actress, educator, and kazoo player, is an all around wonderful person. She has a great sense of how to combine play, imagination, and learning.

- Cecily Miller, Director, Forest Hills Educational Trust

The Learning Sea
photo by Liam Breck

We're in Wonderful Company...

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Applied Theatrics is a collective of interactive theater artists led by Barbara Ann Michaels. Below are some of the bright stars who have collaborated on behalf of our inspiring clients...

• Barbara Ann Michaels

River Spirit
photo by Liam Breck

Barbara Ann Michaels is a physical actor and playwright specializing in interactive theater and improvisation. She writes and performs original humorous productions drawn from her life, playing in traditional and non-traditional venues worldwide. Via AppliedTheatrics.com, she performs and produces interactive custom-designed characters-in-costume at corporate and community events, engaging audiences solo and in ensemble in service of event missions. Via JesterOfThePeace.com, Barbara is a wedding officiant in New York City, marrying couples from around the world. She has appeared at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the New York Clown Theater Festival, San Francisco Fringe Festival, First Night Boston, on the Discovery Channel, and as a clown in Brazil and Germany. She is based in New York City. Learn more about Barbara

Barbara has performed her characters in/on/at a...
Public park Public library Restaurant Schools K-12 University Night Club Baseball game Day care center Senior center Street corner Opera house	International festival Fringe Festival Street fair Town parade Corporate party Tradeshow Fundraiser Kids party TV special Short film Rock Concert Circus tent	Park bench Hay bale Roof of a car Abandoned bridge Drawbridge Greenhouse Under an overpass Moving trolley Graveyard Store Window Squash court Living room

• Rebecca DeGraw

Rebecca is a dance movement therapist and Laughter Club leader based in Boston, MA.

• Monica aka Memo the Clown

Monica is a clown and is also a nursing student who aspires to be a clown nurse!

Artist Mission & Creative Influences

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My underlying mission, when I am in costume, is to befriend audience members in a vital way, whether through comedy, tragedy, love, or anarchy. I love theater for its use of a medium intimately familiar and available to us all equally:

So Lovely to Meet You
photo by Liam Breck

the human body, with its universal emotions, structures, body expressions, and sense experiences. We each flavor our own version of love, wonder, change, etc. When I feel recognition and welcome between us, I feel in love and I feel alive. I've been taught that an audience that breathes with you is truly with you. I intend for my artwork to be inspiring!

As I travel the world learning about how other societies live the arts, I act to bring the arts closer to the surface of our culture.

Creative Influences

Secret Jazz Hands
photo by Liam Breck

Street performers... can instantly change my mood 180 degrees. From a mime to a political puppeteer to an old-fashioned one-man-band to a young jazz combo - I immediately let them in and light right up. What the performers are doing is less important to me than the fact of their being there by surprise, bringing out artful expression in our day to day.

Street fairs... can make me sentimental. I once teared up on the side of Munjoy Hill in Portland, Maine, watching a non-profit agency selling neighborhood pride T-shirts. I bought a shirt, of course, and wore it out. I like to see us outdoors and friendly, feasting, dancing, supporting kids on stage, and being a visible community together.

Performance Art... can open my eyes to magical, edgy expression. Derived from visual art, it claims human experience and the body as artistic mediums. While on the surface I have witnessed unusual events, such as a woman eating dry noodles out of a monkey costume, I also feel through to the meaningful monologues delivered in sometimes outlandish forms.

Modern Art... can make me elemental. As a teen, I visited the Guggenheim with my Uncle Abraham, an abstract painter. I recall saying, "That looks like windshield wipers!" I didn't understand that modern art need not look like objects. I have learned a bit of art history and now appreciate lines, shapes, colors, and qualities of motion in their own right.

Dance... can motivate me. I've read that 80% of the communication in any interaction is non-verbal. I love watching dancers' agile bodies fulfill the outer aesthetic and inner expression of the dance 100%. You can't dance half way. I particularly enjoy acrobatic dance such as Pilobolus and Boston's Snappy Dance Theater.

Grandfather Pone at 85
photo by Barbara

Nature... can give me a reality check. My favorite earthly quality is symbiosis. No thing exists alone; every thing takes many "hands" - winds, sunrays, a family - to thrive. My grandfather has lived with nature traditionally by hunting for food, fishing, and growing a vast garden. I'm watching as the expression of symbiosis in our world changes with modern life.

New Clown, an Art for the Contemporary Stage

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Clowns Help Us See How We Relate to Each Other...
photo by Alli Ross

Historically, clowns serve a broad social purpose: keeping the people honest and keeping the people laughing about it! Clowns can be innocent and wondrous seers of the world afresh or they can be knowing jesters who expose the vanities and misdeeds of others with humor - making tricky truth easier to swallow!

Tee-hee-hee!
photo by Liam Breck

The jester also is rumored to be the only member of the court allowed to criticize the king, keeping him in jovial check. Indigenous peoples worldwide, such as Native Americans, have valued clowns as important, guiding members of their communities. Seen in this light, clowns can help us keep our personal actions in a group perspective, serving to unite us in empathy and fun while helping us stay connected and accountable to each other. Clowns are an antidote for isolation and a channel for love.

From the big top into parties, the clown's role in American culture has evolved. Americans today often associate clowns primarily with children and skills like balloon animals, face painting, and juggling. These are fun arts that require dedication to do well and which people of all ages enjoy. Concurrently, there is a burgeoning theater movement called New Clown, which seeks to reclaim clown's wider range for adult audiences and bring a more dramatic experience to families. The rising clown theater movement is arriving at a perfect time in our world. We need a laugh, or a hundred laughs, and we need to remember each other in what we do.

Comedy Super Hero
photo by Liam Breck

Clowning is a form of physical theater... what's that? It's a performance style that marries movement, theater, and visual art, as in commedia d'ell arte, vaudeville, and dance theater. Blue Man Group is a well known international example, as is Pig Iron in Philadephia.

Clowns may come to a party you're attending or with the next traveling circus show. Look for clowns on stage in your city or town. You may see poignant and funny new work that asks us to peek out from behind our ordinary habits and seek the best in each other.

Curriculum Guide

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Collaboration
photos by Liam Breck

Barbara's workshops are designed around principles of physical theater, a historical form of theater with roots in commedia d'ell arte, mime, clown, vaudeville, street theater . . . even Shakespeare!

Her curriculum includes:

Full-bodied stage presence that invites the audience in
Body language & letting our bodies tell the story
Improvisation
Crafting characters and plots
Using playfulness as a source
Using thoughtfulness as a source
Working together well on stage
Finding and burning the creative fire

Barbara also can use residencies and workshops to create original theater with you, including plays, skits, festival stories and dances. She also can help you adapt stories, books, life histories, and

Attention

business presentations for the stage. Barbara delivers engaging education that builds self-expression & collaboration, and strengthens creative momentum. Barbara has the personability, clarity, flexibility and patience to meet individuals at their skill level while guiding the group experience. Her methods are useful for short or long projects and work equally well with children and adults; she has presented to groups from age two to senior adults! Theater for all!

Links to Friends

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Community Arts Advocates, founded by street musician Stephen Baird, is a nonprofit arts organization cultivating ongoing fundamental relationships between artists and communities by celebrating self-expression as a basic human right.

StageCoach improv, founded by actors Larry Jay Tish and Rob DiNinni, provides dynamic and interactive corporate training and entertainment.

Tribal Rhythms, founded by artists Curtis Jones, Susan Porter, and Charley Holley, uses the vitality of the arts to solve problems in communities and schools. Through residencies, performances and workshops, Tribal Rhythms has performed for over one million children and families over 30 years.

W endy Kinal is a sextuple-threat performer: singer, dancer, actor, poet, clown, and capoeirista. Barbara and Wendy have performed on three continents as a clown duo. Catch her solo show at Edinburgh Fringe 08.

Behind the Mask Theater, founded by mask artist Eric Bornstein, is an award winning group that creates original masks and dazzling performances, and teaches others how to do the same.

Alicia Dattner is a comedian and facilitator living in San Francisco.

Reciprocal Links

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Review my Business at MyHuckleberry.Com

Wave Petunia Fans Now On Tour!

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photos by Liam Breck
Wave Petunia... the Only Flower with Touring Fans

Charming the Customers

Our interactive Wave Petunia Fans delighted growers and sellers at Ball Horticultural's 2008 Pack Trials. Now our peppy pink team is available to Wave retailers. Based on Ball's new Wave marketing campaign, our Wave Girls are warm and enthusiastic, and consistently on-message about Wave's benefits. “Rose-Anne” and “Peggy” are fully-acted characters who fit the target demographic, sharing linked stories about their zest for Wave in pink pots. They also engage guests via fun original props — including a pocket garden to show how Wave rebounds, a petunia microphone to interview customers about Wave, and plenty of pink gear for group photos!

I See a Pink Pot... I Want that Wave!

Accept the Gardener in You

Venues
• In-store or Special Promotion
• Party for VIP’s, staff, customers
• Local/National media coverage

Package Options
• Whole day or Half day
• 1 to 4 Ensemble Members
• Tailoring our show to your site/event

We keep Ball's marketing staff, Diane Hund and Kristin Ludwig, appraised so Ball can support our tours to your stores and events.

Sellers Rave about the Wave Girls

Book our Wave Fans
Call Barbara at 415.314.9451 or Wave@BarbaraInCharacter.com.
We ask for a partial deposit, and conclude with an itemized invoice of all expenses, including travel and lodging.

We also invite you to browse our site, BarbaraInCharacter.com!

Behind the Scenes at Pack Trials with Kristin Ludwig

About BarbaraInCharacter.com
Barbara Michaels and company perform interactive characters-in-costume, custom-designed for your event's specific theme/message. We engage guests at corporate events, trade shows, festivals, fund-raisers, and parties nationwide. As trained improvisational actors, we are skilled at reaching guests with a range of interactivity, creating positive and truly memorable experiences. We call it Applied Theatrics!

Costumes for Wedding (Private)

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Click images for larger views. Note: we had no time to set up correct lighting for these shots. Actual appearance of all costumes will be far more vibrant in person.

Possible costumes for the Lion mask...

Vintage dress

Jacket with gold trim

Flapper dress

Possible dress platforms for Clown du Soleil...
to be accessorized with makeup, hat, gloves, juggling balls, etc.

Electric Yellow, Red Velvet

Euro Elf

Victorian Style Dresses from Ralston Hall

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Hello all... best wishes for a beautiful summer season of costumed events!

As part of my custom characters-in-costume biz (here at BarbaraInCharacter.com ) I've had the pleasure of meeting Karen, an event coordinator from the 1870's Ralston Hall Mansion (at RalstonHall.com ).

They're offering for sale several Victorian-style dresses that were formerly worn by museum docents. The sale benefits their building restoration fund. The dresses were all created for specific docents of various sizes. All the dresses are in very good condition as they have been worn only an hour at a time.

All are black & colored stripes, with differences in the necklines and sleeve styles. The dresses were all made by Cherie at Winter Moon.

* 2- Pink/black, lace collar, black skirt
* 1- Pink/black, standard collar, black skirt
* 1- Green/black, lace collar, black skirt
* 2- Green/black standard collar, black skirt
* 1- Blue/black, standard collar, black skirt
* 1- Blue/black, lace collar, (no skirt) (also shows more wear)
* 2- Purple/black, standard collar, black skirt

We are now pricing & sizing the dresses.

These other photos are of dresses flat, but you can see the colors and style differences.

Ralston Hall is open to selling the dresses to an organization, to individuals or via a consignment shop. Please contact me, not Ralston Hall, at RalstonHall@BarbaraInCharacter.com. I'm helping the Museum by coordinating the sale of the dresses while they are in wedding season!

Thanks for all your help and creativity!

Barbara