Stagebridge Partnership Performance
Stories
- Jeff Byers “One Eyed Birds for Sale”
- Tureeda Mikell “Mother Do Tell”
- Liz Nichols “The Mother Bird”
- Sharon Noteboom “The New Blue Leg”
- Bertha Reilly “In My Back Yard”
- Elaine Stanley “The Day Luck & Intelligence First Met”
Music
Lisa Safran & Chris Faust, original style folk music
About the Performers
Jeff Byers began telling stories the first time he got in trouble with his mother, but he learned to do it for fun as a member of the Storyteller Corps of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. He is a board member of the Storytelling Association of Alta California, and studies and volunteers at Stagebridge, telling stories to diverse audiences, from school children to nursing students.
Tureeda Mikell is a story medicine woman or jdeli (African word for French word griot). She is a poet, writer and word historian. Her unique style blends biology, astronomy, African folk tales, and rhyme into her poems and stories. She has worked extensively as an artist-in-residence in local schools, with Stagebridge, California Poets in the Schools and other arts programs.
As the Storytelling Director of Stagebridge, the nation’s oldest senior theater company, Liz Nichols teaches storytelling classes and plans storytelling events and programs throughout the local community, in schools, senior facilities, conferences and public venues. Although she got her invitation to join AARP last year, she prefers to be an honorary senior at Stagebridge where the role models are funnier, more creative and way better looking.
Sharon Noteboom’s storytelling adventures began when she was teaching fifth grade in San Francisco. She found that telling realistic stories to her students, provided a real springboard for deep communication, understanding and discussion. Since retiring, she has been studying and telling stories of all kinds with Stagebridge.
Bertha Reilly grew up with stories all around her in Ireland. For the past ten years she has been a storyteller and actress with Stagebridge, sharing her tales of long ago and far away with little children in schools, older adults in senior facilities, nursing students in local colleges, and public audiences of all ages.
Elaine Stanley is a “Weaver of Stories for Head, Heart and Soul”. A graduate of the Dominican College Storytelling Program, Elaine delights in the gathering of people to share the gifts of story. She enhances her stories with the use of Sign Language, facial expressions, and brings the stories alive with her enthusiasm and energy.