Stagebridge Partnership Performance
Stories
- Jeff Byers, Bajan Budiman, Sharpshooter
- Melissa Hobbs, The Wife of Bath Tells the Truth
- Melinda Ginne, Sam Meets Pearl, Montreal 1916
- Dana Sherry, The City of Women (a Kazakh legend)
- Gerry Keenan, Counting by Sevens
Music
Kate Brubeck (vocals) and Geoff Van Linden (guitar)
About the Performers
Jeff Byers has appeared several times at Tell It on Tuesday over the years (Thank you Rebecca and Bridget!). He has also told at numerous other venues, but most often at the Asian Art Museum, where he is a storyteller and storytelling coach.
Melissa Hobbs is a graduate of the EPIC storytelling program at Stagebridge in Oakland, CA. She tells stories to children in spiritual virtues training, and tells uplifting stories in the Bay Area and Northern California. Her favorites are biographies of women of excellence. She also tells tales of her own life Ohio and Bodega.
Dr. Melinda Ginne grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, the granddaughter of four Russian emigres. All of whom had escaped the pogroms in Russia 105 years ago. This story is about her father’s family who emigrated to Montreal Quebec.
Dana Sherry was once a respectable historian of Russia until she turned to a life of storytelling. Today, she is the resident storyteller at the Silk Road House in Berkeley and produces “The Caravan of Stories,” a monthly storytelling series featuring the traditional tales of Central Asia.
According to her family, Gerry Keenan’s been ‘telling stories’ since she could talk. It’s only since taking her first storytelling class at Stagebridge that she realized what an art form a well-told story is. This is Gerry’s first theater performance. Her other life? Retired non-profit exec. Now? Photographer/writer/budding storyteller and proud mother of three adult children.
Kate Brubeck—no relation to Dave—is an editor, coach, and writing consultant with a stealth singing practice, with a range including classical music, traditional Irish music, show tunes, jazz standards, folk, Americana, country, and the odd original.
Geoff Van Lienden has been playing the guitar professionally since the 60’s. More recently he has been playing jazz as well as celtic/fusion music with Colm O’Riain. He has studied with teachers as diverse as rock guitarist Joe Satriani and jazz guitarist Brian Pardoe.