The cast would like to thank Sheree Paolello, WLWT-News anchor and journalist (and a mother of three sons) for making a special appearance and welcoming the audience at Aronoff’s Jarson-Kaplan Theatre. “It is crazy trying  to ‘be everything’ these days. Women have a lot more pressure and responsibility than they did before.  We do our best but it’s exhausting and easy to feel like a failure”, said Sheree.

- Kalman Kivkovich, CPI president

For more information about CPI contact Kalman Kivkovich, CPI President, kivi1@cinci.rr.com
http://www.cinciplaywrights.org/For publicity please contact Andie Bernard at PR Group 513.281.9400

“It was a great opportunity to present my work to the members of Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative”, says Tajci who read the part of Roberta at this event. “I found it very challenging to present a musical sitting down in a chair. The music and interpretation along with the movement convey all the unwritten sub-context, create the most powerful moments and are an integral part in telling the story. I was very pleased that even from our chairs, we were able to move the audience.”

There were both women and men in the audience, married and single, ages twenty-something to late sixities, many of whom had never seen Tajci’s work.  During the Q&A after the reading, audience members commented on the beautiful soulful songs that successfully paint pictures of life’s fleeting moments.

One young man, recently engaged, commented how the play helped him realize that girls need space and time for themselves. He said it made him be mindful of not getting into a situation where his beautiful future wife might feel suffocated by him or his demands.

An older woman with a flower in her hair said she missed the character’s husbands’ point of view in the play, and another wished the characters talked more about the kids’ experiences.

The audience easily picked up the theme of “My Perfectly Beautiful Life” – to be true to yourself and the importance of having close friendships.

According to CPI, the Playwriting Salon is a new “initiative” to explore the feasibility of providing a creative forum that focuses on the issues and challenges of vital interest to members– the art and craft of playwriting. The principal value of cold readings is that they are easy to set up and require no rehearsal time, yet they provide valuable feedback.

Along those lines, the evening was a successful and important step in the development of “My Perfectly Beautiful Life: A Musical”

Cold Reading Cast:

Carol Brammer (Narrator)
Tatiana (Tajci) Cameron (Roberta)
April Combs (Jenna)
Serenity Fisher (Mindy)
Michele Laser (Anna)
Jim Swartwout (piano)

Q&A segment will follow the reading.
General seating: RSVP is required.
The venue is FREE, but we ask guests to bring appetizers or beverages to share.
Location: 2815 commons Way, French Hall on UC Campus. Room 4614.

Please contact Chair Sandi Kivkovich at Sandikivi2@cinci.rr.com or 513-861-0004

“Loved the show – can relate to all the phases of life. Loved the songs, words, the wonderful ladies and the theme most of all! Keep up the great work! Thank you.”
- Sue Green, Kenwood OH

“Laughed and cried. Loved the music, costumes, staging…. Moving… Will tell more people.”
- Kimberlee Jerks, N Kentucky

After the first act, the girls from the cast, Carol (who has worn many hats on this run – from understudying two parts, to designing sets and wardrobe and assistant directing) and I were all back stage trying to stay in character despite the excitement of the opening night. My mom walked in, hugged me and said with the biggest, proudest smile on her face: “I gave her birth!”.

I’m not sure if she knew just how much her comment meant to me.

I was actually nervous last night – wondering if I had succeeded to get my message across, if my thoughts were able to translate through the characters and to the audience (not an easy task considering my thoughts are still Croatian even if I think them in English)

I guess if the success of the opening night can be measured by the RSVPs that are coming in all morning for the reminder of our short run, we have a hit!