Hi, Barbara – thank you for joining us, today. So excited to interview you and get more information about Listen to Your Mother – a show which will reach 32 cities this year.
Q: Tell me a little about LTYM.
Listen To Your Mother is the brainchild of writer Ann Imig, a writer and blogger. She had only been blogging for six months when she attended BlogHer, the national conference for women who write online, in the summer of 2009. While there, the self-proclaimed “Stay at Home Humorist” and mother of two young sons sat in on the “Voices of the Year” keynote, where bloggers read aloud from their award-winning posts. She was profoundly moved by the powerful stories these female writers were sharing.
In May 2010, she brought a dozen local female writers to the stage at the Barrymore Theatre in her hometown, Madison, Wisconsin for the first Listen to Your Mother show. Over the last five years, it’s grown into a nationwide phenomenon! In 2014, 32 cities nationwide will have live Listen to Your Mother readings, giving motherhood a microphone, all in celebration of Mother’s Day.
Q: There are many other mother-related off-Broadway and touring shows: Motherhood Out Loud, Motherhood – The Musical, Mother Courage, etc. Where within this genre is this show intended to fall? Have you used something like the “Vagina Monologues” as a prototype?
Thanks for categorizing LTYM with these incredible productions, Cyma. Listen to Your Mother is a little different because while some performers are professional writers and actors, others aren’t. But each reader has a highly personal, slice-of-life story to tell about the beauty, the beast, and the barely-rested of motherhood. Some people have drawn parallels to The Vagina Monologues, but that show has a set script. Every Listen to Your Mother show is completely new, even in the same city.
Q: It’s interesting that instead of touring with the same cast, you are rotating casts and presenting their personal stories? What do you hope to accomplish with this?
The main goal has always been to give women a microphone in front of a live audience. Motherhood needs recognition and celebration. Presenting a new show each year in each city gives a voice to more and more stories of motherhood.
Q: How do you choose the local actresses/writers? What is their age-range and do they represent every conceivable race, religion and creed?
Stories are heard from people of all ages, types, backgrounds, and experience-levels. About 75 people auditioned just in New York City this year. Anyone can audition, as long as they are telling their own stories. You don’t have to be a mother (or even female) as long as your story is about motherhood in some way. Every Listen to Your Mother show is committed to presenting a diverse range of experiences, and I’m proud of the diversity of voices in our NYC show this year.
Q: Why did you choose the specific cities you’ll be presenting in?
There is an application process. Anyone can apply to present a Listen to Your Mother show in their hometown. Applicants do have to have an ability to professionally direct and produce a show with professional production values. The application process begins each fall. If you have an interest in hosting an LTYM Mother’s Day production for 2015, email National Director Ann Imig, listentoyourmothershow@gmail.
Q: What one or two messages do you hope to leave the audience with?
With such a diverse range of stories presented on stage, the messages that resonate most will be different for each audience member. Everyone has a “me too” moment watching a Listen to Your Mother show, but it’s possible that no two of those moments are the same. Mostly, we hope audiences go away thinking of their own stories, and realizing for the first time that their stories have value and worth.
Q: Looking to the future, where do you envision this show going?
There’s no telling how big this show can get. It’s amazing to think that it’s gone from one city to 32 in just five years. In May 2015, there will also be a Listen to Your Mother anthology published by Amy Einhorn Books, featuring a wide range of the hundreds of Listen to Your Mother stories that have been told so far.
More info about book here: http://listentoyourmothershow.
Q: What would you say to someone like me who has struggled with her mother her entire life. I can’t say that listening to others discuss their mothers would be an easy task for me, let alone, an enjoyable evening out.
How about “You’re in good company.” It’s fascinating that a common denominator like motherhood can yield such wildly different life experiences and insights. I am certain that if you will come to our show, you will laugh, you will cry, you will have a “me too” moment, and you will leave feeling incredibly validated and uplifted.
Q: Finally do you have any “midlife mothers” in your show? If not, I’m available…..
We have at least two “midlife mothers” in our show this year: Amy Carr, and there’s me – I became a mom at the age of 45 by way domestic adoption.
We hope you, and your readers, come to the NYC show at Symphony Space on May 4, and are inspired to tell your stories in a LTYM show next year!
Tickets are available here: http://bit.ly/ltymnyc2014