MarshStream Offers Vivid Tales: Living Without Food, Mistaken Celebrity, More

The Marsh continues to offer a wide variety of new programming at 7:30pm nightly on MarshStream, its popular broadcast platform.

Offerings through September 30 include: a harrowing and affirming story of a teenager who faced the challenge of a life without food or drink; a college student's life-changing moment; a performance by two exciting new songwriter/musicians; a Black doctor's unsettling experience of being constantly mistaken for random celebrities; additional performances of Brian Copeland's captivating drama, The Waiting Period; and much more (see latest schedule below).

The program launched in April and has received overwhelmingly enthusiastic response, with hundreds flocking to view and participate each night. MarshStream programming varies daily, with Monday Night MarshStream (short performances by a variety of artists), Wild Card Tuesdays (everything from book/writer discussions, sing-a-longs, Tell It On Tuesday, to Sound Healing and Restorative Yoga), Wednesday Solo Arts Heal (offering stories of health, advocacy, and inspiration), Stephanie's MarshStream on Thursday nights (interview, bantering, Q&A, and performance excerpts, moderated by Marsh founder Stephanie Weisman), plus Bingo! hosted by Josh Kornbluth, live full-length performance concert readings, archived performance streams, performance development classes, and more.

A noon series includes CJ's FitnesSing weekly singing lesson and fitness class, plus a Super Slow Weight Training and Zoomba Room. Content is offered at 7:30pm nightly, and mid-day throughout the week via Zoom, YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and iTunes. MarshStream viewers are asked to contribute whatever they can afford. Donations can be made by joining The Marsh's membership program and via a virtual "tip jar" both on the website, with funds going to support and sustain The Marsh and its performances. For more information, the public may visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream.

NOTE: Most past shows from earlier MarshStream dates are also available on the website for viewing.

Monday Night MarshStream

7:30pm, Monday, September 21

Solo Feature Special featuring a musical performance by Tano Brock and Aya Safiya

Born and raised in San Francisco, Tano Brock is a 23-year-old songwriter, producer, and engineer. He began studying a wide range of instruments at a young age - from piano to guitar, saxophone, clarinet, and darbuka, a Middle Eastern drum. Prior to graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2019, Brock released his self-produced debut solo album Bandit in 2014, which garnered significant success and launched his career as a composer for synch licensing. He is currently producing and mixing for various artists of different styles including reggaetón artist La Doña, Indie/J-Pop artist Aya Safiya, pop artist Liv Young, multi-percussionist/vocalist Miguelito Leon, and Ecuadorian artist Gerson Eguiguren. Also raised in the Bay Area, Ayo Safiya reveals her diverse and complex identity in her singing and songwriting. Her first EP Aya Safiya, released in 2018, was a transition to her electronic singer-songwriter career after decades of working as a Greek/Mediterranean/Balkan-music singer and violinist. She has performed at Greek festivals and venues across the United States and Greece, and has also taught classes in regional Greek violin and Greek/Balkan singing at community-based music schools in California and Nicaragua.

7:30pm, Monday, September 28

Featuring short story performances by Tommi Avicolli Mecca and other performers (TBA).

Mecca's the little brown jacket recounts the life-changing moment that came when Mecca was attending university while living with his Catholic, conservative, Italian family in South Philadelphia. He saw an ad in the school newspaper for a Gay Liberation Front coffee hour, and nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.

Wildcard Tuesdays

7:30pm, Tuesday, September 22

Joshua Raoul Brody's Beatles Sing-Along

Lovable accompanist Joshua Raoul Brody virtually recreates the event he's been hosting at venues around the Bay Area for over 10 years: Beatles karaoke night. After playing some of his favorite Beatles songs, Brody points the microphone at the camera and have audience members take over.

7:30pm, Tuesday, September 29

Tell It On Tuesday (TIOT), performers TBA.

Please check themarsh.org for updates.

Solo Arts Heal

7:30pm, Wednesday, September 16 - Joshua Rivedal's The Gospel According to Josh

Special guest Joshua Rivedal. Hosted by Gail Schickele.

Creator and founder of Changing Minds: A Mental Health Based Curriculum and The i'Mpossible Project, Joshua Rivedal is also a speaker, actor, playwright, author, and social entrepreneur. Rivedal has spoken about suicide prevention and mental health across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia. His original coursework on suicide prevention is taught in Washington State to various professions such as dentists and pharmacists. As an actor, Rivedal's voice has been heard on U.S. national commercials and as part of the award-winning voiceover cast of The Art of Secrets by James Klise. He is the author of six books and a co-author of three peer-reviewed journal papers: one on the trajectory of the survivor of suicide loss, another on the art of living with chronic illness, and the third on surviving trauma. For Solo Arts Heal, Josh Rivedal will be reading from his book The Gospel According to Josh and performing a portion of his 15-character one-man show of the same name. He will be joined by Gail Schickele for a LIVE post-performance Q&A and discussion.

7:30pm, Wednesday, September 23 - Cynthia Shaw's Velvet Determination

Special guest Cynthia Shaw. Hosted by Gail Schickele.

In this autobiographical show, Cynthia Shaw relates the youthful determination of her younger self as she confronts her own personal demons. Audiences will be thrilled with musical impersonations of world-famous classical pianists performing works by Bach to Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, and Debussy, as Shaw remembers hearing them perform at Carnegie Hall. She will be joined by Gail Schickele for a LIVE post-performance Q&A and discussion.

7:30pm, Wednesday, September 30 - Amy Oestreicher's Gutless & Grateful

Special guest Amy Oestreicher. Hosted by Gail Schickele.

Through interwoven song and dialogue, Amy Oestreicher shares a primal piece of live storytelling in Gutless & Grateful. Growing up, Oestreicher had ambitions plans for Broadway... until she abruptly developed a blood clot and was rushed to the hospital, where her stomach exploded in the operating room and both of her lungs collapsed. Waking up from a coma several months later, Oestreicher was told that she no longer had a stomach and it was uncertain she would ever be able to eat or drink again. After 27 surgeries and six years of being unable to drink a drop of fluid, Oestreicher's digestive system was miraculously reconstructed. She will be joined by Gail Schickele for a LIVE post-performance Q&A and discussion, sharing her healing experience that was made possible through "gutsiness," gratitude, and an overabundance of humor.

Stephanie's MarshStream

7:30pm, Thursday, September 17 - Replay of Stephanie's MarshStream featuring special guest Jacob Kornbluth (originally aired on August 20)

Stephanie's MarshStream will feature an exclusive interview and Q&A with award-winning director, producer, and writer Jacob Kornbluth. The two will also discuss the release of Kornbluth and W. Kamau Bell's original animated series entitled Talk Boring to Me, which examines the issues of the most relevant social issues facing the US in easy-to-understand videos. Kornbluth started his career as a writer and director in theater, where he collaborated on and directed three successful solo shows in San Francisco: The Moisture Seekers, Pumping Copy, and Face by the Door. All three works were nominated for or won "Best of the Bay" awards and successfully toured the country. A later version of The Moisture Seekers (called Red Diaper Baby) has been included in anthologies of the best one man shows of the '90s. His feature films Inequality for All (with Robert Reich), Haiku Tunnel (with Josh Kornbluth), and The Best Thief in the World (with Mary-Louise Parker) all premiered at Sundance. Kornbluth also directed and produced episodes of Years of Living Dangerously, a TV series which won him an Emmy Award.

7:30pm, Thursday, September 24

Special guest Paul Sussman. Hosted by Stephanie Weisman.

Stephanie's MarshStream will feature an exclusive interview, performance excerpts, and Q&A with Paul Sussman. He has written and performed a series of solo pieces through the eyes of road-ragers, insects, Anabaptists, cannibals, and others who persist in the search for meaning amidst the puzzling evidence. Sussman developed his approach to melodrama and farce through years of work in financial management with Bay Area non-profit organizations. In recognition of the 2019 premiere of his first full-length show, The Wrong Kind of Pessimism, Sussman now refers to himself in the third person.

BINGO! with Josh Kornbluth

7:30pm, Fridays
Hosted by Josh Kornbluth
Audience members are invited to play five FREE games of BINGO! with prizes for the winner of each round. On September 4, attendees will be encouraged to present their best political chant, slogan, or poster after the BINGO broadcast!

Solo Performer Spotlight

7:30pm, Saturday, September 19 - Fred Pitt's Aren't You...?, with LIVE post- performance Q&A

Sunday, September 20 - Aren't You...? remains available for streaming

Actor Fred Pitts recounts his hilarious journey to visit all 21 California Mission churches, where he discovers being black makes him an instant celebrity - the question is which one? Set in the Summer of 2012, Pitts finds himself at one Mission after the next, encountering docents and fellow tourists. Some are experts on the Catholic Church, a few are experts on Native American history, others are experts on...everything else. Yet, they have one thing in common: they are all experts on which famous black person he resembles. Full of Pitts' personal experiences and love of history, Aren't You...? perfectly blends delightful insights into the Missions, cogent thoughts on early California settlers' interactions with Native Americans, and the experience of walking in the shoes of an African American male.

7:30pm, Saturday, September 26 - Brian Copeland's The Waiting Period, with LIVE post performance Q&A

Written by Brian Copeland and directed by David Ford, The Waiting Period is a deeply moving and surprisingly funny work that outlines Copeland's own struggles with depression and suicidal thought, and is presented at no cost to remove all barriers for those who may be struggling with depression themselves. This captivating drama provides an unrelenting look at a key turning point in Copeland's life-the mandatory ten-day waiting period before he could lay his hands on the newly purchased gun with which he planned to take his own life. Laced with surprisingly funny moments that serve as a buffer against the grim reality of his intentions, Copeland hopes this very personal, and ultimately redemptive, story will reach people who struggle with depression-often called the last stigmatized disease-as well as their families and loved ones.

To simulate the feeling of waiting in the lobby until a theater opens, The Marsh has created the MarshStream Studio Waiting Room. Available 30 minutes prior to each performance/event for Marsh members, and 15 minutes prior to the general public, the Waiting Room can be joined via Zoom Room where guests can mix and mingle, or viewed on YouTube live, with additional entertainment such as unique content, live music, and even prizes.

In addition to nightly program offerings on MarshStream, The Marsh has also launched Marsh Youth Theater (MYT) MarshStream, classes offered at 4:00pm daily taught by MYT instructors. From Creative Dramatics to Storytelling, Dancing, and more, class types, instructors, and age levels vary for each class. For weekly class schedules and additional information, please visit themarsh.org/mytmarshstream.