This past weekend I performed my one-woman show “Born Again in Berkeley” for the last time (for a while at least, I mean never say never). I had two shows – an evening and a matinee. I felt better about the matinee, I had more energy I think, but both performances were pretty good.
The audiences were great. It was so nice to be able to just show up to the theatre and not have to worry if anyone else would show up as well. Brian Copeland, the promoter (and fellow solo performer) does a wonderful job filling the seats, so the actor can relax and actually focus on their performance. That way we don’t end up like this painfully accurate scene from the movie, La La Land. I feel this in my bones:
I’ve performed for even less people! I think it’s a rite of passage for performers (whether you’re an actor, stand-up comedian, or in a band) to push past the pain of a less than responsive audience. It builds character, right?
Now I turn my full attention to my latest project: doing research on my San Francisco Bay Area roots. I am clearing my 2025 calendar and making room for Bay Area history walking tours, learning how to navigate my family tree on Ancestry.com, and getting caught up on Liam O’Donoghue’s podcast, “East Bay Yesterday”. I am going to become a full-blown Bay Area history junkie.
My family tree of course isn’t just limited to the Bay Area, but I’m starting local. Eventually I will branch out and perhaps take a trip to “Zanesville, Ohio” where one of my grandfathers grew up. Perhaps I will head back east to Pennsylvania, where the Donahoe clan settled in the U.S. And of course….. Ireland.
But for now, I will focus on my father’s maternal’s side of the family- The Connolly’s. From Ireland to San Francisco, they came. And the rest is history.
Theresa Donahoe 