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Season 14
trueMONEY
January 25, 2023
Sometimes you need it, sometimes you just want it; sometimes it comes to you unexpectedly and sometimes you have to do without it. ...and sometimes you need to launder it. Check out this evening’s great stories told by the people who lived them, all with the theme of "money"!
Not everyone has the same amount and most will tell you that it's not how much you have, but how you use it. Whatever your thoughts on the matter, our storytellers all had one thing in common on January 25th... they all had a story ABOUT it!
5:46 - Joel faces a moral dilemma
18:11 - Nkemjika learns an expensive lesson
34:03 - Jay launders money
54:14 - We asked audience members if they had "money" stories. They did!
1:11:20 - Curtis learns how much great memories cost
Pictures from “trueMONEY” taken by Jeff Sevier!
trueHOOD
October 26, 2023
Stories from and about the neighborhoods of Cincinnati… well, some of them anyway. Inspired by a documentary from our frequent musical guest, Preston Bell Charles III, we found folks from a few of the neighborhoods of Cincinnati to share their stories with the intent of broadening listener’s knowledge of the neighborhoods around them. The result, a success! Watch (or re-watch) the video below to hear true, personal stories from Westwood, Cheviot, Pleasant Ridge, and Kennedy Heights, and Preston telling his own story about why he made his documentary and what he hopes will come of it!
5 great stories, told by the people who lived them, all around the theme of Cincinnati neighborhoods.
[5:41] Leslie Mattie Rich - growing up the daughter of a small business owner, Leslie didn’t have your typical neighbors as a child. Over the years, she watched the business district decline in Westwood, but as an adult, she’s returned and is doing something about it!
[26:57] Brice Mickey - from Cheviot, Brice knows that people have preconceived notions about his neighborhood. …and now he’s doing something to change them!
[47:36] Kate Mock Elliott - Kate is a woman of action! Combine that with her love for the neighborhood she lives in (Kennedy Heights) and there’s no obstacle the neighborhood cannot overcome!
[1:07:46] Preston Bell Charles, III - Preston doesn’t see “other neighborhoods” of Cincinnati the way some do, but his own experiences have helped him to understand how others do. How then do you unify Cincinnatians of different neighborhoods. He’s hoping his documentary will help.
[1:23:34] Annie Fitzpatrick - if there’s one good thing that came out of COVID for Annie, it’s how she became closer to her neighbors. Even after the end of lockdown, that closeness remained and would end up getting her through some of the most difficult times of her life.
Pictures from “trueHOOD” taken by Jason Bechtel. Thanks, Jason!
Season 13
trueGIFT
July 27, 2023
5 stories, 5 gifts. On July 27th, we heard from a woman who got the most unusual gift for Christmas one year (one she can safely say she'll have forever!), a man who recalls the last gift he ever gave his mother, a woman who went to great lengths to make her husband's 50th one to remember (and he WILL remember it, but for different reasons), a man who uses his gifts at his non-profit (cutting hair for children with special needs), and a woman who got one of the most precious gifts of all (but thinks she may not have used it quite right). Those and music by Preston Bell Charles III! The whole evening was a gift. [Pictures by Jeff Sevier... THANKS, JEFF!]
trueFRINGE 2023
June 15, 2023
With Preston Bell Charles III on violin and David Levy emceeing, 4 storytellers from the 20th Annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival, took to the stage at True Theatre's annual contribution to the Festival, "trueFRINGE", to share true, personal stories about working in the field of performing artists! Amica Hunter kicked things off with a bloody hilarious story about learning to expect the unexpected on stage. Tatiana Godfrey carried the torch with a tale about one of her greatest experiences of her theatrical life which (unfortunately) cannot be told without an asterisk. Yanomi Shoshinz described her first Fringe tour and how she dealt with her then-unfamiliarity with English, learning how to busk, and loving the helpful (and weird) artists she met along the way. The evening closed with a standing ovation for Penny Sterling, following her story shining light on the fact that if you want to Fringe, you need to travel, and if you're trans and traveling, you need to always keep in mind where you are. It was an moving, funny, and beautiful evening of storytelling, captured in these gorgeous photos by Jeff Burkle! The Cincy Fringe is always worth checking out and, next year, when you do, be sure to include "trueFRINGE 2024" in your plans!
trueHOME, 04/27/2023
Can you go home again? When does a house become a "home"? For that matter, what makes a *home* a "home"? True, personal stories that will answer these questions and more, when you watch the 3rd show of our 13th season, “trueHOME”!
<photos by Jeff Sevier>
trueFRIEND, 01/26/2023
Friends… they’re there when you need them…. right? Sometimes they surprise you but sometimes they disappoint.
Tune in to hear from a man with a standard his friends must meet and another who owes one his life; a woman with a secret she couldn’t tell her friends, a man in danger of losing his, and a man who needed one to step up, even if he didn’t realize it.
00:06:10 Art Boulet
00:19:40 Melissa Gutter-Jackson
00:36:16 James Reynolds
00:57:02 Paul Morris
01:15:12 Kevin Reynolds
P.S., Like what you see? Please consider a donation to help us continue to bring true, personal storytelling to Cincinnati and virtual audiences alike! Visit https://truetheatre.org/donate to contribute. No amount is too small. Thank you for your support! We're glad to have you as FRIENDS!
<photos by Jeff Sevier>
trueLUCK, 10/27/2022
Luck takes on a variety of shapes, as our storytellers demonstrated at the opening show of our THIRTEENTH season!
Watch the whole show or skip ahead to these five stories:
00:07:15 Star Staubach
00:22:33 Chris Strobel
00:43:27 Bob Genheimer
01:05:34 Kevin Crowley
01:20:54 Michael "Fin" Walter
P.S., Like what you see? Please consider a donation to help us continue to bring true, personal storytelling to Cincinnati and virtual audiences alike! Visit https://truetheatre.org/donate to contribute. No amount is too small. Thank you for your support! We're LUCKY to have you!
<photos by Jeff Sevier>
Season 12
trueHOBBY, 7/28/2022
Everybody has their own way to fill their free time. Do your hobbies compare to those of our storytellers? Give a watch and find out!
Yes, our storytellers are an Argentine Tango dancer, a model train enthusiast, a painter, and a Lego brick builder (not to mention the hobbies of our wild card storytellers who came out of the audience to share!), but there is more to each of their stories than just their hobbies!
Jump straight to the stories using these links:
Our featured storytellers:
Our "name in the hat (purse)" voluntellers:
Photos by Darrien Bockting!
truePROM, 4/28/2022
A seminal night in the life of a teenager. Anticipation, excitement, formality… the dresses, the tuxes, the flowers, and the limos… and the theme! Remember your past as our storytellers reminisce about theirs at "truePROM"!
07:55 Alanna Martella was so grateful for the "5 hours of freedom" prom meant to her that she went to THREE proms!
20:51 Emily Elma has had a chip on her shoulder about prom for a loooooong time!
39:19 Jay Gilbert went to prom when the world was a different place... much to his bad luck.
57:32 Tina Gilliand and Tierra Wiliams are both grateful for an organization designed to make sure kids get the prom of their dreams.
01:12:34 Kryie Eleison Owen went to school online, so what does that mean regarding prom?
trueDAD, 1/27/22
From the best to the worst, present or absent, idealized or demonized, they’ve influenced our lives. Watch/listen to our 6 storytellers at "trueDAD" to hear stories about Dads that are sure to make you think of someone from your own life… maybe even you!
Within the video, the individual stories start at:
trueNIGHTMARE, 10/28/2021
Halloween is (was) approaching and more and more decorations are (were) up, inviting all sorts of frights and reasons to have a good old-fashioned nightmare! Unfortunately, you don’t have to be asleep to have a “nightmare” experience, as you’ll find out when you join us to hear the 5 stories we will (did) have for you this evening!
08:47 Storyteller #1: Scot Howell
27:39 Storyteller #2: Julie Cole
45:37 Storyteller #3: Dan Davidson (starts with trigger warning)
1:10:52 Storyteller #4: Arlene Koth
1:34:09 Storyteller #5: Preston Bell Charles III (starts with trigger warning)
SEASON 11
trueVOICES:
Behind the Rainbow Curtain
Before kicking off Season 12, we produced a one-off production, our first in our new “trueVOICES” series, featuring 7 stories with an LGBTQIA+ theme (thanks in large part to a grant from ArtsWave Pride and a generous donation from Tim Giglio). The evening was live-streamed while stories were shared before a live (and masked) audience at the Woodward Theater in downtown Cincinnati… our first step to returning to in-person productions! More important, however, were our storytellers, who shared many vulnerable (and sometimes hilarious) moments from their lives, creating space for many who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ Community, while also opening the eyes and minds and hearts of many others.
Photos by Mikki Schaffner!
trueNEIGHBOR, 7/29/2021
We closed out Season 11 with a theme voted on by our audience… “NEIGHBORS”. Good or bad (maybe even criminal), our storytellers had them: One man’s encounter with a new neighbor was a blast from the past, while one woman moved into a living history. Another woman was moved by the simple act of her neighbors while another moved to take hers down. And one man relied on his neighbors to survive and hoped to return the favor. 5 great stories told by the people who lived them… “trueNEIGHBOR”.
trueDOG, 4/29/2021
Woof! (translated: 5 great stories and even more dogs, as told by the humans in their lives!)
On April 29th, 5 storytellers took the screen to share their dog-themed stories… Stories about finding, losing, caring for, rescuing, and sometimes vying-for-alpha-status with our canine companions.
“trueDOG” was produced on April 29th, 2021
trueBIRTH, 01/28/2021
Season 11 continued with 5 stories using the theme of “birth”. On Thursday, January 28th, we featured 5 storytellers who’ve seen it or done it and gathered to tell a story about it. We heard from a woman who thought she was too young to have a child and another who thought she was prepared to, a nurse who’s seen it all, a doula who’s seeing a pattern, and a runaway (if you count running to her grandmother’s house). 5 great stories told from the people who lived them!
trueVISION, 10/29/2020
Kicking off Season 11 and closing out “20/20” with a vision-themed show… with a wildly diverse set of stories approaching the theme from as many angles as you can think of! …a mother worried about her son’s eyesight and a painter who’s losing his, a woman with a vision of a more equitable future (that she's had since she was 10), a photographer with a rare vision into the goings-on at the Vatican City, and a medium who had a vision and wasn’t sure what to do about it. Watch these stories and SEE what makes our shows so great (hint: it’s the storytellers)!
SEASON 10
trueSUFFRAGE, 7/23/2020
Once again taking to the airwaves, “trueSUFFRAGE” features stories by-and-about women. 5 incredible women shared their stories of empowerment in this show designed to commemorate the upcoming 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment of the United States.
trueFAKES, 5/7/2020
Due to COVID-19, we had to take “trueFAKES” to the airwaves! Presented via Zoom and live-streamed to Facebook, here is what viewers saw. Remember, the stories are all true… it’s only the theme that’s “fakes”!
trueSH*T, 1/23/2020
June had it "up to here"!
Micah's evening goes down in family lore as "The Tondin Incident"!
Some might say Suzanne is full of shit. Well has she got a retort to THAT!
(more soon!)
trueANNIVERSARY, 10/24/2019
Photos by Jason Bechtel/Videos by Chris Strobel and his students at NKU
Season 9
trueCAMP, 7/25/2019
2019 CINCINNATI FRINGE FESTIVAL
TRUEFRINGE 2019, 6/13/2019
SEASON 9
TRUESTORM, 4/25/2019
Season 9
trueCAR, 1/24/2019
SEASON 9
TRUEHEROIN, 10/25/2018
Season 8
trueBLUE, 7/23/18
