Author Archives: Marianya Klis

Recipe: Spinach-Artichoke Alfredo Pasta Sauce on Four Cheese Ravioli

Yes, this is a little heavy on the dairy (ok a LOT heavy on the dairy), but considering I was just working with what I had in my stores could you blame me?

Anyway I notice a friend of mine online posting a picture where she and her boyfriend had used the recipe and that was what my attention to the point that I wanted to make it myself (considering I had four cheese ravioli that was sitting in my freezer in forever!). So once the recipe was scanned an emailed it still took me a full month until I was able to find the time and the courage to whip up the recipe myself based on what I had on hand and come up with something that was closer… if not exact.

So below is the original ingredient list and directions as sent to me:


As always beyond the break I will explain how I have changed and adapted it and how it came out… unfortunately I do not have pictures at this time so care with me.
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UPDATE NaNoWriMo Days 4 and 15

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Yup, you read that right… I didn’t do any writing between days 4 and 15… and it is rather depressing, but what can one do?

So why am I updating? Because I have managed to go through and reproduce three of the five scenes that I lost in the deletion of one script… so that word count is up to around 5,000… but not only that I started expanding and adding in pieces here and there to fill out the scenes already written.

Needless to say I am a bit excited because the next two scenes aren’t not aspects just thrown together, but rather actual events with lots of information that could stand alone. Once I have these last two scenes rewritten I would be golden and after that it is all new material… in the matter of speaking.

Take that a step further and I spent some time earlier today editing the first ten-minute play I ever wrote. I purposely placed the piece on back burner because I wanted a fair amount of time to pass before looking at it again and most likely heavily editing it. Which is what ended up happening.

I deleted a character… rearranged a few lines… changed the mentality of one of the characters so there is more of a punch / conflict and I am happy with what I have.

With some time over the weekend… in between everything else going on, mayhaps I will find time for additional writing?

Review: Lobster Man at the Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival

Many many moons ago a friend of mine kept me abreast on his ten-minute play that he was working on. Over the years his ten-minute play was featured in some incarnation or another in a small handful of cities throughout the continental United States. A couple of these productions were originally posted on his YouTube Channel but have since been set to private or disappeared entirely.

In any case here is the first trailer of the ten-minute (now one-act) play of Lobster Man:

Now why a trailer? Because the playwright’s piece of Lobster Man was one of the Top 40 in the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival. But what is this Festival about?

The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival started in 1975 and is Manhattan’s oldest, continuous short play festival. […] The Festival has given emerging playwrights the opportunity to have their work produced. […]

The Festival has served as a doorway to future success for many aspiring playwrights, and has helped launched the work of notables as Theresa Rebeck, Shirley Lauro, Sheila Callaghan, Bekah Brunstetter, Steve Yockey, Saviana Stanescu, and David Johnston. In many cases, Festival participation has sparked agent contracts for Festival finalists and all of the final forty plays selected to be perform in New York are guaranteed to be seen by an Artistic Director of a major theater, a professional playwright, and a theatrical agent. Many past Festival playwrights have gone on to win major Playwriting awards and honors, as well as to have major theatrical productions of their works staged.

I was already impressed with Lobster Man in the first conception… and now with this most recent incarnation, Jonathan Cook just seems to be getting better and better as playwright in the years that I have known him.
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Review: Sister Act the Musical – Chicago Tour Stop

Last night a friend of mine and I went to see the first performance of the Chicago Stop of Sister Act the Musical… and honestly it was loads of fun to watch.

My friend mentioned that he thought the musical was “fun” and “cute” which is probably the best words to describe the show. It was entertaining, but there were a few gaffes along the way… but that was more on the technical end of the spectrum. So meh.

In any case… the cast recording I have at home is actually the West End Cast, so there was a song or two that I expected to hear that I didn’t… and the replacement songs wasn’t bad, but for some reason I simply wasn’t as thrilled. Guess my heart is just not American enough 😉

ANYWAY.

For anyone not really familiar with the original movie that the musical was based off of starring Whoopi Goldberg:

A lot of the primary characters (ok many of them) are included in the musical, however don’t expect to hear any of songs made popular via the movie to be in the musical. Instead the score as composed by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater and with a book written by Cherie Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner (and with additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane) brings a fresh take of the music with catchy tunes and moving pieces.
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Endeavor: One Woman “Show”

Earlier this year I was helping a friend out in her desire to put together a “one woman show” full of songs that would help describe particular events or people that had a significant impact in her life. Over time we came up with a title (thanks to another friend) for her “one woman show” and she is currently planning things out bit by bit over time.

Which got me into thinking. I am not a vocalist like she is, my strength is via writing, comedy, skits… But my saving grace (I feel) has always been my writing.

For years I have been writing a collection of poems that I have posted on FictionPress.com with more poems that I simply haven’t posted in storage. I also have a long slew of “moments” that I have written as a reflection of what I was reading or writing or feeling at any particular moment in time. Sifting through everything they all seem to revolve alone the men that have come and go in my life for one reason or another.

All with different voices, and for different reasons.

So when I joined another friend to watch an Open Mic / Book Reading session at the local book store run by a mutual acquaintance something occurred to me that didn’t happen before.
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Review: Oak Lawn Park District Theatre’s La Cage Aux Folles

Show: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
Music and Lyrics: Jerry Herman
Book: Harvey Fierstein 		Location: Oak Park District Theatre
Director: Josie Nirchi
Music Director: Marty Hesse

Over the weekend I went to see a friend of mine in La Cage Aux Folles as put on by the Oak Lawn Park District. As is always the case there is some good, some bad, and some ugly aspects in community theatre… and since I am the blunt type… well I’ll work with what I can.

In fact… there is one weekend left for this rarely done production and in all honesty there is one aspect of the production that is more than worth the price of admission: Brad Kisner as Albin/Zaza.

The show – to me – seems to revolve around the character of Albin/Zaza and his relationship between his partner Georges and “son” Jean-Michel. Which would make sense that whomever is lucky (or unlucky) enough to capture this part would have been more than just “damn good” to make the production worthwhile and Brad Kisner does in spades.

Not only was he believable as Albin/Zaza but he seemed to just breath the character within every moment. Seriously if Brad were to do a “one man show” being that Albin/Zaza character I would be more than happy to pay the price of admission ($21) to see it.

However the chemistry between Brad and Paul Nirchi (who plays Albin’s partner Georges) seemed off at times. Once in a while I simply didn’t believe the chemistry between the pair, but then again I felt that Brad brought out the best of Paul (much like how Albin brings out the best of Georges) so it seemed like art imitating life.

Paul, I felt, did a good job as Georges, but unlike Brad (where I believed everything coming out of him) I felt that Paul did not reach that level of “believe-ability” if that make sense.

The final third of this familial trifecta is Georges biological son: Jean-Michel as portrayed by Graig Mason, he had the right kind of energy and enthusiasm for a young man in this mid-twenties and his chemistry with both parental figures (Albin and Georges) was realistic and palpable.

Take that a step further and Graig’s interaction with his love interest: Anne as portrayed by Jenn Rooney was extremely fun and realistic to watch. Made for a nice counterpoint to that of Georges/Albin.
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Reflection: Shirley Lauro’s A Piece of My Heart

In late September, the production of Shirley Lauro’s A Piece of My Heart wrapped at Hale Park nearby Summit, IL. The production that I was a part of, that was so incredibly emotionally and mentally draining for me (but was ultimately worthwhile) had its last show with an avenue opening for a reprise / revival to occur sometime down the road.

However, very early on in the rehearsal process I originally wanted to read the book “A Piece of My Heart: The Stories of Twenty-Six American Women Who Served in Vietnam” Put together by Keith Walker. In the end I decided not to due to the possibility of having twenty-six different voices in my head versus just one voice that is a conglomeration of a few of the stories. Granted there are pros and cons in reading the original stories… But in the end I was glad I made that decision of not reading any of the original stories prior to the run of the production.

However, now that the run is over, I was tempted to go and read the book that inspired the play:
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Endeavors: NaNoWriMo Week 1 Update

So… I finally decided to follow through with NaNoWriMo and chose to work on a script that not only has been on back burner but I made the mistake of deleting the original composition last month. Looking at the original hard copy, I had a lot of revisions regardless… so I felt this was a good project to work on first and see how far I could take it.

Most of the research and breaking down of the scenes were done months (if not years) ago, and now is just the matter of putting thought to paper… and already I was beginning to see changes on screen and improvements that I could add into the piece… which I did as I typed.

What is it exactly that I am working on? Can’t say… or rather, won’t say… considering that I still have to finish it. Granted I may actually make mention of it on my writing blog: Beyond the Abyss, but I won’t inundate you with details here.

So how did I do from day to day?

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Review: Looper

A fairly engrossing movie with an interesting plot… I have to say that I did find this particular film intriguing enough for me to enjoy it. Unfortunately being the science fiction geek that I am, this film tends to falter on a few key moments / details.

But first thing’s first… the primary character – Joe Simmons – is played by two actors.

Bruce Willis is well.. what you expect him to be. As the thirty years older version of Joe Simmons he possesses that badass personality of “don’t mess with me unless you want to suffer the consequences” that the younger Joe Simmons has in spades. But what makes him more “human” is the small moment of vulnerability when you realize what it is that he is fighting for. What (or rather who) he is trying to save from his life.

The younger version of Joe Simmons as mentioned has that badass personality but is also brash and crazy and sometimes just flies on the seat of his pants… Which is fine by me… As played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt he finds his way towards what the older Joe is working towards but via a different route.

What I liked about these two actors is that somehow you could see how this younger version could eventually become the older version, and yet see the separation between the two. Somehow they found a middle ground so it is believable that they are one in the same that are leading two separate lives. I mean thirty years can change a person in a million different ways.

But when the older Bruce Willis goes back in time with the intent to killing the younger version of whom he calls the Rainmaker so he could save his wife… Well… The traditional laws of physics and time are completely thrown out the window and a whole new set of rules are in play.

And unfortunately in this department I felt that this movie failed… Miserably.
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Review: Moraine Valley Community College’s Avenue Q

Show: AVENUE Q
Music and Lyrics: Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
Book: Jeff Whitty 		Location: Moraine Valley Community College

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of seeing a friend of mine perform as Brian in Moraine Valley Community College’s production of Avenue Q. I knew he could sing and I knew he could do comedy, but boy that boy can sing! I knew he was talented and committed to his craft but I never fully appreciated to what extent.

No matter what character he plays Brian Whitlock has managed to do something that you rarely see in community theatre and do it consistently: he has been able to melt into his character to the degree where I as an audience member that knows him forgets that this is my friend on stage and instead just see him as the character he plays. Don’t even get me started with his stage presence… I mean seriously, there were times when I know I should be watching others on stage because it is their moment, but Brian just kept stealing my focus at times, he’s just that strong of an actor.

Somehow he managed to sneak a moment to play with one of the puppets (Princeton) during the song: There is Life Outside Your Apartment… but it was a blink or you miss it moment. So when I realized what was going on, I didn’t get a chance to really analyze it, this would probably be a moment where I would love to see the show again so I could simply focus on that moment.

When in the show did this happen? Well it was during the following lyrics:

And a homeless man
Who only wants to
Buy something to eat!
Sorry, can’t help you.

But that was all I was able to decipher… but speaking of puppetry…

Those that were given the task to man the puppets, for the most part I was very impressed with. I don’t know how many of the actors that are required to work with the puppets actually walked in knowing any kind of puppeteering… except for a few moments here and there (which I will explain later), the puppetry in this cast was outstanding for a community theatre production.

Even with the two man puppets (Trekkie Monster and Nicky) the puppeteers did a more than respectable job with their puppets, it was rather impressive. Then again when there is someone on the Production Team (Linda Roberts of Roberts Marionettes) whose job is strictly Puppeteer is it any wonder that she would really put together a strong crash course on puppeteering?

Outside of Brian Whitlock playing Brian… there were other highlights of the production of Avenue Q, including Kendra Sowa who portrays Kate Monster. From the audience some of the comments from around me included how cute and sweet Kendra was and as thus how cute and sweet Kate Monster came out to be. The emotional capacity from pain (in A Fine Fine Line) to passion (You Can Be as Loud as The Hell You Want) to everything else in between she is a talent that just shines onstage.

But what about the remainder of the cast?
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Review: Battleship

Before I get started, I will be the first to admit… I was very adverse to the idea of a movie being created about a board game that really didn’t have any premise except to try to sink the other player.

How do you base a whole movie on that? Well… as it would turn out, you don’t. Instead Battleship the Game was really a small ten to fifteen minute clip out of the entire film, while the rest of the film was a battle between the humans and the aliens who came to planet Earth with the intent of taking it over.

Best quote of the whole film?

Cal Zapata: If there is intelligent life out there and they come here, it’s going to be like Columbus and the Indians, only we’re the Indians.

This is going to be fun!

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Fleeting: Costume Inspirations

Earlier I mentioned an article that gave inspirations of female icons to dress up as for Halloween… after a bit of web surfing I found myself down the rabbit hole of Take Back Halloween: A Costume Guide for Women With Imagination.

Really now?

To say that I was intrigued is an understatement. Nevertheless I was curious enough to look through the various female icons that were shown.

One of the first that I looked at was for Zenobia (since I posted a bit about an original musical coming next year). The ancient Syrian garb of the time tends to have a decidedly Hellenistic feel (lots of layers, draped tunics, and scarves for good measure), but I have yet to see a production on stage or in movies that show off that ancient garb in a flattering and historically accurate light.

Though I digress.

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Recipe: Rum (Rhum) Cake with “Icing”


In late October my aunt from Kentucky brought up a few loaves of a soft kind of bread as a treat… I only had a slice, but I fell in love and immediately wanted the recipe.

A week later the recipe for the Rhum Cake popped up in my email inbox and I immediately set out to try the recipe… To more than stellar results.

Below is the original cake recipe that was sent to me:

INGREDIENTS for CAKE
3 eggs
4oz (approx 1/2 cup) oil
1 box yellow instant pudding (approx 3-1/2 oz)
1 box Butter Golden cake mix
4oz (approx 1/2 cup) self rising flour
10oz (approx 1-1/4 cups) milk
2oz (approx 1/4 cup) Rum
1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS for CAKE
1: Turn on oven 325 degrees F
2: Mix all ingredients well for about 10 – 15 minutes.
3: Pour mixture into bread tins in the following sequence:
3a: 25 minutes at 325 degree F
3b: 10 minutes at 250 degree F
3c: Turn off oven, leave in oven for 10 more minutes

The first time I tried out the above, I followed the recipe to the tee and absolutely loved the results. In fact I loved them so much that I decided to change up the recipe using 5oz (approx 5/8 cup) of melted Stracciatella from the Lindt store in the Aurora Premium Outlet Mall.

So how did I adapt the recipe when I decided to add that particular ingredient?
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UPDATE: NaNoWriMo Day 1 and Day 2

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As mentioned on my primary blog: Dancing Through the Universe… I am going to make an honest attempt to get something done during the month of November for NaNoWriMo. After all I have who knows how many projects in the pipeline that needs editing, reviewing, rewriting, etc?

So what did I decide to start on? A script… or more accurately a series of scenes (or vignettes as I would call them) that revolve around a singular theme. Unfortunately it is a script where I accidentally deleted the original digital copy of but still have a hard copy with a whole bunch of red-marks on it that I have yet to apply on the digital copy anyway. So I thought that it would be best to work on a script that I know what to expect, but am forced to redo from scratch.

Since this is a script… formatting on its own takes up a lot of time, so I am going to wait until NaNoWriMo is over before I actually go through the work and format it to the correct designations.

In the meantime I am just chugging along… but how did I do? Well Day One was a loss on so many levels.

As for Day Two, I actually got 824 words down during lunch time and then another 792 after I decided to stop working. Ironically enough, this is the completion of one scene or vignette in the series and as thus a decent breaking point.

Current word count: 1616

So what am I writing about?
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Endeavors: National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo

The first of November marks the beginning of the National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. Typically, I do not partake in this endeavor primarily because I simply don’t have the time… but nowadays with so many writing projects up the air I figured that this year (2012) I would give NaNoWriMo a shot.

One problem… most of my current writing projects involve scripts… which would fit more in Script Frenzy which unfortunately closed their program in April 2012… doesn’t mean I can’t use it for my own uses though, does it?

So what is the purpose or goal for NaNoWriMo? According to their website:

National NovNational Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000-word (approximately 175-page) novel by 11:59:59 PM on November 30.

Compare that to Script Frenzy:

Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants take on the challenge of writing 100 pages of scripted material in the month of April.

But how do they compare?
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