Q & A with
LINDA KLEIN & BARBARA GEHRING
co-writers of “GIRLS ONLY”
May 7 - August 1, 2010 at the Stage Door Theater
The Charlotte cast of GIRLS ONLY will feature
Bethel Caram, Diana Dresser and Christine Rowan.
GIRLS ONLY (Denver)
LINDA KLEIN has been a cherished member of the Denver comedy scene for the last sixteen years and one-third of the comedy trio A.C.E. for most of that time. During her years with A.C.E. she has co-written and performed in over fifty original productions and graced stages nationwide, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. Klein has a dense background in theatrical improvisation and comedy writing. She also works as a commercial actor and voice talent. She sits on the board of directors of two non-profits: Self Improvement Opportunities and The GroupMind Foundation, and is an active member of both her church and a local chapter of P.E.O. When not working she can be found traveling extensively, as the QE2, the beaches in Rio and her plethora of nieces and nephews will all confirm. Linda would like to thank the Girls Only team, her loving and supportive husband, Paul, and her parents who dutifully attended all of her original “bedroom productions.” And a special thank you goes out to A.C.E. — for sticking together all these years. www.LindaKlein.com
BARBARA GEHRING was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Possessing a passion for writing and performing from a young age, she went on to become a prominent cast member of the Black Hole Theatre Company at the University of Manitoba where she earned a Bachelor of Education with a double major in both Theatre and English. Ms. Gehring’s professional career of 15 years as an actor has run the gamut from stage to screen to commercial to voice work in Denver, Colorado. A veteran of improv, sketch comedy and theatre, she is also the proud Canadian member of the international comedy trio A.C.E. and has dazzled audiences nationally and worldwide with her energetic performances. Gehring has to her credit several films, has appeared on Fox Sports Network's "Best Damn Sports Show" and in countless national and local television commercials. Girls Only, her dream show, is the culmination of these experiences and Ms.Gehring looks forward to seeing the show produced throughout North America. Besides Girl’s Only, her latest and most special creations are her children Isabella and Gavin, co-created with her husband Paul. Gehring would like to thank the Girls Only team, her parents for being her first audience and for teaching her the importance of laughter, and to her most charming husband Paul for always believing. .....look here www.girlsonlycomedy.com
You have been writing together for quite a while. What is your writing partnership like? Do you sit together in the same room and throw out ideas, or write separately, then get together and talk about it?
LINDA: We love to improvise. Although now scripted, the show was at one time completely spontaneous. Even now we may find new lines through banter with audience or each other.
We had many brain storming sessions to write Girls Only. Pages of ideas. We still have them, it’s fun to look back.
BARBARA: Actually the show was originally improvised about 20 times before we started writing it down.
Linda and I met in an improv group so it only makes sense that our show was created out of that art form.
Writing the lyrics for songs worked the same way.
We are always coming up with new ideas and bouncing them off each other. One idea always spawns another.
We just try and make each other laugh. If we succeeded, then we know we are onto something.
After finding your girlhood diaries at the same time, what gave you the inspiration to write an entire show? How long did it take to refine the final product?
LINDA: We had been writing shows for several years prior to conceiving Girls Only - The Secret Comedy of Women with a trio called A.C.E. We found inspiration for our thematic comedy shows from just about anything. So when we re-discovered our childhood diaries and found out how funny they were, it was quite natural to say, "Hey, this could be a show."
Before the current year and half run at the Denver Center, we produced Girls Only ourselves several times (starting in 2004) to really hone the script. The first two runs were short, but wildly popular - and completely improvised. It wasn't until we took the show to a theatre festival in Canada in 2007 that we began to write things down. Upon our return we booked a six-week run in Denver that was completely sold-out before the end of opening weekend. Denver Center Attractions got wind of it and snatched it up. From an early stage, we knew we had tapped into something magical.
BARBARA: I don’t think we will ever forget that day…sitting in Linda’s kitchen reading our diaries to each other.
We were laughing so hard, and it hit us….”this could be a show.”
We’d been creating shows for nearly six years together in our International comedy trio A.C.E.
We always wrote a show around a theme…..a show about being female organically showed itself as our next theme and we jumped on it.
After that first show in 2004, we left it for 2 years and revisited it with more ideas. Twenty shows later, it was completely scripted. And here we are.
How much did your comedy improvisation background help when writing the show? How much does audience participation shape the show on stage on any given night? Has it changed much from the first production?
LINDA: Like I mentioned above, the entire show was improvised many times before we scripted it. Both Barbara and I have a great deal of experience in improvisation. It was a natural way for us to go about writing. There are still several improvised moments in the show. We relish them. But it is not just the improvisation in the show that relies on the audience. We are in complete partnership with the ladies in the theatre from the moment they walk in the door. The entire show is very inclusive.
Through all the changes Girls Only has seen, the thread of light-hearted honesty and vulnerability has always run through it. It's what allows women to connect so deeply to the show and want to return again and again.
BARBARA: I am going to answer your last question first as it all ties in together. The first show we did was a one night only performance. Seems crazy to do all this planning and work for one night, but that is what we did. We had written lyrics for the songs, and that was about it. We had a running order for the show, but had no idea what we were going to say. We have created more material since then for the show, but that spontaneity , between us and the audience, that connection that made the theatre spark with energy is still the foundation for the current productions of Girls Only.
Do you have a "champion" who believes in the show and helped you get the recognition it needed for more productions?
LINDA: Every single one of the nearly 80,000 gals who have walked in our door are our champions. I have never been involved in a project that has solicited more enthusiasm and friendship than Girls Only. Everyone wants to spread the word and they often suggest theatres in other cities that would be a good fit for the show.
BARBARA: Ditto. We love our Ladies.
Were either or both of you funny as girls growing up? Did you think you would always be involved in theatre in some way, or was it more a hope/dream?
LINDA: I think we were both pretty quirky and neither of us shy of the lime light. I was always putting on a show or a circus for anyone who would watch. This led me to the theatre in high school, but it wasn’t until I took an improvisation class as an adult that I found my true calling.
BARBARA: I knew at the age of three that I wanted to be an actress. Yet I also knew I wanted to be a trapeze artist. You can see where that led. Being the youngest of three, I loved making my family laugh to get attention. I remember watching the Carol Burnett show and I would mimic her characters. I think it is just something that is inside you. I fell in love with improv in high school while working on a unit of Comedia del Arte which means unwritten or improvised drama. I would know the character I was to play, and a basic plot outline, but not know what she was going to say. Who knew back then, when I was 17, that I had found my calling. My major was in theatre in University and the rest is history. Or herstory. I am grateful that my job is my passion.
As writers of the show, what do you notice that audiences respond to the most?
LINDA: Audiences respond most strongly to a willingness to share publicly the awkwardness that’s in us all.
BARBARA: What don’t they respond to? The whole show is about them. I think the all-female audience creates this feeling a girl-hood reunion, where everyone is finally on the same common ground.
Do you find women around the country laugh and are interested in the same kinds of things?
LINDA: The show covers enough of a spectrum of womanhood that it allows all women to find their connection in it. They all laugh, but each differently. A young teen laughs at the show differently than the 94 year-old great-grandmother, but they both laugh.
BARBARA: The show touches women way past their funny bone. Because the show is written out of truthful and honest moments and memories, the show is very universal made personal.
What thoughts would you like to share with women playwrights to encourage them to find their voice and realize their work?
BARBARA: In the word of the 70’s rock band Journey, “Don’t stop believing.” Be BOLD. The world is waiting.
Thank you both!
GIRLS ONLY .....look here at the website