November 2019 Archives

Renee posted a video of her catching up on research for her directing duties of Beauty and the Beast. Back in November, Renee announced she was going to direct Disney’s Beauty and the Beast for ENCORE! The performances will be the end of June at the Redondo Beach Performing Art Centre.

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Beauty and the Beast. The story has many more layers than I was expecting. I am starting at the source material and moving into the folklore from all countries and cultures, pulling together inspiration for directing. Thankful for this new project, @encoresouthbay

A post shared by Renee O'Connor (@realreneeoconnor) on Nov 29, 2019 at 8:37am PST

Renee posted a message on Instagram wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

realreneeoconnor
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Happy Thanksgiving all y’all.
Hope your day is brimming with Joy, Peace, and Gratitude.
We are not at Threadgills today but keeping my family, some of whom are working there, in my heart. If you are in Austin, swing by and enjoy the festivities.

It's that time of the year again when we get the old favourites being shown on TV. I love Christmas movies; they make you feel good. One of my all time favourite books is "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens from way back in 1843.

LOVE this story about redemption and it's never too late to change and I've read it many times. I also enjoy watching the various versions of it being screened in TV Movies and/or episodes.

Gizmodo has a look at some (naturally) and the Xena episode based on the novel is also featured. A Solistice Carol was a cute episode. A Solstice Carol was in Season 2, Episode 9.
Click here to read their list

7. “A Solstice Carol”

On this festive 1996 episode of Xena: Warrior Princess, the Winter Solstice stands in for Christmas, and Xena (Lucy Lawless) and Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor) portray the Three Fates rather than the usual ghosts. Their mission: to convince a cruel, Scrooge-like king not to shut down an orphanage after the kids are caught making merry—which is extremely against the law, of course. Xena’s ready to kick some royal arse, but Gabrielle insists that storytelling could be just as convincing. (That said, she agrees “if the plan fails, we punch faces.”)

With help of the sympathetic king’s clerk, a mischievous donkey, some disguises, a whole lotta improv, the sudden re-emergence of a long-lost face from the king’s past, and a climactic fight using all manner of toys, bells, baked goods, feather pillows, and other random stuff—look, a few faces were obviously going to get punched here no matter what—glad tidings are restored. The king becomes a nice guy again, the kids are saved, and the last line of the episode is Xena saying “Gabrielle, you are a gift to me.” The true reason for the season!

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Greetings everyone! I'm BACK! Had an awesome time away! Recharged and ready to go - 2020 is going to be MASSIVE.

Xena's 25th Anniversary, Creation's 25th Anniversary Convention AND the release of Xena: Their Courage Changed Our World book. Seriously, get ready for an epic 2020! BUT before we get all carried away by the epic 2020, we still have 2019 to finish off and there are some deadlines coming up in relation to the book.

Xena: Their Courage Changed Our World Merch Store

• While I was away, I did some thinking. #Xena 25 Years Book Merch Store! AUSXIP will be opening up a merchandise store for #Xena's 25th Anniversary: Xena: Their Courage Changed Our World. ALL Proceeds from the store will be donated to our two official charities: The Starship Foundation & The House of Bards.
  
  What would you like in the store? Drop me a note with your suggestions!
  

• That means you have ONE MONTH (and 1 day) to the DEADLINE for submitting your Xena story is DECEMBER 31, 2019! No extensions. Once it's gone, it's gone! Submit how Xena and the Xenaverse has changed your life! I've received some pretty awesome submissions and let me tell you, it's quite moving to read everyone's stories.
  
  How do you submit your story? Glad you asked!
  Click here to submit your story
  
  

We also have submission forms for the creatives - submit your art (pencil and/or digital) or your video. With your art, two images (one hand drawn and digital) will be selected by the panel of judges (Xena artists who have seen quite a bit of art in 25 years and have created a hell of a lot of art themselves) to be included in Xena: Their Courage Changed Our World

• Submit your Art - Read the Guidelines
• Submit your Video - Read the Guidelines
  
  

AUSXIP is on hiatus for a few weeks while I take some much needed vacation time and recharging of the batteries.

MaryD

How cool is this? Renee announced this on her official instagram account!

I am excited and honored to be asked to direct Disney’s Beauty and the Beast for ENCORE! The performances will be the end of June at the Redondo Beach Performing Art Center.

Auditions will be posted at www.encoresouthbay.org
All ages welcome to audition!

Ready to work hard, play hard with me? ??

To all our friends, loved ones, family, and ‘Xenites’ who came to Macbeth: Thank you for being in our audience and making the gift of theater a possibility, a collective deepening in experience. We give our efforts and gifts to you, and without your open hearts and minds to receive, it would not elevate us all. We presented Macbeth to nearly 200 high school students and welcomed a sold out closing show. Thank you on behalf of all the cast and crew.

For me, I can assure you that this production had a self selecting process, which I held in grace as it presented its challenges, and still finished the show as a strong family, with every single individual bringing light, joy, integrity and kindness to each other. If only you could have seen the love off the stage! It was remarkable and I’ll always be grateful.

Source: http://instagram.com/realreneeoconnor