Everett Bradley and President Barack Obama

Tonight, Everett Bradley, Our Time's Musical Director, will be performing in front of President Barack Obama with Jon Bon Jovi at the Commander-in-Chief Ball.

Congratulations Everett! We know you will rock the house and have a great time doing it. If you get a chance, would you mind sharing this poem with the President ... it was written by Our Time Alumni Jonathan Greig about a year before Barack Obama began running for President:

Who says I can’t write a play
Who says I can’t be a valedictorian
Who says I can’t build an airplane or be an astronaut
Who says I can’t act in a play
Who says I can’t make tons of friends
Who says I can’t be President
They may say it
But I don’t
Because I know I can

What will you be doing tonight?

The Our Time Questions with Jonathan Greig

Periodically, we will interview members of the Our Time and Camp Our Time family (company members, alumni, the board, volunteers, staff, donors, parents, campers, counselors, etc.) by asking them the same 20 questions. Which will now be known as THE OUR TIME QUESTIONS.

Our first interview is with Our Time alumnus, Jonathan Greig. Jonathan was a company member for 6 years (2002-2008). He joined Our Time at age 11 and is now in his Freshman year at Dartmouth College.

1. Favorite Food: Rice.  “White rice heals all wounds”

2. Favorite thing about Our Time: Our Time is a place where you can let go of your inhibitions and let you imagination run free. Gone are the social constraints and fears of ridicule. You are free to be who you are. For me specifically, Our Time became a place where I could let out everything I had hidden inside. For so long I kept everything inside; from fears to dreams, everything stayed trapped in my heart, locked in by my stutter. Our Time allowed me to break this lock and let everything out.

3. Favorite place I’ve been: Jamaica

4. Place I’ve always wanted to go: South Africa

5. Favorite Movie: Do The Right Thing by Spike Lee

6. If you were trapped on an island for three years, and you could only listen to one recording artist, who would it be: Stevie Wonder

7. Mac or PC: PC

8. Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate

9. Cats or Dogs: Dogs

10. Favorite Our Time moment: Performing “Our Time Made Us LOUD” with Keith and Andre. I could not have wished for a better last Gala performance than that. Just being onstage with my two best friends and seeing the crowd rock to our song was amazing. I’ve never been as happy and amped up as I was during that song. It was just amazing.

11. What do you want to be when you grow up: I don’t know.

12. Who would play you in a movie: A young James Earl Jones

13. Favorite Book: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

14. Favorite sports team: It’s a tie between the Jets and the Knicks

15. What advice do you have for people who stutter: Don’t let it hold you down. Look at it as something that you have to deal with but that shouldn’t stop you from achieving something you want to achieve. It isn’t a dead end. It’s just a temporary roadblock.

16. What advice do you have for people who don’t stutter: Just listen. It’s that simple. You just give the person the time to speak and just worry about what the person is saying not how the person is saying it. Then you’ll be golden. That even goes for people who don’t stutter. They should do it for everyone.

17. Favorite TV Show: A toss-up between Cosby Show and 24

18. Favorite Play or Musical: That’s also a toss-up between The Lion King and Thurgood

19. If you were President, what would your first official act be: I would make an effort to end all wars and I would institute free health care

20. Where do you see Our Time in 10 years: I see Our Time continuing and achieving its goal of spreading awareness about stuttering, as well as just spreading a message of overall tolerance and love and still rocking out in Kingsley and Cherry Lane.

Our Time Launches Blog!!!

Jonathan jumping for joy at the 2006 Gala rehearsal

Our Time is excited to offer its members, friends, and family of supporters a new, hip, and interactive way to stay informed and involved with the organization's events and activities. This company-wide blog has been inspired by the great success of the Camp Our Time blog that we did this past August.

You can expect to see a fun variety of posts, such as:

• Announcements relating to our 8th Season of Saturday Workshops in NYC, the December One-Acts, the Album Project, the April Benefit Gala, the teen and pre-teen June shows, summer touring, and Camp Our Time.
• Photos of our amazing young company members, volunteers, staff, and other friends of Our Time
• Videos of Our Time performances
• Press that Our Time receives
• Information on stuttering and resources for help and support

And much, much more!

Please give us feedback so that we know how this blog can best serve you! Simply e-mail comments or suggestions to moreinfo@ourtimetheatre.org.

Happy reading!