Image: antonioraposo, Flickr

Have you ever listened to The Moth Radio Hour, the open mic storytelling series on National Public Radio, and thought, “I could do that?” Well, now you have the chance.

Starting this Monday, October 15, 5 – 6:30 p.m., the Columbia Library introduces the first in a regularly scheduled performance series, “Sez Me: The Columbia Story Hour (and a half).” The program provides an opportunity for Columbia students, faculty, staff, and alumni, from all creative disciplines, to perform their stories before a live audience. The program will be rebroadcast on WCRX radio, Frequency TV, and will also be available as a podcast.

“Storytelling is what unites us as a creative community,” said Norman Alexandroff, one of the event organizers. “For students, being able to go up on stage and perform their stories before a live audience is a culmination of their educational journey. For faculty, staff, and alumni, Sez Me is the first on-campus performance series that is open to everyone. We hope the series is more of a variety show than traditional open mic series. If we have dancers perform on stage, we’ll probably have to get creative and have play-by-play announcers describing their movements for a radio audience,” Alexandroff said.

Unlike The Moth, and other onstage performance series, Sez Me is open to people who communicate through a variety of methods, including writing, visual and musical performance as well as drawing or painting.  Stories can be told and expressed in many ways and this is an opportunity to further showcase Columbia College Chicago talent.

The theme of the first program is “Identity.” Future themes will be announced in the coming weeks. To be considered for a performance spot for this program, contact Norman Alexandroff at nalexandroff@colum.edu by Friday, October 12.