This Friday, May 4th at 8 PM. Pay What You Can at the theatre.

Saturday, May 12th & Saturday, May 19th at 8 PM

Get your advance tickets and details here: http://plays411.com/brooklynhamlet

Brenda; your performance was jaw dropping for me. I knew you as my teacher, then friend; however, I had no idea what an impact your performance would have on me and the rest of audience.        Maxine Gardner

I just want to thank you, Brenda!
You touched me deep in my heart, and I feel I walked out after your performance a little different than when I walked in!
I really loved it!
Thank you!
All the best,
Kjersti Jorgensen

Don’t wait for the “perfect time” to see this show! Any time is perfect! Brenda’s story is funny and moving, and her performance makes you wish it wouldn’t end! GO!    Jeff Youngs

I highly recommend this unique and convincing performance. Brenda takes you on a journey through amazing true life experiences. I laughed and I cried with her. You must see this play.   Stephen Tako

What a beautiful, cathartic, moving and inspirational piece of art! Congrats Brenda!        Jennifer Schoch

by Tracey Paleo~

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO REALITY. IT’S FINE WITH ME. ~ Pre-Show Music, Billy Joel, New York State of Mind

How do you deal with your father murdering your mother, then marrying your mother’s sister – your aunt – and discover without warning that you are no longer daddy’s little girl. Shakespeare of course!

In a shabby room housed in green carpeting, old, slightly worn furniture, Elizabethan stained-glass windows, a painting or photograph of each of her parents and a whole lot of outrageous memories, playwright and star performer Brenda Adelman, along with director John Coppola, both New York natives, present an almost unbelievable, insanely twisted one-woman, modern ‘Bronx Tale’ filled with happy memories and tragic outcomes in My Brooklyn Hamlet, now playing at Studio C Artists on Theatre Row in Hollywood, CA.

Part family comedy, part Greek tragedy, My Brooklyn Hamlet is Brenda’s very true story about loyalty, sex, obsession, love, betrayal, murder and most of all, the awesome power of forgiveness.

Accompanied by the portentous, mood-setting music of Carmina Burana playing as she enters the stage wearing a symbolically blood-red, farthingaled gown. Corseted, ruffed, purled & partletted, jeweled and filled with the power of words, Ms. Adelman breaks her tale in the bard’s iambic pentameter, which is fully a direct parallel to the doomed Prince of Denmark. It is everything dramatic. She is numbed and scarred. Having been torn and caught in the confusing line of fire throughout her entire life, even sometimes a continent away, between two manipulators who emotionally push her to one extreme level of guilt to another. She must decide in the end how she will find the strength to no longer stay silent, and either act upon her desire for revenge and throw herself fully onto a path that will surely lead to a Hamlet-like destruction or to find compassion and become the heroine of her own life with love and exculpation.

One can only begin at the beginning with this tale and Ms. Adelman takes us, squarely and in typical ‘shoot from the hip’ East Coast style, through the sometimes absurd, sometimes traumatizing events of the comical tragedy, that only a nice Jewish princess growing up in the endowed fortune of her father’s lucrative Brooklyn car business, could relate. She recounts the special and important moments spent with and witness to her mother, a world traveling, obsessive fulfillment seeking, bohemian photo artist (al la Diane Arbus with more of a penchant for S&M – “I wouldn’t be an artist if I didn’t piss off somebody”) and her father, a simple, chain cigar smoking, somewhat cruder, self-made auto industry ‘savant’ with an insatiable need for deception and attention from other women.

Although often shocking, much of it is quite funny actually filled with the characterizations and mimes of her parents’ posturing, tantrums and general milieu of melodrama that envelopes her. Ms. Adelman keeps the dialog raw and surprisingly on the lighter side, given the heaviness of the subject matter which she has actually lived through. It is not a heart-wrenching autobiography but rather an expressive and fascinating recitation. There are a few not-quite-so-well crafted transitions during this performance and a moment or two feel a bit skipped over. However, Ms. Adelman’s style is so refreshingly natural and forthright as a story teller that the chronicle is well paced and moves quickly without any truly awkward pauses.

Profound in it’s outcome. Brenda Adelman is able to wield the mighty power of grace and bestow a kind of clemency that allows her to get past the ugliness and pain of tragedy to a love of herself and most of all both her mother and her father. As in the words her mother would say every evening at her bedtime goodnight, “To Thine Own Self Be True,” Ms. Adelman, finds a way to do what is right for everyone.

My Brooklyn Hamlet is a creatively candid, self-realized composition. It was written by and starring Brenda Adelman, directed by John Coppola and Produced by Michael Sonntag.

My Brooklyn Hamlet, A real-life Shakespearean tragedy in modern day Brooklyn is performed Thursday & Saturday at 8:00 pm through April 28th, 2012

Studio C Artists is located at 6448 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038, just west of Cahuenga Blvd.

Tickets – General Admission: $22.50

Reservations online at http://mybrooklynhamlet.eventbrite.com/

http://www.latheatrereview.com/2012/04/07/my-brooklyn-hamlet/

We’ll be discussing ways to look at your current life relationships and what’s not working, find the link to the past, make peace with it through forgiveness of judgments (especially self-judgment), and learn how to translate this new awareness into acceptance, loving and peace today.

You’ll also find out about free gifts when you purchase Brenda’s forgiveness guide, “My Father Killed My Mother and Married My Aunt: Forgiving the Unforgivable,”

My Brooklyn Hamlet, at Studio C Artists in Hollywood.

When: Thursday, March 22nd and Friday, March 23rd

Then Thursday’s and Saturdays through the end of April.

To find out more, RSVP and to get tickets click here:

You are invited to the current production of My Brooklyn Hamlet at

Studio C Artists in Hollywood. This show is opening Thursday, March 22nd through Saturday, April 28th at 8 PM.

To find out more, RSVP and to get tickets click here. http://www.facebook.com/MyBrooklynHamlet

or

Order tickets online:
http://plays411.com/brooklynhamlet
http://mybrooklynhamlet.eventbrite.com/

Hope to see you there!

Brenda

or

Order tickets online: http://plays411.com/brooklynhamlet

http://mybrooklynhamlet.eventbrite.com/

Hope to see you there!

Brenda

I’ll be performing my critically acclaimed one-woman show, My Brooklyn Hamlet.

To find out more and to get tickets go to: http://www.jettheatre.org/Jet/Our_Season.html

Throughout the 20th Century, there were many waves of feminism throughout the world. First were the waves that helped give women the right to vote and changed laws around property ownership. Later, feminist leaders helped bring about equality in the workplace. Today, women all around the world owe much to the progress made by these voices of the past.

But now, as we find our feet in the 21st Century—and especially at the beginning of the year 2012, which holds so much symbolic meaning for many people—the role of women in society is evolving yet again. We have made great strides in protecting the rights of women at a legal level, but many women have not yet fully come to embrace who they are, both within society and within themselves. In so many books and popular media, we hear the word “empowerment” tossed casually about, but all too many women have struggled to become that “empowered” woman they once imagined would bring them happiness. In trying to become what they’ve been told they should strive to be, they often push themselves through decades of stress, feelings of helplessness, lack of self-esteem and even self-abuse in the form of addictions, eating disorders or dysfunctional relationships. These days, many women are beginning to realize that trying to become an “alpha female”, in competition with the so-called “alpha male”, is not the answer to life’s problems.

Author Mal Duane knows all about this struggle. When she was a young woman, she battled with alcohol dependency, low self-esteem and abusive relationships. But these days, Mal is a happily married and highly successful entrepreneur in the real estate world, as well as a coach and author. In her work as a certified recovery coach, has helped hundreds of women find the path to “empowerment” without sacrificing their femininity and natural personality. In fact, it is within these very things that true empowerment lies. She calls this type of woman—markedly different from the “alpha female”—an “Alpha Chick”.

In her new book, Alpha Chick: five steps for moving from pain to power, Mal shares her reflections on what her own life as an Alpha Chick is like:

“Living my life as an Alpha Chick, I am aware now of my true potential and purpose. Self-awareness and serenity are my reality. Most of the time my life runs like a finely tuned piece of machinery, with all parts working in harmony with one another. I am no longer pulled in conflicting directions. I begin each day knowing and loving the woman I am. I appreciate everything I have: my husband, my health, my homes and my work.” (Alpha Chick, page 161)

The book Alpha Chick: five steps for moving from pain to power is celebrating its official Amazon launch on Tuesday February 14th, 2012.

Mal says she chose Valentine’s Day because she “wanted women to give themselves the gift of self-love by buying themselves the book on that day.”

On Valentine’s Day, you can buy Mal’s book, and receive a great collection of FREE gifts, including a free class from Mal where she will PERSONALLY take you through the five Alpha Chick steps of “F-A-I-T-H”, so you can apply them in your life easily and quickly.

To register for a launch reminder,
so Mal can let you know when the book and free gifts are available, just go to:
http://alphachick.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html

When you register, you’ll also receive a FR*EE pass to

The Alpha Chick Telesummit

Feb 7th, 8th and 9th, 2012

12pm Pacific; 3pm Eastern; 8pm UK; 9pm Europe

A FR*EE 3-Day Online Event

With a Panel of Leading Experts

on How to Awaken Your Alpha Chick Consciousness

If you cannot make the live event,

register anyway so you can download the MP3s.

I have the great pleasure of being one of 10 guest speakers on the 3-Day Alpha Chick Telesummit, where we’ll be discussing out to awaken, find and actualize your natural Alpha Chick consciousness. I hope you’ll join Mal, me and this illustrious panel of guests for this great online event:

• Mal Duane – Certified Professional Recovery Coach; author of Alpha Chick: Five Steps for Moving from Pain to Power
• Lynn Serafinn – Coach; marketer; author of The 7 Graces of Marketing and The Garden of the Soul
• Christine Kloser – award-winning author; mentor to transformational authors and conscious entrepreneurs
• Paula Tarrant – Transition/transformation coach for women; Founder of Inspired Women Work
• Auriella ONeill - teacher, empowerment coach, radio host
• Dr. Joe Rubino – personal development trainer, success & life-optimization coach, bestselling author
• Brenda Adelman - MA in Spiritual Psychology, forgiveness coach, recipient of a Hero of Forgiveness Award, an award-winning actress
• Krystalya Marie’ – Energy healer for body, mind and spirit
• Lissa Coffey – Lifestyle and relationship expert, author of What’s Your Dharma and 5 other books, founder of CoffeyTalk.com.
• Chaney Weiner – Media expert, authority on human potential and personal development, founder of the Chaney Institute of Human Potential

To find out more about this event, go to

http://alphachick.com/book-launch/pages/telesummit.html

When you register, you will also receive a “launch reminder” for the book.

I do hope you’ll check out Mal’s book Alpha Chick on Valentine’s Day, and I’ll “see” you at the Alpha Chick Telesummit on February 7th!

Blissful Living and Loving: a Conference on Love, Sex and Relationships, sponsored by Just BEE Wellness

and Zest and Harmony Counseling.

http://tinyurl.com/beewellness

This conference will be held from February 6th – 22nd and offers 20 outstanding presenters discussing topics such as:

Partner Yoga

Conscious Loving

The Désilets Method

Forgiveness & Freedom

Self-Love

Herbs & Foods for Sexual Vitality

As part of the special Blissful Mondays promotion, you can listen to any of the Monday presentations
FREE OF CHARGE.

However, for full access, when you register by February 1st, you get the following

Platinum Bliss Package for only $29.99:

Access to all the live presentations (featuring live question and answer sessions);

MP3 replay versions of all the presentations;

Access to the weekly, Thursday wellness lounge, where you can interact with other participants and connect with speakers;

The Blissful Living & Loving Workbook; and

Complimentary bonus gifts from the speakers.

We’re also hosting live, intensive workshops on February 21st and 22nd. The cost of the intensive
workshops is just $14.99 each if you register by February 1st; or you can get the Platinum Bliss Plus
Package, which includes everything in the Platinum Bliss Package, as well as both intensives for just
$49.99.

And did I mention that I will be speaking? That’s right, on Monday, February 13th from 7:30 PM – 8:15 PM EST. (4:30 PM – 5:15 PM PST)

Forgiveness: A Pathway to Personal Freedom

I am presenting on

The 5 Top Reasons to Never Forgive and Why You Must
and on
Learn what a Healthy Boundary is and how to Implement It.

So, if you’re ready to enter a new phase of personal and relationship satisfaction, you’ll want to register
today and become a part of the Just BEE community.
I invite you to take this step now – for yourself, for your partner, and for your relationship.

Click here to learn more:

http://tinyurl.com/beewellness

P.S. This event is going to fill up quickly, so please register soon.

________________________________________________________________

He shared how he gets sucked into the energy and goes into explaining and defending himself against this ‘tyrant’ in order to try to calm him down.

I understand why he does that.

It’s scary when someone comes at you with energy backed with anger.

Your mind may try to grasp the thought that, he’ll never really hurt me.

But do you really know this to be true?

You can’t be reasonable with an unreasonable person who is attacking you verbally.

They can’t hear it. They don’t think reasonably like you.

Okay, I have a very strong opinion on this and I’ll tell you why.

I’ve lived it. It was scary. I know the potential for violence is there.

In 1995 my father shot and killed my mother.

As far as I know he didn’t lay a hand on her for the 20 years preceeding the shooting.

Was he emotionally violent to her? Absolutely.

Did I ever in my wildest dreams think he would kill her? NO!

I could not comprehend that. This was my father, whom I loved.

I thought he loved me too much to harm my mother.

I was wrong.

And after my mother died, but before he went to prison, his anger started being directed at me.

What did I do?

What do you do when a parent accuses you? Blames you? Belittles you? Dismisses you?

Do you stay and take it?

Do you deny the behavior and through wishful thinking believe it will get better?

I did both…until I could no longer be a doormat.

I did both…until I started to believe in myself and my right (just because) to happiness, peace and equanimity in my life.

I had to let go of the belief system that made me listen to someone abusing me when I really wanted to run.

I had to let go of the belief that someone else’s well-being is more important than mine and that somehow I didn’t have a right to stand up for myself.

There was a dance…a few years of an on again off again relationship with my father.

During this time I felt small and insignificant.

Through study and hard work I learned that I was enough and no one, especially a parent, had a right to belittle me.

I had to learn to love myself and respect myself enough to set healthy boundaries.

I had to let go of my victim story.

When I did I was able to make the decision to take my father to court for the Wrongful Death of my mom.

I stood up to him in public. I had to.

I sought accountability for what he did to my mother.

He skipped town and didn’t show up for court.

He never contacted me again.

I had to find peace within without getting answers from him and without him showing remorse.

That, coupled with my doing intensive therapy, forgiving my judgments of my father and myself was the best thing to happen to me.

I was able to move on.

I was able to move out of the inertia that took hold of my life.

I was able to find the love of my life and have a loving family based on trust.

It took me a few years to let my guard down completely with others.

I could once I learned to trust myself and make decisions based on that trust.

So I ask you…do you shrink, lash out or leave when the energy of anger comes your way?

You know my choice.

In the loving,

Brenda