On Saturday evening we were delighted to once again team up with VSA Texas and Pen2Paper for another magnificent and merry installment of The Lion and The Pirate Unplugged. Our May open mic got off to a swingin’ start with an improvised performance by dance group Body Shift (pictured below). Launched in 2010, Body Shift is a mixed-ability dance project that seeks to create a welcoming environment where everyone can find their own unique way to enjoy contemporary dance. Three of the group’s members, Susie Angel, Juan Munoz, and Tanya Winters, gave a wonderful, expressive performance that captured the joy and spontaneity dance can bring to people’s lives.

But wait, there’s more! The ever-popular Dude Choir returned to the Malvern stage—and this time they brought with them a new dude, Caleb Garcia (below left, with Eric Clow and Felipe Archer). The first song they performed dealt with the “precarious situation” of falling in love with one’s personal care attendant! Have a listen…

And do check out the other fantastic acts below (and the additional pics on our Facebook page). We have performances from past mic-ers “Bear” Beam and Camille Euritt, as well as marvelous turns from Lion & Pirate newcomers Pamela Brouker and Stan VanSandt—and there’s also the debut of a play by K.K. Marshall, read by K.K., Pamela, Caleb, and April Sullivan. Thanks to everyone for making it such a brilliant night of open mic magic, and we hope to see y’all next month!

Saturday, March 29th, was Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day, and we celebrated in fine style with another awesome open mic, once again brought to us by VSA Texas and the Pen2Paper Creative Writing Contest (and with the help of a rowdy pirate and a watchful lion). As you can see, the performers had a (hair) flippin’ good time!

Pictured above are Sofia Jimenez, who had us all bopping in our seats with her tribute to One Direction, and Bear Beam, who introduced us to Oscar-the-drum. Our heartiest thanks to everyone who took part—your performances were, as always, a joy to watch, and we were delighted to have y’all strutting your stuff on the Malvern stage. You can check out more photos from the open mic on Facebook and watch footage from the event below. And if you’d like to take part in the next Malvern mic-tacular, be sure to keep an eye on our events calendar for all the details!