Listen to These Mothers!

On Mother's Day, we give our mothers flowers, kisses, rub their feet, tell them we love them.

But do we really know what's going on in their heads?

On Saturday, you can get a not just a glimpse — but a full on walkthrough — into the minds (and hearts) of 14 women who are mothers, writers and willing to open up to an audience about their lives in the context of Mother's Day.

One of those women, Brianne DeRosa, is a Cranston resident and blogger. In an interview, she said the show will have you feeling everything from hysterical laughter to "really following some tough experiences people have had."

But ultimatley, woven through all the 14 stories, will be a common thread that binds us all together. 

"We're hoping to walk away feeling like we're all in this together, either struggles we're having or joy we've had and hearing the truth," DeRosa said.

The truth will ring true for the audience assembled at the Providence Public Library Auditorium, and not just for other mothers. The stories should hit home for fathers, husbands, boyfriends and children, too. Because when it comes to motherhood, there are few things more powerful in the life of a man.

The show is the brainchild of Ann Imig and has grown from one city to 24 in just three years. The Providence show this Saturday is the only one in New England.

The critically acclaimed stage series has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and on local NPR stations.

DeRosa, who writes about food, particularly about feeding her family and a child with unique needs, said the show is really about womanhood, not just motherhood. But there won't be brow-beating, nor is this going to be an estrogen fest.

"It's a bunch of people who happen to be women and happen to be mothers talking about things emotionally accessible to parents," DeRosa said.

Her performance will talk about the process of having a child with a diagnosis, "when he is doing better and how weird it is not to know what's going to happen next," DeRosa said. "That's not an experience that's totally unique to me."

DeRosa took time away from her blog, www.redroundorgreen.com, to audition for the show at the urgings of her friends. She said she walked into the audition expecting to bomb. 

"And they said, 'hey, do you want to be a part of this?'" DeRosa said. 

She's not an actor, nor will the performance resemble a play. Instead, think of The Moth, or the NPR show, "This American Life," which often features storytelling as an elevated art form. Stories that hold your attention, move you just a bit, get you thinking. In the end, the stories say as much about you as they do about the reader.

"Some of the stuff is hilariously funny," DeRosa said.

The first ever performance in Rhode Island -- and the inaugural show for Providence -- will take place on Saturday, May 4 at 2:00pm at the historical Providence Public Library Auditorium (http://www.provlib.org/). 

The Local Directors / Producers Team, Moms and bloggers Laura Rossi Totten (www.laurarossipublicrelations.com) and Carla Molina Martins (www.allofmenow.com/) are very excited about the show and have announced the cast and local sponsors including:  Rhody Mamas,  Rejuvaderm, Haute Tags, Egan Images, Tong Collection and Ian Travis Barnard Photography to name just a few.

Moms (and dads!), grandparents, aunts, uncles, and anyone who has a mother, is a mother, or hopes to be a mother are invited to the 90-minute performance.

To learn more about the show and cast, visit the Providence Listen To Your Mother website here:

http://www.listentoyourmothershow.com/providence/2013/03/22/announcing-the-listen-to-your-mother-providence-2013-cast/

http://www.listentoyourmothershow.com/providence/

Or the national website here:

http://listentoyourmothershow.com/

Providence Tickets via Brown Paper Tickets:

http://ltymprovidence.brownpapertickets.com/