In 1994, Anne Marie Scheffler had a spot in the Summerworks theatre festival and no show to fill it with. She had put her money down with a clown friend, intending to do a two-hander, but the performance relationship ended and Anne Marie had $450 to make back. The producers of Summerworks encouraged Anne Marie to do a one-woman show, which she wrote and rehearsed in four weeks,with Sarah Sked directing, and it was a hit. Situation: NORMA opened at the Tarragon Extra Space and Jon Kaplan from the NOW Magazine was in the opening night audience. He called Anne Marie at home, sent over a photographer, and ravely reviewed the new talent he had found.
In 1995, Anne Marie created Not So Norma Productions (now known as Perfectly Norma Productions) and took Situation: NORMA to the Sudbury Fringe, Edmonton Fringe, Kelowna Fringe and San Francisco Fringe where she sold out everywhere. A talent scout from HBO Los Angeles saw Norma in Edmonton so Anne Marie went to Hollywood to showcase for HBO in January 1996. Anne Marie was invited to perform Situation: NORMA at The Uno Festival in Victoria BC in early 1997. In the summer of 1997, Anne Marie wrote Watch... Norma's Back! and took it across the fringe circuit again, to the Sudbury, Toronto, Edmonton and Victoria Fringes, again selling out everywhere. In 1998, Anne Marie performed her newly written show Leaving Norma, this time at the Sudbury, Toronto and Edmonton Fringes. Again, Leaving Norma was a hit show, selling out and collecting many five star reviews.
In 1999, Anne Marie created a fourth show and performed it, Dating Myself, at the Toronto Fringe. It sold out and was well received, but Anne Marie, who began to focus on her film and television acting career, chose not to go on the Fringe circuit.
Then at the end of 2001, and after shooting 15 episodes of Real Men, Anne Marie missed the self-produced one woman shows she had created through "Perfectly Norma Productions." She began to write, and a year and ten drafts later, she has created not only the play Not Getting It, but the film script Not Getting It, too. But always meaning to go to Los Angeles again to showcase, Anne Marie distilled the filmscript back into the original format of the one woman show. But this time her vision is bigger. She has allowed herself the luxury of other actors! And music!
On October 29th, Not Getting It was performed to an enamoured, sold out audience, turning away many.
Perfectly Norma Productions immediately booked the play again for a Winter and Summer run. Not Getting It also runs out of town, most recently in London and currently in Mar.
Perfectly Norma Productions has a mandate to produce quality, original, theatre to showcase the range of the actor. To make people laugh and cry, and believe that they are not alone. Much of the work is based on the Pochinko Clowning technique.
Perfectly Norma Productions intends to take Not Getting It to other cities, so keep your eye on this website for upcoming production dates! (Hint: Chicago, Los Angeles...)