Due to overwhelming demand - we've added another 2 Alice In WonderSLand shows. Get your tickets at Xstreet http://tinyurl.com/3agys2c
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The first reviews are in - it seems we have a hit!
I did a bit of googling to find Alice in WonderSLand reviews...seems our wee show is going down well
Showing posts with label Avatar Repertory Theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Avatar Repertory Theatre. Show all posts
Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Finally an update: Alice in WonderSLand
OK OK i know I have been slack at updating my blogs lately...i do have a good reason.
For approximately a year now, Avatar Repertory Theater has been planning a production of Alice in Wonderland. The last 3 months have been an increasingly hectic time - trying to get the sets and costumes and marketing and rehearsals done. The last month...way too many hours spent.
But worth it :)
Seems our first show was a success with comments from our first performance like "ART has really pushed theater in SL to a new level" and a great first review.
There's still tickets available for our next performances at Xstreet , and only 5 performances left so grab one now :) click here for ticket listings
Its a really fun production with some laugh-out-loud moments...special effects, funky costumes, fun props, and some surprises for the audience. Runs about 90 mins, costs $500 ld (about $2 US) - arrive early please :).
A small word about Tim Burtons version..We found out about it approx 3 months into our planning - we decided to deliberately not see it so as to not be influenced. And we tried as much as possible to distance ourselves style wise from the Disney version as well. We just wanted our version to be 'our' version ya know?
On a personal note, although I never anticipated being involved in Theater in Second Life... it is very engrossing to be able to be involved in pushing the boundaries of such an ancient art in a new medium (real time virtual 'worlds'). We have actors and audience from all over the world, gathered on one venue at one time to perform. Although we are limited in the amount of traditional stagecraft (our actors describe it as virtual puppetry and a radio play combined), we do have the ability to do special effects and transitions normally reserved for post-production on film and TV. And it's a spontaneous performance - although planned down to small details, we never know quite what Second Life will push at us. Things like 'crashing' out of SL have to be coped with smoothly strategies such as "crash actors" who basically stand around waiting for such events to happen - already costumed and ready to go on at a moments notice.
A word about Avatar Repertory Theater : such a great group of guys n gals to work with :)
All putting in many many voluntary hours to push the boundaries on what we see as a new and exciting form of theater. A wide range of interests, ages, and talents all combining with energy and humour - and I really think it shows in our productions. It's great to be involved with a group of people who enjoy what they do and it's a true and rare pleasure to work with them.
For approximately a year now, Avatar Repertory Theater has been planning a production of Alice in Wonderland. The last 3 months have been an increasingly hectic time - trying to get the sets and costumes and marketing and rehearsals done. The last month...way too many hours spent.
But worth it :)
Seems our first show was a success with comments from our first performance like "ART has really pushed theater in SL to a new level" and a great first review.
(Our tease/bait posters)
Its been a huge amount of work for a lot of very talented people on the A.R.T. team. From the inital creation and revisions of a script, thru to the mind-numbing job of trying to organise 17 people spread across the world in different time zones. And we decided to try and create everything ourselves...skins, hair, clothes, props, sets, even some original music. In hindsight... probably a little too adventurous for such a big production (13 set changes for instance) but we made it and survived!
Its a really fun production with some laugh-out-loud moments...special effects, funky costumes, fun props, and some surprises for the audience. Runs about 90 mins, costs $500 ld (about $2 US) - arrive early please :).
A small word about Tim Burtons version..We found out about it approx 3 months into our planning - we decided to deliberately not see it so as to not be influenced. And we tried as much as possible to distance ourselves style wise from the Disney version as well. We just wanted our version to be 'our' version ya know?
On a personal note, although I never anticipated being involved in Theater in Second Life... it is very engrossing to be able to be involved in pushing the boundaries of such an ancient art in a new medium (real time virtual 'worlds'). We have actors and audience from all over the world, gathered on one venue at one time to perform. Although we are limited in the amount of traditional stagecraft (our actors describe it as virtual puppetry and a radio play combined), we do have the ability to do special effects and transitions normally reserved for post-production on film and TV. And it's a spontaneous performance - although planned down to small details, we never know quite what Second Life will push at us. Things like 'crashing' out of SL have to be coped with smoothly strategies such as "crash actors" who basically stand around waiting for such events to happen - already costumed and ready to go on at a moments notice.
A word about Avatar Repertory Theater : such a great group of guys n gals to work with :)
All putting in many many voluntary hours to push the boundaries on what we see as a new and exciting form of theater. A wide range of interests, ages, and talents all combining with energy and humour - and I really think it shows in our productions. It's great to be involved with a group of people who enjoy what they do and it's a true and rare pleasure to work with them.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
ART Christmas Shows
Had our second to last rehearsal today of the ART Christmas shows... things seem to be running smoothly so here a bit of publicity about it for those interested. :)
The REAL Christmas Story
3 original Christmas Plays by Avatar Repertory Theatre
Does your Christmas look less like Norman Rockwell and more like Norman Bates? Does your family put the "Diss" in "Dysfunctional"? Does your Uncle Fred use the Andy Williams' Christmas Albums for target practice? Well, welcome home Buckaroo! The actors of the Avatar Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) invite you to "The Real Christmas Story", starring Y.A.D.F. (your average dysfunctional family). These original Christmas stories will premiere on Friday, December 11, at 5 pm pst at the Dove Theater at Rockcliffe.
Two other performances will be presented on Saturday, December 12 at 3 pm pst, and Sunday, December 13 at 2 pm pst.
Written by three members of the A.R.T., "The Real Christmas Story" presents three views of the pain and pleasure of the holiday season. Sodovan Torok, Kayden Oconnell and Rowan Shamroy have googled their internal computers and found stories that embrace the past, endure the present and anticipate the future. Scrooge may have survived the spirits, but Tiny Tim might need counseling after spending time with these ghosts.
In his "The Xmas I Met Santa", Sodovan Torok brings us a sweeter tale of how Santa made an unexpected entrance and a somewhat painful exit. Rowan Shamroy shows us how old family dynamics are magnified and amplified during the requisite holiday gathering. And Kayden Oconnell shatters some Christmas myths when a hotshot reporter visits a young old man who knew Santa before Santa was cool.
Directed by Em Jannings and produced by AvaJean Westland, the Christmas shows include A.R.T. actors Prospero Frobozz, Thundergas Menges, Mickie Nikolaidis, Kayden Oconnell, Persephone Phoenix, Ada Radius, Rowan Shamroy, MadameThespian Underhill and Dolgoruky Umarov. The sets have been built by JubJub Forder, with costumes and animations assembled by Ada Radius, Joff Fassnacht and Rowan Shamroy. We are also introducing the new A.R.T. English Sub-titler for the hearing impaired designed by Prospero Frobozz and managed by JudyArx Scribe.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Tempest finishes it's run
:( Sadly the A.R.T's production of the Tempest has finished it's run. I had to increase the sim limit to fit all the audience in.. and IMHO it was our best performance yet - although some of the others were very close. Our audience seemed very enthused at the end, and again many donated large tips.
I have mixed feelings about the demise... a lot of hardwork over almost 3 months went into 6 performances, however we have all the sets and practiced actors and can always perform it again :)
Sad to see it go... and yet glad to move on to other things.
MadameThespian posted some images from the show - great pics!
 | by MadameThespian Underhill |
Shakespeare in Second Life
One of the many projects i am involved in is the Avatar Repertory Theatre… basically a company of actors/performers/enthusiasts pushing the boundaries of performances in Second Life. Our latest production is Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
ART presents Shakespeare's The Tempest
Now i know what you’re thinking…it’s either amateur dramatics ewwwwww…or (very rarely) Shakespeare yayyyy. To be honest, if you had said to me “you’re gonna be doing amateur dramatics in a year” i woulda laughed you outta the room. Long story how i got involved but essentially i started by creating a couple of props for a couple of plays ( a car and some seating)..and it escalated from there. Now i find myself doing Shakespeare
Well not ‘doing’, so much as set and props design, effects, lighting and doing a lot of click to trigger effects during the performance. Also some ticketing, marketing, etc etc.
The set of The Tempest performances
Now i know i should be concentrating on raising my income in SL, however its a chance to take time out from the purely commercial, give something back to SL, and meet some really great/cool people. We number among our troupe, professional actors, an ex-opera singer, writers, producers, professors, musicians, DJs, a senior Linden (in his alt disguise), and lil ol me 
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Did i mention we decided to do it in Steampunk theme?
Or that we have a Dragon and a Furry as well? In an off-the-cuff moment i described it as “pre-apocolyptic post-victorian furry steampunk” a quote which has been used since on all press releases and a few blogs :/
I’m not that into Shakespeare (although i recognise the role he has played in our literary history) however, watching this play over and over for a couple of months now (rehearsals and this weeks performances) has been extremely interesting. I have learnt many things, including that a good actors performance can really transcend the wordiness and obscure terms that are Shakespeare, and really make the story come alive. And we have some terrific actors…
(in alphabetical order): Ada Radius, Dolgoruky Umarov, Em Jannings, Joff Fassnacht, JubJub Forder, Kayden Oconnell, MadameThespian Underhill, Mickie Nickolaidis, Persephone Phoenix, Prospero Frobozz, Rowan Shamroy, Sodovan Torok, Suzy Yue, and Thundergas Menges.
The Figurehead on the ship
And then there’s the technical aspects that fascinate me.
We bring actors and audience together from all over the world, we put then in one place, we do a live performance complete with special effects (usually reserved for post production on movies ) and we cope with the vagaries of technology like..actors computers crashing.. suddenly slow internet connections..voice dropping out… the challenges of set design with limited textures and objects to lower risk of the dreaded ‘lag’… audience doing the unexpected (like triggering doors on the set or suddenly flying right between actors) and many more aspects too numerous to mention.
The Tempest Ship - We break and sink it in the opening scene
A lot of work, a lot of testing, a lot of time, and a lot of thought go into making it work…but we do… and judging from the audience comments - we do it very well.
Warning: Marketing blurb ahead!
The Tempest, is a story of love, deceit and redemption… come witness this classic tale brought to life - Steampunk Shakespeare like you have never seen before!!!
If you are interested in attending the last performances ..contact JubJub Forder, or Ada Radius inside SecondLife
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