Up and Running!

Kate beat me to it - but here's my own post celebrating our opening and first weekend of show. Response has been overwhelmingly positive. We're so excited to bring you this show and hope that you will be able to see it soon!! Only 8 performances left, including tonight!

Thanks to Lee Terry, Sxip Shirey, Meg Pardo, Caity Grand, our fantastic cast - Sarah Engelman, Serra Hirsch, Kirsten Kammermeyer, Miyu Leilani, Mary Notari, and Sophia Remolde! From, me and Kate. :)

WE OPENED!!

And i haven't posted any photos yet, amazing.  i guess i've been recovering from the great party we threw inside the darkest of spaces.  Twas very fun with lots of dancing.

Do come see the show, we're psyched about the words people are using to describe it: "Magical" "Mesmerizing" "Inspirational"

THANK YOU everyone who has graced us with their presence at the show so far.  Please come and grace us with yours.....

Almost there!!

The lights have been hung, the walls are all up and glowing. The screens are covered in gorgeous paint, and fabric is flowing everywhere.

We're almost ready!! Our first preview was last night and went very well. We got some great feedback and are excited for our second (and final!) preview tonight. Opening is tomorrow and then we'll have our benefit party! It's the miracle of theater - somehow it really does all come together...

Opening Night is SOLD OUT!! When are you coming to see the show? I want to remind everyone to order tickets ahead of time as we only have 15 spots to reserve per show. Order now: Brown Paper Tickets 1-800-838-3006

See you soon!
:)
Alexis

Things Starting to Look Like Things

Well the cool part about watching all of this come together is that Things are really starting to look like THINGS. We had the whole space taken over by tools and puppet building. Then rehearsals started and that had to really happen around the puppet building. But finally the building has moved out of the performance space and a few scenes are up and ready to go. I love transformations!

Rehearsal Photos

Here are some really great shots of rehearsal. People are even coming in off the street to check out our work! chashama's dream has come true!

Can I just mention again how fantastic this cast is? I feel truly lucky to work with these talented folks. They are really fun to watch... and fairly hypnotizing though the window...

getting closer

A long day it twas.  and now i lay in bed wishing i were not about to do normal work on my computer.  All the glory of spray adhesive, latex paint, needle and thread is starting to come to life:

 

Ethan worked tirelessly for a straight 7 hours with a paintbrush to finish painting the dogu black.

Bil finished sewing the Moth wings and stained his hands green to dye to body foam.

Alexis brought in the lighting designer and they all got giddy about lights.

Me, i've almost finished the rod puppet.

but more, always more.........

I don't want to give it away

But i'm TOO excited not to show you the progress...

That Caterpillar has been such a project for me, and it still isn't finished, but there are so many hours and days that have gone into this pillar.  So many hands that have touched it and caressed its outer skin and interior lining.  hmmm.... at least, well at least 4 people.  Me, Ryan O'Neil (who helped out with the initial design and started dressing me up and pinning me the very day we met), Ethan Gould, and Claudia Acosta.

So far.....

Build Build Build!

Today was a devoted build day and Kate helmed a group of volunteers to get some major work done on the set and puppets in the show.

The caterpillar has grown a face and the dream sequence has grown a tower.

Every day something new takes shape!

Warming up with Walls

It's six million degrees below zero, but we here at chashama 217 are keeping things toasty with fabric, staples, and zip-zap-zop.

Hidy-ho, Alexis the Director here.

We've seen some pretty dramatic enhancements in the space over the past few days. The bubbling walls are beginning to take their final shape and are looking fantastic. It turns out that sticking your face in soft spandex is an excellent destressing technique. In addition to telepathy, I'll be leading a relaxation workshop after this show opens featuring Fun With Two-Way Stretch exercises. ...Well, maybe.

The Dogu screens have paper, and very nearly all the show's internal wooden-skeleton is up! The rest is falling into place and the space gets more beautiful every day. Best of all, we've been having some great rehearsals with the cast - starting with theater games and object workshops, and moving on to exploring each set element as it finishes.

I want to thank our volunteer builders again. Castmember Miyu has put in some work at our carving table, Ethan continues to be a tremendous help, and welcome to Antoine who is new to the world of spectacle-theater but is darn handy with masking tape and craft paper.

And get this: Our FABULOUS composer Sxip Shirey has completed the first draft of our score! The cast and I will start working with it this weekend. Let me just say this: it will make all of your internal organs do sommersaults! One at a time, though, so don't worry. There's no health risk in taking part in this ride. Except that you might never look at performance the same way again.


à tout à l'heure...

Bugs and Bubbles

Hidy-ho! Alexis the Director here.

Rehearsals have begun! Our fantastic cast has started to play with objects and rehearsal props in the space. Here they are improvising with some lovely black lace spandex - as we all like to do from time to time.

We've been playing a lot of theater games to strengthen the ensemble so they will be able to operate using the "group mind." Which means, you guessed it, I'm teaching them telepathy. If you are interested in learning from me, please let me know. Best way to contact me these days is to stand outside of 217 E. 42nd Street and yell "boy I wish I was stapling fabric together right now!" I'll be there in a jiffy.

Speaking of fabric-stapling... We have begun to mount one of the show's most dramatic visual elements - the Bubbling Walls! How to walls "bubble" you ask? There's only one way to find out...

But not everything we're building is quite so large. There are small, delicate pieces too. We've been spending a fair amount of time carving, and filing (thanks again Ethan!), some intricate designs for the show's opening scene. I think they look pretty great...


...And Now... The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...
THE CATERPILLAR FASHION SHOW!! (Thanks for the pics Neimah)
















Kate wanted to see the costume from the outside. I *had* to oblige...










A little role reversal... to shake things up.










Until next time! :) a

TD and Snowman

Well all the hard work and long hours this week must have finally gotten to Mike. Here he is having a dance party with the snowman pencil.

Snow and lumber

Hi-ho, Alexis the Director here...
Well the weather outside is frightful, but the hand-drill is so delightful! We've finished some major building basics for Dark Space. The Dogu towers are completed (tho still unpainted), and one of the walls is ready for some fabric magic. David Bowie is keeping us jumping (and reminding us of the babe) while we paper mache and carve matte board.

Yesterday the large caterpillar costume got some well deserved attention and I hope to be able to post some fashion shots of that progress soon.

Kate, Mike and I are plugging away and so far we've had some very helpful visitors! Thanks to Neimah, Marina, and Ethan for your hard work so far! If you'd like to join the fun, contact Kate to find out about open build times: mail.us.here@imnotlost.net

The snow may be coming down, but 1x3s are going up. We're pushing hard to get most things done before rehearsals begin on Monday. Luckily this is a great little group, so there's a fair amount of whistle-working. Or belting along with Freddie Mercury, as the case may be.

Getting excited? Now's your chance to reserve tickets! Dark Space is designed to lead small audiences throughout the space as the show unfurls, so each performance has only a tiny number of tickets available. It is strongly advised to purchase your tix in advance to reserve your space. The event is now for sale at Brown Paper Tickets (a pretty fantastic organization that you all should know about): www.brownpapertickets.com 1-800-838-3006

Moving into Chashama

It's been an exciting week so far moving into a space of our own! Even though we've got almost 4 weeks before we open, i'm nervous about getting everything done! The ENTIRE space will transformed and unrecognizable. At least, that is how I hope it will be experienced. And not only are we building walls and devices, but we are also building multitudes of puppets. A huge caterpillar, puppet boxes, the dream scene, the small caterpillar, a huge moth.... oh so much!

VERY EXCITING business this art-making.