Tickets for Gargoyle Garden are now on sale online! Follow these links to purchase tickets:
Sat 8/9 @ 7:45
Sun 8/10 @ 5:30
Wed 8/13 @ 5:15
Sun 8/17 @ 2:30
Wed 8/20 @ 8
Tickets are $15 plus a $3.75 service charge per order–so order LOTS of tickets at once to save! We hope to see you at one of the shows! For more informatin about Gargoyle Garden, visit our homepage.
We have finished our first two rehearsals for Gargoyle Garden. On Tuesday (7/15) and Wednesday, the cast met and began the long, hard work of learning the music to the show. Everyone was high-energy and enthusiastic, and we made alot of headway into the score. But, after three grueling hours on Tuesday, I could see that the cast was a bit worried about how slow things were proceeding. And, of course, they were right: it was slow going.
But that’s absolutely nothing unexpected. I’ve never attended a first rehearsal of my music where I didn’t walk away thinking, “oh my god, what was I thinking!? That was a trainwreck! I’m doomed! I’m doomed! …well, at least I won’t be the one on the stage being laughed at! I can sneak out the back…” or some such thoughts. After this first rehearsal, I was actually fairly pleased at how far along we were–especially the children–Patrick Henney (playing Edgar Allen Densmore) and Emily Bordonaro (playing Annabel Lee). The kids are so excited and so energetic. They just melt my heart–even when they make mistakes. They have more work to do than the adults have yet to do, but that’s also expected, since children take longer to “get it right” but take less time to learn it in the first place.
Well, that was not that painful in the end… choosing the cast was long and arduous, and–as I noted in a previous post–was very sad when it came time to send rejection notices. But, we now have all the roles cast and I have to begin scheduling rehearsals!! The cast for the 2008 NYC international Fringe Festival performance of Gargoyle Garden is:
The Chimney-man: Al Gillespie
Edgar Allen Densmore: Patrick Henney
Annabel Lee: Emily Bordonaro
Brother Keyes: John C. Taylor
Gritchpoo (sop. gargoyle): Elizabeth Mondragon
Grokk (ten. gargoyle): Josh Allor
Grindl (bass gargoyle): Brian DePetris
Tickets go on sale July 18. You may purchase tickets online or at the door. Ticket prices are $15. If you wish to purchase tickets at the door, you may only use cash, and purchases begin 15 minutes before showtime. One final thing to note: if you want to purchase tickets online, you must make the purchase at least 24 hours in advance. Because there are multiple shows in each venue, you may not purchase tickets online less than 24 hours in advance. This is to help the box-office staff at the venues do their jobs efficiently.
Well, we’re almost done casting Gargoyle Garden for the August run. We’ve cast every role except “Annabel”, and we’ve narrowed that down to two wonderful little girls. Either one of them will do quite nicely. We’re simply working through our pros and cons at this point.
But, let me say this: I hate casting. I especially hate casting KIDS. They try so hard at the auditions, and they perform their hearts out. Some are more seasoned and talented than others of course, but they all come to the process without the thick layer of emotional protection that comes from years of auditions as an adult. Yesterday, I sent out about 25 emails “rejecting” kids for the production. That was an awful, thankless task. I didn’t like it at all. We even got some replies back from parents and kids thanking us for the opportunity, and letting us know how much fun they had, etc… That made me feel even worse. Blech.
Since we have only about 1 1/2 weeks until the first rehearsal, we need to make our final decision–fast! Once we do that, I’ll post the entire cast list here. I’ll also continue to blog about getting the show up and running. So check back here occasionally for info regarding the show and for info about purchasing tickets.
Hey! Ho! Kerrack-kerah!! We have our venue and our dates for the 5 performances of Gargoyle Garden!
We’ll be performing the show on the main (upstairs) stage at the Bleeker Street Theater, 45 Bleeker Street in the East Village (@ the corner of Lafayette and Bleeker. The 6, B, D, V, and F subway trains are all, literally, just a few steps from the entrance to the theater.) It’s a great space, seating about 200, and it feels perfect for the work.
Performance dates are:
SAT 8/9 @ 7:45-8:45
SUN 8/10 @ 5:30 – 6:30
WED 8/13 @ 5:15 – 6:15
SUN 8/17 @ 2:30 – 3:30
WED 8/20 @ 8:00 – 9:00
Ticket information will be available soon. I’ll post info as soon as it’s available. We hope you can make it out to one of the performances!
Well, things are, uh…, proceeding. Good news/bad news/no news. Good news: Jeff and I have received our venue designation from the Fringe Festival organizers. It’s a great venue. I can’t tell you where it is yet, though, since the organizers are putting the final touches on where all of the festival’s 200 shows will be. So, they don’t want us to announce anything until they’ve got all their ducks in a row. (I guess that’s kind of “good no news”.)
Good news: I’ve completed the additions that Jeff and I decided on, which will add about 7 minutes to the show. Much of the additions are reprises of earlier music, or are re-workings of other material that I’ve previously written. However, I did have to write one new song. But, I got that done last weekend, so we’re ready to go.
Bad news: we’re still looking for a boy and a girl to perform the children’s roles. We thought we had a possible line on the boy soprano role, but it fell through at the last minute. We also have a few more roles to fill–2 of the gargoyles. Still, the major role is filled by the originator–Al Gillespie–who I’m particularly excited about, and I’m happy that he’ll be reprising the role.
No news: we still don’t know the dates of the performances. As soon as the festival organizers complete the venue assignments, then they’ll assign performance dates. I’ll post them here as soon as we know anything.
More updates when they happen.
Well, after much thinking and pondering and consideration of the finances needed to bring Gargoyle Gardento the NYC international Fringe Festival, Jeff LaGreca and I decided to mount the show. So, we’ve been busy contacting some of the original performers to see if they’re interested and available. Some are. But some aren’t. So, we’ll need to recast some of the roles.
Jeff and I are also adding some new material to the book. We’re reprising one song (Be Invisible), but with new lyrics and sung by different roles the second time around; adding a little bit of music to one song (Dearest Edgar Allen)–we’re adding a “tag” at the end of each verse; and we’re adding one whole new scene wherein the audience learns exactly how the antagonist gets his comeuppance. These additions should only add about 4-5 minutes of music to the show, resulting in a bare-minimum running time of about 45 minutes. Of course, with applause, adjustments to tempos, and other musical issues, the work will probably come in closer to 50+ minutes. This is still under an hour, though, and I think that’s about right for a work whose intended audience is primarily children.
Jeff and I also had to decide how to handle the instrumental forces for the show. The original conception had 12 players (fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, tpt, perc, pno, 2 vns, vla, and vlc), but even a chamber ensemble of this size had some major problems. The first, of course, was the cost of hiring this many musicians for 5 performances and multiple rehearsals. We just couldn’t afford it. The second problem is that we’re afraid that we’ll scare off any potential presenters. We hope Gargoyle Garden will be picked up by children’s theaters and regional theaters. But, with a large musical ensemble, we’re sure to scare off anyone from mounting a performance. So, Jeff and I decided to go as small as we could: a piano and a percussionist. This is just killing me. The music I’ve written is, in some places, very dependent on some instrumental effects and orchestration. So, I’ve had to swallow hard and take my lumps on this one.
We’ll find out soon when and where the Fringe Festival is scheduling our performances. I’ll report back here as soon as I learn the details.
well, it’s not that bad… The Robot’s movements are fairly fluid–although a bit, erm…, robotic.
Also, the world did not end.
Well… the good news is that my children’s opera, with libretto by Jeff LaGreca, has been accepted in the NYC International Fringe Festival. Jeff and I are excited that our work has been recognized this way. We’ll be deciding soon if we’ll be mounting a performance there in August, 2008. We are both leaning towards performing at the festival, but we have to finance the musicians, costumes, sets, and other artistic properties ourselves. And, we’ll need to re-cast some of the roles–partly because the originators of the children’s roles have grown up over the past 1.5 years. Jeff and I are meeting soon to figure out what we need to do to get this off the ground. I’ll report back here soon with our final decision!
Please join me and my fellow composers of the Random Access Music composers’ collective on May 2 and May 4 for six world premieres, performed by the Lost Dog New Music Ensemble. This performance will be the third year of collaboration between RAM and Lost Dog. Joining the Lost Dog players will be special guest artist, mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn. My own work, Still Life (with Monkey), is a playful romp inspired by my daughter, Naomi’s careful placement of objects on our coffee table. Included in Naomi’s composition was a toy monkey.
Friday, May 2, 2008, @ 8:00 pm
The Tenri Cultural Institute
43-A West. 13th Street (near 6th Ave.)
Manhattan, NYC
Tickets: $15 online; $20 at the door; $15 for seniors; $7 for students
and
Sunday, May 4, 2008, @ 2:00 pm
Queens Library
41-17 Main Street
Flushing Queens, NYC
Admission to this concert is FREE!
The works on the concert will be:
Jonathan Pieslak Banchetul, for Soprano
David Fetherolf Septuagenaria, for Flute, Piano, and Cello
Erin Rogers Primary Colors, for Flute, Clarinet, & Piano
Manly Romero Remember, Father, for Violin & Piano
B. Allen Schulz Still Life (with Monkey), for Clarinet & Cello
I. The Fruit: Apples and Oranges
II. The Knife and the Bowl
III. (and the Monkey)
Stefan Weisman CalabiYau Songs, for Violin, Piano, & Soprano
The Lost Dog Players are: Laura Barger (Piano), Miranda Cuckson (Violin), Chistine Perea (Flute), Tom Piercy (Clarinet), and Clarice Jensen (Cello).
