#theater-concert

[semnebune]

Dr. Faustus  theater-concert, inspirat de operele lui Thomas Mann și Leonard Bernstein, creat în cel mai nou  Laborator de instrospecție muzicală/teatrală #artefactum,  deschide luni,  15 mai, stagiunea Nocturnalii  inside 2023, a Companiei de teatru independent Arte-Factum. Evenimentul se va desfășura de la ora 20:00, în Studioul Franciscan  din Timișoara (str. E. Ungureanu  nr. 1, Piața…

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 73: Assorted Performances XII

These Questions are the result of suggestions from the previous iteration.

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration.

This is the last of the already prepped Performances polls left. Have more suggestions? Feel free to weigh in.

Unless there is a landslide of suggestions, we'll be going back to the 20th century and earlier soon. I do have some music polls I want to run in February, which will effect the posting schedule.

[brookbee]

David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars performing the song “Ziggy Stardust,” 1973

[cosmicdebaser]

chess the musical is like the theatre version of ‘i can fix him’. the show is nearly 40 years old. every single production seems to fundamentally misunderstand it in some way. yet somehow every single chess enjoyer listens to it once and becomes convinced that if you were allowed to stage chess the musical your version would actually be the Best and Most Correct and you actually understand it better than anyone else who’s staged it before

[heliomanteia]

People that try to pile old soundtrack against Veilguard music as if it's trying to... undermine it? are weird and trying to pick a fight when there isn't any imo. A few tracks from VG are a clear love letter to DA:I & specifically Trespasser fans, it works with the callbacks to the past while creating a unique and particular inner-connected musical tone for the new game. It's not controversial to say that Hans Zimmer is a talented composer that knows what he's doing, you just gotta give the soundtrack (+unreleased ones people got from the game itself) the grace of being considered and analyzed

[shefightslikeagirl]

Stages Through the Ages - Part II

An Asylum History post by @shefightslikeagirl

Go back...

2008: The Asylum Grows

The Plague Tour kicked off in Spring of 2008. The stage design didn't change much, but it did evolve. More props, new costumes, and new set dressings started to appear. The concerts were drawing more people and, notably, two concerts were professionally filmed for a never-to-be-released DVD.

Two new pieces of scenic debuted this tour, the most notable of the two being an "Asylum Clock." It was a handmade clock that hung centerstage, equipped with black-and-white drapery and forever pointing at 4 o'clock. Depending on the venue, it was either flown (hung from the catwalks/lighting rafters) or hung up on the back wall. Occasionally, if there truly wasn't any room, it would end up on floor.

Nachtelben, 2008

Bristol, 2008

The second piece of scenic was a familiar one: a second shadowscreen! This was the only tour where there were two screens on stage, both of them adorned with a crown of gears and clocks. You can see two screens and a flown clock in the video below, from the La Locomotive show in Paris.

The "full" stage set up from The Plague Tour was, by far, the most complicated stage EA ever had. A full setup consisted of two shadowscreens, a flown clock, the keyboard drapery and props, a props table with chairs, fabric all over the stage, and a space for Joo Hee and her cello. This was probably best shown at the (filmed) Islington concert.

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of great recordings or photos of the full setup. However, there are some great shots of the stage details--including the shadowscreen topper--from EA's book readings at Wave Gotik Treffen.

WGT, 2008

2008: Keep Calm and Carry On

The Gate Tour was next. Now, if you were in the fandom at the time, you might remember some of the drama that surrounded this tour: Vecona leaving, EA's relationship with Trisol imploding, Joo Hee dropping off the face of the earth, and so on. There was a lot of change happening in the Asylum, but the show aesthetic staged largely the same.

The first half of The Gate didn't see many changes. Some scenic was given a facelift, including the keyboard, which was redesigned with a red-and-white drape. But everything still felt the same, even with Vecona gone.

Utrecht, 2008

We went back to having only one shadowscreen, which moved centerstage instead of being off to the side. (I have a sinking suspicion that this one may be larger than on other tours, but that could just be because the photos are better...)

Utrecht, 2008

EA had a handful of dates in North America during this tour, which was her first time performing outside of Europe since 2006. Because her set was mostly small items, fabrics, and easy-to-travel props, her stage remained largely the same. It appears they didn't travel with the shadowscreen, as it was missing from the New York and Ontario dates.

2009: Gears and Glitter

In 2009, the Gate II Tour began and our first significant design change took place. The fabric shadowscreen was replaced with a new version: a gear-lined, industrial themed shadowscreen (v2). It stood centerstage and acted as the focal point for the set, with everything else set up around it.

For those of you who might not know, this was a true upgrade. EA went from a handmade, pop-up screen to professional scrim. I can only assume that it was mounted to an aluminum frame, which would have kept better tension. The gears and decorative facing to hide the frame would have been made by EA (and friends).

In addition to the new clock, some empty antique-looking frames were suspended from the rig and both new and old props were scattered about the stage. But! A new icon debuted:

Wheelie!

Amsterdam, 2009

Allegedly inspired by the wheelchair from Wicked, Wheelie became a permanent fixture in EA's concerts all the way through 2014. She would be redesigned and replaced a few times, but she always returned.

EA was still touring almost exclusively in Europe, but after she split with Trisol, all that would change...

2009-2010: Tick Tock

After a significant amount of drama surrounding two cancelled North American dates, EA announced a brand new North American tour: The Key. The stage design changed again, this time pulling back a little on the number of props and small items onstage.

Emilie and Basil prepping for tour, Twitter, 2009

The biggest change was the combination of two different set pieces: the Asylum Clock and the shadowscreen.

Introducing: The Asylum Clock.

It was v3 of the shadowscreen, thematically taking the place of the clock that had once hung over the stage. It appeared in two different forms: the full face, which you see above, and what I'll call the skeletal version, below.

Brooklyn, 2009

This is a beefy set of truss, which EA loved to climb on when it was in its skeletal form.

In addition, the keyboard was given new drapery and the stage props were "neatly" placed on some new tea tables. An antique frame or a lamp-post chandelier might get hung up if the venue allowed. Wheelie lost some of its gears and jewels, which can be seen a bit farther down in this post.

Pomona, 2009

For EA's one-off Mexico date, the set was scaled back slightly.

Mexico City, 2009

Not much changed with this design through early 2010. Between the North American leg of The Key Tour and the European leg, the keyboard drapes changed again and the skeletal version of The Asylum Clock became the go-to.

Effenaar, 2010

When EA traveled to South America during The Door Tour in 2010, the set was stripped down entirely. There were no set dressings and no decorative frame for the shadowscreen, likely as a cost-saving measure. The focus was on the costumes, whatever stunt equipment they brought, and the few props they could shove in their bags.

2011: The End of an Era

The Door Tour was the last Opheliac tour. Again, as had become the trend between tours, the stage was scaled back. Most props were cleared away and it was rare to see anything hung from the rafters. Gone were the hand-painted gears and numbers from The Asylum Clock. It's newest iteration (v4) was a simple screen-printed truss cover, with a few props hung near the top.

Los Angeles, 2011

The keyboard decorations were massively simplified. Gone were the heaps of props, replaced with some electric candles ontop of a screen-printed Asylum logo. The props for the tea tables were scaled back, though that never stopped Maggot from spitting tea on the audience. The lack of aesthetic clutter didn't take away from the show, exactly, but it did detract from the vibe.

There's more to say and a few tours to left to talk about, but I'm running out of image space.

Part 3, anyone?

[six-sticks]

translation of zhou shen's "brave heart"

[dianessunflower]

Christine Baranski singing Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends with Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett at the Lincoln Center's American Songbook Gala on February 1, 2017

[rockinshots]

Johnny Marr was smashingly suave last at The Warfield Theater. I'm still in awe of his spectacular performance!! Wow oh Wow!! 💥💥

[the2amrevolution]

Take it off. Take it off. Take it off. Idol Human Theater

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 74: Assorted Performances XIII

These Questions are the result of suggestions from the previous iteration.

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration.

[plebeiangoth]

I am vain

It is my birthday (32!)

@ Varsity Theater in Minneapolis for Machine Girl (the birthday gift from my friends)

Shirt by @swankyangles one of my best friends got it for me 🤩

My mohawk fell ☹️

[thebloodbrothers-archive]

The Blood Brothers - 770 Club Madison, WI

March 19, 2007

[bribritenma]

The best Sidekick there is ♡

[robinsnest2111]

wanted to use my day off to go watch Conclave at the movie theater again but ugh.... i feel so sick and weak... idk if I could even survive the trip there, let alone sit still for 2 hours and take in every breathtaking detail without missing anything or passing out from the pain and exhaustion :^(

[frogmanfae]

It seems we need to have a little chat about theater etiquette, especially concerning "notes"

You do not say a singular bad word about the show until you are in the car on your way home in private. If you're taking public transportation, not until you get home. Not a word.

I wrote little notes (a thing i do as a form of my appreciation for the arts to ensure i keep my full attention on the show and dont zone out. I rarely share them with anyone) during an intermission for a show I saw with my friend at this really small playhouse and he leaned over and read (very loudly) "why did you put *something critical about the opening number*" like DUDE THAT ACTOR'S MOM COULD BE SITTING IN FRONT OF YOU??? DON'T SAY SHIT WHEN YOU DONT KNOW WHOS GONNA HEAR IT

Even if the people around you don't know the cast/crew personally, they could have really enjoyed it. Say you thought an actor was pitchy and you said that out loud during intermission or after the show (God forbid you say it during the show) and the person next to you thought it was incredible. You're now diminishing that person's experience and making them feel stupid for thinking it was good. Their whole night at the show is now devalued because you said something bad and changed their perspective.

And these same people are going to be out in the lobby, by the doors, in the parking lot, taking the same bus as you, walking part of your route, going to the same restaurant... hold your tongue until you're somewhere completely private. It's just respectful.