Rogue, Interrupted

Greetings from not-so-sunny San Francisco!

As of three weeks ago, I am the newest Remote Rogue. There's been a few of us so far: Ryan (ensemble member, Finance Manager, and board member extraordinaire) worked from fabulous Las Vegas for more than a year, Lindsay (founding ensemble member) has been off getting her MFA for a while now, and we have Associate Artists as far away as Canada.

So what does being a Remote Rogue mean? Well, for us, it means living too far from LA to help in a hands-on capacity, but still being able to work on things from a distance. Although I can't help build masks for the next show (and oh man, do I want to!), I can still write the newsletter and update the website. But for Rogue Artists Ensemble in general, it means that the work we do is so incredible that people just can't give us up--even if they're suddenly far away. It's a really strong testament to the power of Rogue art.

And, fortunately, the Rogues have friends in many places. Remember the NET Conference Tyler and I attended in August? Well, many of the new friends we made in New Orleans are based in San Francisco, so last week I got to attend a NET workshop with a bunch of familiar faces right here in SF. Even though I hadn't met everyone beforehand, they had all heard of the Rogues. How exciting! It's times like these that I'm most grateful to be a Rogue.

Punch Puppet Theater - On Vacation

Recently the Rogues loaned the puppet theater to the newly formed Day Laborer Theater Troupe, formed in partnership with Cornerstone Theater Company. The troupe was formed after last year's Los Illegals project herein Los Angeles. I love when things like this puppet theater have a life, beyond what was intended and that it got to be used for such an awesome program. The photos below are from the first event created by this new arts organization.

Mailing Fun Dec 2008

Shannon and Pat stopped by Rogue house to help with compiling our December mailing. It was a great night full of lively conversation and a million labels and stamps! This photo just about sums it up!

Look for your mailing with amazing new ROGUE bookmark for Gogol Project coming to a mailbox near you! If you don't get one, it's even more reason to sign up on our mailing list.

Also in the news - We've made three new Ensemble members and more news will follow soon.

Shannon and John at the Ovation Awards!

Hello!

Wanted to report on our wondrous adventure to Cal State LA's Luckman Auditorium for the LA Stage Alliance's Ovation Awards last night!

I think everyone knows that the amazing and talented John Norbori was a nominee in the category of Sound Design for Intimate Theater for his work on The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch, and although he did not walk away with a statuette last night, I think it bears repeating that we are all so SO proud of him and all the Rogues for producing such an amazing piece of theater. Hello?! We got a nomination on the very first year we applied!

Anyway, the ceremony was fantastic and included flying theater seats, very bizarre projections of giant disembodied heads making strange faces, Neil FREAKING Patrick Harris as emcee doing magic tricks, and a very touching speech by Terrance McFarland, Executive Director of LA Stage Alliance, about theater, the LA community and the changes coming to our country.

I also have to admit that I was a little star struck and did almost drool on Zach Quinto (Sylar from Heroes!)

Special thanks to Amy for making it out! I'm sad you missed the opening, but glad you saw at least a bit!


And, doesn't John look good in his suit?!

<3 - Shannon

We're in a book!

This is the most exciting thing I've gotten to post in a while. :)

A few months ago, the Rogues were approached by a man working on a sort of biography/encylopedia of the works of Neil Gaiman. He asked us about Mr. Punch and our relationship to Gaiman, and we told him what he wanted to know. Very nice guy.

Now, after all this time, his book is being released! It's called "Prince of Stories: The Many World of Neil Gaiman" and it is AWESOME. According to Amazon, it's got:

...hours of exclusive interviews with Gaiman and conversations with his collaborators, as well as wonderful nuggets of his work such as the beginning of an unpublished novel, a rare comic and never-before-seen essay, this is a treasure trove of all things Gaiman. In addition to providing in depth information and commentary on Gaiman’s myriad works, the book also includes rare photographs, book covers, artwork, and related trivia and minutiae, making it both an insightful introduction to his work, and a true “must-have” for his ever growing legion of fans.

We received a couple promotional copies of the book the other day, and we were not disappointed. Of the dozen of so pages of color photos in the book, a full three are from our production of Mr. Punch! In fact, the Rogues have a whole chapter: "A Conversation with Rogues!" There are interviews with Sean Cawelti, Megan Owings, Jenny Owings, and me about our process, our inspirations, and more. See?

Things discovered: It's hard to take pictures of books. So if you can't quite make that out, I guess you'll just have to buy the book, won't you? :)

Click here to pre-order the book (comes out October 28...not long to wait!). Thanks to Christopher Golden for contacting us, and thanks to everyone for supporting us and helping us do what we do!

Thanks for coming!

The second-annual Masquerade went off without a hitch, and we were so delighted to have you there. Pictures and video will be up soon, but in the meantime, we want to hear from you! Do you have your own photos and stories to share? If so, leave us a comment or email rogue@rogueartists.org. We'd love to feature your submissions on the site (if it's ok with you, of course).

If you missed it this year, that's ok...we'll be posting a recap in the days to come, and we'd still love to see you next year! 

Hypercast #2: Unmasking Mr. Punch

Say hello to our sweet, sweet second Hypercast!

Listen in on a conversation with Patrick Rubio, mask designer for our latest production: The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch. We'll learn about the craft of creating masks, chat about the relationship between fear and memory, and be a fly on the wall for an actual mask making session.

Frog Belly's journey to WEHO

It was last weekend that Frog Belly journeyed to West Hollywood to perform at their delightful and exuberantly inclusive book fair.  I had a devil of a time parking and ended up having to yell my way into a lot because I actually heard from a distance the show had already begun.  The show was terrific and it was great seeing Shannon and Eric again who I had missed both in out and of puppet-dom.  

The crowd grew throughout the performance (a shortened brief Frog Belly at just  40 min) and by the end they had put out so many more folding chairs that the crowd extended far out from under the rear of the tent.  Included in the photos is a picture of a hen that was in a costume which is often the one thing I say... 'this book fair needs a hen in a costume.'  Thankfully it was there which made for a complete perfect and delightful day.  It feels so good to be able to say the Rogues are performing Frog Belly Rat Bone in our community and bringing quality performances to younger audiences that don't talk down to them, while also respecting parent and child alike.  

Masquerade Invitations

Cari assembles dozens of invitations to send to VIPs for the Masquerade.

It lives!

Our podcast is now available for subscription on iTunes. It feels like the Little Engine That Could (please tell me I wasn't the only person to read that as a kid).

To subscribe, just go to iTunes and search for "rogue artists." I'm sure there are other ways to find it, but that worked for me just fine. Click "subscribe," and from then on, every time you update your iPod, you'll get our latest episode.

Right now, we're planning on 1-2 podcasts per month, and we've got some great ideas for the next few. So go ahead and subscribe!

Photocall

Nina and Connor at photocall, approximately two minutes ago. The real
photos will be prettier than this, I imagine.

I've busted through the cyber walls of this blog and finally found my way to the inner sanctum! What rare air in here. Thank you, Cari for sending me the link so that I can contribute. The run is almost over, but I feel I should go backwards and blog chronologically.

So:

Our first read-through was great. There were donuts. It just doesn't get any better than that. I met our new stage manager, Joe. He seems like a very nice guy. He's an Army guy, so I vowed to never be late. (I saw Private Benjamin. I don't want to mess up. I like my toothbrush.)

Tech week was VERY tech-y. I read all my back issues of the New Yorker and started "Everything is Illuminated". An excellent book. (I know Miles and Cari agree.)

The show opened! I am so thrilled! We got such a warm reception from our Gala audience. We're really ready to do this for an audience. They are the most important missing ingredient.

We are into the run now. We decided that the Mermaid needs lots of blood to really make the violence and the implications of it clear. I think it is very effective. However, the MESS that I trail with me through the theatre, down the stairs and into the dressing room is...icky( yeah that's the best word). Plus, it's made with minty sugar and we have an ant problem, so it all needs to be cleaned up nightly. I'm in charge of myself and my bloody shoes, Kerry is in charge of my bloody costume and poor Tim, Tricia and Joe are in charge of the major mop-up duty. Chins up, everyone and thank you for all the hard work!

Ants will go away if you draw with chalk on your walls and surfaces. It's pretty incredible. They hate chalk. Sean says I'm confusing ants with voo-doo.

This coming weekend is our closing weekend. I will miss driving into the parking lot and hearing Tom singing and playing on his banjo. I'll miss watching Tricia putting blood on that babydoll's face, Tim rinsing out the mop, Joe, standing in the middle of the stage doing his mental checklist, fightcall with Dana and Kerr, Miles making me happy with just a hello, Don smoking and saying something wry and cynical, huge hug from little monkey-Sean, and...(drumroll) Cari Turley and the ongoing blockbuster that is her life, and Scarecrow, I think I'm going to miss you most of all.

It's almost time to click my heels and pack all the magic back up into a rental truck. It's sad, but I'll never forget it. Because I can't get the minty blood off my feet.

It's here! Rogue Hypercast #1

Ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you the first ever Rogue podcast!

The podcast--or as we're calling it, Hypercast--features audio from the "Mr. Punch" talkback on August 24 with cast and crew from the show. Listen to behind-the-scenes stories, original music, and more!

The Rogue Hypercast is available on iTunes and wherever else fine podcasts are distributed. Thanks for listening!

Backstage, "Mr. Punch"

Alan Cook's Review

Forgot to post this earlier, but here's a lovely review our friend Alan Cook (of the International Puppet Museum) sent out to his mailing list. It doesn't quite fit in our press archives, so I wanted to post it here.

Sean Cawelti has already posted the glowing review of the Rogues Artists production of their Punch show. Whatever the level of various reviewers enthusiasm, they ALL seem to agree on one thing--the high level of production values, and for this alone, the show is a "must see."

The L.A. Times review will undoubtedly carry the most weight, which should keep audiences coming. The Bootleg Theater space is a great improvement over the previous location of the earlier version of the show. The amount of group effort put in to this production is mind-boggling.

The show has remained faithful to the graphic novel source material. I had never specifically thought of a graphic novel having high production value in its own right, but so it is here, and the Rogues production has caught that on stage.

Some reviewers admitted to "mixed feelings" about the script, but that comes from the graphic novel, and it seemed important to remain close to the source.

In this Punch & Judy show, Punch is having a not-for-children romp in the hay with Pretty Polly, and the crocodile does not vanquish Mr Punch.

The punchman says something about probably ending his life in the workhouse--unfortunately, this was in keeping with historical accuracy. The Italian puppeteer (Picini) whose show was written down by Collier, illustrated by Cruikshank, and became a publishing phenomenon (being published in over 100 editions by different printers and becoming the "standard Punch script" for later Punchmen) did indeed end his life in the workhouse (aka the poorhouse).

I hope today's punchmen & women will fare better.

- Alan Cook

At Punch on a Friday night in August

What a terrific night it was indeed! Special thanks go to Jesca Hoop who started our weekend off with a musical bang. I can't recommend visiting her website and seeing her live enough. We met Jesca through our friends Abby and Amanda, the Ditty Bops. The whole evening had the electric quality which was so very potent and made me feel happy to be there. Dylan a long time Rogue friend was in attendance, Simon helped at the bar with the usual Kerry and Jeff, Tom and Miles returned to their normal roles and all things seemed to be just as they should. Here are some photos (created via mac-technology) from the evening's events!

What happens when you spend too much time together...

Last night after Mr. Punch, Tyler (Rogue Assoc. Artistic Dir) and I (Rogue ensemble and staff member) went with some friends to have dinner (tapas, delicious). I left my car at the theatre and we drove together, which meant Tyler had to drive me back to the theatre to get my car after dinner. It was about 9pm.
As we made a U-turn onto the correct side of Beverly Blvd, John Nobori (Rogue ensemble member) and Shannon Goldsborough (Rogue staff member) drove past us and pulled into the driveway of the theatre. They were there because they had to pick something up.
As the four of us are standing around amazed that we caught each other at the same time, ANOTHER CAR with two Rogue associates drove up. They had forgotten to double check something on their way out of the theatre.

9pm. Six people. One theatre.

Mind Meld? It must be. How else could it happen that three independent cars of people arrived at the theatre, unannounced, after hours, for three different purposes?

I think I need a different hobby.

Nina dresses backstage at "Mr. Punch"

Backstage at "Mr. Punch"

Here's Miles getting ready for his role as the Man in "Mr. Punch," which we're extending until September 7 for those of you who haven't had a chance to see it yet.

Mobile blogging is fun!

No one should be awake at this hour.

...but we are. It's 5:11 am, Tyler just got back from the NET party, I just woke up from my three hours of sleep, and we're about to catch our shuttle to the airport.

This just happened:

(Tyler gets out of the shower, whistling.)

Cari: You cannot be this cheerful at 5:15 in the morning. I will stab you.

Tyler: Fair enough!

It's sick how excited he is to be up right now.

Anyway, we're heading out now. See you back home shortly!

Jackson Square

This is the view of the cathedral from Jackson Square, which is about a block from where we're staying.

Today, I went to a seminar on the aesthetics and process of the New York Neofuturists, who are very funny, very talented, and very heavy drinkers (ask Tyler about that one). They're just one of the NET companies we've met over the past few days.

Flight out is tomorrow at 7:30 (thanks, Stamets. Ugh). It's been a great trip so far. Thanks to everyone who followed along on the blog as we figure out what we're doing.

Fishing boat on the Mississippi

Beignets!!

Best. "Meal." Ever.

My new new favorite place.

Day Two: Beignets!

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

This is my new favorite place.

Lunch at Cafe Reconcile

Tyler and I are just sitting down to lunch after our tour of Katrina devastation. The perfect thing to lift our spirits: authentic NOLA food. Just look at this menu!

Goodnight!

Hello, Rogues!

It's the end of day one...finally. It's been crazy busy, and already we've been to several lectures, seen four visiting ensembles give very interesting performances, and taken a tour of the French Quarter (which we are smack in the middle of). New Orleans is gorgeous, and Tyler and I are both super excited to be here.

More pictures and audio tomorrow. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and check out Chris Rose. He was our keynote speaker today and he's very, very cool, and he has a lot to say.

Goodnight from New Orleans!

The lovely room we have been meeting in.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Lonely clown plays the slots in Nawlins

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Greetings

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Tyler in front of the hotel

Greetings

Greetings from the Network of Ensemble Theaters in New Orleans. Stay tuned for more photos from Cari and my southern adventure.

How to Help the Rogues...for Free!

Lots of people have been asking me what they can do to help the Rogues lately, and besides the obvious (and very, very welcome) method of simply making a donation, there's actually a whole lot you can do! And best of all: none of the suggestions in this post will cost you a cent!

One thing you can do is replace your usual search engine with GoodSearch. Just visit goodsearch.com, enter "Rogue Artists Ensemble" into the "who do you GoodSearch for?" field, and click "verify." That's it! Now, every time you search for something using their website, the Rogues get a small donation. Use it often--it really adds up!


Another REALLY HELPFUL method is to register your Ralph's Club Card (they're free!) online. Just click the link above (or visit http://www5.kroger.com/EnterpriseLoyaltyWeb/crenrollment?divId=703), type in our NPO number (84744), and enter your information the way you filled it out on your card application. Whenever you shop at Ralph's, a sizeable portion of the money you spend comes to us, at no extra cost to you! This really does help. We've made hundreds of dollars from this program alone, but we can always use more help!

The last option is to use our special Rogue link when you make purchases on Amazon.com. Bookmark that link and use it anytime you make an Amazon purchase...again, we receive a portion of the sale, and it helps us immesurably.

Just think, by making a few minor adjustments, you could be funding the next Rogue blockbuster! On behalf of all of us, thank you so much for your support. :)

Mr. Punch Tech Meeting

I am currently sitting mired in the depths of a tech meeting for Mr. Punch. How, you may ask, am I able to blog and mire myself simultaneously? Well, see, I'm not teching Mr. Punch, so I don't actually need to pay attention. Mystery solved!

I showed up today to help tape the floor (since the show which was in here last week [Cornerstone's Someday, a fabulous work] has struck their set, we are now free to take over! Mwah ha ha ha!), and am hanging out because the Rogues are such wonderful people to hang out with, even when they are mired in a meeting that I have no part in.

But let me tell you: this is going to be an awesome show. They are dancing in the house while the techs meet in the lobby, and I feel surrounded by extra-ordinary ideas, out-of-the-box ideas, innovative, Hyper-theatrical ideas.

Man, I love this company!

(Oh yeah, and as Box Office Manager of this wonderful show, I feel it is my duty to remind everyone to buy tickets--and sell them too!)

Heat Wave

Can we turn off the air conditioning at the BOOTLEG so we rehearse just like we usually do? Beats going on a diet. Nobody needs to do that.

Grandpa

Feeling Punch-y

Dear Lord, why am I involved with this company!? What ever possessed me to audition in the first place!?

Since I have been involved with this show (after seeing the first incarnation last year) I have been forced to: play with inanimate objects and bring them to life; wander around in weird-looking masks, forced to "interact" with "people" (ew!); freely and openly discuss story concept and ideas; play a hunchback, a talking larger-than-life badger and a falsetto-voiced cockney puppet; hit on a mermaid (metaphorically and literally); discuss literary characters and authors; explore the human psyche and memory; learn outlandish and multi-faceted character- and story-based choreography; work with ten-year-olds; immerse myself in strange, dark, brilliant theatrical settings; and mingle with people who LIKE doing all of this stuff and would probably be quite content doing it for the rest of thier lives.

Why in God's name did I sign up for this?

Oh.

Oh, right.

That's why.

; )

The face!!!!!! What we do for PUNCH!

OK so last night I had my "face done." Ha! And between the whispers of "oh man its not drying" and "it's gonna take longer" and "hold the straws up in his nostrils so he can continue to breathe," I found myself in a very surreal situation. So here's pics of the process.

Kerr Seth Lordygan ("Morton")

An Ode to Nate Hodges

Some of you might already know Mr. Hodges (what exactly are the demographics of this blog readership, anyway?), but for those of you who don't, he's the Rogue Artists Ensemble choreographer. And he's amazing. Not only does he run his own successful dance company (Rhetoracle!), he's one of the nicest dudes ever.

Anyway. It's been widely established that I am possibly the worst dancer of all time. I've nearly failed every class I've ever taken (even with perfect attendance and a positive attitude! I thought that was supposed to count for something...), and I can't learn choreography to save my life. I think if my life literally depended on being able to learn a six-step combination, I would actually die. It's that dire.

So imagine how well I did last night when Nate taught Don, Matt, Tom, Sean, Connor, and me a three-minute (maybe? I don't know, it felt like hours) piece that involves backflips and explosions. Seriously! OK, the explosions are sort of just mimed. But the backflips are real!

Other things the piece contains, courtesy of Nate's own special language:

• "Glitter-BAM!"
• "Take a pony! Take a pony!"
• "Pirate skips,"
• "Pull the rope,"
• "Row the boat,"
• "Throw the pixie dust!"
• "Twinkly fingers,"
  
• and, yes: "Jazz hands!"

Come on, I think that list right there is worth the price of admission alone.

Mr. Punch

Yes, the script is much richer. More explanatory, funnier, and oh-oh, bloodier. Not the same show at all. Very fantastical, "goth," and wonderfully entertaining!

Dana Jr ("The Grandfather")

Mr. Punch (the Remix): First Rehearsal

OK, so technically, it's a remount, but I like thinking of it as a remix. It's actually a more appropriate term in this case--we're not just putting up the same show you saw last summer; we've got new cast members, new video, new masks, new puppets, new scenes...and it's going to be great! You really don't want to miss it.

Saturday was the first rehearsal, and the first time many of us had read the new script or seen the theater. I think everyone was really pleased by both. There were some familiar faces (hi Dana, Tom, Nina, and Miles!) and some new ones (welcome, Connor, Sean, Don, Kerr, and Matt).

I'm a visual learner, so here are some photos to help you feel like you were there:

Above: Nina Silver (reprising her role as the mermaid) sits in the lobby of the Bootleg; Tyler Stamets (technical director), Mel Domingo (lighting designer), Dana Kelly (the grandfather), and Don Allen (the bottler) all see something exciting just to the left.

And as a reward for sticking with the entry for so long, here's some exciting news: in addition to all the other new stuff Punch 2.0 has going for it, there are two more updates I haven't shared with you yet. First, we're going to have a Punch podcast launching soon, so you can keep up with all the latest news on your iPod! And second, we've got musicians lined up to play every Friday during the run--not just at the gala anymore! So far, we have Figureone, Marcela Carmona, and Jesca Hoop (wow!). The best part is, we have some other amazing bands in the works...but I don't want to spoil all my surprises at once. Good things come to those who wait! :)

Frog Belly in Pictures

Happy Tuesday, blog readers! I know it's been a while, but the reason no one's blogged lately is that we're all so busy working on our new projects. And you want us to make sure our new shows look good, right? I thought so. So hopefully you'll forgive us our brief lapse in updates.

There's too much going on for just one entry, so for now I'll just focus on Frog Belly Rat Bone. After our record-breaking tour to Balboa Park in San Diego, Frog Belly was invited to perform at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books...where we met Frog Belly author Timothy Basil Ering himself! Tim was so excited about our show that he literally grabbed random passersby and forced them to watch. Below: The Rogues get a coveted 3pm slot at the Festival of Books (we drew the biggest crowd of the day!), and Emily and Shannon set up the stage before the performance.

After the Festival of Books, Frog Belly went to OCPAC to perform in a showcase for local principals. Below: Emily and Shannon sit at the Rogue Artists Ensemble table during a brief interlude between interested schools.

In other Frog Belly news, brand-new Assistant Education Director Shannon Goldsborough has designed an exclusive Frog Belly stuffed animal...and oh man, he's adorable, guys. The pictures don't do him justice. Shannon showed me her prototype a couple of days ago, and I can't even tell you how soft and cuddly this guy is. Machine-washable, too! For now, you can only get him at one of our live performances--see the upcoming performances page on the website for more information. Below: The Frog Belly doll looks good enough to eat!

Of course, there's more going on than I could ever describe in just one entry. You'll just have to come see us at one of our upcoming shows!

Three Tales of Good and Evil: Concept Art

Sometimes people forget how much time it takes to build a show. You're just seeing the first performances of Frog Belly Rat Bone now (come see us this weekend at the Festival of Books!), but did you know we've been developing that show for years?

So, while we're touring Frog Belly and preparing for the remount of Mr. Punch, we're already starting to do some heavy lifting with The Cowboy Elektra and Three Tales of Good and Evil.* Good and Evil's project page has just been updated with some new concept drawings, but here's another that didn't fit--just for you, loyal blog-readers!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this one is from puppet designer Joyce Hutter.

*Title subject to change.

Frenzy

Yesterday Pat and I made the grand journey to Pasadena to teach a newspaper and duct tape puppet workshop. It was about the most condensed thing I've ever had to teach and I won't do it again with that small amount of time as it really can't do the process / approach justice. With that being said it was wonderful and everyone truly enjoyed the experience. It made me value so much how special my interactions and collaborations are with the Rogues and reminded me once again how special the group is. Some photos and video per-happz??

s.