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.

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Gaiman and conversations with his collaborators, as well as wonderful nuggets of his work such as the beginning of an unpublished novel, a rare comic and never-before-seen essay, this is a treasure trove of all things Gaiman.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!

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!

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! :)

First Week on the Job

What's this? A post that's not about Frankenstein!!? (Man, that was hard to punctuate.) Well, ok, one little tidbit about Frankenstein!!...did you see us on the cover of the LA Times Calendar section? Or rather, did you see Liesel? I opened the paper a couple of weeks ago to see a giant, full-color photo of the Test Tube Lady seducing Michael York, and really, what better news is there than that? If you missed the article, you can find it in our press archives. I have to say, it was pretty cool.

Anyway, moving forward. Things are racing ahead at a crazy pace around here. We barely had time to catch our breath after Frankenstein!! before heading into increased rehearsals for Frog Belly Rat Bone, which makes its San Diego debut this weekend in Balboa Park. Aside from that, we're working on applying to an AMAZING space for the upcoming The Cowboy Elektra Project (but ssshhhh...it's still a secret) and finalizing our deal with the fantastic Bootleg Theater for the remount of Mr. Punch.

What a time to become the Managing Director, huh?

As if filling Megan's shoes wasn't challenging enough, I've managed to get myself elected in probably the busiest period the Rogues have ever faced. Which is awesome, of course, but it means I'm responsible for a lot right now. And although I'm fully confident in myself and this group, there have definitely been surprises.

I'll tell you what, though. Last night, Patrick brought me dinner before I headed up to a meeting at the Bootleg, and I gave him his contract for a little side project we worked on called Don Juan. He handed back the paperwork and pointed to the spot for a "Rogue representative" signature. And I've got to say, signing "Cari Turley, Managing Director" feels pretty great.