How to Survive the Apocalypse: A Burning Opera Road Show
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
THE BURNING ROADSHOW IS ON THE MOVE -
GET INVOLVED!
OK, so these folks created an opera.?? About Burning Man.?? Yeah, that’s what we said too when they first brought us the idea: “What?… there’s no WAY you can hope to pull this off, describing the indescribable … in an OPERA of all things. Please.”
Well, we sent out our most cynical, jaded scouts to watch the show when it premiered.?? And, well, we were astounded when those highly cynical, hard-to-please emissaries were completely blown away by what they saw.
This show??? Is awesome.?? Funny, intelligent, poignant, thoughtful, and thoroughly representative of our little shindig in the desert.?? OK, so lucky for you, they’re taking it on the road.?? And not only that, but you can get involved, too!
Excerpted from the JRS
Dana tells you how:
In January, San Francisco???s Stage Werx Theater hosted a sold-out run (6 shows in 4 nights) of “How to Survive the Apocalypse: A Burning Opera.”
Though we were presenting a humble workshop performance with no budget, the event was wildly successful, with Burning Man virgins and grizzled old timers registering great enthusiasm.
[The show] is both engrossing musical theater in its own right and a piece of art that truly captures the feel of the [Burning Man] event and the Zeitgeist of its attendees.
Steve Jones of the
San Francisco Bay Guardian
West Coast Tour Planned
Now we are planning a Fall Tour of the West Coast in September and October, with a more ambitious national roadshow on the horizon of 2010, featuring east coast venues. To get more information about the show and our mission, check out the Burning Opera website.
Currently, we are in negotiations with Teatro Zinzanni to use their gorgeous and historic Spiegeltents in San Francisco and Seattle as anchors for our fall tour. Because we would play the Zinzanni tents on Monday through Wednesday, the weekends would remain open, allowing us to present the show at other West Coast locations.
The current plan is to begin some rehearsals and design in the Bay Area in late August, and to have a small presence in Black Rock City, where we will shoot some video and connect with new performers and collaborators. The main block of rehearsals would begin after Burning Man in San Francisco, where the show would open on Sept 22 & 23. We are currently looking for an appropriate venue between SF and Seattle for the weekend of 9/25 & 26. The show would then run at Zinzanni in Seattle 9/29 & 30. We hopefully will find another ‘midway’ venue 10/2&3, and then close our run in SF 10/5,6& 7. Finally, we aim to travel to L.A. 10/9 & 10. Are you on the East coast? We want to talk to YOU!
*NOW!*
We’re assembling the production staff to begin working on this tour NOW. During the next month, we will be holding auditions and meetings with interested collaborators (either to join the tour or to help us bring it to your city) in the following places:
- NYC – Sunday April 5th
- auditions by appointment in the afternoon;
- meet & greet/cocktails 5-7pm; location TBA
- Washington DC – Wednesday April 8th
- meet & greet/cocktails evening; exact time and location TBA
We’re looking for volunteers in the NYC, DC, and Virginia area to help run these events, as well as to host fund raising events throughout the summer.
*PRODUCTION TEAM:*
To take this project to the next level, we need to create a strong core Production Team ASAP. We’re looking to fill key roles within the next few weeks. We have had a great response from our production meetings in SF Los Angeles. Now we’d like to round out the cast and staff positions with participants from the other coast, in true Burner fashion. For a list of all roles and details, please see:
http://www.burningopera.com/production_team.htm
*CAST & CREW:*
As this is a Burning Man-style show, the stars will help with the setup and the roadies will be onstage. We love double, triple, and quadruple threats. We especially love riveting singers and dancers that can also play a marching band instrument and have a great attitude while working hard behind the scenes???or perhaps a professional gaffer who really loves to sing!?? We are reopening all roles and understudies and creating new characters for the new version of the show.?? For more details of the roles see:
http://www.burningopera.com/cast_of_characters.htm
We are also excited to collaborate with some of the many spectacular artists, ensembles, and DJs that have been so essential to the Burning Man experience, either as ‘guest stars’ or as separate acts before or after the show. Please send resumes, photos, videos, links to production@burningopera.com.
*TO OFFER IDEAS, SUGGESTIONS, ASSISTANCE:* Please contact Executive Producer Dana Harrison
*TO SEE WHAT WE’RE UP TO:*
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