Prince: Neal Medlyn's Unpronounceable Symbol
PERFORMANCE: July 9th-20th 8PM
additional late show Sat 11PM
PS122

"Neal Medlyn's Unpronounceable Symbol is Neal Medlyn's fourth and largest to date pop song tragic-comedic extravaganza. Following the success of his Lionel Richie Opera, R. Kelly cabaret, and wild and bloody spin on Phil Collins, Medlyn takes on the purple, hyper- sexualized world of Prince.

Set to many of Prince's biggest hits and infamous b-sides, all performed onstage by a live band, Neal plays out an evening of seduction and intense internal spiritual conflict between two characters: an engaged cab driver and a messianic libertine. Jealousy, band troubles, violence, death, a dream ballet, decent into hell and the eventual transubstantiation of body fluids and redemption all find their place in an operatic and overblown evening of androgynous musical entertainment.

Co-written and with musical arrangements by Tony-Award Nominated and Obie winner Kenny Mellman; Herb of Kiki & Herb and co-creator, with Bridget Everett and Michael Patrick King ("Sex and the City") of At Least It's Pink. Neal will also be joined by Adrienne Truscott, lauded choreographer and half of the award winning neo-vaudeville duo the Wau Wau Sisters, who will also contribute choreography, and Carmine Covelli.

There will also be special surprise cameos by downtown luminaries such as Murray Hill and others!"

SXIP Shirey performing at TED

Not digital, but certainly SXIP is someone who uses the technology that he does use completely smoothly and fluidly, and in innovative ways.

Anyway I just love Sxip's performances, so this is my "hey did you see this at TED" post.

and go watch some more Sxip, it's just wild, and second to live video is the way to see him.  It's hard to believe that "that sound" is coming from one man, and with "that instrument".

DPI:

Why use media on stage?

Hal Eagar:

It just seems like an obvious extension to stage spectacle to me, it always has. Now maybe I should be doing something less obvious but I seem to be good at theatre and media which makes it hard to switch gears; besides after 13 years it's finally caught on; so no stopping now. But really it's satisfing because I'm good at improvising and doing things for which there are no maps or standard techniques. If a technique becomes established then someone with more patience will probably learn to do it better and with more finesse than I do it fairly quickly. But I hope I have moved on to figuring out some new problem by then. Also art, particularly where art and technology meet is one of the sweet spots to do that kind of playful work. I would not want to be take risks or allowed to take the kind of chances and experimental approaches if I was writing code for medical devices, or even contact databases. I do engage in that type of more staid as a day job and it can have some enjoyable challenges, but it's not as playful and the results are not so visceral.

So I said nothing about why the audience should be interested yet. Well, the direct visceral results may be enough for some audience, but that's not my thought when working.

Sometimes do I think about wanting to compete with film and TV and video games but to get to caught up with your competitors may get in the way of fresh ideas so I'll leave that to the media experts, and try to approach media in theatre as a novice not an adept. And so the resasond I do is just to discover what can be done.

DPI:

Do you have a defined aesthetic prior to seeing a script? What is your aesthetic?

Hal Eagar:

Spectacle is defiantly my aesthetic, I said that maybe the work I do is not exactly the work I like to go see, but even so it's still about creating a bit more spectacle. That's the magic that makes it worth it to go to the theatre. Which brings me to the next thing I was going to say, which is that my aesthetic is not cinematic. On the one hand I hardly ever go to the movies, so I probably have one of the least developed senses of cinematic vocabulary of anyone in this country, let alone people working in video. But all the same it's not foreign to me it is the new language of images, an we use it everywhere. I think a lot of the urge to bring media on stage is to create a cinematic effect, because we think in that visual language, and maybe because the theatre is trying to compete with film. And though I probably do, do that a lot, it's really not my intent, there is no way for even a huge budget theatre to compete with a multi-million dollar film. So what theatre needs to give you is something else. Seeing someone you know on stage is one thing, which I love, but it's not something "media" can bring you.

Seeing someone create illusion in front of you, that you know is illusion and can see through, that is some of the magic of theatre that video can help create. It's important that the illusion is not perfect, and that you can see how it is done. Who would want to watch puppets that so perfectly represented people that you could replace them with actors? It's about knowing you are being fooled. Maybe it makes us feel better about this world where we can't tell reality from fiction; where we can't tell if that woman is really impossibly beautiful, or just well photoshoped. Maybe that clear suspention of disbelief make us feel safe; maybe it makes us feel like we are part of the action ourselves because we can see the artifice but we let it happen anyway and we feel what it would mean if it were true without believeing that it is.

I don't usually have time to think about that sort of thing while I'm working, but this engaged ilusion is what I want, and I think that partnership with a willing audience lies lurking under all theatrical special effects.

DPI:

What media effects have made you cringe as an audience member?

like fog on stage. Can be good but is dangerously cheesy.

Hal Eagar:

Projecting a picture of the "set", I admit It still sometimes happens in my designs, and actually the "All Wear Bowlers" example I list as a favorite was exactly that, so it's not that it's 100% bad, but it's defiantly a dangerous choice.

Another thing to watch out for is "one big screen", it's not necessarily bad, but it's got a lot of danger to it. There is a high chance of it either being dull, or drawing too much audience focus; or worse both. I like multiple screens, or heck no screens at all, just free floating media.

Do You Copy? is a multimedia puppet show, meaning that we integrate live cameras with the live puppets. I'm not so interested in making videos, but more interested in finding the interaction between real space and virtual space in a theatrical setting. So Do You Copy? uses live video that is projected back onto a variety of mobile projection screens. And also some video textures that are an attempt to create dynamics of emotion or kinesthetic experience. These textures are used like instrumental music that guides a viewers sensations, rather than direct storytelling elements.

So the actual technology of the show is quite simple. I'm not trying to use any fancy triggers or tracking, just really simple interaction via a live camera.

The 'story' of the piece is also about the effects of technology on one's person. Really about the disparate self created via the neverending supply of digital pictures, email accounts, social networking, site aggregators, chat, etc that in some ways define who we are as individuals. And how much control we do or do not, can or cannot have on creating our own definitions.

The content sounds like a very thoughtful show when i read the above paragraph, but really it's more of an action-packed sci-fi. Here are some pictures of the work we did in April at 10 Jay st in Brooklyn.

Further development is happening at the Little Angel Theater in London this July

and

the full show opens in New York City at Here Arts Center October 9th - 12th, 2008

see: www.imnotlost.net/COPY

Troika Ranch Champagne Party Fundraiser
EVENT:June 25 2008 7-9 PM $50 and up
Affirmation Arts
523 West 37th St

A chance to reconnect with our local community, meet
new people, and celebrate with live music, art, refreshments and more!

The event will celebrate and expose the creative process of Loop Diver Troika Ranch's current work-in-development. Get a glimpse behind the scenes at the
choreography, sceneography and visual imagery.

The evening will include free-flowing champagne and hors d'oeuvre's, a live excerpt from Loop Diver and a Troika Ranch interactive installation, set design models and drawings from Colin Killian, and the exquisite art of William T. Hillman on view.

The evening will conclude with live music and dancing featuring Jacob Jiles and his band and guests Adam Matta and Noah Hoffeld