Collaboraction

31 hours to SKETCHBOOK opening

Wow.

We just had our first SKETCHBOOK preview last night at the Steppenwolf Garage. Things have been going very smoothly despite the ridiculous number of overly ambitious artistic concepts and dreams we are reaching for (4 video screens, live feed, live music, 14 world premiere short plays and this little thing called SUBMIT in which we are integrating content from the audience into the show on the fly!!!). Now, at the age of 34 with a 8 month old daughter, i have been surprised at hot well I have been keeping up. You see, SKETCHBOOK always catches up to me at some point, and i start feeling a wee bit exhausted from the late nights, early mornings, phone calls, emails, meetings, interventions, breakdowns, egos, logistics, and overall chaos. But, with only one day till opening i went to bed last night feeling pretty good, but man, this morning i felt like i could sleep and sleep and sleep (sidebar - two years ago sandra - my lovely wife, muse and Sketchbook producer- borrowed our friends summer house in Michigan to get some much needed post -Sketchbook rest and we slept something like 32 of the first 48 hours we were there). However, this is a critical point in the final push for the festival and there is "no rest for the wicked", so onward we go. We are so close to pulling off some of the overly ambitious things i mentioned that there is no turning back, especially in the company of such hard working and brilliant collaborators (just trying to keep up with Sammy, there must be two of him).

All that being said, as soon as i get to the theatre i feel no pain. It's probably because all of the incredible energy i receive from the artists and audience (i should write another blog titles the "post show crash"). i am sure, my fellow theatre artists know exactly what i am talking about. It's like acting in a show with the flu. About 10 minutes before you go on, you stop feeling sick, you feel fine, and then you perform and about 6  1/2 minutes after you leave the stage you completely crash into a pile of human. Kinda like when Michael Jordan hit for 63 against the Celtics in the playoffs with a 102 degree fever....

So, i am taking a morning at home to get my head together, review my notes, answer emails and play with my ladies and I thought it was about time for an updated blog post just to share where we are at....

1. the plays rock. so far, my favorites are Yellow (OMFG!), Chicago Summer, Lurker Radio Hour, and of course, COWBOY BIRTHDAY PARTY.

2. This SUBMIT thing is wild. If you haven't submitted go to http://collaboraction.typepad.com/sketchbook/sketchbook-submit-the-ass.html and hook it up. the voicemail thing is really cool. If you leave a voice mail at ll 206-337-0678 our team gets a .WAV file emailed to them immediately so they can digest them and add to the mix (the sound team of mish and miles has this incredible way of randomly selecting audio submissions and dropping them in differently every night)

3. speaking of m&m, the music they are creating is amazing. too complex to describe without getting them pissed at me for butchering what they are pulling off ;)

4. can you say "Jeremy + moving lights = theatre of the future"?

5.video - holy mackerel, this Romanian guy named after that Elton John song, Livui, has been working with our favorite brilliant ADD Italian, Sammy, to  create  an immersive video world and let me tell you it is a pandora 's box of Romanian beauty and weirdness.

Ok, time to make the donuts. I hope you can make it out to SKETCHBOOK (btw, everyone over 21 is welcome to join us at the Opening Night party at 10 pm at 440 N. Halsted on Sat., May 17 for a free drink).

In a SKETCHBOOK induced altered state,

anthony

An open letter from Collaboraction’s Board President Mike Grillo on why he supports Collaboraction

I suspect that for devoted supporters of the arts it is impossible to imagine how drastically our lives would change if the varied media that permeate our lives were suddenly removed from our collective artistic experience.  Consider how uninteresting things would be if our choices on most weekends were renditions of Our Town, Swan Lake, The Merchant of Venice or a rousing evening of Beatles covers. Each of these are brilliant and I have enjoyed them all, but don’t we already know the punchline?

I propose that each of us finds ourselves constantly seeking that piece of art that moves us in a new way that urges us to action or emotion.  In spite of the fact that this search is often circuitous, full of quirky evenings and unkempt productions, we pursue promise and support brilliance in the hopes of finding the discoveries and insights that ultimately take our breath away. More importantly perhaps we try to feed, both literally and figuratively, those individuals and organizations that redefine the landscape and stretch the boundaries of what was previously considered a part of the artistic realm.

A friend introduced me to Collaboraction in the fall of 2000 when she tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I have something interesting to show you.”  As I was soon to find out, interesting was a massive understatement. In the lucky seven years that followed I was treated to a parade of brilliances regardless of the medium: Sketchbook, Jenny Chow, 365, or one of our experimental forays that tested the boundaries of what was theatre versus music, sound, light and movement.  Perhaps most importantly Collaboraction, and its Company members, have consistently leveraged their art and their crafts to invite me to activism rather than the escapism so often offered by the pop culture options more readily available and accessible today (just drive by the multiplex if you need an example).  In addition to this, and critically, in spite of the pop culture distractions available today, I have been amazed at Collaboraction’s ability to resonate with the young theatre-goers. Our messages and our chosen media are reaching a demographic that, as with all of us, needs an invitation to activism.

On this last point consider this. Recently the National Endowment for the Arts published a study –The Arts and Civic Engagement: Involved in Arts, Involved in Life – that had two key results for Collaboraction. 1. People involved in the arts are more involved civically and socially. 2. “Arts participation is falling among younger adults and with it most forms of civic and social engagement.”

I suppose my punchline at this point is obvious. Why is this organization a place I call home? Because we are doing things no one else even imagines and we are doing them in ways that reach people in new and innovative ways. To my earliest point, I am trying to support the kind of brilliance that will take my breath away in unexpected and thrilling ways. I hope you will do the same.

Mr. Grillo is a principal and founding member of Origin Capital LLC, a real estate investment fund focused on mezzanine and bridge financing.  Prior to founding Origin, he spent 15 years leading Chicago-based ASI, a management consulting firm focused on organizational transformation, financial restructuring, distress resolution and turnaround management. Mr. Grillo received both a B.A. in Physics in 1989 and an M.B.A. in 2004 from the University of Chicago.

Get Gear at the Collaboraction Garage Sale

Collaboraction HQ @ 437 N. Wolcott (In between Chicago and Western off of Grand) Saturday, August 25 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

What happens when Collaboraction cleans house? We have a killer garage sale! Get your hands on some of our amazing costumes, books, wigs, props, art, furniture and other items... Including an awesome vintage barber chair! If you missed out on getting this year's awesome sketchbook t-shirt or any of our fantastic lifestyle merchandise, this is the perfect time to pick some up. Come around to the back of the building via the alley on the side (there's parking in the rear) and walk away with bountiful treasures untold. For more information call us at 312.226.9633. See you there!

Last Chance!

SKETCHBOOK Closes tonight!

SKETCHBOOK has had an amazing run at The Steppenwolf Merle Reskin Garage and tonight we celebrate the closing of this great Chicago festival by running a marathon showing of all 16 world-premier plays, followed by a reception and awards for the best of SKETCHBOOK. Tickets for the closing marathon and festivities are $45. 

The closing marathon is not to be missed, but we know your time is stretched. This year, we offer the opportunity for you to see either Program A OR Program B on Sunday for only $30.  Program A starts at 5:00 and Program B starts at 7:15.  To take advantage of this opportunity, you can order tickets over the phone at the Steppenwolf Box office at 312.335.1650 and use the phone code "3341."  These tickets will NOT be available for walk-up sales.

Still not sure what you are missing click below and listen to an interview with Collaboraction's Artistic Director; Anthony Moseley on Vocalo Radio about SKETCHBOOK, how SKETCHBOOK is created and all the wonder it brings to Chicago

Part 1

Part 2

Purchase your tickets to SKETCHBOOK now! Call 312.335.1650

For More information on Sketchbook and Collaboraction Click here

Coffee-Fetching and Expertise

Posted by Margot Bordelon; Director of Upstairs/Downstairs by Wendy MacLeod

I first met Wendy MacLeod in the spring of 2003. I was Assistant Directing the world premiere of Things Being What They Are at the Seattle Repertory Theater and she came out from Ohio for a week to watch rehearsals, give notes and do rewrites. I was in charge of making and distributing all of the script changes and I took my job very seriously – this was the woman who wrote The House of Yes after all! And The Water Children and Schoolgirl Figure and Apocalyptic Butterflies and her newest piece at the time, Juvenilia. Before the first day of rehearsal I read as many of her plays as I could get my hands on. I was determined to possess an intimate understanding of her voice and style. I would be an expert on the MacLeod canon!

Now I’m not sure how many of you blog readers are familiar with the duties of an AD, but they can range anywhere from fetching coffee for the Director, to rehearsing scenes with actors. And besides assisting Wendy when she was in town, this particular gig tended to lean more toward coffee-fetching responsibilities than anything else. Needless to say, my self-titled expertise was rarely called upon. (Read More)

Two Great Shows Close July 1

Dear Friends,

What a year it has been for Collaboraction! With our best Sketchbook and most successful mainstage play (Jenny Chow) running simultaneously and BOTH CLOSING ON JULY 1st, it has been an amazing time in our little company's history. This success could not have been achieved without the incredible passion, love and support that so many people have given to Collaboraction over the past 11 years.

If you have yet to see either of these shows or know someone who would enjoy them, I encourage you to utilize the promotions below so that NO ONE MISSES THESE GREAT COLLABORACTION THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES!

The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow has been running for 15 weeks for over 5,000 audience members and has become the longest and best selling show in Collaboraction history. The show truly is "Brilliant on all Counts" ( Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times). The show will be closing on July 1st. There are only 8 shows left. If you haven't seen it yet, please don't miss the Last Call for Jenny Chow.

Call 312.733.6000 or go to www.collaboraction.org for JENNY CHOW tickets. The password "Cowabunga" will get you $10 off on Thur. or Sun. - you must call the box office to get this discount The password "Friend of Jenny" will get you a 2 for 1 on Thur. or Sun. - you must call the box office to get this discount

The 7th annual SKETCHBOOK is in the Steppenwolf Garage and the new venue has allowed us to create the SKETCHBOOK environment we have always dreamed of, where audience and art are completely comingled and the staging/viewing options are exciting and in the hands of the audience member. There are two distinct programs, that allow audience members the ability to see the whole collection of 16 plays in the course of 2 shows. The writing, directing, acting and design are sharper than ever and the musical acts are diverse and extremely gifted.

Call 312.335.1650 or go to www.collaboraction for SKETCHBOOK tickets

So, this is your "LAST CALL FOR JENNY CHOW AND SKETCHBOOK". After that, the experiences will be locked into the memory vault and only accessible by those who made it to the space-time event, ahh the magic of theatre.  Please spread the word!

Thank your for all your Collaboraction support and I hope you have a terrific summer!

Sincerely,

Anthony Moseley

Sketchbook + GARAGE = theatre of tomorrow?

Posted By Anthony Moseley; Festival Director and Director of It's About Time By Mara Casy

You (reading this entry on the Steppenwolf web site) are in the “blogosphere”. You use the internet to get current news, research your entertainment options, check on your plane’s departure status, pay bills on-line, and tell people “what’s up” through various portals (instant message, email, blog, etc.). You are changing the way the world does business and corporate America is scrambling to do business the way you like it, on your terms. Congratulations. That must feel great.

We at Collaboraction, have been building the ultimate theatre and art experience for you for 7 years now, and we are really glad you are ready for us. It is called Sketchbook and we are running through July 1st in Steppenwolf’s Garage Theater . Sketchbook is a festival of 16 world premiere short plays (from over 500 global submissions), visual art and music and it is built for the kind of audience member that is leaning forward into the future looking for stories, symbols and sounds of our times. Each performance we present 8 short plays with a different musical guest each night in an environment in which the audience is free to move about and choose their viewing perspective for each play (of course, we have some fixed chairs for the more traditional audience member, we haven’t forgotten about you, are you on the Blog?). (Read More) 

"Spooky Growing Pains"

Check out the awesome post on Chris Jones' Blog

"And all of a sudden, Collaboraction is a cultural institution running two shows at once, for the first time in its history. 'We are trying to go from being a creative spirit that follows its desires to an organization,' Moseley says"

Click Here 

SKETCHBOOK IS ALMOST HERE

(L to R) Danny Goldring, Nina O'Keefe, and Jim Faruggio in It's About Time
written by Mara Casey and Directed by Anthony Moseley.

It's About Time
will be presented during Program B of

Collaboraction's 7th Annual
SKETCHBOOK festival

at the Steppenwolf Merle Reskin Garage Theater
For More informations about SKETCHBOOK and how to buy tickets
CLICK HERE

CREATING A WORLD FOR SKETCHBOOK…I MEAN CREATING 16 WORLDS FOR SKETCHBOOK

“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.” - Muriel Rukeyser 

The challenge with a concept for Sketchbook is to create a world unto itself that contains smaller worlds that. At first, these smaller worlds may seem disparate, but slowly they move, and synthesize to create a whole universe – the experience. This larger world (theme) must allow, nurture, and manifest these smaller worlds (plays, visual art, music…) without impinging its identity upon them.

With this came the idea of parallel universes. If we’re to use the theory that there are an infinite number of parallel universes coexisting, then ALL possible stories (real or imagined) must, by definition, exist. Even the plays, which are fiction, truly exist in their own parallel universe. They have a past and a future and just happen to be wormholing thru our universe, through our dimension for one brief moment in the present that is Sketchbook. Sketchbook thus becomes a temporary vortex - opening up to any possible universe (play, piece of art, moment of music…) that may cross its path for one fleeting moment.

Parallel universes is exciting as a way to keep Sketchbook “grounded” but still have all possibilities present, however, before any of this concept came to me, I was constantly thinking/dreaming (literally) about spirals. When I thought of Sketchbook, I thought of spirals and only spirals.

No concepts.

No Parallel Universes.

No vortices.

Just whirling spirals.

Then, as I began to explore them in relation to Sketchbook, I began to think of them as the structure of so many objects in nature, a nautilus shell, versions of fractals, DNA sequence (well, that’s a helix really, but you get the point). More interestingly though, things really gelled when I thought of the spirals as energy, intention, perpetual whirling motion, metaphors for evolution/creation/destruction, and transformational conduits in the universe, i.e. vortices, whirlpools, galaxies, tornadoes, whirling dervishes, the smoke of a cigarette etc…

 “Now how does this all make the Steppenwolf Garage Space look?” you ask.

1. We must create a flowing, translucent, “2-D” world that becomes a place for all other worlds to pass through. By translucent, I mean that in order to create a “vortex” quality within the space we will need to create floor to ceiling 2-D sculptural shapes made of a translucent material. At one moment, there seems to be openness, and in the next moment, an environment/object focuses into existence. Observing an object in this world one way it appears 3-D, then you shift, it shifts, it disappears into a thin 2-D world.

2. The space should remain as open as possible with shimmers of light all around, small reflective objects hanging at different heights from floor to ceiling.

3. Set pieces are predominantly 2-D objects that fold away like a pop-up book. Cut out of large sheets of ½” ply and painted white they are present on the floor for the entire evening. People may even walk on them, but when the time comes for their transformation the run crew or actors pop them up. They’ll be whatever the play calls for, i.e. chair, table, bench, tree, dog… When the play finishes, we fold them back down.

--Sam Porretta, Scenic Design and Art Direction