Pirate Rock by Christoper Walsh

Posted by DCA Theater on July 22, 2008 in January-June 2008 Season, Bloody Bess

Another show is in the books. Bloody Bess: A Tale of Piracy and Revenge left me sore, battered and bruised, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I had a hell of a lot of fun, met some fantastic people, and I got to swing swords around for half the summer. Now if I can only find somebody who will pay me to do that on a regular basis my life will be set.

One thing about the show that amazed everyone who saw it was the original music. Our composer, Tom Haigh, was good enough to post his work on his website.
Check it out here.

I would like to leave you now with a couple of examples of a joke carried on way too far. On opening night of Bloody Bess, an actor backstage made an offhand comment that several of us thought would make a good song title. With the aid of GarageBand, fellow castmember Mathias Maloff and I made the dream a reality. Twice. Mathias provided all the lyrics and vocals, while I wrote and performed the music.

Get ready to rock. Download free here:

Not Punch Thunder
If U Could U Would

And the scary thing is there might be more coming. Watch out.

Next up for me is a fight choreographer gig: Shakesploitation by Andy Grigg, directed by Josh Miller. Three hilarious one-act plays based on the works of Shakespeare, with titles like Kung-Fu Hamlet: Burning Fist of Denmark. Awesome.

To see original entry on www.christophermwalsh.com click here.

You CAN NOT miss SKALD: June 16-21

Posted by DCA Theater on June 5, 2008 in January-June 2008 Season, SKALD Storytelling Competition

WNEP Theater and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs present the ninth Annual SKALD Storytelling Festival, a week-long event celebrating the art of storytelling. The workshops and competitions offer adults and children (ages 9-14) the chance to try their own hand and then watch the professionals.  Events will take place throughout the Chicago Cultural Center, located at 77 E. Randolph Street, from June 16 through 21, 2008. 

Rooted in the oral traditions of nearly every organized society, storytelling is theater stripped of all its ‘dazzle camouflage’ and focuses strictly on the qualities of the story and the teller.  The name “Skald” refers to an ancient Scandinavian poet, bard or storyteller.

Tickets for SKALD events are available by calling 312.742.TIXS (8497), visiting www.dcatheater.org, or stopping by the box office at 66 E.  Randolph Street.  The box office is open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m., and one hour prior to each performance.  Tickets range from $10 to $25 for select events, with a $5 discount on tickets for students and seniors.  Workshops taking place during the week are free, but reservations are required.

WNEP Theater has been holding the SKALD Storytelling Competition annually since 1999 and has been creating unexpectedly imaginative and original theater in Chicago for fourteen years.  Guest judges of previous SKALD competitions have included the late Martin DeMaat, Live Bait Theatre’s Sharon Evans, local critic Jack Helbig, Stage Left Theatre’s Jessi D. Hill, Wild Chicago’s Ben Hollis, American Idol Finalist Leslie Hunt, and Acorn Theater’s Kim Clark.

Theatre Seven presents Boys & Girls

Posted by DCA Theater on June 3, 2008 in January-June 2008 Season, Boys & Girls

Who’s got more cash? Who’s got the better pad? Who’s got the bigger thing? Two old pals play a deadly game that’s more than just a game in Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor’s Never Swim Alone. MacIvor blows the lid off modern masculinity by examining the story of two lifelong friends chained together by one tragic childhood day at the beach.

Chicago favorite Wendy MacLeod returns with The Shallow End a clever look at three teenage girls whose friendship is put to the test over the course of one summer. While Teresa and Becca are busy planning tricks on the class oddball, Addie’s at the beach chairs grilling the new girl about her relationship with Brendan. And how come Marjorie spends so much time talking to the boy with the heart defect? Just another summer hanging out at the city pool…

Boys & Girls is the first production following Theatre Seven’s inaugural 2007 season that included Marisa Wegrzyn’s smash hits Killing Women and Diversey Harbor. That play earned wide critical acclaim and earned Theatre Seven a Chicago Reader Critic’s Choice, and was named one of the top ten plays of the year by writers at New City and Performink!

Click here to check out Nina Metz’s review of Boys & Girls in the Chicago Tribune.

Geoff Coates on Directing “Bloody Bess”

Posted by DCA Theater on May 30, 2008 in January-June 2008 Season, Bloody Bess

“Vengeance is a dish best served cold.”
      -Pierre Ambriose Francois Choderios de LaClos (1741-1803)

“Rum all out ... Rogues’ a’plottin ...”
      -Blackbeard (1680 – 1718)

Directing Bloody Bess has been a wonderful and exciting opportunity to explore the themes of Family, how sometimes the best families are not the ones you are born into, but the ones you make for yourself, and Revenge, what price you are willing to pay for satisfaction.  Here we find a woman stripped of everything she had come to rely upon, everything that was familiar and safe, and in her darkest moments finds within herself the strength of character, the capacity for leadership, and the drive for satisfaction that will lead her into a life that she never imagined.  In Bloody Bess, audiences will find rich and colorful characters, stunning swashbuckling spectacle, and powerful themes that will cause us all to question what we would do if we were in Bess’s boots.