Mouth Wateringly Fresh Music

Posted by DCA Theater on March 23, 2010 in January-June 2010 Season, INCUBATOR Series: The New Colony

by Henry Riggs, musician in That Sordid Little Story band

Something awesome is happening at The New Colony: Good old fashion, country fresh, steamin’ hot bluegrass music.  Our new project That Sordid Little Story is taking the TNC writing process to fantastic new places. 

The process for the scripted performance work has proven very successful thus far, so now we thought we’d try a new element: music from scratch.  It seems a daunting task to assemble a hoard of bluegrass instruments and a bunch of musicians then somehow get folk music to appear out of no where; but, there is strategy afoot.

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The Sounds of Sordid

Posted by DCA Theater on March 23, 2010 in January-June 2010 Season, INCUBATOR Series: The New Colony

by Andrew Hobgood, The New Colony Artistic Director and Director of Sordid Little Story

If you read our earlier post giving you a peek at the short story of That Sordid Little Story, you may have noticed the various references to the band and album that hold the same title.

Well, the band, made up of Chris Gingrich, Thea Lux, Henry Riggs and Tara Sissom, has been toiling away this month on the songs that are guiding Billy’s journey.

Here are a selection of songs that you can preview.

To tie this into the story that you read, That Sordid Little Story is the opening number of the show that welcomes in the audiences, Prologue sends Billy out into the world, Kissin’ Tree is when Billy meets Abigail and Caleb, and A Toast to Death is Billy’s introduction to Jerry, a caustic stand-up comedian who the band uses as their opening act.

These songs will be performed live at next Monday’s presentation. Hopefully you’ll be able to join us and share your thoughts!

Our Process

Posted by DCA Theater on March 16, 2010 in January-June 2010 Season, INCUBATOR Series: The New Colony

by Andrew Hobgood, The New Colony Artistic Director and Director of Sordid Little Story

Our process is grounded in the idea that there are three fields of creative expertise in any production:

The actors are experts in who the characters are and how they think and feel at any given moment. We believe that since the actor will be immersing themselves in the character every rehearsal and every performance, then they will inherently understand these characters on a level that even the playwright will never know. So that means that the actors actually have the authority to let the playwright know when they have written something that isn’t true for their character, or to give the playwright information that may help make scenes more true.

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What are we doing here?

Posted by DCA Theater on March 16, 2010 in January-June 2010 Season, INCUBATOR Series: The New Colony

by Andrew Hobgood, The New Colony Artistic Director and Director of Sordid Little Story

For the month of March, The New Colony will be shifting its operations downtown (we’ll be back Lincoln Square!) to begin work on the final show of our season: That Sordid Little Story. Throughout the month, we’ll be keeping you posted on the happenings of rehearsals, the progress of the show, details about how our process works, and the discoveries we make.

DISCOVER NUMBER ONE: During break, our cast likes to do aerobics to the songs of David Bowie in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. Though our ensemble is certainly known for its quirkiness - this is one that even I had never anticipated. Though I probably should have.

THE FIRST STEP:

The New Colony uses an organic, collaborative method to create, workshop, stage, design, produce and even market our shows.

However, the first step of any show is the story. When I select our season, the script hasn’t been written. All we have is a short story of what we will be putting on stage. To give you an idea of what the cast receives before our first workshop - here is part of the short story that we are using to build the show. From here, who knows what will change and happen - but this is where it all begins:

PROLOGUE

The show starts with the audience arriving and the band, That Sordid Little Story (SLS), is setting up for a concert. It’s 1963, and SLS is warming up and tuning. At the top of the show, they start playing the opening number, “That Sordid Little Story,” from their self-titled album: That Sordid Little Story.  That Sordid Little Story!  The song is a southern-folk “ditty” (whatever that means) with sort of a patter feel and sort of tells an epic tale that somewhat maps to the show - but not entirely.

As the opening number ends - they transition into the next song “In the Back Room” which tells the tale of a woman in April of 1941 who works at a little bar down in Dallas 21 years earlier. She is homely and socially awkward. One night, when she is closing up, a young man on his way to South America has stopped by and is having some drinks before his trip. He ends up closing down the bar. The woman goes into the back room to start finishing up for the night and unbeknownst to her - he follows her in. When she realizes he is there, she nervously tries to get him to leave, but he forces himself on her. Though she is upset about the way he has assaulted her and in pain from her first sexual experience, she is also overjoyed because this is the first time any man has ever shown her any attention or done anything to make her feel like a woman. After he is done, he leaves her on the floor of the back room and she never sees him again. Soon after, she discovers she is pregnant and moves east, to Atlanta. She does not want him to find out about the baby. We see this played out onstage in silhouette as a sort of “dream ballet,” without necessarily presenting the action literally.

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BEAUTIFUL CITY: Post Your Review

Posted by DCA Theater on March 5, 2010 in January-June 2010 Season, Beautiful City

March 4 - April 3
Storefront Theater

“This is the future” begins this darkly comic fable about urban developers, criminals, law enforcement, and even a witch, all fighting for the soul and vision of a city.  Set in an urban landscape ripe for redevelopment, the parable blends off-kilter characters, fast-paced storytelling, and stinging social satire in a tale of greed, corruption, and civic responsibility. Theatre Mir’s production marks the Chicago professional premiere of this work by George F. Walker, one of Canada’s most prolific and celebrated playwrights.

View photos by John W. Sisson, Jr.

What did you think about the show? Share your comments here.