Best Peasant Anywhere

So, I went to see Spamalot on Tuesday night...and when I was onstage I received this envelope:
Containing this:
And this Statuette:

And after singing my praises, they took this photo:
And then there was the review in DC Theater Scene...(check out the last paragraph)

I honestly had no idea that I was going to win this award...but I would still like to thank the little people, all of the other peasants that I stepped on along the way to get where I am today...

In other news, The Holiday Tiki Party at Chin's was a success...and there are still some MR. TIKIHEADs available on Ebay, for your Christmas shopping needs! You can also get them in person at the 3rd Annual Upshur Street Arts Fair this Saturday.


The 3rd Annual Upshur Street Arts Fair takes place this Saturday, December 15th, from 11am to 5pm. The event is hosted by and takes place in Domku Bar & Cafe and Shakka King Fine Menswear, both in the 800 block of Upshur Street, NW. Drop by for breakfast and browse handmade crafts and works of art, all produced by local artists.

Photos from Lobs Last Show

Our good friends at My Life As A Contact Sheet, have been kind enough to post photos of the Last Lobsterboy Show Ever...even if you missed the show, (like I did) the photos really highlight what a great thing the Lobsterboy Revue was...it will be missed. RIP Lobsterboy.

First Show

Inbetween shows

Second Show

Second Show (more)

Post Show

Catching up with photos, and PAGEANT Design

Thanksgiving went pretty much without a hitch. I have been gearing up for the next surge of projects, so I took part of this week to photograph some stuff I haven't had time to (or forgot to) for the olde portfolio
First, a stencil print I did for Hukilau 2007. Its a print version of "the projectionist" (still about 6 left in the Edition)The other big stencil print from Hukilau, "Seeing Things". The first one in this edition is in the collection of Suburban Hipster...This is a foray into the world of oil paint. I set up an easel on my porch and painted "al fresco"...its really just a start, but I haven't the heart to set this up indoors now that the weather has turned cold.
This is the freshest of the artwork shown here. It called "a woman scorned", its 5"x7". It represents a new technique I am working on that gives me a hard edge as well as thick paint...hopefully it will lead to some exciting new directions for my work.

Lastly, I want to share with you the design for "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant", fresh off of the drafting table today. I'll get to work soon on it, so you'll get production photos of the show before the year is out!

A week of recovery

Turns out that this week has been very quiet. I don't think I have fired a single shot in anger (artistically and metaphorically speaking) all week. I will run down the high points...Attended the first Yuri's Night meeting...my involvement in the larger party is still in question (meaning I may do my own party...more boobies, less science!)...Friday I was the "Red King" and nearly was assaulted by a drunken Chinaman...drank too many beers and ate too many hot dogs and watched too much "word girl" at Kirstras...found out that Amy helps manage "word girl"...was Slobbolicious...and had the first production meeting for A Very Merry Unauthorized Scientology Pageant. That has been pretty much it...so I will leave you with a tease from the research I started for Pageant as the photo this week:

Hexagon 08, Yuri's Night and Pageant...beginings

This will be a short post (text wise) again because I am rushed for time. I have to get ready for an encore performance of "the Red King" with Gilded Lilly at the Palace of Wonders tonight. Come on out and see one of the last "guys in a big red suit" onstage tonight...

This week was perhaps the last time I will have the privilege to dance and drink at Blobs park. If you don't know what I am talking about, you have probably missed it...I will forever shed a tiny tear for Blobs Park, whenever I hear an Oom-Pa band...

Whilst still cleaning up from the Halloween party (its still not 100% finished) I have stumbled into three new projects. First I got a call from Landless Theater asking if I wanted to design the set for "A Very Merry Unauthorized Scientology Pageant"...of course I said yes. I have a production meeting on Sunday...sketches forthcoming.

The Second project was Hexagon. Malcolm had asked me to help out, and I explained that I was taking a year off. However, he somehow roped me into being the "Set Design Consultant"...which means that I designed a set for them, and they can take it or leave it.
As you can see, I came up with the concept of using a rolling platform for each branch of govt. And the newsbreak desks could be the fourth estate (not pictured)

Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, the builders and some of the other production staff have been poking holes in the design...it seems they want such silly things as "dimensions"...

And lastly Yuri's Night made a quantum leap forward yesterday, with the first meeting of the minds about the shape and scope of the party this year at the Goddard Space Fight Visitors Center...Much more about this next time!

October photo wrapup

I really fell down on the blogging these past few weeks. I hope to make up for it with a bunch of pictures of what transpired since the last post...with some commentary...

Here is my collection of work at Oferenda (remember that far back?)
The next weekend I had an opportunity to bring our "the Red King" to host Gilded Lilly's burlesque night at the Palace of Wonders
Same night...trying to tell jokes and look sexy...

Lobsterboy's last show (Le Grand Mort) Backdrop in progress STAGE RIGHT
Backdrop progress CENTER

Lobs Backdrop progress STAGE LEFT

Stitched together photo of the final dropPic of the drop setup for the first time (with Lobsterboy's Evil Twin Lucas)
Detail of the "corner" of the drop...More photos of the last lobsterboy show will be forthcoming, I don't have any of the actual show, since I was busy tending to THE OCHO on the same night. So hopefully people who took photos will post them to fickr soon!

THE OCHO heart for the dining room...I figure that wherever the cocktail weenies were kept was going to be the "heart" of the party!This shot captures the mood of the evening quite nicely...
"El JEFE" with glowing eye border
Screenprint on black paper, with white, red, gold and glow-in-the-dark ink.
"El DIABLITO" with glowing spooky trees border
Screenprint on black paper, with white, red, gold and glow-in-the-dark ink.

"CORTEZ" with Gold Floral border
Screenprint on black paper, with white, red, gold and glow-in-the-dark ink.


"El CORAZON" with gold floral border
Screenprint on black paper, with white, red, gold and glow-in-the-dark ink.
View from upper back porch looking down onto Aztec temple, and Chupacabra beanbag toss.

Senor y Senora Calavera, the Skipper, Gilligan, La Ultima Guerrera, and (yours truly) Pantera

More photos next week (as they develop!)

Screenprint Designs for the OCHO

This week all I have documented are some designs for the "prizes" for the OCHO...they were drawn, cut, and scanned into photoshop to help organize the screenprinting (really stencil printing) process. I have been printing them on black paper, and where you see ochre, I have used gold ink. I have also added some glow in the dark ink to the white ink, for that special Halloween feel...Thanks to this process of designing on the computer, I have had little trouble (spoiled prints, poor registration) with the actual printing. I'll post some examples of the finished products as they are completed.

Cortez and tree border (the borders and center images are interchangeable)

Corazon and eyes border

Diablito and flowers border

The Oferenda show opens tomorrow, so come on out and make a sugar skull!
Next week, progress on the Lobsterboy backdrop!

"THE OCHO" BEGINS....

Joseph strikes tonight, so much of the scenery for "The Ocho" (our eighth Halloween party in DC...this years theme will be a Mexican "day of the dead" theme) will be harvested from what will be discarded during Joseph's strike.

I have been working on buttons and screenprints as part of the "party favors" for this years spooktacular. Below are the two button designs:

1.25" button design "El Corazon"1.25" button design, "El Diablito"

The screenprints are still in a bit of limbo. I am currently redesigning them so that they will be self sufficient. You see, my first thought was to paste my screenprints (more stencil prints than anything) onto "loteria" cards (its a kind of Mexican bingo, from which much of the iconography from traditional Mexican art is derived) However, the cards and my designs really felt like two different universes...so I am redesigning them with interchangeable borders (I'll explain when I am further along in the process) below are the designs for the four screenprints...

"stencil print" designs for The Ocho

In other news, I sold some stencil prints and a painting at Artromp20. But the big news this week is that Batboy the Musical has gotten some great press! Click on the links below to read them, or just go HERE to buy tickets to the remaining 4 (!) performances!

DCist

EXPRESS

DCTHEATERSCENE

AND finally, I am to be included (albeit at the last minute) to the ArtOutlet show, Ofrenda, which opens for one day only next Saturday, October 13th. They will have a sugar skull decorating workshop in the afternoon and live mariachis' all night! Get more info HERE

BATBOY and JOSEPH...OPEN!

As the title of this post succinctly states, both Batboy the Musical and Joseph and the... have opened! Part of the lack of posting last week was due to these shows opening simultaneously, for that I apologise.

I'll start with Batboy (BTW, you can get tickets to the remaining shows HERE ...It closes October 13th) which is one of the better things I have ever seen Landless theater do, which is saying a lot because Cannibal! was really great! Anyway, the photos I took during dress rehearsals are a bit uneven. As with any "moody" show, the lighting looks great in real life, but is virtually impossible to capture on film (or digitally) so the photos here are not a really great representation of the awesomeness of this show...

So this is the basic set for the show. Its a West Virginia backdrop with a platform and a "trestle" archway over it. The band sits on the floor next to the set (they aren't just the band, they also portray cows in the show...hence the hat)

One of the songs in the show that is worth the price of admission is the love song sung by Pan...
...and other woodland creatures, like lambchop...
This is a shot that attempts to capture the mood of the show. As I said before, its very difficult to get a good sense of the show on film, but this one comes close...

Joseph... is also up and running (you can purchase tickets HERE ...it closes October 5th) which is a bit more photogenic...
This is "one more angel in heaven" which takes place in Act I, in Cannan. (note the palm trees)
Then the palms raise to reveal that they are the capitals of Egyptian columns! (when Joseph is sold into Egyptian slavery)At one point Pharaoh (which for all intents and purposes is Elvis in this production) makes his entrance on an elevator that we hid in the central staircase (he's halfway up in this picture)
And to complete Pharaoh's scene, a giant Elvis head flys in, and sphinx platforms roll out onto the stage from inside the set...

So there you have it, go see one (or both) shows soon, because before you know it, I'll be writing about how strike went...

Al, the Palace of Wonders cat, with a boo boo on his hind paw, during the Batboy Happy Hour.
You needn't pay attention to this next part if your heart is made of stone...just keep looking at the picture of Al until you start to feel something...

One of the upcoming events (YIKES! Its tomorrow, 9/27) is the Humane Society benefit at the Palace of Wonders...our good friend L'il Dutch will be performing...Here's the blurb:

Thursday, September 27th, 2007

SPECIAL WASHINGTON HUMANE SOCIETY BENEFIT WEIRDO SHOW

9:00 PM

Price: $10

"SPECIAL WASHINGTON HUMANE SOCIETY BENEFIT WEIRDO SHOW! Don't miss this weird and wacky Circus of the Strange. And what's a circus without animals? Come out and support our furry friends while having a grand evening of great entertainment with Al! You'll swoon to the burlesque and variety entertainment of the amazing L'il Dutch! Laugh until it hurts at the genuine vaudeville antics of the hilarious Phillips & Flathead! Thrill to the death-defying feats of the astounding Mab! Gasp at the beauty of the aerial work of astounding Moira Lee! And you will also thrill to the pyrotechnic artistry on not one, but two fabulous fire dancers, the incredible Malibu and the incomparable Silver Raven. Not to mention your host, Professor Sprocket, with his trademark pitches, ballies and dings! All this for only $10, and every penny goes to the animals! So common down and help the Washington Humane Society to ensure there will be no more homeless, abused or exploited animals in our fair city! See all you cool cats and hot dogs there!"

Process Process Process...

As promised, I have some of the "process shots" of Joseph and Batboy this weekShot from the prop loft of the Joseph Set before final paint. Notice the Elvis head in the upper right corner of the photo.Here is a shot of the "Elvis Pharaoh" head that will be used in Act II. This is all luan painted flat on the floor of the shop. The structure was added once we loaded into the TJ theater. Elvis is approximately 16'x14'. This shot was taken from a standing position at his chin (notice the 2.5 gallon bucket next to it for scale) but I can show you what it will look like when it is hung in the theater through the magic of photoshop...Photo manipulation of previous pic of Elvis head. This is more or less what he will look like onstage (we'll find out what it really looks like when it is hung at load in tonight)

The other show that loads in this coming Sunday is Batboy the Musical! I have begun to build this set in earnest. If you read the previous post you will recognize these scenic elements...
These are the "trestle" flats that will flank the platform USR. construction is 90% complete on these...I just have to find some way to get them to connect to my pipe and drape...
This is the progress (first washes of color) on the drop. This photo was taken at about the same height as the Elvis head above. Unfortunately I had to paint over the Cannibal drop to paint this...but you can always visit it online in my October 2006 postings... I will get down to the nitty gritty on this drop on Saturday.Here is a photo of all of the scenic elements (minus the "might us it, might not" moon light box) in the shop.

And lastly, I have a quick sketch that I have done in anticipation of Lobsterboy's last show. I am hoping to repurpose the Elvis head from Joseph...and turn it into the head of Satan... its just a thought...