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...

Batboy Designs & ARTROMP20 opens!

Another busy week where not much has been produced that is worth posting as a finished product. However, much of my time was taken up by Planet Arlington this past weekend, so I was pretty pooped by the time labor day rolled around. We are in the final stretch of painting Joseph, so I will try to post pictures "post load-in to the theater" next week.

I also was able to get a good handle on the sketches for Batboy the Musical this week. To give you an idea of how challenging this show has been, (its a good show, but its hard to do anything other than the intelligent obvious with the set if you are trying to be clever, and this production opens at the same time as Joseph...)
This is the DCAC space empty. One of the challenges of working here (other than it being very small) is that all scenery needs to be setup in 15 minutes or less, and then struck in 15 minutes every night...
This is the design for batboy thus far. The director wants to put the band offstage, and on a platform (spilling into the USR doorway) which means that I need to make a foldable "parallel" platform. I will be repainting the Cannibal drop from last year, and adding an "arch" that will give the feeling of a West Virginia railroad trestle/mine/cave/slaughterhouse/revival tent/veterinarian's house...
This is a photoshop sketch of the backdrop. I have sewn together a number of different sources and I haven't made any attempt to make them "seamless" because its a sketch. I have found that I enjoy working on the drop more than sketching beforehand, and I am kept more interested if I have things in the design that I don't quite know how I am going to paint until I start...so you can look forward to the finished product soon.

Lastly, I want to urge you to come out the Artromp20 tonight (I have two screenprints, a painting and a drawing in the show). It promises to be a historic occasion!

ArtRomp20
the grand finale
Friday Sept 7th Warehouse 6pm til late
*art *performance *projection inside and out *picnic in the parking lot
artists - hipsters - friends - patrons come bring a friend - free
See the work of artists from all the years of ArtRomps
See art in all the Warehouse spaces buzzing with the echos of the past
Be part of the past and future of Warehouse. AND as usual Food - Drink - Fun
ArtRomp 20 Sept 7- Sept 30
Warehouse
1021 7th Street NW

MRTIKIHEAD.com is LIVE!

MRTIKI.COM is live! I have finally gotten off of my tuchas and made a webpage for the magnet set. I know, its a bit rough around the edges, but it is at least a web presence for the product...I plan to tweak the sight a bit (like adding a paypal link, instead of sending them to my email) and then announce MrTikihead on Tikicentral later this month. So click the link below and get your set now before they are all gone!

WWW.MRTIKIHEAD.COM


Once again, a rendering of the magnet set

I am going to be brief because I have to go to a production meeting for Joseph, but I will leave you with a rendering of the painters elevations for that show:

Joseph...Painters elevation
Photoshop sketch

Cats! Dogs! And DISCO!

After the Nats game on Wednesday, and Weird Al on Thursday, it was looking like my week couldn't get more exciting...until...

KT's 30th Birthday Disco Extravaganza at the Doubletree Skydome!

Although they weren't actually playing disco in the rotating restaurant, a good time was had by all!

Simply put, this week saw the completion of two pet oriented projects, Al and Ralph. First, Al (the clipped-eared mascot of the Palace of Wonders) was completed on Friday, and will be installed tomorrow.

"Al" Valance for Palace of Wonders
Acrylic on Luan, Approx 4'x7'

And I made a final push to get Ralph the dog's portrait done on Monday...

Ralph the Dog
Oil on Canvas, 36"x30"

So, after all that, I hope not to paint anything with fur for a while...(however, I do need to do some more monkey paintings for ArtRomp20!)

Good Photos of Super Secret Show! Mermaid not so much...

So our good friends at Furcafe have just posted some great photos of Trixie's Super Secret Show! I've pulled the best ones of the scenery (natch) Enjoy:

This one is my favorite, its got all of the silliness and Film Noir mood rolled into one!

Unfortunately Furcafe did not seem to make it to the Virgin Festival, so the only documentation I could find of the Mermaid Misting Tent was from random people on Flickr:

Because it was so misty, the above photo is what most people's photos looked like...How was I to know that it would be so misty in a misting tent? At least I polycryliced the heck out of those flats...they are probably warped real good now!

To complete this post, I'll briefly tell you that we got the Buick back from North Carolina...and KT is looking at trading it in ASAP (something about being an "old lady car"...she might be having a "30's" crisis...so I'll cut her some slack)

I also painted out the rabbit on the Palace of wonders sign, in preparation to paint "Al the cat" in its place...more on this as it develops...And lastly, I'll tease you with this fragment of a design I am working on for another (not Trixie related) secret...

Feels like I am slacking...

I don't know why I have been going around feeling like I have been slacking this past week. I guess it was the fact that I didn't have any extremely pressing deadline to meet. Upon reflection, I did get a few things done this week after all.
First, I was able to chip away at the tattoo I have been working on. I don't know if I will be able to get a final design to him before burning man, but I think some large strides were made.

Tattoo Sketch
Photoshop, 3"x5"

I am getting close to the end on this design. I need to redraw the whole thing so that the tattoo artist can translate it into his medium...

This week also saw the completion of the Joseph... model. I did a 1/8" scale model of the set to show the producing staff on Saturday. Unfortunately, I don't have the model anymore, because I gave it to the director to show the cast, and I didn't take any pictures. I did, however, start a Vectorworks drawing of the set:

Joseph and the... Technical Drawings
Vectorworks, 1/8"=1'

TAP loaded into the shop on Tuesday, so that means that we are swinging into high gear for this production...expect pictures of progress over the next month and a half.

Speaking of theater, I have accepted the set design role for Batboy the Musical, with Landless Theater Co. (the same people who brought you Cannibal the Musical and Night of the Living Dead) at the DCAC. The tricky part is that Batboy opens the same day as Joseph...

This past weekend Hal and Ellen were in town. A good time was had by all...I even feel that they might have left too soon...

And lastly, I started work on a project that I have been putting off for far too long. I traded some jewelry for a painting. Well, a commission for a painting, Of Sandy's dog, Ralph. I decided to try to tackle the project in oil, a medium befitting portraiture of such a noble beast...I blocked in the color this morning:

Portrait of Ralph, in progress
Oil on Canvas, 36"x30"

Tune in next week to hear the travails of "the expedition of the Buick Century!"

Mermaid o' the Mist

Another whirlwind weekend. This Saturday I got to see the scenery for the super secret show in action at the Warehouse. My pictures are really crappy though...and I seems that I will have to wait for better pictures from the official Fringe photographer...which means I shouldn't hold my breath. Its a good thing I took those photos in the shop... the ones I posted last week...

Production photo of Trixie's Super Secret Show at the Warehouse Theater
This is the best I could get, without disrupting the show

I would like to make it clear that the show was friggin' FANTASTIC. I think that they should tour this puppy around the country, it was that good. (if they do that, I will have to talk to them about doing a program for the show...so I can see my name in print as the "set designer"...but I take no credit for the desk....)

Anyway, after the super secret show, we went to Deb's housewarming party in Germantown. (we missed the opening of the splashpark around the corner of or house) and returned kinda late to the closing party for Art in Heat. We had to leave early from that because we needed some shuteye for the Yard Sale on Sunday. The Yard Sale made us some money, and got rid of lots of stuff, which can be counted as an overall success. That evening KT and I crashed hard, so we missed one of the many "farewell to the Warehouse" evenings. But that farewell was to be short lived for me, because on Monday night I accompanied Scott in the process of taking down all of the art in heat artwork and redistributing it to the artists. We joke about not wanting to do another one next year, but I think we might do another one...just you wait...(I also used this uncertainty to start rumblings about Yuri's Night 08)

So then the marathon effort of getting the Mermaid Misting tent backdrop made started. Yes, I was able to complete the project in under a week...and all told, perhaps only two days! The idea for the tent was to have some sort of underwater scene. So I wracked my brain for underwater imagery and came up with the idea of having Poseidon watersking on crocodiles. I did a quick sketch, and the rest fell into place...

Poseidon Riding Crocs

Pastel on black paper, 12"x16"

I was going to do this on three flats, the 4'x7' flats left over from Bill Crandall's Chernobyl show, hinged together. So I had to change to proportion of Poseidon a little bit, But all of the other elements seemed to fall into place...

Left Panel (Poseidon) of Mermaid backdrop

4'x7', Acrylic on LuanCenter Panel (Moai) of Mermaid Backdrop

4'x7', Acrylic on Luan

Right Panel (Diver) of Mermaid Backdrop
4'x7', Acrylic on Luan

And here's the finished product standing in the shop:Mermaid Misting Tent Backdrop
12'x7', Acrylic on Hinged Luan Panels

So, go on out to the Virgin Festival this weekend, and get cool at the misting tent!

Next week, I will have photos of the model for Joseph...and they start building in the shop!

Super Secret Show opens, Art in Heat Closes

This week has been dominated by getting the Super Secret Show up off the ground. I spent the large part of Saturday painting the show(basically Noon to Midnight...which isn't bad on a Saturday because I get to hear the whole Saturday lineup on WETA, which is great...except for "the splendid table", but I digress...)

Gun and Hooch flats for Trixie's Super Secret Show

11'x7' cutout luan, Hinged in the middle

Owl and Phone Flats for Trixie's Super Secret Show
8'x7' cutout luan, Hinged in the middle

Progress shot of Super secret backdrop being painted flat in scene shop
12'x12' Muslin Backdrop

Hopefully this week I will be getting some production shots of the show...but its going to be difficult because the Fringe festival has events booked back to back...

I am going to start work this week on a backdrop for Trixie, in her mermaid persona, for the Virgin Festival. She's given me free reign over the design, which she may live to regret...of course, this is due by a week from Friday (Aug 3rd), so the next pictures I will have for you is of the finished product.

I had some good news on the Palace of Wonders front. I had a sit down with Erik, and he enthusiastically agreed that a "quarterly" design arrangement would be best for the valance project. So you can expect me to kvetch about designing and painting another valance every three months or so...

I also made some progress on a tattoo I am designing for Dustin. He wants to have a matchbox on his arm, and he has asked me to design the cover. The matches are for a mythical motel (perhaps mythical is not the right word...perhaps existential is better) called "the Chaos Motel".

Chaos Motel Tattoo Design
Photoshop Sketch

This is really a process sketch, so don't look at it as done in any significant way. I will be adding monkeys and babes, and alligators to the pool...I need to move a bit faster, however, because he wants to have it in place (on his arm) in time for Burning Man...

This weekend we can look forward to two significant events. First, our annual "purge" yard sale. This year we will be having it at Blair and Gwen's place (3210 38th St. NW...near the Cathedral) on Sunday 8am-3pm...come on by and take some of our crap back to your house!

And Lastly, all good things must come to an end!

Closing Reception for Art in Heat: Saturday, July 28

It’s the last week for Art in Heat, and we’re having a closing reception this Saturday, July 28 from 7 - 9pm. Swing by and join us for one last hurrah!

The Capital Fringe Festival is going strong. There are several events at the Warehouse itself, so catch a Fringe show and stop by before or after.

Alert your procrastinating friends, and come on out.

Warehouse Arts Complex
1021 7th St NW
Washington, DC 20001
202-783-3933