Fall 2008 Update
Economic crisis. A new president-elect. Proposition 8. So much has happened since our last update to inspire new hope and struggle, and we at Elixir Productions have been watching it all unfold as we lay the next cobblestone in our company’s journey.
For those of you who have been checking our CURRENT WORK page, here’s the scoop: The To Be Loved graphic novel is still in progress, while the Celia Version 4 podcast production has clearly overshot its promised arrival in July 2008. Whether or not it will materialize remains to be seen, but you can finally experience Elixir’s first experiment in internet drama, “‘Da Da’ (There, I Said It Twice).” Created in collaboration with State of Play Productions, “Da Da” re-mixes the old-time radio play, cutting and pasting a variety of genres (juvenile detective novel, spicy telenovela, comic soliloquy) into a unique schizo-sonic experience. To behold the result, click here.
In related Elixir news, core company member Jody P. Person is currently directing Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler at Mercer County Community College. Performed in repertory with Ibsen’s A Doll House, both plays make up IbsenREP, the first of two main stage events in the 2008-09 season of “Angels and Demons” at MCCC. Jody’s Hedda Gabler uses a racially-diverse ensemble to create new resonance for the play for a tapestry of American cultures. Click the image to see more about “IbsenREP,” including the complete performance schedule.
Other projects in development by company members at MCCC as well as Elixir itself: A new play inspired by Laura Albert (a.k.a. J.T. Leroy), a dance featuring new music from singer, poet, and interdisciplinary artist Vanessa Daou, an experimental adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and much more! As always, keep checking back!
Elixir & State of Play Go Dada for Radio
Elixir Productions and State of Play Theatre Companies have collaborated to create a fun, schitzo-sonic radio play, “‘Da Da’ (There, I Said It Twice).”
Part experiment in Dada “cut-ups” and part homage to the radio broadcasts of yesteryear, the piece consists of three original playlets, rehearsed separately under the direction of Jody P. Person.
A throwback to old-school Hardy Boys adventures, “The Tweekleworth Twins and the Mysterious Flying Object” by Matt Bussler follows two daredevil brothers on their dangerous encounter with a wily, Russian villainess. “More a Conference Than a Threesome” by Ed Cardona, Jr. fuses 1940s radio soap opera with a spicy telenovela tryst, and “Radio Monologue” by Noah Ballard answers the question: If your radio could talk, what would it say?
The performers gathered to record their separate plays, only to be asked at the last moment to hand their scripts back to producers Alex DeFazio, Chloe Demrovsky, and Jody P. Person. In true Dada fashion, Chloe scissored the plays to pieces and taped them back together in random order with the help of Alex and Jody. The actors gave their performances in the resulting order, swapping microphones and staying on their toes to complete the recording in two continuous takes.
Interspersed with recorded snippets which document the process itself, “‘Da Da’ (There, I Said It Twice)” features vocal performances by Michelle Concha, Chloe Demrovsky, Adam La Faci, Keegan McDonald, George Miller, Yiraldi Reyes, and Loren Vandegrift. The recording was engineered by Chris Ghaffoor, with editing and sound design by Alex DeFazio; based on a concept by Chloe Demrovsky, Alex DeFazio, and Jody P. Person.
The full recording will be available soon, via Elixir Productionsrent a car bulgaria, ElixirCast, and State of Play, for your streaming pleasure.
JTMF AIDS Benefit: ‘What the Butler Saw’
Company members Josiah DeAndrea and Chris Ghaffoor have donated their talents to the 6th Annual James Tolin Memorial Fund benefit production, What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton.
If you happen to be in the Mercer area this weekend (Princeton, New Brunswick, West or East Windsor), why not swing by? The price of admission gets you a riotously funny evening of theatre and an elegant post-show reception on special performance dates (Friday, June 20 and Saturday, June 21 at 8:00pm). Proceeds from all ticket sales are donated to the Mercer County Community College JTMF Scholarship Fund, The Open Arms Foundation, and Graffiti Productions.
For more info, including where to purchase tickets, visit The James Tolin Memorial Fund!
‘Thérèse Raquin Desire’ Opens Friday!
See Jody’s choreography on glorious display in Project Y and The New Orleans Theatre Experiment’s latest work, Thérèse Raquin Desire, which opens this Friday, June 13, at Stage Left Studio in NYC.
Why Polaroids?
Why polaroids in our website’s new headers?
Because, like theatre, they’re instant.
Because they have a certain roughness, a homemade quality.
Because they can be used to invoke the past as well as the present. (The polaroid “frames” harken back to a pre-digital age, even as our use of them is obviously digital).
Because, when you pull a polaroid out of the camera, you watch it transform - literally - in front of your eyes, blooming from a grey nothingness into a record of momentary, human perception.
Transformation is at the heart of “Elixir,” the word as well as our company.
Our mission has evolved over the years - from a commitment to a theatre of immediacy and daring to exploring queer experience - but the theme of transformation has permeated each of our works. Transformation of gender and the body (from male to female, female to male, and beyond these traditional categories); transformation of societies, relationships, and the self; these ideas fueled our first production (Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9) through our most recent (To Be Loved Version 2), and we will continue to explore them in each new project - playfully, tenaciously, sometimes very seriously, always with the aim of discovering something new about sexuality, perception, and shifting states of being.
In addition to new headers, site updates also include:
- New, polaroid-themed navigation of our PRODUCTION ARCHIVE.
- More RESOURCES for independent theatre, the LGBT community, and the performing arts.
As always, keep checking back for more!
‘Nkd’ in The Trenton Times
MCCC student playwrights Noah Ballard and James Jaketic are interviewed by Anita Donovan in her article, “Tomorrow’s playwrights try out their craft.”
Nkd, Noah and James’ double-bill of one-act plays, premiers at Mercer County Community College in just a few days. Alex worked with both students in his playwriting course. He is so very proud of them!
For more on Nkd, produced by fellow MCCC student Kyrus Westcott, see the post, ‘Nkd’ at MCCC.
And (Finally!) Some Updates About the Company
Elixir is a bit like a big, cuddly cartoon bear; it goes into hibernation once the fall chill sets in, dabbles in a dozen side-projects between periods of (fleeting) rest, then reemerges come spring, fresh-faced and ready to frolic.
Forgive the cutesy image, but we’re feeling frisky! After spending the last eight months reporting on the accomplishments of individual company members, it’s now time to unveil the summer plans of Elixir Productions Theatre Company as a whole. They consist of two new cross-disciplinary projects:
#1 - To Be Loved: The Graphic Novel
Following the success of its FringeNYC 2007 run, Elixir Resident Playwright Alex DeFazio has teamed up with Louis Manna, veteran artist and former DC-Comics illustrator, to adapt To Be Loved into a graphic novel!
A finish date and publication info are TBD, as both Alex and Louis are taking their time and balancing the project with other commitments. It could be awhile, but check back for updates!
#2 - Celia Version 4: A Podcast Production
This summer, Elixir will tweak the familiar play-development model by presenting a rehearsed reading of a new play to an intimate, live audience and then remixing a recording of the reading into a “sonically-staged” podcast production available to anyone with an internet connection. Think of it as a demo for a new song and an old-fashioned radio play in one. Thanks to podcasting, you too can be part of the process of developing our next project!
The play, Celia Version 4, is a fantasy about human possibility, limitations, and male pregnancy. It may seem “ripped from the headlines,” but the play has been in development for the past year and, in fact, is not inspired by true events.
Find out more by visiting the CURRENT WORK section of our site.
And congratulations to the gay and lesbian residents of California!!!
Jody Choreographs for Project Y Theatre
Elixir co-founder Jody P. Person is choreographing portions of Project Y’s latest work, Thérèse Raquin Desire, which debuts at Stage Left Studio in NYC this June.
Project Y teams up with The New Orleans Theatre Experiment (N.O.T.E.) to co-produce Thérèse Raquin Desire, an original one-woman show about what happens when a silent and solitary woman decides to act on impulse and desire. Based on the famous title character of Emile Zola’s novel, Thérèse Raquin, this innovative show mixes original sound, video, and choreography to give new life to one of literature’s most surprising murderers.
Shells at Joe’s Pub
This summer, Elixir company member Nick Chase and comedy partner Roslyn Hart are unleashing their mad creation, Shells, once again in a superbly entertaining show at Joe’s Pub.
Michelle “Shells” Haylie Hoffman, the ball-busting J.P. Morgan senior analyst turned downtown darling, returns to Joe’s Pub with a new set of songs, stories, and drop-ins from special guests. After her infamous onstage breakdown this past February (and subsequent arrest for drunk and disorderly conduct), Shells has treated herself to a life make-over. Armed with nothing more than clarity, Shells promises to tell the truth about her new home, her new look, and her new man (men?!).
Click on the image for more info and to purchase tickets!
‘Macbeth’ in The Trentonian
Elixir co-founder Jody P. Person’s production of Macbeth is featured in Thursday’s Trentonian.
The article, “MCCC Teacher Shakes Up Shakespeare,” highlights Jody’s thoughts on the play as well as his specific approach to staging it at Mercer County Community College.
Click below for a full scan of the article!
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- Fall 2008 Update
- Elixir & State of Play Go Dada for Radio
- JTMF AIDS Benefit: ‘What the Butler Saw’
- ‘Thérèse Raquin Desire’ Opens Friday!
- Why Polaroids?
- ‘Nkd’ in The Trenton Times
- And (Finally!) Some Updates About the Company
- Jody Choreographs for Project Y Theatre
- Shells at Joe’s Pub
- ‘Macbeth’ in The Trentonian
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