Monday, August 28, 2006

RED CANS wrapped up




1. A BIG THANKS to the audiences who made this show such a delight to perform. Demand was so high that spectators were standing in the hallway and seated in the light booth. A Rubber Rep first!

2. It was bound to happen sooner or later. On the last night of performances, an audience member (and prominent figure in the theatre community) really didn't want her shoes taken and proceeded to beat the sh$% out of the offending can. No injuries were reported.

3. The costumes were so filthy after the run that they filled our bathtub with a bitter black brew. See the above photo, and be thankful that we can't attach a smell.

4. Even though the show's over, we still dream of Red Cans. Josh writes: "I just had the worst Red Cans nightmare. We're performing at Bass Concert Hall at UT. Or possibly the Paramount. The show is packed. There are even a few celebrities around, mainly icons from my childhood. There's a weird pre-show where Hulk Hogan comes out and throws footballs to the crowd. "Weird Al" Yankovic catches one. I'm amazed that no one is cheering for the Hulkster. It's time for the show to start. The lights slowly fade. When they come back up, the dog in the cage, but also... there's a full youth baseball team posing on the side of the stage. It's like they're proud of their red uniforms and decided they'd be a good addition to the show. Ashley and Amie are crawling around outside of their cans and looking at the team. Dolly's pushing the cage alone. Then Ashley says (in a LOUD stage whisper), "Aren't we supposed to be in our cans?" They put on their cans and help Dolly. No one has a power horn. The king never arrives. 90% of the audience leaves in the first 15 minutes. The rest is blurry. I remember leaping up onstage and going back to the dressing room and exploding with anger and frustration to Matt, talking about killing myself with sleeping pills. The backstage area doubles as an artificial christmas tree warehouse, with thousands of gaudy trees hung from the ceilings."

On to At Home with Dick 2! Stay tuned.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

RED CANS: FINAL WEEKEND!

Reviews, etc. posted here as they are posted elsewhere. Beware of spoilers!

1. The Statesman calls the show, "one engaging and odd little package, full of weird and entertaining images."

2. Tim Thomas of the Loaded Gun Theory says he's "never seen an audience so afraid" and describes how the audience was "literally cowering with their feet in each others laps."

3. The Dirigo Group compares the show to Jim Henson going on "a week-long psilocybin bender with nothing to keep him company but early David Lynch films, E.T., Alien, and 2001."

4. The Austinist only recommends the show to people who are able to "sit through an hour long performance just to enjoy seven or eight moments of clarity."

5. KUT's Arts Eclectic is airing this audio preview of the show August 14-18.

6. The Austin Chronicle says that, "At some point during the show, you are likely to lift up your feet, hide your purse, and secure any other loose possessions – like a roller coaster, only you're at the theatre. Keep all legs and arms inside the play."

more to come!

Monday, August 07, 2006

CONFIRMED: The Rubber Repertory is Illegitimate.

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Now that RED CANS has opened, it seems like a good time to share a correspondence we had a few months ago with the manufacturers of the RED CANS.
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the players...




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------Original Message--------
From: Rubber Repertory [mailto:rubberrep@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 5:16 PM
To: Jennifer Huff
Subject: Bongo Bags Live on Stage!

Hello!

My name is Josh Meyer, and I'm an artistic director of the Rubber Repertory Theatre, an award-winning alternative theatre company based in Austin, TX. We're currently developing a family-oriented dance performance entitled RED CANS, and we wanted to see if you would donate 30 Redmon original Bongo Bags (red canvas) to use as props in the show. During early rehearsals, we've found that having dancers walk around while squatting inside Bongo bags creates a very interesting image, and we'd love to explore the possibilities of using a much larger number of Bongos.

Because we operate on an extremely limited budget, any donation you might offer would be greatly appreciated. Aside from the prominent placement of your products on stage, we'd also gladly place an ad for your company in the program of the show, where it would be seen by over one thousand theatregoers of all ages.

Thanks so much for your time,

Josh Meyer
Rubber Repertory Theatre

-----Original Message-----
From: Lori V. Gagnon [mailto:Lori@RedmonUSA.com]
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 10:01 AM
To: Jennifer Huff; Peter Redmon; Sam Redmon; Tracy Ingram
Subject: RE: Bongo Bags Live on Stage!

Peter,

Let's do this! First, we must be sure it's legitimate.

Lori

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Lori V. Gagnon
Vice President
Sales and Marketing

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Redmon
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 12:02 PM
To: 'Lori V. Gagnon'
Subject: RE: Bongo Bags Live on Stage!

Dear Mr. Meyer,

No one in Austin seems to know who you are. The Chamber of Commerce could not locate you. The Austin Visitors Bureau knows nothing of you. You are not listed in the business pages or under Theaters in the Yellow Pages. The Texas Attorney General does not show you listed. Are you legitimate?

-----Original Message-----
From: Rubber Repertory [mailto:rubberrep@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 3:16 PM
To: Peter Redmon
Subject: Bongo Bags Live on Stage!

Dear Mr. Redmon,

I certainly understand why you'd be skeptical after contacting those organizations, but I ensure you we're legitimate. We're a small theatre company that has only been producing since 2001, and in a city with as many other arts organizations as Austin, it takes a little while to become well known. Because we're without a permanent space, we often work by collaborating with more-established companies such as Physical Plant Theatre, Salvage Vanguard Theatre, and the Vortex Repertory Company. If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to provide you with references from any of these groups.

In addition, here are links to newspaper articles that feature one of our recent shows, At Home With Dick. The first is a review. The other two are listings of awards for which the show was nominated and/or won.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-03-18/arts_review2.html
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-06-10/arts_feature.html
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-08-19/arts_feature4.html

Thanks so much for your consideration.

Josh

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Redmon
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2005 12:02 PM
To: 'Lori V. Gagnon'
Subject: RE: Bongo Bags Live on Stage!

Thanks for the additional information, but sorry Josh, we cannot grant your request.

Peter R

Thursday, August 03, 2006

The RED CANS are open...

and a new species of performance is born!

Read the Austin Chronicle article here.

We'll leave this post open for your discussion, comments, critiques, questions, answers, analysis, etcetera.




photo by matt wright