"Describing Elephants and
Reinventing Time"
A new performer, fresh ideas, and plenty of surprises await audience members on Saturday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m., when 171 Cedar Arts Center, in Corning, NY, presents Alligator Mouth Improv in "Describing Elephants and Reinventing Time." Tickets for the event are $5.00 for students, $8.00 for 171 members, and $15.00 for non-members, and can be purchased by calling 171 Cedar Arts Center at 607-936-4647 or at the door the evening of the performance. Guests may arrive early for a pre-show reception and tasting of wines donated by Glenora Wine Cellars.
This evening features Peter Chwazik, Sean Lukasik, Jaydn McCune, and Rhonda Morton. Balancing spoken word, vocal, theatrical, instrumental, and dance pieces, some questions we are considering as we put together this performance:
- What if we reconceptualize time as multi-directional and multi-dimensional?
- What happens when you only have part of the picture?
- What happens when you have a shared pool of meaning?
- Can we remind the audience of how beautiful humans are, how creative we all are, how original?
- Can we invite the audience to be present, to listen more deeply, to pay more attention than they are usually invited to do?
We are creating this improvised production specifically for 171's Drake Theatre. Because Drake is our "home" theatre, we can design this show to really emphasize the immediacy and intimacy of an improvisational performance. We'll be playing with audience perception, seeing how different lighting, seating configurations, and sight lines affect their experience.
For instance, one piece, called "Big Sur Elephant," will have a video projected on the back wall of Rhonda dancing on the beach at Big Sur, CA. Peter will watch that video for the first time at the performance and create a musical composition inspired in the moment. The other three performers, blind to the video, will individually interpret Peter's music to each create a solo dance. While each of the four performers (five if you count the video) will have only a part of the picture, the audience will experience it all as one piece. It's like the old story of the blind men describing an elephant after only feeling a particular part of it--one's perspective is key.
This performance is Sean's debut as a full member of the ensemble. Some folks will recognize him from the fall 2007 Corning Community College production where he performed as a member of the community. We are thrilled that he lives in Corning, which has allowed the four of us to work together regularly, providing the rare opportunity to collaboratively create new ideas to debut in this show.
We are supported by a fabulous tech crew which includes Blair Jennings, Katelynn O'Leary, Steve Stull and Trevor Worthey. Len Vogler is producing the Big Sur Elephant video, and Kathy Rauch is loaning us her video projector (thank you, thank you!). Noel Sylvester took our promo photographs (and has been enormously generous with his skills on behalf of all things Alligator). Sean Lukasik created the photo montage for posters and such (so multi-talented!). Front of the house assistance comes from our best friends for life Sally Manning and Connie Sullivan-Blum. Wine for tasting pre-show and during intermission will be generously provided by Gene Pierce of Glenora Wine Cellars. (Thanks to Lee Blaser of The Cellar for her help setting that up!) Guests will enjoy a delicious buffet of hors d'oeuvres served up by some of the amazing snack queens of the First Thursday Book Group: Sally Immerman, Rita Reed and Louise Richardson. The staff at 171 (Susan O'Leary, Jennifer Warner and Elizabeth Whitehouse) have been angels. And of course, we couldn't survive without Laurie Liberatore, our business manager, helping with every detail.
Come with no expectations. Leave with a greater sense of what's possile. Call 171 Cedar Arts Center to reserve tickets today: 607-936-4647.