that one time social media produced and created a play

I've been doing theatre for about twenty years. Scary thought, huh? In that time, I've been very fortunate to have had a lot of good day jobs, but none as fun as social media strategist for my day job Catalyst Ranch. In the year and a half I've been working with social media, I've learned a lot and had a great time. I've grown accustomed to my worlds crossing. Actor A will be a creative consumer for Ideation Group B who is holding their meeting at the Ranch. Actress C dated Actor D in Production E and now we're working on Show F together. No big whoop. But I never thought that social media and theatre would cross significantly. All I've ever seen any theatre use their social media accounts for is blasting ticket specials and promoting their shows. Sure, you'll get some audience interaction on Facebook pages. Some. But ultimately, no theatre group (in my radar) was using social media for anything groundbreaking or innovative. Until last week.

Last Wednesday, I was working at my desk, minding my business. In the white noise that is my Tweetdeck, I see a retweet from social media maven Sue Koch from social media maverick Tim McDonald. We'd all met at a social media luncheon with the Tekkite Group a month ago. What was Tim up to? His company Zaarly was partnering up with the Filament Theatre Ensemble to create a play in 36 hours. It gets better. Not only would they create a play in 36 hours, they would source the content and title through social media channels and use Zaarly (and some extent Twitter) to produce the show. That's right, all props, all costumes, all set pieces were going to be sourced completely through social media. As a passionate theatre artist and social media geek, I HAD to catch this story.

I followed the happenings on Twitter, following #sustain36. I knew when they'd chosen their title. I knew when they were rehearsing. I knew when the Alderman came by to visit. Through Zaarly I knew that they were in need of a red tie, which I happened to be wearing, so I brought it with me. You can still follow the #sustain36 convo on Twitter and it's pretty cool.

The energy when I arrived at the storefront in Portage Park was pretty electric. I'd seen Filament do Sarah Ruehl's Eurydice last season, so knew that their aesthetic was one of true collaboration and sustainability. The artists excitedly rehearsing and rewriting, the social media folks running a tight ship behind the scenes...I mean, I'd never seen so many smart phones and Macbooks out in my life. It was pretty sweet.

What impressed me most was how they utilized the space. They really worked with the architecture of their found enviornment and maximized the artistic potential of it. I won't go on about it too much, as you'll see the full story below. Just know that it was one of the coolest artistic events I've ever experienced. And I hope it happens again real soon.




Bonus video
One of my favorite scenes from the night. More footage coming soon!

that one random adventure (+3 for hump day) episode 5

So August 28, 2011 marks the return of "International Read Comics in Public Day", a day for us geeks to hit public transportation, coffee shops, parks and anywhere one can sit and proudly pull out our old trade paperbacks or new weeklies and spread awareness and appreciation for comics. I'm a big fan of a good "(insert cause) day". I cannot even begin to express how geeked out I am by September's Social Media Week, where your's truly will be moderating an event at my awesome day job Catalyst Ranch. The trouble with this particular day I find is...well...I already read comic books in public. Every day. On both ends of my commute.

But the notion reminds me of this one time this past spring. Free comic book day to be exact, reading the awesome  FCMBD edition of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Spidey sacrificed his iconic spider sense saving the city (again) in ASM#654 and was training with Shang-Chi (fresh off the pages of SECRET AVENGERS) to better tune his awareness through martial arts.

Lost in my book, I get a tap on my knee. A mini-me (7 if a day) looked up at me with gleaming almond shaped eyes and asked "awr you weading Spidew-Man?" (Swear to God he said his R's like that). His mother was napping next to him.

"Sure am pal" I replied.

"He's my favowite!" His torn up, third hand velcro Spidey sneaks proved as much.

"Mine too!" I replied.

"He's really funny."

"That he is." And so I nudged my book over so he can read with me, letting him turn pages when he'd caught up.

Spidey was off on Avengers mission. No spider sense, P.Parker is off his game.The turn of the page revealed a training scene between Spidey and Shang-Chi. Mini-Me's eyes lit up.

"Who's that?!" He demanded, setting his little finger on Shang-Chi. He could've cared less as I went over Chinese born Shang-Chi's master of kung fu street cred. His eyes remained fixated and he said in the most awestruck voice "He looks like me."

My stop came shortly after, the book remained unfinished between us. "Keep it" I said. "And make sure you ask your mom if you can read more. There's more Shang-Chi coming up in Spider Island." Standing on the platform, looking through the window, I saw Mini-Me flipping to the front of the book and reading it over again.

So yeah, when I read about NRACIPD, I thought "I don't need a day to celebrate this any more than I need the gay pride parade or Asian American Heritage Month. I celebrate these aspects of myself prudly every day." But like meeting an old drag queen who was there at the Stonewall riots, a closeted kid who suffers bullying in silence or meeting Mini-Me seeing himself represented in his favorite comic, its nice to get a reminder sometimes.

Celebrate yourself every day.

Three things I'm looking forward to for the rest of the week

Theatre (& Social Media)

Filament Theatre Ensemble presents a brand new theatrical experiment in partnership with Zaarly, the marketplace that helps you buy and sell with people nearby, Filament will attempt to create a brand new, locally-sourced, world premiere theatrical production in 36 hours. Community members can then share their stuff or their time in exchange for a ticket to the SUSTAIN36 Theatre Project performance which will be performed Thursday, August 25 at 8:00pm, a mere 36 hours after the playwriting process began.

This such an innovative and collaborative event. Following Filament's Twitter feed in every part of the process is pretty fuckin' rad. In the true spirit of Social Media, I read a retweet of the event on the SM side and was pleased as punch that it was a theatre event. A few tweets back and forth between Filament and lo and behold, I'm involved! Your's truly will be there video taping the process and the event as well as live tweeting tomorrow from 5PM on. For other convos happening about the event, search Twitter for #sustain36 and check for my blog/vlog footage on Friday!

For more info click here. If we had you at hello, get your tickets here. Will I see you there?

New Book Wednesday

X-Men Legacy #254
Written by MIKE CAREY
Penciled by STEVE KURTH
Cover by MICO SUAYAN

FINALLY! Someone's going into deep space to save Marvel Girl, Havok and Polaris. About goddamn time!

Family

I've been an uncle since I was one and a half. All of my nephews and nieces have been more like little brothers and sisters. None more so than DJ. In a blog where I open with a story of a mini-me, I am happy beyond belief to close out this entry to say the ultimate mini-me, not only blood family but best friend family, the fourth bertucelli, my little brother Mikey DJ is now in town and here for at least a month. Let the adventures commence!

Til next time!