that one last adventure for summer 2011

There's no way around it, folks, summer's coming to an end. Air is a little more chill, kids are going back to school, and the last three day weekend is quickly approaching. I've had a mostly good summer with some awesome adventures with my best friends. I was really excited for Labor Day weekend. I wanted it to be epic. A handful of friends and I tentatively planned a getaway but as things go, that fell through last week. Mostly because we'd forgotten to plan it. Another last minute trip for the weekend I was gonna take with fam got cancelled last minute (no comment) and so I'm like, "Fuck. I'm all geared up for adventure, what do I do?"

So it hit me...make your own adventure.

I've seen a lot of the country in my sketch comedy touring days, but I never really got to explore any new city. And there's still a great many cities I haven't seen yet.

I've also been inspired of late (RE:sustain36) at the power of social media and connectivity. How things can be created and supported out of thin air based on connections. So...

What if I bought a one way ticket to a city I'd never been to?
What if I didn't know a single soul in this new city?
What if nothing (including accomodations and return trip) was planned ahead of time?
What if my only means of surviving in this new city (figuring out what to do, where to go, how to get there) were only culled from my smart phone through social media and the interwebs?

That'd be pretty fucking exciting, no?

So, one way ticket is bought. Kids, I'm going to St. Louis. May not be exciting to some, but I've never been there. All I know about St. Louis is the Arch(es?). That's it.

I'll be tweeting, blogging and checking-in via foursquare along the way for those who want to follow along. On Twitter, follow hashtag #DBisNew2town. Shout out things I should do, or things you'd like me to find (like a scavenger hunt). Spread the word: I might make friends with one of your connections or followers.

Can I take on a completely new and foreign city, make new friends, have a great time, and make it back home? Follow along and see.

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!

that one time God finally said yes

So I've been on the nicotine patch for quite some time. It's a well known fact that when you sleep with it on, you get these crazy vivid dreams. I'm pretty in tune with my dreams as is, so you throw the patch in the equation they get borderline prophetic. I've had dreams about people and interactions and usually within 72 hours somehow it comes true. I dreamt that my father died on a Monday and I got the call that he did on a Friday.

Last night, I dreamt I was with my dad. We were in the cafeteria of the hospital he was at when I last some him alive. We were eating cake. We were talking about everything and nothing. And of all the dreams I've randomly had that randomly came true (friends, family, boyfriends, exes) I wish this one did. I don't remember what my dad and I talked about in this dream. Mostly that he was healthy and at peace.

I was cleaning out through some scrap book stuff and I found this poem. My father had sent it out with the christmas cards when I was a kid (it was my job to color in the holly and ivy). Its about a man asking God to wipe away his bad traits or do things for him and god says no. When he finally asks the right question, god finally says yes.

The poem was titled by the author "and god said no". What struck me as a kid was that my dad had photocopied this poem to send out, then on each page, replaced  (by hand) the word "no" with "yes" and inserted the word "finally" before "said" on every copy.

The message of the poem didn't change. But the frame of mind you go into reading it does: god will say yes.

For the last few months, I've asked god to take away the pain, to dry my tears, to make me forget and move on.

Last night, in my dream, I asked god if my dad was at peace and happy. And he finally said yes.

that one random adventure (+3 for hump day) episode 4

Random Adventure for the Week
(cuz anything can be an adventure)

To say this past weekend was epic would be an understatement. It was epicly epic. Amidst the rowdy and the daydrinking and randomness, God likes to throw in a little message your way. Remember to conncet to people. While we were caught in the rain getting refills of Summer-Double Gulp, the Bertucellis met Gwendolyn and Joseph.




Fifteen damn years. Damn. We should all be so lucky. They've seen some times, you can just see it in their eyes. But burning brighter than that, is their love and devotion to each other. Bless you guys. It was fun and a treat and an honor to meet you.

And I officially retract the interaction slips from episode 2.




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


New Book Wednesday

AVENGERS #16

Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

Penciled by JOHN ROMITA JR.

Amidst the ashes of what is left of the Marvel Universe and, during the bombastic battles throughout New York, a new Avengers romance blossoms. Thanks for the spoiler in the cover LOL

X-SCHISM #3

Written by JASON AARON

Penciled by DANIEL ACUNA

The event that divides the X-Men in half continues. The teaser pages (and the cover) features my own favorite Bobby Drake (Iceman) and the art looks SICK! Bobby's been getting more page time as of late, which is awesome, but if you can put two and two together, it's pretty obvious who's team he'll end up on by #5, and knowing X-History, it's kinda bittersweet.

Family

Not only is Molly Meacham one of the smartest, most wonderful and talented women I know, I'm also very lucky to call her one of my best friends. We both get insanely busy as she is a dedicated English teacher during the fall and spring and a ingenious touring poet during the summer, so we only get to see each other sporadically. Having lunch with her this Saturday will definitely be the highlight of my week!

Class

Thank God my gym offers (one) bikram yoga class. I definitely need to sweat out some toxins from last weekend.

Til next time...

that one time classic American theatre got rebooted

Like a lot of people following American theatre, I was very excited when Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis were announced to play the title roles in a Broadway-bound revival of Porgy and Bess at American Repertory Theatre. Chicagoans enjoyed a beautifully simple staging at Court this season, which put the music (as gorgeously directed by Doug Peck and sung by an amazing cast, including the imcomparable Bethany Thomas) at the forefront.


great interview with director Charles Newell; BT & Doug performance at 6:08 mark

"What an exciting time for this show," I thought. It looked I might be in NYC when ART production would be running and was very excited. Then the reports of the changes started coming in. Director Diane Paulus brings in playwright Suzan-Lori Parks to collaborate with. Now, this isn't the first time anyone has "tweaked" this piece. In 2006, Tony Award-winning director Trevor Nunn updated his London production a bit by turning a lot of the recitative into naturalistic book scenes (maybe he was inspired by the movie version of RENT). And it flopped. Mind you, Nunn's production still stuck with the original plot and (most controversial to the ART revival) ending. For ART, Ms. Paulus and Ms. Parks have expanded character bios, omitted key scenes and songs to accomodate said additions and changed the ending (no spoiler alert here) to be more upbeat and "happy".

When NY Times  writer Patrick Healy broke the story for the Arts & Leisure section, many readers expressed their concern in the comments section. Michael Musto had a hilarious response on his blog. But the most vocally outraged was prolific composer Stephen Sondheim, who wrote an eloquent and poignant response to the Times. Here are some excerpts:



-Ms. Paulus says that in the opera you don’t get to know the characters as people. Putting it kindly, that’s willful ignorance. These characters are as vivid as any ever created for the musical theater, as has been proved over and over in productions that may have cut some dialogue and musical passages but didn’t rewrite and distort them.

-What Ms. Paulus...fails to recognize that Porgy, Bess, Crown, Sportin’ Life and the rest are archetypes and intended to be larger than life and that filling in “realistic” details is likely to reduce them to line drawings.

-Among the ways in which Ms. Parks defends the excavation work is this: “I wanted to flesh out the two main characters so that they are not cardboard cutout characters” and goes on to say, “I think that’s what George Gershwin wanted, and if he had lived longer he would have gone back to the story of ‘Porgy and Bess’ and made changes, including the ending.” It’s reassuring that Ms. Parks has a direct pipeline to Gershwin and is just carrying out his work for him...

-I can hear the outraged cries now about stifling creativity and discouraging directors who want to reinterpret plays and musicals in order to bring “fresh perspectives,” as they are wont to say, but there is a difference between reinterpretation and wholesale rewriting. Nor am I judging this production in advance, only the attitude of its creators toward the piece and the audience.

Which brings me back to my opening point. In the interest of truth in advertising, let it not be called “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess,” nor even “The Gershwin-Heyward Porgy and Bess.” Advertise it honestly as “Diane Paulus’s Porgy and Bess.” And the hell with the real one.



Mr. Sondheim brings up some excellent points. You learn very early on in studying directing that your job first and foremost is to present the play as the playwright intended (thanks Sheldon!) It is the basis of many awesome collaboractions between director-playwright-director I've seen in my career. So when does one ask the ethical question "am I changing this because I prefer it this way or because it's what better serves the play?" And who polices these ethics?

In the same breath, should creativity and innovation lose out to tradition? David Henry Hwang approached the Rodgers & Hammersein estate about revamping Flower Drum Song in 1997. Like P&B, FDS was believed by many to be outdated in its portrayal of its subject ethnic group and to have perpetuated stereotypes. Hwang gained approval for his rewrite from both the Rodgares & Hammerstein estate and from the author of the original novel, C.Y. Lee. Hwang's book (with the collaboration of director Robert Longellow) streamlined the story, matched the seriousness in tone of the original novel and bringing old-world immigrants struggling with the assmilation of the American-born generation. I am very biased as I saw this revival on Broadway in 2002 and can say as an Asian-American, I was thankful for the revisions: I connected to it more than I ever did with the film version of the original.

In both cases of Porgy and Bess and Flower Drum Song, the respective estates that own the rights to the works have approved the changes. The artistic and production staffs of the ART revival of P&B are standing behind their process and as artists, they should. But the questions remain: should tradition win out over innovation? At what point is the ethical line crossed when a playwright's work is rebooted posthumously? And if the core intention of the playwright is to connect with an audience and their work is revamped to "better" connect to an audience of a different era, is their intention still being honored?

And the ultimate question: what is more important, the artist's intention or audience's reaction?

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

Random Adventure for the Week
(cuz anything can be an adventure)


The crispness in the air and the slight drops in temperature always brings that slight punch to the gut every year, no matter how old I get: it's back to school weather. The dog days of summer are starting to die down. As previously blogged, it's been quite a journey for me since March, but I am very lucky to have a great family of friends to lend a shoulder or just have stupid (drunk) fun with. I don't know what my adult life would be without the Bertucellis and maybe one day I'll blog about how we got the name, but for your enjoyment, here's one of my favorite adventures we had this summer:

Prologue:
What happens when you daydrink, steal scones off of a brunch buffet that you didn't pay for and break a metal bench, just by sitting on it? Your best friend documents the fallout...

Sorry about the aspect ratio. Apparently there's a wrong way to hold a camera phone.

Don't worry, August is still young. And with the upcoming weekend (see the last of my +3) we still have a lot of Bertucelli adventures left for the Summer of 2011



Three things I'm looking forward to this week


Theatre

Family Devotions by David Henry Hwang
presented by Halcyon Theatre at the Greenhouse Theater Center, through September 4th

Chicago theatre's "Summer of David Henry Hwang" has seen the Chicago premiere of Yellow Face at Silk Road, the world premiere of Chinglish at the Goodman and the opening weekend of Family Devotions at Halcyon is the first sign that the summer is coming to a close. One of his earliest plays, Family Devotions examines the foibles of a Chinese-American family living as close to a WASPy life as they can in an affluent suburb of Los Angeles in the early 80's. The extreme religious views of the matriarchs (one of which is played by the imcomparable Mia Park) and the capitalistic fast-talking of the sons-in-law (played by my buddies Gordon Chow and Dwight Egan Sora) clash with the simplistic world views of a long-lost relative visitng from China and makes for some very exciting theatre, including a scene in the second half dealing with an exorcism that I just can't wait to see how ingenious Jenn Adams has staged. On a personal note, it is one of the first Hwang plays I read as a teenage theatre student and really shaped how I view Asian American families in theatre (as well how to orchestrate a large group scene).

More info: http://halcyontheatre.org/familydevotions

New Book Wednesday

Morning Glories #11
Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Joe Eisma

The only non-Marvel book I'm reading. Morning Glories Academy is an institution where "Learning to be an Assassin" is an extra-curricular and "How Not to be Killed by your Homeroom Teacher" is a prerequisite. Can't get enough of the intrigue and mystery of these six teens all coincidentally born at the exact same day and time. This month, we learn more about Ike, the back-stabbing socialite bad boy that everyone loves to hate.

more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Glories

Amazing Spider-Man #667
Writen by Dan Slott
Art by Humberto Ramos

Spidey Island continues. Humberto Ramos (FINALLY) returns to ASM. Shang-Chi looks awesome on the cover. 'Nuff Said.

Street Festival

The best thing about Chicago summer is being able to experience every neighborhood through their street festival. Main street is shut down for booths, booze, bands and awesomeness. You get to really know the character of the neighborhood based on its inhabitants. So what happens for at the street fest for Lakeview (aka Boys Town, the Gayborhood)

Pride part two. And it's eight shades of awesome. Here are some pix from Market Days past

 

And, of course, it's the anniversary for the annual Bertucelli Elephant Ear Eat-Off

Hope to see ya there!

Til next time...