Become'd CUBA

This past weekend, my fiancé closed her production of Becoming Cuba at the Huntington. It was a fantastic for her, as well as a fantastic play — even if some of the reviewers had trouble grasping the idea that a play could have a Latina female as a protagonist (God forbid!), or be set in an historical context without being a "history lesson." I've seen various incarnations of this show...6 times now? And I still don't know anything about the Cuban War of Independence, other than that it happened, and that, in an incredibly over-simplified way, it's kind of the same conflict as what we call the Spanish-American War (meanwhile, we have done shows at the Huntington that could be described as "history lessons," but those were all about white dudes).

ANYWAY, in the end, the show was beautiful and successful, and that's what matter. I previously shared some of the earlier promotional videos that I made for the show, but over the course of its run, I made a few more as well, focusing on the relationship between Bevin and the playwright, Melinda Lopez, as well as the eerie synchronicity between the play and some of the actors' personal lives. Check 'em out:

Playwright Melinda Lopez and director Bevin O'Gara have been working on BECOMING CUBA for over 2 years, but their history together stretches back for more than a decade. Learn more about their special relationship in an exclusive interview with Lopez, O'Gara, and cast members Juan Javier Cardenas, Christina Pumariega, Christopher Tarjan, and Rebecca Soler.

Cuban blood runs thick in Melinda Lopez's stirring new drama, both onstage and off. The family at the center of the play is portrayed by three actors who all share Cuban heritage - but the similarities don't end there. Learn more about these surprising and heartwarming Cuban connections in an exclusive interview with playwright Melinda Lopez, director M.

Meanwhile, fellow playwright / bacon lover / renaissance man John J. King — the so-called "Child Wrangler" on Becoming Cuba — had some fun backstage (no, not like that) with "Chucho," the kid in the play. The two of them wrote a parody of "Royals" by Lorde sung from Chucho's point of view in the play, and I whipped together a quick video for it. I think it's pretty amazing (of course, it could be one of those "you-had-to-be-there" things, but c'mon — Lorde would be way cooler if she sang about guerrilla warfare and syphilis amiright?)

The story of "Becoming Cuba" as told through the eyes of a modern teen pop star. Written and performed by Brandon Barbosa with John J. King.

We also had our annual Gala fundraiser at the Huntington last week (in addition to some other, less uplifting news), for which I shot & edited a tribute to MacArthur "Genius" Mary Zimmerman, whom we honored at the event, and shot the footage for our new education video:

What makes Mary Zimmerman so great? We turn to frequent collaborators Usman Ally, Geoff Packard, Douglas Peck, Kevin Carolan, Anjali Bhimani, and others in search of the answer. "The Jungle Book" and "Candide" director and MacArthur Fellow Mary Zimmerman was honored with the Wimberly Award, the Huntington's highest honor, at the 2014 Spotlight Spectacular on Monday, April 28 at the Boston Park Plaza Castle.

Learn more about the Huntington's award-winning youth, education, and community outreach programs, including Student Matinees, Poetry Out Loud, and the August Wilson Monologue Competition. Learn more at huntingtontheatre.org/education.

So, ya know. I've been busy. What else is new?

SO MANY THINGS HAPPENING IN THE THEATRE AHHHHHHHH

Man, life was so calm and easygoing for that first month after I got back from Clarion. What the hell happened? Oh yeah. The Jungle Book, our new world premiere musical adaptation of the Disney animated film, directed and adapted by the incredible Mary Zimmerman. We've just extended the show a second time, so it now closes on October 20 (but tickets are going fast, so get 'em while you can!). It's been a pretty crazy time at work, but luckily, all in a good way, with lots of special promotional events for the show that have kept me pretty busy. But here's a little glimpse at a few of the things I've been doing for it:

Our "audience testimonial" video, with some B-Roll from the production, and interviews with real audience members who cannot stop raving about the show (so you don't just have to take my word for it). 

Hear what audiences have been saying about the world premiere of Mary Zimmerman's ravishing new musical adaptation of THE JUNGLE BOOK at the Huntington, playing through Oct. 13, 2013 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre. Learn more at huntingtontheatre.org/junglebook.

We also took the cast of the show to Fenway Park, where they performed the National Anthem before the Red Sox totally obliterated the Stankees. Here's their actual performance...

The cast of Mary Zimmerman's ravishing new musical adaptation of THE JUNGLE BOOK at the Huntington performed the National Anthem at Fenway Park before the 1:05pm Red Sox game against the New York Yankees on Saturday, September 14, 2013, before heading back to the theatre to perform a 2pm matinee.

...and here's a fun little overview of their entire (did I mention they had soundcheck at 10am for a 1pm game, plus a two-show day starting with a 2pm matinee performance? Yeahhhh it was kinda nuts) 

On Saturday, September 14, 2013, the cast of Mary Zimmerman's ravishing new musical adaptation of THE JUNGLE BOOK at the Huntington performed the National Anthem at the Red Sox game against the New York Yankees, before rushing back to the theatre on a trolley to perform a 2pm matinee.

On top of that, I've been doing some video editing work for Project: Project's upcoming production How May I Connect You (Or, Scenes in The Key of D:/), a really cool devised theatre piece full of hilarious sketches about communication and human interaction in a digital era. That show goes up this coming weekend only, Sept. 26-29, at the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, so see while you still can!

A music video as a part of "How May I Connect You? (Or, Scenes in a Key of D:\). First presented 9/26/2013. A mock 80's boy band hopes for a call on their beepers.

(oh, and plus, my girlfriend just directed this incredible production of Nina Raines' Tribes at SpeakEasy Stage Company, which is getting absolute stellar reviews, so you should go see that as well. It runs through Oct. 12.)

The Jungle Book Comes to Boston!

The opening show of our 2013-2014 season at the Huntington is a brand new stage adaptation of Disney's The Jungle Book, which we're all pretty excited about. I talk about it more extensively over on the Huntington's blog, and here's a video interview I put together with our Artistic Director Peter DuBois about the production: 

In February 2013, THE JUNGLE BOOK Director/Adapter Mary Zimmerman and Music Director Doug Peck held a music workshop which united six Chicago swing/jazz musicians with six Indian instrumentalists to fuse songs to create a sound unique to this production.

Performances of The Jungle Book begin September 7 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre.

The Best of All Possible CANDIDEs!

Leonard Bernstein's beautiful score for the Broadway musical Candide was an instant classic — the show itself, based on the novella by Voltaire, was not. Tony Award and MacArthur Genius Grant winner Mary Zimmerman took it upon herself to recreate this musical masterpiece/disasterpiece with a brand new book and a new take on its wonderful music. Following sold out runs at Chicago's Goodman Theatre and Washington, DC's Shakespeare Theatre, Mary Zimmerman's incredible production of Candide officially opens tonight at the Huntington in Boston, and believe me when I say, it is absolutely worth seeing. It's a long show, but it's also one that you'll remember — this is one of those shows that people will be talking about for years to come. Don't believe me? Check this out. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGgq_HZYAs0&w=420&h=315]

CANDIDE runs through October 16 at the BU Theatre on the Avenue of the Arts. Don't miss it!

Just Another Day at Fenway Park

This past Wednesday, the cast of CANDIDE at the Huntington had the privilege of performing the National Anthem before the 1:35pm Red Sox game against the Toronto Blue Jays. So basically I got paid to hang out behind the scenes at Fenway Park and STAND RIGHT ON THE FIELD DURING THE CEREMONY HONORING TIM WAKEFIELD'S 200^th WIN. Just sayin'.

And here's a little video I cut together of the experience. Did I mention I get to ride in a Duck Boat (after only 7 years of living here...):

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZyhFBvK594&w=560&h=315]

The Huntington's 30th Anniversary Season

The Huntington Theatre Company, Boston's leading professional theatre company since 1982, is launching into their 30^th Anniversary Season this year. Tickets went on sale yesterday for a season that includes Mary Zimmerman's acclaimed production of Candide, the completion of August Wilson's 20^th Century Cycle with Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (ironically, his first hit play, and the last that the company is producing), the hit New York comedy God of Carnage (the film of which, directed by Roman Polanski, comes out in November), and Noël Coward's Private Lives, along with three world premieres. I've spent the last few weeks re-designing the Huntington's website to fit with the new 30^th Anniversary branding image, and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the results. Check it out — and while you're at it, maybe treat yourself to one of our shows along the way.

Oh, also? The entire season is going to be presented in SHOCKING REAL-D 3D! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9rjonTUwW0]