Operation Charm City: Victory

James here.

Taking the bus back to New York City after putting Operation Charm City to bed for good last night.  With the rubber rolling along and Baltimore fading in the rear-view, I can finally breathe enough to reflect on what could only be called an incredible victory for Generous Company and I am the Machine Gunner.  We garnered rave reviews from the local press, we had numerous repeat ticket buyers, and we pleased the crew at the Baltimore Theatre Project who promised that we could return “any time we want”.  A victory on almost every front.

It is with somewhat of a heavy heart that I leave Baltimore this time.  “Charm City” has undeniably been the headquarters of I am the Machine Gunner and ground zero for a truly explosive creative collaboration.  Between the production’s American premiere and the previous workshop in Towson, Baltimore has left an indelible impression at the heart of this production. I can’t thank Towson Company enough for helping us spread the word on this incredible project.  Your support, comments, criticisms, questions and heartfelt belief in I am the Machine Gunner helped us all take this project to another plane.  We salute you.

Photo above:  Baltimore, "The Greatest City in America"

For me it’s back to NYC for a few weeks before hitting the road with Rebecca Eastman and Jamie Johnson for Operation Я.A.U.E., slamming Crystal Lake, IL this Oct. 9th and 10th.  If you happen to live in the Chicago area, consider yourself under orders to come out to see the show.  You will not forget it.

Peace.

Out.

Operation Charm City: The Irony Curtain

James here.

Irony.

Working on a Russian play for the last few years we’ve all become used to a certain level of it in our art.  So when the gallery space within the Theatre Project that also serves as the lobby for I am the Machine Gunner opened up an exhibit called Made of Happy we all took it in with a certain wry smile.  The floral paintings and whimsical watercolors were about as far from the heated devastation we cook up every night as you could get.

Or so we thought. . .

Enter a four letter word that starts with "F" and ends with "K".

Not that.  I'm talking irony here.

Folk.

By a strange and happy coincidence (yes, another one) one of Dutch’s old high school friends was just beginning a Jet Blue tour with his folk band and needed a place to play on the same night that Generous Company was holding its “Coming Out Party”.  Good music is good music, and we snapped at the chance to have a live band during our post show party.  Add on the 4 gallons of gumbo that Dutch (a Louisiana Native) made for the party, and you had one hell of a blast.

Just not the kind of blast we were used to.  We couldn’t help laughing to ourselves as we coined the phrase “First its machine gun, machine gun, machine gun - then its hippies and gumbo”.

 Photo above:  Emma Hill and Brian Daste play in front of "Made of Happy"

But people, if you get a chance, you’ve got to check these guys out.  Emma Hill and Brian Daste are two members of Emma Hill and her Gentlemen Callers and they are terrific.  It was unfortunately a little too noisy in the lobby/gallery to hear them well (theater people are loud), but we were treated to a special session at the house’s afterparty and we were all blown away.  Not only talented musicians, but good people too.  I am going to do my damndest to see them when I return to NYC.

If you are in NYC and can make it, they are playing at Googie's Lounge at 154 Ludlow street this coming Tuesday the 14^th at 9:30.  They are extremely talented and are trying to promote Emma’s new album.  If you like folk music, you won't be let down by these two ultra-talented performers.

It was a great way to wind down from another intense night onstage.  With 90 people in the house, it was by far our largest audience yet.  Guests from all around the country and lots of old friends attended the show and party afterwords.  Hopefully, they embraced the irony as well as we did. 

Machine Guns, criminal tattoos, burning alive, hippies, gumbo, and Made of Happy. 

Strange bedfellows maybe,

Good times definitely.

Out.

Operation Charm City: Blot out the "Sun"

James here.

"Machine Gunner hits target at Theatre Project"


Not my words. 

That was the headline for our review in the weekend arts section of the Baltimore Sun.  Now let’s hope that raises some eyebrows and gets some more people through the front door.

With those two glowing reviews (see the previous post for the WYPR clip), things have started off with a bang in the second week.  Dave returned from a quick trip to Moscow at Lubimovka, a Russian playwrights festival, and has come back to a tighter and more dynamic show.

During his trip to Moscow, Dave also acquired a copy of “Contemporary Dramaturgy” a periodical journal of modern Russian playwrights.  Particularly of interest was his essay on I am the Machine Gunner’s playwright, Yury Klavdiev.  I’ve included a photo of the essay below.  Although it’s written in Cyrillic, you may be able to discern one word of English.

Photos:  Dave M. White's essay on Klavdiev "Atom Smashing Playwright" 

Yeah.  I guess “badass” needs no translation.

Maybe that’s why people love this show.

Out

Operation Charm City: Crashing the Air Waves

James here.

"a loud and frightening effect. . . that looks and sounds as dangerous as almost anything I've ever seen onstage"

Yeah.  That's what I'm talkin' bout.

Thanks to J. Wynn Rousuck, the theater critic of WYPR who gave us that little bit of praise for our show.  Actually, her review  gave quite a lot of praise for both our production of "I am the Machine Gunner" and for Klavdiev himself.  She referred to Klavdiev's language (translated by our good friend and collaborator John Freedman) as "graphic, gruesome. . . (with) a muscular poetic quality" and called him "a powerful writer with a dark gift for depicting violent struggles."

The review does contain a few minor spoilers, however, so if you want to guarantee a fresh experience, you might want to hold off on listening until after you've seen the show.  And fresh is the order of the night according to Rousuck:

"Fresh and startling, I am the Machine Gunner is an excellent way to launch the new season at the Theatre Project".

Thanks WYPR, for helping spread the word on something we believe so strongly in.

Now lets hope it gets more people in those seats and takes this thing out of Baltimore with the BANG it deserves!

Out

Operation Charm City: Razing Hell

James here.

Its open.

We rained down hell upon the unsuspecting on Sept. 2nd and with 4 successively hardcore shows, I can finally look back at the first week and take a breath.

According to the song “Jet Airliner” by the Steve Miller Band, “you’ve got to get through hell before you get to heaven”.  While some might argue (and I might be one of them) that the Steve Miller Band is weak sauce at best, that line rung incredibly true in the days leading up to our opening.  It took (literally) blood, sweat and tears from all of us.

But oh, the view looks soo good from the other side.

The response has been overwhelming.  Those who sat in the audience for the first time got rocked in ways they never saw coming.  There was more than one new face who bought a ticket for the next night, ponying up cash for a second dose of Klavdiev.  Those who were lucky enough to see the show in its prior workshops agreed that it has come leaps and bounds from its previous incarnations.  Everything has gotten better, cleaner, and more precise.

From the acting moments that Dave and I have tweaked onstage to Rebecca’s foray into Punk Rock and Criminality;
from Iaeden Hovorka’s heart stopping sound design to the newspaper/propaganda-postered flats;
from Jamie Johnson’s intense lighting to the sweet lethality of the Black Widow. . .

Ah, the Black Widow.  If only I could reveal her secrets to you.  Re-imagined and reconstructed by Dutch Vandercook, she is a finely tuned engine of spectacular devastation – the aria in our symphony of unending destruction.  To say more would be to reveal too much, but I will just say that if my performance can’t get to you in our show, the Widow certainly will.

 Photo Above:  The Black Widow.  What man dares to learn her secrets?

We’ve got one more week in Baltimore before our October shows in Crystal Lake, IL.  Four more shots to raze hell in "Charm City"

Out

Twas the night before. . .

James here.

Photo:  Writing in my journal, backstage at the Theatre Project

 

Its late at night on the eve of Operation:  Charm City, our code name for the premiere of "I am the Machine Gunner".  We've all been pushing some late nights, banding together to get everything set, and after a solid dress/technical rehearsal we're ready to unload the show on Baltimore.  Keep your eyes peeled for reports in the coming daze. 

In the meantime, you can check out the newspaper interview and photo that dropped today in Baltimore's City paper.  We made the front of the Arts & Entertainment section, along with being listed at the top of the "Baltimore Weekly Highlights".  Hopefully, that combination is brave enough to sell some tickets.

I'm off to get some rack time now, its late and we've all been hard at it. I'll leave you with another candid shot taken during a break in the long day.

Photo:  A candid moment with the Machine Gunner

Out