Ready, Set, Go! -to LALA’s SNEAK PREVIEW!

Rising Sun’s “Star Called Love” Production Team is a furiously joyous ferment of artistic output working magic behind the scenes in preparation for the Sneak Preview of “The Imagine-a-nation of Lalachild” at the 418 Project on April 10th.  Part benefit fundraiser for the wonderful community dance studio & theater that gave Rivera Sun Cook her start as its first Artist-In-Residence in 2006, and part celebratory kick-off for the April Previews and Benefit Performances of “A Star Called Love”, the entire production team seems to be jumping up and down excited to share this show (and the next two!) with the larger audience.

“When the plays are this good, we just can’t wait for people to see them!” DG

Rehearsed, ready, inspiringly polished, director Robin Aronson has been laughing and crying over every run-through lately.  Rivera Sun says, “Robin is the mid-wife to these shows, guiding them out of the inner realms into the world of audience and listeners.  I couldn’t do it without her!”

And we can’t do it without you!  Come to the previews, review them, send us comments, be interviewed for the documentary, get involved!   Can’t wait to see you at the shows!

Buy tickets now for Previews & for the full-run in May at the Pacific Cultural Center.  Visit http://www.risingsundancetheater.com

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Lala mesmerizes the crowds. . .

A rambunctious, joyous crowd of party goers sat stock-still, spellbound by a two scene excerpt of “The Education of Lala Girl” on Sunday night.  You could hear a pin drop, a hundred breaths held, an awed hush, and then. . .”what a rockstar performance!”  And the buzz has started.  Join it.  Share it.  Spread the word with us.  An amazing adventure is unfolding right here in Santa Cruz.

On another note, rehearsals begin early at The Equal! Equal! House, before breakfast and tea, emails, phone calls, etc.  They roll into the afternoon, with “The Imagine-a-nation” and “The Education” delivering full run throughs, strengthening line by line into incredible nuance and detail.  The much beloved and anticipated “Emancipation” rehearses in two sections, one per evening.  It’s an in-depth, intense, and incredible process that brings these shows to you!

Bonny Doon’s Bear Creek Studio houses an organized artistic furry that is David Rhodes at work.  Precise and punctual, creative and clever, he is a mastermind of East/West musical blends and capture the Chinese cowboy essence of Long Shoe in “The Imagine-a-nation” in musical compositions that literally defy the imagination! His team of musicians graciously and skillfully accommodates the inarticulate requests of this playwright/performer and translates them into soul-stirring melodies and rhythms.  And if you could only see the magic of Justin, the sound recording wizard of Bear Creek Studio!  It’s more dazzling than Hogwarts to watch him work miracles and wonders in the sonic realm.

 

 

The Sound of Freedom Nearing

This week, the sound of A Star Called Love began emerging from the imagined realms of songwriters, composers, musicians, and me.  A green and winding road brought Eric Mogli DeAratahna, Dariel and I to Tammi Brown’s beautiful home, to stomp ring-shout rhythms upon her wood floors, reverberate the beautiful voices of two of her singers into an entire Black Baptist Choir through the mysterious magic of Eric’s recording ingenuity, and pace and meter concepts into chords.

These melodies haunt you.  Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen, This Train is Bound For Glory, Run Lala Run! and so many more echo in my mind as I try to sleep at night.  Tammi pulled the past into the present, sending goosebumps up my arms, and shivers down my spine, as I tread in the footsteps of a deep, rich  history of souls.

For all of our enthusiasts, moved by mere words read in my living room; you will be shaking and clapping and wanting to jump to your feet or burst into tears, or simply sing along when you hear these sounds!

Two months to go!  Rivera