So, just to clarify, my name is Jesse Francisco Lagos from Azusa Pacific University and I’m pursuing my Bachelors Degree in Theater Arts. By the fate of awesomeness I landed the opportunity to be an “Ovation Fellow.” This means I get paired up with an active Ovation Voter, in my case Elise Dewsberry, Associate Artistic Director of ANMT, and we see theater productions in the greater Los Angeles region. We then get to interview directors, cast members, producers, behind the scene geniuses, etc. from each show. Then I, the Ovation Fellow, get to blog on my experience. You up for this challenge? I am! With that said, join me the next few months as a journey in and throughout the lives of our Los Angeles art and artists!
(Warning: This blog, to me, is myself writing freely yet comprehensively for you. Hence, these blogs will carry a colloquial air.)
Show numero uno: Rogue Artists Ensemble in association with Bootleg Theater presents The Gogol Project.
The venue, Bootleg Theater, is in a residential area yet close to downtown Los Angeles. Very urban. It’s close to a Subway so I got a bite to eat before the show. Then, I met my mentor Elise Dewsberry for the first time. She is great. We had good conversation in the lobby.
Surprisingly, I am now in my fourth year of college which means my high school nostalgia had been packed up in boxes and pushed into the attic of my mind until I got reunited with my Suzuki teacher Cassandra Johnson. She was there with her family. She also is great. Already, the experience had started off better than expected and I had not even seen the show.
The atmosphere at the Bootleg Theater is very alternative and welcoming. The lobby doubles as a night time concert venue. It’s a great place for up and coming bands to perform. The building itself had originally served the purpose of a bra making warehouse and is now a theater. Lengthwise it is very generous and the width served well for this show.
Honestly, not because I am an Ovation Fellow and have to write good reviews, because I don’t, but this show was the epitome of modern day theater. It was based on three short stories from writer Nikolai Gogol. The adaptation by Kitty Felde intertwined the stories to make one congruent storyline. It had an original score by Ego Plum, whose CD my mentor and I bought during intermission. The direction of Sean Cawelti: impeccable! The cast was top-notch. Scenic Designer Katie Polebaum deserves a hug from me. For your information, I hate name dropping but this show deserves all its names in bright lights. It incorporated original music, puppetry, mask work, dance, modern technology, costumes and more to bring about, what looked like, a flawless performance. I encourage you to google or yahoo the show so you can see some of the pictures. No question, even in photos high art is seen.
Thankfully, I met with Director Sean T. Cawelti who has one of the most personable smiles I have seen to date. I asked him what I will ask each person I interview: If you could give yourself one piece of advice when you first started out what would it be? To that he said, “Listen to everybody, take in all the advice and then learn to muddle through the bad stuff.”
Overall, I am never this giddy but the hype of my first show, meeting my mentor, reuniting with my high school teacher, seeing a genuinely good piece of art and interviewing puppeteer master Sean T. Cawelti has led me to a euphoric reflection of tonight. This show ended with the characters reveling in a song entitled ‘I choose crazy’ in which they let go of all inhibitions. A man was dressed up in woman’s clothing and wore make-up. The dancing was awkward yet endearing. It emphasized a rebellion to social constructs. They chose crazy and by the end of the night I wanted to shout I did, too. I am very thankful.
Closing thoughts: I wish words could appropriately address the value of this company but one must see it for one’s self. Therefore, I encourage all to look up the Rogue Artists Ensemble and further their efforts. Until next time, Adios!
