The Building Stage Launches 2011/12 Season with MOBY-DICK

The Building Stage, now in its 7th year creating original works of theater, launches its first ever four-show season with its original adaptation of MOBY-DICK, performing September 15 to October 30 at The Building Stage, 412 N. Carpenter Street in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. Monday, September 19 at 7:30pm.

RSVP to Blake Montgomery at (312) 933-4858 or blake@buildingstage.com.

Tickets are available online (www.buildingstage.com) or by calling (312) 491-1369. General Admission tickets are $22. Student tickets are available for $12. After Opening Night, performances will be held Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, as well as Sundays at 4pm through October 30, 2011. Preview performances of Moby-Dick will take place Thursday - Saturday, September 15 - 17 at 8pm; Sunday, September 18 at 7pm; tickets for previews are only $12.

ABOUT MOBY-DICK

The audience is confined onboard with the crew of the Pequod as this original adaptation of MOBY-DICK focuses on the contagious nature of obsession. Evolving from their highly visual 2006 production, The Building Stage MOBY-DICK reaches beyond the story of Captain Ahab to capture the shifting currents of the novel itself. Melville's prose mixes with movement, museum displays, and miniature ships as a trio of percussionists loom over the stage, propelling Ahab's obsession with the white whale to its fateful conclusion.

"Call me Ishmael." With this bold direct address of the audience, Herman Melville launches into one of the greatest American literary creations. Passionate, philosophical, and funny, Melville's Moby-Dick is a grand and messy work. In order to capture the giddy swirl of ideas that characterize the book, The Building Stage employs a chorus of "Ishmaels" to tell the story; each Ishmael in turn plays the key characters of the story, allowing for six united but unique perspectives on Ahab, Starbuck, Stubb, and the crew of the Pequod. The company's tight focus allows them to invest fully in their chosen theme and motifs instead of frantically chasing down every narrative detail from the novel.

HISTORY OF THE PRODUCTION

The Building Stage works from pre-existing sources that reflect the world we live in. The company transforms those sources through rehearsal, creating on their feet, with no separation between play and production. This project is no different. As a result, while this Moby-Dick is an adaptation of a novel, it is perhaps even more a response to - or adaptation of - the company's previous production of Moby-Dick.

Over the summer of 2006, The Building Stage set out with six actors, a composer, three designers, and one director to adapt the novel for the stage. The resulting production's unusual combination of visuals, live music, literary text, and dramatic scenes became an early touchstone for the style the company has become known for.

It has always been part of The Building Stage philosophy that productions evolve over the course of performances. Now, five years after the first production of Moby-Dick, the timing is right to take that philosophy to the next phase: using the lessons learned in performance to make major changes to an existing production. It has been a surprising experience for director Blake Montgomery: "The main reason for returning to Moby-Dick was to celebrate the great creative work of our original production. And now, I'm frankly more excited - and a bit surprised - by how much this has taken on a new life and grown in some unforeseen directions. We've built on the strengths of the old production but also, in the process, created something new."

Credits for Moby-Dick (2011 Version)
Created by The Building Stage
Adapted from the Herman Melville novel
Conceived and directed by Blake Montgomery
Original Music composed by Kevin O'Donnell
Developed and performed by Rachel Griesinger, Sarah Hecht, Chelsea Keenan, Ian Knox,
Jon Stutzman, and Nathan Wonder
with
Costume Design by Izumi Inaba
Lighting Design by Danny Osburn
Technical Direction by Blake Montgomery
Drum Captain: Kevin O'Donnell

This 2011 Version is built on the amazing foundation laid by the original co-creators, both designers and performers, of Moby-Dick (2006 Version):
Kevin O'Donnell; Meghan Raham, Marcus Stephens, and Stephanie Millar; David Amaral, Sarah Goeden, Fannie Hungerford, Jason Martin, Joel Sugerman, and Leah Urzendowski; Justin D.M. Palmer and Mike Przygoda.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.