Boxcar Theatre ClosescTHE MARK TEN'S FANTASTIC PARADE, 1/30

First there were The Beatles... then there were The Mark Ten. From January 12 to 30, 'The Mark Ten's Fantastic Parade' pays comedic homage to the creation of the 1960's "concept" album, following the antics of a pop band who've decided to stop touring, hit the recording studio, and create a masterpiece. This production, a new play by Maria Breaux and directed by Katja Rivera, is supported by a grant from Theatre Bay Area's New Works Fund.

"Who are the Mark Ten -- Fantastic fluff or savant super genius?" asks Boxcar Artistic Director Nick A. Olivero . "The Mark Ten answer this question on their fantastic parade through last great era in music history - before Garage Band, before Guitar Hero, before girls with beehives stopped screaming their lungs out."

An ailing 1960s pop band decides to stop touring and hit the recording studio. Trying every means at their disposal to create a masterpiece, they use all the latest off the wall musical technology -plungers, basketballs, teakettles, tap shoes, and other "instruments." As brilliance eludes them, an indiscernible go-go girl provides the album's true, unaccredited genius.

While the band play music standing on their heads and gleaning inspiration from plungers, tap shoes, and whatever else their long-suffering producer/manager can scare up - a female studio musician provides the album's true but un-credited genius and Petal, a groupie, breaks in to the studio.

Reminisce with Petal, view footage about the band, and listen to original songs at her groovy newfangled blog: www.markten1966.blogspot.com.

"As part of the show, DJs will play sets of groovy go-go 60s tunes on Thursday nights, 7:30pm to showtime, and during intermissions," explained Boxcar Artistic Director Peter Matthews. "This is exactly the sort interactive theatre for which Boxcar has become known."

On directing The Mark Ten's Fantastic Parade, Katja Rivera says: "I was excited to work on this play with Maria Breaux because it reminded me of my first musical crush, the Monkees, and it's allowed me to delve into a really exciting time and place, Los Angeles (my hometown) in 1966. This has truly been a collaborative effort, not only with Maria, but also with my talented cast, and gifted designers."

The cast for The Mark Ten's Fantastic Parade is as follows:
Stuart (Vincent Palo); Harvey (Robert Campbell); Dave and Danny (Nick Dickson); Lewis (Sam Leichter); Petal, a fan (Sarah Korda); Cindy, Petal's friend (Rachel Rajput); Norton, the Producer (Paul Stout).

Costumes are by Bessie Delucchi with set design by Patricia Gillespie. Video is provided by Angela Hudson and MBreauxsia Films with lighting by Lyrica Tyree and graphics by Amal Kouttab.

Dedicated to high visual concepts and transformative theatre, Olivero and Matthews provide San Francisco with its most innovative and thought-provoking theatrical experiences through its "Boxcar" and "Sidecar" productions. Boxcar's commitment is to produce "Experiential Theatre" and is proud to be known as a "Directors' Theatre." This next season Boxcar re-imagines the familiar by taking well-known plays and turning them on their head. "You have to hand it to Boxcar; as other companies scale back and tighten belts, it steps forward and belts out scales." (Rob Avila, SF Bay Guardian)

Tickets for with The Mark Ten's Fantastic Parade are progressive: $5 January 12 & 13 previews; $10 first weekend (January 14 - 17); $15 second weekend (January 21 -- 24) and $20 closing weekend (January 28 - 30). The shows run at 8PM at Boxcar's South of Market home stage, 505 Natoma Street, at 6th.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.boxcartheatre.org, or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

Mark Ten DJ Lineup:
DJs will play sets of groovy go-go 60s tunes on Thursday nights, 7:30pm to showtime, and during intermissions.

Thursday, January 14: Carrie Swing a.k.a. Carried Away
Carrie Swing grew up in Berkeley on 60s music, and she still enjoys sharing favorites from her 45 collection when not busy teaching her five year old to Go-Go dance.

Thursday, January 21: Neil Martinson
DJ Neil Martinson has booked, promoted, hosted and DJed a regular night in San Francisco called SMiLE! for over a decade -- originally at the Hush Hush and now 2-3 times a month at the Knockout. He spins a diverse mixture of 60/70s soul, psych, glam, funk, bubblegum, disco and rock with a smattering of postpunk/new wave and even contemporary tracks when something catches his fancy. In 2004, he was awarded Best DJ by the SF Weekly. Unlike many too-cool DJs, Neil is always out on the floor dancing to his own records: "That's why I started doing it! I don't get it when DJs stand still all night." In addition to this, he publishes a sporadical magazine called Proof and is the Musical Director of the Mission Creek Music & Arts Festival.
www.mcmf.org

Thursday January 28: Jeff Bostic
DJ BoomBostic (Jeff Bostic) has been djing for 13 years and has played all over the Bay Area. He runs his own business (BAM) Bostic Arts and Music: Fine Art and DJ sound and services as well as working as a mentor to children in a non profit organization (Friends of the Children). His specialty is rocking any and all events. "My goal as a DJ is to move the crowd." He owes a lot of his appreciation for many styles of music from his years of working as a sponge at Amoeba Music.

For more information, please visit www.boxcartheatre.org.

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