Columbus Park at night in a scene from Redmoon's "Spectacle '06: Twilight Orchard"..
© Oak Park Journal photo
review by Ed Vincent
Redmoon's "Spectacle '06: Twilight Orchard" is a fun
portion of performance theater with lots of intriguing visual
effects and grand musical drama. It is a bit existential and
quite esoteric in its spectacle, but also engaging and quite
a transformation of both the neighborhood and the park
itself.
Music and motion guide you through the transformations at Columbus
Park in Redmoon's "Spectacle '06: Twilight Orchard"..
© Oak Park Journal photos
It is a play within a play. There were times I was reminded
of the 60's and 70's as my nose sought the aroma of Willy
Nelson's brand of tobacco. It is a living visual treat and a
grand night out for fun.
© Oak Park Journal photos
© Oak Park Journal photos
A short ride from Oak Park, free admission and the chance
of a lifetime to see a grand show of visual candy.
A scene from Redmoon's "Spectacle '06: Twilight Orchard" in
Columbus Park.
© Oak Park Journal photo
REDMOON THEATER ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT
WHAT: Amidst 14-foot moveable walls, traveling “sound pods” playing original music, lush landscapes, characters and pageantry-
style processions, Redmoon Theater and the Chicago Park District
will unveil a new partnership between the two organizations, as well
as offer a sneak preview of Redmoon Theater’s SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD.
WHERE:
Columbus Park, 5701 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago 2 ½ blocks north of the Eisenhower Expressway (I 290); Exit 23A to Austin Blvd., turn right onto Austin, right on Jackson Blvd.
The non-profit Redmoon Theater is one of Chicago’s most innovative theatrical companies renowned for its large public events with live music and inventive forms of mask and puppetry.
SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD will transform the landscape of majestic Columbus Park with spectacle poetry, massive pageantry and interactive performances.
A small grotto with waterfall in Columbus Park.
© Oak Park Journal photo
Daylight event for the Press at Columbus Park.
© Oak Park Journal photo
Featuring original music by Mark Messing, co-directed by
Vanessa Stalling and co-directed and art directed by Frank Maugeri, SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD boasts a cast of approximately 60 performers.
Mr. Anthony Tate may come by with his family one night.
He has noticed all the work going on for some time, but
today Columbus Park has catfish to catch.
© Oak Park Journal photo
SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD will be performed
October 3 – 9 from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. every evening. This is the third
in an annual series of outdoor, site-specific Spectacles.
Tickets for SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD are $10 and residents of nearby neighborhoods, including Austin, Garfield Park, North Lawndale, and Oak Park, as well as children 12 and under,
are free. Tickets can be purchased by phoning 312-850-8440 x 111
or by visiting www.redmoon.org.
For more information please visit www.redmoon.org.
Video
of a Scene performed for the Press. Video
of Grotto with Waterfall in Columbus Park
SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD
TRANSFORMS COLUMBUS PARK ON CHICAGO’S WEST SIDE,
OCTOBER 3 – 9, 2006
Discover One of Chicago’s Most Beautiful Parks at Redmoon Theater’s
Large-Scale Public Spectacle Celebration
August 23, 2006 – Chicago’s acclaimed not-for-profit Redmoon Theater will present SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD for seven days only in the Austin neighborhood’s world-famous Columbus Park, 5701 West Jackson Boulevard, October 3 – 9, 2006, between 6:30 and 9:30 p.m.
Continuing Redmoon’s tradition of introducing city-wide audiences to underappreciated Chicago locations via site-specific spectacles, SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD will invite viewers to linger in
the transformed landscape of Columbus Park through an evening of large
scale pageantry and interactive performances. Audience members are welcome to explore the park at their leisure between the hours of 6:30
and 9:30 p.m. each night during the SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD run.
Created by Redmoon Artistic Director Jim Lasko, SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD explores converging environments and images in
an interactive performance and ritual site. SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD will present a number of interactive site-specific installations designed by local artists, fourteen-foot-tall moveable walls which will continually transform into different rooms with various characters inside,
and “sound pods” traveling throughout the park. The continually-changing environment will be enhanced by costumed characters and pageantry-style processions.
SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD is the third spectacle hosted
by the Chicago Park District within the past three years. The first spectacle took place in Ping Tom Memorial Park in 2004 and the second took place
in Jackson Park in 2005. “Columbus Park, which is considered a masterpiece of landscape architect Jens Jensen, was originally designed with
a space for outdoor theatrical performances,” said Timothy J. Mitchell, the general superintendent and the chief executive officer of the Chicago Park District. “The park district is excited that Redmoon is helping to realize Jensen’s dream by presenting a unique theatrical event in the Austin Community.”
“I am very pleased to work with the Chicago Park District for the third year
in a row,” says Lasko. “This partnership enables us to continue our celebration of some of Chicago’s most beautiful and intriguing locations. Redmoon is thrilled to present a lyrical and peaceful evening of ceremony
for all to enjoy.”
Featuring original music by Mark Messing, co-directed by Vanessa Stalling and co-directed and art directed by Frank Maugeri, SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD will include a cast of approximately sixty performers. Maugeri and technical director Andrei Onegin led key artists Dave Beaupre, Odile Compagnon, and Casey Gunschel, in the creation
of twenty-one mobile walls and other objects. Period costumes are designed by Alison Heryer. The local visual artists who designed the interactive site-specific installations include: Maura Ahern, Janet Ecklebarger, Marisa Heilman, Carole McCurdy, Ann Meilahn, Danielle Paz, Warren Stiles,
Valerie Taglieri and Steven Teichelman.
Redmoon has invited residents of Austin, Oak Park and surrounding neighborhoods to participate in SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD. Local community groups, schools, arts and civic organizations will collaborate with professional artists and volunteers from Redmoon Theater in transforming Columbus Park. These community groups will collaborate to create hundreds of hand-made birds nests created from natural materials and found objects
that will be used to adorn the park.
The Lead Sponsor for SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD is The Boeing Company, with Cooperating Sponsors LaSalle Bank, National Endowment for the Arts, and Meet the Composer. SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD is presented in partnership with the Chicago Park District. Redmoon also thanks The Searle Funds of the Chicago Community Trust for support of its audience development initiatives.
SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD was commissioned as part
of a national series of works from Meet The Composer’s Commissioning Music/USA program, which is made possible by generous support from the Ford Foundation, the Rockefellers Brothers Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Francis Goelet Trust, the Helen F. Whitaker Fund, Target, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Redmoon Theater was founded in 1989 in the Logan Square neighborhood
of Chicago. Redmoon has won national acclaim as the country’s leading creator of spectacle theater -- a highly visual and inventive theater style
that embraces the act of transformation through pageantry, puppetry, contraption-type mechanical objects, robust physical movement, and surprising use of scale and special effects. Using this unique visual language, Redmoon transforms streets and stages into places of public celebration, capable of speaking across cultural, ethnic, and generational boundaries.
Just the facts:
WHERE: Columbus Park, 5701 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago
Cars: 2 ½ blocks north of the Eisenhower Expressway (I 290); Exit 23A to Austin Blvd., turn right onto Austin, right on Jackson Blvd.
Trains: 15-minute walk from Central Station or Austin Station on Harlem/Lake Green Line or from Austin Station on Forest Park Blue Line
Buses: from the east the #126 Jackson bus, from the north the #85 Central bus, from the west the #320 Madison bus, from the south #315 Austin bus
WHEN: October 3 – 9, 2006
Audiences are welcome to explore the performance and ritual site at their leisure; visitors should plan to spend approximately one hour at the site.
The performance and ritual site will be open for discovery between 6:30 and 9:30 p.m., rain or shine.
OTHER: SPECTACLE ’06: TWILIGHT ORCHARD will also feature a Twilight Café, offering hot beverages to audience members. Boxed dinners are available for purchase 24 hours in advance by calling Redmoon at 312-850-8440 ext. 111 or online at www.redmoon.org.
For more information please visit www.redmoon.org.
© Oak Park Journal
published by Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
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