Caterpillar Voting

Saturday’s performance of “Once Upon A Caterpillar” was phenomenal. Ezzy was in full effect and really went at the audience with all three characters. She later told me she wanted her last show for this festival to be her best so she was determined to go out with a bang. Indeed she did with an audience that was very responsive and supportive.

With five performances under her belt with this new production, Ezzy placed third in the voting for the best one person show in this year’s ONE Festival. The first and second place winners both had full length shows which they have each been performing for over a year. I am very proud of Ezzy for mounting her first production and scoring so highly with a debut production.

So now we go back into the lab to expand this one-woman work in progress. Through prayer, hard work, and a whole lot of creativity, a longer and fuller show will emerge. As I stated previously on this blog, I will continue to share about this wonderful Caterpillar journey. Thanks for riding with us.

Caterpillar Tagline

Tonight is performance number five for Caterpillar in this ONE Festival at LaTea Theater. It has been an exhilerating ride thus far.

This festival was the catalyst for the show being actualized. Before that it was just an idea which was talked about on and off in creative meetings between Ez and myself over the course of a year and a half. So now that we have seen the first iteration of Caterpillar, Ez and I are looking toward the future and considering how Caterpillar can grow and how God will manifest that growth.

This morning was birthed our first official tagline:

“Once Upon A Caterpillar” – Before you fly, you have to first crawl.

What do you think? Share your thoughts whether or not you have seen the show.

Caterpillar Love

This week Ezzy performed on Monday and Tuesday evening and the positive response was overwhelming. Various people got up from their seats to give her a standing ovation. It is so exciting to see how the “Caterpillar” has taken flight in just four shows.

Tuesday night was our biggest audience so far at the festival and thus the most responsive during the performance. Two of the three characters Ezzy performs are comedic. So most people have no clue how much they will laugh during the show. This helps the dramatic monologue which is sandwhiched in between the two comedic ones providing a nice balance to the thirty-five minute show.

Because we are part of a festival, there is a competition taking place. Every night audience members get the opportunity to vote for their favorite performance. At the last voting tally we were shown by the producers of the festival, Ezzy was in third place out of a total of seven artists.

This Saturday will be her last performance where we will have a nice amount of friends and family in attendance. We are looking forward to learning how many votes we received by the end of the festival.

So if you are interested in attending Saturday’s performance of “Once Upon A Caterpillar”, go online and check for tickets at www.smarttix.com for the “One Festival”. Ezzy’s last name is Castellon.

Caterpillar Craze

Last night was the second performance of “Once Upon A Caterpillar” and Ezzy is really coming in to her own. She hit all her marks and even enhanced both the humorous and dramatic elements for all three characters. The show was really great.

Various artists and audience members have made it a point to affirm and praise Ezzy for her work after both shows. It has been cool to watch her engage these “fans” and embrace the grace of God in her life through the impact of this production on its audience.

Just today the producer of the festival emailed me regarding how much she enjoyed Ezzy’s show and my direction of it. This was lovely to hear considering she experienced the show twice already.

The next two performances are Monday the 12th and Tuesday the 13th. We encourage you to come out and support Ezzy. Since this is a festival, every audience member gets to vote for their favorite one person show. The show with the most votes at the end of the festival wins a monetary prize. We need at least 75 votes to place so we welcome your presence (and your vote…lol).

So I look forward to seeing you next week at LaTea Theater.

Caterpillar Done Left The Cocoon

Last night was historic. Ezzy killed it with her “Once Upon A Caterpillar” presentation. All three characters were alive and breathing. Each had a compelling story and she commanded the stage with each one.

As a director and friend, I was very proud of her performance. I truly can envision her expanding what is now a 30 minute show into a full length 75 minute one-woman show.

Big ups to Ez!

Caterpillar Showtime

Last night we actually ran through the whole show. It was a little bumpy at times because Ezzy was diagnosed Monday with an upper respiratory infection. She had a fever, was a little weak, and had a cough. Yet she was a trooper. She did all three characters including costume changes.

So yes, we are ready for the festival. God has definitely given grace for such a time as now.

I really am proud of Ezzy for her boldness, her creativity, and her determination. She does some really amazing work in this show and I am glad to be directing and collaborating with her on it.  It has taken eighteen months for us to get to this point from opening conversation to opening night. Wow, it has been such a fun journey.

So I hope you get to enjoy the premier presentation of “Once Upon A Caterpillar: A One-Woman Work In Progress“.

Showtime is at 8pm on April 7, 8, 12, 13 & 17. Purchase $15 tickets online at: http://bit.ly/bJWnp7

Caterpillar Tech

So Ezzy got sick Friday evening, which made Saturday’s tech rehearsal very interesting. Actually it worked out because I spent the first hour designing the lighting scheme for the show, which I had never done before. Although I felt a little out of my league, I trusted my instincts and kept asking God for help.

After the lights, we worked on sound cues. Dennis handled that very well which made my job much easier.

Unfortunately I was not able to test out the image and video projection as the theater did not have an adapter to a Mac laptop. So I will be testing this out the day of the show which should be rather interesting.

Ezzy and her crew of three ladies worked out the business of costume changing behind the curtain. Since Ezzy is performing three character monologues with full costumes, she basically has a 90 second window in between monologues to change. I am sure that will be fun for them.

All in all the production has been coming along well.

Caterpillar Transformation

Last night’s rehearsal was actually amazing. First we recorded a hilarious video for Booshiee‘s story. Then we recorded some VoiceOver in line with the theme of the production.

Afterward, we focused on the presentation and memorization of the lines. As an exercise I had Ezzy attempt each monologue as a different persona. I did this to help break up the monotony of the lines and to help breath life into the line memorization.

For example, I had Ezzy read Miss Sophie‘s lines “as if” she were a female escort…lol. Let me tell you that was ridiculously funny. It loosened Ezzy up, gave us a great laugh, and proved to be of assistance in her remembering more of the lines.

I had Ezzy read Booshiee‘s lines “as if” she was a cowgirl. That was truly a laugh fest.  Rehearsals can be so enjoyable.  :O)

But the best part was when Ezzy read Alma‘s lines. This character deals with some very dramatic material. So I had Ezzy do it as if she was a drunkard. As she started the first two sentences, it was a great deal of slurred words. Then I had her change the “drunkenness” to “being strung out”. That is when amazing happened. The character we knew as Alma became this new character called Bling-Bling.  We were both blown away at how the same words done as a different character brought such depth to the part and sincerity to a character type which is usually overlooked.

Ezzy and I discussed this new Bling-Bling character and who she was/is.  So even though we have six days before we open the show, Bling-Bling will now be inserted in place of Alma.  I wish I could fully explain how amazing the experience was.  All I can say is you should experience “Once Upon A Caterpillar” for yourself.  You will meet three people who you have never seen before.  Trust me, you will be touched, encouraged, and definitely brought to much laughter.