Greetings from Natalie...er, Alyx...umm Ashley.

Helllllllllllloooooooo!

We are in the final days of rehearsal and getting geared up for Sunday's reading! This has been a really fun experience...we ran the whole show for the first time Sunday night, and although parts were a little chaotic, overall it's fun and smooth.

Personally, I'm glad to have made such good friends; namely with Ben and Alex. We didn't really know each other before LAN'ded and I'm really happy we got to spend so much time together, in and out of rehearsal. It really does make a difference if you like who you're acting with, ya know?

This keyboard really sucks...I'm at school...

Anyways, this experience has given me a better appreciation of video games, physical comedy and lots of other things that are referred to in LAN'ded that still go over my head.

How Aaron Makes Props *Proceed With Caution*

I think the video explains it all. The only thing I say in the video that is false is the amount of time elapsed. In reality, this only took me 20 minutes. That doesn't make it any better at all.

The Countdown Begins - 4 Days...

It's almost here! March 29th at 5 PM will be the cultivation of hard work accumulated from nearly 20 people's input to this project. The reading is upon us...

That kind of blows my mind really. If you were to ask me over a year ago that LAN'ded would have evolved into a musical web-series, I probably would have laughed and said "Sure, that would be nice" and walked away. I never would have thought it'd turn from a cabaret act, into a two-act play, into a web-musical. At this stage in the game I look back on the past iterations and wonder if I sacrificed anything real juicy early on in the development cycle in favor of the new directions we've taken and nothing really comes to mind.

I began making up all the information for the program on Monday and I was told that it may be a good idea to include a "Writer's Note" inside with a message to the audience. So...I began writing one! It's such an interesting experience doing that! I felt like I kept sounding like "Hey, I wrote this, go on" so I re-wrote it several times and I'm pretty happy with it now. Yikes. How do directors and writers do this for every show? Crazytown.

BeeTeeDubs, have you guys been checking out PuppetFix to see the evolution of Cortex and Wally?
LAN'ded has been incredibly fulfilling, particularly in the last week or so. I've written scenes, one-acts, and other various theatrical material before but the thought of writing music always eluded me. I just never fully grasped it, it seemed like something I never had the skills for. In teaming up with Ryan Cavanaugh, I've discovered it isn't anything too scary. First off, having worked with Ryan on several projects before, I really enjoy him onstage and respect him as a performer and musician. Secondly, the whole process of writing the music was totally "process-based" and not "product-based." Ryan would bring in some compositions that he liked and I'd see how my lyrics lined up with the music. After some tinkering and twiddling, we'd determine if something fit the tone and character of the show. It was never "Well, this song needs to sound exactly like this" or "The opening song needs to have 3-part harmony and end with a huge solo." We always worked towards what worked best and never focused on achieving a certain sound because truthfully, there was never a pre-determined sound to work towards.

For instance, we were aiming to have 3 songs in the final script of the reading. The opening song "Here and Now" had its lyrics changed around three separate times. The song I was most excited for, "What It Takes To Be A Zombie" turned out to be best suited for a movement piece. We ended up taking the music that Ryan proposed for "WITTBAZ" and using it's for "Lenneth's Song." In the end, I think the musical decisions we've made really worked in our favor and hopefully that will be reflected Sunday onstage.

I think the trickiest part, on the director's/writer's/audiences' part will be Alyx. Alyx literally enters the show on the last page of the script. I guess we'll see how it works out when I see the feedback forms. Admittedly, Alyx was a planned part of the show from the start, but my implementation of her probably should have been looked at a bit closer. Then again, we've condensed the script to accommodate a shorter run-time so the exclusion of details on her may benefit us. I wish the reading were tonight so I could get everyone's feedback and start re-tooling it and see what the show looks like with a Third Eye right now!

Ah well...I'm off to accumulate the rest of the props for the show. Look for updates every day from here on out as part of the countdown to the reading!

FOTO FRIDAY 3/20 - it's all in the hands edition

Blogger won't eat THIS entry! No way, no how!

Aaron here! With some exciting news for those of you wondering when we were ever going to actually SEE the puppets in the show. Well wait no longer! Over a video conference last night, Dr. Cortex and his Wallaby assistant Wally were unveiled to me! While they're not finished

 products, you can clearly get an idea of who they are!

As I've said before, David and Kyle over at Fisticuff Puppets are no pushovers. They're very

 good at what they do. I personally love the ears on Wally (left) and the details of hair on Cortex (right). These puppets are going to go a long way in developing Christian's imaginative world in LAN'ded. 

So as you can see, most of our meetings go like this. We usually spend the first 45 minutes talking business and then the rest of our meetings are comprised of us imitating David Bowie and The Beatles. No doubt it's all in the name of comedy and good times though. The reading is in 9 days! Keep checking back to LAN'ded: The Blog for updates!

*Burp*

Well, blogger.com seems to have a bit of an appetite because as far as I know, it ate my last two posts!

The scheduled FOTO FRIDAY for last week disappeared from the post queue and the one I was writing earlier today had its draft deleted, so I am writing this all at once in hopes that I can post it and not have any complications!

So, what's happening in the crazy world of LAN'ded you ask? Well, the last update was March 6th, a whole ten days ago. Loads of work has been done and I'm proud to say that we've cleared Friday the 13th. No bad luck or slashers got to any of our cast and crew!

Having a solidified script to work with, things have been going very smoothly. With the inclusion of a new character in the finale, we've had to move around some people and I'm happy to say that things are coming together very nicely. During the process we have experimented with several different Mime Bosses, Cockney Zombies, Natalies, and chorus vampires alike, but now we are locked! With a dedicated person on make-up and Jackie continuing to make headway in directing, the staged reading is all lined up to be a good time!

I had a handful of people approach me today and ask about the show. It's pretty exciting to have people actually come up and ask about this show which wasn't a reality until December. I've even had some people e-mail me about what's happening after the reading is over...and we will discuss that when the time comes, for now the reading is where it's at ("I got two turntables and a microphone"). 

Also, I should have some pictures to post of the puppets this week. David and Kyle have been doing some real lovely work on Cortex and Wally. With so many different interpretations on the character, it's difficult to pick just one! We plan on having some of the puppets on display during the pre-show so people can take a gander at them. If you wanna catch up with Kyle and David and whatnot, check out their blog!

Remember people! The reading is MARCH 29TH! RAUH THEATRE! 5:00 PM! TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

I should have the director spotlight up this week, along with some video and other shenanigans. 

Stay real ;)

FOTO FRIDAY 3/6 - Unsung Heroes Edition

For today's FOTO FRIDAY I decided that I should highlight some of the people who've been instrumental in getting LAN'ded to where it is today. Specifically, Ashley and Jackie.

Though it may seem as if LAN'ded exists entirely within my brain, that couldn't be further from the truth. Like I've said before, it began as a two-act stage play and eventually morphed into being shot a la Dr. Horrible. The biggest changes after that came in the form of the ending and specifically, the character of Natalie and her overall arc. That's where Ashley came in.

I brought Ashley (on the left) onto the project around October or November. I had asked her to help me out with the reading initially but as I thought about it more and more, I knew that I wanted her to actually be IN the reading as Natalie. As I developed Natalie I tried to take in Ashley's input and her ideas and incorporate them into the story. The biggest idea that Ash had was for the ending, where Natalie is essentially replaced by Alyx, her real-world dopple-ganger. This changed the story immensely. Suddenly, the idea of Christian's imaginary friends having real world counterparts became a big idea. Were they somehow linked? Maybe it was a big coincidence? It all started with an idea, and we've run with it.

Ashley has always been a great person to work with, and I'm blessed to have her input in the project. Frankly, in rehearsals I really don't know how Natalie would have become who she is today with Ash's exuberance. 

Another person that I knew I wanted since day one was Jackie. You may have heard me gloat about Jackie before, and that is because she's just that good of a director. Also, Jackie is a recovering WoW player so I knew she'd have some sort of connection with the material. In the beginning I was balancing directing, writing, PR, and everything else for the project be

cause I was the only one in Pittsburgh close to the actual rehearsals. Jackie wasn't able to join the project until sometime after the 1st of February due to a show she was in at Point Park, but has since been at every rehearsal and things have been 100% more organized. Now instead of trying to put stuff up on its feet and also write/edit at the same time, I can sit back and see what works, what doesn't, and make edits on the fly more effectively. 

Jackie has one of the most difficult tasks on the production though, as director. Since LAN'ded is intended to be filmed, adapting it for stage can be a grueling task. Jackie has come up with some great ideas for incorporating the more "film-ie" aspects of the show for the stage. Given the fact that we'll be working with limited lighting and staging, her talents are a godsend and it's always a pleasure to work with someone you respect and are friends with.

These are just two of the many people who have contributed in big ways to our production. Everyone involved has played a crucial part in shaping LAN'ded to where it is today. Maybe I'll spotlight some others in FOTO FRIDAYs to come? Only time will tell...

Rehearsals start up again soon, expect some Spotlights and updates! Keep LAN'ding!

Fear and Loathing with no internet access! (SEASON ONE IS DONE!)

Well, this is it! The first season has been written. Episodes 4 through 9 (we go by Star Wars numbering) have been completed and assembled into one big script for our cast to digest for the reading. After carefully compiling it and editing it extensively, we're able to condense it into 80 pages. This is just the script for the reading though, the actual episodes range anywhere from 15-25 pages on their own. I had to edit down each episode to the core facts so that we could have the entire first season onstage for the event at the end of March. I'm happy to say that we didn't have to sacrifice anything. The episodes we end up filming will have scripts with more filler though.

What a feeling this is! I've just sent out the first season! Nothing more will be written! Sure, some edits are sure to be made, but no more episodes, no more drafts, and no more adding material. It is sad in a way to be sure, but the bright side is that I can formally start to compile ideas for Season 2 (and trust me, Ky, Dave, and I have been thinking about that for a while...).

The one thing I'll always remember about sending out the first season to the cast is that I actually had to search for an internet connection to do so! Since I'm home in Erie for Spring Break, I don't have access to internet at my house. My sister's internet didn't work for me, so all day today I rode around trying to find a hot-spot that didn't require me to have a password. I went to two McDonald's, a few coffee shops, and when I finally thought about giving up a friend told me that Panera of all places offered free internet access! Huzzah! Of course my first thought was to speed up to my nearest Panera locale, but it is Spring Break and I had family things to take care of. So after a very heated game of checkers with my 5 year-old nephew, I sped up to Panera.

And it was closed. Bummer.

However, I figured that if I parked right outside, the internet signal was sure to be picked up from my car! So here I am, parked outside the Panera on Peach Street in Erie, PA, blogging and sending out the full first season of LAN'ded to my intrepid cast. Nothing has been plain about this production and tonight is no exception. I love being an artist. 

Look for a director spotlight later this week and some cool new FOTO FRIDAY pics!