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Ludlow, 1914 (a dramatic vaudeville)

Erik Brevik in Ludlow, 1914 (a dramatic vaudeville) (2014).

Erik Brevik in Ludlow, 1914 (a dramatic vaudeville) (2014).

 

Ludlow, 1914 (a dramatic vaudeville)
a devised work of The LIDA Project*
presented by THEATREWORKS

It was shocking, momentous and then largely forgotten. Two dozen people were killed, including 2 women and 11 children. The Ludlow Massacre of 1914 was the most violent episode in the Colorado coal wars, which in turn was part of the deadliest strike in the history of the United States.  This post-contemporary production deconstructs the Ludlow Massacre along with contemporary issues of labor and inequality. This wild examination on the centenary of the events, creates the opportunity for audiences to explore social issues through context, both local and global.

Ludlow, 1914 is not a history lesson rather, it is a freeform exploration of the themes, both historical and current, evoked by the event: wealth inequality, worker’s rights, media bias, fossil fuel dependence. – Broadway World

Production History
September 11 – 28, 2014 : THEATREWORKS:: Colorado Springs, CO

Awards
True West Award

Media Coverage
Theatreworks and LIDA Project Explore the Forgotten History of LUDLOW, 1914
Minecraft – Colorado Springs Independent

The Company
Direction: Brian Freeland
Dramaturgy: Murray Ross
Text Design: Jeannene Bragg / Brian Freeland
Stage Management: Tim Muldrew / 
Elise Jenkins
Technical Director: Brantley Haines
Production Design: Steven J. Deidel
Scenic Design: Steven J. Deidel / Alex Polzin
Lighting Design: Steven J. Deidel / Stevie Caldarola
Projection Design: Steven J. Deidel / Ryan Gaddis
Costume Design: Betty Ross
Properties Design: Roy Ballard
Orignal Musical Composition:
Automation Programmer: G. Austin Allen

Ensemble
Rachel Baker, Erik Brevik, Terry Burnsed, Mark Cannon, Bruce Carter, Travis Duncan, Jack English, Sanaa Ford, Jane Fromme, David Hastings, Margaret Kasahara, Tom Paradise, Evan Slavens, Katelyn Sturt, Jeremiah Walter, Galen Westmoreland, & Micah Wilborn

Video

Images

* Development collaborators: Encho Avramov, Jeannene Bragg, Terry Burnsed, Steven J. Deidel, Hart DeRose, Brian Freeland, Marcie Grambeau, Jaime Lujan, Parnell McGee, Tom Paradise, Murray Ross, Tommy Sheridan, Miriam BC Tobin, and Petra Ulrich.

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Auto da Fé

Trina Magness and Dan O'Neill in Auto da Fé  (2012)

Trina Magness and Dan O’Neill in Auto da Fé (2012)

Auto da Fé
An original adaptation of the book by Elias Canetti by Rebecca Gorman O’Neill.

A twisted creation developed by The LIDA Project ensemble, playwright Rebecca Gorman, and director Brian Freeland. Manipulations of darkness and light and juxtapositions of ghastly imagery help to re-imagine Canetti’s breakthrough 1935 work about a lone recluse and his infinite library of books.

Production History
May 11 – June 2, 2012: work | space :: Denver, CO

Awards
Best New Work (Rebecca Gorman O’Neill), True West Awards Nomination
Best Actor in a Drama (Dan O’Neill), True West Awards Nomination

Media Coverage
LIDA Project’s surreal Auto da Fé – The Denver Post
The Sound and The Fury – Westword

The Company
Producers: Brian Freeland, Steven J. Deidel & The LIDA Project
Direction: Brian Freeland
Words / Dramaturgy: Rebecca Gorman O’Neill
Production Stage Manager: G. Austin Allen
Lighting Design: Steven J. Deidel / Anna R. Kaltenbach
Scenic Design: David Lafont
Projection Design: Steven J. Deidel / Ryan Gaddis
Costume Design: Hart DeRose
Sound Design: Brian Freeland
Associate Sound Design / Operator: Anson Nicholson
Associate Lighting Design: Tommy Sheridan

Ensemble
Dan O’Neill: Kien
Trina Magness: Therese
Robin Davies: Doorman / Fischerle
Lorenzo Sariñana: George / Brute / Beggar / Others

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Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda

Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda (2011)

Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda (2011)

Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda
a devised work of The LIDA Project*

This original LIDA collaborative work inspired by Max Fritch’s The Firebugs and Albert Camus’s The Just, focuses on American pop culture and attitudes a decade after the Al Qaeda attacks on the United States. An irreverent, bombastic, and controversial examination of American politics and culture post 9-11.

Production History
September 9 – October 8, 2011: work | space :: Denver, CO

Awards
Best Multimedia Integration (Steven J. Deidel) -Denver Post Ovation Award
Best Lighting (Steven J. Deidel) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination
Best Sound (Kenny Storms & Max Peterson)– Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination

Media Coverage
Art from the ashes: A decade later, great art inspired by 9/11 is rare
Photo call: Opening night for new LIDA Project
The Terror, the Terror!
The Denver Post Fall Arts Preview

The Company
Producers: Brian Freeland, Steven J. Deidel & The LIDA Project
Direction: Brian Freeland
Dramaturgy: Rebecca Gorman O’Neill
Lighting / Projection Design: Steven J. Deidel
Sound Design: Max Peterson & Kenny Storms
Costume Design: Annette Westerby
Associate Lighting Design: Anna R. Kaltenbach
Associate Lighting Design / Lighting Programmer: G. Austin Allen
Projection Associate / Content Creation: Ryan Gaddis
Pixel Twister: Joe Deats
Camera Operators / Video Technicians: Tommy Sheridan & Alex Polzin
LIVE Sand Artist: Amelia Charter

Ensemble
Patrick Balai: Homeland Security / George W. Bush
Robin Davies: White
Hart DeRose: Anna Lucia
Dan O’Neill: Osama Bin Ladin
Safa Samiezade-Yazd: The Chorus
Matthew Schultz: Sadam Hussain / Bieber
Ryan Wuestewald: Wilson

Video

Images

* Development collaborators: Robin Davies, Hart DeRose, Brian Freeland, & Matthew Schultz. Additional collaboration from Steven J. Deidel, Rebecca Gorman O’Neill, Dan O’Neill, & Kenny Storms

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Mouse In A Jar

Trina Magness (Ma) in Martyna Majok's Mouse in a Jar. (2010)

Trina Magness (Ma) in Martyna Majok’s Mouse in a Jar. (2010)

Mouse in a Jar
by Martyna Majok

We see a mother on a leash. We see the bruises. We smell the meat burn. We hear a crash, a thrash. We know the Man in Boots is coming. We know the daughter is out there. We know there is something scrounging in the shadows.Mouse in a Jar is a horror story packed full of oddities and underground life forms. This is Stockholm Syndrome. This is the impossible grace of bondage. This is subterranean punk; acts of desperation required.

Production History
April 23 – May 29, 2010 : BINDERY | space :: Denver, CO

Awards
Best Actress in a Drama (Trina Magness), Westword
Actress in a Dramatic Role (Trina Magness) – Denver Post Ovation Award
Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Role (Kelleen Shadow) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination
Scenic Design (Nick Kargel) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination
Lighting Design (Steven J. Diedel) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination
Sound Design (Brian Freeland) – Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination

Media Coverage
Horror captured like a mouse in a jar, The Denver Post
LIDA presents, Mouse In A Jar, The Metropolitan
‘Mouse in a Jar’ is not horror but it’s certainly scary, The Examiner

The Company
Direction: Julie Rada
Asst. Direction: Lanie Reel
Scenic Design: Nicholas Kargel
Lighting / Projection Design: Steven J. Deidel
Associate Lighting Design: Anna R. Kaltenbach / Dan O’Neill
Video Foley Artist: Dan O’Neill
Sound Design: Brian Freeland
Costume Design: Annette Westerby
Properties Design: Julie Rada
Production Run Crew: Ryan Gaddis / Jules DuMond / Kenny Storms

Ensemble
Zosia: Janna Meiring
Daga: Kelleen Shadow
Ma: Trina Magness
Boy: Lorenzo Sariñana

Images

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Roller Skating With My Cousin

Chorus (a.k.a. The Large Hadron Collider) in Roller Skating With My Cousin. Photo: Erin Preston (2010).

Chorus (a.k.a. The Large Hadron Collider) in Roller Skating With My Cousin. Photo: Erin Preston (2010).

Roller Skating With My Cousin
a devised work of The LIDA Project*

Part science lab, part disco, Roller Skating With My Cousin combines the mythology and archetypes of the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel with the sexual revolutionary act of roller skating, while simultaneously asking whether we can all create a custom-designed universe in our kitchen sink and, furthermore, why did Ronald Reagan fail as the anti-Christ? This mash-up of themes results in a lively, dark romp in which a synchronized chorus of roller skaters builds a tower under a star-flecked mirror ball sky.

“Roller Skating With My Cousin is a musical love letter from the future, on wheels, with utter disregard for logic and linearity…let LIDA be your guide… For sensible people, the 1980s have long been thought of as a time best forgotten…Then along came the delightfully whacked-out lunatics at the LIDA Project.”
-Kurt Brighton, The Denver Post

“It’s riveting, surprising, a beautiful cross…between theater and life.”
-Juliet Wittman, Westword

Production History
January 15 – February 20, 2010: BINDERY | space :: Denver, CO

Media Coverage
Rolling ’round the 80’s (The Denver Post)
Review: Bob Bows (Colorado Drama)
A Wheel Deal (Westword)

The Company
Direction: Brian Freeland / Tonya Malik-Carson
Stage Management: Tommy Sheridan
Asst. Stage Management: Ryan Gaddis
Lighting Design: Steven J. Deidel / Anna R. Kaltenbach
Projection Design: Steven J. Deidel
Sound Design: Brian Freeland
Scenic Design: Steven J. Deidel
Scenic Charge: Schuyler Burks
Costume Design: Julie Rada
Properties Design: Julie Rada


Ensemble

Ed Cord, Desiree Gagnon, Miriam Suzanne, Melanie Owen, Julie Rada, Matthew Schultz, & Crystal Verdon.

Chorus
Julie Adams, Gabrielle Begeman, Vicky Cruz, Danica Dalezal, Sara Downey, Allison Hakala, Heather Rae Johnson, Jessica Kolacny, Ariel Quigley, & Stacey Spaulding.

Images

Video

* Development collaborators: Ed Cord, Steven J. Deidel,  Brian Freeland, Desiree Gagnon, Tonya Malik-Carson, Miriam SuzanneMelanie Owen, Julie Rada, Matthew Schultz, & Crystal Verdon.