Todd Webster Archives - The LIDA Project

Kenny Storms in HOT + WAX: On Being Too Big To Fail (a piece in 8 bits) (2010)

HOT + WAX: On Being Too Big To Fail (a piece in 8 bits)
conceived and directed by Julie Rada as devised with The LIDA Project*

A live performance blend of the Icarus story from Greek mythology, the 2009 economic crisis and 1980’s 8-bit video games. Princess Toadstool figures prominently, as does the boy whose wings melted in the sun. Joe Knossos, the head of the troubled financial products division, dodges the Minotaur as meat falls from the sky. The piece is highly-interactive with opportunities for witnesses to play old-school video games and manipulate the direction of the story.

HOT+WAX = flying too close to the sun.
HOT+WAX = getting all the coins.
HOT+WAX = finance porno.
HOT+WAX = 8 bits vs. naughty bits.

Production History
September 24 – October 23, 2010: BINDERY | space :: Denver, CO

Media Coverage
Icarus climbs corporate ladder in LIDA’s video game allegory – The Denver Post

The Company
Direction: Julie Rada
Scenic Design: Erin Ramsey
Lighting Design: Jacob M. Welch
Sound / Video Design: Ryan McRyhew
Music Composition: Ryan McRyhew / Neil Ewing
Costume Design: Annette Westerby
Properties Design: Annette Westerby
Choreography: Kelleen Shadow

Ensemble
Ploughman: Terry Burnsed
Mr. Joseph C. Knossos: Todd Webster
Daedalus: Leroy Leonard
Uncle Sam: Mike Marlow
Cellist: Eizabeth A. Nodich
Pasiphae / Your Mom: Elizabeth Parks
Icarus: Lorenzo Sariñana
Princess: Kelleen Shadow
Bull / Minotaur: Kenny Storms

Video

Images

Kelleen Shadow (Princess). Photo Jeremy Make (2010).

Kenny Storms. Photo Jeremy Make (2010).

Kelleen Shadow. Photo Jeremy Make (2010).

Terry Burnsed. Photo Jeremy Make (2010).

Photo Jeremy Make (2010).

* Development collaborators: Leroy Leonard, Elizabeth Parks, Julie Rada, Lorenzo Sariñana, Matthew Schultz, Kelleen Shadow, Kenny Storms, & Annette Westerby

RAIN/ OF TERROR (2009)

RAIN/ of terror
Adapted from Georg Büchner’s Danton’s Death by Julie Rada

During the chaos of the Revolution, a man in isolation has left the political scene to languish in sensual delights. Another man at the zenith of power clings to virtue and a hunger for conformity…the citizens are easily roused and swayed…a culture of fear infects the city with the constant threat of execution. Through the lens of LIDA’s unique aesthetic and devised through collaborative process, Georg Büchner’s classic Danton’s Death, gets a new life in this story of the inevitable triumph of humanity and its insatiable lust for life, against the backdrop of sex, violence, corruption, and bloodshed.

“It’s theater of chaos. It’s smoldering, it feels a little dangerous and it’s completely unlike any other theatrical experience you’ll get in this town.” – John Moore, The Denver Post

Production History
February 27 – March 21, 2009: BINDERY | space :: Denver, CO

Awards
Best Lighting Design (Miriam Eric Suzanne), Denver Post Ovation Award Nomination

Media Coverage
“RAIN/ of terror”: A bloody good minireview – The Denver Post
RAIN/ of terror looks at social unrest – Life on Capitol Hill

The Company
Direction: Julie Rada
Stage Management: Frank Cason / Kenny Storms
Lighting Design: Miriam Suzanne
Scenic Design: Julie Rada
Sound Design: Brian Freeland
Original Music: Carrie Beeder / James Han
Costume Design: Julie Rada
Properties Design: Julie Rada
Production Assistance: Melanie Owen / Doron Burks

Ensemble
Nathan Bock, Kestrel Burley, Ed Cord, Eve D’Agosto, Kirsten Deane, Desiree Gagnon, Brandon Kruhm, Leroy Leonard, Elizabeth Parks, Lorenzo Sariñana, Matthew Schultz, and Todd Webster

Understudy: Jose Aquila

Images

RAIN/ of terror (2009). Photo: Kate Conger

RAIN/ of terror (2009). Photo: Brian Freeland

RAIN/ of terror (2009). Photo: Kate Conger