Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:02:39 -0700
From: Dmitri Carter <dmitri-AT-nwpuppet.org>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Subject: [Puptcrit] Godzilla Puppet Opera in San Francisco


Hello Puptcritters,

We just got an email from Randall Wong, a very talented singer/composer who
has done a few puppet projects. His new show is coming up in San Francisco.
Thought some of you may be interested so have pasted in the details below.

Best,

Dmitri Carter

--

Waiting for Godzilla, A miniature opera in three parts.

NOHspace 2840 Mariposa Street, San Francisco 94110

Friday May 2 thru Sunday May 11, Friday and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at
3pm.

TIX: $10-15 sliding scale

INFO & ONLINE TIX:(415) 621-7978 www.theatreofyugen.org

=A0Combining the mythically scaled with a Beckett-like absurdity, Waiting for
Godzilla is an opera in the grand tradition, but performed on a toybox
scale. The effect is as if one was watching (and listening) to a fantasy
opera through the wrong end of a telescope.

Rather than an example of the cheesy kaiju (monster) movie genre, the
original Gojira (1954) was a work of depth and gravity, a reflection of the
horrors of the atomic bomb to a decimated post-war Japan. However,
Godzilla=B9s rage and thirst for destruction are never explored.

Waiting for Godzilla is a =B3back story,=B2 an imagining of the motivations
behind the action. As an opera, the classic explanation (and for the lion=B9s
share of the operatic genre) is thwarted love.

In the complete Godzilla canon there is only one possible object of
affection: Mothra. Sometimes ally, more frequently foe, the protectoress of
her people, she is the embodiment of light and counterpart to the kaiju=B9s
darkness. But, as in most operas, a happy ending remains elusive.

Waiting for Godzilla is performed on miniature stages and screens by three
singer/puppeteers, =B3virtual orchestra,=B2 and live instruments. In a departure
from marionettes or sock puppets, the show owes more to world of bunraku (in
that the manipulators are always visible), or shadow theater. The various
visual effects are drawn from =B3archaic=B2 stagecraft of the Victorian theater.

full press releases and photos available
at:=A0http://www.theatreofyugen.org/work.html

for further information:

Randall Wong
www.randall-wong.com

_______________________________________________
List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
Archives: http://www.driftline.org