Reader Submitted: "The Very Best of Broadway"

By Ciska Riverstone

Logging into Second life last night I didn't know, I was up for a precious treat. My friend Bergie IMed me shortly before 1 pm asking if I would like to go to "The Very b=Best of Broadway."  I admit, I made it a last minute appearance on my side and was just able to grab the empty red velvet chairs beside her, when the curtain opened up at the Oval Theater to reveal a perfect gym and a full cast, dancing Footloose.

My first surprise was a pure technical one: everything rezzed fast and effortlessly - something I am not used to on my laptop in second life shows.  So I looked around for a moment expecting a small audience only to see that most of the chairs of this very cozy but still spacious theater were taken. Realizing that I just missed the performance, my attention returned quickly to the vivid choreography.  "Footloose" is of course an easy opener to groove to - the perfect number to get into the mood. It did set the tone for what's to come in a charming way!


The curtain went down and somehow I expected a longer pause for reconstruction - maybe because I saw that often in the past in theaters in Second Life. But here came surprise number two. We just had time to talk a bit and teleport in another friend before the stage was set with an admittedly more simplistic but still very fitting stage building for the cheeky "Dance 10, Looks 3" from "A Chorus Line."  Champagne was served by an attentive staff member, while we enjoyed the atmosphere slowly building up and it did! I won't give away more details to not spoil your fun!

The song list, although taken from the classic Broadway Musicals you would expect, did not always go to the most obvious song choice and so managed to hold the balance of the whole spectrum of emotions you can walk through in such an evening. The special effects carefully orchestrated towards a stunning finale come and go in a wave like form and together with all kinds of choreography - from freestyle " just singing and acting" to ballet - like arrangements u will see all of it.  The stage builds totally serve each musical number in style, simplicity and low lag. while still having eye catching details....not to forget the perfect costume choice. All in all the whole performance felt like a labour of love for me. We left the theatre after more than an hour in heightened spirits and enthusiastic.

The show is still on at the 17th 19th and 23d at 1 pm slt and will be followed in August by a program called "Make 'em laugh".  I can only recommend to grab your loved one, friends or even a new acquaintances you like to get to know better and watch it. The whole atmosphere together with those tunes will not cease to spark up fun conversations, entertain you and put a smile on your face.

While you are there be sure to grab one of the monthly theater magazines from the free vendor. It will tell you what's in the pipeline of this amazingly creative and vivid venue!

The Oval Theatre Company, Devils Cave (144, 79, 21)
Ciska Riverstone

The Rocky Horrid Show Live at the Paramount

By DrFran Babcock

This is just a brief press release/teaser to inform you about The Rocky Horrid Show,  a live show in Second Life™ that recreates the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Maybe you were one of the people who would go to a midnight showing of this cult film every week, or every day. If you were, then you don’t need an explanation of the phenomena, but for those of you who are Rocky Horror virgins here’s a bit about it in a nutshell: The movie is a pseudo-horror flick in which a straightlaced couple Brad and Janet, need to use a phone because their car broke down, and they knock on the door of Frank N. Furter, a transvestite in the process of creating his dream man. They all loosen up, and have some fun, and you will too if you go. What sets the Rocky Horror Picture Show apart from most other cult movies is that it has become an audience participation event wherever it is shown. Lucky for you, the Paramount Playhouse staff provides you with a folder full of prompts and props, so you don’t have to feel like a noob all over again.

The folks at The Paramount Playhouse have taken on the daunting task of doing this live show. I went to the opening, along with about 50 or more other avatars, and while it was “crashtastic,” the crowd was wholly appreciative. Anyone who has been in SL for any length of time understands the perils of bringing together a crowd for any event. When the actors crashed, the audience danced good-naturedly, and all had a great time.

The choreography, by Starlena Darkfire, who also stars as Frank N. Further, is realistic and sexy. The actors on the stage moved in synchrony, and the effect was quite like a Broadway show. The actors were all good sports, dealing with the lag and crashes. The rest of the cast must have worked very hard as well to pull this off:

Janet played by Victoria Juliette

Brad played by Trailfire

Riff Raff played by Shannon Sittingbull

Magenta played by Lotta D. Campbell-MacGregor

Columbia played by Leann Campbell-MacGregor

Rocky Horrid played by Path Campbell-MacGregor

Dr Evelyn Scott played by  Begonia Oh

Eddie  played by Oodlemi Noodle

The Transylvanians played by  Begonia, Oodlemi Noodle, Sadie Hancroft, Babypea von Phoenix, and Gunner von Phoenix

The show is going to be staged again, December 7 at 7PM. Also, the sim on which the show is staged is an Adult sim, and there is nudity, which I am sure will keep you all away.

For future dates and times of the show:

Group Invite:

secondlife:///app/group/aff49a43-7c03-4636-98eb-fd76b49ef4df/about

SLURL - Adult

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Diamond%20Gardens/75/58/22

Blog/Website:

http://paramountplayhouse.blogspot.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paramount-Playhouse/480138692073462

By DrFran Babcock

Luskwood Celebrates Nine Years

With the events of Second Life's Ninth Birthday a few months ago, last weekend it was it's oldest community's turn to celebrate nine years: Luskwood. Besides the home of the classic Luskwood furry avatars, Lusk also boasts the longest lasting group of residents, not just of Second Life's furs, but of the entire Grid. And Saturday October 20th, the folks of the Big Tree got together to celebrate their staying together.

Hey Folks! It's that time of year again, and for the 9th time, we're celebrating Luskwood's Birthday!  To kick off the celebrations, we bring you the lovely Keeba Tammas, singing hits from the 70s through today!

Stick around after Keeba, becuase at 1PM, Shannon O'Herlihy will be picking up the microphone, and delivering a fantastic acoustic folk set.  Come on down and grab a seat, the fun starts at Noon, SLT! 

The singers performed not at the tree, but the nearby ampitheather, which was on both the Lusk and Perry sims to accommodate more avatars. Following Shannon was live singer Alazarin Mondrain. Later on came a performance from two musicians whom have performed regularly at Luskwood for years, Jaycatt and Frogg.

As the musicians played, some avatars danced on the floor near the stage. Others sat in the stands and cracked jokes, "is there any LW9B souvenirs?" "Commemorative Michi bobbleheads?" "Michi should be made into a bobbletail." "Or a bobblehat." "Hmmm, Lusk Core bobbleheads n' tails. (smile)" Luskwood founder Michi took the joking around in style. As it turned out, there were commemorative LW9B hats.

The last live musician was Canon Organizer at 6 SL time, who razzed an organ on stage, and told everyone he was playing from a real one that was practically a museum piece. But still, he told the audience to be ready to be pleasantly surprised, "and now for something completely different," and then began playing the "Star Wars" theme on it, much to the delight of the audience, "Woo-hoo! I love Organ!" "Amazing how much sound is coming out of that one instrument. (grin)" Other tunes included the "Back to the Future" theme, and "Brains" by Voltaire. "That organ might be the ticket to play that 80's tune, 'Freeze Frame' (grin)."

There were a few technical glitches. Those in the Lusk part of the stage kept seeing the Perry sim vanish then re-rezz. Michi told me, "It's because Lusk is on Magnum and Perry is'nt. It's been having sim intercomm problems ever since the 'unscheduled emergency' Magnum roll on Wednesday. … it was some sort of rollback and 'group database' fixes."

But the birthday went on. Last for the night at 7PM SL time was the squirelgirl DJ Haley Maruti, who rezzed her box onstage and got in, "LUSKWOOD, MAKE SOME NOOOOOOOISE!!" For a few hours, she entertained the crowd with a selection of pop music, from 80's tunes, to more modern fare. "And now for something 'PSY'chotic," she announced before putting in an English "Gangnam Style" remix. When her playlist was done, she told the crowd, "We're into unknown territory now! I planned for three hours tonight, but you all are being so awesome that I can't stop now!" And so she continued to play on as the Lusk residents continued to dance late in the night, the floor changed from a wood finish to a discotech one, with a spinning Lusk symbol in the center.

This wasn't the end of the birthday celebrations. On Sunday afternoon there were some open mike "social events." But the big events had been on Saturday.

"Thank you so much! Happy Birthday Luskwood!"

Bixyl Shuftan

"The Fire" by Mysty Mellison

Mysty Mellison is a playwright/producer in SL. Her play, "The Fire", will open on Friday, June 25 at 4:00 SLT at the SL7 B Mainstage SE, SL7B Imagination (29, 220, 22). I met up with Mysty recently to learn more about her and her latest play.

Grey Lupindo: Can you tell our readers what "The Fire" is about?

Mysty Mellison: It́'s a haunting tale about Pete and his quest to save his family from famine. Pete is a peasant, and Frankey is an American boy. The conflict is grain vs. gold.

Grey Lupindo: What́ is the time period and setting?

Mysty Mellison: The play starts in 2010 and goes back to 1789. It is set against the back drop to the French Revolution. We join Frankey as he visits Paris, France in 1789.

Grey Lupindo: How did "The Fire" come about?

Mysty Mellison: I wrote "The Fire" for a RL theatre. However, as I am a struggling writer, I did not have the funds to produce it.

Grey Lupindo: How much was it going to cost?

Mysty Mellison: The cost for a theatre is $4k - that́s US Dollars, not Lindens.

Grey Lupindo: Do you have an estimate of how much it́s going to cost to produce the play here in SL?

Mysty Mellison: So far next to nothing. I met some generous people at Trendone and L'Ecole SL who donated some builds. Xstorm Radek and his wife Patty are wonderful. They helped build the sets. Wolveli Kas has been a wonderful help to the production. She goes beyond her acting responsibilities and steps in for missing actors. She proofread my script, making changes for the better. And Friday night, she made a timezone chart. The actors are volunteers.

Grey Lupindo: How many actors are in "The Fire"?

Mysty Mellison: Twelve. My actors are passionate. It is work, but it is fun.

Grey Lupindo: What has surprised you the most about producing it?

Mysty Mellison: The scheduling of actors is a challenge.

Grey Lupindo: Who are the main actors?

Mysty Mellison: Pete is played by Intelkid Craven. Frankey is being played by either Valentine Easterwood or Gimly Beck.

Grey Lupindo: Besides SL7B, are there any future performances planned?

Mysty Mellison: There is a tentative one July 17-18 3pm slt at O'Caseys.

Mellison, who has been a resident since May 2009, said that the group currently perform as storytellers, too. The photo for this article was taken at Hestia's Hearth, where rehearsals are held. In the future a full production of "The Fire" will be performed there. Hestia's Hearth, Trendone (114, 70, 47) This location is symbolic, like much of the play, Mellison said, because Hestia is the Greek goddess of the fire.

Grey Lupindo