REDMOON PRESENTS SPECTACLE '09: LAST OF MY SPECIES THE FEARLESS SONGS OF LAARNA CORTAAN
ITS FIRST EVER LIVE MUSIC CONCERT EVENT, AN INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION WITH NORWEGIAN SONGSTRESS
Release Date: 08/24/09
LOCATION CHANGE FOR REDMOON’S “SPECTACLE ’09: LAST OF MY SPECIES THE FEARLESS SONGS OF LAARNA CORTAAN”
NEW PRODUCTION PHOTOS AVAILABLE
PRESS INVITED TO PERFORMANCE ON SEPTEMBER 5
MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR LAARNA CORTAAN’S ARRIVAL AS PART OF REDMOON’S 2009 SPECTACLE
•New location: The spectacle, presented by Redmoon by special arrangement with the Chicago Park District, will now take place on the lakefront in Lincoln Park just south of Belmont Harbor. This space will accommodate the performance’s ever-increasing scale, and Redmoon “embraces the more comfortable location as the show grows and grows with Laarna’s imagination,” says Redmoon Artistic Director Frank Maugeri. Pedestrian access is available at Barry Ave. / Lake Shore Drive. For complete driving, biking and public transit directions visit www.redmoon.org.
•Beautiful new publicity photos are available; contact sbockley@redmoon.org to receive print-ready files.
•Press is invited to attend the Saturday, Sept. 5 performance at 7 p.m. Please RSVP with boxoffice@redmoon.org or call 312.850.8440 x111.
•Laarna Cortaan’s arrival has inspired a flurry of fan activity on the internet—check out her website – www.laarnacortaan.com -- which was recently shut down momentarily due to excessive site visits! Also subscribe to Laarna’s Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/LaarnaCortaan.
•Redmoon’s staff and supporters cheer the arrival of Laarna Cortaan for her U.S. premiere performance!
"I saw Laarna in Stockholm in 2002, and it changed my life. The audience stood spellbound for what seemed like days, wrapped up in the pure sound and emotion. I think there was a full moon. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
--Lee Abrams, Music Producer
"Laarna’s performance ignited my belief in humanity. How could one night do that? It was like riding a dolphin through the cosmos at a million miles per hour. Does that make sense? I hope so. It's the only way I can describe it."
--Rebecca Hunter, Redmoon Executive Producer
CHICAGO – This September, Redmoon collaborates with Norwegian music sensation Laarna Cortaan in 2009’s outdoor spectacle production, Spectacle ’09: Last of My Species The Fearless Songs of Laarna Cortaan. Part pop concert, part theatrical event, Last of My Species will feature Laarna Cortaan’s wild dance music, performed against the backdrop of mechanical objects, a two-dimensional orchestra and large scale sets built by Redmoon artists and engineers. With Redmoon’s larger than life transforming objects including the weather machine, impossibly tall ladder vehicle and Vegas Cart, this first ever Redmoon concert event will astound audiences with invention and humor. Spectacle ’09: Last of My Species runs September 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 & 13 at 7 p.m. at Belmont Harbor. Tickets are $15 adults, $10 for children 10 and under. Tickets can be purchased at www.redmoon.org or 312-850-8440 ext. 111. The spectacle is presented by Redmoon by special arrangement with the Chicago Park District.
Production Details
Title:
Spectacle ’09: Last of My Species The Fearless Songs of Laarna Cortaan
Created and Directed by:
Jim Lasko, Frank Maugeri and Vanessa Stalling
Designed by:
Jim Lasko, Frank Maugeri and Joey Ruigrok van der Werven
Music By:
Laarna Cortaan, Misha Fiksel, Shu Shubat and Oliver Seay
Featuring:
Laarna Cortaan, Tony Hernandez, Rani Waterman, Shu Shubat, Alex Balestrieri, The Momentary Opera and The Symbol Hat ensemble
Lighting By:
Nick Matonich
Objects, Set and Costumes By:
Chantal Calato, Kass Copeland, Janet Ecklebarger, Jillian Gryzlak, Ellen Kirk, Zach Perrault, Gabriel Richardson, Oliver Seay, Shu Shubat, Tara Smith, William Tellmann and Joey Ruigrok Van der Werven.
Location:
South Belmont Harbor: just south and east of Lake Shore Drive and Belmont Ave.
By Car:
Travelling North on Lake Shore Drive, exit at Belmont Ave and turn right into paid parking lot entrance. Traveling south on Lake Shore Drive, exit at Belmont Ave., take a left on Belmont and travel straight under the viaduct. NOTE: parking is limited. We recommend traveling by bike or public transit.
By bus: Belmont #77 to lakefront; Inner Drive / Michigan Express # 146 to Belmont; or Sheridan # 151 to Belmont
By EL train: Red Line/Brown Line Belmont stop; walk 20 minutes to lake or take Belmont #77 bus
On foot or bike: Cross under Lakeshore Drive to Belmont Harbor at Barry Ave. Follow the pathway south and east toward the lake.
Dates: September 5, 6, 7, 10*, 11, 12 & 13
Curtain Times: 7 p.m.
Ticket Price: Adults: $15; Children (10 and under): $10
For Tickets: www.redmoon.org; or 312-850-8440 ext. 111
*Benefit Performance: Sept. 10 will be a special benefit performance. A limited number of tickets will be sold for this benefit event at $150. A champagne and cheesecake reception will be followed by an intimate performance of Spectacle ’09. Call Emily Reusswig at 312-850-8440 ext. 111 for more details.
Spectacle ’09 is presented in partnership with the Chicago Park District and is made possible in part by the generous support of the Mullen Family Foundation.
About Redmoon:
Redmoon’s mission is to transform streets, stages, and architectural landmarks into places of public celebration utilizing a unique theatrical language that is capable of speaking across economic, cultural, and generational boundaries. Redmoon was founded in 1990 to promote a unique brand of performance committed to the highest quality of artistic product and to civic well-being. Pulling with conviction from contemporary art forms and ancient theatrical forms, Redmoon has created a performance style that is equal parts pageantry, gadgetry, acrobatics, and ephemera.
Spectacle ’09 marks the culmination of a summer series of free guerilla-style public performances created by Redmoon and performed in various locations throughout the City of Chicago. These guerilla spectacle interventions provided the public with entertainment from Redmoon’s Momentary Opera who will be a central component in Last of My Species. This summer the Momentary Opera performed at Art Chicago at the Merchandise Mart, The City of Chicago’s Greenfest at Navy Pier, Daley Plaza, The Harold Washington Library and Boystown for the Pride parade.
This summer series of public performances leading toward Spectacle ’09 emphasized Redmoon’s mission to create unexpected theater in unexpected spaces. Furthering that mission this fall, Redmoon will perform in Charleville, France with Once Upon a Time, at the world’s largest puppetry festival; present the critically acclaimed Hunchback in partnership with the University of Chicago at the Rockefeller Chapel; collaborate with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with a shadow show production at Symphony Hall; and return with the annual tradition, Redmoon’s Winter Pageant at Redmoon Central.
Core Artist Bios:
Jim Lasko served as Redmoon’s Co-Artistic Director from 1992 during which time he created numerous original theater and spectacle events ranging from massive public celebrations to formal indoor shows. Jim became sole artistic director in 1999 and was the principal voice in the theater’s work until he stepped down in 2008. He remains at Redmoon as Resident Artist and has also recently been named Chicago's first ever Artist in Residence for the City of Chicago with the Department of Cultural affairs. His international work includes creating The Fool, a new spectacle for the Living Statues competition in Arnhem, Holland, as well as Dream Masons, a site-specific production in Tasmania, Australia. Jim is a recipient of the Meier Award for Excellence in the Arts, numerous Jeff citations, an Award for Excellence in Puppetry Arts from the International Puppetry Guild, and he was named an “artist to watch for the next decade” by The Chicago Tribune.
Frank Maugeri has served as a director, designer, and performer with Redmoon since 1996. He became the Artistic Director of Redmoon in 2009. Most recently Frank served as a primary collaborator to the Jeff-Recommended Winter Pageant Redux, conceived and co-directed Redmoon’s guerilla performances of The Momentary Opera, and developed a new short intimate work through The Henson Foundation and The Eugene O’Neill Conference: The Cape and Squiggle Society. This summer he remounted Once Upon a Time at Theater on the Lake, and it will also travel the largest puppetry festival in the world in Charleville, France in September. He conceived and directed the critically acclaimed Boneyard Prayer, the Jeff- and After Dark-awarded Once Upon A Time, which additionally toured to the stage of Los Angeles' Philharmonic in June 2008, and conceived and directed the critically acclaimed The Cabinet; co-directed the Jeff-awarded The Golden Truffle and Sink. Sank. Sunk…; created and co-directed the Jeff-awarded Salao: the worst kind of unlucky; and directed the shadow show in Galway’s Shadow which was performed on the façade of the MCA. He makes his teaching home at Columbia College.
Vanessa Stalling (Associate Artistic Director) has been a primary collaborator at Redmoon since 2003. She has been key to the creation of art at Redmoon as a director, conceiver, and performer. Currently, Vanessa is co-directing Last of My Species, Redmoon’s first ever spectacle concert. Previously, Vanessa co-directed a series of ‘Flash Spectacle Events,’ unexpected performance in unexpected places; directed the critically acclaimed and Jeff nominated Winter Pageant Redux; co-directed the Jeff nominated Boneyard Prayer and Princess Club; co-directed Twilight Orchard, a large-scale spectacle.
Laarna Cortaan was born in Ullensaker, Norway and was educated at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Since becoming a solo artist in the late 1990’s, she has performed her music across Europe as well as in Japan, China, Canada and eastern Russia. Cortaan is particularly known for her use of layered sounds and found audio, incorporating everything from the ticking of a clock to the purring of a cat to create an organic, ethereal product. When asked about her preference for such noise in a recent interview she said, “I am interested in the type of beauty that can occur when a sewing machine meets a bicycle on an operating table.” Cortaan does not, however, release recordings of her music, given her fundamental belief that music is made live, in collaboration with an audience. Cortaan characterizes herself as a messenger, a medium or a vessel. She makes no distinction between herself and her audience but actively pursues the notion that art is made by live fusion of performer and spectator. More information about Cortaan and the mission of her work can be found at laarnacortaan.com, on Facebook, or her Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/LaarnaCortaan.
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- Contact Phone: 312 742 7529
- Publication Date: 08/24/09