It is incredibly hard to believe looking back- that this time last year we were hosting readings in our living room for our first original production of "The Break-Up/Break-Down". Those days seem so long ago now with all that we have been through in the amazing year that was 2011. It's harder now to believe that we were able to turn those fun-filled nights with beautiful friends into a functioning community-based Theatre Company with 2 fully-produced productions under our belt, along with countless meetings, fundraisers, parties, and even more new artist friends to collaborate with.
Because we believe it is important to remember your roots, we want to annually compile a "year-in-review" blog that allows our fans to take a look at everything that has happened in the world of Circle throughout one year of existence. So, hold onto your memory pants- because away we go!
December 2010/ January 2011
After interviews with now CCdd company members for their stories of Heartbreak- Artistic Director Katie created the piece "The Break-Up/Break-Down". We hosted collaborative readings, work-shop Viewpoint sessions, a wine & dessert reading at the Diversionary Theater- all before finally getting into rehearsals and putting up the beast that launched the life of Circle Circle dot dot. Here are some great images that sum up all of the fun of the reading and some from the show:
The reading was the very first performance that Circle had ever done- and it was incredible. A huge audience, and wonderful feedback on "The Break-Up/Break-Down" led to our full production.
February/March
Rehearsal for the production was a blast- especially with guests. The beautiful Kym Pappas brought the OnStage interns to our den to see what it meant to be a Community-Based Collaborative Theatre Company.
April/May/June/July
As a young company- we have to create all the free publicity we can! This image was an example of the facebook photo campaign we had leading up to our show. Each cast member posted a defaced image of their relationship in the production. These images were waaay too fun to make. Photo by the amazing Paul Savage.
Here are some images from the production:
All photos by the wonderful Bill Hargreaves!
August/September
After this production we knew we were not done. It was too much fun, and too exciting to stop. Our lives have been changed forever- for the good, and now it was time to make this company work. We found our next Community to collaborate quickly with our recently-closed production of "Ragnarok"- but we needed more funding to take another step closer to better productions. We were proud of what we did with "The Break-Up/Break-Down"- damn proud! But, with more funding we could create a better platform for telling the stories properly- so we got to work.
First, the amazing San Diego Dance Theater, commissioned us to create a piece for their annual "Trolley Dances" production. We came up with the zany "Trolley Kids" to help transition audiences from performance to performance with an element of adventure through site-specific installation images. Our performers were placed along the tour acting out games or child-like explorations in locations that would never otherwise be suited for children. Here are some images of that:
And a little video:
Because we are insane, and still learning a bit about time management, we planned a giant fundraiser around the same time as "Trolley Dances"- and it was the wildly successful and incredibly fun "Morp". I am happy to announce today on this blog that the "Morp" will be returning next year! We had such a great turn-out, and our attendees had made several formal requests to bring it back, so you got it San Diego! Here are a few snaps:
A little surprise press from City Beat the day before!
Company members Katie and Sam had to test out the fabulous photo booth provided by Rich Soublet!
Morp King and Queen and crew!
It was a magical night and it will be returning for those who missed out this year!
This event also brought the beginning of Circle's youtube commercials! Here is our favorite from the event:
October/November/December
After both of these events, and some wonderful interviews with the Live-Action Role-Playing enthusiasts of San Diego, with the help of the amazing Director Steve Schmitz- we created "Ragnarok". It was only two weeks ago that we closed, but here are some fabulous re-cap photos and videos from the experience:
Just like with "The Break-Up/Break-Down" we created another facebook campaign. This time, we made player cards for each of the characters to post as their facebook profile picture. They turned out fabulous- thanks to Rich Soublet and Matt Lescault-Wood for their fantastic skills.
Our publicity shoot was a hoot. Thanks again Rich!
Here is a fun little video our Stage Manager took from the booth of our Orc- Julio Jacobo- getting ready for battle:
So, that's our very bare-boned year in review. It's so difficult to summarize and entire year of work and love and new friends and parties- but this is our attempt. It's so important to know where you came from. This blog has been with us to document it all- and we are so happy we kept our promise to write weekly for our fans. And we shall continue in 2012!
2012 has many exciting adventures in store for us. Some we are sure of- like the fact that our 3rd production will be produced at the 10th Ave Theater the first three weeks of April...mark your calendar!
We will also be hosting another fabulous fundraiser on February 13th featuring new short works by company members and guest authors all on the subject of love.
But, as you know- more on this will be discussed shortly. For now, we wish you a fabulous wrap of this amazing year, and the most excited art-filled/ love-filled 2012 possible.
And just because we wouldn't be an arts organization without a little help- if you're feeling charitable, please donate to our future by clicking the button above. And please join us in our audiences in the New Year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!