Peace and Reconciliation

Last night was opening night for us here at Goddess Wheel and it went incredibly well!!!

The cast shined, the music flew and the audience loved it!

Here are a few pictures from the production, courtesy of Karen O'Donnell Photography:

If you think these are great you should come see the entire show!

Tickets are available through the Wagner Theatre Box Office at 718-390-3259!

The Pledge

The weather is heating up and so is the activity here at Goddess Wheel!

There was a great article about the production in the Staten Island Advance this week (read it here)! And we made it through tech!

It's almost time for our end song as we open TOMORROW!

People will be coming from near and distant cities to fulfill their desire of seeing this show. They will make their grand entrances to Snug Harbor and become a part of the production as they are mesmerized by the glorious lights, projections and costumes – not to mention our talented cast – – there are no excuses not to love this show!

Come, take the pledge; we've prepared a fantastic show, but it won't be the same without you!

Tickets are available by calling the Wagner College Theatre box office at 718-390-3259.

Oh, Athens!

Here at Goddess Wheel we are racing towards opening faster then Atalanta (the Greek goddess of running)!

We've left the rehearsal studio behind                                   

and the music is completely learned!

The script is frozen, the lights are hung and the stage is built!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of our venture into Hades – I mean tech week! But first the cast took some time to explore their new home:

The Goddesses (Jaime Maraviglia and Erica Wiederlight)
hang out in a hidden Goddess location.

Cast members enjoy a few moments of downtime backstage.

Two of The Dead hide out awaiting their cue to enter the stage.

Who's legs are dangling out of the trap door??

There is less than TWO WEEKS until the opening of Goddess Wheel - be sure to order your tickets before it's to late! Call the Wagner College Theatre box office at 718.390.3259

Weather

Things are heating up here at Goddess Wheel!

Over at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, our performance space, the wind might be blowing outside but inside our AMAZING set, designed by Phil Hickox, is being loaded in!

The cast have begun their final costume fittings, the props are beginning to arrive in the rehearsal room and the script is changing less and less!

With only 15 days until opening, we are approaching the finish line with gusto!

Here are some pictures from our last rehearsal and some more from our visit with Matty Selman last week:

In the play, Lysistrata comes across a Spartan soldier and fears he might be violent toward her.

The Spartan, played by Ryan Cole, explains that he doesn't want a fight- he just wants to know the name of one of Lysistrata's followers.

Lysistrata doesn't trust the Spartan and orders him to leave her and her girls alone.  

Matty speaks with the cast about the play and some the changes that had been made to the script.

Matty led the cast in an articulation exercise; repeating the phrase “Many Men” to the tune of the “William Tell Overture”.

Don't forget to call the Box Office at 718-390-3259 to order your tickets! Goddess Wheel opens April 18 at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island.

Alpha, Beta, Gamma...

This week at Goddess Wheel has just been flying by!

We've done some amazing work, gotten some great publicity and even received a brand new version of the script!!!

Earlier this week, we took some time to add our wonderful Goddesses to one of the Oracle scenes; enhancing the story and adding yet another layer to the incredible work everyone has been doing!

John Jamiel, our Oracle, surrounded by our Goddesses (from the bottom left going clockwise: Allie Dufford as Thalia – Muse Goddess of Comedy, Erica Wiederlight as Athena, Heather Kirschenbauer as Afro-Dite, Caroline LaTorre as Hera, Bronwyn Whittle as Alethia, Jaime Maraviglia as Melpomne – Muse Goddess of Tragedy).

Danielle Dallacco, our Lysistrata, was interviewed about the show and her involvement for our facebook page! Check out the video:

Last night Matty Selman, the book writer and lyricist, came by rehearsal and talked through the new script with the cast.

Matty talking with the cast

Don't forget to check out our facebook page for even more behind the scenes information and to call our box office at 718.390.3259 to order your tickets -- opening night is only 20 days away!!!!

Updates All Over!

There have recently been many updates here at Goddess Wheel!

For starters, check out our FABULOUS new poster:

This past weekend we had our design run where we presented all of the material we've staged so far to our entire creative team as well as a few special guests! It went incredibly well and everyone is very excited about the direction we are heading in.

We also filmed a few of our actors this weekends for the projections that are going to be used during the show. One of the actors who was filmed, Tommy Joscelyn, the understudy for both Hades and the Oracle, had to shave their head before the filming could occur!  

                

               Tommy's Hair Before

The Shaving in Process

                                                                                                                                

                 

                   Cast member Max King helping Tommy

               

                  Tommy seeing his head for the first time

A few cast members have also made visits to the band's rehearsals! They've all said it was incredible to hear the music with the full band and that singing with them was great fun. Some pictures from one such visit are below.

Cast Members(from left to right) Matt Sydney (the Chancellor), Danielle Dallacco (Lysistrata),  Ilana Bolotsky (the Young Widow) and Ryan Cole (the Soldier Ghost and Spartan Envoy).

Composer, Galt MacDermot, plays the piano as Matt Sydney sings with the band.

Music Director, James Higgins, leads the band and the performers.

I hope you enjoy these behind the scenes blog updates and if you're looking for even more information and up to the minute updates be sure to like our facebook page! 

And don't forget, Opening Night is less then a month away (April 18^th!) so be sure to get your tickets while you still can by calling our box office at: (718) 390-3259. 

10 Things You Might Not Know about "Goddess Wheel"

At Goddess Wheel, we've been having a lot of fun working with the material! So, here's a little fun for you:

10 Things You Might Not Know About Goddess Wheel:

1) The script has gone through three drastically different versions with additional minor changes along the way.

2) Director, Rusty Curcio, directed Hair (which also has music by Galt MacDermot) for Wagner College in 2006!

3) The Spartan women are wearing 4 inch heels as part of their costumes!

4) Goddess Wheel is an ensemble piece; our cast is made up of 45 people! 20 Athenians, 16 Spartans, and 9 other worldly beings!

5) The Spartan army is being played by 10 men from the Wagner Athletic Department!

6) The design for the production will utilize AMAZING projections by our multimedia artist, Tony Brown.

7) Our Lysistrata, Danielle Dallacco, played the character Kalonike in Wagner College's production of Aristophanes' Lysistrata this past fall.

Photo by Karen O'Donnell Photography

8) The Goddess Aphrodite is being represented as Afro-dite and will played by Heather Kirschenbauer. Part of her costume, you guessed it, will be a giant afro!

9) Galt MacDermot's New Pulse band will be playing for the show!

10) Opening Night is April 18^h – Only 29 days away! Tickets are available by contacting the Wagner College Theatre box office at 718.390.3259

What You Need and Desire

Last night at Goddess Wheel  we accomplished a lot of good work!

One scene we worked on finessing was the reunion of Lysistrata, played by Danielle Dallacco, and the Chancellor, played by Matt Sydney, in which they sing the song, “Desire”.

It's a beautiful scene and our leading couple are doing an incredible job!

Here are some pictures from the rehearsal:

Our director, Rusty Curcio, works with Danielle and Matt before they dive into working on the scene.

  

The first instant Lysistrata and the Chancellor are alone together after he's been away at war.

“Desire” is a song about pursuing hopes and wants even though you might be in the midst of overcoming difficult struggles.

Danielle and Matt work wonderfully together as Lysistrata and the Chancellor. 

They have wonderful chemistry and

           

are able to have fun as they work while 

still being in the moment and doing what they need to do.

 

 In Goddess Wheel, Lysistrata owns and operates Aspasia's Gynaceum, a “house of women” in Athens. Though the girls who work for her take clients to keep the business afloat, Lysistrata only sees the Chancellor.

 

Despite the war which keeps them apart, Lysistrata and the Chancellor's love is real and it carries them through the storms they must weather.  

We at Goddess Wheel continue to work and make improvements on the show every night and we hope you will join us when opening night rolls around (April 18th)!

In the mean time, stay tuned for more behind the scenes updates!

Show and Tell

Last weekend we at Goddess Wheel  had a 'show and tell' for some of our creative team! 

It went incredibly well and we got to see everything we've been working on in succession. We still have a lot of work to do but what we've done is looking great!

Some pictures from the day are below!

The cast working through the opening scene as the Young Widow (not shown) sings 

"Stranger to Children" and the Chancellor (played by Matt Sydney) 

is reunited with Lysistrata (not shown)  

The cast rests as the story progresses and Lysistrata (played by Danielle Dallacco) 

and her women develop a plan

Almost the entire cast, with Lysistrata and the Chancellor at center, as they sing
the final song of the piece, "The End Song"

Here are two members of our creative team, Kari, our physical dramaturg, and Tony, our multimedia artist, who drove down just to be with us for the show and tell!

Besides for the show and tell we've been doing a lot of great work on the individual scenes and songs!

John Jamiel, who plays Hades as well as the Oracle, works on a lift with some of the boys
who act as The Dead. Boys in the photo (from left to right) include:
Zach Fenoff, Rob Keir, Keland Sarno & Jurdan Payne 

Some of the girls review music they've learnt with our music director James.

Our director, Rusty Curcio, works on a scene with actresses Leighann Colin & Beth Miller

And don't forget to order your tickets to Goddess Wheel so you can come join us and see the finished product in April! 

More information is available on the Wagner College Theatre website.

Creative Progress!

A lot has been going on around Goddess Wheel!

Over the weekend our director, Rusty Curcio, led us in a skill building workshop before beginning one of our rehearsals.

Rusty leading us in an exercise!

Cast Members Greg Martins and Bronwyn Whittle

Cast Members Matt Sydney and Max King stretching

Cast member Marti Maley and a partner working together

 on an exercise, trying to say the alphabet backwards

Cast Members Danielle Dallacco and Sean Fitzharris with the rest of the cast 

working on a group exercise before concluding 

the mornings workshop

  

We've also been doing some really inspirational scene work!

Some our female cast members listen as Rusty shares his ideas for the scene with them

Some of Our Goddesses (from left to right Jaime Maraviglia, Allie Dufford, Heather Kirschenbauer, 

Bronwyn Whittle and Erica Wiederlight) watching over the sleeping soldiers

Allie Dufford, playing Thalia the muse-Goddess of Comedy, and Jaime Maraviglia, playing Melpomene the muse-Goddess of tragedy, work on creating their characters

The Goddess Persephone, played by Leighann Colin, enters the dreams of the sleeping soldiers

The women of Athens, led by Lysistrata, played by Danielle Dallacco, look on in hiding as the men awake

The three soldiers, played by (from left to right) Rob Keir, Zach Fenoff and Andrew Khouri, 

discuss the dreams they just awoke from

The men work on developing how they might position 

themselves as the scene progresses

Our Goddesses take a break while we begin working on another scene

The guards of the Acropolis, played by (from left to right) Max King, Jesse McCaig, Greg Martins, and Matt Favetta, learn “It's A Man's World”

Overall, rehearsals have been going incredibly well! We're all finding inspiration and are exploring our creativity, heading down the road towards a great production!