I like alliteration.
Anyway, I'll list all the cast and crew in this post - at the discretion I'm allowed, of course. Some have requested I don't give out their full names. :)
I suppose I need to explain the characters first, though, wouldn't you say? Brace yourself - this is gonna be a long one.
Firstly, there's O the Scientist sung originally by Casey Crescenzo, and he is the theoretical deity of this world, (probably a sort of caustic or suggestive statement of modern Christianity), who creates the "Angels." O doesn't say much, instead communicating through paradoxical subtleties and smiles, which just frustrates the hell out of Ahrima. O lets his creations govern themselves for the most part, just sitting back and watching as the deist philosophy of life theorizes about the mainstream God of earth.
Then there's Ahrima, played by no other than ingenious inventor Thomas Dutton himself, who is the patron saint of disgruntled brilliance. He feels that "his gifts had been exhausted, oh, how they'd misused them." He tries to tell O the Scientist about this, but "even this brash avowal was met by no mouthful. O simply just... smiled." So, Ahrima's only sense of sanity amidst this frustration is his best friend and later lover, Nidria. He becomes "The King of the Dark and Forgot" after tearing down the lamps, an obvious metaphor for their knowledge and prosperity, and is forever separated from Nidria and the rest of the world. He spawned somehow though. Somehow...
Nidria is one of only two girls in the entire production, but Lizzie Huffman's jazzy, soulful voice definitely makes her stand out. She's in love with the discontented Ahrima, and pleads with him to be patient and wait for his moment to shine. She spends the entirety of her stage time understanding Ahrima's anguish. The narrator, played by Aaron Weiss, mentions that both she and Ahrima are especially gifted, but Ahrima's the only one whining about it. Nidria remains calm, collected, and in love with someone that she later must give up to the darkness.
Barayas the Spider is the ignition for all this madness, the role aptly given to Say Anything's Max Bemis, one of my top favorite lyricists. "The world was looked upon by jealous eyes" and there are definitely eight of them, the image vividly painted by a choppy, piano interim and amazingly spider-like tunes. When Ahrima goes off to the darkness to sulk, Barayas takes this opportunity to crawl onto bitter little Miss Muffet's shoulder and whisper evil thoughts of destruction and power into the dismayed angel's ear. Without Barayas, there would be no story, so thanks, Max Bemis! In my production, I decided to have two people play the spider so we'd actually have eight legs. :3
"So Toba the Tura was sent to hold Ahrima responsible for his mess, to ban him to this fiery abyss while the remaining found a new place to live." No one really knows what a Tura is, but it must be important. Toba, played by Chris Conley, sings a haunting song of anger and despair, taking all this destruction personally when he sings, "And my words will tear through the air, pierce through the despair to find your arrogant, throbbing ears, and if it's too much to bear or to hear or to take, I'll be frank, let my inflection be crystal clear! This mess that you've made, it's a six-foot grave, it's a home for your lonesome bones that remain. We'll disappear, but you'll stay here and rot as the King of the Dark and Forgot." It's one of my favorite songs. :)
The Oracle, like O the Scientist, only appears in two songs and doesn't really do much except reveal the prophecy that the world will be reunited by two star-crossed lovers. Played by Danny Stevens, the notes are ethereally high, and the strange, whimsical music in the background set an atmosphere that lacks time and space. The strings and entrance of Ahrima, Nidria, and the rest of the angels into the song give a semblance of a last goodbye, one last performance before Toba's judgment goes into motion.
Enter Adakias, stage left! Our daring, purehearted hero is performed also by the multi-talented Thomas Dutton, and happens to be an agent of darkness. He is the younger brother of the infamous Pallis, and the only person in the entire kingdom of darkness that wants to leave and explore the Light. In an act of impulsive bravery, he defies his omnipotent, overruling brother and ventures into the Light, falling deeply in love with Princess Anhura. He ends up sacrificing his own life to save her, and, in a final attempt at fulfilling the prophecy the way he always dreamed to do, he asks Pallis and Anhura to marry. At least, that's how I'm interpreting it.
Sangara is listed just as one of the townsfolk, sung by Dan Young, and the narrator, (or anyone else, for that matter,) never specifies who he is. :/ So I interpreted it differently and decided that Sangara would no longer be a man, because, let's face it, there need to be more girls in this thing, and because there was no indication that the character had to be male. And I am the director, so I'm allowed to make that call. At least for my own show. XP So I decided that my version of Sangara was to be Adakias's first girlfriend, his first attempt at a social connection before he finally abandons all hope and heads for the Light.
Pallis, the heir to the throne of Darkness, is a very complex character. Portrayed by the eerie yet angelic voice of Brendon Urie, he is the true leader of the Dark, and vows to make Adakias suffer for his rebellion. However, moved by his little brother's unbound compassion, his perception changes and he works to reunite the Dark and Light and dispel Razia's shadow. Again, this is just my interpretation of it, because it really isn't clear.
Princess Anhura is the other girl in this musical, and her only true defining feature is that she is in love with Adakias. Sung by Greta Salpeter, she dreams of a different life away from the norm, and thinks Adakias is the key. However, she doesn't know until the very last song that he's from the Dark. I don't know if this is how it actually happened or not, but I decided that she married Pallis in the end because Adakias dies and she's just trying to fulfill his dying wish and also hold on to the last remnant of her true love. Whether their relationship works out or not, no one can really tell, eh?
King Malka, performed by Nic Newsham, is also a complicated character, even though he's only in one song. He loves his daughter and senses something wrong with Adakias, but he's also very greedy and haughty, repeating, "Well, I'm the king; it won't be that easy." I also gave him a queen because the timing of that song is a little sketchy, and, as an assignment to all my cast members so they'd understand their character better, named her Sylvia. Their relationship is interesting, the way my actors play it, and I can only hope Mr. Dutton would approve. D:
The Bawaba Brothers are, I assume, the ferrymen of Holy the Sea. They take Adakias and the sickly Anhura across the sea to the Dark so that she can be cured of her unexpected illness, all the while explaining to Adakias the accuracy of the prophecy that he grew up on, adding that Adakias is the fulfillment of it. However, they also caution him against trusting those that seem trustworthy, an ominous foreshadowing into the last song.
Doctor Dumaya is the one that fixes Princess Anhura and, played by Shawn Harris, is definitely the creepiest character. He says he'll fix her, but demands in return that she live with him and fulfill his sick fantasies forever. However, after Pallis bursts in for the dramatic ending, the doctor is never heard from again, so his disappearance is left to be pondered.
As for the cast and crew, here we go!
O the Scientist - me
Narrator - Katherine Benton
Ahrima -
Nidria -
Barayas the Spider - Lindsey Orgren
Toba the Tura -
The Oracle - Rachel Strand
Adakias -
Sangara -
Pallis - Fernandez
Princess Anhura -
King Malka -
Queen Luminesca - Brittany Stack
Doctor Dumaya - Lindsey Orgren
And the crew includes:
Director - me
Graphic Designer - Nicole Knox
Set Manager - Hannah Nielesen
Tech Director - Brian Akins, Conner Mercer, Beth Stoneman
Costume Design - Katherine Benton and myself
Choreographer - Lindsey Orgren
Photographers - Steve Akins and Hannah Nielesen
Set Construction - everyone involved
Steve Akins is an actual PROFESSIONAL photographer and also, by mere happenstance, is my beau's father. So super bonus! I'm so amazingly grateful to have his completely free assistance! And, if you couldn't guess, his son, my beau, is the tech director.
I'm so proud of all my cast and crew, it's incredible. :D I'm so lucky to have so many gifted and dedicated friends. Everyone fits their character perfectly! And my narrator just... kicks... ass? She's exceptional. XD
I guess it's good for me to keep all these topics separated, so I'll write about other stuff in another post. :)
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