Are you as excited and ready for open mic tomorrow as I am?
While you are getting your songs together, I want to entertain you with another interview! This time, I interviewed Jason Ellis, who will be our lights and sounds technician for the evening!
Many of you may remember Jason from his role as technical director at Don't Tell Mamas or from one of his interesting projects.
Here are some interesting facts you may not know about Jason Ellis that I've asked during this interview:
1) Can you share with us some interesting facts that most people don’t know about you?
I started acting at age 10 in regional equity Shakespeare productions in MD, and spent my summers doing "Living History" in short pants on a tobacco plantation. I've composed music for television. I toured the east coast in my '90s rock band. I'm co-artistic director of Figment Theater, a small company specializing in new works for cabaret and off-off broadway. Louise Lasser once told me "the theater needs you!", and I'm not sure about that, but I know I need it. Oh, also,I'm an IT guy, database designer, and an expert in the history of comic books, video games, and pro wrestling.
2) Through the years, you've worked with lots of artists as a lights and sound tech. Do you have a particularly memorable, interesting story you'd like to share?
There was a duo from the west coast, celebs in their localities, that came to the club so starry-eyed and excited to perform their show in New York. They were of an advanced age, so it was not likely they would get another chance to strut their stuff on the east coast. They had worked hard on the show, which was complex and included several costume changes (accomplished in my tiny tech booth as I averted my eyes). Spiritually and financially, the show was a huge investment for them. They assumed that all of New York would come and see what they had to offer, but when the debut came, exactly zero people were in the audience. The duo was despondent, but decided to run the show anyway, as they had hired a videographer. But 2 minutes after the show started, just as we had settled in for a tragic night, cabaret's most precious gem, Julie Wilson, strolled into the room to take in the show. Julie was a living legend as a performer, but she was also a boisterous and supportive audience member for many unsung heroes of the stage. She hooted and hollered throughout the command performance, and absolutely saved the day for the west coast ladies. They left with a story about how the greatest chanteuse of all time had cheered and cheered for them.
Was this supposed to be a tech story? Maybe I should have talked about the time when all the sound and light equipment in the room started randomly failing while Karen Mason was trying to do her big climactic show ender. On second thought, lets leave that story in the dark.
3) What motivates your creativity? Name three things that never fails to put a smile on your face!
I don't have many goals in life, really only one, and that is to get better and better at the arts I have chosen to study. I was raised by an oil painter to believe that creating was the only really important thing in life, and for me that extends beyond formal art-creation and into the everyday. Every minute I challenge myself to see things in new ways and generate ideas that are novel, even if they are just jokes. I want to make people laugh, cry, think, and experience strong emotions, both in life and from the stage. Theater can change the individual and those individual changes can permeate out to make the world a better place.
Three things that make me smile:
- amateur performers that outdo the pros
- wrestlemania
- Flanders and Swann
4) Share with us what you have in the pipeline for us to be on the lookout for!
On June 29th 7pm: an all-ukelele variety hour called "Ukelele Island" at 53 Above Broadway:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1832837303711611/
A big thank you to Jason Ellis for the fun interview and don't forget to mark your calendars for tonight!!!