What is the Red Bull? : Cut Scene Comics 4

I have to confess something: I cheated on this one. Of Course the Red Bull is in this production. But he's described in Mr. Beagle's prose in very vivid terms that we likely won't be able to narrate. I also found it difficult to resist drawing the image in this one as it popped into my head. Here goes:



























In case you don't feel like craning your neck sideways (and upside down) to read the text, here's what I put in:

The Moon (the left "horn")

"The unicorn crouched awake waiting to see the vast form of the Red Bull come charging out of the Moon. She caught his smell, a dark, sly reek easing through the night, reaching out to find her..."

The Demon (the right "horn")
written on the contract:

"It is the Devil, to whom Haggard sold his soul. It is the thing he sold his soul to possess."

The Terrible Light (the left "eye")

"He was the color of blood. A terrible light poured from him like sweat."

The Swirling Darkness (the right "eye")

"A swirling darkness, the red darkness you see when you close your eyes in pain."

And then, Outlining its Face:

"You can find the others if you are brave. They passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints. His firstling bull has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them he will push your people, all of them, to the ends of the earth."

and:

"The Red Bull of King Haggard. So you know of the Bull. Well, he'll not have you."

Finally, the text in back should be pretty clear, but just in case, it's Haggard's description of the Bull, except in the first person:

"I Serve Anyone Who Has No Fear."

Some people I've shown this to see the Bull right away, but some people have thought that the Demon is supposed to be the Red Bull, and don't see what all the images add up to until I point it out to them. Can you see it? I just love the idea of this vast head coalescing out of all these different elements, with the Unicorn a tiny threatened shadow just beneath it. I hope you all enjoy it.

Fantastic news!

I was notified yesterday that I have received the grant I applied for from the City of Chicago to train with Jeff Semmerling and learn how to build the puppets and masks for "The Last Unicorn!" This is a tremendous opportunity for me and a great relief to know that I've got the support I need to make my sketches and ideas a reality. I guess my analysis of the panel discussion of my application that I attended was pretty accurate! I've already been training with Jeff since January, and I've learned a lot, but now I'll be confident in being able to continue my journey.

Also...I finished building the butterfly puppet today. We had some changes to the design from the initial sketch-for one thing, instead of text on the wings I decided to with a sort of threatening eye pattern- but I'm pretty pleased with the result. I'll be showing it to the rest of the company at our next ensemble meeting, and hopefully I can get a photo of it posted soon. In the meantime- in case you haven't checked the Promethean website lately, we've got another show coming up: our production of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. I'm not in it, but I'm helping market and promote it and I'm pretty excited about it- I think it's going to be really good. I actually put together a sort of mini trailer for it that I've posted on youtube- I'll embed it below, and you should see it up on the Promethean website in a bit. Also, some of the our ensemble members in this show will also definitely be in "The Last Unicorn"- so come and scope them out early! Here's the trailer:

A Failure's Spellbook: Cut Scene Comics 3

Here's the latest. As I said before, these comics focus on bits of the novel that we won't have time to incorporate into the play, or will have to approach differently. This comic celebrates the spells Schmendrick casts in the book that we had to cut, or will be able to surprise you by doing differently. Would love to hear what everyone thinks in the comments!

























P.S.- Hi mom. Love you!

A Spider Weeping: Cut Scene Comics 2

The inspiration was really flowing this week- here's another bit/character that I think is pretty cool in the novel that we won't be able to fully show onstage. I always feel like this character kind of gets a raw deal in the novel too. Without further ado:

A Slight Moral Edge: Cut Scene Comics 1

One thing that quickly became clear to me as I was working on the first draft of my "The Last Unicorn" script was that I wasn't going to be able to include every single scene. Some of them had to fall by the wayside. To help remedy that, I'm starting Cut Scene Comics- a few one-page comics, hand drawn by myself, that help fill in the gaps in the story while also promoting the show. Feel free to circulate- I'd love all fans of "The Last Unicorn" to see these. This is the scene from the novel where the Unicorn and Schmendrick are spotted by a blue jay.

Sitting in on your own grant evaluation is awkward.

But incredibly enlightening. Today I took off work because the DCA was reviewing my CAAP grant application in a public meeting session at the Chicago Cultural Center. The grant is for training with master mask maker and puppeteer Jeff Semmerling to improve my skills at making masks and puppets to build the stuff we'll need for "The Last Unicorn." (I blogged about it a bit earlier here.) I've actually started training with Jeff already and I'm learning a lot (I've got a couple of masks built but have to paint them; I'll be sure to upload photos once they're done. These aren't masks for "The Last Unicorn," but I think my next couple of masks will be used in "Unicorn" if they come out good enough.) Everyone's application for this grant is evaluated by a panel of artists and voted on- and their discussion of every application is public! Anyone who wants to can sit in, and if you show up at the right time you'll hear your own application discussed. While I was a bit nervous about that at first (especially in light of the fact that while I was there, I was decidedly the only observer), it wound up being a tremendously helpful process. I learned a lot about what actually gets discussed by the evaluators in the room- here's some general tips:

- Always be as specific as possible in a grant application. Don't just say what you want to accomplish, be very specific about how you'll accomplish it.
-Avoid hyperbole, but be upbeat and positive. Beware the cliche answer that you can all too easily imagine every other grant applicant using.
-Theatre is a moving, breathing medium. If a grant lets you submit a work sample, as a theatre artist you are making a MUCH stronger case for yourself if you submit video instead of photos.
-And above all: if you plan to use a CAAP grant to fund new headshots, know that many, many, MANY other people are applying for exactly the same thing, and that the CAAP grant isn't necessarily geared very well towards funding that kind of purchase. I swear, I was only there a couple of hours and at least half of the applications were for new headshots! Hooray for whatever two people out of the vast pool of identical applications actually wind up getting a grant for that, but it's not a good way to stand out.

After hearing the discussion of my project, I feel a lot more confident about my chances- hearing the discussion helped me gain confidence in my ability to write a grant application well, and speak clearly and confidently about by goals and the steps I'm taking to achieve them. Most of what they had to say about my application seemed to be very positive- I don't know if any of them were being diplomatic because I was in the room, but I got a really good vibe. Maybe they were just relieved that I wasn't asking for funding for new headshots. I also got a few items I should consider for improving future grant applications. We'll see what happens- the discussion is public but their actual votes and rating are private, and I only got to see a very small portion of the total discussion. Still, it looks like I decidedly remain in the running. Keep your fingers crossed for me! And thanks to the DCA for letting its applicants sit in. I wish everyone whose application was evaluated that day had been there; it would have been tremendously instructive.

Inspirational(ly Creepy) Music, part 4: The Harpy

I'm hoping we'll have found a sound designer and composer soon for "The Last Unicorn," but in the mean time I keep thinking my own thoughts. So I'm thinking about the Harpy, and there's two pieces of music that work really good for incidental music along with her scenes- so try these on for size.



The first is from an animated movie- the whole track is good, but I was thinking the first 1:17 of it work well for when the Harpy is first seen.


And then, the second is from a video game, of all places! But I think it works great for when the Harpy is freed and destroys the Midnight Carnival.



Do any of you have music you feel like works great for "The Last Unicorn." Let me know in the comments below. Music from the movie is cheating!