Redmoon's White House plans become less ghostly
The initial invitation came a little more than a month ago in the form of a phone call to Chicago's Redmoon Central from Washington, D.C., but nothing can be said officially, even now.
That's about all Frank Maugeri, artistic director of Redmoon Theatre, can give away, other than the fact that he is packing up "little chunks of dreams, fantastic riddles and strange machines" and will be driving in the direction of the nation's capital on Thursday, with performances "rumored" for Saturday. Already on site is Redmoon's executive producer Rebecca Hunter. And set to arrive in time for the Saturday event are a band of six Redmoon musicians, three special drummers, four performers and associate artistic director Vanessa Stalling, and Angela Tilges, Redmoon's neighborhood arts program director.
"We were invited to an extremely special location this Halloween to do something hugely remarkable that we believe will represent our artistic community in Chicago," said an unusually cryptic Maugeri. "We're bringing the kind of transformational objects with us that are perfect for audiences of all ages, and are iconic elements for Redmoon. That will include our 'Table Ladies' [performers encased in enormous 'skirts' that serve as movable cafe tables], our giant drum cart and human bubble machines we've dubbed 'Nautical People.' The Skeleton Band [musicians dressed in 'bone suits'] is parading past me as we speak. It will be a classic Redmoon intervention-style performance in which we show up, mingle among the guests and generally alter the atmosphere of the location. It will be a real All Hallow's ritual celebration, Redmoon-style."
The as-yet-unofficial event at the White House comes at a moment of intense activity for Redmoon.
In September, 50,000 people attended 10 performances of Maugeri's show "Once Upon a Time (Or the Secret Language of Birds)" at a major puppetry festival in Charleville, France, with television coverage of the show on France's Channel Three. Just weeks earlier, Redmoon's giant outdoor spectacle "Last of My Species: The Fearless Songs of Laarna Cortaan" played to more than 7,500 people at Belmont Harbor, and another 8,000 people saw a section of that piece, "The Momentary Opera," at 14 locations citywide, with free admission.
Last weekend, many hundreds of people caught four performances of Redmoon's popular "Hunchback," staged at the Rockefeller Chapel on the University of Chicago campus. And Maugeri has dreams (or nightmares, perhaps) of staging his phenomenal "The Cabinet" (a version of the surreal silent film classic "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari") at a local cemetery.
Meanwhile, Stalling is staging this year's new Winter Pageant, running Nov. 20-Dec. 27 at Redmoon Central, 1463 W. Hubbard. And the company is about to embark on its first major collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with a 35-minute shadow puppet work by Maugeri to accompany a performance of the suite from Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake." Performances will be Dec. 17-19 at Symphony Center.
For continual teases and updates about the "rumored" White House performances, stay tuned to Redmoon's blog at http://redmoon.org/blog.