It’s a Valentine’s Day Special from Stagefright!

Unfortunately, due to clashing schedules and lack of preparation time, the IIT gig will not work out right now, but we have some other good news! Stagefright will be performing a Valentine’s Day supper theatre show at Sparky’s Diner in Egmore. You can look forward to a few short romantic comedies, followed by a lovely dinner at Sparky’s! And no, it’s not only for couples, but for anyone who’d like to spend an evening being entertained. The show will likely be on Sunday, February 14, 2010, and you can see some of Chennai’s best and brightest on stage.

And to all those who feel that supper theatre events are expensive (they’re usually in the Rs. 500 – 750 range), think about this: if you go for a play you end up spending between Rs. 100 & 200, and afterwards, you end up going out for dinner anyway!! So with a supper theatre event, you kinda get two for the price of one!

More details will follow. Including news about our next few shows – for those of you interested in music, this is also the site where you can get information about Fish Food, the acoustic band that comprises Freddy Koikaran, Alok Jesudasen, Jitesh Dharmaraj, Ritesh Dharmaraj (yes, they’re brothers) and Saroop Oommen (on and off). We’re looking at a few gigs in the coming months, so if you like acoustic rock, then Fish Food is your band!!

Till next time,

Cheers!

Fred (Creative Director)

Fred

Mission Accomplished!

Well, it’s about a week later, and it’s taken that much time for the dust to settle after the phenomenally well-received performances of ‘Chicago’ at the Museum Theatre in Egmore. We performed on Saturday, October 17 – Diwali, at that – and although we were a little unsure of how much of a crowd we would get, the turnout was pretty good.

The photojournalists! (photo by Emil George Varghese)

Sunday’s show was even better in terms of turnout, but of course, that was expected. The bottom line is that both performances were a vast improvement on the previous attempt – which, I’ll be the first to admit, fell short of expectations – mainly because we didn’t get a chance to tech.

But hey, who cares, right? Because in the end, we made it WORK!! We had a fabulously talented cast and a hard-working, kickass crew to support them. And hey, don’t let anybody fool you into thinking otherwise; it’s pure and simple teamwork that makes ANY show happen.

Renu Abraham as the scintillating and sexy showgirl, Velma Kelly (photo by Emil George Varghese)

Having started work on this production back in May of this year, we can certainly say that it’s been a rollicking ride!! There were numerous changes, in terms of set design, cast members, overall structure, venue, and the dates themselves, but in the end, the cast and crew “stroked together like the Princeton crew” to pull off quite a show.

What’s next??? Hmmm… who knows? Maybe a book about the trials and tribulations of trying to get a show like this one off the ground! About the ups and downs, the good and the bad, the moments of pride and those of shame – it’s bound to be a best-seller!! LOL!!

Ashwath Nair & Sandeep John, who each played the role of lawyer Billy Flynn, while the other played the role of the DA Martin Harrison. And yes, their makeup IS a bit strong. Don't worry; it's only for the stage. At least, I THINK it is. (photo by Emil George Varghese)

So after ‘Chicago’, what’s next? Well, whatever it is, you can be sure that it will be a show that’s not only entertaining, but unique as well. Because that’s the unofficial Stagefright code: we don’t just put together shows that we know will get people to turn up; we do shows that are challenging as well.

So if you’re looking to challenge your creative skills, either onstage or backstage, look no further than Stagefright! Till the next post!

Fred (Creative Director, Stagefright)

The Cell Block Tango in action! (photo by Emil George Varghese)

Celebrate Diwali differently this year with Stagefright Productions!

Stagefright brings you the stage version of the movie ‘Chicago – The Musical’ made famous by Richard Gere, Renee Zellweger, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Come and have a dazzling Diwali with us at the Museum Theatre on Oct. 17th and 18th at 7:30 pm!

Click on the link below this picture to book tickets NOW!

Click here to Book tickets for Chicago

And the work begins again…..

After premiering the musical ‘Chicago’ to the city of Chennai on August 8, 2009, Stagefright is working towards another two performances in about 40 days’ time.

Photograph by Emil George Varghese

The next production will be at the Museum Theatre on October 17 & 18, at 7:30 pm. Staging such a large show (cast and set-wise) clearly posed some challenges, and so we’ll be working towards tightening up some issues and making it even better. The first show was an awesome spectacle – look out for pix in my next post! – so you can be sure this one will be even better!!

Ticket details will be available soon!

Fred, Creative Director, Stagefright

The Musical ‘Chicago’ is Finally Here!!

Stagefright brings to you two more shows of the musical ‘Chicago’! The shows will be at Museum Theatre on Oct 3rd and 4th at 7:30pm.

Stagefright Productions brings to you the musical ‘Chicago’!

We will be performing two shows. Our first show will be performed as part of the MetroPlus Theatre Festival on 8th August 2009 at Sir. M.V.R Concert Hall (Lady Andal School premises), on Harrington, Chetpet.

The ‘Chicago’ team has been rehearsing for over a month. Here is a sneak peek!

Stagefright Goes A-Paintballin’!!!

The Stagefright team took part in a corporate paintball tournament last weekend at Pondy, and while we didn’t make it past our first match, we DID have loads of fun, courtesy of Zest Big Beach Resort.

The hosts covered everything from travel to stay to accommodation to the tournament costs itself, and the team enjoyed two days of relaxation and fun at the resort.

After the tournament itself (remember, we were eliminated after the first round itself) we spent the day chilling in the pool and making use of the various facilities at the resort. In the evening, the hosts arranged for a party on the beach, with all the beer we could manage to drink available.

As the tournament was on a Saturday, we ended up spending Sunday chilling out as well, and left by 1 pm back for Chennai. It was just 2 days, but it seemed like a lot more, and I’ll tell ya – with all the expenses covered, it certainly pays to be part of a team that gets invited to events like these!!!

Fred (Creative Director, Stagefright Productions)

Audition Pix!

Wokie dokie! As promised, I have uploaded pix from the auditions on my Flickr page. Just click the link towards the right side and check out all the action that happened at Vidya Sagar last weekend. But right now, here are some sneak peeks!!

Giving everyone a heads-up...

Movement exercises

More movement!

One of the teams in action....

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star....

Fred (Creative Director, Stagefright Productions)

Updates galore….

I’ve been making minor changes to the blog details here and there, and I’m also going to be uploading pix from our auditions very soon, so stay tuned for that!!!

Fred (Creative Director, Stagefright Productions)

Tell me what’s-a-happening??

We had a superb second round of auditions and names are being finalized for our next show. And what’s that, you ask? Well, as always, I’m gonna be a bit cagey, but I have high hopes that we’ll get the support we’re looking for so that we can get this next show off the ground.

In the meantime, a big, warm, and fuzzy welcome to Samyuktha Anbunathan, who has consented to work as our stage manager for our upcoming show. She’s even more anal than I am (if THAT’S possible) and can whip up an Excel sheet faster than you can, “Who was that masked woman?” Bottom line is, she’s got the job of top dog – a job that nobody in their right mind would want to have – but at Stagefright, being in your right mind is as obscure as being in your left mind – okay never mind, now I’m just rambling. The point is, she’s on board and we are verrrr happy to have her. On board, that is.

Samyuktha, just after creating a Excel template that derives the correlation between the cycles of the moon and how many calories there are in a jelly doughnut.

Fred (Creative Director, Stagefright Productions)

Auditions on Sunday!

We had a great day of auditions today, and there’s one more day to go! Drop by with your CD of music to dance or sing to, and be ready to show us your acting skills! We had a great turnout today and lots of great talent as well, so we’re looking forward to Sunday too.

And to top it all off, there’s been some fantastic progress regarding our next production, so make sure you’re part of it all!!