Van Ghost Opens for Dirty Dozen Brass Band at Bottom Lounge #OriginalPhotos

We've shot Chicago's own Van Ghost a number of times over the years at North Coast, Summer Camp Music Fest and all over Chi-town.  Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band) is a force to reckon with on vocals and trumpet and  trombonist/vocalist Natalie Cressman.   The women in the band truly shine.

They even did a Fitz and The Tantrums cover justice.   It was great to see them open for Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a true treat to catch live in the intimacy of Bottom Lounge.   A guest appearance by The Heard's sax player, Lucas Ellman, made the night even more memorable.  

Their music was the perfect accompaniment to the moody rain, outside of Bottom Lounge.

*Click here to check out some of our past Van Ghost Coverage including live show photos.*

*Click here to check out some of our past original photo features on The Heard.*

Photo Credit:  Bonnie Kenaz-Mara for ChiIL Live Shows.  9/1/2013 Bottom Lounge.  Van Ghost Opens for Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

More on Van Ghost

Michael Harrison Berg of Van Ghost was a musician in high school, but as an adult swapped his onstage pursuits for backstage ones. For over 10 years the Chicagoan has been managing bands and promoting concerts like the North Coast Music Fest and Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Fest rather than making music. But when a band he poured time and money into imploded, he sought solace in songwriting and awoke the musician within.

In mid-July, Van Ghost will release The Domino Effect (Dustimmoff Music), a focused pop-rock album with smart hooks, cocksure classic rock swagger, and refreshingly optimistic lyrics. In addition to singer-songwriter/guitarist / founder Michael Harris Berg, Van Ghost features the talents of decade-plus Trey Anastasio Band vocalist Jennifer Hartswick, who has shared the stage with Herbie Hancock, the Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, among others. The sympathetic interplay between her silk and sandpaper vocals intertwining with Berg’s folksy emotive lead vocals has become a staple of Van Ghosts sound, garnering favorable comparisons to CSNY (Flavorpill).  The band also features the telepathic interplay of guitarist Grant Tye, drummer Greg Marsh, and Klem Hayes. The Chicago Tribune has described Van Ghost as, “an ultra-melodic take on epic ’70s rock — augmenting the group’s smooth vocal harmonies with blissed-out guitar solos.”

The Domino Effect is produced by Justin Niebank, a GRAMMY-award-winning producer who has worked with Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, Blue Traveler, and a veritable who’s who of contemporary Nashville chart toppers.  Niebank’s sterling production aesthetic streamlined Van Ghost’s innate pop sensibilities while preserving its classic rock patina.

Album standouts are the euphorically uplifting title-track “The Domino Effect” and the empowering soulful pop of “Cage.” Van Ghost is currently prepping videos for both songs with Ian Gelfand (director of the TV series “American Pickers”), and ‘Cage’ is currently in the Top 100 at Triple A Radio. The track bursts with Berg’s unflinchingly positive message: Cause the door door door it’s wide wide wide/ it’s open like a long midnight/and lock lock lock is broken like my brain/and there ain’t no bars in front of my face/arms wide open, magical place/let me out of this, let me out of this cage/let me out of this. These uptempo tracks contrast with the shimmering Hartswick-penned ballad “Drowning”’ and the haunting beauty of “White Lies,” a cosmic slice of Pink Floyd-transcendence with teardrop guitar solos.

Van Ghost built an impressive local profile through a tireless work ethic and the broad appeal of their infectious hooks and burly musicianship. They’ve amassed a devoted local following opening for diverse artists like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s, Drive By Truckers, Grace Potter, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, John Oates, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Tim Reynolds.

“I didn’t plan my future,” Berg says of the surprise turn his music business career has taken after those initial private and therapeutic songwriting sessions.  “I found inspiration in writing a song and I took that inspiration and multiplied it. I found I could deal with demons through music.” Berg has found that he is as comfortable operating under the spotlight as he is behind the curtain. With Van Ghost, he sets out to inspire music fans the same way other artists have inspired him – one song at a time.

Van Ghost is:

• Michael Harrison Berg  – vocals, guitars
• Jennifer Hartswick – vocals
• Grant Tye – guitar
• Greg Marsh – drums
• Klem Hayes – bass

Dirty Dozen Brass Band & Van Ghost at Bottom Lounge #OriginalPhotos #NCMF

Dirty Dozen Brass Band:

We've shot North Coast Music Festival every year since its inception. 

This year it was our pleasure to shoot Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a true treat to catch live in the intimacy of Bottom Lounge, as one of the NCMF official aftershows.   

To describe how the Dirty Dozen Brass Band has arrived at its 35th Anniversary, trumpet player Gregory Davis employs a tried-and true New Orleans-centric analogy: “It ends up being like a pot of gumbo – you drop in a little okra, drop in a little shrimp, you drop in some crabs. Before you know it, you’ve mixed in all these different ingredients and you’ve got a beautiful soup. That was our approach to music early on and it still is today.”

Baritone sax player Roger Lewis — who, like Davis, has been with the combo since its inception in 1977 — echoes that sentiment: “It’s a big old musical gumbo, and that probably made the difference, separating us from other brass bands out of New Orleans. It put a different twist on the music. We were not trying to change anything, we were just playing the music we wanted to play and not stay in one particular bag.”

An appetite for musicological adventure, a commitment to honor tradition while not being constrained by it, and a healthy sense of humor have brought the world-traveling Dirty Dozen Brass Band to this remarkable juncture in an already storied career. To celebrate its 35th, the band is releasing Twenty Dozen, the septet’s first studio release in six years. The new album, cut at the Music Shed in New Orleans, reunites the band with producer Scott Billington, who helmed DDBB’s first major-label release, Voodoo, in 1989. It’s a resolutely upbeat effort that seamlessly blends R&B, jazz, funk, Afro-Latino grooves, some Caribbean flavor, and even a Rihanna cover. Twenty Dozen mirrors in flow and feel a vibrant DDBB live set. The disc reaches an exuberant peak with a medley of New Orleans staples, including a particularly high-spirited rendering of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” The final track – or, as Lewis puts it, “the after-party” – is an audience encore favorite, the ribald “Dirty Old Man,” with Lewis doing an outstanding job in the title role. Twenty Dozen, says Lewis, is “classic Dirty Dozen. It’s got something for your mind, body, and soul. We’re gonna get you one way or another.”

Twenty Dozen is also very much a group effort, with each of the members – Davis, Lewis, tenor-sax man Kevin Harris, trumpeter Efrem Towns, sousaphonist Kirk Joseph, drummer Terence Higgins and guitarist Jake Eckert — bringing original compositions or arrangement ideas to the sessions. It kicks off with the light-hearted funk of “Tomorrow,” segues into the jazzier “Jook” then heads into the party-hearty island groove of “Best Of All.” Billington suggested DDBB cover Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music,” and the group’s reinterpretation is as ingenious as it is fun. The tough, seventies-style soul of “We Gon’ Roll” supplies the most serious moment, as composer Higgins pays tribute to the indomitable nature of his fellow NOLA residents. As Davis – whose own “Git Up” is a smoking jazz workout — explains, “Just about everybody had a song or something they wanted to contribute. As we started to record the songs and listen to them, each song seemed to fit not just with the character of the individuals who wrote them but the character of the band. We are the Dirty Dozen and it’s the overall character of the band that makes the live show work –and that makes this record work. Had we planned to make a certain kind of record, it might not have come out like that. In letting the guys’ voices speak and come out on their own, the album turned out this way.”

The traditional numbers at the tail end of Twenty Dozen serve as a reminder of how the group, since the beginning, has tried to reinvigorate the standards and build a bridge between old and new. Says Davis, “Over the last few years we have been doing a medley that has included ‘Paul Barbarin’s Second Line,’ ‘E Flat Blues’ and ‘Saints.’ It had been going over so well that we thought maybe we needed to capture the spirit of what we’re doing with this medley and put it on a record. ‘Saints’ is one of the most requested songs we do and you have to face the challenge of playing that song so many times. But once you get that started and see the smiles on people’s faces and they start dancing to it, it makes you want to do it a little bit more. In the studio, I was envisioning different scenes from our audiences. I’d remember the reaction I would get attempting to get people up to dance, to do certain steps and follow me. It made it so much fun to remember the faces, the smiles, the body movements of the people. To get them up, to get them sweating — it’s always a pleasure.” Listening to this new “Saints” rendition on disc has the same effect: it’s impossible to remain in your easy chair. Davis considers this and, laughing, imagines a new opportunity for the band: ““Maybe we need to sell this as a work-out CD.”

While traditional numbers infused with a DDBB flavor have always been crowd-pleasing staples of the group’s repertoire, it’s the Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s willingness to look beyond the New Orleans songbook and find connections amongst a wider range of music that has endeared them to critics, fellow musicians and a multi-generational, global audience. They’ve been embraced enthusiastically by the jam-band followers at Bonnaroo as well as by the devotees who flock to the yearly New Orleans Jazz Fest. Acts like the Black Crowes and Widespread Panic have taken them on tour and artists from Dizzy Gillespie to Elvis Costello to Norah Jones have joined them in the studio. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, DDBB participated in the From the Big Apple to the Big Easy benefit at New York City’s Madison Square Garden and offered its own response to the aftermath of the disaster with an acclaimed 2006 song-by-song remake of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. Their music has been featured on the HBO series, Treme, named after the New Orleans mid-city neighborhood where the band had formed, and the group performed on screen with Galactic and rapper Juvenile in Season 2. New Orleans remains a wellspring of musical inspiration and DDBB is a living, breathing embodiment of the continued vitality and evolution of the sounds of the city.

But, Davis cautions, “We’ve never been the norm, even though we started out as a traditional New Orleans brass band. In the beginning we weren’t getting work of any kind, so we thought it was okay to explore other music. That allowed us as individuals to bring ourselves into the rehearsals and that’s where we started to experiment. At the time the band started, I was a student at Loyola University and we were all being introduced to other music – to jazz from the twentieth century and so on. It’s impossible to think that you can be exposed to the harmonies that Duke Ellington was making, the rhythms coming from Dizzy Gillespie or the funk being done by James Brown, and then ignore it when you’re playing New Orleans music. New Orleans music is all of that. If we had chosen to just put in the music presented to us then as traditional, it would have stunted our growth. Being more than what we heard is what the band was about. "

DDBB enjoyed the opportunity to look back with the 2011 reissue of it galvanizing 1984 debut, My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now, but the hard-working band has little time for nostalgia. For mainstays like Davis and Lewis, 35 years have passed in the blink of an eye, as Lewis, who also sits in with several other NOLA combos, acknowledges: “Check it out – I’m 70 years old, I’m the oldest dude in the band – I’m the oldest dude in everybody’s band, now that I think about it. I don’t know where the time went. I guess it’s just the music, man, you don’t be thinking about all that. I’ve been in it 35 straight years. The reason why the band stayed together for so long, despite all we’ve gone through, it’s the right chemistry. We’re trying to make it do what it do. If we have this conversation when I’m 80, we’ll still be trying to make it do what it do.”

“As we continue to do live shows,” Davis concludes, “the challenge is still going to be, how am I going to entertain these people that are in front of me tonight? You have to make that happen at the moment, and that’s what we do best.”

– Michael Hill

Photo Credit:  Bonnie Kenaz-Mara for ChiIL Live Shows.

Members of Van Ghost & Dirty Dozen Brass Band jam together at Bottom Lounge, Chicago

Check out more of our favorite original shots from that night below:

ACT OUT OPENING: World Premier Muzical The Dead Prince by The Strange Tree Group and DCASE

The Strange Tree Group, in association with

the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events,

 Presents the World Premiere Muzical

THE DEAD PRINCE

Book, Music & Lyrics by Emily Schwartz

Directed by Paul Holmquist

November 17 – December 22, 2013

The Strange Tree Group, in association with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, is pleased to kick off its 2013-14 Season with the world premiere of THE DEAD PRINCE, an original, rambunctious, fairly-family-friendly, fairy tale muzikal, with book, music and lyrics by Jeff Award-winning playwright Emily Schwartz and directed by Lifeline ensemble member Paul Holmquist.  THE DEAD PRINCE plays November 17 – December 22, 2013 at The DCASE Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St. in Chicago.  Tickets are available at www.strangetree.org.  

THE DEAD PRINCE features: Cory Aiello, Elizabeth Bagby, Dan Behrendt, Scott Cupper, Michael Thomas Downey, Kate Nawrocki, Stuart Ritter, Amber Vaughn Robinson, Sara Scanlon, Zachary Sigelko, Ann Sonneville, Jen Starewich and Thomas Zeitner.

Epic, goofy, comedic and romantic, THE DEAD PRINCE follows the story of a put-upon princess who is told by every magic mirror in the land that her true love has died and the two were destined never to meet: for he was dead and she alive! We join the play on the day she discovers it is possible to sneak across the void and steal him back; but does pulling someone from the brink do more damage than you think? A musical comedy full of corpses, bat attacks, horrible misunderstandings and quests... glorious quests.

In the tradition of the smash hits Mr. Spacky and The Mysterious Elephant, THE DEAD PRINCE showcases Strange Tree's patented mash-up of literary styles, which playfully bend the rules of normal theatrical narrative while drawing on the deep (and deeply eccentric) musical talents of the Strange Tree ensemble.  Lively, inventive, and completely original, for the past nine years Chicago’s Strange Tree Group has playfully toyed with the entire notion of storytelling, featuring a hand-made “twigs and twine” aesthetic replete with bright bursts of magical realism in highly detailed, audience-interactive environments. 

The production team for THE DEAD PRINCE includes: Joe Shermoly (scenic design), Delia Baseman (costume design), Rebecca Jeffords (lighting design), Michael Huey (sound design), Sarah Luse (production manager) and Becky Bishop (stage manager).

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title:  THE DEAD PRINCE

Book, Music and Lyrics: Emily Schwartz

Director:  Paul Holmquist

Cast: Cory Aiello (Diggs), Elizabeth Bagby (The Captain), Dan Behrendt (Leopold the Thief), Scott Cupper (The Dead Prince), Michael Thomas Downey (Maldorf the Mirror), Kate Nawrocki (Tasha the Farmer’s Daughter), Stuart Ritter (Wilkes), Amber Vaughn Robinson (Oh, Death), Sara Scanlon (Sallie), Zachary Sigelko (Will the Minstrel), Ann Sonneville (Sara the Princess), Jen Starewich (Pea) and Thomas Zeitner (Dennis the Accordion Player).

Location:  The DCASE Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St. in Chicago

Dates:  Previews: Sunday, November 17 at 2 pm, Monday, November 18 at 7:30 pm, Wednesday, November 20 at 7:30 pm and Thursday, November 21 at 7:30 pm

Press performance: Friday, November 22 at 7:30 pm

Regular run: Saturday, November 23 – Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013

Curtain Times: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2. Please note: there will not be a performance on Thursday, November 28 (Thanksgiving).

Tickets: Previews: Pay-what-you-can. Regular run: $15. Tickets are available at www.strangetree.org.

About the Playwright:

Emily Schwartz is the Artistic Director of, and Resident Playwright for, The Strange Tree Group. For the Trees she has penned the Jeff Award-winning The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen, as well as the critically acclaimed The Dastardly Ficus and Other Comedic Tales of Woe and Misery, Mr. Spacky, The Man Who Was Continuously Followed by Wolves and The Mysterious Elephant, among many others. Emily is also a Resident Playwright of Chicago Dramatists, an Artistic Associate of Collaboraction and one of New City's Top 50 people who really perform in Chicago 2012.

About the Director

As a director, Paul S. Holmquist’s work has mainly been with Lifeline Theatre, where he has been a member of the Ensemble since 2006. Lifeline MainStage productions include The Island of Dr. Moreau (winner of five Non-Equity Jeff Awards including Best Production-Play), Busman's Honeymoon, Neverwhere, The Moonstone and The Count of Monte Cristo. For Lifeline's KidSeries, Paul directed Rikki Tikki Tavi and Other Just So Stories, Flight of the Dodo, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed and The Mystery of the Pirate Ghost. Other area directing credits include The Constant Wife and The Robber Bridegroom (Non-Equity Jeff Award Nomination: Director-Musical) with Griffin Theatre, Under Milk Wood for Caffeine Theatre, and the Chicago premiere of Jon Fosse's Winter for Akvavit Theatre. Paul holds a BFA in Acting from the Theatre School at DePaul University and a Graduate Laban Certificate in Movement Analysis from Columbia College Chicago, where he teaches and works.

About The Strange Tree Group:
A collective of multifaceted individuals dedicated to creating intricate, intimate theatrical experiences that extend beyond the boundaries of a traditional stage. We produce works that inspire creativity not only in our actors but also in our audience. We Trees embrace the theatricality inherent in live performance and are committed to producing pieces that celebrate the strange and the magical; the dangerous and the fantastical; and the surprisingly usual nature of unusual behavior. The world is full of adventure...let us embark on this one together! For more information, please visit www.strangetree.org.

Chicago Cultural Center Presents is an ongoing performing arts series that showcases both emerging and established music, theater, dance and multi-disciplinary artists at the Chicago Cultural Center and other venues. Dedicated to capacity building in the arts, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events hires the artists and provides performance space as well as technical and marketing support.

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION’S SHREK THE MUSICAL BRINGS OGRE-SIZED HEART AND SOUL TO HELP SAVE SCHOOL ARTS PROGRAMS

DreamWorks Animation and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Team Up with the National Association for Music Education to Award Five Arts Grants to High Schools Nationwide DreamWorks Animation and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced today a $50,000 donation to the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), a non-profit organization whose mission is to support school music and arts programs. In celebration of the soon to be released Blu-ray and DVD of the Tony Award® winning production of Shrek the Musical, the donation will be used to create five $10,000 grants to help save music and arts programs in schools. Schools are invited to enter starting today to receive a grant for their school music program at www.ShrekDay.com. All entries must be received by October 31, 2013 and following a random drawing, five schools will be announced as winners on November 4, 2013. “Music is an essential part of every student’s educational experience; it teaches cooperation, collaboration, creativity, and communication. It is important to support school music programs so children can enjoy the lifelong benefits of music study,” said Michael A. Butera, executive director, National Association for Music Education and Give a Note Foundation. “Shrek the Musical tells a story of love, friendship and finding your true self. The fact that the story is enhanced by music demonstrates the true power of musical expression. We’re very grateful to DreamWorks Animation and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment for their support and generosity.” “We are proud that our live theater experience can give back to the educational community through this grant program,” said Bill Damaschke, Chief Creative Officer at DreamWorks Animation who also served as the producer of the Broadway show. “Full of high energy and fun, Shrek The Musical is a great introduction for kids to experience the magic of live theatre. The Shrek franchise continues to entertain audiences in a number of different ways.” For more information, including official rules, visit www.ShrekDay.com. SHREK THE MUSICAL arrives on Blu-ray and DVD October 15, 2013. About DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation creates high-quality entertainment, including CG animated feature films, television specials and series and live entertainment properties, meant for audiences around the world. The Company has world-class creative talent, a strong and experienced management team and advanced filmmaking technology and techniques. DreamWorks Animation has been named one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by FORTUNE® Magazine for five consecutive years. In 2013, DreamWorks Animation ranks #12 on the list. All of DreamWorks Animation’s feature films are produced in 3D. The Company has theatrically released a total of 27 animated feature films, including the franchise properties of Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Puss In Boots, and The Croods. About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globally for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce throughout the world. About The National Association for Music Education National Association for Music Education, among the world’s largest arts education organizations, is the only association that addresses all aspects of music education.  NAfME advocates at the local, state, and national levels; provides resources for teachers, parents, and administrators; hosts professional development events; and offers a variety of opportunities for students and teachers.  The Association orchestrates success for millions of students nationwide and has supported music educators at all teaching levels for more than a century.  With more than 70,000 members, the organization is the voice of music education in the United States. In 2011, NAfME established the Give a Note Foundation to bring together business leaders and everyone who cares about music education to work to establish and grow music education programs for underserved students across the United States.

Shrek The Musical Deluxe Edition Blu-ray™ and DVD out now!

Disclosure:  Thanks to Dreamworks and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment for providing us with a review copy.  All opinions are our own.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:

Here at ChiIL Mama, we adore Shrek.   The great green ogre and his wife are the stars of a series of fairy tales that finally don't feature a skinny, blond, narcoleptic princess awaiting rescue.   Princess Fiona kicks booty, and is a fabulous role model.    

If you've never checked out the original book by William Steig, we highly recommend it.  The book is even quirkier and cooler than the animated movies (which we also love), and we completely dig the Broadway musical adaptation!   

Now the equation goes one step further with a Blu-Ray/DVD movie... of the play... of the book...

This one's a keeper!   Now out on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital HD from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.  

Steig is an excellent children's author and illustrator and this is the perfect candidate for playing the "same/different game".  We love to check out the original books when we go see book based movies and theatre and then compare and contrast the different versions of the tale with the "same/different game".

Last night Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, special guests and Broadway stars from Shrek The Musical walked the green carpet in NYC at The Hudson Bond for the Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy launch event.  

In attendance were Kelly Rutherford (Gossip Girl) and the stars of Shrek The Musical, including Sutton Foster (Fiona), Christopher Sieber (Lord Farquaad), John Tartaglia (Pinocchio), Daniel Breaker (Donkey), Marissa O'Donnell (Teen Fiona), Leah Greenhaus (Young Fiona, Flower Girl) and many others!

Featuring a fantastic score of 17 all-new songs, Shrek The Musical was filmed on stage to capture the magic of a Broadway performance and stars an amazing celebrated cast. The film was shot live on Broadway with 10 cameras and directed by Michael Warren. Now you can bring the magic of Broadway to your home and get the best seat in the house with Deluxe Edition Blu-ray™ and DVD out now!

Here at ChiIL Mama, we had a chance to give away 4 packs of tickets for our readers and review Shrek the Musical by the Broadway Touring Company and then again by Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, earlier this year.  Shrek the Musical is a pure joy to experience and fun for all ages.  Now you can take it home with you to enjoy over and over at your convenience!

Click here to check out our past Shrek the Musical coverage.

6 Steps To Bring The Magic Of Broadway To Your Own Living Room 

Experience The Magic Of Shrek The Musical On Blu-ray and DVD, Available Now! 

With the Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD release of Shrek The Musical releasing this week, fairy-tale fans and musical theatergoers alike can now experience the Grammy-nominated stage production in the comfort of one’s own home! Featuring a fantastic score of 17 brand new songs, Shrek The Musical was filmed on stage to capture the magic of a Broadway performance and features an all-star cast.

Here are 6 simple steps to emulate the magic of Broadway in your own living room:

Step One - Sight

No digital interpretation of the stage would be complete without a state-of-the-art projector that can produce an image of up to 150 inches. If a projector is too costly, a 40 inch television or larger will suffice to give the home audience the optimum visual experience.

Step Two – Sound

No ultimate living room entertainment set-up would be complete without a crisp surround sound system. With the ear being stimulated from 4 angles, the illusion of being immersed in a theatre can be achieved.

Step Three – Tickets Please

Why not design your own tickets to your show? Guests will have to show their tickets before entering the living room for example. German Shepherds dressed in tuxedos make excellent ushers too.

Step Four - Wow it’s Green in Here

With a simple purchase of green crepe paper attached to a range of living room light sources, a green filtered glow will engulf the room to create a wonderfully Shrek-like ambience.

Step Five - ‘Curtain Call Ladies and Gentlemen!’

The anticipation of waiting for the famous theatrical curtains to trickle away is no doubt one of the fundamental experiences of going to the theatre. With a curtain rail, fabric and some sticky tape, your living room will mirror the Gershwin’s famous curtain call in no time.

Step Five: Intermission:

Why not engage in a 15-minute interval? Prepare a refreshing beverage for the adults and load up on the ice cream for the kids. Don’t forget those little wooden spoons for the upmost authenticity.

Step Six: Applause:

Don’t forget to clap along with the audience when something particularly amusing or impressive arises on screen. Booing and hissing at the respective villains may also prove effective. Please note, please do not throw your shows or any object at the screen for fear of damaging your precious TV set.  Although all these tips may make you believe that you are in the theater, it’s not real remember.

We are sure you’ll love watching your favorite animated characters come to life like magic, and now you’re ready to experience it at home! Pick up the Blu-ray for your family to enjoy today!

 

Get To Know The Shrek Bunch

The Cast Of The Animated Franchise Comes To Life On Stage and Blu-ray, This Week!

The loved and laughable DreamWorks animation Shrek is brought to life in Shrek The Musical and enjoyed by fans and families of the Broadway stage. Now you can bring the excitement to your living room when you pick up the musical on Blu-ray and DVD. What better way to celebrate the release than a brief introduction to the stage cast of your favorite animated movie. Read down to find out who among them was a Bunhead, a Julliard graduate, and will be starring in a Shakespeare Classic this season.  Meet the Shrek bunch!

Bryan D’arcy James – Bryan plays the role of our beloved ogre Shrek. While he’s sure to win you over in his green role he’s definitely not new to the stage. Mr. Darcy will be star opposite Ethan Hawke in the Lincoln Center Theatre production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The talented artist is also notable on the screen too, most recently for his role as Frank Houston on NBC’s Broadway themed drama ‘Smash’.  You’re probably wondering if he sings too, and he does, his solo debut album is From Christmas Eve to Christmas Morn.

Sutton Foster - Princess Fiona is brought to life by the beautiful Sutton Foster. The multi talented artist (actor, singer, and dancer) is best known for her role in the fan favorite ABC Family series ‘Bunheads’, for which she earned a Critic’s Choice Television Awards nomination. Using her beautiful voice, Sutton has performed at venues across the country performing in concerts such as Funny Girl, They’re playing out songs, Chess, and many more.  Like her fellow cast mate, she also works on solo album projects, releasing two albums, Wish and An Evening with Sutton Foster – Live at the Café Carlye.

Christopher Sieber - Every story needs a villain and none is more villainous than Lord Farquaad, played by Christopher Sieber.  His performance as the miniature maniacal royal is sure to make your living room erupt with laughter and boo’s. Chris’ talent has also been enjoyed in various Broadway productions, such as Pipin, Spamalot, Beauty and The Beast, Into the Woods, and much more. He most recently debut his solo concert  “Minnesota Boy Does Well: Tales from Back and Center Stage.”  Fans of the Olsen twins may also remember him from the ABC comedy Two Of A Kind, in which he played the girls’ father.

Daniel Breaker- The character enjoyed equally by parents and their kids is Shrek’s smart tongued sidekick, Donkey.  As the liveliest character of the musical, Daniel Breaker brings sass, smarts, and laughter to the stage.  The Julliard Scholl Graduate has starred in several Tony and award winning productions such as Passing Strange, Cymbeline, and more. Off screen he has appeared in top titles such as Limitless opposite Robert DeNiro and Bradley Cooper, the Spike Lee-directed project entitled Redhook Summer and Passing Strange.  

John Tartaglia - What do Pinocchio, The Magic Mirror, Dragon Puppeteer all have in common? They are all John Tartaglia. The talented Tartaglia is best known for producing, creating, and starring in the 8-time Emmy nominated children’s show “Johnny and the Sprites”. Additionally, he received a Tony Award Nomination for his role in the Tony-Award winning musical Avenue Q, in which he originated the roles of Princeton and Rod. Most exciting of all his credits may be his 12-year stint on Sesame Street, making him one of the youngest puppeteers to ever perform on the historic show.

We are sure you’ll love watching your favorite animated characters come to life like magic, and now you know the people that are behind that magic! Pick up the Blu-ray for your family to enjoy today!

Disclosure:  Thanks to Dreamworks and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.   for providing us with a review copy.  All opinions are our own.