The Sixteenth Annual BareBones Halloween Extravaganza
Co-Directed by Lelis Brito & Christopher Allen
October 24, 25, 30, 31, 2009
Enter a world were Julia Childs gives us some handy tips for embalming and the afterlife.
Follow a headless chicken into the belly of a giant wolf to discover stilters descending from trees, fire performers bringing you the larger-than-life Egyptian god of the dead, and your own heart burning, burning, burning.
Featuring a live, 38-piece orchestra performing an original score by Jackie Beckey.
A collaborative musing on how and when we accept death in our lives.
This activity is made possible, in part, by funds provided by the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council from an appropriation by the Minnesota Legislature.
REHEARSAL AND SHOW PHOTOS
(Will be added soon. Check back again!)
CAST & CREW
- Hospitality Coordinator: Waffle
- Artistic Co-Directors: Lelis Brito & Christopher Allen
- Production Manager: Rachel Nelson
- Stage Manager: Emily Anderson
- Site Coordinator: Brent Harring
- Music Director: Jackie Beckey
- Lighting Director: Don Mabley-Allen
- Sound Director: Paul Puleo
- Sound Technician: Scott Watson
- Section Designers: Rah Kojis (Fire), Mark Safford, Soozin Hirschmugl, Tara Fahey, Kristin Abhalter
- Build & Performance Specialists: Amy Taylor, Janaki Ranpura
- Visiting Artists: Adam Cook, Lindsay McCaw, Federica Collina, Erik Bang!!!
- Graphics Designer: JoAnn Blohowiak
- Photographer: Jayme Halbritter
- Videographers: Cully Callagher, Kristi Ternes
- Usher Coordinator: Madeline Gardner
COMMENTS ABOUT Devoured
"My heartfelt congratulations to all involved in this show! It's an amazing event and I'm so impressed at how you pull all the elements together year after year. This year on opening night I scored a killer seat on a hay bale close to the front next to the orchestra and enjoyed watching the musicians as much as the performers. Maren's Julia Child was great, and the chickens were perfectly creepy. I loved the musicians moving in the woods as we walked to the hay bales and the performers' faces are always captivating. I think one of the reasons this show is so successful is that we as an audience get to walk through the performance space making it both magical and accessible. The wolves were amazing and the backwards-moving vultures (genius!) made their movement appropriately unsettling. The tree-moths were beautiful and I lost track of time while watching them unfold. The fire work was impressive (hope that guy's hand is ok) and I enjoyed walking through the glow of the flames. The large bluish face-creature took my breath away, and the projections down at the river were amazing! It's really a treat to be outside during this time of year and smell the leaves and be part of the audience and see the woods lit up. Thank you for all of your work."
- Megan M.
Have a memory you'd like to share about this show? Use the comments box below. If you were involved in this production, but don't see your name and would like it listed, send us a message from our Contact page. Thanks!
If I go to this I would be coming from over an hour away. Do you have any idea how big the audience gets? I’m wondering how early I would need to get there to make sure I had a decent seat. My 10 year old would love it – looks fantastic!
Kristi, thanks for your interest in the BareBones Halloween Extravaganza. We plan on an audience of 1,200 nightly with straw bale seating theoretically for 1,000. Another 100 seem to prefer to sit on the ground and about another 100 prefer to stand or just wind up standing. Seating is limited depending on the size of the crowd. We’ve had spike audiences in the range of 1,300 – 1,500, with hundreds of people on the ground or standing in those cases.
Audience begins arriving at 6pm and in earnest by 630pm. Parking on-site is limited and will fill up. Parking is available in the adjacent neighborhood after that with a walk of a few blocks to get down to the performance area.
FYI: Bedlam Theatre will be vending various “Halloweiners” starting prior to the show, and Sisters’ Camelot will be serving up free vegetarian soup, bread, and cookies for the Audience Reception after the show ends at about 8:45pm.
Scoring a good seat is part of the mystery of this event. The audience will gather for an opening scene in one place, at which they sit on the ground or stand, and be led to straw bale seating for the rest of the show in another place.
Best advice: Dress for winter. Bring blankets. Arrive early. Come early in the production run.
Thanks for the information!
We drove 4 hours from Madison, WI to see the opening night show. It was wonderful. Julia Child/Anubis was funny, the music was stirring, and the Giant Wolf was both ferocious and tender — its puppeteering was especially superb, and it truly seemed alive. We loved the Moths emerging so beautifully from their chrysalises. The Vultures were fantastic too, especially the giant hunched ones. Anubis’ and his fire were majestic! The enormous Spirit was vast, gentle and coolly magnificent.
Hooray for Barebones! Hooray for Twin Cities puppet culture!
Did we witness a heroic act performed by one of the fire carriers? He appeared to burn his hand yet picked up his flaming piece of the giant balances and carried on to assemble that giant important prop.
Ted and Megan,
Yes, due to an individual oversight, one of BareBones’ most experienced and loyal fire performers experienced a significant burn to his hand and wrist which was treated successfully. He sat out the second night but returned for the closing weekend. Indeed, that he finished the performance on Opening Night was an act of will and dedication that most would likely have refused.
We drove 4 hours from Madison, WI to see the opening night show. It was wonderful. Julia Child/Anubis was funny, the music was stirring, and the Giant Wolf was both ferocious and tender — its puppeteering was especially superb, and it truly seemed alive. We loved the Moths emerging so beautifully from their chrysalises. The Vultures were fantastic too, especially the giant hunched ones. Anubis’ and his fire were majestic! The enormous Spirit was vast, gentle and coolly magnificent.
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