Rebecca Longworth continues to keep us updated on We Players’ ambitious summer production of THE ODYSSEY that happens, literally, in the San Francisco Bay. Got a show coming up you want the world to know about? Let us know!
“Beach Boys”: Rob Woodcock (bass), Nick Fishman (percussion), Teddy Raven (sax), and Ryan Beebe (guitar) during rehearsal for a scene set at Calypso’s island. Photo by Charlie Gurke.
Charlie Gurke, music director and composer for The Odyssey on Angel Island, has assembled a team of eleven musicians to provide live music for the show. Each performance features seven musicians: two trumpets, sax, upright bass, violin, percussion and a guitarist/singer-songwriter. Saxophonist Teddy Raven sat down to interview Charlie during our last rehearsal weekend. They talked about Charlie’s inspiration and ideas behind the music for The Odyssey on Angel Island, and the collaborative nature of the We Players process — that asks the unexpected from both the performers and the audience. Teddy also interviewed Ryan Beebe and Joshua Cooke, who share the role of Phemius, the wandering bard, and who also wrote songs for the production. Teddy edited his recordings into this podcast, on which you can also hear Teddy’s sax:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/30498221/Odyssey%20audio%20blog%20V2.mp3
Teddy Raven is a saxophonist and composer sought after for his creative and diverse musical background. He was recently awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study folk music in Bulgaria, where he will reside from the fall of 2012 to the summer of 2013. www.teddyraven.com
Charlie Gurke is a saxophonist, composer, and arranger who has been an active member of the Bay Area music scene for over 15 years, and has collaborated with film, theatre, dance, and poetry projects both at home and abroad.www.gurkestra.com
For reservations and information about THE ODYSSEY ON ANGEL ISLAND, check out http://www.weplayers.org.
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