Oh man, we came across an amazing documentary recently: Beauty is Embarrassing, telling the story of artist, Wayne White. As you’ll see, Mr. White is our kind of people.
White spent his life bouncing off the walls of his own creative impulses, as a painter, sculptor, cartoonist, puppeteer, set designer, art director, animator, and illustrator. He made a name for himself in his twenties as the set and puppet designer for Pee Wee’s Playhouse. And while he didn’t really know what he was doing, his humor and creative recklessness led to show that was innovative, influential, and just a lot of fun.
Today, after a career as winding and frenetic as his sets, White’s redefined himself as a fine artist, defiantly injecting humor into a landscape that could really use it.
Put simply, Wayne White is our kind of guy. Driven by his own creative impulses. Fearless in the face of convention. And at all times just trying to celebrate the joy of life.
We’re all just crazy pumped.
Back in the Saddle!
This is what writing a musical looks like
Man oh man. Remember how almost an entire year ago we started this strange and wonderful project with our very first blog post?
I’m excited to say that it’s time for number two!
After batting back many ideas and pushing back even more deadlines, Dan, Paul and I are all committed again to creating the story of Al Dente in a big way.
So far, we’ve taken one pass through the entire story with a general feeling (more than a feeling, at times) of how it’s all gonna go. Now we’re starting from the beginning again and running through the whole thing with more resolution. Whereas the goal last time around was to figure out if there was actually a story to be told (“Wait! Condiments can be villains!! YES!!”), this time around it’s all about:
- how we’re transitioning into each scene
- what exactly needs to happen in each scene
- how we’re transitioning out of each scene
Bullet pointing at it’s finest. The goal is to create a full outline of the entire show, because that’s when the magic happens: writing the script, writing music, thinking about puppets and props, sets, locations, actors… all the juicy stuff.
But not yet. Because we don’t have a story yet.
So cross your fingers and stay tuned… because it’s on this time. Seriously. It’s on.
Let’s get started!
Hello friends and welcome to the official blog of Al Dente: The Musical!
Al Dente is the story of Alec Spaghetti, a regular piece of pasta who answers the call of adventure, reuniting a New York family and redeeming the lives of his edible brethren in the process.
Over the next few months, we’ll turn that idea into a story, turn that story into a musical, and turn that musical into an interactive dinner-theater experience, right here in the LES!
The project is the little idea baby of three roommates living on Allen Street.
We’re fired up like crazy about bringing Al to life, but honestly we’re a little new to culinary puppet theater. So follow our journey through the blog and please feel free to guide us along the way!
Love,
Paul, Dan, & Andy