WildClaw

The Great God Pan has completed it's run. For a first production of a new theatre company it was an unqualified success. Thank you to everyone who saw the show and to the many, many folks who helped behind the scenes.


Striking the Pan set. Michaela is on the ladder cleaning blood off the walls.

It has been a smooth venture of creativity, problem-solving, passion, and fun. It's been nice to work on a drama without the drama. Hats off to Charley Sherman for creating an atmosphere to work in that invited collaboration and gave people room to breath and grow.

The Final Four - Pan Performances That Is

What do you mean you haven't seen it?!

Okay, it's now or never. There are four more performances of The Great God Pan at the Athenaeum Theatre.

Don't be one of those folks who asks us if we videotaped the show for everyone who missed it.

We didn't.

"This is a major achievement as a piece of horror theatre...engaging and scary"
-ChicagoCritic.com

"fantastically executed"
-Killer_works.com

"It delivers the guts and gore you crave and you may actually get blood splattered on you"
-The Chicagoist

"spooky fun in the vein of the classic Hammer Films thrillers of the 1950s and '60s"
-Chicago Reader

The First Fear Lives

It has been an exciting 2008 so far. I started with ConceptArt.org's Revelations art orgy in Seattle, did 8 large paintings and a big sculpture for the play, we opened The Great God Pan, in connection with that I interviewed Clive Barker and seem to be starting a biz relationship with Weird Tales magazine. Sue had her baby! We got a visit from Donna. The Devil's Candy Store is ramping up again. And...

I'm back on The First Fear story. I have a beginning, middle and end. I have a cast of characters and I have scenes. I have themes and character arcs. I will soon have sketches and dialog. All the research and all the sketching and thinking and writing came together this weekend.

What did it? Imagining how I would do it as a play in a little blackbox theater with a small cast and limited resources. The blessing and the curse of a comic book is it's limitless potential. You can have millions of characters, endless scenes, thousands of costume characters and it can go on for decades. A two hour, low budget play is quite another story. I've always worked better under restraints (or is that - in restraints?) and thinking this way is just what I needed.

more soon...

My WildClaw Interview with Clive Barker

Tuesday I had the good fortune of interviewing Clive Barker for the WildClaw Theatre website. Always charming and an effortless interview (you just sort of mention a subject and Clive is off and running), Clive was gracious enough to talk to me during a very hectic schedule. He is a creating machine. You can read the interview here.



Clive helped us out with an interview before when Steve Pickering adapted William Gibson's Burning Chrome. He interviewed William Gibson for our Chrome website and the two of them went on for one and a half hours. It was great.

My thanks again to both authors for supporting the arts at all levels. I was a fanboy before I met them and I'm still a fanboy now.

Killer-works and The Great God Pan

"Fantastically executed... It would be impossible to tell the story literally from Machen's text, but Charley Sherman (adaptor/director) does an excellent job of creating a narrative flow that makes sense. Lighting and sound skillfully move you around the stage, help set the tone and punctuate the moments of tension. The acting is also of high caliber and the female leads Lily Mojekwu (as the many faces of evil) and Michaela Petro (as Mary) are particularly captivating."
-Jude Mire, Killer-works(for full review)


Lily Mojekwu in The Great God Pan


Michaela Petro in The Great God Pan

ChicagoCritic.com

Another review is in for The Great God Pan. This one is from Tom Williams of ChicagoCritic.com.

"Recommended

This is a major achievement as a piece of horror theatre...(a) well acted and eerie work (with terrific lighting by Paul Foster with outstanding mood setting sound design by Adam Kozlowski), delivers Machen’s relatively unknown work quite effectively. This production of The Great God Pan is an outstanding evening of horror/mystery theatre. Chicago needs a “horror theatre” and Wildclaw Theatre sure makes an impressive debut in that realm.

Let me state that The Great God Pan aptly explores the nature of evil and the search for evil’s true identity that unfolds with several unique twists. This major work is engaging and scary. The low budget production delivers several well-time moments that make you jump out of your seat. Tom Hickey, Lily Mojekwu and Peter Corey were terrific. Kudos to Charley Sherman for attempting and succeeding with a complex horror classic. I await more."
- Tom Williams

2 for 1 Student Tickets For Pan -Thu & Sun

2 for 1 tickets for students for Thursday and Sunday performances of The Great God Pan. Now you have no excuse not to see horror theater in Chicago. If you get scared during the show, you'll have someone to hold onto.

Red Orchid Theatre's FATBOY

Go see Steve Pickering in FATBOY at Red Orchid Theatre. It's loud, nasty, raucous entertainment, performed with panach and grace in sweaty fat suits. And if that ain't Chicago theater, I don't know what is.

But see The Great God Pan first, damn it.

The Great God Pan Opens!

If you're in Chicago come see us. We opened our stage adaptation of Machen's The Great God Pan and the show is off and running. We've gotten a couple of reviews so far and both are good:

"If this is the WildClaw standard for horror, we'll gladly be horrified again."
-Kris Vire, TimeOut Chicago

"Our take: next time you're in the mood for a spine-tingler, put down the Netflix and give this play a shot. It delivers the guts and gore you crave, and you may actually get blood splattered on you. Score."
-Ali Trachta, The Chicagoist


Tom Hickey, Steve Hersen, and Michaela Petro

Come see us at the Athenaeum Theatre. It is rip-roaring horror in a blackbox theater Chicago-style. All the info you would want is at our WildClaw Theatre website: http://www.wildclawtheatre.com

Hephaestus at Lookingglass Theatre

For my birthday, Julienne got us tickets to see Hephaestus at Lookingglass (check out the promo video). Great show! It has been extended until March 9th so get your tickets if you haven't seen it. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be sitting onstage watching a Cirque Du Soleil show, this is your chance.

Plus, Hera and Aphrodite are as beautiful as their namesakes and they kick-ass.


Lijana Wallenda Hernandez as Hera (Yup, those Flying Wallendas)


Anya Stankus is Aphrodite (Yup, Hula Hoops)

Painting and Sculpting

I have been painting and sculpting this week. Acrylics and plaster. I haven't done that since 1978. And then it was mostly oils. Much fun. Big challenge was to produce these images in the manner requested by the director. Not my style, at all. (The paintings, not the taking direction part.)

I would show you more of these pieces, but they are part of The Great God Pan set and I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises (just yet.)

Thank You For Your Support

WildClaw Theatre: Charley Sherman; Paul Foster; Catie Foster; Anne Adams; Aly Greaves; Brian Amidei; Charlie Athanas; and Aaron Christensen (kneeling)

The shot above was taken at 4AM immediately after our blowout Wicked Winter Carnival Benefit. A tired, but hardworking and grateful crew.

Thank you to everyone who came and had fun, gave us money, performed or just said, "Go kick some horror ass, WildClaw." I would like to thank some of them here. Please support them, too. You won't be disappointed.

The Friends of Arthur Machen Society
We appreciate the tremendous support and encouragement we have gotten from the Arthur Machen Society for this adaptation of The Great God Pan and for providing materials on Arthur Machen for the benefit.

The Bands:
Ingenious Whittler featuring Jeff Christian
The Pat Smillie Band
The Jujubes
The Hormones (Ramones Tribute)

The Performers:
James Anthony Zoccoli
Steve Pickering of Shanghai Low Theatricals
Andy Lawfer, Esteban Cruz, and the Game Show Show Girls of the Game Show Show

The Venue:
Strawdog Theatre of Chicago

The Food:
Chalkboard (Mac and Cheese with smoked gouda...mmm...)
Cy's Steak and Chop House

Silent Auction Donors:
Clive Barker
Kevin Anderson
Dave Dorman
Stuart Gordon
Comix Revolution
Maia Rosenfeld Photography
Improv Olympic, otherwise known as IO

Raffle Prize Donors:
Cinequest
Comix Revolution
Sourcebooks

Publicity:
Denise Dorman of WriteBrain Media

And to the beautiful Maria Bortell and our friends who helped us all night long!!!

For those unable to attend who would like to make a donation, a check or money order can be made out to WildClaw Theatre, 312 N. May #3L, Chicago, Il 60607, or send via PayPal at http://www.wildclawtheatre.com.

Wicked Winter Carnival

Okay, this is the big one I want all of you to attend. If you can't attend, send us a $10 or more donation via PayPal at WildClawTheater.com. I'm not kidding.

This is our BIG benefit for The WildClaw Theatre. It's our version of entrepreneurial "friends and family" bootstrapping in the grand tradition of Chicago theater companies.

The Wicked Winter Carnival will help fund our theater company dedicated to tales of the fantastique. Scary theater with a capital "S". The company was born out of the mind of director Charley Sherman who brought Chicago Clive Barker's "In The Flesh". To quote Clive on that particular production - "This show kicks ass!"

So please come out on Saturday, December 8th to Strawdog Theater at 3829 N. Broadway. If you attend one cultural event this year, this is the one. And if you haven't attended one yet this year, get up off your ass and get some culture.



Then next year come see our first production, The Great God Pan. It is an adaptation of Arthur Machen's seminal horror story that influenced generations of writers.

WildClaw Howling At Four Moon

I hope you were there at WildClaw Theatre's first benefit bash, which took place at The Four Moon Tavern on October 29. Much fun and great prizes greeted the folks who joined the WildClaw crew on Monday night. If you missed it, I insist you join us at our Masked Ball Benefit on Monday, December 10th. Really, I insist.




The Great God Pan director, Charley and casting director, Anne




Aaron and Catie gleefully giving away MAR-velous prizes


Paul took this one guy for everything he had


Intently taking the Horror Quiz


Anne and Charlie attempt to give away MAR-velous prizes


Brian is a shy, shy man


Thank you to everyone who contributed to the benefit and the fun

The Great God Pan WIP 10: I'm Happy

Thank goodness the director, Charley Sherman, speaks his mind. We got to a good place in this poster for the play. Up until now we had several posters, but none of them were quite right for this upcoming production nor the style of the theater company. A change in background, fonts, text placement and we were able to fit everything in and capture the mood of the play.


Here's a much bigger version.

The Great God Pan WIP 9: Director Is Happy

Okay, we are closing in on an image that is close to the intent of the play. I like the feel of it now in relation to the play, because it is more like a dark, Italian, Dario Argento poster at this point and I like that.


See a really big version.

The Great God Pan Poster WIP 9: Another Tack

Well, the director wanted something different than the direction this piece was going, so after some delay at working on the poster (a new company to plan, out of town guests, etc.) I have returned to work it some more.

WildClaw Theater Benefit - Part One

WildClaw Theater Benefit
October 29th - 7PM to 10PM
Four Moon Tavern
1847 W Roscoe Street
Chicago, Illinois

If you're in Chicago, come to the WildClaw Benefit at the Four Moon Tavern on October 29th. Help us raise money to benefit WildClaw Theater. We are dedicated to putting the scare back into live entertainment. And I'm on the board of directors. So go.

A portion of all profits from food and drink sold during this event will be donated to WildClaw Theatre's inaugural production, a world premiere adaptation of one of the most influential horror stories ever written,

Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan",
opening at the Athenaeum Theatre, on February 24th, 2008.

WildClaw Theatre is devoted to bringing stories of horror, fantasy and science fiction to the stage. By concentrating on the world of the fantastique, we will reach out to an audience underserved by the current theatrical landscape, an audience that craves strange journeys of dread, suspense, imagination and terror.

Mark the date on your calendar and come on by. Have some grub, lift a pint and toast the rebirth of terror in the theatre. In the words of The Claw himself, it will be "Marvelous!"

WildClaw is:
Charley Sherman, Charlie Athanas, Anne Adams, Catie Foster, Aaron Christensen, Allison Greaves, Paul Foster, and Brian Amidei.

The Great God Pan WIP 8: Cleanup Stage

Okay, time to cleanup the image some more. I'm happy with the overall piece, although it will help to get away from it for a bit to see if my eyes have just fogged over. After taking out the rough spots, I will incorporate the logo with some hand drawn lettering. Hope it turns out.


You can see it larger.

The Great God Pan WIP 7: Darker Gods

While still not polished, here are versions of the poster taking darker, more iconic tones. They actually look much richer and full of detail . They were made at 300DPI at 12"x17" and have been reduced to 72DPI and 400 pixels wide.

These first two images will seem identical, but there are subtle differences in color, contrast, and detail.




See this one larger.

This one is nice, but I'm not sure about the lack of green in the bottom half of the figure right now. The last two shots are detail from this version.




See this one larger.

The Great God Pan WIP 5

Okay, we've got all the major monster tentacles.

The Great God Pan WIP 4

While great progress is being made, it sure looks like it is turning into a mess. Don't worry, there will be order in this chaos as soon as I can get some sleep. More tomorrow.

The Great God Pan WIP 3

Monster tentacles can be tedious, but oh so much fun!

Great God Pan WIP and a Benefit

I'm making slow, but sure progess on the Great God Pan poster. I need it done quickly though for several reasons, not the least being the WildClaw Benefit at the Four Moon Tavern on October 29th. Help us raise money to benefit WildClaw Theater. They are dedicated to putting the scare back into live entertainment. And I'm on the board of directors. So go.

WildClaw Theater Benefit
October 29th
Four Moon Tavern
1847 W Roscoe Street

New Horror

One of my favorite things to do is create posters for the theater. I am currently working on one for my friend Charley Sherman's WildClaw theater troupe. It is an adaptation of the seminal horror classic, The Great God Pan. Here are some sketches showing some progress towards the final piece.



After reading the script (but before I spoke with the director/adaptor, Charley), I took a stab at an image that would capture the essence of the play. These elements seemed to be a Victorian leading lady with creepy monsters. The sketch is a lady with her face in partial shadow and monsters creeping from beneath her skirt. After showing this to Charley, we discussed the play and realized this image was wrong for many reasons, including possibly giving too much away. Plus, it wasn't a "grabber".



The next thought was much more "Alien" chestburster. More movement and more possibilities with composition. And Charley liked that it read HORROR play much more than the first.



Charley was wondering if we should place some monsters into the scene, as they would be in the actual play.



We wrapped up our two and a half hour discussion confident that I had a handle on several ideas for the poster. One issue was trying to find a POV for the lead character in the poster. Should she be looking straight at the viewer? I gave that a stab here to think about it. I don't always sketch the whole poster, just the part I want to play with.



It wasn't quite working, so I went back to thumbnails of the whole design and settled upon a centered image of the woman wrapped in monsterous tentacles that are reaching skyward. At her feet would be the other monsters in shadowy silhoutte.



I drew a larger version in pieces on tracing paper. This one is about 11" x 23". The proportions are off for the typical 11" x 17" poster, but it gives me the elements to play with. I took the monsters out, because they drew your attention away from the dynamic attention of her reaching up towards the title of the play.

I like this sketch and so does Charley. I think we're on our way.