pangea's playhouse | recap
Hello friends, art lovers, and playhouse patrons!
I hope that you are all still staying (somewhat) sane and taking at least a small moment of each day to indulge in art and creative activities you love.
COVID-19 has been a tough time for many creatives (including myself). For a lot of us, our careers thrived on people and our communities coming together in a variety of places whether it be concerts, art studios, theaters, or bars. eji experiences, at its very core, encapsulates immersive events in unique locations.
As the pandemic became more and more of a threat to our collective health and safety, we all began to accept that it was going to be a long time before we could together be in those physical places again. What we refused to accept is to allow COVID-19 to diminish our creativity, our artistic spirit, and the strength of our communities.
I knew I had to pivot, and besides, who said immersive events in unique locations couldn't happen virtually?
I am so lucky to have a strong creative community around me, and have been receiving incredible support with my efforts to keep the spirit of unique and immersive events alive on the virtual stage. It’s been tough, but event production resonates with my very being, and a good challenge has always motivated me more than anything else.
I decided to jump straight in to the deep end and start learning the ropes of Zoom and Instagram events in a "trial by fire" nature with weekly programming that includes livestream cocktail workshops every Sunday afternoon with @d.j.frew and and "Wake and Shake" dance parties with @yogadancemagic via Zoom every Saturday morning. It has been thrilling (and really pretty terrified if we are being honest) but absolutely worth it!
Recently, I was approached by the marvelous and creative visionary Elizabeth Alvarez, who came to me with the idea of hosting a virtual theater style event and helped me spearhead a campaign to collaborate with a variety of different artists and creatives to host a new virtual experience that we named "Pangea’s Playhouse". With people longing to attend creative venues and artists longing to share their art, Pangea’s Playhouse set out to curate a new type of space where both artists and art lovers can interact with each other in an exciting and performative way.
The eji team worked hard to confirm the right mix of performers and create an online platform to highlight their stories and sell tickets, with 70% of each ticket going directly to the artist (which is unheard of in the physical event space due to the overhead costs involved with a physical venue!)
What was so wonderful about planning and then hosting Pangea’s Playhouse is that the event had such a positive energy in and around out. The artists were supportive and kind to each other and worked amazingly well with the eji team. The beauty of having such a high pay-out rate for artists was that they put in a lot of energy to reach out to their own communities and get them involved. Overall, we surpassed expectations and sold over 80 tickets for this virtual event!
Like any good performance, we did a technical run through and dress rehearsal, to make sure we were ready for the big night. Through these tests we learned a lot of critical back-end information about how to adjust sound for the persnickety programming of Zoom, and made sure our artists were comfortable to take the stage.
On the night of the performance, my living room looking like a DIY command station, with cameras and lights perched precariously on boxes, with @d.j.frew's full sound system and DJ table set and ready to go for the afterparty.
Like any established theatre, we had arriving guests mingle in the lobby (aka Zoom waiting room) before admitting them to the Playhouse for the event. From there, we took time to make sure everyone was situated and comfortable, with light music playing in the background and a welcome message with sponsor thank yous played on the screen.
At 8:10pm, I welcomed an audience of over 70 screens (approximately 150 audience members) in a formal black gown (because it's fun to dress up!) with a custom virtual background generously provided by the talented portrait photographer Bob Debris (see more of his work here - https://www.bobdebris.com/).
We launched into a night of spectacular performances, ranging from music by Conner Cherland, Walker Kemp, and Davey Frew, to dance by Lena Alvarez, Vanessa Isaac, and Tisha Marina. We even had live painting by Isaac Hernandez and poetry by Rebecca Horrigan.
We did take a short intermission, where the audience was encouraged to turn on their cameras and wave "hello" to their virtual neighbors.
Additionally (and with minimal instruction) the chat box became a thread of positive and supportive comments, with the audience and artists freely communicating with one another throughout the event.
The show ended elegantly with the performers taking a bow in gallery view for a big (unmuted) round of applause!
From there, @d.j.frew took the stage for an upbeat and global afterparty DJ set, with many artists and audience members sticking around to "shake it out" on screen.
Overall, I was so impressed with our talented team and with the immense support that we received for this Premiere Night experience.
For more details around artists and to view a recording of the show itself - click here https://www.ejiexperiences.com/pangeasplayhouse
If you are interested in performing or know someone who might be a good fit, please email the eji team at info@ejiexperiences.com, as we are currently scouting for performers for our next show on May 8th!
Until then, stay safe, stay home, stay and I hope to see you at the Playhouse!