3 posts tagged “festival”

Last weekend I was tucked away in the beauty of the English countryside, near Cambridge, to debut Hai Media Group's all-female production of The Wind in the Willows at the Secret Garden Party.

Our show, a re-make of the childhood favourite by Kenneth Grahame, was my own interpretation of how the elements of the story might play out in a quirky festival environment. I played Toad of Toad Hall, joined by a cast of talented women portraying Badger, Ratty, Mole and Weasel.

Without my co-horts I couldn't have pulled off such an entertaining production and I'm grateful that the following women joined me in the adventure, including sticking around to enjoy the delights of the four-day festival:

Lucy Lowe as Ratty

Lucy is a recent graduate of performing arts and her training was demonstrated in playing the role of Ratty. Her boyfriend Matt Price, a comedian, also joined us in hosting the evening as MC. Thanks Lucy!

Ali Rawlings as Weasel

Ali (aka Punk Rock Dolly) has been a key strength in the music industry for nearly two decades now, working first for a number of record labels and then in radio as a show producer for Kiss FM. In the last few years her focus has been in Artist Management, with a focus in the European country rock genre. She kindly accepted my casting for her as lead Weasel, helping us round-out the primary cast with strong female personalities and performers. This was the first time Ali performed on stage, and she took on the role with enthusiasm and a lot of courage, transforming herself into a terrific and funny Weasel in our creative production. Thanks Ali!

Cheyne Pride as Mole Cheyne played the role of Mole and an adorable Mole she made! 

Cheyne is a gifted singer and songwriter by trade who sings with both National Debt and her band The Wildcat Tamers. Cheyne's also a professional Cheerleading coach, who trains children of all ages in the fine art of Cheer. Her dance troupe Cheer-A-Go-Go performs at music and club nights throughout London and Europe. Thanks Cheyne!

Mary Epworth as Badger

Mary is a singer and songwriter who played the role of Badger, giving this character wise words of wisdom. Mary is the lead artist in her Jubliee Band, and you can watch her perform in this beautiful music video that was produced earlier this year:

Thanks Mary!

Dancer Amanda Mae Steele provided the grand finale dance at the Toad Hall celebration. We also had a few supporting rabbits and weasels to join us in the performance (Will Twynham, Andy and Sadie Spector) and following the show we invited the audience to join us at a banquet table and feast on delicious food at our make-believe Toad Hall. Thanks Weasels and Rabbits!

 

Make Your Own Props: It's Amazing What Can Be Done With Cardboard and Poster Paint

Toad in his motorcar

Lisa Devaney as Toad

As Toad, I had a blast making people laugh as I ran around in a little motorcar that John & I constructed of cardboard, along with a small Jail and a small boat.

Feedback has been terrific from the event organizers and it was a terrific learning experience. Much gratitude goes to Kate Risker aka Miss Risk and Simon Harris, from the Hand of Glory record label, for inviting me to create this performance.

The Wind in the Willows Cast and Crew

Here's ten things I loved about the Secret Garden Party:

1) Brands were nowhere to be seen, and if they were there, any were in attendance, they were virtually invisible to the human eye. The brand-less festival let a few hundred artists emerge for attention, and allowed the mass of quirky creative ideas shine through. Instead of tribute banners to lager, you’d find Action Camps inviting guests to make their own superhero costume, listen to an experimental musician or watch a performance.

3) Skanking to the brassy funky soulful beats of The Fontanas, and having a fireside chat with lead singer Gavin Skeggs and finding out that he is also in a band called The Tarantinos , inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s films.

4) Getting a huge kick out of the performance antics and musical skills of Rat Fink who delivered big sound and big fun.

5) Watching the pyro-technical extravaganza of the Pirate Ship getting blown-up, a very Burning Man-esque moment.

6) Hanging out in the tree house of the Where The Wild Things Are venue.

7) Making a cape at the Superhero Action Camp, making a carnival hat at another Action Camp and listening to Green political talks at the Green Action Camp.

8) Not spending endless amounts of time waiting in queues for food, drink and loos.

9) Bumping into many friends, something that is less likely to happen at Glastonbury, where everyone gets lost in the crowd.

10) Unwinding in the Lost Horizons sauna.

Among the music performances I enjoyed was seeing Grace Jones headline the festival, at the only festival gig she is doing this year. She’s 60 now, and still a powerhouse of music and towering good looks.

Many thanks to Jim Hanner for his fantastic photos from the show and the festival:

Thanks Jim!

Jim Hanner at The Secret Garden Party

 

Still grooving on the Secret Garden Party,

-Lisa

 

 

Hai Media Group Logo by Dan Boultwood

Who’s Lisa Devaney?

I head the Hai Media Group, a multimedia communications company based in London, offering client’s traditional public relations, combined with new technology marketing strategies. I also perform, creating original Cabaret-style comedy skits for festivals, theatre and parties. Find out more about me, and the talented entrepreneurs I collaborate with, by visiting: www.haimediagroup.com

Coming up this July 2-3 in London is a new event called 2gether08 that is being organized summer-festival style, combining the best of conference, with a bit of Festival fun mixed in. Check out what’s happening here:

2gether08 is brought to you by the innovative UK broadcaster Channel 4.

***Early Bird Discount Passes Available Now***

You’ve got until this Monday, 16^th June, to get an early bird discount for passes.

Register here: http://www.2gether08.eventbrite.com/

Come along and help...

Solve Bigger Problems at 2gether08

On offer are two days and nights of talks, workshops, debates, interviews, parties, awards and some surprises. More than 300 people from throughout London’s creative industries are planning to attend and the speaker line-up includes politicians, writers, a philosopher, economists, entrepreneurs, technologists, scientists and more to soon be announced. See the who’s who list of speakers here http://2gether08.com/programme/

Among attendants you’ll find many of London’s top influential creatives from new technology, business, media, art and entertainment, all gathering to hammer out new ideas, along with a few positive action steps that can be taken to make the world a better place. I’m hoping that this is going to be similar to what happens, when ideas get started, and spreading at TED talks.

2gether08 is a Grassroots, DIY, Co-Created, People-Powered Festival of Ideas

Most inspiring is how 2gether08 is being organized, with the active participation of those attending. Invitations and calls for ideas went out among London’s creative entrepreneurial community to begin shaping the agenda for what 2gether08 will tackle, and topic discussions will cover every subject from climate change to international relations to community issues. At the heart of the concept is a focus surrounding how new technology can propel social change, and it is social networking that has been shaping out 2gether08 across London.

I can report that the organizers are listening, with about 100 workshops being organized for attendants, by attendants.

My agency Hai Media Group is proud to be among the supporters of 2gether08.

We are helping out the organizers with PR support, if you have queries about press passes, please contact me. Download the 2gether08 Event Alert here:

http://www.haimediagroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/microsoft-word-2gether08-festival-event-alert-july-2_3_08.pdf

**If you have a blog, or Twitter, or know someone who does, please post news about this event, and help get the ideas going.

Please mark your calendar for 2gether08! and I hope to see you there.

I’ll be blogging about what ideas emerge from 2gether08, and if you have any pressing topics that you’d like to see guest’s put their heads together on, I’m interested to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment about what is happening in your part of the world that needs attention. You are welcome to contact me here, or email me at info [at] haimediagroup [dot] com

 

Inside every Londoner is an inner hillbilly, just a hoot in’ ‘n a hollering to get out!

With the debut of my new comedy cabaret act the Hee Haw! Whore House this week, I helped the closeted hillbilly spirit inside my fellow Londoners unleash itself for the Finger in the Pie cabaret festival at Madam JoJos.

The venue was packed for showtime last Sunday, April 6^th, and the crowd responded well, whooping it up for our cast of urban hillbillies with applause, laughter and even participation. As The Madam of the Hee Haw! Whore House, I packed in some fast & furious slapstick American-style hilarity, with non-stop silly antics and a few surprises for the performance.

Our little whore house kicked-off a fabulous night for Finger in the Pie, with other really enjoyable new artist acts. I particularly liked the creativity and friendly backstage  camaraderie of Lheila Oberman & Timothy Dodd of Aliens Ate My Schnitzel. It was also a pleasure to share the stage with Kittyktja, Victoria L'Etoile, Marianna Harlotta & Ruby Corsette, Miss Rose Thorne as Squaw Blimey, and Frankie Chalet. Many thanks to Vixen DeVille, the evening’s temptress MC who held the night together, and super American-style cheers for the organizers of the monthly Finger in the Pie cabaret festival, a fantastic showcase and supportive environment for new London performance acts. Do check out a future show, for details about upcoming performances make friends with them via MySpace or find the group on Facebook.

Who Loves to Hee Haw!?

James Whatley, aka Whatleydude, was fantastic as our drunken punter, stumbling about with his very own bottle 'o moonshine and making audiences laugh during his performance and a pantomime-style chase scene. No whore house is complete without some whores, and we had two! One pretty, and one, well, butt ugly. The audience oooh’d and ahhh’d over beautiful Tiara Diamond who wowed them with her burlesque dancing skills and sparkly pasties. Shock + horror was on order for Stewart Wright’s hilarious portrayal of our ‘bargain bang bang special’ whore. Stewart saved the show, stepping in last minute as 'understudy' for the night, as our original cast member had a family emergency to tend to.

Our crew also made sure the Hee Haw! Whore House made its stage debut, with my

supportive husband John having to make a mad dash back home to get my forgotten makeup case and costume accessories. He also helped on many fronts, from helping to make our flyer, to burning our music tracks and the list goes on. Costume designer Diana Munduru helped us get ‘in character’ backstage in the dressing room, with her skilled ability to make clothing do what it is supposed to do.

Hee Haw!

Comes to London's West End Stage

I hope you enjoy some of the pictures I’ve found from the night, and our Hee Haw! Whore House may even feature in a restrospective book in the future, as the photographer Peter Lavery, who documents circus performers, joined the artists backstage to take pictures of our pre-show preparation. Plenty more photos can be found here. 

Credit for the above pictures goes to Flavia Fraser-Cannon, courtesy of Finger in the Pie Cabaret Festival, and BigShinyThing.com's Darrell Berry.

It was all great showbusiness experience, and I’m now thinking about what’s next for the Hee Haw! Whore House here in the UK. Festival season is coming up, and there are plenty of other venues that might appreciate a good ‘ol hillbilly time. If you have any suggestions for where this comedy performance may be appreciated, please email me at info@haimediagroup.com, or leave me a comment.