About this project
ABOUT THE SHOW
LOLPERA is an original absurdist opera--or fauxpera--by Ellen Warkentine and Andrew Pedroza. What started as a funny song about a funny cat picture has turned into a two-year musical journey that will culminate in the world premiere of LOLPERA at The Garage Theatre in Long Beach, CA in October 2011. After a sold-out workshop in 2010, LOLPERA has evolved into an epic musical tale about the future of technology and its affects on our hearts and souls. Using only words directly from LOLcat images (a found-lyrics experiment of sorts), LOLPERA is now a dystopian clash between low-brow humor and high art. A "gesamtkunstwerk" that asks important questions about this our modern world: How do we find meaning in the meaningless? Will what we create ultimately destroy us? Can we really has cheezburger?
Call it 1984 set in a virtual litter box. Call it Brave New World with bad grammar. Just please, please, don't call it Cats.
WHAT WE CAN DO WITH YOUR SUPPORT
LOLPERA will be produced by and staged at The Garage Theatre, an intimate, black-box playhouse in downtown Long Beach. We are bringing with us the largest cast and band The Garage has ever housed. Your support will help us to purchase the technical equipment necessary to ensure our show is as epic on the stage as it is on the page. This includes microphones, cables, as well as an LCD projector to display the LOLspeak "subtitles" (just like a real opera!).
Any funds raised beyond our $2,000 goal will go directly toward enhancing set, costume, and production design.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM...ALREADY!
"...funny, and stupid, and brilliant...making for a show you should not miss, the experience itself a joyous bite, itself a meme-producing machine. The next big thing."-Greggory Moore, Long Beach Post
"So maybe in a city where (as Harper’s writer once said) 'even the bad taste seems to be fake bad taste,' the question is not, 'What truth is hidden in LOLcats?' but instead 'What truth can we pretend is buried within?'” -Sarah Bennet, The Daily Trojan
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? FUNNY CAT PICTURES?
Email director and Garage Theatre board member Jessica Variz at jessica@thegaragetheatre.org. If you've never used Kickstarter before, check out their FAQ page to learn more about this fabulous organization.
To learn more about The Garage Theatre, check out our bio section and click on the link.
FAQ
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Ever gotten an e-mail from your mom/aunt/crazy co-worker with a picture of a cat and some writing on it that seemed poorly edited? Something like "I R standin in ur hand!" or "is it can be hugz tiem now?" That was a LOLcat. If you still aren't sure, just type LOLcat in to Google Images, but be warned, we can not be held responsible for any loss of productivity.
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A word used by German opera composer and director Richard Wagner to describe a "total work of art," a piece of art that encompasses all art forms, synthesizing them into a theatrical production. Examples include Greek tragedies by Aeschylus as well as Wagner's own Ring Cycle. And we got this definition from Wikipedia, so you know it's true.
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What the heck, indeed.
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
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$2,220
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on August 21, 2011.
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
Be a member of Itty Bitty Kitteh Committeh and get a mention in the program and on The Garage Theatre website as well as a personalized thank you note from the cast.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
Join the Box Cat revolution and you'll receive the above as well as a poster signed by the cast and an invitation to a Caturday celebration. Live music will be played (singing along is optional but always encouraged). Not local? We'll Skype you into the party so you can still celebrate with us!
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
Be an Astro Cat and you'll receive all of the above, plus a custom-composed outgoing voicemail message sung by Ellen and Andrew.
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
Help us to dream big, Dreamer Cat, and you'll receive all of the above, plus a pair of limited edition cat ears custom-designed by our costume designer.
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
You precious, precious, Precious Cats. You get all of the above, plus two comp tickets to the show and a romantic beach or non-beach date with Ellen and Andrew where they'll pop open a bottle of semi-cheap wine and sing you delicious love songs. Available in person or via Skype.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
For making us the happiest cats in the alley, Happy Cats receive all of the above as well as a personalized pet portrait painted by a local Long Beach artist. Designed to your specifications and limited only by your imagination. You and your cat/dog/hamster/beta fish in space? Done.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
Holy Cat! Ceiling Cats receive all of the above. And in return for your incredible gift, Ellen and Andrew will write and compose a one-act musical about anything you want. That's right. Anything you want. Your musical will be staged at The Garage Theatre for you and your friends and anyone else you want to invite. You will also receive a DVD of the production.
Project By
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LOLPERA is written and composed by Ellen Warkentine (Four Larks Theatre's The Master and Margarita, Orpheus; Improv Shmimprov's World War II: The Musical) and Andrew Pedroza (BA in Film, CSULB). It is directed by Jessica Variz, who previously directed Cannibal! The Musical for The Garage, winner of the District Weekly's "Best Musical From an Unlikely Source." The Garage Theatre (OC Weekly's "Best Cutting Edge Theatre" for 2008) is an award-winning, independent, black box playhouse in Long Beach that aims to cultivate a new theatre-going audience by producing lesser known, boundary-breaking works while also allowing patrons to drink cheap beer during shows.
