I know it's been a LONG time coming, so I want to make sure I have your current address.  Thank you all so much for your patience and faith.  ~Mark Nichols   (stiltbat@hotmail.com)

Hi everybody, it's Mark Nichols, the composer of the Burning Opera and 'guy in charge of finishing this CD.' I just wanted to let everyone know that I am officially behind on this work and will not get the CD to you before the holidays, as planned. Your extreme patience is very appreciated. I recently moved to Los Angeles and have been scrambling for survival money, changing careers, finding a place, moving four times, and many other things. While David Bergeaud, the engineer and I have found plenty of time to work on it, the project grows, each time we're together, AND we've both been deeply involved in keeping afloat during this recession. It's hit artists/composers hard and has mutated our old abilities to predict our schedules, or in short, has us working double and triple time just to cover the basic life costs. In addition to this, I refuse to put this CD out if it's not as good as it can possibly be, and for me that means orchestral arrangements, brass, and quite a bit of sound effect work. This is all happening, and happening well, but slowly. Just be assured that things are moving and the CD WILL be finished long before the apocalypse.

HOWEVER! One thing we can and are going to do before the holidays is get you a copy of the DVD version. Because you've been so patient we're going to print up around 300 copies of the excellent video of the Zinzanni show and send that right to you before Dec. 25th. We think you'll all really like this show--and while it doesn't have the sonic glory the CD promises--it is a fantastically accurate capture of the opera in it's second week and there's a lot of magic in there.

Once again, thank you for your patience. Feel free to contact me with questions at stiltbat@hotmail.com. I'll do my best to answer.

Mark Nichols, LA, CA 11/30/2010

Thanks to everybody who gave to the CD. We raised over $8400 towards the project! I was mixing and recording today, and the studio version sounds spectacular and continues to grow. It's exciting to consider the reality of beginning artwork and having the resources to do that. So on behalf of the cast and creators of the show - much gratitude is extended to all of you. The goal is to finish and deliver by the end of August. It's just a goal right now, but barring too many obstacles is very possible. Feel free to email me at any point if you'd like an update at stiltbat(at)hotmail.com. ~Mark Nichols.

Aaron Taylor performs "Party's Over" and a stunned Stetson and Mustachio (Christopher Fulling and Stephanos X) reel from some real tragedy. http://www.youtube.com/watch...

http://www.youtube.com/watch... (MC Phoenix) Renfey, Janet (Phat Mandee), and Geekbird (Andy Stack).

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Burning Man's lawyers as a barbershop quartet? Sacre Bleu! http://www.youtube.com/watch...