Posted by Heidi on April 1, 2009
Podcasts
I can’t believe I’m only blogging about this now. My only defense is that it has been a long week.
As those of you who have been Monkey Fans for a while know, there was this story. This one story that was, well, the most popular monkey story ever. There was just…something…about it.
Co-founder/former Artistic Director Halena Kays used to say that it had to be included in any special BOM public performance (as a rave at Theater on the Lake, for example) because otherwise it would be like if Devo went on tour and didn’t perform “Whip It”.
A story so compelling, so amazing, that years after it went out of the regular run of TWG, people would still write-in a request. It was the number one story in the special “countdown of the most popular BOM stories” that we did at the 5-year anniversary show.
Well, just when you thought we’d moved on, we find a way to reinvent it again.
That’s right folks, last week’s podcast (released Sunday night, on schedule, despite my only mentioning it now) was a NEW version of…drumroll…The Dog Was Dead.
Seasoned Monkey Fans, this one’s for you. New Monkey Fans, you too just might fall in love.
Posted by Tai on March 23, 2009
That's Weird Grandma
Podcasts
Tai here. Just want to mention a couple things: this week, 2 new stories jump into “That’s Weird, Grandma,” including the return of an old classic (and my personal all-time favorite), “The Tiny Door at the Back of My Closet,” a tale about a friendly monster, brought to new life by Alex and Meredith.
And, this week’s podcast (and last week’s too) is a BRAND NEW story, never before performed EVER! It’s called “The Date Was Messy,” by a group of kids from the Henderson School. It’s about a girl who meets her date, and well, he’s messy. Hijinks may or may not ensue.
Both of these stories are heartwarming and hilarious.* Listen to the podcast (and subscribe on iTunes if you haven’t already), and come see us at TWG. What a way to start your spring.
*Okay, and I’m in both of them.
Posted by Rachel on March 5, 2009
Company Members
Podcasts
Over the summer and fall, we lost a few good men. I wrote a post about Eric and Jonathan’s last school show at the time, and no, I still can’t deal.
When John Dixon left, it wasn’t such a clean break, more of a . . . “checking out the New York scene,” “probably be back in a month or two,” kind of a thing. Maybe he wanted to let us down easy . . . maybe he’s really not sure . . . he’ll come back to us . . . one day, one day . . .
(Hey, wait a second! How John left, that’s a lot like how it sounded when Lauren Sharpe left, and she just got cast as a New York Neo-futurist. Hmmmm. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the Monkeys are happy for her, but . . . but no. This post isn’t about Sharpe. That wound is still too fresh.)
This post is about the men who are featured, together, even in their absence, in our most recent podcast, “My First Girlfriend” by Tyberius W., from, that’s right, that storied Chalmers show.
See, we won’t let them leave. We recorded little parts of them . . .
The voice-of-an-angel Silverberg part . . .
The mad-genius-composer Mastro part . . .
And the “shoot, that boy can rap” Dixon part . . .
(The faces of the spellbound children in this photo have been blurred to protect their privacy—OR MAYBE they’re blurry from trying to keep up with the AWESOME! Dixon’s face has not been blurred to protect his privacy. He can’t keep up with his own awesome.)
Silverberg, Mastro, and Dixon each recorded their parts—individually—in the days before they left town. Przygoda played some guitar, and . . . he stayed. We’re still trying to figure out how this song works. Its powers. Its limits.
And Mike Tutaj FUSED them all together with the magic of DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDING and MIXING and RADIOACTIVE LIGHTNING BLASTS!!! Or something. He did that thing he does.
Then, long after all the other parts were recorded, Christina, and Dixie, and I huddled together between some curtains and eggcrating in Mike Tutaj’s hallway, and it was hard to get around the curtain if you needed to use the bathroom, and we only had one headset for a lot of the time until Christina thought of using her iPod headphones, and our MEN HAD LEFT US! OUR MEN!
It was an emotional time.
We recorded our back-up diva parts in harmony with the robotic shadows of our frontmen. And that’s how you get a song about lost love. Oh, Tyberius, we feel your pain! We’re right there with you!
Posted by Luke on February 16, 2009
Podcasts
Our first Podcast (Bomcast!?) is on our website!
It’s called, “The Haunted Piano” and was penned a couple years ago by one of our talented Loyola Park Students.
Laura Grey and I adapted the original performance during a monkey rehearsal a couple years ago.
It was difficult. We read it over and over and over.
One of us had to play the hilariously obsessed girlfriend and one of us the somewhat reserved “straight man” boyfriend.
WHAT WERE WE GOING TO DO!?
Finally, Laura had a brilliant idea.
“You know what, I’ll just play the girlfriend, you be the boyfriend, and let’s get working on this thing because right now we’re just talking in circles.”
It was a major break-through and after that, the adaptation process was cream cheese.
For this version, Mike Tutaj created some incredible “audio environments” and generally beefed it up a lot from the original.
Also, Mary Winn penned and recorded the sweet header and footer with the kids talking.
Do enjoy.
Posted by Tai on December 19, 2008
Podcasts
On Wednesday, a small handful of Monkeys gathered in the Andersonville office of Mightybytes to record the first batch of—
Wait, should I be talking about this? Has this been announced yet? Okay, don’t tell anyone, but it starts with a p and ends in odcasts.
More details about BOM’s latest media venture later, but for now, here are some photos of the recording session, courtesy of Mike’s phone:
Brennan in the recording booth, taking direction.
Oona, Elizabeth, and Tom in the booth (yes, it’s a closet). What you can’t see in this photo is that Elizabeth is standing on a stack of books so that she can reach the microphone.
Producers Mary Winn and Mike listening in.
Check back in the new year for some auditory treats from Barrel of Monkeys…
