The No Proscenium Podcast

The LA immersive renaissance is really heating up, and choreographer Sophia Stoller is bringing some stunning dance chops to the table this month with her piece 'The Other Side,' which uses some infamous experiments in social control as her inspiration. We dive into the inspiration for the show and Stoller's craft... and you get a nice dose of news, notes, and an old fashioned Noah rant after the interview proper. All brought to you by listeners like you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a first: an After Dark episode with someone who isn't on the No Pro team.  Here's another first: talking to a member of The Speakeasy Society solo... well, mostly solo. Maybe there are special guests. Maybe not all of the are human. Maybe you'll have to listen to find out what we mean by that. This is one of those lovely philosophical discussions about the form where we really get our hands dirty. And occasionally curse. So grab a drink (but don't drive!) and join us After Dark, won't you?   OH, YEAH: I totally give you a hint at what's going on with the Hollywood Fringe Festival, the tickets for which go on sale at MIDNIGHT MAY 1st.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Story time: months ago, while driving Interstate 5 in California, I listened to Kent Bye's interview with Jessica Brillhart of Google. In that episode of his "Voices of VR" podcast Kent offered up an "elemental theory of presence," mapping the classical elements onto the different building blocks of immersive experiences. It was like a door opened up in my head. Luckily, I didn't drive off the road. I knew at that moment that I had to have Kent on the show. I knew I had to bring him into our little corner of the immersive world to share what he discovered.  In other words, get ready for one of those episodes of No Proscenium, because we're not going to be the same after this one. Oh yeah: all the news and notes--and then some--are here in our pursuit of EVERYTHING IMMERSIVE. Brought to you by Patreon backers like you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What can we say about Dasha and Keight, Keight and Dasha? If you're a fan on the LA immersive scene you've probably encountered their work with Annie Lesser (Getting To Know You, Covell), or seen Dasha in Delusion or had the most disturbing one-on-one possible with Keight in Lesser's A(partment 8)--which is getting a reprise this year at the Hollywood Fringe and is appearing at the Overlook Film Festival as The Chalet. But that's their resumes. What's it like to, you know, just hang out with Dasha and Keight? It's awesome. Enjoy.   All that plus another ridiculously huge raft of News. Honestly people, you need to calm down. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Noah is joined by Jon Lawrence Rivera, founder and artistic director of LA's Playwright's Arena to talk about their 25th-anniversary show "The Hotel Play," a site-specific piece that unfolds in a series of hotel rooms at the Radisson by USC. We get into their writing process behind telling a mosaic story with a writer's room of playwrights. (Apologies for the slightly off sound quality. SOMEBODY forgot a cable and we recorded on the laptop... but it sounds better than the pre-Yeti mic episodes somehow!) All that plus a MEGA News&Notes (sorry, not sorry, but kinda sorry) and the announcement of EVERYTHING IMMERSIVE our new GLOBAL Facebook group for... everything immersive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Associate Artistic Director of Third Rail Projects, joins us to talk about the a of immersive performance. Marissa has had a major role in crafting and keeping up Third Rail's most famous shows, and we get into the spirit of the craft and her approach. All that plus the usual News & Notes, brought to you by Patreon backers just like *you*.   Note: the News & Notes section is a bit long this time out. Interview starts at 19:39. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I first met Ben Hill in 2011, on the eve of the second Hollywood Fringe Festival. We became fast friends. In the years since the Hollywood Fringe has become an important incubator for the immersive arts here in LA. Capital W, Annie Lesser, and Shine On Collective all got their start at the Fringe. This year is poised to be the most important year for immersive at the Fringe yet: for reasons we delve into in the podcast. Join festival co-founder Ben Hill and myself as we take a tour through what it takes to make immersive at the Fringe--the registration deadline is April 1st--and have a few laughs along the way. -Noah   Plus the usual News & Notes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: we travel up to the Presidio in San Francisco to talk with Vicki Dobbs Beck, the executive in charge of ILM's xLab. That's the part of Lucasfilm--yes, that Lucasfilm--whose mandate is to explore the immersive frontier. They're working on a whole range of immersive, virtual reality powered projects, and host Noah Nelson talks with Beck about how she views the world of immersive entertainment. Join us as we gaze into the future, and get incredibly excited about how the digital and physical realms of immersive entertainment are merging.   All that, and the usual News and Notes. Brought to you by Patreon backers just like YOU. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's always a big deal when an internationally known theatre company like Rimini Protokoll hits Los Angeles. It's an even bigger deal for our team when they hit LA with an immersive, headphone driven show like Remote X. And it's a really big deal that they're doing it under the auspices of Center Theatre Group, the biggest theatrical producer in LA. So naturally we just nerd out with director Jörg Karrenbauer and talk about process and theory, because No Proscenium is a podcast for theatre nerds by theatre nerds. Oh, and there's the usual NEWS AND NOTES... and an announcement we're just going to tease you here with. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've wanted David Mack, the strategic director for Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre and a consultant and producer in his own right, on the show for ages. David is a fellow traveler in the LA arts scene and knows more than almost anybody here about what's what.  So naturally we start talking about the Big Picture: how the real estate market and the demographics of LA impact and influence the art that is made here. This one works as a solid compass point for producers of *any* kind of performance art here in LA. And for fans: it gives you a real nuts and bolts look behind the scenes that explains why things are the way they are...   All that plus a raft of News and Notes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.