Here it is. The first glimpse of the next cast of Saint Aggie’s ’84. Yes, the photo is bit grainy and slightly unclear, reminding me a little of a photo from early space exploration, an early moon probe, transmitted back to earth slowly via radio waves and taking hours to receive, decipher and print. Of course, this picture was emailed to me by one Heather Foley, the stage manager of the production, using radically more advanced technology from a point very much located here on planet earth. Earth or not, however, there is still something other worldly about this picture for me, and these awesome young people who will embody the words and become the characters in my play. The picture is as exciting to me as those firsts glimpses of the moon probably were to those NASA folks back in the 1960s.

More will follow in the days to come. But enjoy this first look!

My new EP has on it (among other things) my version of ON OUR WAY from Saint Aggie’s ’84. You can check the song out or download it alone or with the whole EP at bandcamp.

***ALSO*** Watch for progress reports from Greensboro NC, where rehearsals are underway at the Weaver Academy for the debut of the full two-act version of the show, opening March 22nd!

Tech went well at the Winspear Centre this afternoon. An hour an twenty-five minutes to showtime. Better get ready. More pictures later.

Just a quick note to remind everyone to come and see an excerpt from SA84 at the Winspeare Centre on Monday, April 11. We’re there as part of the 24th Annual, Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts. It’s such an honour to be a part of this amazing night and to perform in such an incredible venue.

I’ve created a Reverbnation profile for Saint Aggie’s ’84. I’ve posted some songs and some pictures. The site is usually for bands and songwriters to promote themselves and build their fan bases, but I think it’s going to work well to promote the play. I’m hoping people will join the mailing list and spread the word by embedding widgets that they can download and post on their personal websites and social network pages. It’s pretty cool.

Only a few months later than I’d hoped, but here it is. Please download it. Burn copies. Post it wherever you feel like it. Do with it what you will. I’d really like as many people to hear this recording as possible.

I’d like to thank all of you who were involved in this project for all of your hard work and energy. It’s been an honour to work with you, and I hope we get a chance to work together again.

I’ve already started attacking the next version of Saint Aggie’s ’84, the two act version. Many of these songs won’t be the same next time. Actually I can’t wait to get fixing some of them (completely overhauling a few). In any case there will be some big changes.  I guess that what I’ve realized is that this recording is really just a snapshot of the work we did. That is not say that it is inferior in any way, just that this play is still such a work in progress that this recording can only be considered a snapshot of a point in a process and not something that is a final product. But it’s a great thing to have though, a snapshot…nothing like a good snapshot. Stick it to the fridge with a couple of Quadrophenia magnets that you got at that cool novelty shop. I hope you all feel really good about the work you did. You all looked and sounded great! I couldn’t have asked for more.

I will continue to keep you all informed as to what is happening with the show. I’ll post demos here as new songs get written and I’ll keep everyone informed of upcoming productions.

So here’s the link to download. Let me know what you think!

https://files.me.com/chriswynters/bedt0j

“All of us off in our own directions will cherish this time we stood on common ground.”

Cheers,
C

There is an article that mentions Saint Aggie’s ’84 and the Strathcona Theatre Program in the winter issue of All Stages Magazine. You can download the online version of the magazine here:

http://www.theatrealberta.com/documents/Winter_2010_AllStages.pdf

Stay tuned for a download of the recording whole show coming this evening…

I will be posting the entire recording tomorrow evening…but here’s one more, just for fun. I’ve been going back and forth between wanting to include the dialog and not wanting to include it. Some of it works well, and some just doesn’t seem to feel right out of context. I think I will post the “with dialog” versions to all of you tomorrow, but use the “no dialog” versions as demos. If someone is interested in doing the show, I will send them the entire recording complete with dialog.

So here’s Juan’s song. So ridiculous. Great to hear Karo sing it again. And thanks to Cassidy for recording her line (that comes at the end) into her iPhone and emailing it to me. Technology…

I’m so nearly finished the Saint Aggie’s recording. It’s incredible how much time it can take pulling all these tiny little details together. It will be up by the end of the week, though. I promise. Here’s one more mix to listen to in the mean time.

(As you can see I’m still working from my laptop because the studio computer is still down!)

I’m starting to finish mixes so I thought I’d post one. There are still a few tweaks here and there but I think it’s getting pretty close. It has to be done soon because I really have to start writing out that Red Lips score! I’m still about half way through editing the strings, but most of the tricky mixing work has been done so as the strings are finished so are the mixes. Should all be complete by the end of the week!

So here is ON OUR WAY as of November 9, 2010.