THE CHIMPONAUTS AND THE MECHANICAL PHANTON by Melissa Vogt-Patterson, Electronic Planet Ensemble at the Vortex Repertory, May 3 - 18, 2013

 [performing at the Vortex Repertory Company, 2307 Manor Rd. -- click for map]

 presents the world premiere of





The Chimponauts and the Mechanical Phantom

May 3-18, 2013 8pm - 3 Weeks only!

at the VORTEX, 2307 Manor Rd. Austin, TX 78722
Free Parking. Bus Route -- The Butterfly Bar @ The VORTEX open nightly at 5 pm

Tickets: $30-$10 - $30-$25 Priority Seating, $15-$20 General Admission, $10 Starving Artists

Available at www.vortexrep.org or call 512-478-5282. Limited seating. Advanced Purchase Recommended.

2-for-1 admission on Thursdays and Sundays with donation of 2 canned goods for SafePlace.

Blast into the future with the Chimponauts as humanity’s only hope for survival takes one giant step into a crowded universe. Using giant live action puppetry, movement, video and their signature electronic sound, EPE takes us on another multimedia sci-fi adventure.

Electronic Planet Ensemble, known for its outrageous Sci-Fi, B-Movie Spoofs, takes their work to a whole new level with enormous Chimp puppets worn and manipulated by Justin LaVergne and Olivia Warner. Melissa Vogt-Patterson wrote and directed the story. Sergio R. Samayoa and Chad Salvata created original music. Samayoa also created the video component for the show. Scenic Design by Ann Marie Gordon. Lighting Design by Patrick Anthony. Chimponauts by Olivia Warner, Ann Marie Gordon, and Justin LaVergne.

This project is funded and supported in part by VORTEX Repertory Company and by the City of Austin through the Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office/Cultural Arts Division, believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Viper Vixens of 2012, Electronic Planet Ensemble at the Vortex, January 13 - 29

The Electronic Planet Ensemble are magic men -- I can say that since percussionist Rachel Fuhrer apparently has disappeared this year, leaving poet David Jewell, keyboardist Chad Salvata and bassist/video artist Sergio R. Samayoa to deliver this piece assisted by drummer Doug Marcis. I had to identify Marcis from the poster legend, since there was no program available at the Vortex this year.

Their January offering for 2012, Viper Vixens, falls far short of earlier Januaries: Planet of the Mermaids in 2011, Surfin' UFO in 2010 and Spaceman Dada Robot in 2009.

Even the mail art display in the Vortex's Butterfly Bar was much smaller and less imaginative than in earlier years, hung in the semi-darkness and literally overshadowed by the Betty Boop cartoon projected on the wall by the bar.

The EPE's strength has been projecting a sci-fi universe of mythic figures before our minds' eyes, using powered rhythms and David Jewell's hallucinatory lyrics. Samayoa's imaginative video creations served as springboards into that trippy world.

Not so this year.

Their music still rocks, but Viper Vixens of 2012 pretty much abandons Jewell, even though he's still right there out front, wearing a fine voluminous shiny gray polyester suit and wearing a red tie, working his fingertips over a laptop fuzzbox. During most of the hour's adventure you can't really hear what he's saying.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Call for Entries, International Mail Art Show for Viper Vixens of 2012 by Electronic Planet Ensemble, January 13 - 29

Found on-line:

INTERNATIONAL MAIL ART SHOW: CALL FOR ENTRIES

The theme for this show is VIPER VIXENS OF 2012

All pieces received will be exhibited in The Vortex Theatre lobbyin Austin Texas during the January run of the new multimedia show VIPER VIXENS OF 2012; also online at http://www.electronicplanetensemble.com. [Click to view ALT 'upcoming' announcement.]

Deadline: Jan. 13 2012 Send your art to:

VIPER VIXENS OF 2012
8003-B Tisdale
Austin, TX 78757 USA

http://www.electronicplanetensemble.com - info@electronicplanetensemble.com

http://www.vortexrep.org/

Upcoming: Viper Vixens of 2012, Electronic Planet Ensemble at the Vortex, January 13 - 29

Found on-line:

presents

Viper Vixens of 2012

The Apocalypse Never Looked so Good. . . a Silent B-Movie Spoof with Live Music

January 13-29, 2011 Thursday-Sunday 8 pm

The VORTEX, 2307 Manor Rd. (click for map)

Tickets:$30-$10 www.vortexrep.org or 512-478-LAVA(5282)

$30-$25 Priority Seating, $20-$15 General Admission, $10 Starving Artists; Thursdays and Sundays 2-for-1 admission with donation of 2 non-perishable food items. Limited seating. Advance purchase recommended. Three weeks only at The VORTEX.

Free Parking. Bus Route. The Butterfly Bar with beer, wine, and tasty snacks.

Embracing the conspiracy furor around the long-awaited End of the World in 2012, Electronic Planet Ensemble presents Viper Vixens of 2012, an over-the-top multi-media, movie spoof with original live music in the tradition of silent films and B-movie science fiction. The film has female nudity in a fantastical setting.

Join Electronic Planet Ensemble as they tackle every 2012 End of the World theory from Planet X, Planet Nibiru, and the Anunnaki to Mayan Calendars and the rise of Quetzalcoatl. Three human women are transformed by mad science into the part-Anunnaki Viper Vixens. With the immanent awakening of the plumed serpent god, Quetzalcoatl, the human race is in peril. The evil Viper Vixens are destined to take over the world unless the heroes of the Mexican Air Force can defeat them.

From the creators of Planet of the Mermaids, Surfin’ UFO, and SPACEMAN:DADA:ROBOT, Viper Vixens of 2012 story is written by Chad Salvata with cinematography and digital imagery by Sergio R. Samayoa. Electronic Planet Ensemble is Sergio R. Samayoa, David Jewell, and Chad Salvata, with Doug Marcis.

Viper Vixens of 2012 stars Melissa Vogt-Patterson, Christina Leidel, and Joanna Wright as the Viper Vixens. Featuring David Jewell as Xavier Xuthus (Trillionaire Mastermind), Heather Barfield as Zoe Xuthus (the Psychic), Betsy McCann as Elsa Von Krause (Director of Project Vixen), Helen Hutka as Kitty Kelly, Matthew Patterson as Guy Savage, Gabriel Maldonado as Angelo Reyes (Captain of the Mexican Air Force), and Andy Agne as the Anunnaki. Lighting Design by Patrick Anthony. Costume Design by Trudy Martinez. Makeup Design by Helen Hutka. Miniatures by Ann Marie Gordon.

An International Mail Art show in The Butterfly Bar @The VORTEX displays mail art on Viper Vixens of 2012. International Mail Art Show: CALL FOR ENTRIES on the theme VIPER VIXENS OF 2012. All pieces received will be exhibited.

Send mail art to: VIPER VIXENS OF 2012, 8003-B Tisdale, Austin, TX 78757 USA Deadline: January 13, 2012

Electronic Planet Ensemble is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division. Produced in association with VORTEX Repertory Company.

www.electronicplanetensemble.com VortexRep.org

Upcoming: Planet of the Mermaids, Electronic Planet Ensemble at the Vortex Repertory, January 14 - 29

Received directly:

presents

Planet of the Mermaids

January 14-29, Thursdays - Sundays at 8 p.m.

The VORTEX, 2307 Manor Rd. Austin, TX 78722

Tickets $30-$10 http://www.vortexrep.org or 512-478-LAVA(5282)

$30-$25 Priority Seating, $20-$15 General Admission, $10 Starving Artists

Thursdays and Sundays 2-for-1 admission with donation of 2 non-perishable food items. Limited seating. Advance purchase recommended.

In the tradition of silent films and B-movie science fiction, Electronic Planet Ensemble presents Planet of the Mermaids, an over-the-top multi-media, movie spoof with original live music for 3 weeks only at The VORTEX.

Join Captain Rex Vydor and the crew of the spaceship Odysseus as they explore the mysterious planet of Aquanea. Get ready to encounter the Mer Queen and her beautiful minions on the Planet of the Mermaids.

From the creators of SPACEMAN:DADA:ROBOT and Surfin’ UFO. Electronic Planet Ensemble is Sergio R. Samayoa, David Jewell, Chad Salvata, and Rachel Fuhrer. Planet of the Mermaids stars David Jewell as Captain Rex Vydor. Story by Chad Salvata. Cinematography and Digital Imagery by Sergio R. Samayoa.

Also, in the lobby, an International Mail Art show will display all mail received concerning the themes of Planet of the Mermaids before and during the run of the show.

[Image: Solve Sundsbo for Vogue Nippon May 2010]

Electronic Planet Ensemble is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division. Produced in association with VORTEX Repertory Company.

Call for Mail Art: Planet of the Mermaids, Electronic Planet Ensemble at the Vortex Repertory in January

Received via Twitter:

INTERNATIONAL MAIL ART SHOW: CALL FOR ENTRIES
Electronic Planet Ensemble

The theme for this show is PLANET OF THE MERMAIDS.
All pieces received will be exhibited in the Vortex Theatre lobby during the January run of the new multimedia show PLANET OF THE MERMAIDS .
Also online at http://www.electronicplanetensemble.com/

Illustration: mail art exhibited for Sufin' UFO, 2010.

Send your art to:

PLANET OF THE MERMAIDS
8003-B Tisdale
Austin, TX 78757 USA
Deadline: Jan. 14, 2011

http://www.electronicplanetensemble.com/
info@electronicplanetensemble.com
http://www.vortexrep.org/

Ongoing: Surfin' UFO, Electronic Planet Ensemble at the Vortex, January 8 - 24

UPDATE: Click for ALT review, January 11

Received directly:



presents

Surfin’ UFO

January 8–24, 2009, Thurs-Sun 8 p.m.
at the Vortex, 2307 Manor Rd.
Tickets: $30-$10 available on-line or at 512-478-LAVA (5282)
$30-$25 Priority Seating, $20-$15 General Admission, $10 Starving ArtistsThursdays and Sundays, 2-for-1 admission with donation of 2 non-perishable food items for SafePlace.

Electronic Planet Ensemble presents Surfin’ UFO, a multi-dimensional, multi-media, inter-galactic love story.

Feel the power of nature riding inside the curl of a monster wave. Fall in love with a space girl. The Anunnaki are knocking at your door, and one of them looks just like Brigitte Bardot.

Planet X, 2012, crop circles, Roswell, ancient astronauts, UFO sightings, and alien abductions. Something is going on here, and you don’t know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones? Or, maybe you haven’t noticed because you’re too busy surfing.

The mysteries of Sumer and ancient Egypt meet Surf Boy and Space Girl, rare star crossed lovers, experiencing first love in all its wave crashing, heart pounding, supernova glory. Ride the tsunami of love, wipe out, get pounded, and ride again. Bend and fold the space-time continuum. Exceed the speed of light. Is it a particle or is it a wave? Uh, duh, it’s wave, dude…it’s totally a wave.

Surfin’ UFO is a multi-media event/performance created by collaborative improvisation and synergistic dada epiphanies; music, video and words created in jam sessions and brain storm singularities by Sergio R. Samayoa, David Jewell, Chad Salvata and Aliens.

Also, in the lobby, an International Mail Art show will display all mail received concerning the themes of Surfin’ UFO before and during the run of the show.

From the creators of last season’s hit Spaceman:Dada:Robot. Produced in association with Vortex Repertory Company.

Vortex and Electronic Planet Ensemble are funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

In-Car-Nation, Electronic Planet Ensemble at Hyde Park Theatre, October 15-17

Classic cars of the 1950s float in the collective consciousness of Americans, but as David Jewell gently admonishes us, they'll soon be gone, as distant and vanished as the dinosaurs that enchant our children today.

Jewell is the solo narrator, actor and verbal imager for In-Car-Nation, while Sergio R. Samayoa provides the live soundtrack with computer-synthesizer and guitar. Between them is the screen that flickers with video, kaleidoscopic images and transforming stills, a non-linear dream of transportation as power, elegance, and adventure. They first explored this hallucinogenic territory back in 1997, and the current live two-man concert runs again only tomorrow night and Saturday night at the Hyde Park Theatre.

It's a seance, an incantation, an trip into memory, alternate reality the sweeping streamlined designs and the curiously empty landscapes of the mind. Electronic Planet Ensemble makes a rich triple score of this one. Jewell is a master of the prose poem -- one would call them lyrics, although they do not rhyme, because they are so carefully fit into Samayoa's music: blues riffs, power thrumming, alpha wave music, up-tempo improvisations, translucent walls of sound. And the video, all new for this edition, a collaborative magic lantern.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: IN.CAR.NATION by Electronic Planet Ensemble at the Hyde Park Theatre, October 15-17

Received directly:




Electronic Planet Ensemble presents

IN.CAR.NATION
A Celebration of Cool Cars

October 15-17, 2009, Thurs-Sat 8pm
Hyde Park Theatre

Electronic Planet Ensemble presents IN.CAR.NATION, a multimedia environment of sight, sound and words to celebrate the cultural elegance of cool cars.

IN.CAR.NATION, words riffed in jazz and blues, with favorites like “Healing Your Inner Car” and ”55 Chevy.” David Jewell and Sergio R. Samayoa team up for a performance of reverence and reverie with some of America’s automobiles, especially the 1940’s to 1960’s bulgemobiles.

First performed in 1997 at Hyde Park Theatre in Austin, Texas, IN.CAR.NATION is a trip on life’s by-ways and highways in spoken words, electronic sounds, and experimental video created by collaborative improvisation and synergistic Dada epiphanies.

In the lobby, a collection of original photographs and art on display and for sale by David Jewell and Sergio R.Samayoa used in the making of the show. T-shirts, CD’s and DVD’s of IN.CAR.NATION will also be available.

Tickets $10 Tickets at the door or call 512-479-PLAY
Where: Hyde Park Theatre, 511 W 43rd St Austin
Phone: 512.669.3409
Email: info@electronicplanetensemble.com
Web: http://www.electronicplanetensemble.com

Upcoming: Spaceman Dada Robot, Electronic Planet Ensemble at the Vortex, January 9 -24

UPDATE: Click for ALT review of January 17


Found on-line:

SPACEMAN : DADA : ROBOT
presented by Electronic Planet Ensemble in association with VORTEX Repertory Company
Jan.09-24, 2009 Thur-Sun 8pm

Electronic Planet Ensemble presents SPACEMAN:DADA:ROBOT, a multi-media environment of sight, sound and words to celebrate the meaning of the universe and all of the creatures in it.

Ponder the meaning of life with existential robots, go swimming through the stars with a space whale, and go zooming through non-sequiturs and hyperbole as Spaceman looks for the woman of his dreams, Starwoman.

SPACEMAN:DADA:ROBOT is a multi-media event/performance created by collaborative improv and synergistic dada epiphanies; music, video and words created in jam sessions and brain storm singularities by Sergio R. Samayoa, David Jewell, Chad Salvata, Rachel Fuhrer, and Jo Beth Henderson will entertain, amuse, and possibly inform (many actual facts about space will be included).

Produced in association with VORTEX Repertory Company.

Also, in the lobby, an International Mail Art show will display all mail received concerning the themes of SPACEMAN:DADA:ROBOT up to the end of the run of the show. Send actual art through the mail to this address:

SPACEMAN:DADA:ROBOT
8003B Tisdale Dr
Austin, TX 78757

And then come see how it mixes and mingles with all the other art received.

Space travel. It gets you out of the house. It gets you out of this world. And it just might get you out of your mind.

TICKETS: $30-$10 :: $30-$25 Priority Seating, $20-$15 General Admission, $10 Starving Artists (Thurs & Sun 2-for-1 admission with donation of 2 non-perishable food items for SafePlace.) Available on-line www.vortexrep.org or at 512-478-LAVA (5282).

About The Electronic Planet Ensemble
Electronic Planet Ensemble evolved in the 1990’s as a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team of artists who created six fully-realized multi-disciplinary works: Alien Experiments, Atomic Experiments, Animal Experiments, The Apocalytes, The Tetragons, and InCarNation. Each project was a collaborative work between musicians, poets, video artists, actors, and technicians. They were performed in Austin at The Planet Theatre, The VORTEX, and Hyde Park Theatre, and at a multi-media arts festival at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport, Maine. Previous work has been recognized by the South by Southwest Interactive Festival and favorably reviewed by the Austin Chronicle and The Austin American Statesman.

www.electronicplanetensemble.com

About the artistic collaborators of Electronic Planet Ensemble

David Jewell has lived in Austin and performed his poetry in many forms and at many venues for the past 25 years. He opened for Laurie Anderson at the Paramount Theatre, and opened for Leon Redbone, Lydia Lunch, and the Lounge Lizards at the Cactus Cafe. His poem "delusion angel" is featured in Richard Linklater's film "Before Sunrise", and he appears as himself in another Linklater film, "Waking LIfe".

Sergio R. Samayoa has written original music and sound design for over 50 theatre shows as company member of the Vortex Repertory Company between 1990 and 2000 and won several awards for best sound design including the B. Iden Payne First Choice Award and the Austin Critics’ Table award. Many of his credits include original music for dancer/choreographer Andrea Ariel and her company Ariel Dance Theatre. He has also been guest artist composing original music at the Mcneese State University theatre department.

Chad Salvata has been creating visionary new operas and performance installations for the past 20 years. Salvata is extensively trained and experienced as a composer, musician, visual artist and designer, and dancer. He is best known for his epic cybernetic operas: Elytra, Triskelion, Panoptikon, and The Black Blood. These operas featured amazing science fiction costumes, elegant scenery, spectacular lighting, and provocative sexual and mythological content. He received Austin Critics’ Table and B. Iden Payne Awards for Outstanding Original Score for The Dragonfly Princess, Vampyress, and Pythia Dust.