It’s a sold out Opening Night for “Two Mile Hollow”!! It’ll also be a special night where we celebrate the Butler University Theatre department as the playwright Leah, the director Mikael, and the sound designer (myself) are all Butler alums! What a treat that we were classmates and friends together at BU and now get to collaborate professionally all these years later! I look forward to seeing all of the Butler folks tonight and celebrating the fantastic work of both the production team and the incredible cast of this show.
I was a total beep-boop-beep-ding-dong and forgot to take any photos of the beautiful set by Inseung Park during tech, so I’ll have to wait until the production photos come out to share them with you. I will be making a follow up post for the run with some samples of my original score, photos and more.
Mary, Blythe and Christopher Donnelly on the stairs of Two Mile Hollow. 📸 @_toneyc_
Two Mile Hollow by Leah Nanako Winkler, directed by Mikael Burke runs March 30th through April 30th at the Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis, IN
Get your tickets now starting at $25, and students can use the promo code “student15” for discounted tickets at only $15. See you there! Tix >> https://www.phoenixtheatre.org/buy-tickets
From Phoenix Theatre Don’t miss out on the hilarious comedy, TWO MILE HOLLOW, opening this weekend at the Phoenix Theatre! With beautiful blonde wigs and spectacular costumes, Eddie Dean*, Jay Fuqua, Paige Elisse, Arianne Villareal*, and Milicent Wright* will have you laughing all night. This play features actors of color playing wealthy white characters in a witty and entertaining satire by Leah Nanako Winkler. This play, which is directed by Mikael Burke, is our final production of the 2022/2023 season!
Thanks to Adult Swim for having us, it was so special to improvise for 90 mins with DB Pedersen & Brennan Connors! [see original post] Here are a few clips of me warming up on my instruments and pedalboard before the show, enjoy 🙂
6:30pm on 2nd floor NOSFERATU (1922) 100th anniversary screening! with Live Score and Sound FX by DB Pedersen, Brennan Connors & BC Grimm
Monsters and robots and clowns, oh my! Adult Swim returns after three long years! Adult Swim at Madison Children’s Museum honors the public pool tradition of kicking the kids out so adults can have the space to themselves (without the water or need for a swimsuit). This 21-and-up event series offers adults the opportunity to play like a grown-up for the evening—crawling, sliding, crafting, and dancing their way through the museum. Don’t miss the Wonderground, our newest 10,000 square foot outdoor playground and exhibit space.
Join us to celebrate Halloween in style – wear your favorite costume or make costume accessories after you arrive. Additional activities:
Get sketchy or model your costume for a fast-draw competition
Compete in a horror film scavenger hunt
Experiment with dry ice bubbles
Make spooky or silly ghost print
Relive a childhood nightmare as you share your worst trick-or-treat “treat”
Enjoy a vintage horror flick with live sci fi accompaniment
Enter our costume fashion show and contest to win fabulous prizes
Please note, this event is not affiliated with ADULT SWIM, the television and entertainment network—also, we don’t have a swimming pool.
Behold the Monstrosity of DB Squidersen!!
I’m very excited to perform once again with DB Pedersen! He’s been one of the most frequent collaborators to pop up on the GrimmusiK website, and of course, one of my favorite human beings that I’ve met in Madison! It’s been a little while since we’ve performed together; partly due to DB having a few year stint as a chef out in Spring Green at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin and partly due to the obvious lack of performances during this Covid era… I can’t think of a better way to reconnect than scoring a spooky silent film during its centennial this Halloween! DB and I have performed a lot of free improvisation in Madison over the years, most notably in our trio with my brother AJ, called “Sister’s Three”. A big highlight was when Sisters Three composed & performed a live theater score for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bartell Theatre (Madison, WI) with Strollers Theatre Company. DB is well known for his throat singing expertise, impromptu theatrics and a knack for making any sound effect you could ever imagine with his mouth! If you haven’t seen him perform before, you are in for a major treat; it’s always unpredictable, surprising, funny, and even spiritual when DB gets on stage.
db pedersen in a Spring Green silo!Brennan Connors performing with Stray Passage @ Cafe CODA | (c) 2018 Paul S Howell Photography
Most of you will know Brennan Connors from our decade long collaboration in his jazz trio Brennan Connors & Stray Passage. Saxophonist and improvisor extraordinaire, Brennan has recently developed a new style which dips into the sonic territory of 20th century composition. Brennan has been working on heady, layered dissonances and new concepts to break him away from expected norms in today’s Jazz or even New Music scenes. It’s been a long time since I’ve improvised with Brennan in such a different mode, outside of the Jazz Trio idiom. I can’t wait to see what he brings to the table!
Not only have DB and I performed a lot of free-improv together, but Brennan and DB have also shared the stage countless times in their free-improv group Amoebageddon. With soundscapes built from flutes and implements through loop stations, saxophones, and electric cello accompanied by live visual art on a projector – this was one of my favorite Madison area acts to see in the free-improv and experimental scene! We’ll be drawing on years of various collaborative configurations in order to bring you a Live Improvised Score to the silent horror film classic Nosferatu!
“did somebody say my name…?”
Film Screening: starting at 6:30pm on the 2nd floor, we’ll be celebrating the 100th anniversary of Nosferatu (1922), an unauthorized film adaptation of the novel Dracula (1887) by Bram Stoker. As the fates would have it… this is actually the second time that I’ll be performing a live improvised score to this film, also at a museum! Back around 2008-2010 I was in a guerilla new music ensemble of graduate composers at Butler University called Ensemble 48. One of our most memorable performances was a live, outdoor, improvised score to Nosferatu, with the film MASSIVELY projected onto the entire side wall of a museum in Indianapolis! It was so much fun! Miss these goofballs >>
vintage Ensemble 48, in costume after our Nosferatu screening in 2008! pictured Left to Right (standing): Joshua Morris, Nick Liebman, Adam Cohen-Leadholm, Zane Merritt, Megan Pokorney, Brian Grimm; (kneeling) Scott Comanzo, Matt Smart.
a play by Anna Ziegler Directed by Mikael Burke (Chicago) Wisconsin Premiere!
Esther and Schmuli are young Orthodox Jews whose future is written in scripture. Abe and Sophie believe they can write their own destiny. On the surface, these two couples couldn’t seem more different. But when a Hollywood actress upends Abe’s world, the hidden connections between all of them start to appear. This funny and mysterious drama explores the question of whether happiness lies in what we have, or on the road not taken.
“As perfect a piece of theater as I’ve seen in many years. The script by Anna Ziegler is a revelation, touching on family truths, marriage, and personal histories…Go see this show. It’s magnificent.” – DC Theatre Scene
Buy Tickets here
With Cassandra Bissell, Elyse Edelman, Alanna Lovely, Paris Hunter Paul, Greg Pragel
Scenic Designer: Sarah Ross Lighting Designer: Brad Toberman Costume Designer: Karen Brown-Larimore Sound Designer/Composer:Brian Grimm Props Master: Pam Miles Technical Director: Kevin Zimmer Stage Manager: Kira Neighbors Asst. Stage Manager: Abbi Hess
I had such a blast recording music with Madison’s own Yid Vicious Klezmer Ensemble for the score of “The Wanderers” by Anna Ziegler! I’m so honored to have collaborated with such fine musicians & friends and can’t wait for you to hear their beautiful playing in this production!
Pictured members of Yid Vicious: Matt Appleby – guitar Kia Karlen – accordion & horn Geoff Brady – vibraphone Greg Smith – flutes & clarinets
Also pictured: Brian Grimm – composer, cello at the playhouse theater Zelda Brethauer – sleeping studio assistant
