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Hunter Foster as Victor (left) and Steve Blanchard as the Creature (right) in the original off-Broadway production of <\/em>Frankenstein: A New Musical. Photo courtesy of the production.<\/em><\/p>\n The Scottish Rite Cathedral has been, for the most part, a place dedicated to weddings and quincea\u00f1eras<\/em>\u2014rightfully so given the 1926 building\u2019s Romanesque fa\u00e7ade and grand five stories. But Long Beachers Ray Buffer and Jonas Sills hope to change that with the creation of their new performing arts company Arts in Relation (AiR).<\/p>\n This is not to say the space has been entirely devoid of theatre\u2014Denis McCourt produced 8: The Play<\/em> two years ago<\/a> in the building\u2014but it is odd considering the building\u2019s Ernest Borgnine Theatre is, well, an actual theatre. Architects Francis H. Gentry and Parker O. Wright created an 800-seat auditorium that is opulent in a rare way with its 30-foot ceilings, hand-painted designs, and 27-foot stage.<\/p>\n This is why AiR hopes to eventually become a solidified partner with the cathedral to show off the venue\u2019s theatrical power.<\/p>\n \u201c[Sills and I] initially had the intention of buying a mixed-used building with a storefront on the bottom and apartments on top,\u201d Buffer said. \u201cThe storefront would be a black box theatre, an art gallery, a yoga space\u2014anything to accommodate the community. The rental of the apartments above would ideally cover the mortgage. But we just couldn\u2019t find the space to do our first production.\u201d<\/p>\n Sills and Buffer decided to take on an offbeat favorite amongst Broadway geeks, Frankenstein<\/em>: A New Musical<\/em>. We\u2019re not talking the far more well-known comedic musical Young <\/em>Frankenstein<\/em>, which had its run on Broadway the same time Frankenstein<\/em> had its off-Broadway run. This Frankenstein<\/em> is a dramatic, faithful retelling of Mary Shelley\u2019s literary masterpiece that eschews laughs in favor of the eerie humanity found in the monstrosity of the classic tale. In fact, one should expect nothing Karloff-ian or reminiscent of Old Hollywood in this production.<\/p>\n Frankenstein<\/em>\u2019s short-but-sweet run of 80 shows at the 37 Arts Theatre ended in December of 2007, with premieres in the UK, Germany, and Australia following. This production will mark the West Coast premiere of the musical.<\/p>\n Along comes the Rite.<\/p>\n Buffer hopes that this musical will be the key to becoming an in-house producer for the Rite that will, should more productions come, put the venue on the map as a go-to theatre destination.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is AiR\u2019s dating period with the Rite,\u201d Buffer said. \u201cSo we\u2019ve included the Rite in several aspects of the production, including making decisions about how the production looks and feels.\u201d<\/p>\n The cult favorite will nix the traditional 1700s aesthetic in favor a steampunk look, while a non-union cast of 25 professional actors and actresses will be used. The cast is as varied as it comes, with performers ranging from 7 to 77 years old, and though the majority hail from Long Beach, it also boasts performers from Hollywood, Laguna Beach, Pasadena, Whittier, and Reseda.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not community theatre; it\u2019s collaborative theatre with a group of professionals,\u201d Buffer said. \u201cEquity actors were cost-prohibitive\u2014this is our first production\u2014so we went with a non-union cast. But these are seasoned performers set to bring on a show that probably wouldn\u2019t otherwise see the light of a stage in Long Beach.\u201d<\/p>\n The choice of Frankenstein<\/em> certainly deviates from the more common Broadway fare offered up by Musical Theatre West (MTW), Long Beach\u2019s leading musical company. But this is precisely why Buffer is choosing Frankenstein<\/em>, as it is a show that is more intimate and more contemporary than the massive, almost-always classic productions that MTW takes on at the Carpenter Center.<\/p>\n The choice also follows Buffer\u2019s previous theatrical endeavors. While he had his previous performing arts company, Relevance Stage, he had considering Frankenstein<\/em> since it fit previous oddball productions like Urinetown<\/em> and Batboy<\/em> at the Warner Theatre in San Pedro. After all, he discovered Frankenstein<\/em> by stumbling upon the cast recording at a Barnes & Noble.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like Jekyll & Hyde but there was something more clever about it,\u201d Buffer said. \u201cEach character is identified by a musical theme and when the individual stories of them cross one another, those musical elements are intertwined. It just became a dream for me to produce.\u201d<\/p>\n Buffer\u2019s previous dream\u2014the dream that anyone who has fallen in love with a musical, dancing and lip-synching in their homes while pretending they were on a stage, understands\u2014will now become a reality.<\/p>\n While he takes on the role of producer, he\u2019ll also be playing the lead monster. Sills, who will take on Victor Frankenstein, remains the production\u2019s head financial backer.<\/p>\n Sills has an even more heart-rending connection to the musical. After his parents passed, he split the estate with his brother and helped launch AiR. There is an art-mimics-life aspect to this production for Sills, given Frankenstein\u2019s obsession with the secrets of life and the hereafter revolving around the death of his mother from scarlet fever.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the loss of his parents, the themes of this show offer a beautifully poignant connection,\u201d Buffer said of Sills. \u201cHim playing Victor speaks volumes.\u201d<\/p>\n Frankenstein: A New Musical will be performed at the Ernest Borgnine Theatre inside the Scottish Rite Cathedral, located at 855 Elm Ave. Opening night will be held on October 23 with a wine reception before the show at 7PM. Performances will held on October 23, 24, 25, 30, 31 and November 1 at 8PM. <\/em><\/p>\n Performances on October 23, 24, 25, and November 1 will feature a 30-minute pre-show concert at 7:30PM by the Los Angeles Musical Theatre Youth Chorus. The October 24 31 performances (Fridays) will have a stage-talk \/ Q&A with the actors and director following the performances. Tickets are $25 (Reserved), $18.50 General Admission Adult and $10 for children 12 and under. For tickets, call 800-838-3006 or click here<\/a>.<\/em> {FG_GEOMAP [33.7774417,-118.18798670000001] FG_GEOMAP}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Scottish Rite Cathedral has been, for the most part, a place dedicated to weddings and quincea\u00f1eras<\/em>\u2014rightfully so given the 1926 building\u2019s Romanesque fa\u00e7ade and grand five stories. But Long Beachers Ray Buffer and Jonas Sills hope to change that with the creation of their new performing arts company Arts in Relation (AiR).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":68483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1342],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-3214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-musical","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3214"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=3214"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"FrankMusical\"](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FrankMusical.jpg\")
At first, the pair had thought an outdoor production at Recreation Park off 7th and Park Ave. would be befitting\u2014\u201cWe even thought to rename the park \u2018Re-creation Park\u2019 in honor of Frankenstein<\/em>,\u201d Buffer said\u2014but the timing was off with area schools needing the park for events.<\/p>\n
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