{"id":4531,"date":"2012-06-05T08:01:17","date_gmt":"2012-06-05T08:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/long-beach-s-lolpera-next-stops-hollywood-new-york\/"},"modified":"2012-06-05T08:01:17","modified_gmt":"2012-06-05T08:01:17","slug":"long-beach-s-lolpera-next-stops-hollywood-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/long-beach-s-lolpera-next-stops-hollywood-new-york","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach’s ‘LOLPERA’ \u2014 Next Stops: Hollywood, New York"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[Note: The following piece contains minor instances of profanity.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Dateline: LONG BEACH (Mar. 2011): The Long Beach Post<\/em> wonders<\/a> whether LOLPERA<\/em>, a full-blown opera about the catastrophe inherent to a world where the search for meaning in life has been commodified into the most meaningless of pursuits, namely, the meming of life by way of posting cutie-cute pictures of cats saying (by way of LOLspeak captions) the darnedest things \u2014 with an ironic twist being that the libretto is composed entirely of just such captions \u2014 might be the next big thing.<\/p>\n

Fifteen months later, LOLPERA<\/em> has a successful<\/a>, sold-out run at the Garage Theatre behind it and upcoming runs at the Hollywood and New York Fringe Festivals. So we’re certainly not looking like complete idiots.<\/p>\n

What is a little hard for us to get our minds around is that LOLPERA<\/em> creators LN&AND (a.k.a. Ellen Warkentine and Andrew Pedroza) weren’t especially happy with the initial production. But that fact just speaks to the ambition and exacting standards of the duo, and of the good things to come for the show.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

They couldn’t know it then, but the initial full production of LOLPERA<\/em> last October was destined to come up short in the minds of LN&AND partly because the workshop version of Act One staged in November 2010 contained the essence and superstructure of LOLPERA<\/em> without having to concern itself with completeness \u2014 a perfect staging ground for the unmitigated magic the duo had hit upon a year earlier, when the lark of composing a song based around the LOLcat photo of a cat on a keyboard in front of a field of stars (caption: “Astro Cat Will Play for You the Symphony of Space”) led to the conceit of mining the ludicrous for a treasure trove of meaning. Reaction was so strong to the workshop that LN&AND committed to a run at the Garage Theatre and spent the next year working the show into shape.<\/p>\n

A year can be a long time \u2014 except if you’re composing and coordinating a project of the magnitude of LOLPERA<\/em>. And as fall 2011 approached, the pair knew LOLPERA<\/em> was not going to be the perfect animal they desired.<\/p>\n

“I wasn’t happy with the show, because I really loved what the workshop had done,” Warkentine says. “I was like, ‘Oh man, we made it so complicated that it doesn’t make sense anymore.’ I took it too seriously, because I had all these ideas, [some of which] weren’t quite there. [\u2026] People who had seen the workshop were like, ‘It was pure,’ you know?”<\/p>\n

“I wasn’t unhappy with the production, because we did it, we did an opera,” Pedroza counters. “But I always had the idea that: This isn’t going to stay the same; it’s always going to get better \u2014 we just need to get something on paper, something produced<\/em>. And we did it. [\u2026 But] we were literally fixing things up to the fucking hour before opening, you know? And that’s confusing for a cast. And that sucks [\u2026] Now the next level is us really getting what we want. [\u2026] There were things that we wanted but never had time to do. But they simmered and now they’re clarified.”<\/p>\n

Among the elements that the pair says are more fully cooked is the relationship between the LOLcat pics\/captions and the characters and the audience itself, a triad that was always one of most intriguing questions Warkentine and Pedroza, even if they weren’t sure exactly how to answer it.<\/p>\n

“In Act One [of the current production] the captions are there and they’re cute, ha ha ha,” says Pedroza. “But in Act Two they become this weapon against the characters. It’s the control that Basement Cat [exerts].” Warkentine: “It’s what we were trying to do [originally], but we didn’t quite understand [how to execute the maneuver].”<\/p>\n

LN&AND say the new-and-improved LOLPERA<\/em>, which debuts Sunday at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, will be sleeker, sifting out unnecessary detail and repetition as a means to clarify the proceedings.<\/p>\n

“We’ve removed a lot of the repetition, just to [play up] the idea that there’s always something new to focus on, distractions,” Pedroza says, “like in today’s world. [\u2026] And now that we have the basis of everything [i.e., from the original production], we were able to take away things to make those choices a lot more clear. Like what ‘Caturday’ is. Certain [elements] are much more defined.”<\/p>\n

The minimal nature of the set the LOLPERA<\/em> crew will employ at the upcoming festivals are helping to serve as a crucible for the show’s refinement.<\/p>\n

“The workshop was so blank on stage,” Pedroza relates. “I think that’s the direction we needed to go: less is more.”<\/p>\n

Warkentine points to how the streamlining of LOLPERA<\/em> helps focus the audience’s relation to the story: “It’s just you and your screen. I mean, that’s the idea: it’s just you and your computer screen. And an opera. That’s the idea for the audience: Here you are looking at cat pictures on your computer screen. But don’t feel bad, because it’s an opera. So you can feel good.”<\/p>\n

She laughs heartily at this, an exemplification of the fact that while LN&AND have been putting serious work into LOLPERA<\/em> for nearly three years (including every day during the run-up to the Hollywood Fringe Festival. “It’s like every fucking second that we can put in,” Pedroza says), they don’t take themselves seriously.<\/p>\n

“We just want a fucking fun show that tells a story that’s clear and can be enjoyed by an audience,” Pedroza says, “but also that is modern, [with] new ideas that haven’t been done before but have<\/em> been done before, you know?” He laughs at his own struggle to articulate their intention. “It’s a lot.”<\/p>\n

That drive to do so much with LOLPERA<\/em> means that even this time around the pair doesn’t expect all of the pieces to be perfectly in place.<\/p>\n

“The timing [of LOLPERA<\/em>‘s development] has been very natural, very organic,” says Warkentine. “[But] it’s not going to be a perfect show this time. [\u2026] It’s taking the shape we always wanted it to have. [\u2026 But] there’s always more that I want to do.”<\/p>\n

“But by New York, it should be pretty damn<\/em> perfect,” Pedroza rejoins.<\/p>\n

When asked to reflect on the LOLPERA<\/em> journey thus far \u2014 for example, whether they ever imagined they would be involved in a single project for so long \u2014 LN&AND take themselves more seriously than have been during the entire interview, because now they’re talking about other people who have been part of the trek.<\/p>\n

“From the workshop to the show\u2026people just being so supportive of it,” Warkentine says with a quiet awe. “The cast loving it, their enthusiasm\u2026. We were like, ‘Well, we may as well try to see if we can really turn it into something. [\u2026] It’s definitely a bigger thing than me and Andrew now, because there are so many people involved. And just how it’s kind of written by the Internets \u2014 but it’s not, you know? [\u2026] It’s a cool idea that in a way it’s been written by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people who all participated without even knowing that they were participating.”<\/p>\n

On its way to becoming the next big thing, <\/em>LOLPERA takes the stage at the Hudson Theatres (6539 Santa Monica Blvd., LA 90038) as part of Hollywood Fringe Festival for one performance on each of three consecutive Sundays at 7 p.m.: June 10, 17, and 24. To purchase tickets (only $10!), go to hollywoodfringe.org\/projects\/913<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOLPERA<\/em> was a Long Beach smash during its world premiere last fall. But that wasn’t enough for the show’s creators, who have refined their brilliant and hilarious operatic, philosohpical turn on the ludicrous LOLcats phenomenon for its upcoming run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. And then it’s on to New York!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"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":[6],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-4531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hi-lo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4531","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\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4531"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=4531"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}