LOLrus (Anthony Pedroza) has a bukkit at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Photos by Matt Kollar.
They extracted brilliance from the ludicrous LOLcat phenomenon by quilting a libretto of LOLspeak found on icanhascheezburger.com into a dynamic, hilarious, full-blown opera about the misguided nature of seeking substance in the meaningless world of empty corporate commodification. They sold out a run at the Garage Theatre, then another at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
Now they’re hitting the road for the New York Fringe Festival. But first you’ve got a final chance to find out what all the fuss is about, as LOLPERA makes a one-night fundraising stand at the Art Theatre on July 26. And even if you’ve seen the show, creators LN&AND (known to some as Ellen Warkentine and Andrew Pedroza) promise something new, as cast and crew move ever closer to the perfection they seek.
“The whole ending is different,” Warkentine says when asked to compare the most recent iteration of LOLPERA with the one to be staged at the Art. “I remember Andrew saying [in their pre-Hollywood interview with the Long Beach Post] it’s going to be almost perfect [by the New York performances]. And yesterday we were really making some beautiful changes to the ending. We’re really excited about the ending now. It’s almost exactly where we hoped it would be. […] I think that, having seen the Hollywood show, after seeing [the forthcoming Art Theatre] show, you would be like, ‘Ooohhhh, okay. Now I see what they were trying to do.’ I think those questions that were supposed to be answered but weren’t will be answered. It will be a much more complete and satisfying production. At least for us!”
LN&AND say the Hollywood Fringe run of LOLPERA was extremely educational, both in terms of undergoing a trial by fire regarding what’s involved in staging a show when you don’t have a theatre company dedicated to supporting you (as was the case with fall 2011’s premiere run the Garage Theatre), as well as having the chance to experiment with various changes in front of a live audience.
“I thought it was a big learning experience—especially on the producing end,” Warkentine says. “Finding out all the elements, the pieces that need to come together, is such puzzle, so much problem-solving.”
“A lot of new people saw the show,” Pedroza adds. “We got a lot of new feedback—and a lot of good feedback.”
One adjustment between Hollywood and New York will be a leaner cast. “It doesn’t have to be huge,” Pedroza says. “Everybody’s a big character. […] I think the cast needs to be small, because the movement’s really important. It has to be precise with the movement so that it doesn’t look sloppy. Having less people definitely helps that out.”
More importantly, LN&AND feel they’ve gained them insight about which of LOLPERA‘s many ideas were getting across well enough, and which weren’t.
“In our post-mortem [discussion] of the Hollywood show, we talked with the cast about our ideas—the things that weren’t clear, the things that were clear,” reports Warkentine. “And as we continue to have that discussion, we start to see some of the themes that are coming up. Little things that help bring the themes out the cast continues to discover. With these conversations, we know more and more about the show.”
But the real stress on the LOLPERA team right now has to do with the production aspects. Just before I role tape (metaphorically, since we’re in the digital age, baby), LN&AND were hashing out logistics about how to get the necessaries for New York, from body mics to a violinist to all manner of technical details and a production manager to coordinate them. When I ask whether I’m right in believing they must be feeling the weight of shouldering so much more responsibility now than they did during the Garage Theatre run.
“So, so right,” nods Warkentine, showing her lassitude. “There is so much right now that I’m trying to balance and put together. And it falls on my shoulders right now. […] A lot of people are working really, really hard. As far as the responsibility, though, I know I feel that if I don’t make this [element] happen, it’s not going to happen. There’s no more Jessica [Variz, original director of LOLPERA] and the Garage Theatre who’s going to make sure that this or that happened. [… There are] lots of challenges. The marketing. The advertising. Getting the team together. The costumes. The tech elements. Getting everybody out there. Working with the actors who are far away. Get people to the Art Theatre. Recording. It’s all that coordinating that has to happen.”
Not the least of the group’s challenges is surmounting the sheer expense of the New York trip—transportation, rent, advertising, the necessary technical elements—which LN&AND estimates will run about $20,000.
Hence, the fundraiser, which consists not only of the show itself, but warm-up music by the Viral Symphony (a.k.a. the LOLPERA band), free face-painting to look like a LOLPERA character (e.g., Ceiling Cat, Basement Cat, LOLrus), and an after-party at Clancy’s.
Additionally, there will be a silent auction featuring offerings such as a “cat massage” (not with real cats, presumably, but a reference to a scene in LOLPERA), a “sexy sax date” (walking around with your own personal musical accompaniment; includes Wham!’s “Careless Whisper”), and goods and services donated by several local businesses. Also on offer will be various LOLPERA merchandise, including a cast recording of selected LOLPERA numbers and a DVD with footage from the Hollywood Fringe production, plus behind-the-scenes and interview material.
Plus, it’s a nice cause. “You’re sending off a cast of people who have dreamed for years to perform in New York,” says Pedroza. “That’s huge.”
“We want to get the Art Theatre full of Long Beach folks,” says Warkentine.
“People that like art,” responds Pedroza, beginning a bout of the back-and-forth that LN&AND sometimes can’t help but fall into. “People that like LOLcats. People that like cats. People that like—us.”
“People that like opera. People that like a good time. People that like theatre.”
“People that don’t like theatre.”
“Yeah. Exactly. We had our theatre-hating friend Raul say we had single-handedly changed his feeling about theatre.”
“And Raul hates theatre.”
“A lot of people who hate opera and hate theatre and hate LOLcats love LOLPERA,” Warkentine says, “even though it sounds…horrible.”
“I don’t think so,” Pedroza rejoins. “I think it sounds so stupid it sounds fun. And that’s what we are: so stupid and fun.”
They’re also people who have created a magnificent show. Get yourself to the Art Theatre at 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 26, to see what I mean. For tickets ($20), go to lolpera.com.
Internet. Serious Business.