Workshop, Day 5
Photo by J Elissa Marshall
Rude Mechs and The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance Musical Theatre Initiative Present a Workshop and Work-in-Progress Showing of
I've Never Been So Happy
Created by Rude Mechs
Book/Lyrics by Kirk Lynn
Music/Lyrics by Peter Stopschinski
Directed/Curated by Thomas Graves & Lana Lesley
Music Directed by Lyn Koenning
Production Design by Noel Gaulin & Erin Meyer
Workshop: June 1 – 12, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 12009
Pre-Performance Iced Tea Party at 3:00 PM
Work-in-progress Showing at 4:00 PM
B. Iden Payne Theatre (Stage)
Admission: By invitation
Media and Resources:
I've Never Been So Happy is an investigation of the west, the folk tale, gender politics, collaboration, parenting, falling in love, transmedia performance, live music and dachshunds.
Scene 1: Julie Jessup ties her son, Jeremy, to the last mountain lion in Texas in order to teach him an endangered breed of manliness.
Scene 3: Jeremy is dragged across the West, learning all the things the mountain lion knows, until the rope is sheared in two. Then Jeremy calls home to his mother to tell her he misses her.
Scenes 5 & 6 Mixed Together: Julie comes into town to place a missing person's report on her son. But because her love for her son is beyond language, the report is missing the words.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Julie, across town, Brutus, a single father who has forbidden his daughter to leave the house until she gets married, and Brutus gets to pick the groom. When Brutus sees Jeremy wander into town, half naked and dirty from being dragged around the west by his lion, Brutus thinks this is the perfect boy for my daughter, 'cause she will never agree to marry him!
Rude Mechs is an ensemble theater collective based in Austin, Texas, that for thirteen years has used performance to investigate collaboration. The result is a mercurial slate of 27 original theatrical productions ranging from Low-Fi, Agit-Prop, and Lec-Dems to Trans-Media, Romantic-Era, and Closet Dramas. They hold in common bold physicality, intellectual savvy, a preference for the actor above the character, and an irreverent sense of humor. Select productions include THE METHOD GUN, GET YOUR WAR ON, MATCH-PLAY, and LIPSTICK TRACES.
Direction by: Marie Brown in collaboration with the Ensemble
- Marlane Barnes Ensemble
- Jenny Connell Ensemble
- Julia Cory Cello
- Christina Gutierrez Dramaturg/Ensemble
- Julia Gytri Ensemble
- Glen Hall Ensemble
- Amy Harris Violin
- Hannah Kenah Ensemble
- Jena Kirmse Ensemble
- Lisa Kobdish Ensemble
- Lyn Koenning Piano
- Denise Martel Production Manager
- Hector Moreno Cello
- Jared Oberholtzer Stage Manager
- Herb Steiner Pedal Steel Guitar
- Peter Stopschinksi Electronics
- Christina Underwood Bass
- Cody Williams Stage Manager
- Thomas Vanderbrook Violin
- Leah Zeger String Section Leader
- 5/15/09 – Press Release
- 6/1/09 – Austin on Stage “PHOTO CALL: I've Never Been So Happy”
- 6/2/09 – I've Never Been So Happy UT Workshop Blog
- 6/10/2009 – I've Never Been So Happy on KUT's Aielli Unleashed
I've Never Been So Happy is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and was selected for the NEA Distinguished New Play Development Program. Rude Mechs is funded in part by The City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from The Texas Commission on the Arts.
This workshop was sponsored by the UT Department of Theatre and Dance Musical Theatre Initative.
