"False Alligat-ions" at the Full Moon Puppet Show (Jan 2014)

It's my sewer alligator puppet show!



In False Alligations, Teddy the weird orphan boy discovers that there are alligators living in the city's sewers, but the authorities will not believe him.  When he goes into the sewers himself to investigate, he finds that things are not what they seem.

I wrote, directed and performed in False Alligations in January 2014 as part of the Full Moon Puppet Show, organized by Liz Schacterle, at Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis.

The January 25th performance featured Janet Skidmore as the narrator and playing guitar; Theo Goodell providing additional puppeteering and playing the toy xylophone; and Bob Helland on additional Guitar.  I performed Teddy, ran the projector, and was the puppeteer behind the alligator king.

Everybody had incredibly nice things to say about the show, and people liked it so much that we was invited to perform "False Alligations" again in September as part of the last Full Moon Puppet Show, during the Handmade Worlds Festival of Puppet Theatre, produced by The Puppeteers of America.  (This time with Janet Skidmore reprising her roles, and Francisco Benavides and Jane Marshall providing additional puppetry)

Comic Artists' Night at the Opera - Arabella

The Minnesota Opera generously invites artists and members of the press to dress rehearsals for each show that they premiere.  The Black Hat Collective and I arrive with pens, pencils and paintbrushes and make it out mission to interpret each show through cartoons and sketches.

In this 1932 opera by Ricard Strauss, a family is living far beyond their means in a fancy hotel (pictured).  Their credit has run out and they are in danger of getting kicked out, unless they can get their eldest daughter Arabella to marry somebody with money.

Unfortunately Arabella doesn't want to get married for money, she wants to fall in love.  Though she has a number of suitors, she does not have feelings for any of them.

However, Arabella's younger sister Zdenka (pictured) - who dresses as a boy and goes by the name "Zdenko" - has secretly fallen in love with Mateo (not pictured) - one of the men who pines after Arabella. Zdenka loves Mateo so much that she doesn't want him to be unhappy, so she tricks Mateo by writing him love letters and signing Arabella's name.  As a result, Mateo thinks Arabella is in love with him, when she is not.

Anna Bolena at the MN Opera

You know that I usually like to give you loads and loads of history and backstory whenever I go to an opera, but this time, all you need to know about Anne Boleyn, 2nd wife of Henry VIII, can be heard in this song:

"Young Anne Boleyn she was two, had a daughter, the best she could do.  I said she flirted with some other man, and off for the chop went dear Anne"

Sexy Henry!  Take me now!

 The 1830 opera Anna Bolena by Donizetti is ostensibly a portrayal of Anne Boleyn's life leading up to the day when Henry had her head chopped off, as he was wont to do.  Donizetti did four operas about Tudor England so I was excited for some history.

Then during the reception the speaker told us, "If you're a fan of Showtime's The Tudors, rest assured that we have a very sexy Henry for you!" And I sighed the collective sigh of a million historians crying out in terror, only to be suddenly silenced. [Link:  Sexy Henry's diet]

To read my write-up of the opera and see my lovely cartoons, keep read on under the cut.

MN Opera: Madame Butterfly

For each new show it opens, the Minnesota Opera invites local bloggers to a full dress rehearsal.  The Black Hat Collective of cartoonists and I make it our mission to interpret each show in cartoons and drawings, then post them online.

Last Thursday's show was the immortal:

Madame Butterfly

Part of the reason I didn't do a blog for the MN Opera's last production, Lucia Di Lammermoore, is because I was often too interested in what was happening onstage to draw!  That's a good problem to have.  The same problem came up a lot on Madame Butterfly.  It has a very rich story, complex and expressive characters, and lots of background info to deal with.  I'll be walking you through Madame Butterfly in the most enlightening way I can  —with words, videos, jokes, drawings, and photos.

Werther —or— A Dark Knight at the Opera

Last Thursday I went along with the Black Hat Collective to another preview at the Minnesota Opera.  Our mission:  To draw comics, enjoy the show, and have a fun time —then blog about it!

Tonight's show: 
Werther

Read on to learn about history, tragedy, romance and Batman in this fully-illustrated article featuring cartoons and comedy. 

"Silent Night" at the Opera

The Black Hat Collective was invited out to another show at the Minnesota Opera on Thursday.  Our mission is to view the opera, interpret it with cartoons, then blog about it.

This time the show was Silent Night — An adaptation into opera of the 2005 film Joyeux Noel, which is a beautiful story about the 1914 "Christmas Truce" of World War 1.

Read on to explore the history, music, art and drama behind Silent Night in this fully-illustrated article —with cartoons, videos and more!

Always Bringing, Always Taking Away - At Paper Moose Jumpsuit and Co.

Back in June, I worked with puppeteers Kate Saturday and Olli Johnson, as well as musicians Erik Ostrom and Brian Rowe to perform a Puppet Show about the Mississippi river onboard a Paddleboat for a live audience.  The show went pretty darn well, so we decided to do an encore presentation.

Because Olli was busy this summer working on a puppet show at the Minnesota Zoo (which I eventually got to see with my friend Michael - a post on this zoo trip is coming soon), we recruited my friend Spencer Riedel (who is a musician, puppeteer and all-around awesome and friendly guy what can also entertain you), to fill in for her.

We practiced together a bunch more and then on August 7th, took Always Bringing, Always Taking Away (or ABATA as we call it) to a performing arts space in Minneapolis called Paper Moose Jumpsuit and Co.

Paper Moose is a very weird place, in a good way.  It is located inside an old paper factory.  The front door is always locked so audiences must enter through the fire escape (!!!).  Walking through the building begins as a tour of a decrepit factory and suddenly transforms into a cozy and intimate arts space.  With a sitting room, a stage, and a little bar.

This time, unlike the performance on the boat, the performance was less river-centric, and more like a get-together of friends and associates to focus on each other and art.

Perpich Horror Movie (Spring-Summer 2009)

Well it took me 2 years to get around to it but I FINALLY put Secret Places: A School Divided up on the internet for all to see!

Created Spring-Summer 2009

In my senior year of high school at the Perpich Center for Arts education I applied for and was awarded a $100 grant to create a horror movie set at the Arts High School.

Always Bringing, Always Taking Away - Onboard the Mississippi Megalops

So I spent the last few months working with Kate Saturday and Olli Johnson (as well as the musicians Erik Ostrom and Brian Rowe) on an experimental puppet show called "Always Bringing, Always Taking Away"

"Always Bringing, Always Taking Away" is a 15-20 minute long puppet show about the river ecosystem. The puppets are abstractions of animals, people, and machines made entirely out of ribbon. The show was designed to be performed on a paddleboat called the Jonathan Padelford as part of the "Mississippi Megalops - a Floating Chatauqua" project created by the arts organization "Works Progress" for the "Northern Spark" art festival in Saint Paul, MN, which was organized by Northern Lights.

The boat trip was very fun.  I invited my family and my friend Spencer Riedel to come along for the ride.

Watch the video of our performance onboard the megalops here:



After the stress of prepping for the show on the boat we're taking a break. But I bet there's more to come from this show in the near future. Stay Tuned

Singer-Songwriter Extraordinaire!

I have put songs up on SoundCloud!

The first song is a love ballad dedicated to Walt Whitman (based on a poem by Alen Ginsberg)
Walt Whitman! (2011) by thomas-boguszewski

The second song is the story of when squirrels attack (based on a dream I had)
Squirrels by thomas-boguszewski

And then I did some experiments with an 8-bit program
 

8-bit experiment (EachHisOwn) by thomas-boguszewski

8-bit experiment (gottarun) by thomas-boguszewski

Have a nice day :)