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welcome to the theatre blog for GLM!

 all the lovely bits that influence our shows and
inspire us to create. 
learn about the art, music,
photography, film, and history
that make up our performances.
 

An Ode to Bobo, our favorite H.B.I.C.

10/30/2015

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"Check yourself before you wreck yourself"
 Bobo's motto
Now that Clown Bar has only two shows left, (with Friday completely sold out) we can spoil the surprise that Bobo, the ice-cold leader of the underground Clown Crime family is......a woman. (BUM! BUM! BUUUMMM!)

Originally the role of Bobo was written for a man, but Amanda Alvey thought it would be a funnier twist to have it be played by a woman, with Bobo spoken of in hushed, frightened tones, the clowns terrified of the very mention of his name, only to have Bobo storm out onto the stage, revealed to be a female wearing a very small top hat and a giant clown nose.

During Clown Bar's first show, when Bobo stomped out on stage, the audience lost their damn minds, and it was one of our favorite theatre moments.

If Vito Corleone (circa Godfather II with Robert DeNiro), and Phyllis Dietrich (Barbara Stanwyk in Double Endemnity) had a baby, and then let it be raised by Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest  it would have turned out exactly like Bobo.  Cunning, ruthless, giver of zero f**ks, Head B*tch In Charge. 

​Catch Bobo in the ONLY performance left of Clown Bar that is not completely sold out, Saturday's Halloween show. 

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"Why you shouldn't miss Clown Bar's last two shows!"

10/27/2015

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(The other title choice for this post was  "Your mouth will fill with the parched ash of regret and bitter tears will scald your cheeks, when the cold realization you have missed CLOWN BAR sinks in and an icy whip of regret blows through your heart!")*

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Photo courtesy of Elsa Dinletir
There are only two shows left to see Clown Bar.  Well technically we had three, but Thursday's 10/29 show completely sold out.

This is it people, the end of Clown Bar.  If it turns out you're the only one who didn't see it, we will  point and laugh at you while you ask yourself:

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

Don't be that person. 

* We have a penchant for the dramatic.
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"Two white horses in a line..." Clown Bar's Shotgun McGee and his Farewell Ride

10/5/2015

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  Shotgun McGee is a rodeo clown who loves whiskey, women, beers, drugs, roadhouses, whore houses, gin joints, dance halls, speakeasys, gun shows, dive bars, clown bars, cowboy bars, hookers, lookers, damsels in distress, and damsels who are undressed.  Shotgun is reckless and careless, because he has wrecked everything and cares for nothing.  The prototypical noir anti-hero, Shotgun puts down his shots of whiskey as fast as he puts a shot in someone's foot.  


     A product of the Wild West, rodeo clowns were tasked with the often-deadly task of steering the attention of  the bull away from a bull-riding cowboy who had fallen or been injured.  Using old clowning techniques they would alternately entertain the crowd with their antics, while buying precious time for the cowboy to exit to safety, often being injured or killed while distracting a massive, angry animal.  A life that so often touched death led to the  stigma of the rodeo clown being a hard drinking, hard living man, and Clown Bar's Shotgun McGee is our man. 
Beck's 'Farewell Ride," a tar-black, cowboy-tinged song about trying and failing to quit heroin is our inspiration for Shotgun.  This version of the video is paired with the spectacular 'No Country for Old Men," featuring the psychopathic assassin Anton Chigurh whose preferred method for killing is a pneumatic cattle gun, and it preeeeeeeeeeeetty much sums up this Clown Bar character.

​Here ya go, Shotgun.  It's your farewell ride. 



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Clown Bar premiere's TONIGHT with a "Pre-Show Sideshow" featuring a short film, belly dancers, and a snake

10/2/2015

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In the grand tradition of Circus Sideshows, where the crowds would be entertained by weird, intriguing acts before the circus opened, Good Luck Macbeth will be hosting a "Pre-Show Sideshow," featuring the short film by Kaleb Temple, "Schnozzled." The3-minute film will run before every performance .

A clown is only as good as his nose, and Sniffles the Clown is about to find that out the hard way.

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We will also be featuring a sideshow act involving belly dancing and a PYTHON.  (Fair warning--if you are afraid of snakes do not sit in the front row.)  The "Pre-Show Sideshow" promises to be just as freaky, funny, and irreverent as 'Clown Bar,' and we cannot wait for you to see it!

Have you seen our Clown Bar preview film? Check it out below!

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Pee Wee, Norma Desmond and German art books: how Clown Bar's director Ashely Marie James gets inspired

9/29/2015

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Frightening in 1985 and frightening now. This really holds up.
Pee Wee's Big Adventure colored our childhoods..

"I'm a giant Pee Wee Fan," states Ashley. "This iconic scene was a huge source of inspiration for the over all look of the play."

The source of many of our childhood nightmares after watching 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure' in 1985, this scene was so iconic that when we mentioned to anyone--castmate, colleague, random person on the street--they always nodded and agreed.

I'm Ready for my Closeup....

"The film 'Sunset Boulevard' was required homework for the cast. I could gush for hours I love this movie so much.  But for me it really encapsulates the Noir genre.  The themes about fame, greed, love and loss of sanity are those you find in the characters of Clown Bar," states Ashley.

'Sunset Boulevard' is also a beloved film of GLM, as we all secretly desire to swan about a mansion in LA wearing dressing gowns while complaining and day-drinking.

Yasssss Qween, yasss!
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Heaven.
An art-book lover's dream...

The German art publishers Taschen created the book that became our #1 source of visual inspiration, "The Circus; 1870-1950."


Known for publishing the quintessential books on some of our favorite artists and genres, this collection of images from the American circuses of the late 19th and early 20th century captured the grit, glamour, spirit and recklessness of circus life.

(If you ever come across a Taschen in a used book store, purchase it immediately. They are gorgeously made, thick-papered and heavy as bricks; delicious to hold and read.)

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Clown Bar inspiration: the Depression-era circus story we love

9/28/2015

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Our brilliant neighbors at Sundance Books will be happy to find this story for you. Pay them a visit and tell them we sent you!
The book was wonderful. The movie was pure shit.
Sara Gruen's lyrical and moving tale of the Great Depression-era travelling circus called "Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth," and the fascinating, sad, and captivating characters who inhabit the show became one of our favorite reads when researching Clown Bar.

"As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the Great Depression, and for Jacob the circus was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an un-trainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was ultimately their only hope for survival."

We loved the bleakness of 1930's America paired with the vibrant world of the circus, a mix of hope and hopelessness we kept in mind while rehearsing Clown Bar. While everyone gushed over the love story of two of the main characters, we found Rosie the elephant and the hard-drinking, gambling clowns and sideshow actors to be our favorite part of the story.

Clown Bar opens on Friday Oct. 2nd.

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Clown Noir Inspiration

9/27/2015

 
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While perusing the internet for treasures we found this gem out of Ireland, in the form of a performer called "Clown Noir". He does the kind of dark, weird stuff we love, mixing themes and elements to concoct something truly intriguing.  Enjoy this inspiration for your Sunday!

Be sure to check out Clown Bar, premiering this Friday 10/2 at 7:30, to see our take on clowns, crime, and noir.
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Clown Bar Cast: Scott Rankin's favorite noir movie

9/26/2015

 
      Over beers we asked "Clown Bar" cast member Scott Rankin what he thought the quintessential noir film of the 1950's was, and he responded "Night of the Hunter."  A fantastic mixture of stark realism,  Germanic expressionism, and American gothic, the movie is a brilliant good-and-evil parable, with "good" represented by a couple of farm kids and a pious old lady, and "evil" literally in the hands of a posturing psychopath. Robert Mitchum was never creepier than he was in this film as a child-hunting preacher, with Shelley Winters as the unsuspecting mother he marries, and Lillian Gish as the deeply religious matron of a home for abandoned children.

Fun fact: the "Love" and "Hate" tattoos adorning the knuckles of many a Renoite come directly from this film.



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^ Super creepy, still hot. So weird.
Come see Scott Rankin, master of noir, as "Giggles" in Clown Bar.
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    Christopher Daniels is the current Managing Director of GLM Theatre and a bright shining light upon the stage.

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We live at 124 W. Taylor Street
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Good Luck Macbeth is a registered 501(c)3 not-for profit company.

What our patrons say

"We like it here" - The Three Witches from Macbeth

"They have yet to perform Macbeth, but aside from that this is my favorite place." - Macbeth





Contact Us:
Phone: 775-322-3716
Email:
Chris@goodluckmacbeth.org

  • Home
    • Tickets
    • GLM Theatre Blog
    • Artistic Partnerships
  • Now Playing......
  • Calendar of Events
  • About Us
    • Help Support Us!
    • Rent Us!
    • Awards and Accolades
  • New Works Initiative
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