The Berlin Wall is Being Rebuilt?!

No. It's not. But we had to con you into clicking our link, and to be fair, this post is related to Berlin, so only a few of those words were lies.

We just wanted to give you a little looky-loo into what we are up to!

Just because Tut'Zanni has settled down geographically a bit for 2012, doesn't mean that we aren't still hard at work. After all, so long as the world doesn't end this month, 2013 is just lurking around the corner, and we want to hit the ground running.

So here is what we are excited for: we are developing a new show with the working title, "HELP?!". As you have probably guessed, the show is to be about helping. But it's not just a bunch of feel-good stories about good people helping other people. Of course not. Because Commedia characters are not good people. The 'Zanni are not good people. We are not good people. No. They (and we) are just regular people (and sometimes terrible people...). And as we know, when regular people try to help, sometimes it doesn't go so well, or the have ulterior motives, or maybe help wasn't needed at all. We have all experienced or witnessed terrible things happen, storms and hurricanes and disasters, even just this year in New York and many other places. We have all needed help in our lives, or tried to help those around us, and in our show, we intend to explore all of these things, and more! And, of course, as a Tut'Zanni show, we'll be making sure it is as raunchy, vulgar, and hilarious as possible.

Now, we have been doing as much work as possible through  the wonders of today's technology, but we can only do so much wearing pirate hats and goatees in group video chats. We are going to have to come together physically and put this show in its feet! So, in February 2013, Tut'Zanni is running away to Berlin! Where the air is ripe with creativity, and the city is filled to the brim with inspiring art and those who created it. And, perhaps the more realistic motivation, theatre space that costs less than lunch (and believe me, the term "starving artist" is definitely applicable to us), and there are plenty of cozy little living spaces we can cram into. And let's not forget that our lovely co-founder, Dory, will be so pregnant that the changing air pressure in a plane would probably make her pop! Ok, not really, but we aren't going to make her travel across continents anyway.

As excited as we are, these things all mean the time for fundraising has begun! So we are reaching out to all fo you for your help and support, in whatever form. We are going ot be putting out some great swag, starting with our cute Tut'Zanni Monster calendars, and sweet glow-in-the-dark wristbands! They are available on our website under "swag", and all proceeds go directly to Tut'Zanni Theatre Company. You can also make donations on our "Donate!" tab (in case you hadn't noticed, you can also just click any of those words. Yay for links!). We understand that not everyone can donate monetarily, and that's totally fine! We're poor too, we get it. But you can still help. Spread the word, like our pages, follow our twitter, share our links! Let your family and friends know we exist, and help us rally up some support. We love and appreciate all of our fans, and all that you do for us!

We are planning a lot for 2013, Berlin is just the beginning! So keep checking us out and what we're up to, and when Tut'Zanni comes to town, come and see us!

Ok, so none of these pictures except one have really been related to the post itself, but let's be honest- blogs are far less boring when they have pictures (and who doesn't like Tut'Z in a Tub?!)! Plus we like to share our craziness with you. Help us create more weirdness in 2013!!!

We're Totally On Top Of Stuff

Long Overdue

Yes, yes, we know. We are TERRIBLE at keeping up with our blog!  So let us give you a quick little update-

FringeNYC was fantastic. It was such a good chance to be able to perform as well as see what other artists are doing. We had 5 performances altogether, which, of course, differed drastically. One of our favorites was filmed though, so once the footage is all edited and pretty, we’ll give you a little peek ;).

We each stayed all around the city with friends and family. Luckily, we seem to know a fair amount of people in the Big Apple. One of the great things about being there for the full 3 weeks of the festival was that we also had some down time to explore the city, see some shows, and really take in the whole experience.

From day 1, things were insane. That’s just how we do things. Dory and ALi had to build some portable flats, ingeniously crafted out of pvc pipe and a shadowscreen (which may or may not have been a plastic tablecloth).

These were assembled literally minutes before our tech rehearsal, where they were fireproofed as per New York law.

Our venue was The Cherry Lane Theatre, which is a gorgeous Off-Broadway stage, and we were very lucky to have it.

Rehearsal was tight as usual, and performances always varying. As scheduling turned out, we had Allegra performing with us on our first and last shows, with Molly in the middle 3.  We were very pleased with the entire run, and we are very glad that we attended the festival.

We were featured in Play by Play Magazine, you can read the article here

We also were reviewed by NYTheatre, which you can read here

The audience response was great. People really seemed to really like the show, and we gained some new fans :).

Overall, we loved New York, and were so grateful to be a part of FringeNYC!

Dance Parties = Lifesavers

We had originally intended to blog every day here, but we had been mad busy since we arrived! Plus, Patrick and I (ALi) completely failed at posting on our appointed blog days. At least Molly and Liam were on the ball for the first couple.

A lot has happened. We have cycled our way through about 12 different shows now, as every time we go to work, we end up completely changing everything. 

Over the weekend, we had the wonderful opportunity to work with Michele Bottini, who is a fantastic player in the commedia world. He helped give some insights as a trained outside eye, and brought us back to some solid commedia roots. And, of course, completely changed our show. 

On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of having Kevin Crawford, a spectacular instructor who actually taught all of us while we attended the Accademia, watch our show and give his insights. As you can guess, the show completely changed. Again.

There were several points where we hit the wall and each had our own breakdowns, but sometimes something has to be broken before you can build it back up. By Wednesday, we took the evening off, and enjoyed a spectacular evening of friends and fun at Dory and Jesse's beautiful countryside home for the 4th of July. It was great to get to know some of the other CrisisArt participants, new Accadema students, and of course some Italy residents. Tut'Zanni as a company also got to bond in a special way, reminiscing over old times, and being awestruck at where we are today. (If I remember, I will be inserting some pictures here, but I will have to steal them from Liam, as he seems to be the only one of us actually consistent about taking them! If I don't remember, then you will forever read this message at this point.)

Then we come to this morning. We had a bit of a rough start, but once we got going, we got going. We jumped back into the old version of our show (the one some of you saw in LA), and filled it with all the amazing bits from our new versions. And for the first time since we arrived, we have a complete show, and one that makes sense, with everything coming together in a beautiful way.




We mapped out our whole show to have a visual, and this is how it turned out:

For those of you unfamiliar with commedia, that right there is our entire canovaccio, or what normal plays would call their "script". There it is, in all it's glory. What a thing of beauty. Actually, the whole show is only the blue. The green is one king lazzo made up of lots of baby lazzi. Basically one giant funny bit. 

Throughout this whole process, we have had numerous ups and downs, as is to be expected. But what makes the difference is we pull each other through it... 

...with dance parties.

Stay tuned for more of the goings-on with Tut'Zanni! We are performing this Sunday at the CrisisArt Festival! If you just so happen to be in the area... you should come check us out. If you unfortunately can't make it, don't sweat it, we'll be filming it for you. Keep checking our website and blog for updates!