First Day On Site in Los Angeles with Looking Glass

Tori Sparks as the Red Queen and Tara O'Con as Alice

On Saturday, ten-foot tall signage went up on the side of the Bank of America building, an incongruous art installation of antique ephemera appeared in the West Lobby, and Zach and my first week in LA came to a close.

Yesterday afternoon, Tara O'Con, Tori Sparks, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, and Elizabeth Carena arrived in LA (Jennine Willett will join the company next Monday). We did massive grocery shopping, started to figure out this whole driving-in-LA-thing, and settled into our house in Silver Lake. Later, we travelled to the Bank of America Plaza for a site observation, unpacked the costumes and trunk, and then we celebrated our arrival with cocktails on a downtown rooftop.

But today was what it's all about. Really hitting the pavement or, rather rolling on the brick wall as the case may be. The first day is always pivotal. It's a kind of ice-breaking moment all around. It's the first time we get to physically interact with the site full-force, and it's the first time that the denizens of the site see us here. We are coming in as the foreign element again, but after years of working in this way, we've started to know how it goes. We get to know everyone as they get to know us, and by the time we leave, we seem as natural to the site as the waterfalls and Tasmanian tree ferns.

We are excited to have our rehearsal time on site open for audiences to watch as we build the work. Over the course of these two weeks, they will have the opportunity to see the creative process from start to finish, and along the way, we get the opportunity to try out material in front of them. It will certainly tell us quickly what works best and what doesn't. We know when we have their attention and where we lose them, and this kind of on-site process affords a much quicker development period and a chance to gather interest and momentum along the way.

But getting back to today... today was also a photo shoot! So, enjoy a sneak peak with some of shots from Wendy Le.

– Tom

Marissa Nielsen-Pincus and Tara O'Con as Alice

Elizabeth Carena as the Mad Hatter