ABOUT rink life
Rink Life receiveD a New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project Production and Touring Award!
rink life SYNOPSIS
In Rink Life, Lucky Plush brings its highly integrated approach to dance-theater into a communal space that nods to the visual aesthetics and social dynamics of 1970’s roller rink culture, where relationships and storylines are as transient as the world that contains them. Rink Life’s staging and choreography are built from the rink’s spatial rules and social codes, and its script-turned-libretto—created from passing conversations, distant whispers, pop-song earworms, and found scripts—is entirely spoken and sung live. As the ensemble sings full-throatedly to score their experiences, they demonstrate through effort, risk, beauty, and failure that they—and we—are utterly dependent on one another.
SUPPORT FOR RINK LIFE
Rink Life is one of eight projects to receive a 2018 New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project Production and Touring Award, with lead funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Rink Life received support through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation. Development and production partners for Rink Life include Door Kinetic Arts Festival (Bailey’s Harbor, WI), University of Chicago’s Center for Theater and Performance Studies and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
credits
CREATED & DIRECTED BY Julia Rhoads
COLLABORATING DIRECTOR: Leslie Buxbaum Danzig
DEVISED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ENSEMBLE: Kara Brody, Michel Rodriguez Cintra, Melinda Jean Myers, Jacinda Ratcliffe, Rodolfo Sánchez Sarracino, A. Raheim White, Meghann Rose Wilkinson
VOCAL COLLABORATOR: Bethany Clearfield
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Rachel Levy
COSTUME DESIGN: Patrick Burns
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER: Rachel Damon & Kevin Rechner
AUDIO ENGINEER: Bradford Chapin
*Special thanks to Elizabeth Luse who contributed to the creation of Rink Life and other contributing artists, including: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for their early contributions in Julia Rhoads’ Cadence, and Ethan Kirschbaum and Enid Smith for their contributions to Rink Life’s excerpt in Tab Show.
RECONTEXTUALIZED SCRIPT SAMPLES
Charles Mee, “the (re)making project”
Peter Handke, “Offending the Audience"
MUSIC SAMPLES (in order of appearance)
Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive”
Jim Steinman, “Total Eclipse of the Heart”
Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony, "The Hustle”
James Brown, “Make it Funky”
Traditional lullaby, “Arrorro mi Niño”
Alan Menken and Tim Rice, “A Whole New World”
Lennon-McCartney, “Across the Universe”
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, “Let it Go”
Cat Stevens, “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out”
Paul McCartney, “Hey Jude”
Richard Sherman and Robert Sherman, “Stay Awake”
Zack Smith (Scandal/Patty Smyth), “Goodbye to You”
Keith Forse and Steve Schiff (Simple Minds), “Don’t you Forget about Me”
Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman, “Time after Time"
Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, “Time to Say Goodbye”
UPCOMING Rink Life PERFORMANCES
PAST RINK LIFE PERFORMANCES & SHOWINGS
BOOKING INQUIRIES:
Contact Kim Goldman, Managing Director
kim@luckyplush.com or 917-903-5783
Rink Life builds upon Cadence, a work by Julia Rhoads that she created for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2017, with the support of vocal arranger and coach Bethany Clearfield.