Well it's been a year since my last post and there are a lot of updates! Let's start with Doppelskope.
Doppelskope: Taking Over the World Maybe
photo by Eric Michael Pearson
GROWL! The completion of The Grilogy
In the summer 2016 we premiered Growl! at Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre, thereby completing our puppet musical Grilogy (Gruff!, Grimm! and Growl!). Growl! is a zany reinvention of Goldilocks that could be summed up as "baby bear's revenge, but also lots of 1950's-style commercials for fake woodland products and ridiculous chase scenes and a lightsaber karate battle". We deconstructed capitalism, explored the ethics of scientific inquiry, and flushed a bear down a toilet.
Artistic Director (and one of my mentors) Charlie Richter called the show our "most hilarious entry yet" and "performance art for kids".
All the main characters were played by Ora's beautiful, intricate tabletop puppets, but parts of the show were told with giant overhead projections, and others with tiny rod puppets. I love playing with scale.
Artistic Director (and one of my mentors) Charlie Richter called the show our "most hilarious entry yet" and "performance art for kids".
All the main characters were played by Ora's beautiful, intricate tabletop puppets, but parts of the show were told with giant overhead projections, and others with tiny rod puppets. I love playing with scale.
Ara Bartlieb of Lehigh Valley Stage called the show an "effervescent concoction" and "inventively eye-popping". He also wrote
“More adults than tots littered the theater during yesterday's 1PM performance, and I honestly can report that their response was even more enthusiastic than the youngsters'. And, trust me, the tykes were getting their money's worth of giggles and often outright guffaws at the non-stop onstage antics of this fine assembly of actors. I am willing to bet that, unless you're under ten years of age, you won't be able to keep up with its relentlessly sharp turns and witty reinterpretations of the story you thought you knew. The show runs one hour to the precise tick of a finely wound watch, with nary a child nor grandparent nor nanny showing signs of distraction for even a second.”
You can read Mr. Bartlieb's entire review here.
One of the songs from the show became a stand-along slam piece that we were able to perform twice at La MaMa. Check out the video!
“More adults than tots littered the theater during yesterday's 1PM performance, and I honestly can report that their response was even more enthusiastic than the youngsters'. And, trust me, the tykes were getting their money's worth of giggles and often outright guffaws at the non-stop onstage antics of this fine assembly of actors. I am willing to bet that, unless you're under ten years of age, you won't be able to keep up with its relentlessly sharp turns and witty reinterpretations of the story you thought you knew. The show runs one hour to the precise tick of a finely wound watch, with nary a child nor grandparent nor nanny showing signs of distraction for even a second.”
You can read Mr. Bartlieb's entire review here.
One of the songs from the show became a stand-along slam piece that we were able to perform twice at La MaMa. Check out the video!
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An Existential Sing-Along goes to Puppet Showplace
In November 2016 we brought our original signature show to Puppet Showplace in Boston. We had befriended the artistic director, the fantastic, talented and intelligent Roxie Myhrum at the 2015 National Puppetry Festival. We stayed with Paul Vincent Davis while we were there, and it was a real privilege to hear some of his stories and puppetry/life wisdom.
GRUFF! Everywhere!
| GRUFF! at the PIT... We first performed GRUFF in 2014 at Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre. It was the first show in our Grilogy and it was also the project where we first discovered that all three of us are coincidentally passionate environmentalists. It seemed more important than ever to bring back GRUFF! in 2017. The show uses ridiculous comedy, high drama and catchy songs to call audiences to action in the fight against climate change and the fossil fuel industry. We updated and improved on the script, and filled the audience for nearly every show at the PIT! |  |
 | Ran Xia wrote a fantastic review for Theatre is Easy. Among other kind and insightful things, this is what she had to say about me! "Scheer is extremely likable as Aquifer, the progressive and optimistic young troll, with nuanced chemistry with both Gruf and Mimir (which is not easy since muppets don't have that many facial expressions)." My ultimate dream is to have GRUFF! published and/or adapted into a film, and our momentum is continuing. GRUFF! is currently being performed at the Lilly Theatre of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and will shortly open OFF-BROADWAY at the Vital Theatre Company, where it will run for the entire month of August. |
In Defense of Pleasure
Back in October of 2016 I finally premiered my solo show In Defense of Pleasure at Lost Nation Theater. I've been performing at LNT for eight years so it felt absolutely like the right place to premiere such a personal work, in a place that's come to feel like a second home with many important friends and family. The show is about my early years in NY, struggling to make a living as a clown, to find love, and to reconcile my background studies in philosophy with the realities of freelance clowning.
Jim Lowe of the Times Argus wrote that my performance was "very personal, and very funny….it was certainly for adults, but filled with plenty of child-like joy. The stories were riotously funny, as told by an expert storyteller. Throughout, Scheer offered samplings of his magic tricks and comic schtick. He brought a couple of brave audience members into the show, involving them in his delightful zaniness. But In Defense of Pleasure is a lot more than a barrel of laughs. Beyond the clownish exterior is a man seeking love and truth."
Jim Lowe of the Times Argus wrote that my performance was "very personal, and very funny….it was certainly for adults, but filled with plenty of child-like joy. The stories were riotously funny, as told by an expert storyteller. Throughout, Scheer offered samplings of his magic tricks and comic schtick. He brought a couple of brave audience members into the show, involving them in his delightful zaniness. But In Defense of Pleasure is a lot more than a barrel of laughs. Beyond the clownish exterior is a man seeking love and truth."
The Creatures of Yes
| Of all the different styles and media I perform in, one of my very favorites is puppetry on film. There is something so satisfying, playful and magical about working with a monitor as you perform. Over the past year, I've occasionally helped as an assistant puppeteer for a web series which is also my Favorite Thing on the Internet, the Creatures of Yes! Jacob Graham (the show's creator) is a wonderful collaborator: he also designed video and lasers for our new production of GRUFF!, and is stepping into the role of Aquifer in my absence for our August run of the show. | |
What Else?
I dialect coached Maybe Never Fell for Axial Theatre! German accents (my favorite). I continue to be the resident pediatric clown at three Brooklyn hospitals. Ora and I performed twice at Puppet Playlist and we had a weekly performance of SHRINK: Puppet Therapy going for a little while.
What Now?
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I am currently performing in Wild by Atlas Circus Company (back at Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre). It's a beautiful nouveau cirque show about a boy who joins a group of run-aways in the jungle. I play the first run-away he befriends who brings him into the tribe.
1. It's awesome to be back in the air for a show
2. I am way better at juggling now
3. It's amazing working with Noah Dach, Tommy McCarthy and the whole Atlas team
4. I am always sore
1. It's awesome to be back in the air for a show
2. I am way better at juggling now
3. It's amazing working with Noah Dach, Tommy McCarthy and the whole Atlas team
4. I am always sore
What's Next?
| Performance Schedule --Until July 29th WILD at Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre --August 9th-13th A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Highland Center for Performing Arts in Vermont (with more aerial acrobatics!) (and with Kate Kenney!) --August 27th - September 3rd ANDROMEDA by the Neo-Political Cowgirls (Montauk) Because of my Summer adventures, I've had to momentarily leave the cast of GRUFF! for our first off-broadway run. It was a tough choice, but I realized it was the best of both worlds - I get to have new adventures that continue to stretch and challenge me as an artist, while the story I created with Doppelskope continues to have a life of its own. I'll be stopping by several GRUFF! rehearsals as an outside eye and I look forward to fully rejoining Doppelskope in the fall! |  |
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