The Glacity Theatre Collective has been selected to perform at the Toronto Fringe Festival June 29-July 10 and will present its original musical, “House of Vinyl,” written and composed by company members Dr. Edmund B. Lingan, UT associate professor and chair of theatre and film, and Timothy Lake.
Originally developed and performed in Toledo one year ago, this tightly wound, bubble-wrapped, 55-minute psychedelic musical was developed as part of Glacity Theatre Collective’s Junkbox Theatre project. The idea is to take unfinished scripts, loosely connected scenes, current obsessions, scribbled notes and musical compositions with or without lyrics that company members have from previous inspirations and mash them together to see what sticks. The ultimate goal is a completely new story that any audience can appreciate.
Tori Zajac and Nolan Thomaswick rehearsed a scene from the Glacity Theatre Collective’s musical, “House of Vinyl.”
In the Toronto Fringe Festival format, companies have exactly 15 minutes to set up for each performance and another 15 to strike afterward, so the technical elements were streamlined to fit the festival parameters.
Directed by Lake and based on a story that Lingan has written and re-written as a play, novel and screenplay, “House of Vinyl” focuses on Horton Stephen Wilder, who has an intense fear of open spaces, or agoraphobia. When Horton is forced out of his apartment and into the street because of a gas leak, he embarks on a strange and hallucinogenic journey involving lawyer-knights, psychic stingrays, a diaper fetishist, and yards and yards of vinyl. Will he ever make it back to his apartment and safety? Or will he be trapped in the “House of Vinyl” forever?
Nolan Thomaswick is returning in the role of Horton. Other returning cast members are Jennifer Nagy-Lake, Tori Zajac, Lingan, and Holly Monsos, UT associate dean of the College of Communication and the Arts. New to the cast are Dr. Gary Insch, dean of the UT College of Business and Innovation, and Lynnette Bates and Noah York.
The Lingan-Lake score is mostly guitar-driven and is played by Lingan and Insch, augmented with triggered samples. Andrés Medina is stage manager, costumes are designed by Bates, and lighting is designed by Cory Sprinkles.
To help offset the cost of housing a company of 11 for nearly two weeks in Toronto, the collective has started a Go Fund Me campaign. To learn more or to donate, go to https://www.gofundme.com/Glacity.
Before leaving for Toronto, “House of Vinyl” will play two performances Friday and Saturday, June 24 and 25, at 8 p.m. in the Center for Performing Arts Center Theatre. The doors will open 30 minutes prior to curtain.
All tickets are $20 online or at the door and include a reception afterward. To purchase tickets in
advance, go to http://glacity.tix.org.
After the weekend shows in Toledo, the company will travel to Toronto for seven performances at the Robert Gill Theatre during the festival.
To learn more about the Toronto Fringe Festival, click here.
Go to http://glacity.org for more information about the collective or “House of Vinyl.”
