Grey performing at a workshop for "Michigan Trees"
Michigan Trees: A Guide to the Trees of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region (highlight reel)
Michigan Trees: A Guide to the trees of Michigan and the Great Lakes region is a new folk opera for classical and folk vocalists, steeped in mythos and Michigan, all the while remaining relevant to the present experiences of trans* folks. In the opera we follow the journey of Orna, a trans-woman as she grapples with self-acceptance. She travels to the north of Michigan--guided by the Mother of Trees--to transform into a white-pine that will sit upon Chapel Rock, on the edge of Lake Superior, overlooking it all.
Cast and Creative Team
Allison Prost - Orna, As She Sees Herself
Grey Grant - Orna, As She Feels She is Seen
Kate Moss, Kara Huckabone, Samantha Kao- Mother of Trees (MI)
Hayley Boggs, Zoe Hart, Samatha Kao - Mother of Trees (NYC)
Danielle Gonzalez, Sofia Carbonara - percussion (MI)
Riley Palmer, Tanner Tanyeri - percussion (NYC)
Rehearsal Pianist - Samantha Kao
and with Converge New Music:
Megan Rohrer, Malhar Kute, violins; Ryan McDonald, viola; Hanna
Brooke Rumora, cello
Composer/Librettist - Grey Grant
Producer - Fifth Wall Performing Arts
Director, Music Director, and Dramaturgy - Karl Ronneburg
Sound Design and Operation - Peter Littlejohn (MI)
Lighting Design - Emily Yang (MI)
Front of House Manager - Madeline Endres (MI)
Artwork - Tanner Porter
Media
Listen and See what we've been up to.
Einstein in the HOUSE
Ann Arbor, MI, April 20, 2017
It's so incredibly beautiful to be part of a community of people who, when you have an idea as insane as "Let's put on a full, free, student production of Einstein on the Beach--in my house", have no qualms about diving in and hopping right on the crazy train/bus/spaceship ride that is this show.
A lot of people (both audience and cast members) asked me at one time or another what I thought the show was about, and I never really found a good way to describe it. But here's one more shot: I think Einstein on the Beach(/in the House) is about how the littlest things (counting numbers, basic human emotions, solfege, musical cells that repeat over and over, the atom) can grow to become complex and twisted systems (nuclear technology, the justice system, commercialism, gender roles)--and about how understanding that duality can lead us to appreciate the things that make life worth living--namely, love and each other.
-Karl
So enjoy our adaption of Phillip Glass and Robert Wilsons' masterpiece!
Directors – Grey Grant and Karl Ronneburg
Conductor - Victor Huls
Choreography – Grey in collaboration with Dancers
Mise en Scene (making cardboard trains) – Levin Kim and Andrew Zick
Lighting - Karl Ronneburg and Sam Burck
Person 1 – Karl Ronneburg
Person 2 - Grey Grant
Train Conductor/Judge /Bus Driver – Phoebe Wu
Crazy Eddie – Thomas Kratofil
Kid Judge- Jacob Rogers
Stenographers – Kayla Mathes, Melanie Holt
Dancers – Melanie Holt, Daz Dandylion, Kayla Mathes, Grey Grant
Einstein -- Teagan Faran
Soprano Soloist – Hayley Boggs
Alto Soloist - Madeline Gotschlich
Soloist for “Building” - Rebecca Rosen
Chorus: Soprano – Christina Swanson, Maya Ballester, Hayley Boggs Alto – Madeleine Gotschlich, Rebecca Rosen, Marty Gray
Tenor – Grant Rossi, Walker Durell
Bass – Walker Durell, Dayton Hare, Thomas Kratofil
Flute 1/picc- Noniko Hsu
Flute 2/sop sax- Lisa Keeney
Bass Clarinet/ Bb clarinet - Jordan Kauffman
Organ 1 - Karalyn Schubring
Organ 2 – Annie Jeng