07/03/2023
It was an absolute honor to be able to photograph this show!
Amber here. Closing night thoughts on Wraith Radioā¦itās gonna be a long one.
I am the Artistic Director for Bottle Alley, and we are nearly at the close of my first season of doing so. I love being at the helm of Bottle Alley, whose work I had admired for so long before becoming directly involved. Part of that is because I like that Chris Fontanes, similar to other substantial creatives, wrote and produced work that he loved rather than focusing on what he thought would put butts in seats. Wraith Radio is no exception. Itās a weird show. But itās also a beautiful one. Another thing I like about Chris? Heās open to collaboration and heās not overly precious about his work. Not only was he on board with letting Trace Turner come in and update his script, he was excited about it. And oh my god, TRACE. I could write a whole post just about them. How can I succinctly convey how amazing this person is, how creatively and confidently they navigated Wraith from day oneā¦I think the picture they took on opening night where the storms took over and drenched everyone says it all - complete gorgeous torrential chaos in the background and Trace is just smiling like, well, here we are and here it is. Trace is justā¦.the best.
Every single aspect of this show was a labor of love. Every. Single. Aspect. There are no MVPs because EVERYONE is an MVP and I donāt say that lightly.
I have worked as a Stage Manager many, many times. SMs are the backbone of a show - they are always the first ones on set and the last ones to leave. They work incredibly hard and can never be paid enough. This is why Iām going to talk about our SM first. This was Jessika Landās first time Stage Managing a show and she. Freaking. Nailed. IT. Jessika SMād through heat advisories, windstorms, rainstorms, hailstorms, power outages, broken props, mosquitosā¦.shoot, if weād run another week maybe sheād have SMād through boils and the death of all the firstborn sons. Iām relieved it didnāt come to that, but believe me, she would have done it without breaking a sweat. I canāt wait to work with her again.
Pink Flamingo Plant Co. - who deserves all your business, btw - provided us with what we would discover was the perfect setting for a war-torn apocalyptic fever dream. They were so kind and accommodating, and too happy to let us take over their disco cabana and cover it with plants and broken electronics.
Joe Kelley, our set designer, literally building set pieces from scratch, hanging up broken boards and frames, always the first person there, working tirelessly and always with a big smile and a high five for everyone. It was so funny to meet such a big-deal person from the Austin theater community and discover no trace of arrogance or ego, only enthusiasm, kindness and love for the craft.
Remy Joslin, who jumped in mid-production to help us with costumes (and more fake blood, haha) - weād always wanted to work with her professionally after admiring her for some time and she just stepped right in and saved the day when we needed her the most. Remy elevated this show, and made the performers feel so taken care of and listened to.
Zac and Amanda Stafford of Flashbax23 Photography - this gruesome twosome have been my dear friends for years. They run the side-haunt maze (The Boneyard) at Scare for a Cure annually and I occasionally cover myself in (fake?) gore and blood and go help out. They also make and sell fun and spooky crafts at markets as Halloween Party Art. I have never met kinder, spookier, more creative people. When I asked if they could come take pictures for us, the answer was an immediate yes. Those incredible pics weāve been posting leading up to our performances? Oh yeah. Those were the results. ā¤ ā¤
OUR PERFORMERS. Woweee wow wow wow. If you ever have the pleasure of working with any of these fine folks, consider yourself lucky.
Cassandra Freitas blew everyone away with her incredible pieces in Self Portraits, then came back and absolutely SLAYED as Wraith. She brings vulnerability and an absolutely arresting earnestness to the stage, unlike anything Iāve seen before. Sheās a force of nature, and sheās an absolute delight offstage.
Iām OBSESSED with Rosemary McGraw as Star. This is not an easy role to take on whatsoever - the layers of pathos and trauma and childlike joy, and all with an English accent AND a bloody limping leg. This woman made me cry. And I could listen to her sing Paramore all day.
DEVIN FINN. Holy cow, Devin Finn. When I saw his name on our audition sheet, I gulped - what did we do to earn attracting that level of talent to our shows?? I overheard an audience member describe Devin as smoldering. Absolutely, haha, but what I would say is that Devin came and scorched the place with his performance as Jessie.
Todd. Oh Todd. Todd Clark is the absolute best. Iāll never stop being blown away by how a human being could have so much talent, professionalism, generosity of spiritā¦and also probably the best taste in music. Todd shows up, in every way. Thank you for the memories and the poetry, Death.
And so here we are, and here it is. My team successfully conquered Wraith Radio, our penultimate show of the season. This is such a long post, but somehow it doesnāt feel like Iāve said enough about everyone. I will say this - every single person who worked on this show always has a home with Bottle Alley. Thank you for giving us your time, energy, and love. And thank you to everyone who came out and saw the show or supported us otherwise. THANK YOU.
