Ghost Quartet
Hello! We are the UC Irvine Ghost Quartet, consisting of Aaron Miller, Becca Rowland, Dani Honeyman, and Mark Metzger. Ghost Quartet is a musical/concert by Dave Malloy, and we had the incredible opportunity of undertaking his piece and making our own production of it at UC Irvine. Out of determination and passion, we applied for a research grant from the school and received enough funding to make our production possible. Collectively between the four of us, we rehearsed for 10 weeks, learning the score and directing the piece entirely on our own, and performed this musical in the Robert Cohen Theatre at UC Irvine from June 6-8, 2018.
Our production received tremendous praise from students and faculty alike, often resonating deeply within our audience members. From suggestions and encouragement from those who saw our production, we are reaching out to theater companies to continue performing, and immediately received attention and opportunity from Tenth Avenue Arts Center in San Diego, California. They have graciously offered us their space to perform Ghost Quartet from August 17-19, but without the university's research grant, we need funding to continue this production. Your contribution will allow us to share this unique and beautiful piece of theatre with more and more people, sharing an evening of music and storytelling unlike anything people have experienced before.
The Show
Ghost Quartet is a musical/concert that is written and composed by Dave Malloy, and is a song cycle about love, death, and whiskey. The piece lives in a grey area between drama, concert, and concept album, very much being an undefined genre. The story follows the intertwining narratives of Grimm’s “Rose Red and Snow White,” Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Arabian Nights, and an original narrative of a murder on a modern-day NYC Subway platform. The piece also draws influence from The Twilight Zone, Into the Woods, Thelonious Monk, Rosemary Timperley’s “Harry,” Matsuzake, Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, 8-bit video games like Zelda and Castlevania, and a multitude of other sources.
The piece is performed by four actor/musicians. It is performed as an album; each track is announced and presented with minimal staging, and there are small breaks between each side. Side 3 is performed entirely in the dark. It is intended to be performed in a space recreating a living room-feel with rugs scattered across the playing space, lamps practically lighting the space, and cushions available for people to sit on the floor. We perform it in a 3/4 round with audience members directly next to us, creating an intimate experience. The show is highly collaborative between the performers and the audience, often giving instruments to audience members to play along with us, or maybe even drink some whiskey with us.
Testimonials
A few testimonials from students and faculty at UC Irvine:
“Ghost Quartet is a striking and poignant piece, held together by inspiring and delightful music. The cast of Ghost Quartet is striking and breath-taking. They make the show come to life in the truest sense of the word.”
“This group has taken a truly beautiful play and created an extraordinary experience for their audiences. Their voices transported me to many different worlds and completely immersed me in the many lives of these souls. Not only was this a night of incredible entertainment, but also magic, wonder, and thought-provoking questions.”
“This group has taken a truly beautiful play and created an extraordinary experience for their audiences. Their voices transported me to many different worlds and completely immersed me in the many lives of these souls. Not only was this a night of incredible entertainment, but also magic, wonder, and thought-provoking questions.”
“Ghost Quartet describes itself as a circular story and it certainly translates into a circular experience. It is aware of itself, inviting you present, echoes a recognized sense of play, and coaxes you into the unfamiliar. Unfamiliar is the structure of the play but, not the energy. The players work wonderfully to include you in a remembered feeling of eager story as a child. It can only be described as wonderful in the most literal sense of the word. It is a rounded comfort, like a nice sip of whiskey, or the silence around a campfire.”
"I was lucky enough to see the original off-Broadway production (as well as the reworked Edinburgh version) of Ghost Quartet, and I can say without a doubt that the UCI production revealed things to me that even the original cast did not. The specificity and care taken by the team at UCI was extraordinary and a treat beyond measure. Not only did the cast transport me into the vast array of worlds which encompass Ghost Quartet, they made me feel as if I was a part of their journey. I was influencing them. This openness was refreshing and made the incredible work that Ghost Quartet is shine so very brightly."
What We Need & What You Get
We are looking to raise $1,500 for this production of Ghost Quartet. Funding is broken down as such:
$400 - Rights: Dave Malloy and his representatives have graciously offered us the rights to perform Ghost Quartet at $100/performance. We are having an eight-performance run at Tenth Avenue Arts Center, so we need to raise this in order to perform the piece.
$400 - Lighting/Sound Equipment: We light our shows using practical household lamps, and now that we are independent of the university we need to invest in dimmers in order to raise and lower our lights throughout the show.
$300 - Programs/Advertisement: We need funding to print our programs out for all of our audience members, and funding to advertise our show via internet and posters.
$150 - Whiskey: Ghost Quartet is a very communal show between the actors and the audience, and at one point in the show we pass out and serve whiskey to all audience members (21+) that would like a drink. We need money to buy a bottle of Evan Williams for the audience every night.
$250 - Miscellaneous Necessities: There are always new issues that arise, such as last minute instrument repairs and replacements. This funding can also go towards cost of travel.
We're offering some very cool perks to you in return for contributing to our campaign! Please check them out in the perks section of our page.
We hope to have your support, and we hope you can see our show!
-Aaron, Becca, Dani, Mark