Theater of Vampires - The Trial of Lucius (Pic Heavy) in FILM / THEATRE / VIDEO WORK & CORPSE NATION

Harken back to a previous post where I stated that I would share with you some of my theatre experience.

I’ll be writing about and sharing pics (sometimes video) including behind the scenes shots of a singular production per post. Some pics may be (NSFW).

This was the 1st major production we did at The Abyss Theatre.

We turned the theatre into a castle with faux foam walls made to look like old stone. It was much, much harder to do than you think, especially considering that I’ve never attempted anything like this before. Being an intimate 70 seat black box theatre; we do everything on a ‘micro budget’. Foam… is very messy! The Abyss Theatre offered me lots of new experiences!

Yup, very messy…

With my friend Sonny (also one of my film production partners). Many of the video’s / films I post he works with me on and vice versa. Here we’re carving and melting foam.

A section of castle wall complete with Erynn.

Some of the accent walls after I finished painting them.

This show not only involved heavy costuming, and our theater screen interaction, but visual and special effects as well. One thing we created was a laser vortex in a faux doorway. When a vampire was summoned he/she would appear in the doorway and come onto the stage through fog that I would trigger.

Here I am with Rick (one of the creators of the show) as we figure out the laser doorway.

More tests before the doorway was created including a little smoke.

And the finished effect. More smoke was added as the vampire came through on stage. You also couldn’t see behind the door during the show, it was just black, so the effect looked really cool and to the audience it did seem as if the vampires appeared out of thin air.

So let’s talk story before we go any further.

The premise was that Lucius (a more modern day vampire - think Lestat if you will) wants to come out of the shadows and let the world know that vampires exist. He knows that vampires could dominate the humans, and he fully intends on making that a reality! But, it goes against the code that all vampires throughout time have kept sacred. Stay in the shadows and live among the humans so as not to disturb what has worked and kept them thriving for centuries and centuries. They don’t want to start a war with the humans.

When Dracula here’s of this, he decides to summon the ancient council of vampires and put Lucius on trial in front of the elders which include (Nosferatu, Elizabeth Bathory, Louie, David (From “The Lost Boys”) and Vampira. All famous vampires of lore.

As they are summoned, they each tell their story and how they feel about Lucius.

Once Lucius himself is summoned, the trial begins.

It ends with a vote. On screen there is a for and against.

A shot taken from rehearsal.

Audience members get to choose if Lucius lives or dies, but at the last minute… the ruler of all vampires shows up (Sekhmet) and things get really intense from there on…

Let’s meet the cast!

I don’t do a lot of portraiture, but this was really fun. I had a great time shooting the cast for the promo’s of the show.

DRACULA

NOSFERATU

VAMPIRA

DAVID

LOUIE

ELIZABETH BATHORY

LUCIUS

SEKHMET

RENFIELD

There were some really interesting aspects to the play; my favorite (and everyone else’s) was the schtick that Nosferatu did. As you all probably know, the 1922 film “Nosferatu” is a silent film, so… on stage, Nosferatu couldn’t speak. he would use gestures and facial expressions while his thoughts were typed out on the theatre screen. Complete with old timey silent film music. It was cool and very funny!

I don’t have any video unfortunately, but I can supply you with enough pictures from rehearsal and live shows to make you feel as if you were a part of it.

Here’s a shot behind the scenes, I just finished helping Nosferatu with his makeup, but Vampira was still working on hers. Dracula, though immortal seems a tad impatient, lol. Btw… I did not plan this shot.

One of our crowds.

One of my corpses even had a VIP seat!

Meet ‘n greets after the shows.

Celebrating a successful show and 3 week sold out run!

One of our go to bars after a show.

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In regards to my health, yesterday was bad, I was very sick (twice as much as usual (which is a lot). A definite step back. Today, slight improvement. My back is getting worse though… all this lying in bed stuff is absolutely killing me!!!

I promised my friend who started the gofundme page on my behalf so that I can get the care I need that I would repost it often and ask people to please share it and ask others to share it as well. Be it on instagram, facebook, twitter, blogs… the more eyes on it, the better the chances of making the goal which is essential.

Thanks to all those who have shared / donated and sent kind words my way, they do not fall upon deaf ears.

https://www.gofundme.com/jayeeryk

Well, as the Crypt Keeper would say: That’s it kiddies!!! Muahahahaha!!!.......

Last updated July 19, 2018