tick tock

Ok, so I don't mean to go all Ke$ha on you (really.. I don't!) but TODAY IS THE DAY!!

I feel like it's our birthday, Christmas, wedding day and graduation all rolled into two days and three shows :D

Tonight and tomorrow night are seriously like dates for us....we're nervous, excited and.. well, we really hope you like us enough to stay the night ;) (mee-ow!)

Doors open at 6.30 - there will be FOOD and DRINK, and a bit of photographic fun for everyone so make sure you dress pretty and get there waaay before 7 so you can get a great seat.

 

 

EEP! Tonight and tonight and tonight <3

xo The Alley Cats

All about UUUUUUU

Hey yo! Anywhere Theatre Festival is in the Sunday Mail (U) - AND so are we!

This photo is courtesy of John Saunders of Drama Queensland :D

 

Our tuesday show is booking up fast (and it's our very last one!)

You can buy them at the door...that is, if there are any left.

Book here to avoid missing out on a free drink and some Winn Lane magic.

xo The Alley Cats

ON TRIAL

It's true - we're looking for a reviewer!

If you're between 18-25 years old, love theatre/journalism/performance/Winn Lane/Brisbane culture shoot us an email (marketer.cradleproductions@gmail.com)  with something you've written
OR
send us a link on FB or twitter to something you've written.

Entries close MONDAY 7 MAY.

Perks include a free ticket + drink + our uttmost respect (plus a little fame as we'll be sharing your review around!) :)

Hear from you soon...

xo The Alley Cats

GUEST BLOG: Marketing 2.0

So it's two weeks to go (actually, less then that!) and things are getting pretty hectic at Alleyway Project HQ!

Thought I'd share a couple extra tips in these final days leading up to the festival marketing wise :) there aren't too many, and from what I see most shows and teams are doing really well (they've sure got ME excited!)

A few handy hints are below:
1. Get Personal - personal invites and personally delivered information really help to get people along. The information sticks in people's minds more, and personally for me it makes me feel that little more connected to the show/event. So get emailing, texting and calling around :)

2. Get other people talking - hearing things from third parties has more credibility then if you promote things yourself sometimes. So do cross promotions with others, get street press talking AND make sure you get reviewers along to your show.

 Another thing you can do is create fun events or get other people involved in the lead up to your event, and get them to blog about it or just have fun when they get involved.

3. In Your Face - beware of spamming! Something I learnt early on (painfully) was continual mentions and messaging really grates on peoples nerves, and fair enough! Invite people to your Facebook events, do posters and flyer/post card drops and send out the occassional group message (a few days before the event is great) these are great ways to keep peoples interest, otherwise they will tune messages out and will negatively associate you and your brand/event with their irritation! This is counter productive.

I am really looking forward to seeing all of the shows :) don't forget to book on the Anywhere Theatre website or phone (3102 1978). Would suck to miss out!

xo The Alley Cats

Winn LaTe

If you're NOT lame like I am (booo uni and obligations!!) you should definitely visit Winn Lane this Thursday for WINN LATE - a sweet and sexy market night happening every first thursday of the month in (you guessed it) Winn Lane

Pick up some sweet finds because I can't :(

xo The Alley Cats

Eenie meanie minie....

Wowee! Can't believe Anywhere Theatre Festival is only 2 weeks away!!

Had a closer look at the program today... to be honest it's a mega hard choice. So instead, I made a short list (and we encourage you to do the very same)

Here are some of our pics :) we've heard glowing things about them all and not one is the same as another. We've even summed up our short list in a few simple words for you:




Julian Running - Puppetry, music, the sea, imagination and Our Place.
Tickets $10-12

This is Kansas City - by Sandra Carluccio

This is Kansa City - Technology, city wide, augmented reality, limited capacity (6 pax)
Tickets $10

Happy Days (are here again) - SeeD Productions

Happy Days (Are Here Again) - site specific, casual violence, gangland, movement.
Tickets $12-14

Haven - Fixate Productions

Haven - Terror, seduction, melancholy tune, Rabbit Hole Cafe basement.
Tickets $12-17

Gremlins: Gravity is only the beginning 

Gremlins: Gravity is Only The Beginning - budget airline, gremlins, circus, comedy, Reverse Garbage
Tickets $12-14

Phew. it was tough making that list. Hopefully we've made your choices a tad easier :)

ALSO don't forget to book tickets to see The Alleyway Project (alleyways, playwrights, notorious tales, Winn Lane)

xo The Alley Cats

GUEST BLOG: Part Two - By Eloise Maree

SO last time you read Part One of our playwright and producer Eloise Maree's tale. 


Well, to help with mid semester and monday procrastination, here's Part Two!

Part Two:


Then, just as a blink of an eye [which is unquestionably short] they found themselves grown up, middle-aged, as husbands and wives with jobs and children and they had forgotten they silly days of misspent youth. They had, after all, found their happiness. Their spirit was calmed and their lives were bound. They’d forgotten the sticky mornings of waking with strangers and quietly being sick in the toilet and spending hours preparing themselves for such glories.


In one way, they’d grown uptight... in another, they were free of the self-ridicule that becomes such meaningless chunder. Sometimes they were confused about how they ended up in such a place and had to remind themselves that it is what they wanted so long ago [but why?...their mind would drift]. And at times, persevering times they were, they would re-call their former glories. Alcohol would numb their minds and their bodies and once more they would be young- oh so young! With loud voices that over-pronounced their delicate feelings and dancing limbs that knocked and swayed. They would once more forbear the strip of clubs with wild young things, shacking their manes together on the floor and bellowing out forgotten favourites [that had since become vintage treasures]. For beyond the haze of booze, there was a pride which swelled through these nights. A pride which one may only find in those who refuse to face a reality. A glistening refusal of norms - the very norms that clutched and constricted their being; one that felt as if it lifted them beyond everything.


In fact, such nights were purely numbing them from the problems they faced. They were a band-aid over intangible grazes the not-quite grown-ups had refused to notice. But yet they drank, so they sang and how it drove their dance! Shackles of responsibility were not felled, but they were loosened and shaken. Sex, mania and booze were sucked into the soft spaces of their lungs. And such is the glory of that dark strip of colourful clubs.

Do Doing DONE!

Competition is OVER!

That was quick and easy :)

Congratulations Belind Locke. We'll be seeing you in May @ Winn Lane :)

Don't forget to book your tickets - seats are limited and we've only got two grit-infused performances!

REDRAW

Ok Brisbane, we realise you're a bit self conscious about your stories. Fair enough! We didn't get any submissions from you for our competition! *wah wah wah waaaaah*

BUT we have a problem - we've STILL got that double pass!
We weren't lying when we said we had to get rid of it.

SO instead, here's the deal - first person to send us a picture they've taken themself of an alleyway in Brisbane (via twitter, FB or our blog) will receive the double pass.

TODAY ONLY.

Looking forward to seeing some of Brisbanes narrow street ways :)

Luck.

xo The Alley Cats

Drip Drape Drop

Poster and postcard drops are happening this week :D

keep your eyes peeled banana style for these beauties round the city

1.56

Oh my gosh! I woke up to the best present this morning!!

Our amazing production manager Claire Jarvis (who is a whizz at almost everything!) finished editing our sexy sly little video last night. We haven't launched it yet, but golly I've watched it several times already.

Took some screenies for you all ;)

 

HUGE thank you to everyone who helped: MJ, Gen, Dinny, Eloise, Claire, Wendy, Sarah, Caitlin, Lachlan, Jack, Ish and Bridie.

Stay tuned!

Xo The Alley Cats

STELLLAAAA!

It's heating up for us alleycats now! Rehearsals are just around the corner, and our fabulous director Kat Henry will be working tirelessly to bring our four scripts to life.

We're going to be spending a lot of time with Kat, and we thought you'd like to know who we're spending all of our time with :)

MEET KAT (meow!):

My name is Kat and I have a production company called Stella Electrika.  Stella lets me do anything I want as an artist so it's sometimes difficult for people to pin it down and say that it's this or that.  It's pretty contemporary like that - in the truest sense of the word: I do what I feel like doing NOW, and, of course, NOW is changing all the time.  At various "nows" in the past Stella has produced multi-media, multi-disciplinary performances, like The New Dead: Medea Material at La Boite in 2010, made a music video and a short film, collaborated with artists to create an outdoor, live, interactive photographic installation, and very recently Stella was the producing parent of a piece in Adelaide called Deliverance where 3 performers (including Kat) stepped into a 5x6 metre outdoor space with nothing - no provisions, no shelter, no clothes - and stayed in that space with out leaching for 240 hours.  That's 10 days in which they issued an invitation to their audience to bring them what they thought they'd need to survive.  It was such a thrilling success and the people of Adelaide became super engaged with their plight, indeed bringing them what they needed to survive, plus a whole lot more.  Read more about it on the Deliverance blog here. 

Deliverance

In June this year Brisbane audiences will have the chance to see Stella's long-awaited new production based on the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice.  More details very soon, but this has been in development for a couple of years, from being short-listed for the Queensland Premier's Drama Award in the first year that multiple-disciplinary works were sought, to its development at Hot House's Month in the Country initiative last year, and now finally on the Brisbane stage. 

I'm super excited to be working on the Alleyway Project.  It seems a good fit for what I feel like doing right NOW, which is hanging out in a Brisbane Alleyway (one that I know very well) and working with actors and writers to create a really neat night of theatre.  See you there.

The Alleyway Collective

Right now I don't live anywhere. I'm trying this thing which I first trotted out in December, 4 months ago now, and which I'm taking day by day, and that is to not live anywhere. I didn't really realise it was happening at first but I had the opportunity to do a residency in the country and my lease was coming to an end so I bundled all my things into storage and set off in my car. Its gets confusing for Australia Post, my Dad, and sometimes my employers, but for me it's a great fit for now. In the past 4 months I have hung out in Albury-Wodonga, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Adelaide. By the time I got to Melbourne I had left even my car behind, releasing me further from being grounded anywhere, and once I got to Adelaide I stepped naked and sans any material belongings at all, or even any attachment to habits, routines and expectations, into a rectangle of grass for 10 days, and felt lighter than I ever had. So now I'm going where the work is: Alleyway next month, Opera Queensland just gone, Queensland Theatre Company coming up, a creative development in Sydney and Melbourne very soon... asking myself what it is to live lightly.

Thanks Kat :) we can't wait to do the dirty with you and strip these scripts BARE.

xo The Alley Cats

3Ps and Proud

Us crazy cats have had an insane few days - poster, promo and production!

First our teaser video shoot today (wowee!) AND we've just received all our posters and postcards for the show.

Keep an eye out around town for these beauties, not to mention our posters!!!

WEEE.

Next up?? COMPETITION TIME and having a look at the finalists.

Into the WILD

if you were in the valley today eating, drinking shopping (or avoiding any kind of responsibility) you may have caught a glimpse of us alleycats sneaking through the streets.

15 of us dressed as critters of all types (including but not limited to catty cats, wolves, fish, horses, rabbits and the odd hedgehog) and ran around Ann and Brunswick st, making out, drinking and throwing up.

After all that, our teaser ad has gone to the cutting floor and is almost ready!!

But to get you a little wet for our little video, here are some behind the scenes snaps for your perusal:

 


Tickets are still on sale but seating in limited D: so book ASAP!

AND don't forget our sweet-as competition! ONLY 5 DAYS TO GO!!

see you in a couple'a weeks, wild things.

xo The Alleycats

10 TEN ten 10

The count down is on!

Only TEN DAYS until our competition ends - win yourself a double pass + sack of goon!


AND less then 4 weeks until the actual show, not to mention the hard decision of deciding which other shows to see.

Yikes! April and May and going to be full of sleepless (but exciting) nights!

Xo The Alleycats

e.m-bed.de/d/

If you've got Firefox of Chrome open THIS LINK by Yung Jake and let it load and play!!

IT'S NOT A VIRUS, so don't worry :)

xo The Alleycats

Taking it to the Streets

Anywhere Theatre Festival organised a shoot with the Sunday Mail recently, starring a few festival picks (Alleyway Project included!)

We had so much fun wheeling each other around in trolleys, standing in the door ways of the alley's local businesses and looking legit(imately insane!)

 Wahoo! Look out for the shoot (which also includes 9 other shows for preview!) in U on Sunday in the Sunday Mail :D

AND check out some other shots from the day's shooting madness here!

Xo The Alleycats

GUEST BLOG: Marketing 101

Hi there I'm Athalia.

I'm the Alleyway Project's resident marketing lass, and I'm also performing in the project too (my character may surprise you!)

I love working in the arts, and i also love marketing (I'm pretty nerdy!) so I thought I'd share with you 5 basic marketing tips that you can use on any project!

1. Communication: remember everything you do, say, create and share is a message you send out which create/alter perceptions and opinions. 

2. Consistency: above all make sure your branding and any communication is similar and identifiable. McDonalds and Google are great examples of branding consistency :) (check out more from maccas here)

 3.  Targeted: know who your audience is. Everything you send out/create should be designed to attract the attention of a certain group of people -  know what they like, where they hang out, and what they are interested in.

4. Interactive: Try and create/establish platforms for your target market to interact with you - give your their thoughts, feedback and generally get to know the brand/product. The more people contribute the more they feel involved and the more personally invested they will be in following your messages and wanting to understand your product.

5. Believe in your product AND have Fun: There is no reason why you can't always have fun with marketing :) people can tell if your brand/product is something you really believe in so make sure you are invested 100% and others will take an interest also!

I hope you got a little sumthin' sumthin' from this blog post!

OH by the way, I'm in Dan Evan's play as part of Alleyway Project :) Come see me be 2x more then what i already am!

ALSO, competition is still on!
AND Alleyway's got tickets w a drink. Check out the rest of the shows while you're there!

GUEST BLOG: Hello, name my Ben is

Benjamin Jackson is one of the project's incredibly talented actors (not to mention he's got a killer beard that grows back every day without fail).

He hasn't introduced himself below, but either way it tells you a thing or two about this lad.
What am I talking about!? Take a read and find out:

It’s always very difficult to talk about yourself isn’t it? You try your hardest to purvey your best traits in a concise and informative way without reeking of self importance and higher (than normal) self worth.  SO, to combat this I propose I tell you lies, purely as they will be more entertaining and so that YOU may come and see the show, meet me in person, and come to your own evaluation on who I am.

I was born a whale and after seeing a performance of ‘Marry Poppins’ I decided to invest in an umbrella and become a human performer. As you can imagine the transition between whale and human was not easy and many of my aquatic friends thought I was acting like a bit of a porpoise.

My first role onstage was that of ‘Eric the Eel’ in a play recreating 100m freestyle heat where Eric Moussambani set a new Equatorial Guanine record of 1:52.72. As I was a former whale the director saw it fit to cast me as the leading role. Overall the play received much scrutiny, as the crucial laps purveyed we swam to quickly and far to elegantly.

It can also be said that Richard Hammond is my greatest idol. Not because he drives fast cars for a living, nor the fact that he is punching well above his weight in the lady department. No. I idolize Richard Hammond because he lives in Wales. Enough said.

-Benjamin Jackson.