Early Show
PigPen Theatre Co
Elijah Ocean
Tue, February 26, 2013
Doors: 6:30 pm
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY
$12
Sold Out
This event is 21 and over
http://www.mercuryloungenyc.com/event/210093/
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PigPen Theatre Co - (Set time: 7:30 PM)
The founding members of PigPen Theatre Co. met during the first year of their undergraduate education at the renowned Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. They met and began crafting what has come to be their trademark storytelling aesthetic during CMU’s Playground Festival their freshman year. The first professional performance of an original work came soon after at a community theatre in Chicago, IL. More professional bookings and workshops followed on Martha’s Vineyard and in Brooklyn, NY. PigPen had already begun to amass a small but loyal following, which would soon begin to grow with their success at the 2010 NYC International Fringe Festival.
PigPen’s “The Nightmare Story” earned the company the top prize at said festival and exposed Manhattan to their unique storytelling aesthetic for the first time. The press was very receptive, comparing the group to the early manifestations of Blue Man Group or the Flying Karamazov Brothers. NYTheatre.com summed up the experience by printing “Well done, lads. Come back to New York when you’re finished at school. Maybe you’ll teach us a thing or two”. During their final year at Carnegie Mellon, PigPen flew to New York City to perform a sample of their newest show, “The Mountain Song” for industry professionals at the famous Off-Broadway Barrow Street Theatre. The event sold out without any traditional marketing efforts.
One month after graduation, PigPen debuted “The Mountain Song” at the Boston Center for the Arts. This run drew praise from major press sources with the Boston Herald proclaiming, “PigPen Theatre Co. is already a phenomenon”. A month later, PigPen was back at Barrow Street Theatre in NYC collaborating with Emmy Award winning writer Glen Berger, Academy Award nominated actor Michael Shannon, Obie Award winning actor Austin Pendleton, and creatives from Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark on the workshop of a new play.
PigPen returned to the 2011 NYC Fringe Festival to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the festival along where they performed “The Mountain Song”. Their run was completely sold out and was singled out as a critic’s pick of the festival by a variety of press sources including The New York Times, Time Out New York, Backstage, and The Huffington Post. “The Mountain Song” won the festival’s top award as well, making PigPen the only company in the history of the festival to win that honor two years in a row. The Huffington Post featured PigPen Theatre Co. as the number #5 theatrical event of 2011.
In October 2011, PigPen co-produced their first Off-Broadway run of “The Nightmare Story” at The Irondale Center in Brooklyn, NY and went on to tour “The Mountain Song” to over 2,500 in-need NYC public school students in November. Soon after, they launched The PigPen Company LLC, a production company with the goal of creating stories in multiple media formats. In Spring 2012, PigPen Theatre Co. released a debut full-length album, “Bremen”, which was featured by American Songwriter and was named #10 album of the year in The Huffington Post’s 2012 Grammy preview. They followed tha up with their first official animated short film, also called, “Bremen”, both produced by The PigPen Company LLC.
Their first full-length production “The Old Man and The Old Moon”, opened in Manhattan on Oct. 7th, 2012 with a commercial run at The Gym at Judson. The show was a critical smash hit, playing over a hundred performances to over ten thousand people, landing PigPen once again on several best of the year theatre ranking lists. “The Old Man and The Old Moon” closed its NYC run on Jan 6th, 2013.
PigPen is thrilled to be working with Writers House, one of the world’s leading young adult literary agencies, to develop their debut children’s novel!
PigPen’s “The Nightmare Story” earned the company the top prize at said festival and exposed Manhattan to their unique storytelling aesthetic for the first time. The press was very receptive, comparing the group to the early manifestations of Blue Man Group or the Flying Karamazov Brothers. NYTheatre.com summed up the experience by printing “Well done, lads. Come back to New York when you’re finished at school. Maybe you’ll teach us a thing or two”. During their final year at Carnegie Mellon, PigPen flew to New York City to perform a sample of their newest show, “The Mountain Song” for industry professionals at the famous Off-Broadway Barrow Street Theatre. The event sold out without any traditional marketing efforts.
One month after graduation, PigPen debuted “The Mountain Song” at the Boston Center for the Arts. This run drew praise from major press sources with the Boston Herald proclaiming, “PigPen Theatre Co. is already a phenomenon”. A month later, PigPen was back at Barrow Street Theatre in NYC collaborating with Emmy Award winning writer Glen Berger, Academy Award nominated actor Michael Shannon, Obie Award winning actor Austin Pendleton, and creatives from Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark on the workshop of a new play.
PigPen returned to the 2011 NYC Fringe Festival to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the festival along where they performed “The Mountain Song”. Their run was completely sold out and was singled out as a critic’s pick of the festival by a variety of press sources including The New York Times, Time Out New York, Backstage, and The Huffington Post. “The Mountain Song” won the festival’s top award as well, making PigPen the only company in the history of the festival to win that honor two years in a row. The Huffington Post featured PigPen Theatre Co. as the number #5 theatrical event of 2011.
In October 2011, PigPen co-produced their first Off-Broadway run of “The Nightmare Story” at The Irondale Center in Brooklyn, NY and went on to tour “The Mountain Song” to over 2,500 in-need NYC public school students in November. Soon after, they launched The PigPen Company LLC, a production company with the goal of creating stories in multiple media formats. In Spring 2012, PigPen Theatre Co. released a debut full-length album, “Bremen”, which was featured by American Songwriter and was named #10 album of the year in The Huffington Post’s 2012 Grammy preview. They followed tha up with their first official animated short film, also called, “Bremen”, both produced by The PigPen Company LLC.
Their first full-length production “The Old Man and The Old Moon”, opened in Manhattan on Oct. 7th, 2012 with a commercial run at The Gym at Judson. The show was a critical smash hit, playing over a hundred performances to over ten thousand people, landing PigPen once again on several best of the year theatre ranking lists. “The Old Man and The Old Moon” closed its NYC run on Jan 6th, 2013.
PigPen is thrilled to be working with Writers House, one of the world’s leading young adult literary agencies, to develop their debut children’s novel!
Elijah Ocean - (Set time: 6:30 PM)
“Warm, smokey, laced with honey and rough around the edges like a piece of cedar siding, Elijah Ocean’s voice couldn’t have come into my life at a better time. Isn’t that how most great things come to us? Out of the blue and without any announcement except that feeling of rightness. That confirmation that yes, there are still people out there making the kind of music that resonates, that is made for a purpose beyond money or fame. That is made simply because it must be made. All Americana and musky, emotion-ridden tunes, Ocean sings sad songs without being pathetic and sings happy ones with the grin of a troubadour.” – Bleeker Street Beat
In April of 2012, Elijah Ocean released his sophomore solo album, Tumble & Fall, to international acclaim. Through expert songcraft, Ocean speaks wisely throughout the record on the complexities of falling in and out of love. To help achieve the organic sound, he and his Brooklyn band traveled to the woods of Chester, Connecticut to Eric Lichter’s all-analog Dirt Floor Studio. There, they filled out Ocean’s imaginative folk songs with organs, pianos, vocal harmonies, drums and electric guitars. The result is a beautiful and smart record that recalls those such as Harvest and Blonde On Blonde, and sits comfortably beside current releases by Ray Lamontagne and Ryan Adams.
Ocean was born in a small house in the Hudson Valley. His parents later moved the family to the woods of midcoast Maine, where he grew up writing songs in a barn. Before moving to Brooklyn in 2009, Ocean hung his hat in Portland, where he recorded and released his folky solo debut, The Wind or the Wine. As well, he fronted Loverless, a power trio with three full-length albums in their wake.
Ocean is currently performing regionally, and has begun work on what will be his third solo release.
In April of 2012, Elijah Ocean released his sophomore solo album, Tumble & Fall, to international acclaim. Through expert songcraft, Ocean speaks wisely throughout the record on the complexities of falling in and out of love. To help achieve the organic sound, he and his Brooklyn band traveled to the woods of Chester, Connecticut to Eric Lichter’s all-analog Dirt Floor Studio. There, they filled out Ocean’s imaginative folk songs with organs, pianos, vocal harmonies, drums and electric guitars. The result is a beautiful and smart record that recalls those such as Harvest and Blonde On Blonde, and sits comfortably beside current releases by Ray Lamontagne and Ryan Adams.
Ocean was born in a small house in the Hudson Valley. His parents later moved the family to the woods of midcoast Maine, where he grew up writing songs in a barn. Before moving to Brooklyn in 2009, Ocean hung his hat in Portland, where he recorded and released his folky solo debut, The Wind or the Wine. As well, he fronted Loverless, a power trio with three full-length albums in their wake.
Ocean is currently performing regionally, and has begun work on what will be his third solo release.
