Episode 100: The Red Shades & ZSPACE

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The Red Shades: A Trans Super Hero Rock Opera

Photos Courtesy of ZSPACE and Photographer Jay Yamada. You can buy your own copy of a Photo here:

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“The Compton, Cafeteria Riots and Felicia Elizondo's life living in the Tenderloin in the 1960s and trans sex workers who were fighting for their right to survive, connected with the ideas that were coming out of my mind”-Adrienne Price

In this our one hundredth episode of our special series on the impact of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic on our nonprofit's small businesses and local government, we reached back out to folks at Z Space to share with you how they have struggled through the pandemic to bring you a very unique show The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera

In this episode we feature the voices of Adrienne Price, the writer and co-composer of The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera along with Rose Oser, the Interim Producing Director of Z Space and Lead Producer of The Red Shades who share with us their 7 year journey to bring The Red Shades to Life at ZSPACE

Adrienne Price - Writer & Co-composer of The Red Shades

Adrienne Price is a playwright and songwriter based in San Francisco/unceded Ramaytush Ohlone land. She is the writer/co-composer of The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera (Z Space 2022) and co-writer/co-composer of Totally Normal: A Co-Dependent Queer Friendship Musical (in development). Her plays have been featured in the national festival Trans Plays of Remembrance as well as local festivals such as Music/Scene, Pint Sized Plays, Shotz, and Mutiny Radio's play festival. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and was accepted into the Bay Area Asylum Arts Retreat in 2019. Price has also been an educator for 18 years, working as a high school English teacher, tutor, teaching artist, and more. She has performed as a stand-up comic, founded the show Pure Pop for Queer Lovers on Radio Valencia, and serves as singer-songwriter of the psycho-spiritual trans folk rock band Peach Thief. She is grateful to all the tran-cestors who have made her life and art possible.

Rose Oser - Interim Producing Director of Z Space & Lead Producer of The Red Shades

Rose Oser is a theater producer, playwright, and performer. She is the Interim Producing Director, previously Associate Artistic Director, of Z Space, and has been working on the development of The Red Shades since 2018. She is the book writer of Shoshana in December (upcoming Nov-Dec 2022 production at Custom Made, NEA ArtWorks recipient) and Tinderella: the modern musical (world premiere April 2018 co-produced by FaultLine Theater and Custom Made, Portland premiere March 2022 at Portland’5 Brunish Theatre). More at roseoser.com

The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera

In November 2017, Adrienne recruited a group of six local trans and queer musicians to rehearse and perform the first draft of The Red Shades in a musical showcase at El Rio, a queer club in San Francisco. When members of the Z Space staff (Rose and Shafer!) watched that performance at El Rio, we saw something special and exciting. Adrienne was already familiar with Z Space as a regular member of our weekly writers group, and the movement of the show a few blocks from El Rio to Z Space felt like the right way to keep the show close to the already-invested and engaged community. Early concert versions of The Red Shades were also performed at Starline Social Club, PianoFight, the Fresh Meat Festival, and the San Francisco Trans March 2018.

In July 2019, Z Space produced a two-week developmental workshop of The Red Shades, funded by grants from the Horizons Foundation and the National Endowments for the Arts. The workshop culminated in two work-in-progress performances on July 26 and 27, 2019. The fabulous Edris Cooper and Rotimi Agbabiaka co-directed the workshop, which starred Mizz June (a New York City-based actress) and Veronica Clifford-Carlos (a local actress). We built a thrust-like platform on the Z Space mainstage, so that the directors could experiment with a rock concert style set up with audience members standing around the stage or sitting at cabaret tables.

In January 2020, Z Space continued the development process with a two week reading of the entire three-act show. The plan was to then produce the full show in 2020, but alas!

Z Space

Z Space empowers artistic risk, collaboration, and camaraderie amongst artists, audience, and community in the service of creating, developing, and presenting new work. Operating out of an old can factory in the Mission District of San Francisco, Z Space now activates two performance spaces, an 85-seat black box and a 244-seat main stage, with a warehouse aesthetic and an adventurous edge.

Eschewing traditional theater models with fixed seasons and a singular artistic vision, Z Space strives to embrace a multitude of artistic voices through a variety of programs and partnerships. We meet the needs of our communities by providing co-productions and subsidized space, hosting open "salons" to have conversations about the issues facing the broader community, and ensuring that all of our venues and facilities are welcoming and accessible. Some of our regular partners have been: Word for Word (the resident theater company of Z Space since our founding in 1993), piece by piece productions, Youth Speaks, Sean Dorsey Dance, Fresh Meat Festival, 3 Girls Theatre, AXIS Dance, Chitresh Das, and Misfits Cabaret.

Annually, we reach approximately 22,000 audience members, 700 youth and children through Youth Arts (the vast majority are low-income, English Language Learners), and approximately 50 small and mid-size arts organizations.

In addition to being home to local and international artists and organizations, Z Space develops and produces its own new work. Over the past few years, Z Space has built a national reputation for developing and producing large-scale new works that reimagine the traditional “musical theater” form, receiving critical acclaim for Hundred Days (The Bengsons), The Lucky Ones (The Bengsons), and Weightless (The Kilbanes). Read More About the History of Z Space Here:

Donation/Volunteer

+ Get engaged in supporting our local performing arts community. You too can be a superhero! Check out these Five Reasons to Give to The Red Shades

+ Buy Tickets to The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera

+ You can support Z Space’s ongoing efforts to support new work from local artists

Videos

Enjoy these Two Videos that Adrienne mentioned inspired her creation of The Red Shades. Felicia Elizondo’s “Cruising the Tenderloin in the 60s” and Susan Stryker’s “Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria”

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Voices of the Community is supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation, dedicated to a California where all low-income workers have the power to advance economically. More at www.irvine.org

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