Sound/Stage: Unplugged In The Amazon Recording Now Available

March 22, 2012 - PRLog -- Sound/Stage is a live recording of an original one-act radio play by some of L.A’s most exciting and captivating writers paired with brilliant voice artists, actors and musicians to create a truly special, collaborative experience. Mixing old Hollywood glamour with new technology, we strive to stretch our audiences’ imagination and allow them to revel in repurposing the past.  

On March 14th, over 100 guests gathered in old Hollywood soundstage turned restaurant, El Cid, to dine on tapas, enjoy specialty themed cocktails and listen to a brand new radio play come to life. Written by Kit Steinkellner, based on her trip to the Amazon, the play featured voice work from Lisa Bierman, Jack De Sena and Shishir Kurup, and the ambient vocal stylings of Dakaboom.

Before and after the show, the guests, decked out in cocktail attire and dinner jackets, enjoyed a reception in the courtyard, featuring professional red carpet photography and later, complementary cheesecakes in a variety of flavors, provided by Vijay's Cheesecakes.

Photos from the event can be found here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/acts4food/sets/7215762959362...

The recording of Unplugged in the Amazon is available here -
download: http://wearecartel.org/soundstage.php
streaming: http://soundcloud.com/cartelarts/soundstage-2

For more information on cARTel, head to www.wearecartel.org and to get involved in further installments of Sound/Stage, feel free to shoot an email to cartelarts at gmail dot com.

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Kit Steinkellner
Kit Steinkellner has had her plays produced nationally, including productions Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons and at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and has received glowing reviews from the NY Times, LA Times, LA Weekly, and Backstage. She currently has two features in development, and online writes popular webcomic "Aces," award-winning blog "Books are my Boyfriends," and contributes to Book Riot. She has her MFA in Screenwriting/Television Show Running from UCLA

Jack De Sena
Jack De Sena, founding member of cARTel, and all around awesome-face,  is best known for his work as Sokka on the beloved Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He also starred on the sketch comedy series All That for four years and during his run, tied with Logan Lerman for the 2005 Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series.. In 2008, De Sena was named a Webby Honoree for Best Writing Comedy: Individual Short or Episode for the popular webseries Dorm Life, and currently stars in Hulu’s first original series, Battleground, co-produced by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spiderman). Studied Drama at UCLA.

Lisa Bierman
Lisa Bierman currently teaches theater at Flintridge Preparatory School in La Canada, where she has directed multiple productions and started the successful high school clown troupe Nose Goes, based on the principles of cARTel’s own Everybody Nose. While in New York, she performed at the Brick and Ohio theaters in varying qualities of experimental theater productions. In 2010, she appeared in the film festival darling The Four Faced Liar. BA in Drama from NYU: Tisch.

Shishir Kurup
Actor, writer, director, composer and ensemble member of the nationally renowned Cornerstone TheaterCompany. His play “Merchant on Venice,” premiered in Chicago, at the Silk Road Theatre Project to rave reviews and appears in the anthology Beyond Bollywood and Broadway. He’s one of only six people nationwide to receive the TIME (Time for Inspiration, Motivation and Exploration) Grant from the Audrey Skirball Foundation for his body of work. A Princess Grace fellow, a TCG/Alan Schneider directing finalist and two-time Herb Alpert nominee, he wrote and directed the feature film Sharif Don’t Like It about the loss of Habeas Corpus. Shishir’s extensive TV and film list include: Bones, Lost, Sleeper Cell, Alias,  Monk, Surface, Heroes, Six Feet Under, The West Wing, and most recently in the Disney Channel movie musical, Lemonade Mouth. His most profound and instructive creation, however, is his daughter Tala Claye Ananya Perl Kurup.

Dakaboom
Edgy music-driven comedy duo Dakaboom is two guys doing comedy that combines the musical genres of pop, opera, hip-hop, jazz, musical theatre and a cappella. One is a curly redhead with Franki Valli's sinuses and a keen sense of humor; the other is a wide-eyed brunette ingénue with old-fashioned flair, a flawless voice and an occasional mermaid costume, who you might have caught as a contestant on this past season of NBC’s The Sing Off with his group Sonos, the 2011 winner of Best Pop/Rock Group at the ACAs. They're long-time best friends who reference the old-school vaudeville style, while manipulating it into a playful, modern art form. Graduates of UCLA and UC Irvine with degrees in music and theater.

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      cARTel: Collaborative Arts LA
As you might have noticed, we do a lot of stuff. A lot. We bring locals together through boundary-pushing arts events and highly collaborative, ensemble-driven productions. We fill our audiences and our casts with people who are not interested solely in performing or solely in watching, but rather in sharing the experience of art with one another. We look to empower both long time and beginner artists by providing inspiring opportunities to create and perform, diverse and affordable workshops, and dynamic venues to meet and engage with like-minded visionaries. We believe that a community alive with art will thrive with conversation and understanding, and progress. Art conversing with people conversing with people conversing with art.


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“cARTel is a multi-media, multi-discipline production company that doesn’t just put on shows, they put on EXPERIENCES. Attending a cARTel event means every one of your senses will be engaged. You’ll be eating, drinking, laughing, crying, seeing, hearing, and touching their PRODUCTION...Anything cARTel is the place to be.”
- LA Travel Bug : http://latravelbug.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/let-cartel-cart-you-away/

FORT
“cARTel brought this evening of whimsical, interactive fancy to life..”
LA Weekly

“This was a creative, unique, and inspired event, definitely recapturing the joy of childhood in adult-style...fans can count on more “boundary-pushing” events from these visionaries in the future”
So Cal Magazine

NO BUDGET FILM FESTIVAL
“The wild West days of the world’s film festivals are not over...There is still plenty of room for up-and-coming filmmakers to get their stuff submitted, accepted, and seen at festivals. Case in point – the No Budget Film Festival.”
Film School Rejects

LIVING ROOM TOUR
“...Intimate, pioneering, conceptually brilliant... one of the best productions we've seen this year.”
LAist

BROKECHELLA 2011
“If you’re bummed out that you didn’t make it to the desert this weekend for a little music festival—don’t fret... the Ahimsa Collective and RentFoodBroke are throwing Brokechella tonight at the Airliner for the rest of us.”
LAist

“There was face painting, regular painting, and even an outdoor art gallery. There were also drink specials, comedy acts, and DJs galore. Seriously, my husband and I had ourselves a good ‘ole time on the cheap. We had so much fun that, Coachella or not, we already plan to be at next year’s “Brokechella.”
Wifey of a Roadie

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cARTel: Collaborative Arts LA is an ensemble based, multimedia arts organization devoted to creating large scale arts events and boundary pushing theater