eurydice reflections.

as of tomorrow (in north america), autumn is officially upon us.  when i was younger summer was my favorite season, for obvious reasons - no school, vacations to the jersey shore, warm weather to ride my bike in, summer clothes, endless daylight savings sun, fireworks, and enough barbecue to stuff me silly.  however, now that i'm older and a few years out of college i'm finding that the fall may in fact be my favorite season.  without a summer vacation or school year to break things up i find myself really enjoying the change of the seasons.  this summer was brutally hot for many places in the us and i am so thrilled to finally feel comfortable outside again (and to break out my fall wardrobe).

i'm not sad to see this summer go, but i must say it was a pretty amazing time for me and ryan.  we started this blog, wrote some new songs, collaborated with visionary director (and close friend) brandon monokian on 3 plays for princeton public library's "page to stage" series, and we booked and played our first official show as spinner's end.  one of my fondest memories of this summer was working on the musical score we composed for brandon's production of eurydice by sarah ruhl for "page to stage."  brandon recently posted a youtube video of ryan and me (and our beautiful friend and collaborator, the very talented amanda ada guzman) workshopping a scene from eurydice.  since i've been asked to post more songs and videos, i thought you might want to check it out!

this was taken at our first or second rehearsal, and the songs definitely grew and changed a bit from what you see here before our actual performance.  this was basically a rough walk-through of our first scene in the play.  if you haven't read my earlier post about the play, ryan and i took the words of 3 characters called the "stones" and combined them, unedited and unabridged, as lyrics.  together, ryan, the keyboard, and i became the stones, and the script became a libretto of sorts.  each song was written around the words that we were given by the playwright, but the music is entirely original.  in fact, some of the melodies and music found in this video has been extrapolated and transformed into a new song, with original lyrics, that ryan and i just finished writing tonight!  this experience is one that i know i will always cherish, not only for the opportunity to write new music, but as the first of many future collaborations with brandon and amanda.

so what were some of your favorite memories from this past summer?  are you sad to see it go or glad to welcome the fall?

our first show!

we did it!  spinner's end has officially played our first real show.  we would like to thank field of creams cafe in mahwah, nj for having us on friday, it was really fun!  we were the only band playing that evening so we got to play for almost two hours, much longer than i've ever played before.

 i've been performing on stage for many years as an actress and (when i was younger) a dancer, but there's definitely something different about playing live music.  there is no character to play, no story to advance, no costumes, or sets, or disguises to hide behind.  the focus is just on me and ryan in that moment.  i think that's why i love to play music.  after years of pretending to be other people, music is the one place i'm forced to be nothing but true to myself. writing songs with the person i love, taking the music he gives me and blending it with my melodies and notebook scribbled words, is a very personal thing and singing them live in front of other people is a little bit scary, a little bit exhilarating, and very freeing.

the lovely owners of field of creams have asked us to come back and play some time in october!  we also just booked a spa re-launch party on the 23rd and are playing a fundraising event to support victims of domestic violence on october 13th, so our calendar is actually starting to fill up!  make sure to check our "upcoming shows" page for all the details.  my uncle dennis is currently in the process of building a private recording studio in his attic that should be ready for use in about a month or so.  once it's up and running ryan and i will actually be able to record our songs and share them with you all on the blog!  i just know you're all dying to get your hands on the first spinner's end album.. ;P

cheers!  xx ali.

Eurydice.

Hello friends!  Ali here, with a little update on what we've been up to lately...  Ryan and I have spent the past two weeks working on a unique theater project, writing a score for a staged reading of Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl as part of the Princeton Public Library's Page to Stage series.  We were also cast in the play, as the Stones.  Spinner's End is a relatively new band, so being offered this kind of opportunity was a real thrill for both of us.  Now, I am close friends with the amazing director Brandon Monokian, so that may have been part of the reason we got the gig.  However, we are not the type to take an opportunity like this lightly, nepotism be damned.  We dove headfirst into this project and wrote the bulk of the music in three furious writing sessions.  It's been a hell of an experience and we are both so excited for the show tomorrow!

In case you've never heard of this beautiful play, here's the story.  It's a modern twist on the classic Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, this time through tragic heroine Eurydice's eyes.  Eurydice and Orpheus are young and in love - maybe too in love.  They're getting married!  But then, tragedy strikes on their wedding day when the Lord of the Underworld aka A Nasty Interesting Man comes along and decides to make Eurydice his own.  She "trips" down a huge flight of stairs and dies.  In this strange world, when you die you are dipped in the River of Forgetfulness & you shed all memories of your past life.  In the underworld she encounters the Stones.. a group of three strange creatures that serve as the Lord of the Underworld's gatekeepers and welcome committee.  Things get really interesting when Eurydice's father, who died when she was young, appears and somehow remembers his daughter.  Add in Orpheus's unwavering devotion to finding her and bringing her back to life, and you've got a recipe for an emotional, poignant, and sweet tale of what it means to love and be loved.

Usually, the Stones are played by three actors, the Little Stone, the Big Stone, and the Loud Stone.  In our version, the Stones have been consolidated and morphed into me, Ryan, and the piano.  Every line that would normally be spoken (save one sarcastic line that goes to Ryan) is instead sang by me, accompanied by Ryan.  I went to college for Acting, but I haven't actually done a play since I graduated.  Though I love acting, my focus has definitely shifted to music and making Spinner's End my number one priority.  It's been really amazing not only having an opportunity to act again, but also for Ryan and I to take Sarah Ruhl's beautiful and brilliant words and turn them into songs.  The surreal, heightened, poetic quality of the lines translates beautifully as lyrics.  I'm so proud of the work we've done these past two weeks, and I think that the audience tomorrow is in for something really unique, interesting, and honest.  The other actors in the play are giving really strong performances and Brandon's directorial vision is really beautiful.  If any of you internet folk out there are free tomorrow, Wednesday the 27th, and live in the Princeton area, please come check it out!  And if you're not able to come, I still suggest you get your hands on a copy of Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice.  You won't regret reading it.

Details can be found here.