Ara’kus: Aeterno Elementum Nov 4th and 5th performance
Our show’s most recent run this past weekend was the best by far, and of course it can only continue to progress and capture the imagination of our audience. Jeremiah Johnson (JJ) has one of the most incredible imaginations I’ve come across, and his use of tri tones as well as dissonance is better than anyone I’ve met in person let alone had the pleasure to work with.
JJ changed some things from our previous show back in August. The most notable is the Lord of Night scene where the four generals show the audience how they made their hordes of undead soldiers to fight in the apocalypse. This scene originally had the four generals kneeling stage right with the band having free reign of the whole stage. This alteration to the plot however helps fill in the gaps and gives the story a middle section that it needed before. Again, it was a magnificent addition to the show and Byron’s choreography for the Seattle Knights (who were kind enough to devote their time to Aeterno Elementum) adds so much more depth to the show that I cannot fathom a more appropriate group for our on-stage battle scenes.
I’d like to take a moment to give some extra credit. My friend Eve stepped in just a few weeks before the show to become our stage manager which was a real trial by fire since the notes she had to go off of were from the November show last year and several changes had been made since that show. She was a champ. She had nightmares of missing props, queuing lights at the wrong time or something else going horribly wrong (like most of us do prior to a show). Despite the amount of stress she felt she didn’t quite and she even intends to manage the following shows for Ara’Kus. She did a marvelous job.
Susan, our Ara’kus Mother and the leader of the CEM’s also deserves notoriety. This woman is always on top of the ball at rehearsals, not to mentions she is now the member that drives the furthest distance to get to rehearsal. She c
ontinually has extra sheet music for all voice parts and is always game for hugs. She sings either Alto or Tenor for us depending on the need, and as you can tell from this alone she is incredibly flexible and easy to work with.
Lastly, another improvement in Aeterno Elementum was the lighting. In sections where it seemed to lull the lights crew added effects that added movement to the scene. For example, Syren’s Embrace, though it had plenty of movement, flickering bright bluish-white blocks added what seemed to be either water droplets or waves and made the scene that more impressive to the imagination.
Aeterno Elementum has made so much progress it is astounding and wonderful. It is no wonder that all involved with this production give it their all to see it succeed.
Photos taken by Dane Brunson.
