It’s not every day that you hear about a new advancement in the theatrical arts. It’s even rarer to hear that such a thing is being accomplished by a Toledo theater troupe. The Glacity Theater Collective introduces the art of Junkbox theater to the community with its summer production of House of Vinyl on Thursday, August 20 through August 27.
A Junkbox musical, named by its creator Edmund Lingan, is made by mixing and recycling bits and pieces of previously undeveloped nonsense together. “It’s created out of whatever materials the collaborative group of artists have lying around: old, unfinished portions of plays, ideas jotted on notebook paper and shoved in a drawer, the fascinating words written on a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. Whatever,” said Lingan, who wrote House of Vinyl along with director Timothy Lake.
When Lingan and Lake were tasked with putting on a musical, the duo brainstormed using this new junkbox approach. “We had a talk and realized that there were very few musicals that suited the style of Glacity Theatre Collective, which strives to do unusual and unexpected work,” Lingan said. “Ultimately, we decided that the action to take was to create a Junkbox musical.”
Curiouser and curiouser
The story of House is that of Horton, an agoraphobe whose fear of the outside is put to the test when his apartment must be evacuated following a gas leak. The now-exposed Horton attempts to find safety by holding on tight to an outside pole. Eventually after being troubled by increasingly odd people who test his resolve, a curious character named Morgan shows up and, enthralled by the neurotic Horton, takes our hero to her favorite place, the House of Vinyl. Down that rabbit hole is a place filled with eccentric people, outlandish musical numbers, and lots and lots of the titular vinyl.
Last month I was able to sit in on a rehearsal for House of Vinyl. Seeing the show in such a bare-bones way allowed me to watch the play evolve. It’s an ever-shifting entity – each performer finds their respective place, and Timothy fits together each piece of the Junkbox puzzle to create a vivid Lewis Carroll-like world, even without costumes or sets.
Enhanced by the set
The play’s venue also adds to the peculiarity; if you’ve never been to the theater at the University of Toledo’s Center for Performing Arts, this might be the time to go: there isn’t a bad seat in the squared coliseum-style house. It’s fascinating seeing actors interact in such a distinct space which, when fully furnished for the musical, will be decked out in vinyl, making it even more provocative than before.
House of Vinyl has a lot of new and dynamic aspects to it. The basis of the play is a brand-new Toledo-born theatrical technique, the story reads like something out of John Waters’ personal journal, and the venue and costume designs play as much of a role as the actors do. The Glacity Theater Collective is doing strange and wonderful things to bring innovative theater to Toledo. House of Vinyl looks to be a fantastic show to introduce people to the world of Junkbox theater.
8pm Thursday-Saturday, August 20-22 & 27-29. $15.
University of Toledo Center for The Performing Arts, 2801 W. Bancroft.
419-530-ARTS (2787). glacity.tix.com
