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Colorful World 

2008

The 78th Street Theatre Lab
236 West 78th St., 2nd Floor
May 8-10, 15-17, 22-24, 29-31, 2008 
 

Cast

Overman (Tom Shanley) — Patrick Shearer
Tigress (Karen Fisher) — Jessi Gotta
Ramses (Jeffrey Michaels) — Abe Goldfarb
Guy Madison — Mac Rogers
John — Zack Calhoon
The Void — Marc Landers
The Peacekeeper (Mick Catton) — Ben VandenBoom
Johnny Patriot — Christopher Yustin

Voiceovers
Pete Boisvert, Isaac Butler, Rebecca Comtois, 
Stephanie Cox-Williams, Desmond Dutcher, 
Brian Enk, Shay Gines, Matt Johnston, 
Marsha Martinez, Brian Silliman
 

Production Team

Director — Pete Boisvert
Playwright — James Comtois
Stage Manager — Stephanie Cox-Williams
Fight Choreographers — Qui Nguyen and Alexis Black
Lighting Designer — Phil Shearer
Sound Designer — Patrick Shearer
Makeup Designer — Leslie Hughes
Costume Designer — Meredith Magoun
Set Design — Pete Boisvert and Stephanie Cox-Williams
Projection Graphic Designer — Pete Boisvert
Projection Video Designer — Marc Landers
Projection Asst Video Designer — Ben VandenBoom
Projection Coordinator — Rebecca Comtois
Board Operator — Sandy Yaklin

Producers
Pete Boisvert, James Comtois, Rebecca Comtois, 
Marc Landers, Patrick Shearer, Stephanie Cox-Williams

Photos by Aaron Epstein

Colorful World is, as you will see, my take on the “superhero” genre for the stage. I suppose it differs from typical superhero tales in that it’s more concerned with the cultural and political landscape and the bruised psyches of retired crimefighters than with guys in tights and capes beating each other up (although Qui Nguyen has made sure there are some lovely fight scenes throughout).

I also suppose it’s a little more melancholy than your average superhero story, since it speculates that discovering the existence of a Superman-like being is ultimately depressing once the novelty wears off.

Even though I’ve been a fan of superhero movies and comics since I was a little kid, I don’t think I have it in me to write a conventional superhero tale. Once I start writing about costumed crimefighters, I start wondering what psychological problems they have or physical problems they would acquire.

I know you’re not supposed to worry about these things when you’re reading a copy of Batman, but when I’m writing a story like that on my own, I just can’t help it.

The script started as a loose adaptation of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbon’s landmark graphic novel Watchmen (and, in a slightly less obvious way, a riff on Frank Miller & Klaus Janson’s The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again), but ended up morphing into it’s own thing while simultaneously becoming indebted to even more sources (including Qui’s play Men of Steel and Dan Trujillo’s play Conference With the Bull).

Despite being beholden to several sources, I think the show stands on its own as its own unique story.

Many thanks to everyone in the cast and crew for making my convoluted script come to life on the stage. And many thanks to too damn many comic book creators for me to name.

A drunk in a cape,

James “Captain Awkward” Comtois

Nosedive Archives: Goon Fight
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Nosedive Archives: Where Is Overman?
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Graphic Design by Pete Boisvert

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