Interview: Luke Comer and THE PORTAL

The New York premiere of The Portal will begin an Off-Broadway open-ended run on October 27th at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane) in NYC. Opening night is set for November 13th.

The Portal is a rock odyssey conceived and directed by Luke Comer, with original music composed by Tierro Lee (Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp) and Luke Comer, starring lead vocalist/frontman Billy Lewis Jr. (Fox series "Glee"), and choreographed by Jessica Chen (J CHEN PROJECT).

Driven by epic rock, pulsing with tribal and electronic beats, The Portal is part concert, part movie, and part performance. Inspired by Burning Man, Pink Floyd, EDM, and world mythology, The Portal not only entertains but also immerses the audience in a journey of transcendence and empowerment.

Broadwayworld.com had the opportunity to interview Luke Comer about his career and the rock odyssey, The Portal.

Luke Comer is the author of the novel, "Yoke of Wind," about a slave revolt on an island off the coast of Florida; the creative director and executive producer of the rock odyssey, The Portal; the executive producer of the music and transformational festival, "Arise"; the executive producer and creative director of the small, experimental trance-dance "Ride the Dragon"; and the author and executive producer of the upcoming project "The First Supper," about the relationship between human biological and cultural evolution and nutrition. While working in different mediums, Comer nonetheless uses many of the same artistic and intellectual techniques and motifs in all of his work. Through his exploration of human biological and cultural evolution, he attempts to identify the fundamental needs of humanity that are not met in modern society - and then devise ways to fulfill those needs.

What were some of your earliest creative projects?

I may have an unusual interpretation of "creative--" that is, dealing with life in ways that are not prescribed by others or some system or formula.

Lots of play in my childhood: exploring the woods, building forts, climbing trees--generally doing dangerous and physical endeavors with my buddies--that required considerable amounts of quick and creative thinking.

I also started drawing, reading books, and writing stories, and playing the drums for rock and roll bands.

We are impressed with your versatility. Do you have a preferred medium?

At the moment, I am questioning whether I should continue to diversify my career so much.

Over the past eight years or so, I have created The Portal (an alternative theatrical production); Yoke of Wind, a novel about a slave revolt; and Arise (a transformational festival) and have just about finished "The First Supper," a long, exhaustive scientific narrative about the relationship between biological and cultural evolution and food and nutrition.

On the one hand, I seem to be driven towards novelty and expansion, as well as synthesizing lots of layers of information. And this, perhaps, makes me a better artist overall.

On the other hand, it can be exhausting; and it probably not the best way to build a career.

That being said, I may ultimately decide to conceive and direct projects--by synthesizing different mediums into one coherent, artistic production, as you would have in theater or movies.

Or I may choose to focus more.

Honestly, I am also trying to sense how the market is responding to my various works to help me make my decisions.

What are some of the challenges of your work as an artist?

Quite honestly: audience.

I am an unusual person, an "outlier," who is driven towards complicated and original works--and typically operating outside of the usual trends and putative thought.

And some people appreciate that enormously.

But most people, also, are driven towards brand names, established concepts, and the reigning trends of the times.

So I know my audience is limited and fragile.

What advice do you have for young people interested in the arts?

--Maybe ask yourself this question: do you want to make art to satisfy yourself? Or your market, to become successful?

They are different processes and if you chose the latter, it's another set of challenges, of understanding your market, your business, your brand--and all that stuff that most artists want to ignore.

--Practice your craft.

--Nurture your own creativity.

--And protect your artist heart and spirit--but cover that in armor.

Tell us a little about your inspiration for The Portal.

The Portal ultimately is an allegory for the exploration of our human psyche for becoming more whole and alive--along the way, using lots of concepts from shamanism, psychedelia, and mythology.

My inspirations:

--my own inner journeys, and witness of others

--Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Burning Man, Pink Floyd, Mircea Elliade, and various ancient and modern rituals

--my experience running wilderness courses for adjudicated teenagers

--and extreme sports--as the "reaper" experience, in The Portal, feels to me like my experience of extreme sports when they come on edge.

--fractals (that is, mathematical formulas that create our psychedelic images

We'd like to know a little about the cast and creative of The Portal and why you think the production will fascinate NY area audiences.

We all know our cast and creative is awesome; I do not worry about that.

I decided to bring The Portal to NYC because our run in Denver was positive: as the producer, I think I established that for that market, we were creating good word of mouth and that audiences found great value in the experience.

That was Colorado, another culture, with another set of values as compared to NYC.

So I am sheepish about coming to NYC, honestly--but decided to take the gamble: that although The Portal is not of NYC, it nonetheless will give these audiences a glimpse into another culture, another world, really--the shadowy, mysterious and celestial world of psychedelia and spirituality; where experiences are felt, and embraced but not necessarily entirely understood.

I feel strongly that I am asking NYC to open themselves to something new.

If you try to experience The Portal too literally, or without succumbing to its spell, or without slowing down from the usual NYC pacing, you may become numb to the amazing experience therein.

For the future. Any projects in the pipeline?

My scientific odyssey, The First Supper (about the evolution and nutrition) mentioned above, will be released sometime soon.

I approached this subject, not as a scientist necessarily, but with these questions:

--What should I eat and how? It is clear the evolution designs all organisms to consume certain foods and nutrients in their environment to enhance their survival and reproduction.

So the question is how did evolution design humans in this way.

--And who am I? If you believe in science, you have to accept the tenant that you are a biological being, subject to all the forces and dynamics therein, including the forces of evolution.

So, I am really trying to understand who I am as a biological being.

And then share that with my audience in a compelling sort of way, in ways that can help.

I guess I am not really just trying to create stuff to make money or entertain: I seem--and this has always mystified me--to want to enhance human life itself.

For more information on Luke Comer, visit his web site, http://LukeComer.com.

For more information on The Portal, please visit the show's web site at http://www.ThePortalNYC.com.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Luke Comer

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