The Builders Association Brings Technical Wizardry to NYC Debut of ELEMENTS OF OZ, Starting Tonight

Two-time Obie Award-winning The Builders Association brings their technical wizardry to the NYC premiere of ELEMENTS OF OZ, directed by The Builders Association director Marianne Weems and co-created and written by James Gibbs and Moe Angelos. ELEMENTS OF OZ begins performances tonight, December 1 for a limited engagement through Sunday, December 18. Press opening is Wednesday, December 7 at 8 PM.

The performance schedule is Tuesday - Saturday at 8 PM, with matinees Saturday & Sunday at 3 PM. Please note there is no performance on Tuesday, December 6. Performances are co-presented with 3LD Art and Technology Center at 80 Greenwich Street, at Rector, in downtown Manhattan. Tickets are $25 and are available by visiting www.thebuildersassociation.org.

The Builders Association's Land of Oz moves beyond technicolor! The Builders Association revisits L. Frank Baum's classic live onstage using Augmented Reality to enhance the experience, turning each audience member's phone into part of the performance. By holding a smart phone or tablet up to the stage, new layers of the show emerge and converge (like the tornado that whips Dorothy's house away) in an augmented reality app designed by the company specifically for the show.

An enchantment for a post-modern audience, ELEMENTS OF OZ recreates the iconic film while dissecting its legacy. From Dark Side of the Moon and "Friends of Dorothy" to a virtual YouTube chorus singing Oz classics, ELEMENTS OF OZ digs into the stories behind the infamous film, its longstanding greatness and its many interpretations and tributes.

The cast features Moe Angelos (The Builders Association's SONTAG: Reborn; The Five Lesbian Brothers), Sean Donovan (The Builders Association's House/Divided; BESSIE Award-nominee) and Hannah Heller (The World is Round at BAM).

The design team includes NeAl Wilkinson (scenic design); Jennifer Tipton (lighting design); Dan Dobson (sound design and original music composition); Austin Switser (video design); John Cleater (augmented reality design); Jessie Garrison (interactive design/programming). Larry Shea and Kevan Loney are the augmented reality/network consultants. The identity and app design is by LeClair Lucas. The Production Stage Manager is Emma Sherr-Ziarko.

Marianne Weems (director) is artistic director of The Builders Association and has directed all of their productions since the company began in 1994. In the past, she has worked with Susan Sontag, The Wooster Group, David Byrne and many others. She is the former head of Graduate Directing in the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University (2008-14), and is building their Integrative Media Program in NYC. She serves the board of Art Matters, is the co-author of Art Matters: How The Culture Wars Changed America (NYU Press 2000), and co-authored a book with Shannon Jackson, The Builders Association: Performance and Media in Contemporary Theater, published by MIT Press.

James Gibbs (writer, dramaturg) is a writer and Company Dramaturg with The Builders Association. He is currently at work on his first novel and has had short fiction recently published with Storyscape Journal. Gibbs was a founder and remains a director of DBOX, a company that makes stories about buildings (advertising, branding, media) and won an Emmy in 2012 for Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero. His photography work with dbox and with husband Dick Page has been published in The New York Times, Surface, allure, W, and Interview magazines, among others.

Moe Angelos (writer/performer) is a theatre-maker, playwright, crazy cat lady (minus cats) and has collaborated with The Builders Association as a performer and writer since 2000. Moe is also one of The Five Lesbian Brothers who have won some awards while retaining their dignity. She wrote and performed The Builders' SONTAG: Reborn at New York Theatre Workshop in 2013 and the production continues to tour. Recently Moe had the pleasure of being in the star-studded remount of Jeff Weiss' serialized downtown drama, That's How the Rent Gets Paid at The Kitchen. Moe works in United Scenic Artists 829, assisting with Hollywood magic when she is not treading the boards. To hear more of what she (and Marianne) have to say about show business, visit madehereproject.org and browse the artists.

For more than 20 years, The Builders Association have told stories about contemporary life while using state-of-the-art technology in wholly new ways. Directed by Marianne Weems, their OBIE-winning productions have toured worldwide with New York presentations at the BAM, New York Theatre Workshop, The Kitchen, The Whitney, Lincoln Center, St Ann's Warehouse, and the Guggenheim.

Co-produced by Peak Performances @ Montclair State University (NJ). ELEMENTS OF OZ was developed in residence at the Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State University.

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