We’re back! With another everything immersive this week, recounting all of the news in immersive-land that hit the presses since the holiday break. So what happened?
Disney announced that its second major attraction at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge “Rise of the Resistance” finally has an opening date: December 5 at Walt Disney World in Orlando and January 17 at Disneyland in Anaheim. Netflix’s Stranger Things created an alternate reality game to promote the hit show’s latest season which dropped last week. MWM Immersive’s free-roaming VR experience War Remains announced the first stop of its post-Tribeca Film Festival tour would be Austin, Texas. SIGGRAPH 2019 announced a huge slate of VR content for the conference later this summer, including Disney’s second ever VR short. And a ton of immersive activations are on the horizon for the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con.
As for NoPro, we reviewed a glowing ramen experience, a twist on Dante’s Inferno mixed with Sartre’s No Exit, and an espionage-infused production by CoLab in London. Our friends over at Pseudonym Productions were our guests on the podcast. And we did a live-streamed discussion between Noah Nelson, Anthony Robinson, Kevin Gossett, and Brian Resler about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland on our YouTube channel. And, as usual, shows, shows, and more shows.
All that, and more, below.
No Proscenium is supported by Thymele Arts…
…and our listeners and readers — people just like you. Join today by pledging $1 or $5/month:
ON THE PODCAST THIS WEEK
Kathryn Yu sits down with Ricky Brigante and Sarah Elger of Pseudonym Productions who have recently moved their immersive theatre company from Orlando to Philadelphia.
The three of them have a wide-ranging conversation about Sarah’s background in architecture and theme park design and Ricky’s background in theme park journalism, the forming of their immersive theatre company, creating their first show, running an immersive theatre business in a place like Orlando, their recent experience going through the Creative Startups accelerator program, the future and impact of immersive design as a field, as well as their thoughts on Disney’s influence on immersive, including the brand new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Read Interactive, Intimate, Experimental: The Impact of Immersive Design 2019 by Ricky Brigante [PDF].
OUR GALAXY’S EDGE DISCUSSION ON YOUTUBE
Make sure to subscribe to the NoPro YouTube channel for even more upcoming livestreams!
FROM THE WIRE: SHOWS, EVENTS, & EXPERIENCES
Austin: War Remains
Baltimore: Project P.S.
Cleveland: Anywhere But Here, a solo experience
Houston: The Man From Beyond
LA: Beasts From The Sea!; The 49 Boxes — The Golden Age of Magic; Fefu and Her Friends; Nexus 2019; hell prepared; Under The Big Top — Atlas
NYC: The New York Immersive Challenge; Come Out & Play: After Dark; Chaos Theory (New Date); ZeroSpace; Marta Minujín: Menesunda Reloaded
San Diego: NBC’s Immersive Activations for San Diego Comic-Con 2019; Wonderspaces presents ‘in common’
Sign up for our newsletters to get new immersive experiences sent straight to your inbox.
Submit your show to us here or at pitches@noproscenium.com.
REVIEWS
From No Proscenium:
Full Belly, Empty Heart: ‘Nakamura.ke’ Mobile Kitchen’s Glowing Ramen Fails To Impress (REVIEW)The costly pop-up in LA doesn’t live up to its potentialnoproscenium.comBlack Bag Job: A Night Abroad in ‘Spy City’ (Review)London-based CoLab Theatre’s final production in their “espionage series”noproscenium.comHell Is Still Other People And There’s ‘One Exit’ (A NoPro Multi-Track Review)Two views on The Halogen Company’s twist on ‘No Exit’ in LAnoproscenium.com
From David & Lisa Spira of Room Escape Artist:
Get No Proscenium’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
SubscribeSubscribe
“Skurrilum’s Ghost Hunter Ernie Hudson and the Wailing Woman was voted #1 in the world by escape room players in 2018. It was an incredible escape room, but it was made and maintained by humans. Go in expecting to play a great and inventive escape room, not ‘the world’s greatest escape room.’”
“Neptune’s Curse at Hidden in Hamburg was the kind of escape room that really highlights what’s fantastic about this whole form of entertainment. Hidden in Hamburg packed great, tangible puzzles into an incredible, authentic space.”
STORIES
From NoProscenium.com and our Twitter feed:
The Overlook 2019 Immersive Creator Video Series (Part 3): JFI ProductionsAn interview with the team behind ‘Room Service’noproscenium.comLooking for ‘Somebody to Love’ in Burbank’s Magnolia Park (Q&A)Matt Harry discusses the interactive romantic comedy.noproscenium.comThe ‘Nakamura.ke’ Mobile Dining Experience Rolls Into LA (Q&A)Romy Maloon of Dashboard chats with us about the glow-in-the-dark ramen shop.noproscenium.comTiming for Opening of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance AnnouncedWe've got some exciting news to share today with the galaxy. We're opening Rise of the Resistance Dec. 5 at Walt Disney…disneyparks.disney.go.comSIGGRAPH 2019 Offers Biggest Offering of Immersive Content EverEach year, SIGGRAPH returns with a bigger program of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality works. The conference's next…www.cartoonbrew.comThe Sleepy Hollow Experience to Haunt Original Author Washington Irving's New York Estate |…Regional News The Sleepy Hollow Experience to Haunt Original Author Washington Irving's New York Estate The interactive…www.playbill.com'Stranger Things' fans are uncovering an IRL mystery right now (and so can you)SPOILER ALERT If you haven't watched all of Stranger Things 3 yet, don't read any further than the ARG spoiler warning…mashable.comYouTube App Lets You Put Yourself in the World of 'Stranger Things 3' via Augmented RealitySo you're all done binge watching Stranger Things Season 3 and you want to start sharing your personal review with…mobile-ar.reality.newsBaskin-Robbins and Netflix Made a Spy Game for Stranger Things That Uses Only 1985 TechWhile a record 40 million people have tuned in to watch the third season of Stranger Things since last week's debut, a…www.adweek.comDisney's New 'a kite's tale' VR Short to Debut at SIGGRAPH 2019For the second consecutive year, Walt Disney Animation Studios will debut an all-new VR short film at the SIGGRAPH…www.awn.com
From David & Lisa Spira of Room Escape Artist:
“We answered a reader’s question: What is your opinion on real looking metal handcuffs that have a safety release?”
“Room Escape Artist is working on the 2019 industry report. Please take a look at our escape room directory and contact us any updates (new companies, closed companies, name changes, location changes, etc) in your area.”
From Kellian Adams Pletcher, Green Door Labs:
“The Night Cafe is a 1950’s beat cafe that’s all about hip cats and sleepless nights. Join us to complete puzzles and challenges, explore the Dream Corridor, meet fellow insomniacs and achieve your final goal: to fall asleep.”
“I enjoyed how the people involved in this immersive theater experience spoke about their goals, approaches, and passion for an immersive experience.”
From Laura E. Hall of Timberview Productions:
“Follow us on Instagram for updates as we fabricate our newest narrative escape room game: ”
“UK game designer Ian Thomas (@wildwinter) released an excellent write-up of the design and logistics of running a Three Musketeers LARP in which everyone gets to be the hero:”
From Kent Bye of the Voices of VR podcast:
“Creators of immersive experiences are creating cultural artifacts, and so then the question becomes about how do you cultivate a community through these elements of culture. Behavioral researcher Jessica Outlaw defines these anthropological elements of culture and how you can use them to foster community and shift culture. Important & engaging convo based upon her XR for Change talk.”
From Lance Weiler of the Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab:
“Recently the American Theatre Wing documented our work with Frankenstein AI for their Emmy nominated series ‘Working in the Theatre.’ The episode explores emergent technology within performance. The overview of Frankenstein AI comes in at 12:50.”
NoPro is a labor of love made possible by our generous Patreon backers: join them today!
In addition to the No Proscenium web site, our podcast, and our newsletters, you can find NoPro on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, in the Facebook community Everything Immersive, and on our Slack forum.
Office facilities provided by Thymele Arts, in Los Angeles, CA.
Discussion