Houston’s immersive scene may not make as much noise as NYC or LA, but folks there have been holding down a steady beat with two companies — Dinolion and Strange Bird Immersive — hitting the national radar in the past few years. The latter with their escape room/theatre hybrid The Man From Beyond, and the former with a collaboration with musician Vicki Lynn Tippit of Black Kite, chronicling her traumatic childhood.

Now Dinolion is back with another large scale show — Lionshare — which will again be a collaboration with musicians. In this case, they’re working with the duo Merel & Tony, creating all new work for a mysterious new show.

We spoke with Dinolion’s Jeromy Barber about the new show and its Kickstarter campaign, which ends this week.

No Proscenium: The Kickstarter doesn’t give a lot away about the planned show, Lionshare, but if people wanted to get a sense of what it might be like what Merel & Tony songs should they listen to?

Jeromy Barber: In the Kickstarter campaign, we’re leaving many of the details vague in part to preserve as much of the audience experience as possible and also because the show is still in development. We have a unique story, and we have some ambitious ideas about how to relay it. We don’t want to tip our hands prematurely and set audience expectations in place. Key pieces are coming together, but it’s possible we may have to make some large structural changes. I know. I’m being vague here too.

There’s no place to point you to hear music that is similar to what Merel and Tony are making for the show because they are creating all new music especially for this piece. In addition, they are writing it all a cappella, so it’s completely different than anything they have currently released.

So — mystery on mystery.

NP: Collaborating with musicians on immersive theatre is becoming Dinolion’s signature: how did this become a thing for the team?

JB: Traci, James, and I are all performing artists. My degree is in music, and I have a folk duo called The Mustn’ts. James came up playing in Houston bands (LIMB, By The End of Tonight), and Traci is a poet and a noise artist. We’re entrenched in and inspired by that scene, so, combined with our love of immersive work, it’s been a natural step to marry the two.

We made some other work that isn’t as music centric (Waiting for Guffman, Carol, Witch Craft), but Red House, which was inspired by the music and story of Vicki Lynn Tippit of Black Kite, was such a success locally, that we wanted to revisit the model. Lionshare is different in structure and content, but the idea of a theatrical immersive concert is still being explored.

And we are collaborating with so many other kinds of artists as well. Projection, sound designers, writers, dancers, fine artists, installation folks, coders. Lionshare has a huge creative team.

NP: What did you learn on Red House and Carol that is carrying over to Lionshare?

JB: Carol made us nimble and resourceful, and it’s proven to be an excellent framework to test ideas and bond with artists of all disciplines. Carol also connected us with a lot of folks who believe in what we’re doing and want us to be doing more of it. We got pretty good at loading into a space, creating a performance map, setting up lights and sound, and then loading out all in the same day. We also love the power of word of mouth and secrecy. Carol is a completely unpromoted show, and one has to complete quests each month in order to receive the address.

Red House taught us so much. Where to start…? It taught us that making this work is doable in Houston. People will come, and they will take the show in. We learned how important it is to set audience expectations and lay out the rules. We learned that our house’s electricity wasn’t grounded. We learned that people could be deeply moved and inspired by experiencing an immersive musical (of sorts). We learned that people will make themselves a plate of vegan pot pie if we didn’t clear out the fridge. We learned the practical lessons of how to block, organize, and direct this kind of show. One of the biggest things was learning how the three of us work together, and we’ve expanded on our strengths developing Lionshare. This show is more complicated than Red House, but the process of creating is much more smooth.

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