Here it is RoofFam, THE FIRST EXTENSIVE LOOK AT "ROOFLESS" LEAKED TO THE PUBLIC. Close your eyes and enter the world of the "Roofless!"
This 15-min mash up includes audio from our rough demos that we've produced during the development process, from workshop recording sessions, and dialog from table readings (which explains the page-turning noises….hahaha.) Much of the vocal work on the 20 songs in the show has been recorded by us, the composers (Tim Long and Jerome Johnson, aka LoJoWerkz) as is the normal case for musicals in development. Occasionally we've had very talented performers step in to help us on some of the demos. You'll hear much of their work here. Names of performers, as well as scene/song names appear on-screen.
PARENTAL ADVISORY - EXPLICIT LANGUAGE (One feature of "Roofless" that has been praised by critics is the "frank, unapologetic and realistic flavor" of the street vernacular.)
This demo touches on only about 1/8 of the material in the show, but hopefully represents the "Roofless" flavor fully. Again… our main reason for releasing this development material is to help raise awareness of the show as part of our fundraising attempts for our upcoming LA trip where we'll take many of the performers heard here with us to perform the entire show for our mentor Stephen Schwartz, Michael Kerker of ASCAP and several other Industry folks who will critique the show & offer us their advice. So PLEASE, if you like what you hear and want to help us move the show to the next step, DONATE to our support drive. ANY AMOUNT IS GREATLY NEEDED AND EVEN MORE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!
Credits:
BIG SHOUT OUT to Bryant Lamar and 4U Media Group for recording the Avionce Hoyles sessions, and Tim Kennard and Quinton Davis, Forrest Productions for some amazing recording sessions in 05, some of which have remained as part of the score.
The good ol' Rankin/Bass Fred Astaire from the 1970 classic "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" has made yearly appearances in LoJoLand and TuTchTville alongside our favorite stars of Street Dance. You can check out the line up of "Merry TuTchTmas" joints on our LoJoWerkz Instagram page.
Have a great Holiday Season, fam! Lots of "ROOFLESS" development projects on tap for 2016! Follow us for the latest updates!
Two Table Readings Coming Up! Next week in TULSAand
around the first of the year inLAwith our esteem'ed (pronounced Shakespeareanly, of course) mentors, whose names we shant drop because they are so high up in the stratosphere of Broadway luminaries that dropping said names all the way down to our lowly level might hurt some innocent bystander.
NEW TABLE READINGS also give us the chance to pull out one of our goofy favs from our promo video library. Check out a ridiculously LoonyTuned look at how we conduct our table reads. (This footage is from ASCAP Headquarters, DGA building in LA. 5 or 6 years ago I think.) Click it out below:
So for years, each time we assembled a cast for a reading or developmental performance Jerome and I discussed how we needed a graphic that showed all the show's characters to help interested actors quickly see the types we're seeking. So finally - after many years and over 3,000 actors have been through the "Roofless" casting process (betta late than neva, hahaha) and in anticipation of a couple important readings coming up, we pulled the illustration together. Ladies and gentlemen, we present the archetypal Roofheadz. (Above,l to r) R'Yonne, Dimples, Hogeye, Nine, Loomin', Sela, Lil Man, Scope, Marquee, Father & Tha Devil… and levitating, or rather, "levibreaking," above the principals is the character who has come to represent the flava of "Roofless" and, in essence, the flava of all our work, Tagz!
Some model creds: My work as TuTchT IMAGING has put me in association with some of the top male models of color around the globe. I gotta shout out the brothers whose images I drew from in developing this cast illustration. Their brilliant work always inspires me. S/O to Broderick Hunter, CyKeem White, Ronald Epps, Designer/Model C.Milano, Australia's Prince, and top UK model Harry Uzoka, among others. And, of course, a longterm S/O to Stephen Christopher and J Photogj Frieson Jr for working with us years ago to develop the flying Tagz character. The Sela illustration is based on images of the beautiful Joan Smalls. (The similarity of these and other models to the characters depicted in this illustration does not represent any involvement in, or endorsement of "Roofless" on their part ...Not yet anyway, hahaha. One of these brothers might soon be flexing his acting chopz as part of one of our table reading casts.)
