Welcome to Gaia! ::

Which of these recent Tony-winning plays and musicals would you love to see Gaia-style?

Book of Mormon 0.32116788321168 32.1% [ 44 ]
Memphis 0.036496350364964 3.6% [ 5 ]
Billy Elliot 0.1021897810219 10.2% [ 14 ]
In the Heights 0.058394160583942 5.8% [ 8 ]
Spring Awakening 0.23357664233577 23.4% [ 32 ]
War Horse 0.12408759124088 12.4% [ 17 ]
Red 0.043795620437956 4.4% [ 6 ]
God of Carnage 0.043795620437956 4.4% [ 6 ]
August: Osage County 0.021897810218978 2.2% [ 3 ]
The Coast of Utopia 0.014598540145985 1.5% [ 2 ]
Total Votes:[ 137 ]
1 2 3 4 5 6 ... 708 709 710 > >> >>> »|

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The Gaian Theatre Company (GTC) is a live performing group on Gaia. We put together our own interpretations of popular and original theater pieces using avatars to represent the characters and Towns as our theater. We have given over 100 performances to audiences on Gaia since our establishment in summer of 2006.

The GTC has been fortunate enough to receive recognition for its inventive use of Gaia's features. In June 2008 we were the first-ever recipients of the Community Spotlight. We hope to continue to provide quality entertainment on Gaia -- and it's easy to get involved!

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This is our current schedule. Events will be added as they're announced.

June 2011

We're looking for ideas on how we can celebrate the 5th anniversary of the GTC's creation.
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Scripts and Acting

The Gaian Theatre Company performs using scripts specially formatted for us. When we do performances of popular work, we make edits and cuts that make our scenes run more smoothly when typed and make it easier for our audiences to follow the story.

A few different ideas make up the backbone of how we handle these scripts:

  • Scenes are sometimes choreographed in rehearsals so we can achieve particular effects or arrangements of characters
  • We treat our lines sort of like poetry -- since we cannot make facial expressions or use inflection, we use CAPITALS to give particular words an emphasis, play with punctuation, and imply pauses with our use of speech bubbles.
  • Avatars are positioned like actors on a stage -- looking (or deliberately not looking) at each other when they speak and moving around the space.
  • When technical problems like actors disconnecting get in our way, we improvise to try and work around them without alerting the audience.


On our YouTube channel you can check out lots of video clips of us performing and rehearsing, as well as a video giving a more in-depth explanation of our acting philosophies for the benefit of those looking to audition.

Costumes and Sets

The GTC uses "mules" (accounts used for purposes other than everyday activity on Gaia) to represent the characters in its shows. Our sets are made by arranging items in our home in towns (our primary theater is The Sphere Theatre, located at 58 Barton 001221) and using colored lights to give different vibes.

All costumes and other costs involved with the running of the GTC come entirely from the GTC's own funds.


  • . If you'd like to donate items or gold to the GTC, you can send a trade to this account ([O.G.]). We heart everyone who's donated to us -- running GTC is expensive and we wouldn't be able to maintain such high production values without you.
  • The guild's Design Discussion is there for those who wish to assist the GTC in designing costumes and sets as well as the general maintaining of our collection of mules.


Audience
In GTC shows, the house is considered to be the stage and the "deck" area beyond the boundaries of the house is where the audience sits. Audience members are encouraged to emote their reactions to what's happening in the story -- it lets us know you're paying attention and drives us to perform better!

Since there's no "clap" emote in Towns (why, Gaia, why?!) most audience members throw us "flowers" during curtain call. If you'd like to send us actual flower items or other artwork or trinkets (aw! We love presents!) you can find lists of which actors were in the show on a given night over at our journal or send gifts to [O.G.] to be distributed.
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General

Why won't [O.G.] friend me back? / Why do I not get your newsletter anymore?

The old newsletter has been discontinued -- now you should join the guild to receive announcements. [O.G.] can't friend you back because then he'd have to friend the other 900 people who have friended him sad
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Can I affiliate with you?
If you run a theater or Towns-related thread or project, PM [O.G.] to discuss affiliation.

How do you keep getting featured?! / Is this run by Gaiaonline staff?
GTC is run by users. We didn't ask to get featured nor do we have any special connections inside the Gaia HQ. They just seem to like us. We don't mind, we like them too.

Who is [O.G.]?

The general account of the Gaian Theatre Company. Several people have access to this account.

Who came up with the idea for the GTC?
Arqueete, Cascara, Patta, N00dl3s, and Goodtoady.

What is 'The Sphere Theatre'?

For one, it's the name of our primary theater (located at 58 Barton 001221). It's also the name of our guild and the name we use on sites outside of Gaia.

Do you run "The Gaian Theatre Company" guild?

It has come to our attention that there are several guilds with our name. One of these is older than we are and an affiliate of ours, however, some of the other guilds are a little fishy and appear to be trying to mimic our idea with no disclaimer that they aren't associated with us. We have only one guild, and that is The Sphere Theatre Guild.

How do I donate to the GTC?
Send a trade to [O.G.]. Thank you very much for thinking about us! smile

Performance and Audition-related

Why don't you do ______ show?

You can suggest shows we should do in the guild. We do not use every suggestion we're given, but they are all read.

How do I become a Gaian Theatre Company actor?

For the vast majority of our shows we hold open auditions. Consider joining The Sphere Theatre Guild or following @spheretheatre on Twitter to keep up with GTC's shows.

If I'm cast in a show, do I have to buy my own costume?

All costumes are provided by the Gaian Theatre Company. If you're cast, you must use the accounts and associated costumes we provide for you.

Can I watch auditions/rehearsals?

No, we prefer that only people who mean to audition or are cast in the show show up to auditions and rehearsals unless invited to watch. If you'd like to get an idea of what to expect when you're cast in a show, you can check out our YouTube channel for videos with audition advice, rehearsals, etc.

What do I need to prepare for an audition?

We never require that you have anything prepared when coming into auditions -- sometimes we post up audition material ahead of time and sometimes we give it out for the first time at the auditions, but regardless, we don't expect you to have anything rehearsed coming in. Just show up at the posted date and time and we'll help you with the rest.

The best advice I can give for auditions is to watch GTC shows (and the audition tips video on our YouTube channel!) Pick out performances you find entertaining and easy to watch and try and emulate those people.

What if I can't make the audition day?

If your only significant conflict is with the audition day (meaning, you'll probably be able to make the vast majority of rehearsals and performances), PM director Arqueete and arrangements can probably be made.

Why can't I talk during the show?!

It's distracting. Actors aren't expecting to see anything show up in their chat box but lines in the script, so when something else appears there it can throw them off. It's actually happened. Our policy with trolls is to ignore them and keep going, but it's not easy or preferable.

Backstage

Can I TekTek costumes for you?

Any discussion of who gets to be costume designer for a show happens in our guild.

Do you need any crew?

We sometimes ask for volunteers to help us clean up our mules, etc., which you can follow in the guild. However, we don't need a lot of the traditional crew of a real show.

I was on a costuming list a couple years ago. Why didn't I hear anything about that?

Very embarrassingly... we lost that list.
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Perhaps surprisingly, The Gaian Theatre Company's roots are more based on the spirit of flash mobs than it was on traditional theater. The GTC's first "members" were simply a group of friends trying to entertain themselves by dressing up and asking strangers in Towns for permission to reenact a scene from a show for them.

The response was almost entirely positive and the group decided to try and recruit some strangers with a thread in the Gaia Towns board. There was an unexpectedly large response from people wanting to know where and when they could see us as well as a large turnout for auditions. This lead to us actually scheduling performances and eventually attempting our first performance of a full story -- Rent

Here's the GTC timeline:

2006

June: The GTC begins performing (check out a video of our first ever "performance"!)
July: The first incarnation of our official thread is posted.
August: We begin working on our first "real" production of Rent.
September: We perform Rent and begin working on Avenue Q.
October The Rocky Horror Show
November:: The Rocky Horror Show
December: Wicked

2007

January: Rent
February: The Phantom of the Opera (adaption of the novel)
March: Chess
April: tick...tick...BOOM!
May: tick...tick...BOOM!
June: Anniversary! and Letters to Anna (an original play)
July: Spring Awakening (the Wedekind play) (Download video with commentary)
August: No show
September: This Month's Production (an adaption of [title of show])
October: Wicked
November: Wicked See a clip
December: No show

2008

January: bare: a pop opera See a clip
February: Spring Awakening (the Wedekind play)
March: Chess (this was the production attended by large numbers of Gaia staff, possibly leading to our later feature -- closing night our audience was literally something like a dozen administrators, moderators, artists, developers, etc.)
April: The Phantom of the Opera (adaption of the novel)
May: A collection of original short plays
June: The GTC is featured in the Community Spotlight (actually the name of our post was "Daily Gaia" which was never used again, but the concept was the first appearance of the community spotlight.) Being the first people to receive the honor, we were not given any forewarning of our feature -- we saw it in announcements like everyone else.

The panic and joy and insanity of our featuring cannot be easily summed up for those who weren't around to see it. We decided to pick an upbeat, well-liked, and most importantly easy to put together show in the form of Avenue Q. People had to sign up for audition times. People had to sign up for performances and we created a system for only allowing signed up people to enter the theater during their performance. To accommodate the demand to sign up, we had to hold performances over the course of six days, and to keep from burning out the actors we cast three separate groups of people to perform at three different times during the day -- this means that we held 18 performances of this show as opposed to our usual two or four.

Patta said he thought he understood what it feels like to win a Tony. Arqueete said she felt like she had a summer job with the at least eight hours a day she put in between directing the show and helping handle the deluge of questions. It was heaven, it was hell, and it's something that happens once in a lifetime, and we thank the Gaia HQ for giving us that experience.

It was also another Anniversary!
July: Spring Awakening (an adaption of the musical) Watch on YouTube
August: In the Heights Watch on YouTube
September: Rent
October: Rent
November: No show
December: No show

2009
January: No show
February: GTC starts its YouTube channel
March: Wicked
April: Wicked
May: Spring Awakening (adaption of the musical)
June: GTC's first hiatus begins
July: Hiatus
August: Hiatus
September: GTC announces plans to return from hiatus if enough interest is generated
October: The Rocky Horror Show Watch on YouTube
November: No show
December: No show

2010
January: tick...tick...BOOM!
February: GTC's second hiatus begins
March: No show
April: No show
June: No show
July: No show
August: GTC holds a reunion cabaret
September: No show
October: The Rocky Horror Show
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User Image

This guild is not owned by us, they just have the same name as us, a name which they have had since before we thought of it. Craziness. We love them for dealing with all of the weirdness of people thinking they're us.

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Bored in Towns has listed us for a long time! We even get a sticky thread there! heart

Link to GTC?

We have lots of cool banners in our guild!
*whistles* We're not using this saved post at the moment.
FIRST. AHAHAHA. ninja
SECOND! ^_^
THIRD!

This is going to be alot more organized than the other forum. Ah, organization.
i cant wait to see the next play!!!
The new home is warm and cozy, I think. I just procrastinated my lab report some more read the new reserved posts and harts to Arq. ^__^ I can't believe the GTC has come to be what it is today. Like, I remember when we were all "LOLOL OMG LET'S DO A SCENE FROM PHANTOM IN TOWNS LOLOL" And then we did it. And then we did Cabaret. And it just grew from there. And it's STILL growing. All the new actors we've gotten, it's like a big cyber family that sometimes runs around in its underwear and humps each other (but it's okay because we aren't REALLY related).

*tear* C'mon guys. Group hug.
uh 6th?
ah i remember the humping... i really should get back into these plays
TheCameraman
The new home is warm and cozy, I think. I just procrastinated my lab report some more read the new reserved posts and harts to Arq. ^__^ I can't believe the GTC has come to be what it is today. Like, I remember when we were all "LOLOL OMG LET'S DO A SCENE FROM PHANTOM IN TOWNS LOLOL" And then we did it. And then we did Cabaret. And it just grew from there. And it's STILL growing. All the new actors we've gotten, it's like a big cyber family that sometimes runs around in its underwear and humps each other (but it's okay because we aren't REALLY related).

*tear* C'mon guys. Group hug.


*hug*

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