Today we’d like to introduce you to Dane Eissler.
Dane, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
A couple years ago, at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, Tyler Garamella (now Artistic Associate) and I were having what we now refer to as The Infamous Vodka Night. Before then, we were acquaintances, but previously canceled plans and a bottle of Tito’s cemented our friendship. We drank, we laughed, we drank, we watched Slava’s Snow Show on YouTube a few too many times, we drank… we also came up with a list of terrible theatre company names. Some were embarrassingly dumb, some were grotesque, and some were just nonsensical. A Dead Whale Productions was on that list, but I don’t think it counted, because we actually liked that one. Fast forward a couple years: Tyler and I decide to be roommates in Chicago, and then decide it’s time for a theatre company. What do we call it? We spitball a couple names, and then we remembered A Dead Whale Productions, and it stuck. Fortunately, we had a couple of folks from our university who had moved out here, including our Managing Director Sam Price, and we got to work.
Somehow, we accomplished a full three-show inaugural season of original works. And they were good! And we’re not drowning in debt! So we like to think that’s a good sign. We’re currently wrapping up our inaugural season with the expressionistic clown play I Love You, Jane Doe, which opens in October, as well as planning season two.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As a first year company, money is of course the biggest obstacle. We raised some funds through crowdfunding, but didn’t meet our goal. With some clever budget rearranging, we were able to make it work. It also helps that the folks we hire are genuinely excited about the work we’re doing, so they’re happy to help us however they can. It’s so valuable having colleagues who truly believe in the work, making any struggle seem totally manageable. Oh, and working with an existing audience base of zero was terrifying. Most of us are from New Jersey or Philadelphia, so we really didn’t know anyone out here in Chicago. The fact that we’re starting to get a following in just one season is exhilarating!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about A Dead Whale Productions – what should we know?
A Dead Whale Productions creates edgy and innovative theatrical events through rigorous collaborative ingenuity. Blending virtuosic physical performances and striking poetic imagery, A Dead Whale challenges and diversifies traditional theatrical conventions with new, culturally relevant works created by all means necessary. One of the things I’m most proud of with this company is our dedication to building our productions from predominantly re-purposed and found materials. What sets us apart from a lot of the theatre I’ve seen in Chicago is that we’re not afraid to touch the weird stuff. In fact, we want to do the weird stuff. We’re good at the weird stuff.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career so far, apart from A Dead Whale Productions, would have to be an adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s The Nose that I adapted and directed in Philadelphia last winter with EgoPo Classic Theater as part of their midseason cabaret. I wrote the title song, which Tyler orchestrated. He even wrote an amazing dream ballet with a hallucinatory nose-sacrifice by a witch coven in drag. Our friend Katie Kiessling, who has come out to direct and choreograph I Love You, Jane Doe, did the choreography. We had a week of rehearsals to get a one hour show with 3 original musical numbers on its feet, and we did. And even better, no one wanted to kill each other. AND people loved it – we weren’t supposed to get reviewed, but we got a couple write ups, and they were raves! Not that it’s about reviews, of course, but to put up such a high caliber work in such a short amount of time – and to be given that trust to do so in the first place – is just such a gift. We’re hoping to bring the production to A Dead Whale soon. Fingers crossed!
Pricing:
- Tickets for I Love You, Jane Doe are $15.
Contact Info:
- Address: I Love You, Jane Doe will be performed at:
1919 N. Milwaukee,
Chicago, IL 60647
Just off the Western Blue Line - Website: www.adeadwhaleproductions.com
- Phone: Box Office: 773-598-4549
- Email: info@adeadwhaleproductions.com
- Instagram: @adeadwhale
- Facebook: @adeadwhaleproductions
- Other: Snapchat: @adeadwhaleprod
Image Credit:
ILYJD Poster – Photo by Joe Grasso, Designed by Sam Price
“Peter & Janes” – (back, l-r) Alice Gehrke, Renee Lynn Jackson, Peyton Storz (front) Dane Eissler; photo by Madeline Lauzon
“Sorrow Peter” – Dane Eissler; photo by Madeline Lauzon
“HB 9” – (l-r) Elizabeth McAnulty Quilter, Brandon Nelson, Olivia Frisch; photo by Joseph Lim
“HB 3” – (l-r) Hannah Mary Simpson, Joshua Bomba; photo by Joseph Lim
“20170507_143655” (l-r) Madeline Lauzon, Lara Dohner; photo by Dane Eissler
“TD Apoc 19” (l-r) Tyler Garamella, Dane Eissler; photo by Claire Kane
“ADWP_Header_Indiegogo” (l-r) Tyler Garamella, Dane Eissler, Sam Price; photo by Madeline Lauzon
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