The Final Reel
Parallel Exit
City Tech Theatreworks collaborated with Parallel Exit to perform The Final Reel on March 22-24th, 2018. The show incorporated live video projection, dull colored clothing, and lighting techniques to create a live silent movie. This silent movie, called "Penny's Worth", is presented by one of the main characters. This man is an eccentric historian who discovers the holy grail of silent films: the final reel of a forgotten classic, thought to be lost to history.
As he presents the film for the first time in a hundred years, his bumbling assistant (seen dancing with himself on the left) accidentally steps into the movie and stumbles into the story of the "Penny's Worth". He's the only one in color, as the modern world and the silent film start to collide.
The assistant then falls in love with the heroine of the movie, Penny (seen left). The two love birds run away from the villains of the story and step back into the modern world and the heroine is left to make a fateful decision - one that changes every night of performance with the help of the audience.
Concept by Mike Dobson, Joel Jeske, Mark Lonergan, and Scott McCord
Directed by Mark Lonergan
Scenic and lighting design by Maruti Evans
Costumes by Oana Botez
Projections by Daniel Vatsky
Original Musical Score by Ben Model
Photos by Maike Schulz
Performed by Darien Crago, Shereen Hickman, Adam Kuchler, Scott McCord, and Lucas Caleb Rooney