Once Upon a Time in LA!

Dates: June 14 and 15, 2008

Location: Walt Disney Concert Hall

Once Upon a Time (or the Secret Language of Birds), the fable created by Frank Maugeri and novelist Joe Meno (with music by Kevin O’Donnell) is heading to Los Angeles to participate in the first-ever Toy Theater Festival, which will take place at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles June 14-15. Click Here to learn more about the programming and venue.

Once Upon a Time tells a tale of friendship, villainy, dreams, and heroism that unfolds in an elaborately crafted toy theater. Set in a bleak 1920s American city, the story’s heroine is Emily, a lonely young girl who understands the language of birds. Emily quickly develops a friendship with Bruno, a neighbor who has retreated to a life of solitude after a fatal wrestling accident. When the birds of the city mysteriously disappear, the unlikely duo must save the city from the calamitous effects of a world without music. This adventure, narrated by puppeteers, uses handcrafted two-dimensional puppets, sets, and props contained in an exquisitely detailed miniature theater. The story inside the theater is filmed live to create a larger than life animated cartoon projected before the audience’s eyes.

Original composition by Kevin O’Donnell

Acknowledgments

Created and Directed by Frank Maugeri
Written by Joe Meno
Music and Sound by Kevin O’Donnell
Co-Directed by Jim Lasko
Assistant Directed & Dramaturgy by Seth Bockley
Puppet Design by Kass Copeland
Toy Theater Design by Erik Newman and Tracy Otwell
Art Direction by Angela Tillges
Video Design by Chris Andrew
Live Video Editing by Liviu Pasare
YouTube edit by Chris Andrew