Curiosity and the Red Planet

Curiosity is a great thing! It pushes boundaries, it expands knowledge, it allows us to ponder new truths.

Watching Curiosity landing on Mars today was stellar in so many ways.

Two years ago Open Dream Ensemble performed Peril on the Red Planet to a packed audience at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA. Peril on the Red Planet takes place in 2618 and features a spirited girl, Diana, using her brains, wits, imagination, and courage to save Earth’s first community on Mars.

We wanted to make sure the facts we presented about Mars were as accurate and current as possible, so through our status as a cooperating organization to JPL’s Imagine Mars program, we enjoyed tapping some of the great minds at JPL during the scripting process. Needless to say, we learned A LOT!

As part of our time at JPL, we were given an amazing tour. We got to watch the fabrication of parts used to make the intricate and unique innards of the rover, glance at a Mars simulation field, see Curiosity being built and sign a guest book (the contents of which are preserved on a microchip recently landed on Mars.) The enduring impact of the show and tour was evident in our first Big Shoes rehearsal this morning; our returning cast members had stayed up late last night to watch the landing live.

So thank you and congratulations to the dreamers at JPL! Your years of hard work on Curiosity are now paying off for all of us.

Endless Possibilities

This post from the wonderful William vonReichbauer. William is pictured here during our reading of Big Shoes -- a new original show Open Dream Ensemble will present next season.


Season seven of the Open Dream Ensemble came to a close on Friday with an energetic and emotional performance of "Peril on the Red Planet" at Clemmons Middle School. Not only was Friday's performance the final performance of season seven, but as this is the last season that ODE is presenting this show, it was likely the final performance of "Peril."

This season has been an intense whirlwind of rehearsing, filming, performing, and teaching. It is hard to believe that three and a half months have passed by so quickly and that we managed to pack in so much. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this amazing cast and to bring live theater and arts based education to so many students across the state. I was continuously inspired by my fellow cast members who never ceased to amaze me with the dedication and creativity they brought to their work both in the classroom and on the stage.

Just as Diana, Tristan, Demeter, and Dr. Ember begin the next chapter of their lives on a now-habitable Mars, so do we, the cast, begin the next chapters of our lives. Some of us will no doubt work with one another again and a few of us will probably return for another season with the Open Dream Ensemble, but many of us will go our separate ways and pursue our own goals and dreams. "Peril on the Red Planet" ends with Tristan's line, "Now the future holds endless possibilities." Let's hope so.

My Love Story

This post is from Open Dream's talented intern, Dian Permana. Dian is currently a graduate student in UNCSA's Performing Arts Management program.


I can probably say I fell in love at the first sight when I saw last year’s production of Peril on the Red Planet at UNCSA. I right away felt that this was where I wanted to be and I was a little bit disappointed to find out that the organization only recruits alumni of the school. That’s why I was so excited when I was finally able to meet and talk with the amazing General Manager of the Open Dream Ensemble, Rebecca Nussbaum, and was finally able to have the internship this summer and continue the work this semester.



The longer I work, the deeper I am in love with the organization. Alas, it almost comes to an end. But I will forever treasure the valuable experience and knowledge I have received in these five months. I will never forget how I learned so much more about science within these five months than what I have learned during my entire school time; how much fun I had working with the directors and other professionals during the production despite the cramped rehearsal month (until I had the songs from web series stuck in my head for months); how students always turned around when Diana said, “Behind that door is Zartok 3” (just like I did when I watched it for the first time) and how their eyes always light up when the Teaching Artists entered their classroom; how I get connected to people and places I might never otherwise do; how the super talented and lovely cast members have been like my older siblings, and how I am always impressed with Rebecca's outstanding knowledge and skills from arts integration to fixing costumes and baking super yummy pineapple vegan cupcakes, as well as her smart solution to every problem.


Open Dream Ensemble, you always make my day! Thank you, it is such an honor to have this privilege. I will always cherish these moments you were taking me to “go somewhere extraordinary”!

Full Throttle

This post is from our heavy-metal man, William vonReichbauer!



Our performance piece, "Peril on the Red Planet," explores some pretty heavy issues, including personal sacrifice, loss, perseverance in the face of adversity and even death (though not directly) and includes lots of loud, often scary sounds and sound effects as well as intense combat sequences. If we are performing for very young children, i.e. kindergarten and first grade, we typically tone certain elements of the show down so as not to frighten the audience. We also usually do a small "show and tell" before the show to introduce some of the louder and scarier sounds. Many of us take turns playing some of the musical instruments used in the show. We also wheel out the large gathering drum and let the kids have a go at banging on it for a little while. Occasionally, I will play a few of the more frightening sound effects for the children while one of my fellow cast members explains to them that the homicidal robot in the show, Zartok 3, is actually not real but is merely a set of sounds on my laptop. (The first time we did this little demo, though, we had three kids wailing in abject terror within two seconds of me hitting the play button. Oops.)

This afternoon, however, we gave our second performance of the season for a group of middle school students. Interestingly, "Peril on the Red Planet" was originally conceived for a middle school audience. It probably goes without saying that middle schoolers are very different from Elementary students: middle school students think they've seen it all, they're beginning to get a little cynical and a little jaded, and they're starting to think that they're too cool for school. This, of course, provides a wonderful opportunity for us to really open up the throttle and see what this show can do.

Today brought us to the Clarkton School of Discovery in eastern North Carolina's sandhills region. We performed on a beautiful stage with a nice set of stage lights (it's always a treat to perform under something other than gymnasium fluorescents) in the school's media center. As soon as we walked on stage in our shiny silver jackets, we could hear derisive chuckles rippling through the audience. Game on. From the show's opening heavy metal guitar riff to the wicked staff fight between Diana and Demeter to the epic final battle with Zartok 3, the whole show was as intense and as ferocious as we have ever performed it. Every catcall or inappropriate laugh from the audience pushed us to raise the intensity of the show even further. Ultimately, we received a great response from the audience who could scarcely contain a thunderous round of applause at the end of the show.

Season Update and Stay Tuned!

This post is from the lovely Danielle Rennalls, a recent graduate of the UNCSA School of Drama. She is pictured here, battling Demeter, in the role of Diana.


We began on August 8th, dividing our 9 am to 5 pm workday between the two projects: "Peril..." and the beloved "Adventures of the Open Dream Ensemble" web series.

In between the table work, music rehearsals, and fight choreography tutorials (3 years of combat training at UNCSA and I'm STILL getting the hang of it (0: ), we devoted any spare time to transition rehearsals and introductory teaching artistry training.

If this sounds like a lot, it was!

And yet, having recently graduated with a degree in Directing, I couldn't have been happier diving in to it all: To get the opportunity to finally get up from behind the table, to leave my analytical brain behind and to just, as Caroline Kava would say, "do the doing!" I must say it provided a renewed sense of confidence in my craft as well as in my ability to work hard in a group setting. Before the month of August came to an end, Open Dream Ensemble had pieced together two very different, very lively pieces.

After wrapping filming for the web series our attentions turned to teacher artistry. And trust me, they call it artistry for a reason. Our group learned about multiple intelligences, stages of child development by grade level, and classroom etiquette prior to any lesson planning. Along with the "mini" T.A. sessions during August rehearsals, these concepts helped form a solid foundation for new cast members like myself.

While I initially harbored some anxiety I soon learned (with reassurance/encouragement from my cast mates and Rebecca) that this, like every other craft, would take practice and it was okay if I didn't get something perfect the very first time my teaching artist partner and I taught a class. There would always be room for growth. Our 1st residency of the season took place in Conover, NC at Shuford Elementary. William and I constantly worked toward finding what kept our students engaged and what didn't, tossing out activities or tweaking them. One major challenge I faced, and still face, was relaying the science content in a manner that meets essential standards while simultaneously engaging with the students on a fun, creative level. We were lucky to observe some of the other teaching artist groups in action, using any helpful tidbits or ideas they'd have to match creativity and educational standards. By the end of Week 2, not only did we gain another member to our teaching artist team (Mr. Adrian aka Dr. Boogie), we managed to budget activity time more efficiently within the classroom without sacrificing content or fun.

We've spent the last two weeks touring "Peril" at schools around NC and VA, working on Kindergarten and Grade One lesson plans, and presented a staged reading of Michaela Morton's "Big Shoes."

These days we're in our second residency at Wendell Creative Arts and Science Magnet Elementary School in Wendell, NC. Stay tuned!