April 2010 to present
Loose ensemble performing the compositional work of Joshua Dumas.
Orchestral-ish music for theatre, dance, opera, film, etc. Generally informed by an interest in combining synthesizers, drone, and broken electronics, with traditional instrumentation. Works range from studies for solo piano to sixteen piece chamber orchestra.
Lindsay Verstegen
January 2012 to present
Inspired by the work of Tony Schwartz, I Am Saying This Right Now is a mix of memories, scenes, and sound art exploring the human compulsion to document our lives.
Conceived and edited by: Kaitlin Byrd.
Directed by: Paul Kastner & Kim Miller.
Written by: Sid Branca, Kaitlin Byrd, Jeff Duhigg, Joshua Dumas, James Dunn, Paul Kastner, Brian Michael Lucas, Layne Manzer, Sara McCarthy, Ian Miller, Lindsay Verstegen, Andrea Wallace, and Jessica Wright Buha.
Listen to excerpts of Joshua Dumas’ score here.
January 2011 to May 2011
The Telling of the Bees is abstract dance-theatre piece exploring the story of Claire, a woman trapped in a distracting world of screens, cell phones and status updates – and whose home is infiltrated by a swarm of honeybees. Claire’s fate and the fate of the bees are ultimately tied together, as the bees confront, interrupt, aggravate, guide and care for Claire through her everyday life.
Created by Michelle Milne, with Lindsay Nance, Joshua Dumas, and Ben Jacobs. Music by Joshua Dumas, excerpts available here.
Marianna Milhorat
April 2011 to April 2011
The City in Which is an expanded cinema project based on Chicago poet Li-Young Lee’s “The City In Which I Love You”.
Joshua Dumas and Christy LeMaster distributed fresh rolls of 16mm film to a dozen experimental filmmakers, asking them to respond to the poem and to their own experience of living and making in Chicago. The resulting footage is spliced into a combined short accompanied by a live reading of the poem by Joshua, a performance built from and informed by the filmmakers’ images.
Lindsay Verstegen
February 2011 to February 2011
Light Waves & Their Uses is a new semi-opera based on the life of Albert Michelson. The original production was created and directed by David Amaral, created and composed by Joshua Dumas, and assistant directed by Max Wirt.
It was developed, devised, and performed by Daiva Bhandari, Ruth Bistrow, Katy Collins, Anthony DeMarco, Nicole Ripley, Jon Stutzman, and Lindsay Verstegen.
Produced by New Beast Theatre Works, with High Concept Laboratories, at the Building Stage in winter 2011.
Listen to selections from the score.
Joshua Dumas
February 2011
A video series.
Joshua Dumas makes short videos of himself performing in landscapes, rooms, or situations that influence the performance and contextualize the songs’ meanings. Locations thus far include a blizzard, a bubble machine, and a library’s grand hall. Songs are selections from Dumas’ back catalog, from bands like Notes & Scratches and Townline Road.
Abe Mendoza
August 2008 to July 2010
An ongoing series of short music and movement street theater pieces performed in public spaces, intended for any accidental onlooker. Conceived, created and organized by Fannie Hungerford and Joshua Dumas, with Fannie handling more of the choreography and Joshua handling more of the music and sound. To date the group has staged twelve unique performances, all over Chicago, from Millennium Park to Pilsen to Lincoln Square. And, in Iowa City!
Carl Sweets
April 2010 to May 2010
An experimental semi-opera by New Beast Theatre Works at The Building Stage
Drawing from the spare prose of Raymond Carver’s “Gazebo,” New Beast presents an original opera that spans memory and imagination via prose, song, and dramatic performance.
Devised and Directed by David Amaral. Devised and Composed by Joshua Dumas. Developed and performed by Eddie Bennett, Ruth Bistrow, Pamela Maurer, James Whittington.
Listen to the score.
March 2010 to April 2010
by Madeleine Olnek
Directed by Meghan Beals McCarthy
Produced by Caffeine Theatre
A quirky queer comedy about Emily Dickinson’s secret life.
Starring Jessica Bennett, Dana Black, Carey Lee Burton, Annie Calhoun, Amanda Hartley, Ian Novak, Ian Randall, Lauren Vitz. Directed by Meghan Beals Mccarthy. Associate Directed, Dramaturged, and Choreographed by Jennifer Shook. Assistant Directed/Stage Managed by Courtney Miller. Costumes Designed by Alarie Hammock & Samantha Umstead. Set Designed by Stephen Carmody. Lighting Designed by Casey Diers w/ Chase Corman. Music by Joshua Dumas.
April 2008
A new movement piece inspired by Sophocles’ Antigone, as part of DePaul University’s “Year of Antigones.” Choreographed by Fannie Hungerford, with original music written and performed by Whitney Johnson and Joshua Dumas.