UCLA alumni think outside the box in physical theater piece exploring complexities of relationships in ‘Legs and All’
“Legs and All” opens Nov. 26 at the Powerhouse Theatre in Santa Monica. The physical theater piece was created by UCLA alumni Peter Musante and Summer Shapiro as an unorthodox spin on the traditional relationship story.
Courtesy of MISHA KUTUZOV
LEGS AND ALL
Opens Nov. 26 through Dec. 1, 8 p.m.
The Powerhouse Theatre, $20
By Niran Somasundaram
Nov. 23, 2010 1:05 a.m.
Alumni Summer Shapiro and Peter Musante perform in “Legs and All,” a physical theater piece that relies on nonverbal scenes to convey a message.
Courtesy of MISHA KUTUZOV
There is nothing inherently original about a story of boy meets girl. However, when the boy lives in an attic and the girl lives inside a box in the attic, their interaction has the potential to be far more interesting than the average meeting.
“Legs and All,” a physical theater piece created by two UCLA alumni, Peter Musante and Summer Shapiro, puts an unorthodox spin on the traditional relationship story and makes its Los Angeles premiere on Nov. 26 at the Powerhouse Theatre.
The play is a work of physical theater, a performance art form that involves primarily non-verbal scenes in which the attitude or message is conveyed through physical movement. Physical theater encompasses such art forms as puppet theater, miming and clowning. The latter two play a prominent role in “Legs and All.”
“Physical theater is basically story-telling with the human body,” Shapiro said.
“Legs and All,” found its initial inspiration in an unlikely place.
“I was watching a movie, I can’t even remember what it was called, and in the background there was an image of legs coming out of a big box,” Shapiro said. “It inspired me to write a show about a girl who lives in a box, and all of the new experiences she has when she finds the outside world.”
Though Shapiro, who was living in San Francisco after attending clown school, initially conceived of “Legs and All” as a solo show, she later decided that the show would benefit from an added perspective. She contacted her former roommate and fellow UCLA alumnus Peter Musante, who lived in New York and performed as a blue man for the Blue Man Group.
“This is a show that basically started out of roommates at UCLA,” Musante said. “Bringing it to Los Angeles is like a homecoming for us.”
After the two decided to collaborate, they faced the challenge of bridging the geographical gap between them. The majority of the duo’s brainstorming sessions and script-writing occurred either by phone or over Skype, while physical rehearsing required cross-country plane trips.
“Legs and All” deals with the theme of relationships, and the joys and fears associated with cultivating them. The boy in the attic leads a sheltered, limited and realistic life, while the girl in the box leads a life of imagination and magic. The audience explores the male and female protagonists’ budding relationship through various interactions between the two characters and their distinctly different worlds.
“The story is about human connection and taking chances to be vulnerable with other people,” Musante said. “What makes the show unique is that we do not use typical forms of communication; instead we use physical theater to present a story often told with words.”
The show has received rave reviews in both San Francisco and New York. According to Erez Ziv, producer at Under St. Marks Theater and Kraine Theater, two New York theaters in which “Legs and All” has had an extended run, “Legs and All” has whimsical, comical and surrealist tones that are complemented by the intricate physicality of the performers.
“The show always draws a big audience, and after the show, they tell me they loved it,” Ziv said. “Both children and adults are able to appreciate the show’s physical beauty.”
In addition to the show, both Musante and Shapiro are holding a physical theater workshop open to the public on Nov. 28 at the Powerhouse Theatre, as well as a private in-class workshop for theater students in UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.
“As part of our creative process, we like to invite people to come see how we made the show and go through the process of creation with them,” Musante said. “Hopefully, we can inspire people to create their own shows.”
Shapiro said that she hopes the audience is not only entertained by the show but also leaves with a sense of fulfillment and understanding.
“I want the audience to leave the show understanding relationships in a way that people rarely understand them,” Shapiro said. “I want them to feel the freedom and magic that relationships can bring and not be afraid to take that chance into the unknown.”
