The Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS) is an all-volunteer theatrical company located in Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, Maryland dedicated to developing new works of rock theater

Rock opera

A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...

. The original founding members of BROS are Aran Keating, John DeCampos, Dylan Koehler, Eli Breitburg-Smith and Jared Margulies.

In October 2009, BROS launched its first production entitled Gründlehämmer and in May 2011 followed up with a double feature comprised of two rock operas, Amphion and The Terrible Secret of Lunastus. Then on October 28th and 29th of 2011 presented "The Phantom of the Paradise in 6D" a screening and musical review of Brain Depalmas grossly unappreciated 1976 cult classic 'The Phantom of the Paradise'.

The group currently performs out of the Autograph Playhouse, a theater located in the Charles Village neighborhood of Baltimore.

Foundation

BROS began as a collaboration between Aran Keating, John DeCampos, Dylan Koehler, Eli Breitburg-Smith and Jared Margulies. Keating, Koehler, Breitburg-Smith and Margulies are all graduates of Goucher College

Goucher College

Goucher College is a private, co-educational, liberal arts college located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson in unincorporated Baltimore County, Maryland, on a 287 acre campus. The school has approximately 1,475 undergraduate students studying in 31 majors and six interdisciplinary...

. Breitburg-Smith explained that the origin for BROS began at a party in 2006 when he and his future co-founders were drinking beer and watching the Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...

 film Apocalypto

Apocalypto

Apocalypto is a 2006 American epic action-adventure film directed by Mel Gibson. Set in Yucatan, Mexico, during the declining period of the Maya civilization, Apocalypto depicts the journey of a Mesoamerican tribesman who must escape human sacrifice and rescue his family after the capture and...

: "We decided we were going to write a Rock Opera about our apartment, which was to be known from there forwards, as 'Brotopia.'" The goal, Breitburg-Smith said, was "to make something as epic as Apocalypto."

Despite the core group’s considerable experience in amateur theater, the enterprise got off to a slow start. Eventually though, the project began to gain momentum, particularly after the group embraced the acronym "BROS." With the assistance of Margulies, BROS secured a small $500 grant from the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, which according to Keating, "seemed like a big deal when we got it."

Gründlehämmer

Some three years later in October 2009, "Brotopia" had transformed into BROS' first production, Gründlehämmer, the setting of which is a mythical, medieval land in which rock music has mystical powers ranging from being able to smite one’s enemies to growing crops. For the creators of Gründlehämmer, their overriding vision was to be "epic": "The only common thread in the show is that we want it to be extreme in whatever it does. If it's going to be corny, we want it to be really corny. If it's going to be cliché, we want to take those clichés completely over the top. We want to take the costumes over the top. The music, incredibly epic. We want it to be this all-encompassing thing where everything is ridiculous and extreme. And this is our experiment to see if we can make that happen."

The protagonist of the rock opera is a young farmer boy whose parents are slain by an evil monster called Grundle. The boy then sets off on a quest to conquer the beast and teams up with a former rockstar and professional guitar warrior named Halvor that trains him to be the greatest rockstar of fictional Brotopia. In a three hour performance, the newfound rockstar goes on to triumph over the six-armed, guitar-wielding Grundle, rescue the fair maiden and even defeat the evil king and his death metal

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 playing henchmen.

Among the rock opera’s highlights, it featured guitar battles

Guitar Battle

A guitar battle is where two or more guitar players take turns soloing, either with or without a rhythm section. The purpose of the guitar battle is to determine who among each of the guitar players present is the most proficient on the instrument...

, a live shadow puppet

Shadow play

Shadow play or shadow puppetry Shadow puppets have a long history in China, India, Turkey and Java, and as a popular form of entertainment for both children and adults in many countries around the world. A shadow puppet is a cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen...

 show and the standard fog machine

Fog machine

A fog machine or smoke machine is a device which emits a dense vapour that appears similar to fog or smoke. This artificial fog is most commonly used in professional entertainment applications, but smaller, more affordable fog machines are becoming common for personal use. Fog machines can also be...

 and strobe light

Strobe light

A strobe light or stroboscopic lamp, commonly called a strobe, is a device used to produce regular flashes of light. It is one of a number of devices that can be used as a stroboscope...

 special effects for which BROS shows are now well known.

Double Feature: Amphion and The Terrible Secret of Lunastus

In May 2011, BROS launched their second production, a four hour double feature of rock operas, Amphion and The Terrible Secret of Lunastus. Each work showcased their own original scores. For this performance, BROS had secured the use of a newly renovated and renamed venue, the Autograph Playhouse in Charles Village.

Amphion is "a tale of love and loyalty in ancient Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

" in the time of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

. The story revolves around a Byzantine court musician Amphion who falls in love with Nasreen, the daughter of the stern Persian ambassador. The rock score ranges from "Bolly-rock dance grooves" to screamo

Screamo

Screamo, though used loosely to generally describe music that features screamed vocals, is actually a musical subgenre of hardcore punk which predominantly evolved from emo, among other genres, in the early 1990s...

. In a review, the Maryland Theatre Guide reported "the raw energy of the performers creates an excitement that must have been present in the air of Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...

's fledgling performances."

The second performance of the double feature, The Terrible Secret of Lunastus, is "a comic sci-fi work complete with lasers and '70s-style rock" that presents "astronauts from a doomed Earth encountering an alien race called the Abzugs." As the astronauts search for a new home for mankind on the plant Lunastus, a terrible secret is unearthed. Of the performance, the Maryland Theatre Guide said, "Director Chuck Green leads a remarkably creative production team; most particularly an army of prop and costume designers who create a world of green aliens, dancing red vegetation, floating jellyfish-like puppets and a 'Mother Nog' creature that effectively engulfs the entire stage. The final laser battle scene alone is worth the price of admission."

The Terrible Secret of Lunastus also marked the BROS being awarded "Best Star Trek Rock Opera" in the Baltimore City Papaer's "Best of Baltimore" 2011 issue.

Venue

After holding their first rock opera at the 2640 Space in St. John’s United Methodist Church in Baltimore’s Charles Village neighborhood, BROS succeeded in securing the use of a new venue for their second performance. The Charles Village theater (9 West 25th Street) was formerly known as the Playhouse and later the Showtime Theater, but has now been renamed the Autograph Playhouse. BROS volunteers renovated the theater over the course of many months, transforming the theater into an accommodating space. The Autograph Playhouse is owned by Billie Taylor, a retired government worker and former actor for the now-defunct D.C. Black Repertory Company.

Reception

As an all-volunteer company, BROS has attracted the support of the surrounding community. Those involved in the productions range from individuals with experience in the theater world to complete amateurs.

External links

• BROS website
• BROS on Facebook
• BROS on Twitter