{photo by Owen Carey. Eli Rosenbaum (Andy Hirsch, left) shows Arthur Rudolph (Christopher Shaw) the operational chart for Mittelwerk, the secret Nazi rocket factory, and asks him to initial his position in the chart while the ghost of Wernher von Braun (Russell Edge) waxes nostalgic for those Nazi good old days in Apollo.}

Tonight we’ve invited 30 or so of our closest twitter friends to join us in the balcony of the theater to “live tweet” their experience of Apollo.

You can follow along live from home (wherever home might be) by going to search.twitter.com and doing a search for #apollo, starting at 7:30 pm this evening. Its a brave experiment in a new kind of audience interaction, and we can’t wait to see how it goes!

We’ll post regular updates for how its going through at least act one here, but to follow the full performance you’ll want to head over here, do a search for #apollo (choose english only because for some reason the germans love to tweet about
Apollo) and update every few minutes or so. If you want to follow along on this blog you’ll want to follow from the bottom up.

End of Act One Intermission.

I’ll collect Act two in a new post to make it easy to track. Click here for Act two. And here for Act three.

cheeseinspector: whoa went all Raiders on us at the end #apollo

patjanowski: #Apollo okay. First intermission. Too hard to tweet and pay attention at the same time

0rb: shit actually crying #apollo

fearlessyouth: #apollo End of Act 1. Time for more Tang Tinis?

msalt: os: that’s a lotta boxes #Apollo

theaimeeg: #apollo wow amazing

clairewillett: #apollo ooh, it’s like the end of “indiana jones and the last crusade!”

pfs08: #apollo von braun’s space fantasy vision juxtaposed with description of death camps in WWII – horrible!

tknopeasnt: #Apollo Remember Space Sticks? Came in chocolate and caramel? Anybody? (crickets)

anotherpdxblog: #apollo ack. I’m bad at this. Snark powers activate!

msalt: #Apollo I’m not following the prisoner guy. Are we back in Germany?

AGoodHusband: expecting Twitter to crash any minute now #apollo

msalt: OS; backing up, oranges remind me of painting of Columbus contemplating an orange that a butterfly has landed upon… #Apollo

anotherpdxblog: Oooh making fun of cell phones. How daring! How meta! How regal cinemas pre movie bumper ad! #apollo

pcsghost: #apollo this movement is amazing. this is how long term collaboration pays off

patjanowski: #Apollo loving verner, valt and mickey singing in front of sleeping beautys castle

0rb: the huntsville rotarians!!!! #apollo

clairewillett: #apollo i like the ensemble mouthing the words as the main guy talks. just noticed that.

theaimeeg: #apollo a perfect mickey voice, indeed. it’s hard typing in the dark.

carmenhill: Retweeting @fearlessyouth: #apollo LBJ enters stage right…Sputnik cocktail: 1 part vodka; two parts sour grapes. LOL!

clairewillett: #apollo i kinda like mickey on walt disney’s shoulder like a weird parrot or something. the whole disney bit was pretty funny.

pcsghost: #apollo when you wish upon a star Disneyland!!!

fearlessyouth: #apollo Tomorrowland: When you wish upon a star….your dreams come true.

msalt: os: favorite cell phone moment on stage: In the Heights, power outtage at the dance club, cell phones as flashlights… #Apollo

ladyfriend: #apollo 1950s patois right on.

tknopeasnt: #Apollo Disney brings oranges to Von Braun… Just like George and Jerry for the TV executives.

clairewillett: #apollo i love the mickey mouse impersonator.

AGoodHusband: I do a better Mickey Mouse voice. No joke. #apollo

0rb: thinking abt richard powers’ prisoners dilemma #apollo

msalt: I find this abstract, “visionary” play kind of obvious and didactic= Literal script, translated to wacky visualization, line by line #Apollo

pcsghost: #apollo nice mickey mouse voice

ladyfriend: #apollo LBJ on stage. How do I know? He’s skinny but he’s wearing a cowboy hat. Oh yeah. & some guy onstage TOLD me.

clairewillett: #apollo “walt disney meets wernher von braun.” this oughtta be good.

fearlessyouth: #apollo LBJ enters stage right…Sputnik cocktail: 1 part vodka; two parts sour grapes. LOL!

0rb: so unnecessary to explicitly introduce him as lbj, the hat did it #apollo

pcsghost: #apollo who’s the guy in teh cowboy hat? did i miss that?

msalt: os: pretty clear it’s a white man’s world at this point, in spite of the cast’s diversity #Apollo

ladyfriend: #apollo I don’t know that late-50s War room was so lovingly multi-racial. We’re approaching modern-day apologism, folks.

clairewillett: #apollo “the american loves his house, his car, his refrigerator. he does not, as we russians do, love his country.” good line.

pfs08: #apollo wonderful use of an erect pen (phallus anyone?) as symbol for technology and paranoid-suspicion combined….nicely done!

pcsghost: #apollo here comes sputnick again

0rb: put em up, shoot em down #apollo

AGoodHusband: The russians are moving we are standing still – same now with China. #apollo #tcot

clairewillett: #apollo “they are moving, and we are standing still.” US foreign policy in a nutshell?

Apollo9webready-150×150_normal
pcsghost: #apollo literally a pissing contest

tknopeasnt: #Apollo Coincidentally, the Sputnik satellite was about the size of a bowling ball ( sez history teacher Ralph).

AGoodHusband: @clairewillett It’s not something to “get” – it’s an impression piece. You take away whatever you take away from it. #apollo

pcsghost: @coreykaster now that’s my kind of combat #apollo

0rb: martinis made me laugh then I had tears in my eyes #apollo

AGoodHusband: People who don’t know what they’re talking about discussing technology. Fearmongering & terror talk #apollo #tcot

pfs08: #apollo martini-fuled anti-communist paranoia (its the 50’s remember!)

msalt: Blacks are middle class in 1957. Who knew? #Apollo

clairewillett: #apollo i don’t think i get this play. is that bad? am i the only one?

hanser: #apollo if physics had been more like this at school I would have gotten better grades

0rb: oh! *actual* metal spheriod! #apollo

sseaweard: #apollo. Was that the pelvic thrust?

fearlessyouth: #apollo Whaaa? Gravity and centrifugal force…like a hula hoop… keeps the ball in space. Sputnik alert!

tknopeasnt: #Apollo The late 50’s: The bowling and Sputnik craze sweeps the nation.

clairewillett: #apollo blowing up balloons onstage en masse . . . that’s definitely new.

msalt: a lot of easy buttons pushed – Nazis, black servants in Huntsville ALA #Apollo

ladyfriend: #apollo Oh God… “wake up little susie” AND Bobbie Sox? Is there no less tired way to get across the idea of 1957??

msalt: #Apollo Wake up little Susie for Sputnik, good choice. Cell phones? WTF

clairewillett: #apollo dude, i love these projected backdrops.

AGoodHusband: Awesome. old tech & cellphones #apollo

clairewillett: #apollo and now all the 1950’s people are on cell phones?

0rb: usually find this sorta choreography stuff repellent but its working for me #apollo

msalt: OS: Allison, I know, I’m missing things for writng and reading, and I’m sure I’ll be missing the whole experience for tweeting #Apollo

pfs08: “the brass likes things that go “boom” #apollo

clairewillett: #apollo “wake up little susie” is a great song.

fearlessyouth: #apollo It will be a devastating blow if America doesn’t do it first. Wake up Little Susie!

dalylab: #Apollo American military portrayed in fairly negative – patjological – manner.

daymix: New Twitter Trend: #apollo http://daymix.com/Apollo/

twithority: New Twitter Trend: #apollo http://tinyurl.com/9p9yry (expand)

AGoodHusband: @alisonhallett I agree with you, but isn’t that what it’s all about right now? We are all distracted by media – constantly #apollo

msalt: os: just missed the whole cotton field scene except for the corner of my eye #Apollo

carmenhill: #apollo America is a frontier…the promised land.Space is the new frontier.

pfs08: Army general spouts Bush doctrine in late 40’s – communist threat, laws suspended for national security – same old wine, new bottle #apollo

clairewillett: #apollo “america’s a place for new thinking.”

ladyfriend: #apollo Production suffers from over-labeling however. We are THEATRE-goers. Keep us guessing just a little.

tknopeasnt: #Apollo I don’t think cotton picking was actually that easy.

pcsghost: #apollo “huntsville’s a real good plce to raise a family”

msalt: os: ‘laws’ reminds me of the senate hearings w/ the attorney general 2 b, who somewhat, i felt, avoiding a hard statement on torture #Apollo

ladyfriend: #apollo Good use of multimedia backdrops.

clairewillett: #apollo aaannd, now we’re in the alabama cotton fields.

pcsghost: #apollo slow motion, unison movement always gives me the shivers

sseaweard: #Apollo. I saw drink service. Does that come to the balcony?

anotherpdxblog: Dig those on again, off again german accents.

pcsghost: #apollo that sounds like nixon “you have to break a law for the greater good”

0rb: thinking abt what kind of storytelling will be able to tell the history of the ‘war on terror’ #apollo

carmenhill: #apollo There are laws..and there are “laws.”

pcsghost: #apollo i guess russians were scarier than “retired” nazis
clairewillett: #apollo did they really have air quotes in the 1940’s? see, this is the stuff i’m focusing on. i’m a terrible live-blogger.

pfs08: @cynseattle #apollo why, we ain’t even gettin tired yet

alisonhallett: #apollo I am having a problem with this whole “new media goes to the theatah” experience. finding it really distracting.

tknopeasnt: #Apollo Did they just use the word “kraut”??

msalt: “Take me out to the ballgame” was crowd pleasing. NOW they have German accents #Apollo

pcsghost: #apollo welcome to america nazis now you have to go to texas

fearlessyouth: #apollo Welcome to Fort Bliss, Texas

pfs08: teaching the German’s “take me out to the ball game as imigration and defection to US….#apollo

hanser: #Apollo some nice use of symbolism. And Nazis singing is always funny.

clairewillett: #apollo so apparently we teach political prisoners “take me out to the ballgame”? that part was funny.

fearlessyouth: #apollo German lessons…or is it America lessons?

msalt: os: crackers, jack #Apollo

trending: Now Trending: #apollo http://tinyurl.com/9nfpwx (expand)

msalt: os: my favorite scene so far, giving info to US #Apollo

pcsghost: #apollo here is magical pen

AGoodHusband: Recurring theme = technology is scary. #apollo

pfs08: #apollo very imaginative blocking and physical work – V2 rocket and the siren-song of technically delivered power/destruction…. sigh

pcsghost: #apollo liquid fuel, vertical launch, pyramid of fire, touches outer space,

0rb: gravity’s rainbows flashbacks #apollo

theaimeeg: #apollo I know @pcsghost loves a woman in uniform

tknopeasnt: #Apollo The Germans surrender by handing over the contents of their pocket protectors.

pcsghost: #apollo pyramid of fire

msalt: #Apollo the 3 guys on the “bicycle” was cool and funny

clairewillett: #apollo ooh, they’re defecting with nazi technology. cool. is this true or fiction? i should know but don’t.

msalt: os: love the breath. #Apollo

pcsghost: #apollo why is pretend running in place always funny/

clairewillett: #apollo okay, the bicycle thing is awesome – one guy holding a wheel, one guy holding handlebars, etc.

cynseattle: following the performance of #apollo being tweeted live…sort of wild. I do wonder if they’re fingers will get sooooooo tired.

patjanowski: #Apollo transmogrification from space flight to bombs is truly chilling n

carmenhill: #apollo Twilight of the reich 1945

pcsghost: #apollo i wonder if these actors have suzuki training. nice slow walking

clairewillett: #apollo “we’ll get to the moon if it’s the last thing we do!” is this foreshadowing???

AGoodHusband: Rocket technology was most advanced then. Twitter & internet tech = most advanced now. #apollo

msalt: os: I’m so used to seeing dancer’s bodies, good to see movement from regular bodies.#Apollo

pfs08: #apollo juxtaposition of men/engineers and a woman with shoes of a baby – and a globe – she speaks of life, they of the beauty of rockets

pcsghost: #apollo tiny shoes on globe

carmenhill: #apollo Little baby shoes turning a globe with baby steps for mankind.

msalt: os: the footlights, the concentration camp uniform. the music, not surprising the high quality design #Apollo

patjanowski: #Apollo I want better enunciation von Braun

fearlessyouth: #apollo problems on the chalkboard look the same way math looks inside my head….crazy jumble

AGoodHusband: Never been much for non-linear stories. Interesting how #apollo gels with fleeting impressions that work well on Twitter.

msalt: cool blood/body speech #apollo

fearlessyouth: Retweeting @pfs08: #apollo “we must transfer what lies inside us onto the machines

msalt: This director loved the movie Pi (Aronofsky) #Apollo

pfs08: #apollo “we must transfer what lies inside us onto the machines

patjanowski: #Apollo just noticed the man in striped pajamas powering the blackboard

carmenhill: #apollo Is that what calculus looks like?

pcsghost: #apollo mathmatic machine propelled by pisoner

fearlessyouth: #apollo Solving the impossible problem…hmmm. Looks like math.

msalt: #apollo monocle but no accent or language to suggest Germany. It’s all German so far.

pcsghost: #apollo yay shadows on backdrop

clairewillett: #apollo kinda digging the projections.

pcsghost: #apollo exploding ducks?

clairewillett: #apollo the Luftwaffe had a rocket? is that true?

AGoodHusband: Might as well post this to my blog as well http://agoodhusband.net/ #apollo

pfs08: oops – last tweets should all have #apollo in them (damn!)

msalt: os: y’know, I get this has something to do w/Germany, but what, besides a movie? the war effort? #apollo

dalylab: #Apollo people have faces buried in computers and phones while the physicality of the actors are lost to time.

anotherpdxblog: Not sure if crowd is laughing with or at the psuedo Greek chorus guys. #apollo

clairewillett: #apollo the old-school film reel stuff is pretty rad.

fearlessyouth: #apollo Germany 1933 Sprintime for Hitler?

sseaweard: #Apollo I Iove the use of shadows. Very dramatic

msalt: the teacher drifts into a holywood exec, now lying on table waiting to get taken ?? greek chorus students #apollo

carmenhill: Retweeting @fearlessyouth: #apollo Fraw im mond (woman in the moon) 1929

patjanowski: #Apollo I’m finding it hard to watch and tweet, feel like I’m missing things

0rb: god, the shadows are lovely #apollo

carmenhill: Retweeting @fearlessyouth: #apollo The woman in the moon is Frieda?

theaimeeg: #apollo this play is really beautiful.

carmenhill: #apollo serious operatic g-force and then…zero gravity.

patjanowski: #Apollo woman filmmaker bemoaning 40 seconds of screen time–ha! 4 hour production

clairewillett: #apollo the movement stuff is slowly winning me over.

msalt: os: i get a general appreciation 4 the moon, but no love #apollo

carmenhill: #apollo The countdown! 10-09-08-07…down to the primeval moment.

clairewillett: #apollo oh, funny. it’s like she just invented 3-2-1-blastoff. that’s kind of awesome. “no wait! count DOWN from ten!” hilarious.

pcsghost: #apollo how about a countdown?

clairewillett: #apollo are they both talking about her screenplay or is he an actual scientist? also, the lady in glasses is kinda hot.

msalt: #apollo now fast talking “wacky” dialogue by “teachers” so you don’t notice it’s exposition

fearlessyouth: #apollo The woman in the moon is Frieda?

pcsghost: #apollo unison text then put in cigarette

alisonhallett: #apollo pdx pipeline just rolled in fashionably late. hi, julian

anotherpdxblog: At Apollo at PCS. I don’t know about this… #apollo

msalt: paper airplanes into audience plus silver conehead lady – amusing anyway.#apollo

AGoodHusband: @daddybrain11 We are live tweeting from a play in Portland, OR called #apollo – search the #apollo hashtag

0rb: find myself wondering how many paper airplanes will have been made by the end of the run #apollo

hanser: #apollo so far sound design is the best part of the show

msalt: OS: I love seeng actors move. listening to people type is distracting. the first Germany section very quick. ah,Rocket man! #apollo

fearlessyouth: #apollo Fraw im mond (woman in the moon) 1929

clairewillett: #apollo okay, a . . . um . . . rocket ship goddess?

carmenhill: #apollo Awesome shadows on backdrop…paper airplanes into the house

AGoodHusband: Toss crap at the audience! nice! #apollo

pcsghost: #apollo shiney rocket goddess??

clairewillett: #apollo okay. i’m on board with any dance where guys stand in a line and stomp.

patjanowski: space travel in it’s infancy equals boys making paper airplanes #Apollo

tpancio: @AGoodHusband All of the actors are from LA and part of Nancy’s Critical Mass Performance Group #apollo

pcsghost: #apollo my paper airplanes never fly that well

alisonhallett: #apollo I’ll be liveblogging Portland Center Stage’s Apollo at blogtown. http://tinyurl.com/6wxy9o (expand)

clairewillett: #apollo is there ever going to be talking? am i just not getting this? am i way too square for nancy keystone?

clairewillett: #apollo sign language? ballet? both?

sseaweard: #Apollo listening to people type behind me is distracting for 1) to watch the show, which is why we’re here, and 2) I can’t even Tweet

AGoodHusband: Are these actors locals? Does anyone know? #apollo

theaimeeg: #apollo AimeeG is up in here, livr tweetin’ your play, Apollo.

dalylab: #apollo I should mention I’m Twittering a play at Portland Center Stage tonight.

pcsghost: #apollo “the brightness is blinding” wow
less than 20 seconds ago · Reply · View Tweet

tpancio: @pfs08 …don’t forget to add #apollo so we can all follow you.

AGoodHusband: Very cool Greek Theatre opening. #apollo
less than a minute ago · Reply · View Tweet

msalt: guy with gold shoes and crown and black suit. He’s Apollo the god? #apollo

0rb: ooh gold shoes #apollo

0rb: really excited about this play!!! its starting! #apollo

pcsghost: #apollo here we go

Act One Begins.

clairewillett: #apollo curtain speech is getting me all atwitter with excitement. HA! Get it?

dalylab: #Apollo oh these laptops are bright

fearlessyouth: #apollo Curtain speech has begun

msalt: cheeseinspector sees this “old dude” everywhere. HEY! I’m only 47! #apollo

clairewillett: #apollo This is totally like being back in lecture classes in college.

pcsghost: #apollo the twitterati is all in place

clairewillett: #apollo waiting for the laptop to charge before the show. on balcony. paranoid about tripping and breaking computer. ack!

pcsghost: #apollo um, this is fun. i feel like i’m in a really big classroom

0rb: is this announcement art? #apollo

AGoodHusband: Introducing multiple people to Twitter for the first time. They’re freaking out. #apollo

AGoodHusband: Portland Center Stage is beautiful, modern and amazing. People are starting to gather. #apollo

patjanowski: #apollo attempting live-tweeting at pcs performance of Apollo tonight. On my iPhone. Too ambitious for my very first twitter experience?

clairewillett: #apollo Yay! Live-tweeting “Apollo” at PCS tonight!

AGoodHusband: Everyone should follow @patjanowski during #apollo

AGoodHusband: Getting ready for the PCS Tweetup. #apollo

hanser: #Apollo following Apollo via twitter tonight

PdxPipeline: Had some nice 5th Quadrant beers with Brewcaster & @tinymeat. Now, it is time for #Apollo at PCS with @ladyfriend

buchino: 6. totes curious about #apollo tweetup … follow @pcsghost, tweeps

tpancio: unbelievably excited to follow the progress of tonight’s pcs #apollo event

fertileground: follow our live tweeting performance of Apollo tonight at search.twitter.com (#apollo) then come see it during the Festival!

ianmal: @fearlessyouth start exercising your thumbs. it’s a four hour show I’m told. #Apollo

pcsghost: #apollo twitter/blogfest is tonight!!

fertileground: follow our live tweeting performance of Apollo tonight at search.twitter.com (#apollo) then come see it during the Festival!
8 minutes ago · Reply · View Tweet

ianmal: @fearlessyouth start exercising your thumbs. it’s a four hour show I’m told. #Apollo

pcsghost: #apollo twitter/blogfest is tonight!!

0rb: abt to head downtown to eat dinner then see #apollo

fearlessyouth: Looking forward to live tweeting from #apollo at Portland Center Stage tonight…should be a blast

pcsghost: #apollo opening night! Thanks deschutes brewery for the tasty beer for our after-party

buchino: @oddsmarker & @tHEAThER are you going to apollo this weekend? #apollo

PdxPipeline: Edit: Apollo Opening is tomorrow and twitter /blogger party is Saturday at Portland Center Stage: http://pdx.be/apollo

buchino: @PdxPipeline It’s Saturday, Jan 17, not tomorrow. Friday is opening, Saturday is tweetup. #apollo

carmenhill: RT @PdxPipeline: Apollo twitter /blogger party tomorrow at Portland Center Stage: http://pdx.be/apollo #apollo I’ll be there!

PdxPipeline: Apollo twitter /blogger party tomorrow at Portland Center Stage: http://pdx.be/apollo #apollo

#AGoodHusband: Portland Center Stage Tweetup is 3+ hours long. Wow. #apollo

#0rb: abt to head downtown to eat dinner then see #apollo

#fearlessyouth: Looking forward to live tweeting from #apollo at Portland Center Stage tonight…should be a blast

#pcsghost: #apollo opening night! Thanks deschutes brewery for the tasty beer for our after-party

buchino: @oddsmarker & @tHEAThER are you going to apollo this weekend? #apollo

PdxPipeline: Edit: Apollo Opening is tomorrow and twitter /blogger party is Saturday at Portland Center Stage: http://pdx.be/apollo #apollo

buchino: @PdxPipeline It’s Saturday, Jan 17, not tomorrow. Friday is opening, Saturday is tweetup. #apollo

carmenhill: RT @PdxPipeline: Apollo twitter /blogger party tomorrow at Portland Center Stage: http://pdx.be/apollo #apollo I’ll be there!

PdxPipeline: Apollo twitter /blogger party tomorrow at Portland Center Stage: http://pdx.be/apollo #apollo

AGoodHusband: Portland Center Stage Tweetup is 3+ hours long. Wow. #apollo

Before the Show. Start Here. Work your way up.