A POWER COUPLE AMAZES SECOND LIFE

AMAZES SECOND LIFE

Coco St. George What happens when talent combines with passion, and both find a fertile ground to grow?

From the classic Victorians Gilbert and Sullivan to the modern-era Sondheim and Hammerstein or Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber— much like the power couples of the musical world, we in Second Life have found the powerful collaboration of Red Hykova Antonius and Steve Ruhig-Allen: founders, producers, choreographers, and the heart and soul of River Island Performing Arts and Theater.

And just as it usually happens in Real Life, this couple was brought about by a chance encounter— this time at The Oval Theater back in 2015.

“I’d had no experience with SL theatre at that point,” says Steve, “but Red kindly showed me the ropes. I soon found all aspects of theatrical production utterly fascinating.” “From the moment we met, we clicked”, adds Red. “We share the same enthusiasm and eagerness to learn new things, and I always enjoyed producing with Steve; over the years we have learned and experimented together.”

But, alas! The Oval Theatre disbanded. Having been bitten by the stage bug, they decided to start their own theatrical company. “We had produced two shows together back at The Oval,” remembers Steve, “so we had some idea of how to manage things.” “After The Oval Theatre closed,” says Red, “and everyone dispersed, Steve and I were cast adrift; we were theatre-less! And yet we wanted to continue; we had a lot more that we wanted to do, so many ideas!”

Far from seeing their situation as a setback, they took the opportunity “to create together the kind of theatre experience we knew would excite our audiences,” as Red puts it. “We acquired our own sim, Big Bang, and have never regretted it,” says Steve. “Running a theatre is sometimes a chore— logistics, scheduling, making sure everyone is happy with roles and costumes, etc. —but always, always, worth the effort. It has been a grand experience!”

“We had a lot of support and encouragement from friends and patrons of The Oval,” adds Red. “So much so that Christo Spyker and Tim Waco of the incredibly beautiful River Island Sim invited us to set up our new theatre there. It was an exciting time. Our first new performance would coincide with Christmas, so we worked on ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’, a beautifully vibrant Christmas ballet, and it was a huge success— a full audience every performance and wonderful feedback.”

The reader may have a glimpse of the vibrant and creative work Red and Steve did for the Nutcracker in this YouTube video. Over the years, their repertoire has grown to include musicals, ballets, dance shows, and a series of Cabaret shows called “After Dark”, musical revues targeted to adult audiences. Below are some of the shows they have produced and performed in the last couple years:

Chicago the Musical The New Moon in the Old Moon’s Arms

Sweeney Todd Rocky Horror Picture Show The Nutcracker and the Mouse King Make ‘em Laugh World Tapestry of Dance West Side Story All of Me Some Nights Grease

Quirk du Soleil

As wide and diverse as their repertoire is, they couldn’t tell how they decided to pick which show to work on. “We chat a lot about ideas for new shows,” explains Red, “and throw suggestions back and forth, and then it’s as if we both latch on to the same idea! And away we go!

“Ideas often emerge from talking together,” intervenes Steve. “We’ve created entire shows that way. But sometimes one or the other of us has a pet project we would like to do, and in that case the person whose ‘baby’ it is tends to take the lead in musical selection, planning and development.”

A great deal of their work involves building and scripting in Second Life. Both see that as a formidable but exciting challenge. “I came to Second Life primarily to build, to be creative,” recalls Red. “I made friends on my first day with a girl with whom I’m still friends after all these years, Monica Wier. She was very generous with her time, passing on her building skills to me and dropping by to offer tips or suggestions to help me. For many years I would log in at night time on a platform in the sky and build, build, build. I’ve always found it relaxing, unwinding, therapeutic after a long day at real life work.”

“At first, of course, I socialized,” says Steve. “Soon I discovered building, and at that point figuring out how to make things took up much of my time. Then I discovered scripting, and I was totally hooked! But none of those things compares to theatre, which embraces all of them in a uniquely creative way.”

Working together has been an expansive and transformative experience for them both. “I think Steve and I work really well together,” explains Red, “because we inspire each other, we are similarly creative, in both our “I met Red just as she was on the verge of a great creative leap,” says Steve, “and it’s as if she took me by the hand and said, ‘Come along!’ Fortunately, she has a far better eye for stage design than I have or ever will. So, we complement each other nicely.”

And regarding the future: currently they are working on a series of ballets based on string quartets by Beethoven, Debussy, and Shostakovich. These will be premiering in early June. A revival of “L’Histoire du monde” is also on the drawing board. And there’s also talk of producing Miss Saigon, the hit musical by Claude-Michael Schonberg, Alain Boublil, and Richard Maltby Jr. If you want to keep informed about these and other exciting developments around RIPA, you may join Fans of RIPA, an SL group devoted to spreading the news about this amazing troupe, whose motto seems to be “We can do anything!”

STEVE RUHIG-ALLEN & RED HYKOVA ANTONIUS