CREATING RICH EXPERIENCES
/The West Side Show Room’s production of Barbecue, which opened October 13, 2023, is produced in partnership with Eight Fifteen Capital, LLC.
WSSR first started working with Eight Fifteen Capital, LLC in 2022 when the two companies collaborated on the critically acclaimed stage play The Wind and the Breeze written by Rockford native Nathan Alan Davis.
Epic Jones, Artistic Director of WSSR, had cast Eight Fifteen Capital, LLC partner Joshua Patterson as an actor for the 2018 Rockford New Play Festival. Patterson eventually went on to MC the event and eventually served as Artistic Director.
During his two year tenure, Patterson was instrumental in evolving the festival from a focus on plays towards a broader inclusion of any types of works written for performance. Rebranded as Rockford New Words, the festival now includes spoken word poetry, monologues and storytelling— in addition to plays.
Through this relationship, Jones and Patterson conceived of the idea to bring Davis’s play about Rockford to life. It was at this point they turned to Eight Fifteen partner Matthew Simpson to direct. While Simpson had never directed a play, he brought an understanding to the material since he had grown up in Rockford and was familiar with the community of Rockfordians who were being portrayed.
Simpson felt the The Wind and the Breeze was a good fit for Eight Fifteen since their values were aligned with those of WSSR: creative spirit, self determination, love for Rockford city, rich experiences, and quality relationships.
Founded in 2014, Eight Fifteen Capital, LLC describes itself as:
“a capital company that invests in creating rich experiences and quality relationships. We have both real estate strategy and collaboration strategy. We specialize in providing quality housing in strong neighborhoods, close to amenities and collaborating around products and events.”
Eight Fifteen’s contributions were casting, set design, directing and co-producing the play. They also supported the play through marketing activations which included a community art workshop featuring award winning sculptor Betsy Youngquist and a pre-event mixer as part of Fall Art Scene.
The result of these collaborative efforts was 12 sold-out performances of the play and high praise of the production in local news outlets and throughout the community at large.
After the success of The Wind and The Breeze, the two companies are partnering again on Barbecue, running October 13 to Nov 5, 2023. Attendees can look forward to seeing a dynamic and diverse cast bringing a funny and thought-provoking story to life.
For more information on Barbecue —> wssr.org/barbecue
More about Eight Fifteen Capital, LLC. can be found on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Twitter.
