New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert

TOURING INFO

New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert is part pop-up book, part performance. Theatre-maker and musician Amanda Sum de-digitizes her identity-drenched indie-pop album into a handmade book. Each audience member is given a personalized book to silently read together. Filled with sonic descriptions and humorous invitations, the pop-up book guides audience members through a new way of listening and receiving.

New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert is neither a musical nor a straight concert. Shifting the traditional structure of a music concert by using collective reading as a backbone, this lo-fi performance prioritizes introvertedness and celebrates awkwardness. Amanda rearranges her debut album, New Age Attitudes, to craft a new narrative that demands your gentle devotion.

Background + Credits

Created, crafted and performed by Amanda Sum. Directed by Maiko Yamamoto, with installation design by Cindy Mochizuki, lighting design by Alexandra Caprara and technical stage management by Vee Pho. New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert was commissioned by Theatre Replacement as part of our COLLIDER Artists Residency.

The work premiered at PushOFF: Emergent Realities in 2023, and has toured to The Cultch in Vancouver, Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse, Klondike Institute of the Arts in Dawson City and will be at the Spark Festival at the Belfry Theatre in Victoria BC in March 2025.

Amanda is a theatre maker and musician. Her debut album New Age Attitudes was released in the fall 2022, and was recognized by CBC Radio and Exclaim!. The music video for Different Than Before, a single off of the album, was JUNO-nominated for Music Video of the Year (2023) and won the SXSW Music Video Jury Award (2023).

New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert uses a mix of songs from the debut album, songs from Amanda’s upcoming album (currently being recorded), and songs that were written specifically for the show that can only be experienced in this live performance.

HOW IT WORKS

At the heart of New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert is Amanda’s hand-crafted pop-up book, carefully created for each audience member in the lead up to the show. Due to the intricate, hand-made nature of these books, tour presentations require consideration for audience capacity. New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert is suitable for audiences of 100 or less. Amanda begins the book-making process 2-3 months before presentations. Book production and printing costs are a significant component to be considered. 

Before the show Amanda sits in the lobby and greets each audience member, presenting them with a personalized book. The show is then delivered through three elements:

  1. Silent Reading, where the audience simultaneously reads the pop-up book, as Amanda sits on stage gently guiding and keeping time.

  2. The Concert, where Amanda sings and plays through a series of songs on the piano.

  3. And lastly, the Comedy Special, where Amanda delivers a small stand-up routine blending ideas contained in the book and songs together. Each audience member is invited to take home their personalized book.


The show runs 50 minutes.

New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert travels with 3 people on the road, including Amanda Sum (creator/performer), 1 Technical/Stage Manager, and either 1 Director (Maiko Yamamoto) or 1 Producer (Theatre Replacement team). The team works with the venue/presenter to arrange some local set pieces (piano, lamps etc.). 

MORE ABOUT THE SHOW

New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert originated as an ‘idea commission’ piece as part of PushOFF in 2020, near the beginning of the pandemic. As PushOFF pivoted to online works, I created a ‘construction paper performance’ — a homemade and handcrafted book, hand delivered or mailed by post to audience members across Vancouver, Canada and around the world. Audiences were invited to open their book and begin the performance at 8pm, no matter what timezone they were in, as a gesture of connection.


This project came out of a year when many artists turned to the digital, with livestreams and recordings. I was battling some sadness after releasing my first single: Groupthink. It excited me to share my work online, but it scared me that the digital release of something meant anyone could access my thoughts and secrets at any time. So, in tandem with making arrangements for a full-length studio indie-pop album titled New Age Attitudes, I wanted to de-digitize the songs into something tangible and physical. Something to hold, and something to fold. This was a way to question and examine how/when we perform and how/when we attend during a very disconnected time.


In 2021, Maiko Yamamoto invited me to be Theatre Replacement’s COLLIDER Artist in Residence, to further develop the book into a live performance piece. It was the perfect opportunity.


New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert combines and provokes my theatre and music practices. I was interested in experimenting with where these disciplines intersect, while dissociating from the conventions of western ‘musical theatre’. Now that the digital album is also out, I’m excited by the different forms that these songs and thoughts have taken shape to.

–Amanda Sum
Creator, Crafter, Performer

CONTACT

amandasum.com

To request tech specs or a full archival please contact:

amanda@theatrereplacement.org

Photos by Reagan Jade and Bethany Paquette