Fight night: Monstrous mayhem reigns supreme at Multiple Choice Event
Monsters will take over the August Wilson Center for African American Culture when Kaiju Big Battel comes to Pittsburgh June 24. The show is part of the “Versus” Multiple Choice Event that will also feature Monster Trike Night and food trucks. (Photo courtesy of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.)
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will host the Multiple Choice Event “Versus” June 24 at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. Participants will have the option to enjoy the whole experience or just some of the parts. For more information: trustarts.org. (Logo courtesy of the trust.)
Kaiju Big Battel comes to Pittsburgh June 24 as part of the Multiple Choice Event “Versus.” (Image courtesy of Kaiju Big Battel.)
What do you get when you combine the finesse of professional wrestling, the drama of a soap opera and the costuming of a technicolored children’s television show?
The answer is Kaiju Big Battel, and guests to the Multiple Choice Versus event happening June 24 at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture will have the opportunity to experience it first-hand.
“My argument for having it happen in the Cultural District is because it is theatrical and a spectacle,” said Randal Miller, the idea/creator of the Multiple Choice Event series on how to classify Kaiju Big Battel. “There are storylines that underlay the event. Just like in WWE. They are a lot more of a spectacle because there are monsters involved. I think it blends sport and theater just like professional wrestling.”
Describing what takes place during a Kaiju Big Battel is an almost impossible task and something that has to be seen to be believed.
The backstory goes that Kaiju (the Japanese word for strange creature) loved to do battle with each other, but every time they would fight they would do damage to the city by destroying buildings and crushing people. Plans were in place to protect the public from the battles until the evil genius Dr. Cube, who is bent on world domination, created even more battling Kaiju to aid in his cause.
To reign in the destruction, the position of commissioner was created to help regulate these battles and thus the Kaiju Big Battel was created.
But just like in all other stories you can’t just have villains, you need to have heroes. This is where the Kaiju Heroes come in. They will help battle the monsters when things get out of hand.
In professional wrestling, people have their favorites and with Kaiju Big Battel it is no different.
Some of the Kaiju are D.W. Cycloptopuss III ( across between Swamp Thing and an octopus), Powa Ranjuru (who looks like a little kid that couldn’t decide if they wanted to be a princess or a Power Ranger) and Kung-Fu Chicken Noodle (a giant can of chicken noodle soup that wields a hatchet).
All of the “batteling” will take place on a special stage that will be constructed at the August Wilson Center.
“We are building a wrestling stage on the actual stage of the August Wilson Center. People will be able to stand on stage as well, until we reach capacity and then they will be able to sit in the seats,” explained Miller.
Just like with previous Multiple Choice Events that have been held the evening will feature an after party following the night’s theme of “versus.”
“The after party for this will be Monster Trike Night,” said Miller. “Monster Trike Night is competitive tricycle racing for adults.”
Those wishing to compete are asked to form a line and competitors will be taken first come first served.
Food trucks will also be a part of the event including one that will be serving “monsterly-delicious” treats.
“One I do know that will be there is a food vendor, yummyholic,” said Miller. “She (Jasmine Cho) makes art cookies. She wants to make monster cookies and cupcakes to sell at this event.”
One of the unique aspects of the Multiple Choice Events is that patrons are able to decide which parts of the evening they want to attend.
The ticket for the show, party and food trucks is $25, for the party and food trucks is $5 and admission to just the food trucks is free.
“The mission of the Multiple Choice series is a few things. The main purpose of the programming, not just Kaiju Big Battel, is to show a Cultural District that is for everybody. Specifically, trying to bring in people that thought this isn’t the experience for them, that it (the Cultural District) is stuffy and not cool. (We are) trying to breakdown this perception,” said Miller. “As we move forward we have found that people are looking at this place to find something to do; the 20 to 40 year old demographic range. That is the key takeaway — that cool things happen down here.”