She was an original. Tempestuous. Tormented. Talented. A trailblazer. Triumphant even in defeat.

Patsy Cline was one of a kind. Today, on the occasion of what would be her 80th birthday, September 8, and the exhibition Patsy Cline: Crazy for Loving You in her honor, mounted at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame, is an opportunity to look back at the life of this legendary and innovative recording artist.

Sadly, just when the best of her life began, it ended: March 5, 1963, when on the journey home from Kansas City, after performing at a benefit, she, her manager Randy Hughes, and Grand Ole Opry stars Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas were killed outside Camden, Tennessee, in the crash of Hughes’ four-seater airplane.

For 18 years after her death, following the impact of such a great loss to country music and the entertainment world, virtually nothing was written of this unique personality. Then came Vicksburg, Mississippi, native Ellis Nassour’s first biography on Patsy Cline. He’s devoted a good deal of his career keeping the legend alive and growing.

Though she died shortly after turning 30, Patsy left behind a rich personal and musical legacy. She has developed cult followings around the world, especially among young fans who are mesmerized by the hurt in her voice that, many agree, is yet to be equaled.

Patsy is more famous in death than she was during her lifetime. It seems the world cannot get enough. Nassour had a brand new Collector’s Edition hardcover Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline published in 1993. Others have attempted to tell her story. From the acclaim for Nassour’s biography, published in an expanded edition in 2008, it’s considered the best and the most definitive.

“I was blessed to be the first to write about Patsy,” says Nassour, “and the only one to interview so many intimates, including her two husbands and her mother.”

According to Nassour, Patsy was “a good ole country gal, very used to getting her way any way she could get it. She was equipped with talent that even she didn’t know she had and raw ambition to become a star on the Grand Ole Opry.”

From her early Virginia days, Patsy struggled to make a name for herself. “As sweet as her music could be,” observes Nassour, “her personal life was as passionate as it was reckless. She was a rebel and a homewrecker. She wanted fame so badly she let nothing and no one stand in her way.”

Born Virginia Patterson Hensley near Winchester, she possessed from the earliest age a self-assurance that made her believe not only that she could be the best female singer in country music but also that she was. Nothing could daunt her. A saying sprang up about Patsy: “She’s not conceited, she’s convinced.”

Patsy never had lessons; but from age eight, when she began singing on street corners and in her church choir, she had the most incredible voice. She had aspirations of being the youngest star ever on the Opry. She sang anywhere she could: as a child on street corners; then, in church; and later, “tired of waiting so long to be discovered,” bursting into a radio station at the age of 14 to demand they put her on.

“They did,” explains Nassour, “and she didn’t make a fool of herself. Locals laughed at her dreams, which didn’t faze Patsy. Her goal almost came true when, at age 14, she auditioned for the Opry. It was a lost opportunity for many reasons, but Patsy returned home more determined than ever.”

So determined, in fact, that she made costly mistakes, such as allowing the older bandleader she worked for (and with whom she was having an affair) to sign her to a self-defeating record deal in the late 1950s. In the male-dominated country arena of that era, women were part of a show or sang with their husbands. “That wasn’t for Patsy,” notes Nassour. “She wanted to be accepted as a solo female artist, which didn’t go down too well with the male stars, but she eventually won out. ‘Overnight fame’ helped.”

Though she’d starred on Jimmy Dean’s regionally-syndicated variety show out of Washington, Patsy’s breakthrough came in 1957 on CBS’ Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, which showcased budding professionals and amateurs. She won with a decidedly non-country song, “Walkin’ After Midnight,” which had been passed over again and again, that her label made her record.

“She hated it,” says Nassour, “and not just because it was crammed down her throat. She told friends it made her feel like a streetwalker. Godfrey liked the tune, however, and refused to budge when she wanted to sing country and yodel.”

 Godfrey felt he’d discovered the real thing and hired Patsy. They clashed constantly. He fired her two weeks later!

 “Walkin’ After Midnight” was huge and, in a first for a country female, crossed over to the pop charts. Patsy got to tour solo. You can’t argue with success. She proved a country female could draw audiences and, as Nassour observes, “not be window dressing for some male artist. It also led to her first album. The male stars and many in the industry considered her a fluke. The gals not only looked down on Patsy, who could be, to say the least, one of the guys; but also found her outfits distasteful.”

Patsy Cline - Looking Glamorous

“Patsy dropped the de rigueur ‘cowgirl’ look,” continues Nassour, “for what she considered New York glamour. That actually meant sexy, which got her into a lot of trouble with the family-oriented Opry. Before long, however, the gals who gossiped behind her back began copying Patsy. None had her success, but Patsy befriended them all.”

Patsy was soon an Opry star. Her song sold well for over a year. Due to the constrictions of her contract, stipulating she could only record what the label dictated, it was followed by four dry years. If Patsy could not lay claim to birthing what became known as the Nashville Sound, she brought it out of diapers. And, not willingly. She loved pop and rock music, but preferred to record country – the hillbilly kind. Enter big bandleader and pianist and Nashville Decca Records producer Owen Bradley, who introduced her to up-and-coming songwriters Harlan Howard, Hank Cochran, and Willie Nelson.

Nassour notes that Patsy had “the ability to segue from hayseed to heartbreaking ballads. Bradley coerced her to record songs from the 20s to the 40s, which he gave a new spin. He claimed Patsy could sing anything and discouraged her from her desire to yodel.” He surrounded Patsy with Nashville’s best musicians as well as backup singers such as the Jordanaires, who were associated with Elvis’ early work.

Bradley knew he had a star; he had to convince her. He pushed Patsy – sometimes screaming and fighting – where she never thought she could go. He broke Nashville taboos, adding strings and drums and soaring arrangements to her sessions. “To get his way,” explains Nassour, “he’d select tunes he wanted to record; she selected those she wanted. He’d get one, she’d get one! This kept her popular with country fans while expanding her pop audience. Then, artists were either country, rock, or pop. Today, where lines are easily crossed or merged, it’s hard to image the impact Patsy and Bradley had.”

Patsy hated “I Fall to Pieces,” which took six months to begin its ride up the country and pop charts. She hated “Crazy.” “But,” laughs Nassour, “when they became hits, earning big money, Patsy, always struggling financially, grudgingly admitted she warmed to them. She wanted to sing up-tempo, but Bradley convinced her ballads were her bread and butter.”

According to Nassour, vocally, Patsy Cline had a majesty and poignancy many say have never been equaled. “She could produce extended Western yodels, but also sweeping high notes. She had amazing dexterity, switching from a country hoe-down to vintage Irving Berlin or Cole Porter and torch ballads written for her.

Patsy was on the charts, selling albums, touring, headlining with Johnny Cash, doing TV, and making money. She was generous to the gals coming up the ranks, helping Loretta Lynn and Dottie West, as they began their careers, and being a big sister to her beloved Brenda Lee, who, reveals Nassour, credits Patsy with teaching her words her mother didn’t approve of.

Patsy Cline’s impact on the industry was such that “Faded Love,” recorded days before the fatal crash and which had been a huge hit for a number of country male stars, became a posthumous hit. Today, it’s only remembered for Patsy’s poignant rendition.

In 1973, in tribute to her incredible popularity and artistry, she was the first solo female named to the Country Music Hall of Fame. She left behind a great musical legacy, honored in 1995 with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Patsy Cline influenced legions of performers. In 1997, People Magazine named her to its list of The Most Intriguing People of the Century. Patsy took her crossover appeal to New York’s Carnegie Hall, Las Vegas, Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, and even to the TV teen dance show Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. She won countless music awards with her landmark hits “I Fall to Pieces,” “Crazy,” and “She’s Got You.”

“She brought happiness to millions,” Nassour points out, “but had a difficult time finding it in her personal life. Though Patsy and second husband Charlie Dick were deeply in love, as her fame increased they made recriminations against each other. He couldn’t cope with her success and long absences. A heavy drinker, Charlie’d berate her in public, hit her, and Patsy’d famously fight back.

He’d accuse her of infidelity, when he was the guilty one, and being an unfit wife and mother. “Patsy was in a near-fatal automobile crash in the summer of 1961,” continues Nassour, “and had a nervous breakdown as she attempted to get back to work too soon. She was plagued with bouts of depression and felt her terrible scars drove Charlie further away.”

Just as Patsy re-established her place on the charts with “Crazy” and “She’s Got You,” she began contemplating a break from Charlie. Then fate intervened.

Returning from Missouri, fighting thunderstorms all the way, Randy Hughes landed in Dyersburg, Tennessee to refuel for the last leg. Warned against continuing, Hughes, who wasn’t instrument trained, boasted he’d flown the area many times. Within 20 minutes of take-off, the skies darkened. He lost visibility. From the way the plane crashed, the FAA assumed he was flying upside down. Only three albums were released in Patsy’s lifetime, but there were great songs from a session only a month before her death. Patsy Cline’s Greatest Hits was on the Billboard magazine album charts for over 900 weeks. “Crazy” is the Number One worldwide jukebox champ.

Patsy’s gravesite outside Winchester, Virginia, is marked with a simple bronze plaque that reads: Death cannot kill what never dies, love.

“Patsy Cline is remembered today,” observes Ellis Nassour, “because of her indelible gift of music. She was a star when she left us, and a star she remains.”

For more information on Patsy Cline, visit www.PatsyClineHTA.com

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The Happiest Medium welcomes guest reviewer, Mariah MacCarthy. Mariah  is the Producing Director Of CAPS LOCK THEATRE.

It’s a shame that the word “charming” has the air of damning with faint praise, because I’m not sure how else to characterize Nat Cassidy’s Songs of Love: A Theatrical Mixtape. “Charming” sounds cutesy, it sounds mediocre-romantic-comedy, it sounds fluffy, and Mixtape is none of these. It’s simply charming as all get-out. It’s, like, Jon-Stewart-charming. It’s that-fun-co-worker-who-makes-you-actually-look-forward-to-going-to-work charming. You get the idea.

Mixtape is just that, a mixtape (or its theatrical equivalent), in which short plays about love are interspersed with songs about love, which Cassidy sings and plays on guitar. It’s like an episode of “Kids in the Hall” written by Ionesco and scored by Jonathan Richman. And this mixtape is so diverse that at times, you find yourself wondering, “Who is the real Nat Cassidy?” Some shorts are more sketch-y (a song about giving your girlfriend HPV, or a couple of ditzy-seeming club girls who intersperse “I know, right?”s with hilariously highbrow academic references). Some are more absurdist (an unexplained ticking noise that drives a couple apart, or a parking space scuffle that leads to decapitation). It can be hard to believe that the same writer wrote them all, and is a testament to Cassidy’s versatility that he did.

But there are two shorts in the evening where I found myself saying, “Ah-ha. THIS must be the real Nat Cassidy.” In these moments, Cassidy’s voice is truly unique, confident, and strong. These two shorts are so gorgeous they just about defy  gravity.

One is a monologue performed by (dare I say the incomparable?) Kristen Vaughan, in which a third-person “she” looks at the moon and thinks about a long-deceased first love. I can’t think of a way to describe this monologue in a way that does it justice, except to say that I wrote nearly half the thing down verbatim in my notebook as I watched because I wanted to make sure I’d remember those lines.

Lines like, “Innocence is simply experience that hasn’t made up its mind yet.”

Or, “When a possibility dies, it does not leave a body … but it does leave a smell.”

Or, “Bodies are the worst, cruelest liars. And they make up their minds without having all the facts.” It’s hilariously self-referential, and poetic, and chilling.

The other is the penultimate track on this mixtape, a first date that is going really well. When the girl (Abby Royle) presses her date (Ben Williams) to tell her how he found her online, his answer is more than she bargained for: it involves suicide, and manslaughter, and porn, among other things. Williams’ performance in this moment is one of the most upsetting, honest, jaw-droppingly raw moments of theater I’ve ever seen. His date almost runs away (and perhaps we wouldn’t blame her if she did), but when she doesn’t, you feel a little better about humanity, and maybe your eyes mist up.

The ensemble is solid, and they do that unquantifiable thing where you get the impression they really like being onstage with each other and saying these words.

With just a couple of chairs and a table (and a big poster covered in pictures of genital warts), they make rapid jumps in location and tone without ever losing us.

They are energetic and adorable and it’s very easy to want to hug them.

As for the “actual” songs on this mixtape that intersperse the action, the ones that Cassidy performs live…well, they came with the press kit and I’m currently listening to them on repeat and imagine I will be doing so for the foreseeable future. So, there’s that.

At the end of the evening, my date turned to me and said, “This restored my faith in theater,” and it’s easy to see why. Mixtape is compassionate, hysterical, and has moments of gut-punching raw beauty. My one regret is that I saw it so late in its run and can’t actually drive people into its audience. Here’s hoping it comes back to charm us once again.

~~~

Songs of Love: A Theatrical Mixtape
Tin Drum Productions
Writer: Nat Cassidy
Director: Nat Cassidy
Genital warts. Mothmen. Decapitation. Pornography. Bagel fucking. And, of course … love. Join multi-award-winning author Nat Cassidy through terrifyingly twisted, outrageously heartfelt stories of love–each complemented by an original song performed onstage by a live (not dead) musician.
1h 45m   Local   Brooklyn, New York
Comedy   Drama
Staycation: Ride the Rollercoaster of Love   Fantasy Island Excursion
www.whatsyourmixtape.info
VENUE #10: The Players Theatre
Sat 11 @ 2:30  Tue 14 @ 7  Thu 23 @ 9:45  Fri 24 @ 9:45  Sat 25 @ 2:15

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The Happiest Medium Review by guest contributor Rebecca Bernard

What would you be if you truly were your best self on all fronts of life: in work, play, mind and body? Why, you would be “better than you!” says Steve Seabrook of the show Steve Seabrook: Better Than You, a show conceived and directed by Kurt Bodden. Using the format of a motivational speaker, Bodden takes us through the highlights of a weekend crash course workshop aimed for greatness. We as audience members become his subjects as self-help lectures and demonstrations unfold. In the spirit of Tony Robbins, Seabrook spouts rhetoric and catchy affirmations that all conveniently tie back to merchandise and 5 disk sets that can be purchased before leaving the theatre.

Bodden is a charismatic performer, grabbing his audience from the moment he steps onstage and first addresses us as “people he would not want to be at 7pm on a Friday night.” This he insists will all change towards the end of the workshop as we undergo a revolutionary transformation. Also a gifted improvisor, Bodden often includes the audience’s energy (or lack of energy) in his performance, delivering some of the wittiest lines within these moments.

Though the speaker’s material is solid, the true magic of this piece lies in the contrast Bodden creates by showing Seabrook both on and off the stage. A relationship is forged between he and an offstage lighting designer that allows us to see a different and more vulnerable side of Seabrook. It soon becomes clear that Seabrook is not always the better version of himself he describes onstage, a point driven home when the lighting designer offhandedly compares him to the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz.

It would have been nice to see Bodden take this idea one step further by allowing us to not only see Steve Seabrook unravel backstage, but onstage as well. Instead we are left with more of the same, having been granted a peek under the wizard’s curtain, to then continue with the illusion that has just been broken. The audience sees the “light” of who Steve really is, but we are left wondering, is he aware of his own?

~~~

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The Happiest Medium review by guest contributor Rebecca Bernard

 A man and a woman wake up in bed beside each other, neither one recognizing the other and then going about their day. This is the premise or idea behind Contrasts, a highly physical story that “reveals the ever-present contrasts between men and women.”

Much happens in this hour long duo performance, conceived and performed by Dana Cavaleru and Richard Bovnoczki. The gifted performers transition from scene to scene with little dialogue,  creating beautiful pictures and humorous scenes. Familiar and not so familiar scenes are explored through the specific style of theatre the two Romanian actors have developed; a fresh combination of pantomime, dance and theatre. A stand out scene includes the recreation of a black and white picture, complete with scratchy erratic movements that Bovnoczki depicted so well the night I attended that the audience burst into applause. Dialogue introduced in the performance doesn’t distract – it sparkles, proving that both the performers’ voices and the use of different languages are as engaging as their  physicality.

Though beautiful moments are created and the premise is strong, the play does not entirely follow through. One is not quite sure who the characters are. Is the man and woman the same man and woman throughout, or are they musings on a theme? Each scene ends and goes into another, often with the absence of a transition to help make sense of this. And though the performers’ miming is often very good, this same lack of follow through shows up at times when an object is created and suddenly dropped, breaking the illusion it created for the audience. Half way through the actors start to include the audience, reacting to breaths, sighs and reactions from the audience.

Though this quality is nice, it becomes confusing since it wasn’t present from the beginning of the piece. Overall, though, the contrast of confusion to beauty, inventiveness and fun wins over the audience, making Contrasts a joy to watch.

~~~

CONTRASTS
Richard Bovnoczki and Dana Cavaleru
Director: Richard Bovnoczki, Dana Cavaleru
Theatre. Pantomime. Dance. Original stage vocabulary. Stories that make you laugh or cry. Two Romanian actors revealing contrasts. An ever changing imaginary set. Several European Awards. “If Tom and Jerry saw this show they would have reasons to be envious.”
1h 0m   International   Bucharest, Romania
Comedy   Dance
Staycation: In Someone Else’s Shoes   Ride the Rollercoaster of Love
www.contrastsshow.blogspot.com
VENUE #19: HERE Dorothy B. Williams Theater
Wed 15 @ 8  Thu 16 @ 4:15  Sat 18 @ 6  Sun 19 @ 8:15  Tue 21 @ 7  Thu 23 @ 7

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The Happiest Medium Review By Linnea Covington

The charm of filmmaker Ed Wood’s low budget B movies is mainly seen through his poor lighting, technical difficulties, bad actors, and  all around sense that a child made the films for their school project rather than a grown man. This isn’t to say they aren’t brilliant, a trait Frank Cwiklik fully grasps. Hence, the reason for Cwiklik’s off the wall, exciting, and wonderfully executed series of plays based, mostly, on five of Wood’s films.

DMT Theatrics’ series, Final Curtain, the Last of Ed Wood provided laughs which shook you so hard you were grasping at the edge of your seat.    Cwiklik adapted, designed, produced, and directed Wood’s Bride of the Monster, Night of the Ghouls, The Sinister Urge!, Hot Ice, and The Violent Years. Unfortunately, it was a short run at the Red Room and as of this article, they are no longer playing  (such a shame!) but, fingers crossed- hopefully they do another run soon. If these plays are produced in a similar format again , I would suggest seeing them in the order mentioned above if you can, not that they won’t be enjoyable if you don’t follow this plan – I didn’t after all.

In Night of the Ghouls, the sinister psychic Dr. Ackula (Craig Kelton Peterson, C), and his ertswhile assistant (Ivy Hong, L), unwittingly anger the angry dead (represented by Josh Potter, R), (Photo by Frank Cwiklik).

While all the actors played their parts superbly, a few really stood out. For one, Craig Kelton Peterson as Dr. Ackula in Bride of the Monster and as Dirk Williams in The Sinister Urge!, nailed his roles. Peterson is just so, so weird in a perfectly Ed Wood way and managed to shimmy, shake, and slay with a straight face, wacky costumes, and comical grace. Funny enough, his middle name, Kelton, also brings to mind the bumbling buffoon that Adam Files expertly exuded in his reoccurring role as Officer Paul Kelton. It felt that in every play Files became more attuned to the audience and one time, before Bride of the Monster started, he sat in the audience and chatted with Cwiklik who was on stage. How unprofessional!  How Ed Wood.

Save for some very Wood-appropriate technical difficulties in the first few performances that made them start late, the shows went off without a hitch. Even when things didn’t appear to be running smoothly, it all seemed like part of the act. Jason Stanley did a great bit as Lt. Matt Carson in three of the plays and had a wonderful rapport on stage both with Files, as well as with Josh Potter, who played Sgt. Randy Stone in The Sinister Urge! and Victor in Hot Ice. In The Violent Years, Shiloh Klein stole the limelight with her portrayal as Paula Parkins, rich girl gone bad. Not only did she believably play the innocent and smart girl, but, with her pouty lips and well-timed glare, you forgot she was just an actor. When I saw her again in the other plays’ minor roles, the sultry adolescent was gone and Parkins became perky.

Brianna Tyson in Hot Ice; Emily Edwards in The Violent Years; Tom O'Connor in Bride of the Monster; Michele Schlossberg in The Sinister Urge!; and Craig Kelton Peterson in Night of the Ghouls. (Photo by Frank Cwiklik)

Brianna Tyson came through as Shiela Rosen, Paula’s crime-mentor in that same play. Though she killed in that part, her starring role was  as Charlotte Farthington, Winford Farthington’s wife and partner in crime in Hot Ice. She does rich glam well, but not nearly as well as the cat-burglar-ninja dance she performed in order to steal some diamonds. In Hot Ice Lindsey Carter shone as Danielle, the slutty wife of Potter’s Victor. Carter also rocked her role as the badass Captain Helen Robbins in Night of the Ghouls, and I am pretty sure she showed her underwear in every single play—not complaining.

The sexy pinup queens and smut peddlers of DMT's most popular Ed Wood tribute, The Sinister Urge! L to R: Lindsey Carter, Michele Schlossberg, Ivy Hong. (Photo by Frank Cwiklik)

Overall, the plays proved a tight homage to the master of B movies, and the cast of 17 actors clearly had a lot of fun with it. I am impressed they could carry out so many roles in such a short span, not an easy feat when producing five plays and sometimes playing two-plus characters in each. I hope they do another run of this because even if you aren’t familiar with Ed Wood, nothing will perk up your night more than a dash of his world as told by these performers.

~~~

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Scene/Unseen

Benefiting: Brooklyn/NY Public Library
Produced by Antonio Miniño’s Fab Marquee Productions in association with MidNite’s cHild Productions
Written and Performed by Riti Sachdeva
Directed by Antonio Miniño

“Through song, dance, poetry and food, a captive woman known as “Z” explores the connections between addiction and violence as she delves into a state of mental imprisonment and self-abuse. In time the path to freedom is revealed but the consequences might be deadly. A plosive new choreodrama by Riti Sachdeva.”

Show Times:

• Friday 6/1/12 – 5:00pm
• Sunday 6/3/12 – 6:00pm
• Tuesday 6/5/12 – 5:00pm
• Saturday 6/9/12 – 1:30pm
• Wednesday 6/20/12 – 10:00pm
• Saturday 6/23/12 – 8:00pm

Answers by Riti Sachdeva –

(creator/performer)

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
How did you come up with the title for your show?

Riti :  Without giving away the punch line, the character’s act is a “scene” that we witness on the news occasionally; the piece explores the unseen circumstances and rituals that lead her to the final act.

Diánna Martin’s Question
If you were going to invite 5 people (from the past or present) to see your show – who would you invite … and why?

Riti : Malcom X, Mohandas Gandhi, Cherie Moraga, Oprah, Coco Fusco – because they’re all people who have confronted, in one way or another, addiction and/or violence in their own lives and/or in the larger state. I’d want to hear what they’d contribute to the development of the piece.

Antonio Minino’s Question
What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve made for your art and was it worth it?
Riti :  Fear: of the unknown, of success, of failure, of being loved, of being ignored, of being laughed at (it’s a daily sacrifice.) Definitely worth it.
Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s Question
Was there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and can you share it with us?
Riti :  One can bathe oneself with popcorn and if done properly, it can be quite seductive. Conversely other things can be done with popcorn that are not so seductive…come see for yourself!

Michelle Augello-Page’s Question
What do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?
Riti :   A willingness to look at people/ places in their lives where addiction and violence manifest and how addiction and violence don’t exist in a vacuum, they are cultivated, often through shame.

___

Planet Connections runs from May 30 – June 24 at The Bleecker Street Theater located at 45 Bleecker Street, New York, NY. To purchase tickets to this or any of the shows click here.

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The Happiest Medium review by guest contributor, Linnea Covington.

The first trick to getting into Cowboy Mouth is handed to you by a sullen looking lobster standing on a dingy street corner in the East Village. With a glassy-eyed stare the human crustacean thrusts a bag of plastic-wrapped fortune cookies towards you.  Inside each delicate confection is your instruction. Hence, the madness begins as you enter the red door.

Inside the room is a bed. On the bed is a couple, sleeping, rolling around, moaning, and what not. As you choose from one of the many mismatched sofas or chairs spread around the front of the room, another choice befalls you—should you, or should you not, take from the box of cheap Burgundy wine? I choose a sip and then no more, but regardless it’s there, it’s free … it’s part of the show.

Cowboy Mouth featuring Geoffrey Pomeroy as Slim, Diana Beshara as Cavale, Matthew Mark Stannah as Lobster Man (Photo credit Leah Benavides)

Now, you’re ready for Cowboy Mouth, a play that first made its appearance in 1971 when it was written and performed by punk-poetess Patti Smith and dramatist Sam Shepard, who were having an affair at the time. The current run by One Old Crow Productions successfully takes on the intense, three-person ballad in a whirlwind of tense, raw emotions so pure that at points I wanted to cover my ears and close my eyes.

The play takes part in the apartment of a skinny rocker named Cavale where she and her man Slim drink, eat, fuck, do drugs, play music, and fight.  A lot. Slim has left his family for the tiny muse and Cavale is finding her own path after a stint in a mental hospital. They’re both crazy, though, and throughout the play it’s not clear who is real. Is Cavale, adeptly played by Diana Beshara, a figment of Slim’s imagination? Is he truly trapped there? Or is it his own mind that has imprisoned him in the dream of rock n’ roll fame? Geoffrey Pomeroy plays the angst-ridden Slim and the chemistry which he and Beshara share on stage makes you wonder if in fact they are a real life tortured couple, living in a dirty flat in the East Village just as Smith and Shepard were.  This is, after all, Smith and Shepard’s real story.

As the pair fight and throw things at each other the pure poetry that is so much the baseline for Smith’s personality gets interwoven in the dialogue, which the two spew out as if it’s in their blood. Beshara too has an essence of Smith, whether it’s because of her wiry frame, mess of black tresses, or ability to look manly, feminine, ugly, and beautiful all at the same time.

As for that forlorn lobster at the beginning of my journey, he  (played by Matthew Mark Stannah) makes his way on to the stage, never saying a word but conveying everything with a glance. It’s the combination of these intense actors under the direction of Leah Benevides that have made this room in the Village a mirror to the past as they create a space that one could easily see Smith and Shepard inhabiting all those years ago when they first came out with the show.

Cowboy Mouth featuring Diana Beshara and Geoffrey Pomeroy (Photo credit Leah Benavides)

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Smacker and the Highway

Benefiting: Grand Central Neighborhood Social Services Corporation (GCNSSC)
Produced by Waving Cat Productions
Written by Hope Weiner
Directed by Molly Ballerstein

“America is undergoing a facelift, and anything that is regarded as ugly or undesirable is being put out to pasture. Internal migration has reached its highest levels as the displaced roam the highway seeking their own utopia.”

Show Times:

• Fri 6/1/12 – 5:00pm
• Sun 6/3/12 – 6:00pm
• Tues 6/5/12 – 5:00pm
• Sat 6/9/12 – 1:30pm
• Wed 6/20/12 – 10:00pm
• Sat 6/23/12 – 8:00pm

Answers by Molly Ballerstein

(Director)

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
How did you come up with the title for your show?

Molly:  The title is based off the main character (Smacker) and her experiences of living on the highway.

Diánna Martin’s Question
If you were going to invite 5 people (from the past or present) to see your show – who would you invite … and why?

Molly:  I would invite Barack Obama, Governor Cuomo, the Occupy Wall Street Protesters (I’m counting them as one!),  Oscar Wilde, and Harold Clurman. The first three people I believe would find the show relevant and a take on where America can go. The last two I would want feedback from!

Antonio Minino’s Question
What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve made for your art and was it worth it?

Molly: The biggest sacrifice I’ve made to date is a  quitting a management position at a well known corporation with a stable paycheck, benefits, and a 401K. It was absolutely worth it and since quitting said economically safe job I have never regretted or questioned my choice. Working for a corporation that does not care about people and simply cares about the money they are making is not something I would put on my worst enemy.

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s Question
Was there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and can you share it with us?

Molly: The way I take on creating the world of a project is more as a playground supervisor than a puppet master. Seeing the characters the actors developed after we established the environment they were in was a wonderful experience! What was most unexpected to me was what happens to the family structure when there is no home or safe place for them to be in.

Michelle Augello-Page’s Question
What do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?

Molly: I hope they receive  how important it is that we all  participate in a nonviolent way and how dangerous it is when we do not take action and participate in what is happening with our government and the world around us. Our community is not made of buildings but of people and as such they are what matters and we should look out for the most.

___

Planet Connections runs from May 30 – June 24 at The Bleecker Street Theater located at 45 Bleecker Street, New York, NY. To purchase tickets to this or any of the shows click here.

Related Posts:

• Bubby’s Shadow: Whose Shadow Is It? (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The American Play (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Scene/Unseen – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Coyote On A Fence – FREE Staged Reading – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• (un)missed connections – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)

Naked Brazilian 

Benefiting: United Nations Environment Programme
Written and Performed by Gustavo Pace
Directed by Lou Liberatore

“Struggling against his father’s wishes to become a lawyer, a young man journeys from Rio to NYC to fulfill his own dreams to become a clown.”

Show Times:

• Tues 6/5/12 – 6:00pm
• Fri 6/8/12 – 8:30pm
• Sun 6/10/12 – 4:00pm
• Sun 6/17/12 – 3:00pm

Gustavo Pace (Writer/Performer)

[Editor's Note: Gustavo - who is Brazilian - invited me to Americanize his answers, but I thought they were charming as is. I'm sure you'll agree.] 

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
How did you come up with the title for your show?

Gustavo:  Naked Brazilian have different meanings like for example the sexy naked in the car that I experienced, also to get the soul naked and some other meanings that you need to see the show to understand. If I am going to be naked? That you need to come to check what happen. This is what I can tell about the show: Dad says, be a lawyer I say, be a clown What’s a boy to do? (father doesn’t always know best).

Diánna Martin’s Question
If you were going to invite 5 people (from the past or present) to see your show – who would you invite … and why?

Gustavo:
My father: Because I want to know if he will still talk with me after listening to this stories. I think he would be disappointed in the son he has. Some weeks ago he asked me: What this show Naked Brazilian about? I said; sorry Dad, but I am not ready to tell what is about…

Criminal Law teacher: I think he would shoot me if he see his scene in the play, but I want to see if he maybe changes the way he deal with his students…

Bruno: I can’t say why but if you go to the show you going to understand … The only thing I can tell is: “If you have questions of your sexuality don’t look for the answers in your fathers car.”

Matt Hoverman: Because he supported me a lot with this project and he is an inspiring artist.

Marx Brothers: I talk on the show about the dream to be like them and also the desire to become a Clown and make people laugh.

Antonio Minino’s Question
What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve made for your art and was it worth it?

Gustavo: It was to give up Law School after graduating in Brazil and live now in New York only with my passion and dream to be an actor. It is worth [it]. I am happy here in New York and being able to tell stories that I am not “allowed” to do in Brazil.

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s Question
Was there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and can you share it with us?

Gustavo:  I discover that I really want to become an actor and Clown and I love entertaining people and also that it’s important to accept who you are with all the problems and prejudices that we have. I think I found more my inner voice and my true need to tell stories. My director Lou Liberatore was great on the process and essential for the play. I really admire him.

Michelle Augello-Page’s Question
What do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?

Gustavo: I hope the audience will think about the importance of following their dreams and taking risks in life. The risks can be dangerous, but might lead you for a happier life than just having a security boring job. As the quote said “ Leap..and the net will appear”

___

Planet Connections runs from May 30 – June 24 at The Bleecker Street Theater located at 45 Bleecker Street, New York, NY. To purchase tickets to this or any of the shows click here.

Related Posts:

• Bubby’s Shadow: Whose Shadow Is It? (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The American Play (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Scene/Unseen – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• Coyote On A Fence – FREE Staged Reading – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• (un)missed connections – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)