Death, It Happens (Photo by Cathryn Lynne) Pictured from left to right; Maureen Van Trease, Lori Kee, Bricken Sparacino and Rebecca Chiappone)

Down at UNDER St. Marks there are four ladies discussing it. The big, black elephant in the room. Death.

Terrifying, heartbreaking and unrelentingly emotional, losing a loved one is a different journey for us all, but it is in the commonality that we find comfort. In Death: It Happens (A Girl’s Guide to Death) (directed by Lori Kee) we meet four real-life women (Maureen Van Trease, Courtenay Harrington-Bailey, Bricken Sparacino and Rebecca Chiappone) who have lost their fathers in the not-too-distant past; all relatively suddenly, all equally as shocking. They range in age, in background, they are different, but they’re hurting just the same.

This is a brutally honest account of what it means to lose your parent; from the awkward euphemisms to the choosing of the coffin, the bills, the wills and everything in between. It’s hard stuff, but it is told with humor and perspective that keeps it from being a 60-minute sob-fest. An element for which I, personally, was all-too grateful.

I don’t like to get personal in my reviews, but I feel as if I have no choice with this one. I am fortunate enough to have my parents, but I lost both of my grandmothers within a year of each other only too recently. They were strong presences in my life, powerful, beautiful matriarchs who held their families together, loving unconditionally, and shaped me into the person I am today. My maternal grandmother got a big Catholic funeral and wake, and much of what these women talked about summed up my experience: the awkward Facebook messages, the relatives you’ve never seen checking in on you every five minutes, the food and the flowers and the strangeness of it all. But it’s necessary. As weird as it is, as the ladies of Death relate, funerals help.

The production is clearly a cathartic experience for these women in their personal struggles, but it touches the audience nonetheless. By the end, the sniffles and tissues abounded, everyone having their own experience of fear, grief, and loss alongside these brave women. And they are brave. The actual process of death is not often talked about openly. We get memories, stories of the last days, but it is the losing and burying and starting to miss – that is the part that is hardest to openly discuss. Yet these four women are doing it.

Relaxed, confident, and with a little bit of sass, they are truly doing their fathers proud.

~~~

Death, it happens: A girl’s guide to death

~~~

The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

Related Posts:

• Death, It Happens: A Girl’s Guide To Death – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal: The Total Package Of Manpain (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• I’m Not Sure I Like The Way You Licked Me – She Takes A Lickin’ And Keeps On: Bricken
• Lickin’ With Bricken – An Interview With Bricken Sparacino
• Love In The Time Of Chlamydia: Love And War Stories (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Because Frigid slots are limited to 60 minutes some shows have needed to trim their original running time.  Cutting down some of the material can sometimes break a beautifully crafted piece, as you just can’t fit it all in. Not so for Emleigh Wolf who has been bringing The Terrible Manpain of Umberto MacDougal to various audiences on numerous occasions over the last few years, often in small 5-20 minutes sketches at open mics and other venues.  At its current Frigid run at UNDER St. Marks, Wolf really shines as these short skits are able to be united and lengthened.  While always humorous, putting Umberto in a full narrative with a beginning, a middle, and a triumphant end makes The Terrible Manpain of Umberto MacDougal something that I think we can all identify with by the conclusion of the performance.

The performance starts with an introduction as to what manpain actually is: (click here for a previous look at Umberto explaining this truth here) :

“Well, manpain is the pain that men feel.  Not just any pain but the true emotional depths of a man’s soul. While society may want to frown on it, I assure you, it is one of the more critical topics you will encounter.  I hope tonight, to help all the men here, cast off this idea of their unmentionable sentiments and emnbrace the feelings beneath the harsh exterior they’ve been branded with.”

We are then introduced to Umberto’s guitarist, Mike Hamilton, (played by Mike Ogletree)  and begin the process of hearing one story after another outlining how Umberto has gained the gifts to deal with his manpain so effectively that he can help us with ours.  Besides just being a “melancholy guitarist playing a sorrowful tune”, his accompanying guitarist (Mike Ogletree) really does a great acting job as well.  His character is inserted into different parts of the stories being told and interjects just enough to keep the dramatic tension building, and the plot progressing throughout.

Instead of Umberto simply being a character who is parading his troubles, he has trouble with that parade and it becomes overwhelming to him at times, adding a greater dimension to the work as a whole. Umberto talks of his father abandoning him at birth, of the “rental pony” that died at his one and only birthday party, and of his early rejections in love.  There was also the lack of success at many things along the way – except for his endeavors in chronicling his manpain (carefully excerpted sections of his journal are then read).

All seems to be a downer, one that drips manpain onto us so thoroughly that even as we laugh, we cry.  Then comes the first turning point in the story.  One Christmas Umberto, while staying home for Christmas evening alone (his unfortunate usual lot in life)  heard a singing, and a wailing in the street, and then the sounds of cops shouting, ready to pull a fellow sufferer of manpain off to jail.  This motivates Umberto to dash out to the street, to care for his fellow traveler along life’s dusty and tear-drenched highway, and to help this man fully express his manpain for the first time.  Together they cried and talked until the sun rose the next morning.  This gave him a friend and ally, Mike Hamilton, who encouraged Umberto to share his gift of understanding manpain to all the world.  And so began Umberto’s move away from isolation and toward the present day where we see him now telling his stories, sadly, but sadly in a charismatic way.  We are enthralled and want to hear more.

And the more we hear, the more the interaction between Umberto and Mike becomes intense.  More and more painful moments are brought up and the audience becomes invested and concerned as Umberto turns less serene in his moroseness, more desperate, confronting the truths he has yet to deal with.

Eventually the stories move to a climax, where Umberto looks like he might be willing to put all of his manpain behind him.  It looks like it could all begin to turn around finally, and then…

Well if I told you, I’d spoil the ending for you and rob you of the chance to see the great work that Emleigh Wolf and Mike Ogletree have put together, a capstone on the little journey that Umberto has been making at all the venues in the last few years, which the directing of Bricken Sparacino has helped to move to such a satisfying conclusion.

Well maybe I could give you the end but not the context, because Umberto would want to help us all find some better ways to handle our manpain:

“And now, my new friends, you’ve heard my whole story
The heartache, the torment, and even the glory
For every last man, there’s a pain deep inside
But how you handle that pain is for you to decide
You can allow it to keep you in a prison of woe
Or you can use it to help your inner self grow
Our despair has brought us the ultimate gain
And in that lies the essence of true manpain.
Well, manpain is the pain that men feel.
Not just any pain but the true emotional depths of a man’s soul.”

 

~~~

~~~

The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

Related Posts:

• The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Death: It Happens – Still Daddy’s Girl (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Following The Path Of Yoga
• Tina And Amy: Last Night In Paradise (2014 Frigid New York Festival)
• LOL:The End – Beginning And End (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Five Questions. Five Answers. And One Big Decision: Rock, Paper, Or Scissors?

The Terrible Manpain of Umberto MacDougal

Written by and starring Emleigh Wolf
Directed by Bricken Sparacino
Also starring Mike Ogletree

Umberto MacDougal allows you to look through the window of his tragic manpain. With a beard full of tears and a melancholy guitarist playing a sorrowful tune, Umberto reveals the pain that men feel.

Show Times:

• Thu 2/23 @ 9:00pm
• Sun 2/26 @ 7:00pm
• Mon 2/27 @ 6:00pm
• Fri 3/2 @ 7:30pm
• Sat 3/3 @ 2:30pm

Answers by Emleigh Wolf

(Writer / Performer)

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
That’s some title. How did you come up with it – and what does it mean?
Emleigh: Umberto MacDougal’s mission in life is to educate people about manpain, the pain that men feel. To do this, he must relate his own personal manpain to the audience, and it is, indeed, terrible.

Diánna Martin’s Question
If you were going to invite five people, anyone from past and present, to see your FRIGID show – who would you invite and why?
Emleigh:
I’d have to invite B movie legend, Bruce Campbell because he’s a big influence on my humor, and I’ve embraced a certain cheesiness to my style because of him. Also, I’m a big fangirl.

I think Vincent Price would have really enjoyed it. People remember him for being scary, but if you’re a fan of his films, you know a lot of the terror came from a place of solid manpain. He also employed some excellent facial hair.

Dawn French is one of my absolute heroes in comedy, and I think she’d get a very nice giggle out of The Terrible Manpain of Umberto MacDougal.

Iain Banks would be a great person to invite. So much of his non sci-fi fiction was all about sad Scotsmen. He was very influential in the developmental stages of Umberto since I was pouring over his books at the time.

Is it just past and present? Can I do fictional characters? Because it would be kinda badass to invite Xena…just on general principle. Can I say Xena? I’m gonna say Xena.

Antonio Minino’s Question
What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve ever made for your Art and was it worth it?
Emleigh: My sanity, and I’ll let you know.

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s Question
Was there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and, if so, can you share it?
Emleigh:I think the most unexpected thing is how sympathetic Umberto actually turned out to be. As much as you are meant to be laughing at his misfortune, I’ve found, developing the character in front of audiences, that both men and women can find a certain empathy for him while still enjoying a good chuckle.

Michelle Augello-Page’s Question
What do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?
Emleigh:I hope they take away that awesome feeling you get from laughing so hard your gut hurts a little. I also hope they walk away thinking about manpain and how it affects their lives.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH

THM Bonus Question – We’re serious this year!
In the THM virtual Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH which FRIGID Show do you take on? And what do you throw?

Emleigh:I’m throwing down Scissors at Death, It Happens….

Heeeey – isn’t Bricken Sparacino of Death, It Happens the same Bricken Sparacino who is directing The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal ?  The same Bricken who threw a ROCK at Umberto MacDougal?  The SAME Bricken Sparacino who Rabbit Island DELIBERATELY lost the match to?  AND the SAME Bricken Sparacino who “invited” others to lose to her?  Hey!  I’m starting to get the picture!  Bricken Sparacino appears to be the Godmother of the Five Frigid Families isn’t she? (Frigid Mafia?  Ciò è questo Frigid Mafia?)  Well – we’re on to you Bricken!  And if you wind up winning this whole Tournament of Deaaaaath … we’ll know to have a really good prize for you.  Ma’am.

Okay!  Back to you, Miz MacDougal.  So – one rock thrown by Death, It Happens.  That’s a LOSS.

One more rock thrown at you by Chlamydia – another LOSS.

Talk about Manpain!  Things are not looking good for the Scotsman – brought down by Death and Chlamydia.  Ooof.

Thanks The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal for participating in The Happiest Medium’s FRIGID New York Festival 2012 Q&A. And for playing our game! You’re officially SCISSORS in any and all challenges. You may win, you may not – who knows! This is how it works in the crazy world of the Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH!

For the rest of you don’t forget to check out The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal!

~~~

~~~

The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

Related Posts:

• The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal: The Total Package Of Manpain (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Death, It Happens: A Girl’s Guide To Death – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• ‘Til Love Do Us Part: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Drowning Ophelia: A New Rock Musical – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Big Plastic Heroes: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Five Questions. Five Answers. And One Big Decision: Rock, Paper, Or Scissors?

Death, It Happens (Photo by Cathryn Lynne) Pictured from left to right; Maureen Van Trease, Lori Kee, Bricken Sparacino and Rebecca Chiappone)

Death, it happens: A girl’s guide to death

Company: Bricken and Birch Productions
Directed by: Lori Kee

4 different women lost 4 different fathers. Hear their true, diverse, moving and sometimes funny stories. Learn what happened, what they did to cope (or not cope) with death and what to wear to a funeral.

Show Times:

• Sat 2/25 @ 8:30pm
• Mon 2/27 @ 9pm
• Tues 2/28 @ 7:30pm
• Sat 3/3 @ 1:30pm
• Sun 3/4 @ 4pm

Answers by Bricken Sparacino

(conceiver, producer, performer and co-writer)

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
That’s some title. How did you come up with it – and what does it mean?
Bricken: Well, our show is about Death, I didn’t want to sugar coat it, but I also wanted there to be a little humor in it as well. Our show is honest, sometimes sad – but we also use a lot of gallows humor. I hoped to reflect that in the title. I wanted the word “Death” to stand out and the rest to follow a little smaller. Almost as if to say “Do I have your attention now?”

Diánna Martin’s Question
If you were going to invite five people, anyone from past and present, to see your FRIGID show – who would you invite and why?
Bricken: Ah, well I’d love some dead people to come and tell us what happens after its all over. But that could add an unintentional zombie action adventure angle to the show.

Seriously, the show is about dealing with loss, how we survive when loved ones die and was written collaboratively. So, Eve Ensler would be great. I would love to hear what she thought of our collaboration compared to her work. Christopher Guest for the same reason (though he works in the made up world, I would still like to see what he thinks). My grandma – she is 92 and can’t travel to NY anymore. I would love to hear what she had to say about it. My father-in-law, who is a rock when dealing with death, and Eleanor Roosevelt keeps coming into my head, I’m not sure why, except she was a fantastically strong woman and I bet she’d have some great additions to our story.

Antonio Minino’s QuestionWhat is the biggest sacrifice you’ve ever made for your Art and was it worth it?
Bricken: This is a tough question. I feel like whenever I make art it is worth it. Sometimes we have to put aside our egos, some times we have to fight, sometimes we try our hardest and no one comes. But I always feel like it is worth it.

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s Question
Was there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and, if so, can you share it?
Bricken: That other people were willing to tackle this subject with me. In America we don’t like to talk about death, when someone dies we get about 3 days off of work for it and are supposed to just “get over it”, I guess, or suffer silently. After my dad died I questioned that, why not talk about it? It would help me. So I reached out to several women who had also lost their fathers and was relieved/pleased to have 3 wonderful women join me on this development process.

Michelle Augello-Page’s Question
What do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?
Bricken: I hope they come. If they come they might cry a little, but they will laugh too and I hope feel the load lifted off a bit. We have death in common. I hope this show will leave the audience feeling like we all can make it through these losses together with humor and compassion and that they are surrounded by strong loving support. Plus they will learn some helpful hints like what to wear to a funeral.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH

THM Bonus Question – We’re serious this year!
In the THM virtual Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH which FRIGID Show do you take on? And what do you throw?
Bricken: I think we are 4 strong women and can take on any show in the old RPS. However I know one overly emotional Scotsman who will cry at the drop of a hat.
So I throw a rock right at The Terrible Manpain of Umberto MacDougal.

Oh Bricken! … you have chosen wisely. Rock is always a strong choice! Especially when you’re hurling it at someone who’s already in such awful Manpain. Also – as you know – you’ve already been challenged by Rabbit Island who threw the match in your favor (nice trick!). That’s one win right there! Love In The Time Of Clamydia challenged everyone and threw ROCK so that’s a tie. You’re off to a very good start, Ms. Bricken! Let’s see what Umberto MacDougal throws when that Manpain Q&A gets serve up. You might be the big victor of this whole shebang!

Thanks Death, It Happens: A Girl’s Guide To Death for participating in The Happiest Medium’s FRIGID New York Festival 2012 Q&A. And for playing our game! You’re officially ROCK in any and all challenges. You may continue your streak  - who knows! This is how it works in the crazy world of the Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH!

For the rest of you don’t forget to check out Death, It Happens: A Girl’s Guide To Death

~~~

~~~

The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

Related Posts:

• Death: It Happens – Still Daddy’s Girl (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• ‘Til Love Do Us Part: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Drowning Ophelia: A New Rock Musical – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Big Plastic Heroes: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Lipshtick is an ambitious play, taking the audience on a funny, poignant, and complex journey through what it meant to be a woman in 20^th century America amidst a media blitzkrieg mirroring society’s perceptions, ideals, and images, while seeking to expose how women internalize and externalize these expectations as they struggle towards a sense of self and continue to define the realities and experiences of being female in American society in the present.

Written by Romy Nordlinger and Adam Burns, “Lipshtick” is centered around the Make-Me-Over Show, a reality T.V. show which eavesdrops on women’s lives by hacking into their media devices in order to find the next contestant to win an appearance on the show. The lucky winner will receive the ultimate make-over, becoming the very image of society’s ideal woman.

Lipshtick is brilliantly directed by Bricken Sparacino, whose deft touch is felt throughout the play, as complicated political, philosophical, psychological, and socio-economic issues are tempered with humor and humanity, resulting in a seamless, moving, and powerful work of Art.

The three MC’s of the Make-Me-Over Show (Scout Durwood, Aja Houston, Romy Nordlinger) enter the scene with matching outfits – bouffant wigs, white lab coats, and cat-style glasses – shimmying, shaking, and singing in unison like a girl group of the 1950′s on Acid. The dialogue among the MCs is extraordinarily clever and utilizes rhythm, rhyme, and sharp wit, giving the actors the opportunity to truly shine as a team, as they work together and play off each other to complete each other’s sentences, speak and sing in unison, and reflect the warped, surreal, and savage world of the media through the lens of the Make-Me-Over Show.

Brilliant and ruthless collages of various media (television shows, commercials, and movies) projected at intervals throughout the play serve as an additional ever present character and reflect the media’s role in shaping and reflecting society’s image of women during various periods of time. The visual design by Adam Burns employs innovate projection techniques and uses video as stage-set, projected backdrop, and visual and auditory back-story; the frenetic movement of the collages mirror the daily assault of media in our lives.

In the search for the next “winner” to appear on the Make-Me-Over Show, the audience is taken on a series of vignettes exposing and exploring the places American women found themselves at different points during the 20^th century. Throughout these vignettes, each actor is given the spotlight to weave a spell over the audience, sharing their individual and powerful talents as they unfold and embody several characters. Scout Durwood, Aja Houston, and Romy Nordlinger are extremely talented actors, able to stretch, create, and open up the worlds of vastly different characters with humor, physicality, and heart-breaking humanity.

Scout Durwood’s character of Maggie, a working class middle-aged housewife at odds with sexual liberation, begins her vignette gossiping as she does the laundry. She yells at neighbor kids, and makes the audience laugh with her wit and sharp observations. As she downplays her own sexuality, her beauty becomes more insistent and recognizable. As she explores her role as a woman and housewife, Durwood’s Maggie is simply and beautifully revealed, leaving us with a woman struggling with questions of love and marriage, trying to find meaning and purpose in her life as a woman confronting her own evolution in a rapidly changing world.

Aja Houston’s character of Edith, an old woman reflecting on her life alone after her husband’s death, begins her vignette taking care of and talking to a plant. We discover that the plant holds her husband’s ashes, and that she is addressing her late husband. This character holds deep maturity as she reflects on her age, on love, and on life with her husband. Houston’s Edith is all heart and hope, an old woman having made mistakes, having learned some lessons, and finding at her mature age, a surprise – a bud on the plant, promising, even as women grow old, their magnificent potential for flowering.

Romy Nordlinger’s character of Kathy, an adolescent girl trying to make sense of her place as an emerging woman and wrestling with questions of sexuality and image, begins her vignette playing with a Barbie doll and a Ken doll. In a heartbreaking moment, she reflects upon her changing body, so unlike Barbie’s ideal figure and long blonde hair, and wonders if she can still be beautiful. Nordlinger’s Kathy is expertly woven; her naïveté and youth is handled with humor and sensitivity, and her confusion, awkwardness, and desire to understand her sexuality and what that means in an adult world, is rooted in all of us.

At the end of the play, a “winner” is chosen; however, the winner does not want to appear on the Make-Me-Over Show show. Her refusal to buy into society’s version of what it means to be a woman causes a breaking down of the very system on which the show is built. In a frenzied deconstruction, the three MC’s smear lipstick on their mouths and attempt to strip away the pervasive and damaging messages from media and society, resulting in an ending reminiscent of the second wave of feminism, returning us to the questions raised in the early 1970s when women burned their bras, the demand for a new dialogue as to what it means to be a woman in society, and to define these questions with better answers.

There is one more chance to see  Lipshtick as part of the New York International Fringe Festival at the lovely Dixon Place Theater: August 24 @ 6:15.

~~~

Lipshtick
Writer: Romy Nordlinger & Adam Burns, Video Design by Adam Burns
Director: Bricken Sparacino

1h 30m

www.lipshtickbaby.com
VENUE #5: Dixon Place
Wed 24 @ 6:15

Related Posts:

• Death: It Happens – Still Daddy’s Girl (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal: The Total Package Of Manpain (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Death, It Happens: A Girl’s Guide To Death – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Stabat Mater Fabulosa, Morningside Opera Productions

 

Bricken Sparacino sure has been licked a lot in her life … but not exactly the way you’d expect from a show titled I’m Not Sure I Like The Way You Licked Me!.  I mean, of course, there is the requisite anecdote about the guy who french kissed her in a way that was more akin to a barbecue pit chef mopping ribs with secret sauce, leaving her face covered in saliva and in need of a good rinsing … but this solo show (directed by Lori Kee) has a few more licks in it – the kind of licks that could also be called bummers, hard knocks, and just plain disappointments.

Bricken Sparacino by Cathryn Lynne

Using a backdrop of childhood (and beyond) photos Bricken (yes, yes – rhymes with Chicken … she gets that out of the way right up top) throws out highlights – or perhaps low-lights – of her life when she felt particularly licked.  Sometimes the lick takes the form of a gaggle of Mean Girl roommates using an unfortunate collision with a can of paint (oops) as a springboard to dive into all of Sparacino’s sore spots.  With a POW and a THWACK and a BOFF they reel off her shortcomings, ending with “no one likes you anyway … not even the people who say they do”.  OOF.

Time and again Bricken puts herself out there – with a boy, with a friend, in an acting scene, with her husband-to-be … and time and again Bricken gets licked.  Friends turn on her, parts she is perfect for go to the other actress, songs she can’t quite master don’t get transposed in order to accommodate her lower range, her live-in boyfriend of five years psyches her out before proposing to her (never fear – 14 wonderful years later they’re still happily married).

Yes, there’s a lot of pitfalls here, but it’s not the stories that are the revelation.  For really, anyone’s life story can be told in a way that accentuates the licks.  We’ve all been there, and we all can relate – to the bullying, the name calling, the need to be accepted, the need to feel loved … the confusion when we do something out of love that gets misconstrued and thrown back in our faces.  So the stories themselves aren’t particularly new.  Rather, it’s the over arching lesson that’s the cherry on the sundae here.

And Bricken’s lesson is simple, yet profound:  We only go around once.  We’ve only got one chance, and confidence goes a long way to make the ride a better one.  So, have faith in yourself.  Have faith in your abilities.  Cherish those around you who support you and reflect your best self back to you.

Bricken’s delivery is straightforward and no-nonsense with often hilarious moments that will have you laughing out loud.  It’s not all a laff-riot, however; she’s equally adept at plucking at your heartstrings and often just the simple look of sadness that veils her eyes at the appropriate moment is enough to quiet the room.  When this woman says she is a Shakespearean actress moments like this prove she’s got the goods.

Just a 3 show run – one’s already gone.  You’ve just got 2 chances to see Bricken get licked.

~~~

Related Posts:

• Death: It Happens – Still Daddy’s Girl (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Death, It Happens: A Girl’s Guide To Death – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Lickin’ With Bricken – An Interview With Bricken Sparacino
• The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal: The Total Package Of Manpain (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

Bricken Sparacino is an award winning/nominated performer, writer and director. She is also a bright, confident woman who has been involved in theatre for most of her life. To watch her work is to watch an artist with a powerful command of her talents. I have seen her ability to transform a space, as well as her own persona, as she captivates and connects intimately with an audience, provoking a wide range of meaningful responses to her performances.

Bricken’s latest show I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me! is running April 7,8,9 at HorseTrade’s Under St. Marks Theatre in NYC. Using humor, story telling, honesty and a little bit of rock and roll, Bricken shares the battles she has fought, the mountains she has climbed, and the licks she has endured! I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me! was chosen as part of the Frigid Festival ‘11 and is “a very brave, honest, funny, endearing show.” – Amy E. Witting, aWe Creative.

Whenever I see Bricken perform, I am always left with a gift – laughter, lingering tears, revived memories, profound thoughts – sometimes all at once. It never ceases to amaze me. And Bricken makes it seem so effortless. Her quick wit, gentle eyes, and sweet smile are disarming; her ease comes from years of hard work doing what she loves. I was so happy to have the opportunity to meet up with Bricken as she prepares for her upcoming shows, and to interview her about her life as an artist.

Michelle: You have been involved with theatre your whole life. Do you come from an artistic family background? How supportive were your parents in your decision to become a performer, director, and writer?

Bricken: I am very lucky; my parents never once questioned my interest in theater. I was in my first play around 3rd grade and wrote a play about the same time. It was pretty clear there was nothing else I really wanted to do with my time. My mom said that when I was born, I looked up and posed for a photo my dad was taking, and that I was “on the stage” ever since. My father was an artist, my grandmother was a ballerina, so I think I got my creativity from the two of them.

I think the biggest example of my parents supporting me was just that they let me move to New York. I remember the day I moved, my mom watched me get on the plane and cried and cried. I’m an only child and it was the hardest thing in the world for her to let me get on that plane. But she never said “no, that’s a bad idea.” She and my father said “great, go to New York … we’ll support you … what do you need?” I didn’t appreciate it at the time. I sure do now.

You’ve mentioned how you first started in theatre as a litterbug in a kid’s show about cleaning up the environment, and now you work in the zoo doing children’s theatre about keeping the environment clean. What did being involved in children’s theater give to you as a child, and what does it give to you now, as an adult?

I grew up working with a group called “The Santa Clara Junior Theater.” This was children and teens working on plays. I now work at my day job with adults performing for children. When I was a child we worked on all different kinds of plays and our focus was on being the best we could be. I learned a lot about myself, how to make friends, how to lead, how to be creative.

The focus of what I do now is about educating those who are watching, which is a much less self involved thing. We go into schools all over NY and the tri-state area. We hope we entertain and leave the students with hopeful messages about the world around them and their future. An unexpected result with some schools, especially inner city schools, is that the children meet a group of adults who they probably wouldn’t on their own and learn that these adults care about them and what they think. I always try to tell the students they are smart and have wonderful ideas and questions. You see their faces light up and you know you have done a little bit to help.

March is Women’s History Month. What does it mean to you to be a performer, director, and writer from the standpoint of being a woman? How have perceptions of you as female affected you as you have grown into yourself as a woman?

Well, it is hard working in theatre and not noticing that there is a divide between the amount of woman directors and writers who reach success and the amount of male directors and writers who reach success. I try not to dwell on the statistics, as they are rather disappointing, but to lead by example. I do what I do and do my best. Have I ever had problems as a female director? Yes. Does it make me mad when some one doesn’t listen to my direction or rolls their eyes at me in a way that makes it clear that they are not listening to me because I am a woman? Yes. What do I do? Never work with that person again. I try to gather positive people around me. If I see something I say something!

Growing up I had (and still do) wonderful woman role models that taught me not to let your gender stop your dreams. My mother is City Manager of a pretty good size city. My grandmother was a ballerina. They taught me from a young age to be myself and follow my dreams. My mother told me when I was young that if I ever got married I shouldn’t feel like I had to change my name. She never wanted to change her name, but when she got married it was unheard of to keep your “maiden” name, so she was bullied into taking my father’s name. When I got married, I didn’t even think about it. I kept my name. If you think about it, just the term “maiden name” is ridiculous.

You live and work with your husband, Michael Birch, and it appears you have a special, synergistic relationship. “I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me!” is produced by Birch and Bricken Productions, and you have directed his popular “One Man Hamlet.” Can you talk a bit about your relationship as artists?

I have a wonderful working relationship with my husband Michael. But I don’t recommend what we do for everyone who is in a long term relationship with another creative person. We have written together, performed together, I have directed him, he has directed me, we produce together. But it took awhile to work out the kinks. You have to have off times and rules. Like when you are falling asleep, don’t wake the other person up with “Oh, I just thought of the perfect song to start the show out with!” or “Oh, I just remembered what line you forgot”. It can lead to sleepless nights and fights.

We remember it is a job and just like any other job you have to have a lunch break, so to speak. It took time to learn the right way to talk about things we don’t agree on with out hurting each other’s feelings. But we are pretty good about it now. We still have little clashes, but considering we work together at the zoo as well as everything else, they are few and far between. It might be crazy, but it makes for a lot of fun wonderful times.

You ran the 10:17 Comedy Night for several years at the Gershwin Hotel, and you’ve workshopped parts of your show at different places as it has unfolded. How important do you think it is for other artists to be part of something where work is often in progress, growing, and being tested in front of an audience?

Having an open forum to practice your art is one of the most important things going on out there for performers. Creating art in a vacuum is not easy. How would you know if you are on to something if you just perform for yourself in the shower? (though I sometimes get great ideas when I am in the shower!) I wish there were even more outlets for new work. Every time I have workshopped in front of an audience, whatever it is, it gets better. You also get ideas from the way people respond after. The old saying practice makes better is really true. And to practice in front of an audience is a real luxury.

For many years, you have been involved with the Midtown Theatre Festival and the Frigid Festival. What are your experiences with this process, and how festivals and other resources support performers, directors, and writers in the community?

I have been a part of many of our New York “festivals” and they really have become the next step in creativity. First, it helps to have a weekly or monthly show that allows you to try new material and works in progress. Then, once you have created your show, you can select one of the yearly festivals to debut the new piece. Self producing is very hard, time consuming, and costly. Being a part of a festival can take a lot of the burden of self producing off of the artist’s shoulders. Having a space ready for you, lights and sound ready, a box office person, ticket sales, publicity etc. is a real perk of the festival world.  Also often you get a couple of reviews, which can further promote your show.

My current show I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me! was helped and supported by ArtEffects Workshop Reading, Manhattan TheaterSource’s PlayGround workshop for new plays, HorseTrade Theater Group, and performing at Penny’s Open Mic. These groups and shows all stand up for new plays. If anyone out there is looking for a place to start something new, I recommend all of these resources. I also want to mention Martin Denton and nytheatre.com; www.nytheater.com really promotes independent theatre, giving it just as much attention as it does the Broadway theater world.

Many thanks and hugs to Bricken for sharing wine, sangria, and laughter with me at a downtown bar on a Tuesday night, and for sharing some of her thoughts and experiences with “The Happiest Medium.” If you enjoyed reading about Bricken, you do not want to miss the special three day showing of “I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me!”, April 7,8,9 at Under St. Marks Theatre in NYC,  presented by HorseTrade and produced by Birch and Bricken productions.

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I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me!

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More about Bricken!

• Bricken Sparacino was one of nytheatre.com’s “People of the Year ‘08.” Under her direction, Chris Harcum’s American Badass (Frigid ’08) was selected to be in a collection of “best of” and is now published. Other nominated/winning shows include Those Whistling Lads (Planet Connections and MITF) and Pizza Man (MITF). She was nominated for “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical” for her portrayal of her original comedy character Cherry On Top (Planet Connections).
• As a comedy powerhouse, Bricken performed, co-wrote, produced, and directed numerous original works including Comedy Period, All About The Comedy (1 &2), Alien Sympathizer Henry Platt Is Missing, American Treacle for the Midtown Theater Festival as well as the wildly successful 10:17 Comedy Night, which ran every Saturday night for 3 years at the Gershwin Hotel. Bricken’s short play Are We Freaks and her one person storytelling show I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me! were chosen as part of the Frigid Festival ’09 and the Frigid Festival ’11, respectively.
• Upcoming plans for Bricken include turning her short plays Pointy the Starfish and Are We Freaks into full-length plays, and directing Emleigh Wolf’s The Terrible Manpain of Umberto MacDougal for the mini Frigid in Summer, 2011.
• To find out more about what Bricken is up to, check out her website www.bricken.org

Related Posts:

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• Death, It Happens: A Girl’s Guide To Death – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• I’m Not Sure I Like The Way You Licked Me – She Takes A Lickin’ And Keeps On: Bricken
• FRIGID New York Festival 2011 – Five Questions For: I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me!
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Welcome back to another installment of FRIGID New York Festival 2011 Q&A!  We’ll be running these throughout February until the Festival starts, so be sure to check back to read all about the great shows that will be taking part in the festival.  Also – don’t miss the winner-take-all game of Rock Paper Scissors! Today’s Q&A is with Bricken Sparacino, who is the actor and writer of I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me!

Through humor, honesty and a little bit of rock and roll, come share with Bricken the battles she has fought, the mountains she has climbed and the licks she has endured.

Bricken Sparacino in I'm Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me (Photo by Cathryn Lynne)

answers by Bricken Sparacino, actor and writer

Antonio Asks: What makes FRIGID such a warm and welcoming experience for your production?

This is my third year being a part of the FRIGID. It is one of my favorite festivals. I always feel like I’m in good hands. Each year the festival seems to grow bigger and better and it is exciting to be a part of that growth!

Diánna Asks: What about this play do you feel most drawn to personally, and because of that, what message do you hope the audience walks away with?

I have directed 8 solo shows over the last 3 years. Each time I directed one the actor would say “you should write one for yourself” “you have such great stories” I avoided creating my own show because I have never had any thing really horrible or spectacular happen to me. I was never in a war or scaled a mountain. But it was in the back of my head, “maybe I should do it”.

I started working on just telling stories. And what I found was some of my stories have universal tones. People would come up to me and say “that happened to me too” or “that’s just like what happened to my sister”. This is when I felt like I was on to something. Sharing the small things created a show that the audience could enjoy and feel connected to.

I hope the audience walks away feeling like they can take on anything. And next time something stupid happens they can laugh and say “that’s just like Bricken”.

Karen Asks: That’s some title.  How did you come up with it – and what does it mean?

The title of my show is a direct quote from one of my stories. I don’t want to give it away, but it involved a french kiss gone bad. That being said the idea behind the title becomes the connecting theme of the stories I act out and tell in my show.

Stephen Asks: You must have a favorite part of your show.  What makes it your favorite?

I like acting like my husband. There are several stories of my life that my husband comes off looking bad in and I love being him in the stories. It is fun to storm around the stage. He is a good sport about it. When I first showed him, he actually reminded me of a few things he said that make him look even worse in the story. I put them in the show.

Lina Asks: How much of your show was inspired by true events?

The entire show is true, I try my best not to exaggerate, as that would ruin the fun of the truth.

THM Bonus Question: If you could play a virtual game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with another FRIGID Show which show would you take on?  And what would you throw?

The Bitter Poet, I’d wrap him up in paper.

Thanks I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me! – for participating in The Happiest Medium’s FRIGID New York Festival 2011 Q&A.  And for playing our game!  You’re officially PAPER.  You were challenged by Hi, How Can I Help You? – and they threw SCISSORS. OOF – a clear win goes to HHCIH as they cut your PAPER to shreads. But you may have a chance with the Poet.  This is how it works in the crazy world of the VIRTUAL ROCK PAPER SCISSORS TOURNAMENT!

Meanwhile, for the rest of you – don’t forget to check out I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me!

FRIGID New York Festival 2011 will run February 23-March 6 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1sr Ave and Ave A). Tickets ($10-$16) may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444. All shows will run 60 minutes long or less.

Related Posts:

• Lickin’ With Bricken – An Interview With Bricken Sparacino
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Heidi Grumelot
• A Kind Kind Man, So He Says (FRIGID New York 2011)
• FRIGID New York Festival 2011 – Five Questions For: The Bitter Poet: Looking For Love In All The Wrong Black Box Performance Spaces
• Paradise Lost, Insight Found (FRIGID New York 2011)