Of all the things to be tempted with this holiday season, nothing is so tantalizing as Company XIV’s production of Snow White which lures audiences to 303 Bond Street with all the seduction of an evil queen extending a shiny, beautiful, apple in order to cast a magical spell.  One thing is certain – there is definitely something bewitching the spectators who walk in innocently and emerge 90 minutes later – filled to overflowing with images of exquisiteness and spectacle.  If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.

The lights are hung, // The wires strung, // The sets are all painted and built
The make-up’s applied // And I’ll say it outright: // The gold you will see is just gilt.
The kingdom and forest is plastic and steel // But the dancing feet are real.

And so begins the narrator’s speech as Jeff Takacs (who, as with all of the Company XIV productions, is responsible for the adaptation of the work, and has written the script) welcomes the audience to Snow White, conceived, choreographed and directed by Austin McCormick. It’s the perfect way to begin a fairytale: with the truth — that all the dazzling bells and whistles which make this show shine are remarkable, but take it all away and you’d still have the amazing dancers, executing the superb steps created by McCormick.  However, between the whirling and the witchery is where the wonder lives.

I have long since left all expectations at the door when it comes to Company XIV and Austin McCormick; the only thing I can be sure of is that the show will be dazzling, delightful and richly textured in a perfect blend of media and styles.  And so it is with Snow White – which immediately beguiles the audience with a Gothic-inspired funeral scene sung beautifully by Lauren Michelle.  What follows is not just dancing but aerial silk, aerial hoop, acrobatics, and mixed media.

What I’ve come to love about McCormick (as a director) is that if a work of his is labeled “family friendly” it does not mean he has diluted his vision for the young ones; if anything, he challenges the wide-eyed tots in a way that invites them to appreciate a world of pure imagination – a world that hides nothing and therefore allows for everything.  Rather than stripping away elements so that children can grasp the story more fully, McCormick actually layers in more complexity so that a younger sensibility is served alongside that of the adults. I envy the children who are growing up with Company XIV as an example of what theatre can be; they are being given memories that will spark them to create amazing things on their own, rather than walk in the footsteps of what they see being churned out by Hollywood in order to sell more happy meals.

This Snow White hasn’t been altered much from the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale – there’s the death of the queen, mourned throughout the land, who leaves behind her sweet little girl with skin as white as snow, hair as black as ebony, and lips as red as roses.  There’s the evil stepmother who is so vain that she can’t go a day without demanding that her magic mirror confirm that she’s the fairest in the land.  There’s the inevitable moment when Snow White (Gracie White) grows into her beauty and outshines the Evil Queen (Laura Careless) prompting the queen to hatch all sorts of plots which include death by hunter (hunter fails), death by suffocating corset (untied by a raven), death by poisoned hair comb (pulled out by a fox) and finally the worst of all – the poisoned apple which sends Snow White into a deep sleep.  Later she is awakened by the charmingest of Princes with a kiss, the two marry and the Evil Queen gets her comeuppance.

Gracie White as Snow White, Ashley Handel and Laura Careless as The Evil Queen

What McCormick has done is changed the focus of the piece; while the title may be “Snow White” the best moments are given to McCormick’s muse and principal dancer, the fantastic Laura Careless, who clearly sinks her teeth into the role of the Evil Queen as deeply as Snow White sinks her teeth into the poisoned apple.  Careless’ full range of talents are on display in this production, not only does she dance through each scene with an awe-inspiring  fervor but she clearly displays a wonderful gift of accents and even humor.  Having watched Ms. Careless over the last few productions I was delighted to see this side emerge – while she never fails to amaze it was wonderful to see her in a role that had so many opportunities to showcase the campier side of her (seemingly limitless) talents.

Of course, leave it to McCormick to have the audience thrilling to the darker side of such an innocent tale.

Gracie White as Snow White (photo by Steven Schreiber)

For her part Gracie White as Snow White is lovely; she has all the charm of an innocent young maiden who seems to never learn that an evil queen is out to get her.  The aerial work she does on the hoop is delicate and elegant and she often seems to defy gravity as she is hoisted and held and dropped before being caught at just the precise moment, all while smiling peacefully.

Of course, there is no one element of the piece that could exist without the other; McCormick has hit on a formula that works and employs a team that does extraordinary things with lighting effects (Gina Scherr), video projections (Corey Tatarczuk) and repeating musical themes.  So talented are they that set designer Zane Pihlstrom even make it snow — beautiful glittering bursts of sparkling snow that flutter and disappear … just like this production soon will.  So get your tickets now and give yourself the best holiday present of all.

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Related Posts:

• She’s Mad But She’s Magic: LOVER. MUSE. MOCKINGBIRD. WHORE
• The Halloween Plays – Three Bursts Of Fire, Fear And Fantasy
• Not Your Father’s Circus: Le Cirque Feerique (The Fairy Circus)
• Let’s Keep Dancing … At The Company XIV Workshop
• Nutcracker Rouge – The Way The Nutcracker Should Be

I’m glad when they arrive and I’m glad when they leave. I’m glad when I hear their heels approaching my door and I’m glad when those heels walk away. I’m glad to fuck. I’m glad to care. And I’m glad when it’s over. And since it’s always either starting or finishing I’m glad most of the time.

– Charles Bukowski

It’s obvious that Austin McCormick’s grasp of creating a theatre experience reaches far beyond what merely happens on stage. The more I attend performances in the Company XIV space at 303 Bond Street in Brooklyn the more I am treated to McCormick’s all-encompassing way of choreographing not only movement but sensation. From the way the space transforms each time into a whole new configuration to the heady red wine that greets you (or bubbly sparking water for those who don’t partake) to the strange set that seems almost unfinished in spots, you know it’s all carefully constructed – nothing haphazard or random ever occurs here – and once the lights go out and the projections appear it all makes sense.  More than sense – it all makes magic.

Laura Careless as the embodiment of Bukowski’s women (photo by Corey Tatarczuk)

Settling down in your seat, drink in hand, you’ll notice there’s a room constructed to the side which you passed on your way in.  It’s an almost 1940s type film noir room – glass panes cloaked in clunky venetian blinds – the old ones that hardly appear in homes anymore, but make such a striking frame for a room forged in the aftermath of too much booze, countless failed love affairs, and an avalanche of evocative poetry.  This room designed by Zane Pihlstrom and offset by Gina Scherr’s hypnotic, dramatic lighting, will later become an area where we can voyeuristically watch the man and his women – be it through the slightly open blinds or aided by several cameras.  Keep looking around and it’s as if the air seems to bear the perfume of resignation as the music curls around you.  “Take a walk on the wild side …” it urges.  Shed your conventions and see what happens on the other side of that wall.

Laura Careless and Jeff Takacs as Charles Bukowski (photo by Corey Tatarczuk)

LOVER. MUSE. MOCKINGBIRD. WHORE begins with the voice of Bukowski himself – strangely familiar … if you’ve heard it even just once you’ll know it immediately.  Soon enough the reigns are taken up by Jeff Takacs who channels Charles Bukowski so thoroughly, so eerily that when he begins to speak the transition is virtually seamless; he is a perfect reflection of an imperfect man.

These women are supposed to come and see me but they never do. There’s the one with the long scar on her belly. There’s the other one who writes poems and phones at 3 a.m. saying, “I love you” …

… begins the litany of woman, all of whom are -or will be- embodied by the exceptionally gifted Laura Careless who not only spends the evening donning different dresses, garters, bras, wigs, shoes and stockings but also different identities all embodied with different natures, vulnerabilities, personalities and dispositions.  Yet ultimately this endless string of women spells the same thing for the man who simultaneously held them in awe as well as in contempt  - Trouble.

All I’ve ever known are pill freaks, alcoholics, whores, ex-prostitutes, madwomen. When one leaves another arrives worse than her predecessor. “Don’t ever bring a whore around,” I tell my few friends, “I’ll fall in love with her.”

To fully embrace what McCormick has created you must first understand the poet Bukowski or, short of that, you should at least understand the poetry of Bukowski.  Which is a rather tall order if you’ve never encountered him before, but well worth it if you have. (If you’re of the “never before” school here’s a great place to start your education).

Laura Careless and Jeff Takacs as Charles Bukowski (photo by Corey Tatarczuk)

An appreciation for Bukowski’s poetry brings with it the realization that joy comes in many forms, sometimes enjoyment comes in the recognition of pure despair.  And no one gave a snapshot into skid row despair the way Bukowski did – his works open up a parallel universe, where – if we dare step into it – we can try on another life which can be treated brutally, carelessly, one that we fold and crease and crumple; one  that takes us out of stability and comfort and into the bottom of a bottle which has been tossed amid the rumpled, stained sheets and forgotten.

Where the disparity (and the genius) between Bukowski’s words and McCormick’s vision occur is that The Poet adored women plural but destroyed woman singular and in an effort to celebrate them in his art he impaled them with each line of text. McCormick, on the other hand, understands that the boundary between magnificence and malignancy is flexible.  It can often be played with, twisted and turned inside out.  So even as Laura Careless is moving – writhing at times, jerking, she herself twisting and turning inside out – her natural agility and grace as she executes McCormick’s intricate gestures bring life to Bukowski’s words in a way that is haunting and unforgettable.  Perhaps in a way that no other medium could capture with as much passion, pathos and power.

Charles Bukowski gained acclaim by proving that poetry didn’t have to be lovely in order to be heartfelt.  By choreographing, staging and directing a dance/theatre meditation around this poetry, McCormick proves that dance doesn’t have to be lovely in order to be heartfelt either.  LOVER. MUSE. MOCKINGBIRD. WHORE is more – heart felt, heart breaking, ground breaking … and one more outstanding achievement from Company XIV.

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Related Posts:

• The Fairest Of Them All: Company XIV – Snow White
• The Halloween Plays – Three Bursts Of Fire, Fear And Fantasy
• Not Your Father’s Circus: Le Cirque Feerique (The Fairy Circus)
• Nutcracker Rouge – The Way The Nutcracker Should Be
• Let’s Keep Dancing … At The Company XIV Workshop

COMPANY XIV (photo by Cristina Ramirez Hirst)

Can you die from too much beauty?  Probably not.  But if you could, I came close to doing so as I watched Company XIV “A mixed media Neo-Baroque dance-theatre  company” spin  Le Cirque Féerique (The Fairy Circus) into being in front of my dazzled eyes last weekend.  The show consists of a series of fairy tales choreographed and directed by Austin McCormick, written and adapted by Austin McCormick and Jeff Takacs, and conceived by Austin McCormick and Zane Pihlstrom and runs till June 6th.

In an unassuming building on Bond Street in Brooklyn where Company XIV makes their home you will find the most unusual matrix of Music, Mystery, and Magic.  That’s right, I said Brooklyn.  And hold on to your hats, folks, because in the next few paragraphs I’m also going to say things akin to “Frog Prince”, “Madonna”, “Cinderella”, “Carmen”, and “Balloons”.  Yes – it’s THAT kind of show.

First of all, for all you scaredy cats who think you can’t haul your cookies (and your kids, and your kid’s cookies) into Brooklyn to see something unique, unusual, flirty, coquettish and fizzy-fun that still manages to be family-rated I beg you to please just shut up for a second.   Laziness like that is what led to half our youth’s addiction to video games . . . that is when they’re not washing down teenage vampire chronicles with a Justin Bieber chaser.

Company XIV (Photo Cristina Ramirez)

Second of all, this is a show that other shows WISH they could be.   Company XIV whips up a confection so delectable that there’s an actual ache when the show is over.  Like Rumpelstiltskin (whose story they don’t take on, unfortunately) McCormick and company turns straw into gold . . . and satin . . . and things that sparkle and shine and swivel and clink and pop and twirl and thump and sneer and cavort and transcend.

One half of this show fits like a classic Chanel suit that never goes out of style and the other half  fits like that next fabulously hot new phenom about to be birth from Project Runway – so trendy that they’re six minutes away from being on someone’s “five minutes ago” list.  Throw everything you ever imagined Fairy Tales could be into a blender, add a dash of peacock feathers, a shot glass of strawberry milkshake, deck everyone out in wigs, velvet, sequins, opulence, danger, bonbons, and  the essence of Vegas.  Drained it of anything that smacks of tacky and filled it back up with everything that dazzles and you’re only beginning to understand what Le Circque Féerique will do to you.

To paraphrase Lady Gaga – They Left Me Speechless.  And while we’re quoting the Queen of the Disco Stick there’s no better way to watch Little Red Riding Hood get gobbled up by the big bad wolf than to the throbbing beat of Monster (don’t worry, Moms and Dads, the song is warbled by the  Baroque Opera Trio Charities [beautifully bedecked in burgundy ball gowns] so the more salacious words are trilled so sweetly that it might as well be a song about kittens).

So, basically – beautiful dancing, check.  Amazing, mind blowing choreography by Austin McCormick – check.  Children’s favorites like Princess and The Pea (with an Indian flair), The Ugly Duckling, Cinderella (with Madonna’s Like A Prayer carrying it along  . . . right to Sinatra’s “Last Dance”), check.  A ringleader in Jeff Takacs who keeps things rolling along in the form of fast jokes, crazy sight gags, and corny tunes, check.  A trio of lovely singers who can sing Carmen as easily as they can sing top 40 hits – check.  And all those stories you think you know inside out . . . told in a way that turns them, well  . . . inside out. Check and check.

Oh, Company XIV  . . . one last Gaga quote and I’m out: I’m your biggest fan – I’ll follow you until you love me.  Please keep doing shows like this -  and I’ll keep telling everyone one I know to come see you.

Company XIV presents: Le Cirque Féerique from Austin McCormick on Vimeo.

The Company XIV ensemble consists of Marisol Cabrera, Laura Careless, Yeva Glover, Gioia Marchese, Austin McCormick, Davon Rainey and Jeff Takacs. The Charites Baroque Opera Trio includes Brooke Bryant, Brett Umlauf and Amber Youell. The design team consists of Zane Pihlstrom (Set & Costume Design) and Gina Scherr (Lighting Design). Le Cirque Féerique is sponsored by MAC Cosmetics.

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Related Posts:

• Nutcracker Rouge – The Way The Nutcracker Should Be
• The Fairest Of Them All: Company XIV – Snow White
• She’s Mad But She’s Magic: LOVER. MUSE. MOCKINGBIRD. WHORE
• The Halloween Plays – Three Bursts Of Fire, Fear And Fantasy
• Let’s Keep Dancing … At The Company XIV Workshop