A pear is always more than just a pear and a man is more than the sum of his collaborations.

Coosje the story of Claes Oldenburg (played by Steven Conroy) and his long-time collaborator and wife Coosje van Bruggen (played by Julie Congress). It is also the story of a Pear who is “self-aware” (played by Haley Greenstein).

Like Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, Coosje is a story about how an artist’s process of creating helps them develop a new reality for themselves as well as for the people seeing it.  Coosje allows for intimate interaction with the elements of the creative process.  This play highlights the notion that every piece of art is the completion of a journey for an object (real or imagined, sentient or inanimate) to get to the place where its inclusion in the art creates the context and meaning of the art itself.

The play begins with a short film representing the Happenings of the 50′s and 60′s that occurred organically around the world with many people including Claes Oldenburg.  The Happenings collected people together to do a variety of thing to challenge the rules of convention (think of a more disorganized flash mob before the age of cell phones).  This film is a prequel, of sorts, which sets things up for when we meet our characters.  It is shot in sepia tones and we hear the sound of a clackity old projector. There are various miming people moving in jerky and unusual ways as well as over-graceful and melodramatic ways.  Every movement is laid with meaning  - even if it is to escape the normal meaning of it.

The story begins with the self-aware Pear singing of her journey of discovery as realizing that she is special: she is empowered by this significance to be more than just a snack:

“I’m a pear.  Self-aware … I’ll live 1.000 lives in one for every pear…
I’ll go everywhere…”

And so begins her journey around and around the world and beyond, as she discovers what it means to be human … even if she is a pear…but also searching for her purpose beyond just exploring the world for all those pears that never get beyond the fruitbowl.

This sets the stage for the type of performance that Claes was trying to achieve before he began his journey of challenging  convention by putting everyday objects in extraordinary contexts.  He meets Coosje and they reflect and react to each others’ view of what it means to see the world in terms of art – or art in terms of the world.  Cooje becomes Scully to Claes’ Mulder, and together they create art together unlike any the world has ever seen before.

Looking at the teasers for this show it may seem  like Coosje would be merely a celebration of the fantastic, the absurd, and the surreal — which it is– but the heroes’ journey our characters all go through help them find some very real and provoking truths that are important to be realized and shared in this production.

There is a Pear that sings, dances and – most importantly – explores the world, searching for her purpose. There is also a love story between an artist and a critic.  One wanting to break all conventions of form, the other wanting to figure out how  everything fits together.  Between  moving ballads and giant inflating flowers, there are the personal and spiritual ramifications of a blueberry pie. And much, much more! These all meld together to make some very deep and touching points on why we should all be more playful so as to learn to find out what our purpose in life really is.

Steven Conroy as Claes

The production of the piece is done with great mastery by many talented individuals starting with the short film Happenings (organically arising from the exploits of Giselle Chatelaine, Steven Conroy, Maura Cordial, Ryan Emmons, Haley Greenstein, Ryan Huenstein, Raena Hubbell, Maxwell Schneller, Danny Tieger, and Enrico De Trizio), to the plethora of fantastical art (Jen Neads and Maxwell Schneller) and of course the whimsical costumes (Loring Taoka).  According to actor Steven Conroy who I spoke with briefly after the show,  the writing was done by the ensemble collaboratively  (many of whom are visual artists themselves) after they were inspired by an installation of Oldenburg’s art they had seen together at the MOMA several months ago.  Director (Ryan Emmons) did a great job at orchestrating this complex show with it numerous moving parts, so it looked like it had months of rehersal time behind it.  The songs written by Danny Tieger and music expertly played by Enrico De Trizio (who also did the sound and projections which were an integral part of this piece) as well as the choreography (Olivia Wingerath) and light design (Ryan Hauanstein) put the final touches on this beautiful play premiering at Frigid.  I hope circumstances allow this play to continue on in the future.

Don’t miss out on this thoughtful critique on the nature of art-as- filtering-framework that creates meaning (but then allows that meaning to be flipped around at a moment’s notice).  If you’ve ever wondered what sort of story there could be behind big crazy public art, you need to experience Coosje.

~~~

~~~

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.

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Marielle DeLuna & Antonio Miniño in front of her photographs | photo by Decia Bodden

In she walks wearing one of New York based Dominican fashion designer Peter Hidalgo‘s latest creations for Spring/Summer 2012, a turqouise Mosquito dress that asserts her readiness to conquer the world and create all opportunities. She has a lot to celebrate, a dream come true to most artists and even bigger accomplishment for someone from the small pond of Dominican Republic to the mecca of Art and Design.

Marielle DeLuna is an emerging photographer who said yes to living her passion later in her life. From being an American Airlines employee to owning Marielle DeLuna Photography, she has broken molds with her unique personality and love for the obscure in a land where this practice is most unconventional.

She is not a stranger to adversity having received “shade” from purists for her radical views and tell-it-like-it-is personality. Sticks and stones that will never affect an outstanding mother raising a beautiful family, an anchor that reminds her of what is really important at the end of the day. Judging by their participation in one of the photographs being displayed at the Broadway Gallery in SoHo they support her passion wholeheartedly.

Marielle took some time to answer some questions for The Happiest Medium.

When did you fall in love with the lens? what inspires you?
Marielle: Since I was a child I love Art… My inspirations come from old and romantic paintings; the paintings are a dream to me, a secret or a mysterious kind of beauty.
Beauty can be created and represented by a dream, or fantasy, sometimes romantic and sometimes repugnant.

How did you get involved with Broadway Gallery and this exhibit?
MDL: Thanks to my dear friends Chloe Fernandez and Peter Hidalgo, both in fashion actually.

Marielle DeLuna

How has being a native of the Dominican Republic influence your Art? how does it add to it and how does it make it challenging?
MDL: In Dominican Republic traditional photographers and art buyers are mostly interested in folkloric Art and Destination Photography, which is why I think I’ve been mostly influenced by International artists, but there is a part of our history that really inspires me and makes me dream of the past and the people of yesteryear forcing me to look for other ways of expression…. Our Colonial Zone is full of history and very rich in untold stories that I try to catch with my eye and translate with my lens.

What is next for Marielle DeLuna?
MDL: A Fantasy Book.

~~~

Marielle DeLuna’s photos were on display through February 2nd at the Broadway Gallery in SoHo NYC.

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In an era of virtual reality the prospect of visiting an exhibition dedicated to products of designer craft presents a salutary experience. Here, at least, one can be assured of an encounter with the visual imagination made tangible; ideas translated into something that can be touched, held, worn, or reclined upon. The exhibition DUBH – Dialogues in Black, is an eye and mind-opening example of what contemporary designers are thinking about and actualizing at the cutting edge of our engagement with material culture.

Stemming from an initiative developed by Irish craftsman Joseph Walsh’s organization, STUDIO practice, and curated by Irish artist Brian Kennedy, the premise of the show is to place contemporary Irish craft and design practitioners in concert with their U.S. and international peers, demonstrating the vitality of Irish designers and drawing attention to the greater innovative achievements current in contemporary craft and design practice. You can put away your fusty expectations of finding the traditional crafts associated with Ireland – Aran sweaters, bawneen knits, country pottery, Donegal tweeds – and prepare to embark on a distinctly twenty-first century experience. Most of the craftspeople here seem to be considering contemporary notions of biology, genetics, even particle physics, disposing of historical attitudes toward craft practice, or confronting good old fashioned cultural myopia. “Dialogues in Black” may be the organizing principle behind this collection (dubh – pronounced duv – is the Irish for black) but the range of forms, feelings, and ideas at play here presents quite a varied sampling of treasures. Kennedy appears to have reached wide and far, and he is to be commended for both the breadth of the show and for permitting the “dialogue” that occurs to flow so sleekly about the gracious and somewhat period styled interiors of the AIHS’s rooms. An artful balance is struck, never permitting any exhibitor’s contribution a domineering presence or freer rein than the others. He knows how to show this stuff.

The “stuff” extends from Inga Hamilton’s floor lying fabric installation – an inky puddle of joined textiles with scattered ceramic bone pieces and marabou feather trim, lurking beneath a grand piano like a fugitive shadow – through Liam Flynn’s exquisite and commanding ebonized turned wood vessels, to Catherine Owens’s slow-blooming graphite and light drawings silently holding a wall in one corner. Undeniable they may be, but Jonathan Wahl’s poster sized, photo-realistic charcoal drawings, detailing pieces of Victorian jet mourning jewelry on stark white backgrounds, retain rigor and self-discipline for all their scale, and seem to turn their volume down enticingly as they lure you closer to inspect them. You can’t miss Joseph Walsh’s Enignum II chair either, poised on three legs, somewhat resembling a curlew, as Walsh works characteristically to bend wood almost as if it were wax. Restrainedly zoomorphic, it is echoed by Frances Lambe’s ravishing ceramic pieces – Sea Bean and Spiny Form – which resemble fantasies by Ernst Haeckel , and by Sonya Clark’s cunning and thoughtful tick piece, rendered in a construction of plastic combs. The vegetable realm gets a graphic homage in a paper construction by Lauren Fensterstock, in jewelry by Eily O’Connor, and even in the zipper jewelry of Kate Cusack whose mature visualization using this singularly mundane product is as excitingly innovative as it is impressive. Nuala O’Donovan’s complex, architectural porcelain grid cube is concerned with fractals and organic patterning, and there’s more than a whiff of micro-organisms about the jewelry works of Sondra Sherman and Douglas Bucci. Bucci’s arresting work in particular derives from microbe and cell forms, digitally rendered and tweaked in graphic form and then given substance using a three dimensional “printing” process. This is frontline digital industrial technology, and Bucci is not the only designer deploying it here. Catherine Owens’s drawings are housed in frames made with a similar replicating process, and combined with her painstaking, laborious graphic handiwork, they couple traditional hand craftsmanship with contemporary authorial digital design.  Bucci’s work is all but exclusively designed in virtual space, and then produced using a resinous compound from a three-dimensional printer reading. If we are getting to the point where the craftsman’s hands may never touch a work until it is actually “finished”, can we still call it craft? For brevity’s sake let’s dodge that one and just refer to these craftspeople – gifted designers, visionary creators – as artists. In our times that’s a somewhat hackneyed, more than a little bloated term, and without wishing to be too controversial I might even suggest that they would breathe a little more authenticity into it. In total there are thirty such exhibitors in this highly recommended show, and I for one would not begrudge any of them the title.

The show runs through November 13th and will travel to Dublin next year. Anyone interested in design will find something to admire here, and everyone wondering where – culturally, aesthetically – we are right now, will find much to ponder on and not a little to delight in.

~~~

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Today The Happiest Medium shines the spotlight Somewhere in The Dark, in this interview with Danish filmmaker Mads Jeppesen.

“Somewhere in the Dark is an insightful cinema verite documentary that encompasses the raw undiscovered talents within a plethora of individuals and their hunt for somewhere to create and express their art through the dark and underground of New York City.  This documentary depicts the essence as to why people are drawn to this capital of the world and conveys a deep, rich and compelling insight into the people that work to realise their dreams and their passions. To strive for a destiny, or find fulfillment in the dark, this piece captures the journey and the struggle it takes to find a way when you’re somewhere in the dark.” ~ Mads Jeppesen

Mads Jeppesen

In November 2010, you came from Denmark to New York City and started filming the underground arts scene. What first brought you to the U.S.?

MJ: I came to America to work for a well-known Danish film producer. I spent much time on that project, but I ended up having some free time, and then my film project really began to grow. It started just like a little film meant for the Internet. That all changed somewhat when I met Tony Kaye, who said that my idea was brilliant! (laughs)

How is the underground arts scene in NYC different from that in Denmark?

I must admit that my curiosity for the artistic underground occurred in the U.S. We have underground artists in Denmark, but not in the same way. The widely accepted artists are paid by the state to make art. Then we have all the others. I think the biggest difference between U.S. and Denmark is that, in the U.S., if a guy wanted to make playing music a way of life, but had to work on the side, he would still call himself a musician … I just saw something here that I had to shoot. It’s crazy here. It’s truly amazing.

Tell us about your artistic vision for Somewhere in The Dark.

Well, Somewhere in The Dark is actually my first serious film project. After I got curious for the arts in NYC, I decided that I simply had to document it.

The film reflects the talent going around New York’s underground and the people who try to fight their way to the limelight, for money or just a better life. The film is also a reflection of the tendencies we see in our society where people are looking to become famous just for the fact of being famous. I would like to try to portray that as people who bring art to a different level and really have something to say.

For me the film represents something very special. It shows a very special passion and that’s the reason I have fallen in love with the environment and the city. People really pursue  it here! I love it and think it’s cool. It’s very rare we see this kind of passion in Denmark. Here we all are guaranteed an education and it is more usual to focus on that and get a 9 to 4 job afterwards.

An example from the film, as it looks now, is the focus on the acclaimed film director Tony Kaye (American History X, Detachment) and Penny Pollak, who hosts Penny’s Open Mic (UNDER St. Marks Theater). Tony and Penny are interesting because they represent two different environments with very different backgrounds, but they are both artists, expressing themselves somewhere in the dark.

Tony is a great and world known film director who is financially secure. Yet, he throws himself into completely new areas, risking more than people would imagine. He’s actually very nice and a shy gentleman who just wants to be recognized and respected for his art. Conversely, we have Penny, who is a contrast to Tony. She is super outgoing girl and an artist who doesn’t have a lot of money. She hosts Penny’s Open Mic and from there, a huge network of artists expands who all know each other and are all trying to succeed with their art for various reasons.

There’s so many people out there expressing themselves through art. I would like to interview everyone who has something to say! But the film is far from finished, and I want to come back to the U.S. for a minimum 6-months to continue filming and finish the project.

Somewhere in The Dark – CPH:DOX trailer from Mads Jeppesen on Vimeo.

You have an IndieGoGo fundraising campaign to help finish the film…

The IndieGoGo campaign is running alongside this project, and it will help us to kick start it all. If we can raise just half of the $ 18,000 goal, we can have sent me to NYC to finish filming, and it won’t be that difficult for the production company to find money to finish the film. We just have to start it up. But there is a long way to go.

God, I really hope this film will be completed. It would mean so much to me and it would really be a movie for all the people in it, and all the underground artists who struggle to have their voices heard. I really like the idea to immortalize some of these artists. Many of them are so damn talented, but let’s be honest, only a part of them will succeed. I really feel a lot of these artists deserve to be remembered for who they are and what they do. Have you seen underground artist Mike Milazzo play? Damn! Go to Penny’s Open Mic, you can hear him every Tuesday! We hear the legendary stories about such people as Bob Dylan coming to NYC all the time. We hear how they started out and became big and famous. What about the thousands of thousands of people who are struggling somewhere in the dark? It’s them we want to hear about!

You filmed Somewhere in The Dark at several open mics in NYC (Caffé Vivaldi, Lucky Jacks, Penny’s Open Mic, Pete’s Candy Store, R-Bar, Sidewalk Café, etc). What was it like filming in the open mic environment?

Frankly, I have not really experienced anything uncomfortable while shooting. I’ve focused on a few places, but the original intention of documenting what an open mic is, is no longer the goal of the film. Now I have found myself a story and that is what I’m coming back for … Well, I guess I had to cross a limit to stick the camera up in the faces of people at first, but it actually ended up being perfectly normal. I’m sure many can’t remember my face, but they can probably remember me as a lens with a very bright light on top of it! (laughs)

In addition to working on Somewhere in The Dark, you have done a few music videos. (Heidi Mattsson, Mike Milazzo, Trine Jørck Petersen) What other projects are you currently working on?

Well I’ve made some music videos before, but it’s mainly something I do to develop myself. It is not a business for me and it is more about art. I certainly don’t do it for everyone. But I really don’t have the time anymore. I’m working a lot to raise the money for the film instead. I actually found a producer at production company who wants to help me finance the film, but everything is very uncertain yet, but I think it all looks really good. There’s a very long way to go but I have never felt so confident regarding film. This might actually end up being a dream coming true.

Right now I’ve got two short documentaries in I need to do before I come back to New York. They are both already financed. One will be sold to TV if all goes well and the other is about Danish rock band who have booked me as a director to make a short documentary about them as a band, accompanied with their debut CD. But this is just small project to keep me warm. My real baby is Somewhere in The Dark.

~~~

Support Mads Jeppesen and the talented underground artists in NYC who are struggling to have their voices heard somewhere in the dark!

You can donate to the making of this film through IndieGoGo. Also, check out some of Mads Jeppesen’s videos on Vimeo, view the attention the film has already received on Danish television, and be sure to “like” Somewhere in The Dark on facebook, to show support for this project, receive more information, and keep up-to-date about the developments of this exciting film as it unfolds!

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Meet Anna.  In Anna & The Annadroids: Memoirs of a Robot Girl - an  interesting combination of modern dance, techno music, social commentary, science fiction, multimedia, and a bit of burlesque – Anna  is an android who is made of  ”pure synthetic organic flesh”.  So instead of being made only of metal with a “mind full of microchips” she’s got a heart filled with “…love…passion…confusion…pure sexuality”.  The dancing and aerial acrobatics of Anna Sullivan (Anna), are accompanied with ambient, driving techno beats created by various artists which she performs while wearing beautiful costumes created by Elizabeth Harzoff.  The acrobatics seem to correspond to times of dreams (whether regular or daydreams) as something seems to be making her concentrate on something other than reality.

The rest of Anna’s real life, including two other characters (the Doctor and Nurse) are represented by projected comic/graphic novel style drawings (expertly done by Natalya Kolosowsky and Grace Passerotti) and robotic sounding voices which lie in striking contrast to Anna’s very “human” sounding voice which we hear in the interludes between dances.

Coming of age for an organic robot with an increased capacity to dream can be quicker than expected, and can sometimes be dealt with cruelly.  During her few days portrayed in this show we see her cope with basic emotions of belonging and we watch her struggle with working in an ad business which requires her to “feel” what she doesn’t feel in order to sell products.  She can’t possibly live that type of lifestyle as she is an android living by herself most of the time.  It seems the main conflicts arise from the Doctor who created her.   (Or, more to the point, switched her on, as it is inferred that Anna is just one of the Annadroid models in a long android line).  He assumes she will think the way he thinks because he programmed her a certain way.  The sensual components seem to be a drawback for the owners of Amerifluff (the fictional company which created Anna), but are a great pro for us, the audience, because it powers Anna’s dancing … which is her way of exploring her struggle to understand what it means to be “human” even if it is only in her synthetically created way.

An Annadroid being born

Lighting  is very important in this show – whether a spotlight following Anna as she dances (or is in the air), or the subtle colors that complement the video projects on the screen,  lighting designer Michelle Marcus does an exceptional job at blending it all in.  There are a few art video components of the show (Plastic Pleasures, Touchy Buttons, and Love Dream were all done by James Tyler) which are high quality and deal with the  issues of consumerism as well as illustrate the emptiness of many modern relationships due to technology.  These videos help advance the plot along as we realize that Anna the Annadroid is becoming more and more discontent with the commercial culture in which she has become enmeshed via her creation.  It’s torturing her,  due to the emotions hardwired into her circuitry – ironically added to make her better connect with customers.

And she dreams … because it is so much more real than real life.  Eventually (2 days after her creation) she wanders into a club and leaves a “hot mess”.  This creates bad publicity for Amerifluff so it is decided to put Anna in the Annadroid dungeon for a bit.  Later she will be reprogrammed without the emotional capabilities she was originally bestowed because they only lead to “inefficiency”.

Annadroid in dungeon

There is then a very touching scene near the end called Rewind-A-Spine that documents Anna restitching her personality to deal with the madness that is the Annadroid dungeon but also represents the brief pieces of Humanity she has interacted with.  Much of the musical accompaniment is driving yet almost trance inducing techno by many artist including: David Morneu, Anna Sullivan, Jennifer Agnew, (and additional audio and sound design by Allen Dicenzo).

All in all it is well worth seeing if you like android fiction, thoughtful burlesque or simply beautiful modern dance.  Only a few more shows left to explore Anna live in New York, before she only becomes a virtual presence on the internet via the Amerifluff site.

~~~

Anna & The Annadroids: Memoirs of a Robot Girl
Writer: Anna Sullivan; Music, Forest Christenson and David Morneau; Illustrations Grace Passerotti and Natalya Kolosowsky; Videos, Brent Haley and James Pryor
Director: Anna Sullivan
Choreographer: Anna Sullivan

0h 45m

www.amerifluff.com/memoirs.html
VENUE #5: Dixon Place
Sun 21 @ 8:15 Mon 22 @ 5:30

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It’s pretty clever when a theatrical production adopts the stance that what it is about to present you with is nothing more than offensive, odious rubbish. And when it does so persistently, warning you at each interval that things are only going to get worse, more unbearable, it seems cleverer, because you have no one to blame but yourself for hanging around. And when each performance or act hones so close to the edge of becoming merely cacophonous insult, while convincing you that the method in this apparent chaos is quite sound, well, that makes it even more clever. In fact, everything about Inverse Theater‘s Smoke the New Cigarette by Kirk Wood Bromley at the Bowery Poetry Club is exceptionally clever; so clever it hurts.

We are “presented” with a radio broadcast, purporting to be live, while actually played on a recording. The unseen broadcasting DJ is recounting his introduction to an acquaintance with a new-form music duo calling themselves The New Cigarette, who describe their sound, which purposely has dispensed with both tone and rhythm (!) as “chamber punk” – a punk sensibility rendered on traditional chamber orchestra instruments. What we actually see are five “recorded” performances – the only ever made during the band’s lifetime – played live by the duo, Senstarv and Egon, on cello, piano, trombone, flute and drums – as allegedly witnessed by the broadcaster. These musical performances – free-form, dissonant, with accompanying poetry recitation – are the make-up of the show. They are framed throughout in a cascading, verbose monologue by the broadcaster, who is at pains to describe how at each successive exposure, he is convinced of the group’s worthlessness, even while finding himself recalled again and again in order to confirm this appraisal. He is gripped by a repulsion/attraction dynamic and it is the show’s intention that we are captured too. Can anything that compels our attention again and again be essentially without merit? Without meaning for us? This little confection will place you on the rack of that dilemma, and stretch and stretch.

What will keep you in your seat is the writerly language deployed throughout – in lyrics and in narrative – and the exquisitely rendered noise. A sample of Bromley’s scintillating phrases run – “Please don’t outlive me if I deadbeat myself”; “Show me mine and I’ll show you yours”; “Flush the birds from your binoculars”; “harmonious punishment, you are not exempt”. But every line is some such rich gem of nonsense and you can do yourself an injury trying to unpack each fleeting allusion. It is not a simple coincidence that the narrating broadcaster seems to have sipped from the same poetic cup as the musicians. The musical performances, appropriately, can be hard to sit through, but they are played with such a concentrated attention, such lucid particularity and skill, that you can only admire, even as you are tempted to place your hands over your ears. In one piece the duo are joined by guest musicians and performers and the orchestrated chaos of sound and movement is genuinely impressive. Purportedly satirizing the musical and artistic avant-garde, while mocking the hipster urge to be alternative, New Cigarette somehow succeeds at celebrating both. While ridiculing them. While inhabiting the same space. It delivers the wisest of nonsense, formally as well as linguistically; and the tenderest of uproars, sonically as well as phonetically.

Applause is due to all concerned. Performers include Leah Schrager, Beth Griffith, Peter Schmitz, and the author himself, Kirk Wood Bromley. A roster of different visiting musicians are featured each performance and the evening I attended it was The Broadcloth Trio, who seamlessly entered the fracas. John Gideon is the punctilious sound master, and Bettina Warshaw the stage manager. It would be difficult to say, but I’m sure no one put a foot wrong.

A performance about performance which takes on the thick end of the avant-garde wedge, mocking while championing, at once lisping and orating, this sly serving of effrontery is an unusually sophisticated piece of theatre. Absolutely and unreservedly not for everyone, go, savor the disaffectation, and don’t forget your brain.

~~~

Smoke The New Cigarette
Inverse Kirk Wood Bromley

1h 30m
thenewcigarette.org
VENUE #13: Bowery Poetry Club
Sun 21 @ NOON Thu 25 @ 8:15

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In early February I did a mini-interview with Eric Sanders knowing that I’d soon have the opportunity to have a much longer conversation with him and his collaborator, Dave Nuss.  Together they have created Original Innocence – The Rock Opera and I’m already fascinated by what I’ve seen.   This Friday, March 25th I’ll be heading over to ISSUE PROJECT ROOM (At the Old American Can Factory) 232 3rd Street, 3rd Floor Brooklyn, NY 11215 [Telephone: 718-330-0313] to see a workshopped production.  There are two shows that night – one at eight and one at ten.  I think you should come too.

I always love chatting with Eric Sanders, he’s my favorite combination of brilliant and humble.  Not to mention amazingly talented.  Now, meeting Dave for the first time I was equally excited; together these guys are an interviewer’s dream.  Read on to find out the random thing that brought these two talented men together, find out why they think it’s so important that our culture has a creation myth they can finally get behind, and let them explain why they cast Satan as a woman.

So, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first thing. A religious rock opera. Before we even get to what sparked the idea – your goals, the plot – I have to say. These days religion in New York is a hard sell. Without saying “the plot is good, the actors are amazing” . . . just from a thematic point of view – what made you both think this was such a great idea that you were willing to take this leap?

Eric Sanders

ERIC SANDERS: The question answers itself. Why are we afraid to have conversations about the most important topic in the world – our own relationship to the universe? We’ll talk about sports, fashion, and art – why not religion? If you redefine religion and strip it of the perversions of some of the organized sects and just think of it as person’s relationship to his universe, then we all have a religion. So then it becomes a question of if it’s working for you, how is it working for you, if it’s productive and helping you to coexist with people. So in my opinion to not talk about it is much scarier than bringing up the topic.

DAVE NUSS: I was brought up in Corpus Cristi, Texas, a very religious town with a particularly religious upbringing, so I wanted to confront aspects of the story I was raised with. The creation myth from Genesis has many beautiful and mysterious aspects that were simplified and presented to me as ‘Truth’; but now I understand that this truth really just refers to a network of forces and ideas that, especially when we encounter them as children, shape us on a fundamental level. So for Eric and I religion simply refers to the meta-lifeview that we encountered through the stories of our youth. Everyone can relate to that- even if the story is, say, Star Wars. In the case of this play our reference point is the Genesis story, and that connects with a wide audience because everyone has an experience with it. We don’t want people to leave the theatre saying “hmmm, well that was bizzare” or “I don’t get it.” We are offering “a new creation myth for our time”, and it’s for everyone, right now. We want the meaning to be felt on a visceral level. Genesis 3 is a story that fit the needs and circumstances of a particular group of people at the time when it was told, and has been interpreted over the years by myriad communities with myriad agendas. Original Innocence is a new myth that Eric and I are offering in NYC 2011. But please note, like the Genesis story, it may no longer be relevant in 4000 years, haha.

Tell me about the very first seed that started “Original Innocence”. Was it a conversation in a bar at 2:00am? An off the cuff remark over coffee? Set the scene for how this all started.

ERIC: The seed came from Dave – when I was doing The Wendigo a couple of years ago we had a mutual friend who thought that it would be great if we met since Dave and I both liked the supernatural. So he came to The Wendigo and we went out afterwards. We had similar interests but different backgrounds. He comes from the experimental musical world. And he said “I have this secret – I’ve been working on this religious rock opera, totally different than anything I’ve ever done before.” I was intrigued.

Dave Nuss

DAVE: By the time I met Eric I had shared the concept with my usual music biz people and they all said basically the same thing: “we have no idea why you’re doing this.” The music of Original Innocence really alienated my usual contacts because of the musical theater trappings; it also has strong emotional content and that is not something that is necessarily part of the avant garde world. So I was just allowing these recordings to percolate until a mutual friend of Eric and mine, Jodi Willie of Process Media, said to me, “Give the music to Eric, he may be interested.” My intuition was that the theater world was where this piece belonged, and Eric’s reaction confirmed this.

ERIC: Dave trusted me enough to share it with me. It was kinda like fate – or we were making our own fate. He had a rough blue print and a general idea. I just wanted to hear it. I listened and was just stunned; I felt like I’d found some sort of ancient manuscript – it was like finding the Dead Sea Scrolls … I felt like I’d unearthed this treasure. I was overwhelmed because it was out of my hands, really, but I just knew that this was something I had to be involved with for a long time.

So we started collaborating a little more than 2 years ago. I knew from that first night of talking that there was a great deal of creative chemistry between us.

I was going to initially ask how, once you knew you wanted to make this story, what about it said “musical” – specifically “rock opera”, but now I see that the music came first. So let me ask the question a little bit differently. What made you decide to make it a completely sung-through piece rather than a musical with dialogue?

DAVE: We kept trying to write dialogue and just kept saying “this isn’t working”. Then we realized, “let’s do it all with gesture.” I’ve always thought of Original Innocence as more of a parable, a story which perhaps has a “moral” but this moral has a lot of breathing room. Every time we were started writing dialogue for a scene we also felt it simplified the story into something too apparent, and we realized we couldn’t preserve the sense of mystery that we both were feeling regarding the subjects we were grappling with.

Like the question of the chicken and the egg, which came first? Well the chicken came first this time . . . the music piece was already done by the time we started “writing” the story. So Eric and I just needed to approach the music and allow the ideas to germinate. The most interesting part of the development of the piece is that Eric and I had to grow ourselves to receive the story the music is telling. In the beginning of the process we were a bit too concerned with autobiography and portraying our own beliefs. We had all these ideas like, “should we set a church on fire?” I feel like initially I had a little score to settle with the Church.

Now some time later we’re both in different places than when we began, and we’re each cultivating practices that are helping us approach this gesture from a less egoistic place. I think that’s why our collaboration is so successful – neither of us has a particular agenda. When we’d meet we’d have these long periods of quiet, almost like a Quaker meeting. There was no leader. We just waited and let the music tell us the next move.

I was fortunate enough to attend The Symposium on Creation Mythology last month. I not only was able to hear some very well spoken scholars discuss the creation myth of different cultures, but I also was able to hear four of the songs from Original Innocence. One thing I notice immediately is that, in the course of setting up the songs, the story itself made some very bold choices . . . for instance Satan is a woman. There were other plot points that challenge (at least what I’ve come to know as) the accepted biblical stories. Tell me about some of those changes.

DAVE: We tried to look at the characters archetypally; whether someone is a man or a woman doesn’t matter, the characteristics are what matter, they’re what’s universal. Eva, the Christ figure, is a woman as she’s embodying the concept of sacrificial love. Having Satan as female is not meant to imply women are evil – it’s actually completely the opposite – we want to break down that stereotype that Satan is a bad guy waiting to torture us. Satan in our play is fun, a kind of Loki character, but ultimately undercuts her own will to power by the recalcitrance she inspires.

So many images we have in our contemporary culture have nothing to do with their origin – in our minds today Lucifer equals Satan, but they are actually two completely different characters. Even Black Sabbath and the Stones didn’t really parse out the historical characteristics of Lucifer, haha. So in Original Innocence we’re trying to be more historical than stereotypical. There are no white hats and black hats. That’s the way the Genesis myth has been brought down to us – an evil snake in a tree, humans are fucked up and God is pissed at the entire human race. Women are the bad ones who make men sin, and now for the rest of history man has to feel guilty for acting on impulse. When you contemplate it, it’s a total disaster how this myth has effected us as a society.

ERIC: So the question here becomes – what kind of Christianity are we talking about? We were using the typical Adam and Eve story as an entry point for a new creation myth. This came out through very intricate conversations – what kind of creation myth would we find more helpful in this day and age so that we don’t feel like we’re “evil,” like we’re “fallen”?  Some will disagree and we welcome that, but we recognize that people collapse under the weight of this “original sin,” so this is a new way to view the story. The essence is about liberation from suffering and sin, as opposed to wallowing in it.

DAVE: Our story gives us a little more space to put aside some of those stereotypical ways of viewing ethics, and approach them with an open heart and an acceptance of ourselves. When we’re not judging people to determine where they fit in the ethical spectrum, we can view the world with much more compassion. What a relief.

Is there anything you came across while doing research – a story, a concept – even an object maybe? – that is fascinating and you’d like to share it with us?

ERIC: The biggest revelation for me during this process was learning much more about Eastern religions – especially Buddhism which I find stunning. We’re finally being introduced after thousands of years to Eastern Religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism and yoga, and I’m seeing a really interesting shared dialogue between that and the Judeo-Christian perspective – they’re not mutually exclusive. That’s the sad thing – some people think religion isn’t worth looking into because “Oh, now we have physics.” Physics explains matter . . . it doesn’t explain how we should relate to matter. That isn’t a religion. It’s very dangerous and non-productive to think that we’ve transcended the need for religion.

Eastern religions – the lack of a God and the lack of original sin, the lack of one Creator, the idea that the universe is a continuum without beginning and without end is much in line with modern physics. Our most exciting journey has been taking the Judeo-Christian root – the Fall from Grace – using that original myth and telling a more Eastern myth about not necessarily going to heaven but about freedom from suffering. It’s more about compassion and wisdom. So the play starts with Christianity but it ends much more in Buddhism.

You each must have a favorite part of the show. What’s your favorite part – - and why?

ERIC: My favorite is the song “Only You” – it’s the second to last song of the show. It’s heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. It’s about liberation, but it’s also about reflecting back on what you’re leaving behind – which is a beautiful dichotomy. (To me at least) it’s the essence of the show: you have to move away from something in order to get to something else. You do have to leave your old self behind in order to transform. Religion is something you experience, not something you read.

DAVE: I probably like the part I shouldn’t like – the beginning which is set in the Jehovah era. There’s unification among people; it’s an age before ‘dissent’ had arisen, pre-individuation. The implication is that the song being sung, “You Are the Light” was been written by God Itself, and it’s been sung since the dawn of creation. There’s still part of me that idealizes what people can do when they have a unified intention toward a succinct goal. Of course life doesn’t work out that way because there’s so rarely a collective sacrifice for a particular intention. I see it sometimes in meditation groups – everybody’s seeking peace. An important aspect of this play is examining that part of our psyche that does not wish to participate in community.

You’re work shopping Original Innocence on the 25th. What can people expect from that evening?

ERIC: It’s off-book, there’s staging (by our director Pat Diamond), there’s a choreographer, Deborah Lohse who will work with us. We will block as much as we need. In some ways it will be like a staged concert presentation. It’s definitely a rock opera. Since there’s no dialogue so much of the story is conveyed in movement and intention. There’ll be some props and costumes. I’m hoping people who come can experience the essence of the show. We want to give a preview, not present the show in it’s ultimate incarnation. But it will all be there in a form that people can connect with.

And once again – to buy tickets for that night click the link here.

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Thanks, Dave and Eric for telling all about Original Innocence.  I can’t wait to see the workshop on Friday – and again, for all of you who are interested  to find out more:

Related Posts:

• Creation Mythology, Rock Opera, BYOB – Just Another Night For Eric Sanders
• The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin: The Play You Need To See
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• Entrevista: Jody Christopherson – Trying
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By now we’ve all heard the tale of how that little statue came to be known as “Oscar” (“He looks just like my uncle Oscar!”) and whether it’s true or not it’s just yet another testament to the fact that we love to make comparisons.

Today, in honor of the 83rd Academy Awards we bring you Cindy Murphy’s Oscar Doppleganger Diptychs starting with the most nominated of the bunch . . .

Bill - Woody Allen

Woody Allen has won three Academy Awards and been nominated a total of 21 times. He has more screenwriting Academy Award nominations than any other writer and is tied for fifth all-time with six Best Director nominations.

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Judy - Judi Dench

Dame Jude Dench has been successful on the stage and screen (both large and small). Theatre goers celebrated her work in The Royal Shakespeare Company where roles included Lady MacBeth; she’s taken over the role of M in the new Bond franchise appearing in six films and she was the beloved Jean (Pargetter) Hardcastle for nine seasons on the long running BBC television series As Time Goes By.

Dench won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Elizabeth I in the film Shakespeare in Love.

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Colleen - Hillary Swank

Hillary Swank got her first Oscar nomination (and win) for portraying Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry in 1999.  She quickly followed up this stunning performance with another one; garnering another Best Actress Oscar for playing a boxer in Clint Eastwood’s 2004 film Million Dollar Baby.  Her two time nomination and win lead to her now famous and oft-quoted remark: “I don’t know what I did in this life to deserve this. I’m just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream.”

Congratulations to all the nominees this year!  And remember, we’re all winners.  Even those of us watching at home . . .

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HARVEY FIERSTEIN as Albin/Zaza (© John Lehrer)

Have you heard the news? This week Harvey Fierstein joined the cast of the musical he created in 1984 – La Cage Aux Folles . . . a musical I was so obsessed with in high school that I banked my birthday and Christmas presents so that I could see it not once but twice. I wanted to play the role of Albin so badly  that I spent waaaaay too much time in front of my mirror pretending to be an over-the-hill 50 something man transforming himself into a glamorous showgirl via “A Little More Mascara” (when life is a real bitch again, and my old sense of humor has up and gone, it’s time for the big switch again – I put a little more mascara on).  It felt perfectly natural back then, but I think I would laugh if I walked in on my 14 year old self pretending to be a world-weary french female impersonator.

Because unlike, say Mame, which is a role you can eventually grow up into, I always knew that no matter what happened I would NEVER, NEVER grow up into a man who could then play a woman. Sadly, I’m left with just being stuck as a woman.  Most days, I’m okay with this.

But hey! Who says women can’t drag it up a little every now and then? So, this week, in honor of Harvey, La Cage, men who attempt drag, and women who do too – we bring you . . . non-gender-biased Drag Queen Doppleganger Diptychs:

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• Doppleganger Diptychs: Bring On The Oscars!
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If you missed my interview with Cindy Murphy last week take a second to catch up – she is one talented lady with a great eye and an even greater sense of humor.  Which is why it’s only fitting that for the first official instiallment of what will be a biweekly event we focus on the Funny Ladies in her series.

Of course it also doesn’t hurt that one of those diptychs is me (ahem).  Like Cindy said in her interview, “What I look for is not a perfect match but rather some element that is strong enough to create the effect of “twinning”. Sometimes it’s hair, sometimes it’s a smile. Usually a combo though of two elements.” So for my match Cindy found Fran Drescher because of “same smile, same wicked twinkle in the eyes”. Not to mention the fact that both Fran and I spent a night dancing on the hallowed floor of 2001 Odyssey. I, on the other hand, managed to tame my Brooklynese accent long ago, unless I’m driving and then we’re pretty much idendical on all fronts.

Next up is Wendy and her doppleganger, Catherine O’Hara, who has been making people laugh for years.  In the last ten years or so she’s been particularly known for her standout work in the Christopher Guest mocumentaries Waiting For Guffman, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration.

Wendy | Catherine O'Hara

Rounding out today’s trio is Kate who is doing a good Tina Fey here – thankfully the more glamorous Fey and not the Fey-as-Palin.

Kate | Tina Fey

Keep checking back for more of Cindy Murphy’s Doppleganger Diptychs – the next smiling face might be your own!

Related Posts:

• Hey! You Look Just Like . . . Introducing Doppelganger Diptychs
• Doppleganger Diptychs: Bring On The Oscars!
• Doppleganger Diptychs – Unleash Your Inner Drag Queen