Wunnerful, Wunnerful! 2015-2016

In the spring of 2015 I realized a long-held dream to inhabit the world of the Lawrence Welk Show when we presented the first edition of Wunnerful, Wunnerful! at Joe’s Pub in NYC. Bubbles, classic tunes, and a band in matching suits. The show had it all.

All the shows featured me, as Dale Seever, co-host Leslie Goshko, with a band led by Andrew Bancroft with Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan, Eric Biondo, and Steve O’Reilly. The show had unforgettable numbers about new beginnings by Reformed Whores, Jo Lampert, Shaina Taub, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Michael Raine & Joanna Schlitt, and Preston Martin.

A few months later we were accepted into the dynamic ANT Fest at Ars Nova in New York. We put on a new version of the show, all about relationships with Cory McAbee, Reformed Whores, Melissa Elledge, Ashley Perez Flanagan, Josh Sharp, Julia Anrather, Abigayle Horrell, and the ladies from the band PEP! And in the band Jeff Scherer and Dan Menke with Steve O and Leslie.

We returned to Joe’s with a spring-themed show a year later with songs by Molly Pope, Salty Brine, Cariad Harmon, three person brass section/comedy troupe The Trumpet Boys; choreographer Carol Mendes & Artists; Barrie McLain, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Tonya Glanz, and Shaye Troha. The Wunnerful Companions returned as well with Andrew Bancroft, Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan, Eric Biondo, and Steve O’Reilly.

Photo by the Mark Shaw.

YD Industries, Success Seminars, 2007-8

In collaboration with George Nachtrieb, founder of this masterwork of a website (YDIndustries.com), detailing the products and services of a fictitious mega-corporation. In 2007/2008 we started doing live events, offering audiences a peek inside the strategies of this multi-national conglomerate. Inventing the persona of Dean Kramer to George’s Steve Musselman, I co-wrote and performed informative podcasts, generated the biting commentary in the company blog, acted and co-created powerpoint presentations for live Success! Seminars. Live events were held at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, The Doubltree Hotel Conference Room in Los Angeles, and at Not An Alternative in Brooklyn. We also produced several informative video shorts including the sensational “Use Your Hands” and the one embedded here featuring the calls of the Mastodon.

Ubu for President, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, 2004

Of the three companies I ever wanted to be on stage with, Jeune Lune was at the top. I appeared in the election year satire Ubu for President, based on the Ubu Roi plays by Alfred Jarry but updated for the 2004 Presidential Election. I played Ma Ubu, which meant a lot of stage combat in pumps and a six foot drop onto a wrestling mat wearing a corset. Working with Jeune Lune was incredibly meaningful on a personal level as well. The night that my mother died, I was attending a show of theirs in Providence and being able to make art with these amazing artists felt like I was closing a circle of somekind. Or it was just a happy coincidence. Either way this was a phenomenal experience that taught me a lot about theater and creating characters through movement and voice.

Vincent Gracieux portrayed Ubu,  my husband in the play and my host for most of my stay in Minneapolis. The company closed down a few years after our production, but I recall fondly nights at Vinny’s drinking Czech beers and watching the Olympics.

The Bat, 2003-2004

The first incarnation of this set of 22 drawings was created for a group exhibition at White Columns in New York, curated by Marisa Olson. The second time around, I made new work based on the same concept for Characters, Scene I and II, (one exhibition, two locations) curated by Helianthe Bourdeaux-Martin. The show also included James Jean, R. Crumb, Cindy Sherman, Philip Guston, and many other giants, and it was a true honor to have work on the same walls with them. The concept was that instead of happening to Bruce Wayne, the Batman mythos happened to me. After the tragic loss of one his parents,  what would happen if I had taken up the mantle of the bat? In a homemade costume, and scouring the rooftops of West Chester, PA instead of Gotham City, the series followed The Bat as he navigated many of the same childhood experiences that I did including surviving the Boy Scouts, getting lost in the woods, and falling in love with a much older woman.

The Good Word, 2004

I am proud to have been part of the first Neighborhood Public Radio broadcast held in January of 2004 at 21 Grand in Oakland, CA. The brainchild of artist Lee Montgomery, NPR featured original programming and music by Bay Area artists. I performed The Good Word, a quasi-religious puppet show for the airwaves. As you can see, I put a lot of work into the puppet. This was probably an early version of Dale Seever, though I didn’t know it. I performed using the pseudonym of Rev. Vernon Smythe, a name similar to that of my grandfather, himself a Presbyterian minister.

A year or so later, I revisited The Good Word for Lee when I took over his time slot on KALX, the UC Berkeley radio station. That edition had slightly better music and was broadcast on Sunday morning, which was surely confusing for anyone tuning in after church.

Lovesome, 2003

A physical representation of the experience of online dating, this performance was inspired by an early job of mine as a Talking Bear in a season mall display and The Gong Show’s Unknown Comic, The red head completely obscured my face as I went on “speed dates” with members of the audience. Our interactions were broadcast for the rest of the audience via a simple PA system and two mics. I performed this first in San Francisco at the Exploratorium and then later at Blackbird Space as part of exhibition, What the World Needs Now (the love show), and finally at Mills College for an evening of Erotica for Valentine’s Day event. I gather this is also similar to the experience of talking to Terry Gross on Fresh Air.

Gilly G’s Goodtime Showcase, 2003

This project was a tribute to a Philadelphia morning show called Al Albert’s Showcase. With the help of Michelle Dean (director/editor) and performer Jon Wolanske I filmed what was the last episode of this fictional children’s chat show hosted by the antenna-d Gilly G. Grasshopper. It was supposed to be a Dick Cavett for the youngsters, wherein talented individuals would perform and then talk about their craft with Gilly. Mostly it was just about improving this scenario with Jon, who is hilarious as Randy Shortwell, the Tap Dancing Bandit.

The video was included in exhibitions at 667 Shotwell (The Farewell Party) and Stephen Wirtz Gallery (Makeshift Worlds curated by Julie Casemore), both in San Francisco. I also did a comeback tour talent show as part of Multiverse, a one night only art event at Rx Gallery, also in San Francisco.

Killing My Lobster, 2000-2004

I was an early member of the San Francisco-based sketch comedy group Killing My Lobster.  I directed, wrote, and performed in multiple theatrical productions and short films and hosted the KML Kabaret for a year or so at the Make Out Room. Sketch shows I was directly involved in included KML Walk This Way, Tales of a Lonely Planet, Tango Dell’Amore, Circus of Failure, Hot August Nights, and for a few years before that I built props, sets, and costume elements – until it was clear that I was pretty bad at that and marginally better at performing. Notable performances with KML included one in the woods for a woman who claimed to be a reincarnated Egyptian god and that one where I had very little on. We also performed in LA for HBO and FOX, and were featured on the cover of SF Weekly.

The group continues to thrive and their latest efforts can be found here: www.killingmylobster.com.

Party Stories. Directed by Jon Wolanske, Party Stories stars Mara Gerstein, Abby Paige, Paul Charney, and Mitch Goldman, and captures a very intense recap of a holiday shopper’s quest for an elusive George Foreman Grill. The sketch was first presented as part of KML’s Circus of Failure.

The International Language was a featured sketch in Killing My Lobster Tales of a Lonely Planet, 2002. It features me, a hot tub, and three fellas in a hardware store with a desire to connect. The short was shown at film festivals internationally including the NY Lesbian, Gay and Transgender Film Festival, Out On Film, in Atlanta, and L’envers MLIF in Lilles, France.

Moon Transfer, 2002

A solo performance with the following scene. Space Man ends up on the moon. Space man finds a moon slug. Space man is saddened by the loss of all his friends and family so far away. He sings I Still Miss Someone after describing the feeling of leaving someone at death’s door.

The costume is a hand-sewn version of comic book hero Adam Strange, who was on the cover of the first comic book I can remember seeing and is still a favorite – a man between worlds – one life on Rann and other on Earth. The duality of the character is something I would explore endlessly in later work. The photos here were all taken by Jack Toolin during the performance at Works San Jose.

Lollygag, 2000

The story of a moth man who fails as an entertainer, a boy who grows up too fast, and a man realizing that his father is there for him. This was created for the roving performance series, Moving Target, curated by Margaret Tedesco. This particular evening was at the Lab in San Francisco, in 2000. The performance started with a man dressed as a moth (me) setting the stage and holding a tiny light singing This Little Light of Mine until he’s embarrassed enough to leave the stage. A performer enters (Jon Wolanske) and tentatively finds the spot light and struggles to tie his necktie due to his large cartoony hands. He’s wearing a white puffy jacket – that covers his entire body and mouth. We watch him make several attempts until he finally completes the knot. I enter again, wearing a tiny lamp on my head to illuminate my face. As I tie my own tie, I talk about a trip to Disneyland and waiting to see Mickey Mouse who only appeared at the last moment. I connect that memory to a moment at my mother’s funeral, when my father took my hand as we walked away from the grave site.

Drowning, 1998

A production of the Maria Irene Fornes play, Drowning, featuring the troubled love lives of three seal/potato people. I performed and designed the costumes and set for this independent production, which took place over two nights at the San Francisco gallery, Fourwalls. The heads were made of cotton batting, fabric, and dyed latex.

Breathing Box, 1996

A short work on loss and grief, performed during my time at RISD. The action of the piece is a simple series of gestures (with me only exhaling the entire time): Sit on box. Stand. Put on bear headpiece and cape. Tuck cape into pants. Struggle for air. Nearly collapse. Find my way into the box. Once in the box, my nose fit into a tiny square at the end and I took a long deep breath.