I saw Taylor Mac perform at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s Rhubarb! festival last February. She was one of the most inspiring live performance artists I have ever seen. This queen is making the world a better place, one performance at a time.
J. Paul Halferty showed this to me today. So beautiful. I’m getting really into queer video.
Sound designer Richard Feren
This week I got to hear a lot of the music and score elements that Richard Feren is putting together for The Silicone Diaries. The way the soundscapes came together with the text felt so effortless. It all just fell into place. This is a credit, no doubt, to Richard’s genuis.
It was also thrilling that Richard, director Brendan Healy and I were in almost complete sympatico around decisions about the sonic elements of the show.
Very much looking forward to seeing how the sound and video projections work together! Also, we are building all the sound and tech queues on a massive storage USB key so when I tour the show I’ll be able to bring everyone’s awesome ideas with me.
I want to throw a big shout to my friend Jose Arias who inspired me and challenged me to take an acting class at The Professional Actor’s Lab, David Rotenberg’s school of ridiculously talented people. I was a little nervous about what it would be like studying there as a transwoman, but Jose told me he went to class last session in drag. (Jose is also a fabulous drag queen named Dyna Thyrst and has played trans characters on TV.) I figured if he could be trans there, so could I. Thanks for having so much guts, Jose! He was also cool enough to take me to meet Bruce Clayton (my teacher) and agreed to be my first scene partner. It’s proving to be an awesome ride! Oh, and, here is my buddy Jose in his commercial for Mac’s bringing the campy LOL’s!!!
Buddies AD and Silicone Diaries director Brendan Healy
In his inaugural address Healy was humbled by the history of the Queer Theatre Company. This past, according to Healy, will not only inspire him but also guide him in his leadership:
“I not only see a story of a group of artistic pioneers and mavericks, who fought to create a space for the avante-guarde in the city. I also see a community who fought and who is fighting for equality. I see a story where a theatre company and community came to together and stood in the face of intolerance and fought for the freedom of expression. And together to took leaps that were never dreamt possible.
Me as a 34-year old gay man standing here tonight my life is in part because of that thirty-year story. So, tonight as I stand here before you as the new Artistic Director of Buddies, I say that I’m about to take a step backwards Yes, there´s more…. »
My solo performance piece I Was Barbie will be remounted for the Performance Studies International conference. It will be showing as a double bill with a performance from Canadian performance artists 2boys.tv
The international conference will happen this year in Toronto in June.
Dr. Judith Rudakoff is the offical curator of I Was Barbie for PSi. She will present and contextualize the work for conference attendees.
It’s a great honour to be asked to perform at PSi. The convergence of artists, intellectuals and academia is important to me and the growth of the work. Below is the PSi mission statement from their website http://www.psi-web.org/
PSi is a professional association founded in 1997 to promote communication and exchange among scholars and practitioners working in the field of performance. We seek to create opportunities for dialogue among artists, thinkers, activists and academics. PSi is actively committed to creating a membership base of artists and scholars throughout the world. Yes, there´s more…. »
I’m going to be saying some quick words about the importance and thrill of working with all the fabulous women creators of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s 09/10 theatre season. I also introduce the new Artistic Director. (You’ll probably know who it is by then, but I’ll do a cute intro…)
BUDDIES SEASON KICK-OFF BASH
HOSTED BY NINA ARSENAULT
Admission free
everyone welcome
Thurs, Sept 24, 10pm
The “Manly Man” episode of The Jon Dore Show aired again last week. I had a really nice time shooting this for the Comedy Network. I think it originally aired about 1 year ago.
On set, everyone was super sweet and very relaxed. The director even let me see myself on the monitor to make sure I liked the way I was lit. They were kind enough to shoot me from the three quarter angle which I like because I think it is the most flattering. And, the producers, Jon and everyone on set assured me that no one would be making any transphobic jokes. Yes, there´s more…. »
legendary story teller Spalding Gray
“most of all, Spalding Gray could surf an unpredictable, sometimes violent, sea of emotion, sensory details, memory, intellectual analysis, surreal personal metaphors”
Thank you for the wonderful, kind words about Spalding. I will add you to the monologist page and I think your whole piece would be wonderful under Fan Writings. Yes, there´s more…. »
I’m going to be adding content and links of stuff I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT to my blog and it really will be stuff I love, not just random stuff I surfed online. Usually it will be creative stuff that is inspiring my art practise. I just like to put my interests out there and see who is plugged into some of the same stuff as I am.
This video is an excerpt from THE RITE OF SPRING as choreographed by German dance/theatre artist Pina Bausch who recently left this world. Her work is violent, primal and punishing.