Boogie Shoes

Posted on by Thor

Quiet Desperation Productions presents “Boogie Shoes”, written and performed by Marcie Schwailm and directed by Tara Corless in the Red Venue. The red venue this year was in a rehearsal space on the second floor of the Shakes. Based on posters I had seen around the Fringe Festival, I expected to see a goofy comedy about a dancer with little coordination. Marcie walked on stage and began talking about how she loved to dance as a small child. Her mother told her that she could be anything she wanted to be when she grew up. “I want to be Wonder Woman!” “Well Wonder Woman is a pretend character, you can be anything real.” “A shark?” “No.” The next best thing was to become a ballerina.

Her mom supported her dream and enrolled her in a ballet class. Unfortunately some snotty ballet student told Marcie she was too fat to be a ballerina. Deflated, she dropped out of the class. Bulimic girlfriends told her she should barf up any food she ate to stay thin.  She couldn’t do it. Bitchy adolescence set in and she resented her own body. She took to cutting herself. The razor’s edge was one thing she had absolute control over. Thankfully, she eventually put that behind her. In her 20’s she met the man of her dreams and she read endless brides magazines to plan the wedding. When she tried on a wedding dress and looked in a mirror, she didn’t like what she saw. Depression set in for years because she didn’t see herself as a Cinderella ideal.

Then she discovered belly dancing. The teacher had students isolate upper body movements by asking the students to imagine they were washing a window with their breasts. She had students move their chest as if then were writing a word. Marcie demonstrated for us. Amazingly someone in the audience guessed the right word. I was too modest to venture a guess although she wrote 5 letters. To isolate hip movements the teacher suggested students imagine they had a pencil in their vaginas with which they wrote on the floor. Those would be some long pencils!

After a quick costume change Marcie came out in a belly dancer’s outfit. She sparkled and a thin gossamer blue veil flowed around her as she danced. Now when she looks in a mirror she knows she is beautiful. The audience clapped and shouted their support. I was glowing, happy to have heard this story of overcoming the odds imposed by society, and rediscovering a child’s joy that can always be rekindled. Some people go through their whole life never finding that innocent passion again. This show was a life affirming miracle. Some dreams do come true as long as you keep searching and never give up. This was without a doubt the most inspiring true life story I’ve heard at this year’s Fringe.

A portion of the sales for “Boogie Shoes” will be donated to the non-profit organization, “To Write Love on Her Arms“. This organization is dedicated to presenting hope and find help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. They encourage, inform, inspire and invest in treatment and recovery.

When:

Sunday May 26 at 5:45PM

Where:

Red Venue

Tickets:

$8 plus a Fringe button.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Posted on by Thor

As Dorothy Massey who plays Yitzhak and Brian Thompson who plays Hedwig sat on the tailgate of the van filled with costumes, Dorothy lamented that the show had a hard run. Some nights they had performed with only 3 people in the audience. The night before closing night they had 15 people. They always gave their all regardless.

After sketching back stage, I settled in at the back of the small Majestic Theatre and Lounge inside the Revolution Nightclub (375 South Bumby Avenue). It is actually the perfect venue for the show, being small and intimate with flaming touches of gold opulence. Hedwig is a Punk Rock princess in search of someone to complete herself, her other half. In search of validation and love, Hedwig had an operation in Germany that left him with an angry inch to express her sexuality. A small group of tattooed punk teens filled the front row. They shouted and talked on their cell phones. Hedwig shouted back, “You came here to see ME, darlings!” I thought they were part of the show at first, but Ally Gursky confided that they slipped in late without paying. They were gone by the second act.

Hedwig treated Yitak as his male side kick whom he berated and joked about as he talked about Tommy Gnosis, a boy he loved who went on to become a rock super star with the songs Hedwig helped him write. Dorothy as Yitzak was sullen and angry for most of the show.  When Hedwig stripped off his woman’s clothing standing naked and sweating before the audience they went wild, over his song of acceptance and affirmation. We all hide a part of our true selves but he finally realized he needed to love himself before he could find acceptance and love from someone else.


Dorothy came out, this time dressed in a bright pink form fitting sequin gown and a blond wig. She sang Midnight Radio, a song of love, joy and acceptance. The room filled with an awe inspiring energy. Everyone raised their hands, waving them above their heads. Tears rolled down Dorothy’s cheeks as she sang. I turned to look at Director, Tara Corless, who was aiming the huge theater spot light. She was in tears as well. Ally was rushing down the isles with her hands raised and beaming.  The audience was on fire. This was not your average performance. This was an overwhelming emotional catharsis on the closing night of the show. I was swept along with tears of joy and I put down my brush and raised my hands to clap loudly. After the show Tara got on stage to thank the audience. She got choked up as she said, “We’ve had a tough run, but you were the audience this show deserved.” A performance like this affirms the absolute undefinable magic of theater when an audience and cast are one.

Hedwig Manifestation

Posted on by Thor

 

Director, Tara Corless, invited me to sketch as actor Brian Thompson got ready for the final night’s performance of Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Majestic Theatre and Lounge inside Revolution Nightclub ( 375 South Bumby Avenue). I arrived a bit early and all the doors to the club were locked. A fellow with long dark hair was waiting in the parking lot. It turned out he had left his cell phone in the club from the performance the night before. He had been waiting since 4PM and I believe the performers started arriving around 6PM. The lead actor and actress, Dorothy Massey who plays Yitzhak, and  Brian, who plays Hedwig, pulled up in a van. All the costumes were piled up in the back and they opened the tailgate and started eating their takeout Chinese food. Andy Matchett pulled up, rolled down his car window, and he asked if anyone wanted a drink since he was making a drink run. Dorothy began relating Saint Augustine ghost stories as the sun set. Every fifteen minutes or so, Cessna airplanes would swoop down over the Club on their approach to the Executive Airport.

The dressing room was maybe 10 feet square and the entire cast had to use the space. I found a spot to sketch from, and I checked with Dorothy to make sure I wasn’t blocking anyone. It would take a full two hours for Hedwig to manifest and transform himself into a woman. His eyebrows were already shaved which would save time. Dorothy explained that her transformation to a man would take much less time. Stage manager, Ally Gursky, arrived with a container of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. She had skinned her knee the night before and somehow every piece of musical equipment carried through the dressing room managed to bonk her raw knee. Being insensitive, I couldn’t help but chuckle.  On her iPhone, she played a wonderful video that pointed out the obvious and hilarious reason to be supportive of gay marriage. Then Tara arrived with containers full of red white and blue cupcakes left over from Veterans day no doubt. Dorothy straddled Brian’s lap and started painting decorative swirling eyebrows. Andy arrived with a bottle of Burbon. He said to me, “Care to take that sketch to the next level?” He filled my cup and asked if I wanted some Ginger ale to water it down. I decided to taste the burbon first. My throat lit on fire and I whispered, “Yep, I need some ginger ale.” My lines loosened up with each sip. Dorothy started dancing in wild abandon to “Do It With a Rockstar“.

One of the Guitar players started to thank every one. “I started this show tentative and unsure, but you all made me feel at home. Thanks you everyone for your friendship and support, I’m going to miss you all when this show is over.” Andy said, “No problem, Uhm, what is your name again?” Everyone laughed. Tara circled everyone up for a pre-show ritual. Half of the cast circled up their index finger and thumb creating a cavity in their palms while the rest of the cast inserted their index fingers in the warm cavities. All their hands and wrists intertwined. Ally shouted, “Five minuted to show time!” actors shouted back, “Thank you 5!” There was an electric excitement in the air. Tara announced that they had 30 people in the audience, that was the largest audience they had in the entire show’s run. Andy claimed that on some nights they performed with only three people in the audience. This was a case off life imitating art imitating life,  The band went on stage and  a flash of electric music filled the theater with the Origin of Love. These rock stars were ready to raise the rafters!