The Catclaw Theatre Diaries

The Wettest Beak

2011-04-17T00:33:00.000-04:00

One from our Voraxical Theatre blog:

Catclaw associate Sherry Deatrick has a new play, The Wettest Beak, currently running at the Rudyard Kipling on Oak Street in Louisville, as part of the Finnigan Festival. The play is the third installment (and we hear there will be a fourth!) in her series that began with Beak Wet, Everybody! and followed by Beak Wetter.

As per our own Voraxical values, Deatrick's idiosyncratic style puts texture ahead of content and character development over story arc. To attempt description of the dadaistic goings-on would do the works an injustice; suffice it to say there's a mutant half-human-half-chicken and a swingin' UPS man who rock the boat for a family of eBay-obsessed apocalypse-minded hillbillies. Our pal George Bailey, who worked with us on A Day in the Life of Eddie Jester, Toulouse-inations and Patrick Amsterdam, did an outstanding job here, both as director and as actor, reprising his role as "Teensy".

The actors rarely stand still in a Deatrick play, tending to leap, swish, and gyrate endlessly like Charles Ludlam characters would be if they were spazzed out on crystal meth in a trailer in Floyd's Knobs. That being the case, almost all the photographs taken ended up in blur-o-vision. (But the actual play was blurry too.)

Pantomime's Progress

2010-12-12T11:08:00.005-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Catclaw. As snow piles up outside my window, I've been encamped at home putting together the first draft of Son of Grimaldi, which is finally taking shape through the misty muse of Duvel.

As I predicted earlier, the story bears about as much resemblance to historical fact as Toulouse-inations did to the life of Toulouse-Lautrec. Using as its starting point the tension between the elder Grimaldi and his son (who is expected to carry on his father's craft), we veer into such tangential matters as British secret societies, clairvoyance, guardian angels, nudity, quantum physics (no, really!) and Santa Claus.

- Jeffrey Scott Holland, Catclaw Theatre Company artistic director, 12/11/2010.

"Son of Grimaldi" excerpts!

2010-08-21T13:49:00.002-04:00

JSH, on his writing blog, provides a couple of quick glimpses at his play in progress, Son of Grimaldi.

Click here!

Call for Plays

2010-08-16T12:25:00.009-04:00

It's another Catclaw call for scripts! Short plays, one-acts and full-lengths are being considered for performance. We'll sincerely look at anything we receive, but some helpful guidelines and suggestions from our Artistic Director, Jeffrey Scott Holland, are probably in order:

No contemporary politics. We aren't interested in plays about modern political issues or figures. For example, David Hare's very successful play Stuff Happens presents us with Bush Administration figures standing around onstage talking about terrorism and war, for three hours. We're supposed to be impressed that much of the dialogue is taken verbatim from their actual Oval Office discussions. To paraphrase the great Truman Capote, that's not writing, that's just cut-and-pasting.

A historical political play, on the other hand, would be more likely to interest us. But even then, a dry essay on Warren Harding's political misdeeds would bore us just as dreadfully as one about Bush's.

No preachy social issues. There's an unfortunate trend these days towards shorter, simpler, smaller-scale plays that invoke certain buzzwords that look good on certain kinds of grant applications. And so we're seeing more and more plays that consist of just two or three characters (or even just one monologuing his or her heart out) on a minimal set, talking about "relevant social and political issues." If you ask me - and I know you didn't - that kind of "Theatre of NPR" jazz is about as interesting as watching a staged reading of transcripts from the Congressional Record.

Kia Corthron's Trade (one of the 2007 Humana Plays) consists of two women, one of whom is an American wearing a burqa as a form of protest, sitting around talking about politics in the Middle East. And that's it. I'm Not kidding. According to the Feminist Spectator's review of the show, "Corthron crystallizes issues of identification and empathy that overshadow our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, the politics of the Taliban, and the detentions at Guantanamo".

Well, that's just great. If I wanted to watch CNN, I would have stayed at home and done so.

No audience-interactive "figure out the murderer" mysteries. That's a genre we scarcely recognize as legitimate theatre, but it's not our cup of tea regardless.

No children's plays. By that, we mean plays for children. But plays that give serious, even starring, roles to children are welcome.

No plays that call for strobe lights, video monitors or music cues of contemporary pop/rock music. We don't do strobe lights. We don't do video monitors. We just don't. Plays that specifically require modern pop/rock will be jettisoned - partially because we don't want to bother with the copyright issues but more importantly, because we don't want to associate ourselves with those bands/artists. (We once had a director who, over our objections, wanted to use not just one but several songs from a Katy Perry CD in a play. Katy Perry, of all things. To put it mildly, Katy Perry is a perfect example of the kind of culture we are trying to get as far away from as possible.

No "argument" plays. Avoid plays that rely heavily on people yelling and screaming and arguing. The real world is already filled with obnoxious and irrational people; we don't need to see more of the same onstage. And putting these arguments in a setting with ethnic stereotypes will guarantee we don't even finish reading it.

Alrighty then, get the picture? (Say "yes, we see.") If there's anything left in your word hoard that this extensive hate-list didn't disqualify, you might already be a winner. Dust off that pretentious surrealist play you wrote about the ghost of a 19th century Russian princess who ends up developing an obsessive relationship in 1933 with a British Freemason and safari hunter who now lives in Ohio and works in a bank that turns out to be a front for a pagan religious cult with charming but eccentric rituals.

Direct e-mail submissions to catclawtheatre@gmail.com.

Son of Grimaldi

2010-06-09T11:39:00.005-04:00

Catclaw's artistic director Jeffrey Scott Holland is currently working on several new plays, including one tentatively titled Son of Grimaldi, about the relationship between 19th century clown Joey Grimaldi and his son, Joey Jr. who tried unsuccessfully to follow in his famous father's footsteps.

"Suspension of Disbelief" Returns!

2010-04-12T00:43:00.004-04:00

After a hiatus, Jeffrey Scott Holland's Suspension of Disbelief column for Theatre Louisville is back. This week, JSH looks over the newly-announced 2010-2011 season schedule for Actors Theatre of Louisville, including suprising entries like Mystery of Irma Vep and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom...

(pictured: Ma Rainey and her band)

Invasion of the Cherry Sisters

2010-03-22T17:36:00.004-04:00

One of our favorite bold-surrealist turn-of-the-century Victorian vaudeville acts, The Cherry Sisters, are the subject of Dan O'Brien's wonderful play The Cherry Sisters Revisited, currently playing in Louisville as part of the Humana Fest.

Everything about the show screams Catclaw, so how could we not love it? Seriously, this play sums up just about everything that we're about, so please go and see it. We had kicked around the idea of doing this play ourselves over a year ago, or perhaps a Cherry Sisters revue of our own, but ATL's production is surely the definitive standard by which all future versions should be judged. Oh hell yeah. Amen. Selat.

Transylvania Gentlemen Pub Crawl

2010-03-05T21:53:00.005-05:00

So, yeah, you know the drill: it's the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Louisville which is being held on March 13 even though St. Patrick's Day is March 17. Jeffrey Scott Holland, good Irishman he, will be in attendance and wandering aimlessly from pub to pub with his entourage, representin' Catclaw, The Voraxium, and the Old Order of Transylvania Gentlemen. You in?

Wunderlich at Mardi Gras

2010-02-21T20:13:00.002-05:00

Catclaw's multi-talented costumer Terry Wunderlich just got back from Mardi Gras, and we're pleased to learn the city is back to its old energy! Read more about Terry's trip here on the Unusual Kentucky blog!

The Hour of Merlin is at Hand

2009-12-24T14:37:00.001-05:00

Jeffrey Scott Holland's stage adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Birth of Merlin, long promised since Catclaw's inception almost two years ago, is finally here! It opens TONIGHT in Brooklyn, NY for four shows only - don't miss it!

What can you expect from this production? Here's some clues (Note: Spoilers!):

The play concerns a clown named simply Clown, who is escorting his pregnant sister Joan through the wilderness searching for the child's mysterious father, who turns out to be Satan. As Joan gives birth to Merlin, Satan summons Lucina (the Roman goddess of childbirth) and the Greek Moirae (The Fates) to witness.

Meanwhile, King Vortigern is attempting to build a new castle but it keeps collapsing. The King is told by his spiritual advisor that a "fiend-begotten child" must be blood-sacrificed to purify the construction site. At just that moment, the kooky entourage with baby Merlin shows up and, well, hilarity or something like it ensues.

The play was credited to William Shakespeare and William Rowley in a 1662 quarto, and the play has many fervent supporters of the Bard's hand in it. It also has many ardent detractors - like a certain Louisville professor who actually became visibly angry when I mentioned my intent to stage this play one day!

(It's important to remember that some plays we regard as in canon today once were considered heretically apocryphal. Pericles was once considered to be total Fakespeare before it finally became accepted. The Two Noble Kinsmen and King Edward III are relatively recent newcomers to mainstream acceptance, and Sir Thomas More is making great inroads towards it.)

Assorted warnings, cautions and caveats:

Do not attend if you are offended by a play featuring Satan being staged at Christmastime.

Do not attend if you suffer from Coulrophobia (fear of clowns).

Do not attend if you are offended by full frontal puppet nudity.

Do not attend if you're scared of East Flatbush after dark.

There are no strobe lights in any Catclaw shows (we hates 'em!), but there is smoke, and there is splattering fake blood.

Theatre Etiquette

2009-11-08T00:52:00.004-05:00

Audience members from hell. We've all seen them. Hopefully we haven't been them. Much.

This week's installment of Suspension of Disbelief is about Theatregoer etiquette.

Click here to read.

Merlinmania Starts Here!

2009-11-05T14:27:00.002-05:00

Just in time for the holidays: at long last, Catclaw's bringing a full-scale puppet version of William Shakespeare's (apocryphal) play The Birth of Merlin to the big rotten apple of New York City! The show opens on Christmas Eve; visit the JSHNYC blog for more info!

New Catclaw eBay Store!

2009-11-04T15:21:00.001-05:00

Catclaw's just opened up a new eBay store! Keep watching for more items to be added tonight, and beyond!

Great Kentuckians, pt.2

2009-10-31T14:07:00.004-04:00

Suspension of Disbelief is back after a short hiatus! It's part two of the list of Kentuckians whose lives would make a great play: Alfred M. Hubbard, Kit Carson, Colonel Sanders, Beulah Annan, and Virgil Earp! Click here to read!

Kentuckian Plot Fodder

2009-10-10T23:01:00.002-04:00

This week's Suspension of Disbelief: Part one of a two-part list of Kentuckians whose stories would make a great play. Read it here.

Mental Flexibility

2009-10-03T14:25:00.005-04:00

This week's Suspension of Disbelief: mental flexibility - it's a good thing. And it's an absolute must in the Theatre. Read it here.

The Unsolvable Problem of Theatre Reviews

2009-09-26T00:40:00.002-04:00

In this week's Suspension of Disbelief, JSH pontificates on the relative futility of reviewing plays. Read it here.

JSH Reviews Rocky

2009-09-25T14:31:00.003-04:00

Catclaw's artistic director Jeffrey Scott Holland was sent by Theatre Louisville to review Pandora's latest production, Richard O' Brien's The Rocky Horror Show. Click here to read the review!

Kabarett der Namenlosen

2009-09-19T22:49:00.004-04:00

Kabarett der Namenlosen, or Cabaret of the Nameless, is a key part of understanding the metachronistic aesthetic of Catclaw's Voraxium shows. This week's Suspension of Disbelief is all about this obscure Berlin theatre of cruelty. Read it here.

Disappointed by "Divas"

2009-09-12T15:44:00.003-04:00

This week's Suspension of Disbelief: why Barry Blaustein's documentary about the Southern Indiana school theatre scene was unfair, unflattering and unhelpful to the careers of everyone involved. Read it here.

Before Theatre Was Theatre...

2009-09-05T19:53:00.003-04:00

This week's Suspension of Disbelief looks at theatre's formative years before the Greeks got ahold of it. Before the Greeks, there were the Egyptians. Before the Egyptians, there were cavemen. And before cavemen, there were insects.

Read it here.

Beyond Dracula

2009-08-29T15:28:00.003-04:00

There's a whole universe of horror out there, so why must Actors Theatre of Louisville keep trotting out Dracula again and again, year after year? That's the question JSH asks in this week's Suspension of Disbelief, and provides a list of suggestions for spooky shows that might be a lot more interesting than the played-out old Bram Stoker bloodsucker. Read it here.

From Tumblety to Titus

2009-08-26T18:12:00.005-04:00

Erik DeCicco, who played Dr. Francis Tumblety in Toulouse-inations (see image below), has been touring throughout Florida with Skrank Tank's production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged.

The show rushes through a whirlwind of comedic blink-renderings of the Bard's works, usually with rather warped twists - Titus Andronicus, for instance, is presented as a Food Network-style cooking show.

Read more about it here and here.

Reveling in the Obscure

2009-08-22T15:28:00.002-04:00

Old is the new New, indeed: JSH recycles his "Forgotten Scripts" rant from the Catclaw blog for his latest column on Theatre Louisville, albeit with extensive rewrites and additions. Read it here.

Further Adventures in Retro Radio

2009-08-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

On the heels of JSH's column on old radio theatre yesterday, the Voraxical Theatre blog now has further ruminations on the subject, with lots of downloadable goodies! Click here to get with the program.

Radio Drama

2009-08-15T11:47:00.004-04:00

Jeffrey Scott Holland's latest Suspension of Disbelief column for Theatre Louisville is about the nearly-deceased (in the USA, anyway) art of the radio play - or what they call in Germany, Hörspiel, the cinema of the ears. Read it here.

The Shakespeare Apocrypha

2009-08-08T10:12:00.002-04:00

This week's Suspension of Disbelief column concerns those Shakespeare plays that academia refuses to accept.

Read it here.

Our favorite one of those, The Birth of Merlin, has been planned by Catclaw for over a year and is finally coming to fruition as a puppet show. Stay tuned for further details!

Where the Rainbow Begins

2009-08-01T14:05:00.006-04:00

Like something from DC Comics' Bizarro World, the story of the 1902 stage musical of The Wizard of Oz sounds like an impossible parallel universe.

Dorothy's pet is not Toto the Dog, but Imogene the Cow - both of whom are upstaged throughout the show by a waitress named Trixie. The Tin Man has a mentally deranged girlfriend. There is no Wicked Witch of the West. There are no Ruby Slippers. Up is down. Black is white. And that's just the tip of the iceberg of strangeness about the show. But for 40 years, this was the real Wizard of Oz, in canon, written by L. Frank Baum himself.

This week's installment of JSH's Suspension of Disbelief column delves into the lost kookiness of this almost-forgotten Broadway musical. Read it here.

Sidney Hymson in "Mad Men" contest

2009-07-28T12:21:00.004-04:00

Sidney Hymson, who starred as Toulouse-Lautrec in our production of Jeffrey Scott Holland's Toulouse-inations and as Max in A Year in the Death of Eddie Jester, is taking part in the casting call contest for AMC's Mad Men television show - Click here to vote for Sidney!

On Preachiness

2009-07-25T11:01:00.002-04:00

Tired of preachy socio-political plays that sound more like Christiane Amanpour than Aphra Behn? Read JSH's latest Suspension of Disbelief here.

The Ultimate Puppet

2009-07-18T12:13:00.003-04:00

From Grand Guignol to the original Guignol - JSH's latest Suspension of Disbelief column for Theatre Louisville is all about the French marionette who rules the world of European puppetry and you can read it here.

Le Grand-Guignol n'est pas mort

2009-07-17T23:36:00.003-04:00

A key part of Catclaw and Voraxica's ancestral lineage comes from the French Théâtre du Grand Guignol, which you can read all about here on our Voraxica blog!

Between 1897 and 1962, the Grand Guignol performed thousands of plays so shocking that a doctor was kept on staff to treat the many audience members who fainted during each performance. The Grand Guignol unflinchingly presented material that exposed society’s fears and taboos, and wrapped it in a thick fondant coating of erotic horror. Each night's show alternated back and forth between short comedic farces and horror-themed plays, which kept the crowd on a roller-coaster of "hot and cold showers", as they called the technique. The Grand Guignol was the inspiration for modern horror film and film noir.

Slings & Arrows

2009-07-11T21:19:00.006-04:00

This week's installment of JSH's weekly column on Theatre Louisville is now up, all about the Canadian TV show Slings & Arrows.

New Jeffrey Scott Holland Column

2009-07-04T23:20:00.002-04:00

Posted tonight to artistic director Jeffrey Scott Holland's Unusual Kentucky blog:

I've been tapped to author a weekly column for Theatre Louisville, which I call Suspension of Disbelief - read this week's installment here.

Though it's intended strictly for the theatre community, those of who don't give the slightest whit about theatre may nonetheless find nuggets of interest in the column from time to time. Theatre may be the tail that wags the dog, but I'm certain to touch upon the many other various subjects I obsess over, from The Pacific Ring of Fire to Anita Berber to Ventriloquism to Egg Tempera to Gribbles.

"Cheeseburger & Fries" Growing

2009-06-26T16:21:00.004-04:00

The bad news first: Jeffrey Scott Holland's original play Cheeseburger & Fries: The Musical, scheduled to make its world premiere at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in September 2009, has been postponed until 2010.

Why? Well, that's the good news: the show was originally conceived as a very simple and primitive show with minimal sets and only a few actors, but it just keeps growing and growing and has morphed into something quite different. The complexity of the show has reached the point where a September opening just wasn't feasible. It now calls for:

a small ensemble orchestra fluent in classical, jazz and country

onstage video monitors and projectors

lookalike actors to portray William S. Burroughs, Charles Bukowski and Robert Mitchum

Furthermore, it will likely feature the largest cast ever beheld in a stage production in Louisville. It will also most likely require a much larger venue than the Kentucky Center's Mex Theatre.

The word "pretentious" is grossly misused in our culture today, but the Catclaw Theatre Company nevertheless bravely and warmly embraces all it means, and all it can mean. And as Tony Kushner says:

"People fundamentally lacking a sense of humor when confronted with pretentiousness miss the irony and the fun." - Tony Kushner

We are still fully in pre-production for the show as much as ever, and welcome any inquiries. Casting is still ongoing.

Catclaw items on eBay

2009-06-14T23:28:00.002-04:00

Starting tonight and over the next few weeks, we'll be offering various interesting items for sale via eBay's online auctions. Keep checking this link regularly as we keep adding new collectibles through June and July!

Christina Ruplinger

2009-06-09T09:05:00.003-04:00

Catclaw salutes our Resident Assistant Stage Manager, Christina Ruplinger!

With past experience from the University of Louisville theatre department as well as her high school theatre work, Christina is already making a name for herself. She made her stage management debut as the Assistant Stage Manager for our production of Toulouse-Inations at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, and can't wait to take on a show of her own.

Aside from her go-getter spirit and determination to get the job done, what we like best about Christina is that she's truly a team player, she listens to what you tell her, and follows instructions. Those qualities are all too rare these days.

Thursday meeting

2009-06-07T21:24:00.005-04:00

Catclaw's next Thursday planning meeting will be at The Bristol Downtown, 614 West Main Street in Louisville.

Topics of discussion: Victoria's PR department report, our new legal team, our upcoming LLC filing, pre-production for Cheeseburger & Fries at the Kentucky Center, pre-production for taking Patrick Amsterdam to NYC, and the long-awaited resurrection of The Birth of Merlin in puppet theatre format.

Oh yeah, and super-double-secret-probation Operation Plan X-714.

Beekeeping with Victoria

2009-06-01T22:25:00.004-04:00

Catclaw's own PR Director and prop-wrangler Victoria Lee will be co-hosting a class in "The Art of Apiculture" (beekeeping) at the Earth and Spirit Center, 1924 Newburg Road, Louisville.

From their press release:

The Art of Apiculture
Doug Van Houten & Vicki Lee
Sunday, June 28th, 3-5PM, at the BARN
$15 (no one will be turned away from lack of funds)

Bees are the true farmers of our lives; pollinating vegetables and fruit that help our gardens grow. Learn more about the lives of bees and how to establish your own hives.

"Eddie Jester" rehearsal photos

2009-05-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

Some images from last night's rehearsals of A Year in the Death of Eddie Jester. Josh Kroll as Eddie Jester, Adrielle Perkins as Susan, Jill-Marie Schierbaum as Jennifer, Sidney Hymson as Max, Todd Zeigler as Doctor Jimmy, Carolyn Purcell as Nurse Jayne, and director George Bailey.

A Year in the Death of Eddie Jester

2009-05-28T17:51:00.003-04:00

Catclaw's newest production, T. Gregory Argall's A Year In The Death Of Eddie Jester, opens Thursday, June 18th! It's at FUZION on 1335 Story Avenue in Beautiful downtown Butchertown, and starts at 7:30pm.

It'll cost you a mere ten-spot to get in (25% student discount with ID) and see Toulouse-inations actors Sidney Hymson, Jill-Marie Schierbaum, and Carolyn Purcell; and Patrick Amsterdam's Todd Ziegler.

And in the director's chair this time we have the great George Robert Bailey, star of Patrick Amsterdam and Clown #1 in Toulouse-inations.

The play concerns Eddie Jester, a stand-up comedian who addresses an audience of the mind from inside his own head. In actual fact, Eddie is laying in a coma in the hospital surrounded by former friends and lovers, who think that Eddie can't hear the things they're saying.... but he can.

Questions? Call 502.649.3378 or e-mail us.

After the Auditions...

2009-05-09T23:56:00.003-04:00

I'm exhausted after a loooooooooooong day of auditions for Cheeseburger & Fries. We had more than twice as many people turn out for these TAL-sponsored auditions than last year when we were hiring for Toulouse-inations. We now have mountains of headshots and bios to sift through.

I'd like to personally thank each and every actor who came out and endured the long lines, hours of waiting, confusion in the hallways. Not to mention the often-bewildering exercises I put the actors through that probably felt more like psychotherapy than direction.

All of us at Catclaw also want to thank the tireless efforts of the TAL individually as well as collectively for providing everything. Special shout outs to Brian Walker and Kathi E.B. Ellis.

- - JSH

"Cheeseburger & Fries" auditions

2009-05-06T12:23:00.003-04:00

Just a reminder that Catclaw Theatre Company will be conducting auditions for Cheeseburger & Fries: The Musical at the Theatre Alliance of Louisville's yearly cattle call on May 9, 2009.

Auditions begin at 8:30am and run until 5:00pm, at the VTI Building, Jefferson Community College Campus. That's at the Southeast corner of 2nd and Chestnut in downtown Louisville.

Cheeseburger & Fries: The Musical will open on Thursday, September 3, 2009 at The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.

Victoria Lee

2009-05-03T12:13:00.005-04:00

Today we salute Victoria Lee, Catclaw's propmonger and all-purpose interloper. Victoria's been a key presence behind the scenes in our doings, but she's also a talented performer and writer. Look upon her works, ye mighty, and despair!

Victoria performed excerpts from her musical in progress, Justice Served, at the chaotic not-quite-Voraxium show for Theatre Hop last year. You can also see her on the Carl Brown's Reality TV show by clicking here.

TAL Auditions: May 9th!

2009-04-18T00:21:00.004-04:00

Theatre Alliance of Louisville's Annual Unified Auditions offer local actors a unique opportunity to audition for 17 theatres casting for multiple shows on the same day. Come participate in this fantastic opportunity!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

8:30am - 5:00pm

VTI Building of the Jefferson Community College Campus, Southeast corner of 2nd and Chestnut

Actors should prepare either two contrasting 60 second monologues or one 60 second monologue and 16 measures of a song and bring *20* copies of their photograph and resume. Accompanist will be provided.

SCHEDULE:

8:30am- 11:00am: ACTOR REGISTRATION - REQUIRED
9:00am – 11:30am: Monologue and Song Session

11:30am - noon: Movement Session (This is movement for non-dancers with representatives from most theatres present)

Noon – 12:30pm: Dance Session (This is for actors who dance with representatives for most theatres present)

1:00pm – 5:00pm: Individual Company Cold Readings (Actors will go room to room doing cold readings for individual companies.)

DETAILS:

Once an actor registers, they may begin signing up for the afternoon Individual Company Cold Reading Sessions at any time.

Actors will be given a number and presented to room of representatives in groups of 5.

Actors are encouraged but not required to participate in each Session (Monologue and Song; Movement; Dance; Individual Company Cold Readings) of the day. Actors participating in any session throughout the day must register from 8:30-11:00AM.

All actors should bring 20 copies of their photograph (8X10 preferred) and resume.

For more information, please email: theatreallianceoflouisville@gmail.com.

More "Patrick Amsterdam" rehearsal photos

2009-04-15T23:39:00.002-04:00

"Patrick Amsterdam" opens April 16

2009-04-13T14:10:00.007-04:00

Jeffrey Scott Holland's short play Patrick Amsterdam makes its world premiere at the Finnigan’s Festival at The Rudyard Kipling in the glorious Old Louisville district!

Patrick Amsterdam concerns an increasingly washed-up lounge singer and his downward spiral. George Robert Bailey stars as Patrick, Todd Ziegler plays his hippie sidekick and Sarah East plays the card girl.

The dates are: April 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 & 25, at 7:30pm.

It's Yard Sale Time!

2009-04-02T07:20:00.004-04:00

Update: Well, it looks like we've been rained out. If good weather reappears Saturday, we'll be on. If not, try, try again next weekend.....

Don't miss it: another Catclaw Hipster Yard Sale is THIS WEEKEND at 2107 Lakeland Road in the Anchorage area of Louisville. We'll see you earlybirds on Friday morning!

"Patrick Amsterdam" rehearsals

2009-03-30T19:15:00.002-04:00

Some photos taken last week during "Patrick Amsterdam" rehearsals. Todd Ziegler as Cosmic Charlie, and George Robert Bailey as Patrick Amsterdam.

"Cheeseburger & Fries" auditions

2009-03-11T02:51:00.003-04:00

Catclaw Theatre Company will be conducting auditions for "Cheeseburger & Fries: The Musical" at the Theatre Alliance of Louisville's yearly cattle call this Spring. Details will be announced here shortly.

World Theatre Day '09

2009-03-03T22:50:00.002-05:00

We at Catclaw are pretty sure we're going to be taking part in World Theatre Day 2009, but we're just not sure how. This will no doubt be a topic of discussion at this Thursday's meeting. Any ideas, go ahead and call, text, email, tweet.

Next Thursday Meeting: Hiko-a-mon

2009-03-01T12:18:00.004-05:00

Catclaw's next Thursday meeting is March 5, 1:00pm, at Hiko-a-mon, Westport Village, 1115 Herr Lane.

Although these are meetings are intended primarily for staff, cast and crew, anyone curious about getting involved with Catclaw is welcome to attend.

Catclaw Open House!

2009-02-23T10:20:00.004-05:00

Friday, February 27, 5:00pm to 11:00pm: For the F.A.T. Friday Hop, Catclaw Theatre Company invites the public to come up and visit our costume/props workshop! There will be free refreshments and interesting items for sale, so please come out, bring a friend, and help support the cause to which we are all so devoted! There will also be clearly marked signs and indicators to get you to our space (Unit #250) in the Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center, 1860 Mellwood Avenue.

Saturday, February 28, 2:00pm to 11:00pm: A more informal Open House than the Friday night party. All day long, we'll be keeping the place open for visitors, providing snacks and drinks, and hawking all sorts of collectible items that we're letting go super cheap - all to set us towards our goal of having our own brick-and-mortar theatre by this time next year!

Please attend one - or both - of these Open House events, dear friends, and support a theatre company that, in the next two years, is going to change everything about Louisville theatre.

Next Thursday Meeting: Spinelli's Pizza

2009-02-22T00:01:00.002-05:00

Catclaw's next Thursday meeting is February 26, 1:00pm, at Spinelli's Pizza, 614 Baxter Avenue. Topics of discussion will be:

Pre-production for A Year in the Life of Eddie Jester in Louisville.

Our new production of Toulouse-inations in New York City.

Our impending Open House event at the Mellwood Art Center for next Fat Friday.

Although these are meetings are intended primarily for staff, cast and crew, anyone curious about getting involved with Catclaw is welcome to attend.

Catclaw on Twitter

2009-02-21T10:55:00.004-05:00

For the tweeters and twitterers among us, Catclaw now has its own Twitter account.

While posts made here on the Catclaw blog are a group effort by any number of our administrative staff, the Catclaw Twitter is strictly the 24-7 tweets of our Artistic Director, Jeffrey Scott Holland. As he said in a mass e-mail yesterday:

"Okay, I really, really, really loathe internet social networks and gimmicks (myspace, facebook, tagged, mojo, etc.) but hell has frozen over: I am experimentally giving this here Twitter gizmo a try.

Let me know if any of you actually use Twitter, and if you do, feel free to add Catclaw:

http://twitter.com/catclawtheatre

I will keep it constantly updated with useless trivial up-to-the-minute nonsense (which is apparently Twitter's purpose) as well as broadcast data that actual Catclaw cast and crew and staff may find useful."

Erin Mann in "The Faery's Kiss"!

2009-02-20T11:40:00.006-05:00

Erin Mann, who played Petra the Bartender in the world premiere of Toulouse-inations, will soon star as Fay Sprite in the world premiere of The Faery's Kiss, Bill Breuer's new romantic comedy.

Breuer describes it as "a modern stageplay in the old folktale tradition, the story has all the traditional elements: love, magic, elements of the bittersweet, mystery, humour and good triumphing over evil - all the things that have made Irish storytelling famous for a millennium!"

The Faery’s Kiss will be performed at the Bullitt Central Auditorium 1330 Hwy 44E (I-65 Exit 117) evenings March 5, 6, 7 & 12, 13, 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday Matinees March 8 th and 15th at 1:30 p.m. Parking is free. Tickets are $10 for adults and $6.75 for children under 12.

(Erin only appears on March 6, 12, 14, and 15, so to see her, be sure and reserve your tickets for those shows!)

Thursday meeting

2009-02-17T11:39:00.004-05:00

Catclaw's next Thursday meeting is February 19, 12:30pm, at J. Gumbo's, 2109 Frankfort Avenue.

Although these are meetings are intended primarily for staff, cast and crew, anyone curious about getting involved with Catclaw is welcome to attend.

"Patrick Amsterdam" Cast Announced

2009-02-16T00:18:00.002-05:00

Further cast announcements have been made for Jeffrey Scott Holland's short play Patrick Amsterdam: Todd Zeigler will play Charlie (Patrick's stoner-dude road manager) and Raquel Cecil will play the omniscient swimsuited narrator.

(Pictured above: Raquel Cecil in Pandora Productions' Last Summer at Bluefish Cove at the Bunbury Theatre.)

Thursday meetings

2009-02-09T10:41:00.003-05:00

As Catclaw enters into high-gear, full-swing activity for the next year and beyond, we're now having weekly Thursday meetings to discuss where we're at and where we're going. Although these are meetings are intended primarily for staff, cast and crew, anyone curious about getting involved with Catclaw is welcome to attend.

This week's meeting will be at 1pm, February 12 at J. Gumbo's at 947 Baxter Avenue (near the intersection of Baxter Avenue, Bardstown Road, and Highland.)

Main topics of discussion will be A Year In the Death of Eddie Jester, fundraising plans, and moving our base of operations to bigger, better quarters.

We may go on a field trip afterwards to the Downtown Convention Center, which is a likely venue for some projects this year.

Super Explosive Intergalactic Grab Bag!

2009-02-02T03:48:00.004-05:00

For our Etsy friends, Appalachian Voodoo Fibers is offering this grab bag package of fiber batts for yarn spinners, as a Catclaw fundraiser!

George Robert Bailey

2009-02-01T20:25:00.003-05:00

George Robert Bailey will star in the title role of Patrick Amsterdam, Jeffrey Scott Holland's new short play about a failed washed-up lounge singer. The play is part of the Finnigan's Festival at the Rudyard Kipling in April.

Previously, George has played Captain Harrigan in The Moon Sees Somebody for Juneteenth, King Sextamus in Once Upon A Mattress for Hayswood Theatre in Corydon, Clown #1 in Catclaw's Toulouse-inations, and the prank-call victim in Brian Walker's Dirty Sexy Derby Play at the MeX Theater. He's also done a number of indie films such as Mountain Mafia, Fourteenth Floor Failure, and Fade to Gray's Perceptions, and appeared on A&E's Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

Free Cheeseburger & Fries MP3s

2009-01-26T19:52:00.004-05:00

In preparation for the opening date of the Cheeseburger & Fries play being announced very soon, we're cooperating with Creeps Records to release the original musty old Cheeseburger & Fries cassette recordings on archive.org's Open Source Audio project.

You can click here to peruse the Cheeseburger & Fries mp3 files made available for free online.

Jeffrey Scott "Cheeseburger" Holland and J.T. "Fries" Dockery made hundreds of raw, obnoxious, primitive recordings between 1995-2002 as a street-busking duo, whose musical principles often including making up spontaneous stream-of-consciouness songs on the spot. All their performances (which were recorded on low-budget handheld tape recorders) are being preserved and archived today by Creeps Records and The Telecrylic Foundation.

Catclaw will be staging Holland's play about his street-musician years this summer, and more information will be announced here very shortly.

(Pictured above: Cheeseburger & Fries standing in the middle of U.S. 25 in Rockcastle County, KY.)

Kentucky Horror Hosts

2009-01-18T20:13:00.002-05:00

The Unusual Kentucky blog has a couple of interesting recent features up this weekend about local television "horror hosts" of yesteryear - Millicent B. Ghastly's Monsterpiece Theater and Sammy Terry's Nightmare Theater.

Catclaw to abandon A-440 tuning?

2009-01-17T02:34:00.002-05:00

Jeffrey Scott Holland's on-again, off-again jazz band, The JSH Combo, have announced their intention to join the growing movement to revert back to the traditional musical tuning of A=432hz. This was the proper Pythagorean standard in classical music until 1938, when the pitch was rounded up to A-440.

Verdi pressed the Italian Parliament to set the standard tuning at A 432 hertz, but in the century since, standard pitch has kept climbing higher and higher. In Berlin, orchestras tune to an A around 448 hertz. In Moscow, the symphony's pitch is even higher, near 450 hertz.

It remains to be seen whether JSH's new tuning policy applies to Catclaw as well.

(photo: Opera Verdi Europa's 2005 production of Verdi's Macbeth.)

Hound Dog Press

2009-01-15T19:22:00.005-05:00

Catclaw is proud to be working with Hound Dog Press for all future printed materials, including business cards, posters, handbills, and what have you. Their old-old-old-school letterpress printing equipment has precisely the mythic resonance we seek.

They're located in the Mellwood Art Center to the right of the front gates and we urge anyone in search of quality letterpress printing to check 'em out! We can't recommend them highly enough.

New Voraxica Blog!

2009-01-14T00:30:00.001-05:00

Yet another blog to add to your RSS feed collection: we have a new blog specially devoted to Voraxica and our Voraxium shows.

Eva Tanguay

2009-01-13T14:13:00.003-05:00

The great 1953 film The I Don't Care Girl (starring Mitzi Gaynor and Oscar Levant) was just on the Fox Movie Channel this morning, showing the modern world amazing choreography and costumes so rarely seen nowadays.

It's the bio story of one of our favorite Vaudeville/burlesque performers, Eva Tanguay, billed as The "I Don't Care" Girl. Wikipedia says:

Aleister Crowley called Tanguay America's equivalent to Europe's music hall greats, Marie Lloyd of England and Yvette Guilbert of France. "The American Genius," he wrote, "is unlike all others. The 'cultured' artist, in this country, is always a mediocrity. … The true American is, above all things, FREE; with all the advantages and disadvantages that that implies. His genius is a soul lonely, disolate, reaching to perfection in some unguessed direction. … Eva Tanguay is the perfect American artist. She is... starry chaste in her colossal corruption."

Eva Tanguay is remembered for brassy self-confident songs that symbolized the emancipated woman,` such as "It's All Been Done Before But Not the Way I Do It," "I Want Someone to Go Wild With Me," "Go As Far As You Like," and "That's Why They Call Me Tabasco." In showbiz circles, she was nicknamed the "I Don’t Care Girl," after her most famous song, "I Don’t Care."

Tanguay spent lavishly on both publicity campaigns and costumes. One obituary notes that a "clever manager" told Tanguay early in her career that money made money, and she never forgot the lesson, buying huge ads at her own expense, and on one occasion allegedly spending twice her salary on publicity. She also got her name in the papers for allegedly being kidnapped, allegedly having her jewels stolen, and getting fined $50 in Louisville, Kentucky for throwing a stagehand down a flight of stairs.

Now that's our kind of performer!

In 1922 Eva made a 78 RPM record of her "I Don't Care" song, and you can hear it on The Creeps Records MP3 Blog.

New Toulouse-inations Pics on Flickr

2009-01-12T02:52:00.002-05:00

Quite a few new photos of Toulouse-inations rehearsals, dress rehearsals, backstage, etc. are now up on our Flickr account.

"Patrick Amsterdam" at the Rudyard Kipling

2009-01-11T13:33:00.004-05:00

Jeffrey Scott Holland's Patrick Amsterdam has been accepted to Brian Walker's annual short plays competition called Finnigan's Festival of Funky Fresh Fun.

Rehearsals will begin Sunday, March 15 in St. Matthews. Shows will be at The Rudyard Kipling in Old Louisville. The dates are: April 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 & 25, at 7:30pm.

Something Good, Something Sad

2009-01-10T18:36:00.005-05:00

Ever heard of the Cherry Sisters? They're widely regarded as the worst show-business act ever, and that's a mighty tall reputation to live up to. And yet, the more we learn of their taste-defying radioactive powers, the more we wish we could bring them back from the dead and put them onstage in a Catclaw production today.

Saith the Wikipedia:

The Cherry Sisters' vaudeville act was formed in the early 1890s, after the death of their parents and the disappearance of their brother Nathan. Originally all five sisters were involved, however, the eldest, Ella, retired from the stage before 1896, leaving her siblings to continue the act as a quartet.

Addie Cherry described the Cherry Sisters' work as "concerts,--literary entertainments." Entitled Something Good, Something Sad, their show featured songs, dances, skits, morality plays and essays authored and performed by the sisters. Some of their songs featured new lyrics set to traditional standards; others were completely original compositions. Musical accompaniment was provided for some numbers by Elizabeth and Jessie, who played the piano and bass drum. The material had strong patriotic and religious themes; in one scene, Jessie was suspended from a cross in an imitation of the crucifixion.

The act was received politely by the sisters' neighbors in Marion, but when it went on the road, it received overwhelmingly negative responses from the audiences to which it played. Spectators routinely laughed, heckled, catcalled and threw vegetables at the sisters throughout the entire performance. In several instances the audience violence reached dangerous proportions: in one incident in Dubuque, a fire extinguisher was sprayed directly into one of the sisters' faces, and the show was stopped by the local marshalls to prevent further harm. Eventually the sisters performed behind a wire mesh curtain to avoid being struck by projectiles from the audience, although they would later deny that this had ever been necessary.

In 1896, the Cherry Sisters were brought to Broadway by impresario Oscar Hammerstein in an attempt to attract attention to his floundering new venue, the Olympia Music Hall. His rationale, as given in an interview, was, "I've been putting on the best talent, and it hasn't gone over...I'm going to try the worst." The theory was sound: Something Good, Something Sad saved Hammerstein from bankruptcy only twelve days after opening on November 16, and ran for six weeks, drawing audiences who were curious to see the act the New York Times referred to as "Four Freaks from Iowa". The Times, in their assessment of the sisters, considered the act "more pitiable than amusing" and noted "...the effects of poverty, ignorance, and isolation are much the same all over the world, and the Cherry sisters exhibited every one of them with a pathetic frankness that left no question as to their status or their character."

Two of the Cherry Sisters are pictured above (in case you thought it was a photo of Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons).

Secretary of the Arts?

2009-01-09T16:23:00.006-05:00

We received a mass email today that went out to all TAL members:

Quincy Jones has started a petition to ask President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position. We in the arts need this and the country needs the arts--now more than ever. Please take a moment to sign this important petition and then pass it on to your friends and colleagues.

http://www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html

We at Catclaw certainly support the idea of an "Arts czar" in principle, although we expect it would degenerate into the same cut-throat jockeying for position that already goes on in the grant-hustling world. One beneficial thing that a Secretary of the Arts could institute would be an official United States of America theatre, and an official United States of America art gallery, representing our nation's arts from an all-inclusive perspective. Now that we'd like to see.

With all the problems Obama has been stuck with by the previous administration, we don't foresee arts funding to be anywhere near his top priority, nor should it be. (Catclaw is not a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and does not seek State or Federal arts grants. What we do is funded solely by our own private fundraising efforts and self-determinism.)

And lastly, the "Petition Online" is hardly a reputable or useful vehicle for pitching a major restructuring of the Federal Government via a new cabinet post (especially so soon after the previous administration has spent billions on another new cabinet post, the useless Department of Homeland Security). We're looking into the possibility of lobbying the incoming Obama administration through Jeffrey Scott Holland's Washington, D.C. bureau.

Patrick Amsterdam

2009-01-05T23:51:00.002-05:00

Artistic Director Jeffrey Scott Holland has written a new play called Patrick Amsterdam, about a failed washed-up lounge singer and his desperate quest for success.

Shermia Love sings "Nothing Is Ever Really What It Seems"

2008-12-31T00:09:00.004-05:00

Another excerpt from Toulouse-inations at the Kentucky Center. Shermia Love plays Marie, and sings this song in Madame Doucet's run-down, ragged, low-budget cabaret and brothel.

Be sure and click the link that says "watch in high quality".

Catclaw 2009 Planning Meeting

2008-12-28T18:40:00.004-05:00

WHAT: Catclaw 2009 Planning Meeting, in which we'll attempt to determine the gameplan for the 2009-2010 season.

WHERE: The Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center, 1860 Mellwood Avenue, Butchertown, Louisville. View map here.

WHEN: Sunday, January 4th, 2:00pm.

"Toulouse-inations" clip now on YouTube

2008-12-27T21:38:00.005-05:00

Hy Stein plays art dealer George Luntsen, who drops in to pay Toulouse-Lautrec a visit while in Paris.

Be sure and click the link that says "watch in high quality" for maximum aesthetic duplication.

Catclaw goes to Washington

2008-12-23T19:41:00.004-05:00

If, by chance, you're an actor/writer/theatre tech person and reading this from the MD/VA/DE/DC area, check in with our Washington DC bureau. We're looking for fresh faces and talent for upcoming productions there, and would love to talk to you!

For more information contact Strother at strothergaines@gmail.com.

(pictured above: Gateway to Washington D.C.'s Chinatown, H Street.)

Appalachian Voodoo Fibers!

2008-12-22T19:48:00.004-05:00

Our artistic director Jeffrey Scott Holland has yet another new enterprise: Appalachian Voodoo Fibers, in which he takes on the traditionally female-dominated realm of yarn.

"I've always been big on fabrics, sewing, yarn, and such", said JSH in a press release. "To me, it's no different from carpentry or bricklaying, or sculpture, in that you're taking raw materials and smushing them together by any means necessary. As with my painting, my music, and practically everything else I've ever done in life, my fiber-art pursuits are raw, primitive, expressionist, and more about immediacy and results than the sort of finesse and grace one normally expects from the genre".

One of the hottest fiber items these days with the Etsy-Craftster-Ravelry crowd is the fiber "Batt", which JSH describes as "a big loaf of assorted fiber strands, spun like cotton candy on a medieval torture device called a drum carder. The resultant loaf is a favored way for people to spin their own handmade yarn from."

These batts and other handmade JSH retro-primitivo outsider-folk-art goodies will soon be made available on Catclaw's very own Etsy store, which acts as a fundraiser for the cause to which we are all so devoted. Check these links out:

http://catclawtheatre.etsy.com

http://jshfiber.blogspot.com/

First Annual Catclaw MVP Awards!

2008-12-11T18:23:00.004-05:00

The Catclaw Theatre Company proudly announces our "Most Valuable Player" awards for 2008!

The Most Valuable Player award goes to actors we've worked with over the course of the year who have exemplified these qualities:

Outstanding performance

Positive, go-getter attitude

Kept the drama onstage and not backstage!

This year, awards go to Shermia Love and Carolyn Purcell. Both appeared in our August 2008 production of Toulouse-inations, and Shermia was also a founding Catclaw member, having attended our very first formative meeting at Ditto's in January 2008.

Above: Shermia Love as Marie the Cabaret singer in Toulouse-inations. Below: Carolyn Purcell as the Fortune Teller in Toulouse-inations.

Honorable mention/runners-up: Erin Mann and Jill-Marie Schierbaum.

Wunderlich on FOX 41

2008-11-21T11:11:00.002-05:00

Costuming director Terry Wunderlich was on Louisville's FOX 41 TV this morning, plugging the Good Folk Fest (at which her art will be on display) and Catclaw!

Help Support the Republic of Lakotah

2008-11-17T17:05:00.004-05:00

Catclaw Theatre Company supports the independent Native American Republic of Lakotah, and this winter is already a very hard one for them - hundreds are currently snowbound and without electrical power. We ask anyone reading this blog to send something, anything, to them to help them out. Food and clothing can be sent to this address:

Relief
T.R.E.A.T.Y. SCHOOL
P.O. BOX 99
444 Crazy Horse Drive
Porcupine, SD 57772

Baer's Last Gasp

2008-10-26T01:06:00.004-04:00

We were dumbfounded when Baer's Fabrics abruptly announced its immediate closing earlier this summer, and were pleasantly amazed when they temporarily resurrected themselves a couple of weeks ago with a 50-percent-off sale.

Then it became 60 percent, and now, this evening, we just received an email notice from Baer's that they're upping the stakes to a 70 percent off everything sale for one more week only.

Catclaw staffers have already plucked everything we could get our hands on while fighting off the insane crowds, but I'm sure I'll spend some time lingering down at Baer's this week. Not to buy anything but just to stroll around the old building one last time, while I still can. I'll miss the building itself just as much as its wares, and even if someone puts it on the market for sale or rent later, it's probably a safe bet that they'll remodel it and ruin its anachronistic charm.

Will you help Catclaw?

2008-09-09T11:50:00.013-04:00

Catclaw Theatre Company depends on the vital contributions and support from donors. Our work is aimed directly at benefitting the community by bringing new quality and variety to the theatre scene in Kentucky and surrounding areas. Furthermore, for our traveling productions, we intend to promote Kentucky actors and give them new opportunities to make their talents known to a national (and even international) audience.

We have a goal of setting up our own theatre space in Louisville by this time next year. Help us reach that goal!

No donation is too small, and all donors will receive acknowledgement in our playbills and newsletters, plus receive special discounts and thank-you gifts. For supporters giving over $500, your donation will include exclusive VIP invitations to upcoming special events, as well as other benefits we haven't even thought of yet. Contact us for details on how superdonors will get free tickets for life, and/or free advertising in our playbills for life!

You can also support us by purchasing items from our eBay auctions, and if there's anything else we can do for you, just let us know. Seriously. We'll come over and cook you dinner and paint your fence and shovel the snow from your driveway for a donation. You tell us what you need.

Catclaw Theatre Company is not a 501(c)(3) entity at this time and gifts to us are not tax-deductible at present.

Our Paypal account address is catclawtheatre@gmail.com. To donate, click the Paypal button below:

Shermia Love in LEO!

2008-08-29T10:44:00.003-04:00

Catclaw's very own Shermia Love has a great writeup in this week's special Arts & Entertainment issue of LEO Magazine, by theatre critic Sherry Deatrick! An excerpt:

A member of the Catclaw Theatre Company, she just finished performing in "Toulouse-inations". Playing Marie, one of the ladies of the night, was her favorite role so far, she says, because it showcased all her talents. Yes, she’s one of those triple-threats: dancer/actor/singer.

We're thrilled to be working with Shermia, and note proudly that her stunning rendition of Jeffrey Scott Holland's song "Nothing Is Ever Really What It Seems" was the centerpiece of Toulouse-inations and was the most highly praised aspect of the show by audience members.

Karissa Singleton

2008-08-13T22:53:00.003-04:00

We salute Karissa Singleton, Catclaw's resident Stage Manager, who literally was the backbone of Toulouse-inations!

From day one, Karissa immersed herself into the play and ran rings around the rest of us with her "get the job done" can-do attitude. With Catclaw, "Stage Manager" tends to have the broadest possible definition, and Karissa was doing everything from helping Terry with costumes to helping Vanessa run lights (she did it completely solo on closing night) to bringing me McDonald's fries when I was hung over. She also ran the entire prop department herself, and even handled some Assistant Director duties.

Karissa will be in the Director's chair herself when the JSH DC offices bring Catclaw and Toulouse-inations to our nation's capitol, Washington, D.C., in a few months.

- - JSH

Backstage photos

2008-08-12T00:09:00.006-04:00

Some photos taken backstage during Toulouse-inations:

1. Erik DiCicco (Tumblety), Jennifer Thompson (The Green Fairy), costume designer Terry Wunderlich, and Justin Rich (Clown #3) having a handheld device party in the Green Room.
2. The disturbingly Gacy-esque Clown #1 (George Bailey) conferring with Carolyn Purcell (The Fortune Teller).
3. Ashley Rose Stallings, Andrena Senola Johnson, Shermia Love and Erin Mann primping to get that Catclaw look just right.

Cheeseburger and Fries : The Musical

2008-08-11T18:14:00.004-04:00

Jeffrey Scott Holland, author of Toulouse-inations, is now working on a new play entitled Cheeseburger and Fries, concerning a pair of minimal-talent street-busking musicians struggling to ply their trade on the sidewalks of Kentucky.

In fact, the play is a true story of sorts, since it's based on an actual busking duo called Cheeseburger and Fries (JSH was "Cheeseburger", and J.T. Dockery was "Fries") that frightened tourists and pedestrians for years on the streets of Lexington and in surrounding counties.

Says JSH: "Together, they learn to face the opaque amorphous horror that is modern humanity, via confrontationally atonal bluesmanship. Along the way we also meet their mysterious friend Ed, who has a penchant for making surreal and oracular pronouncements, often at the most socially inopportune times".

Cheeseburger and Fries is expected to have a Louisville opening, probably in Spring 2009.

(Photo: Cheeseburger and Fries before a performance in Georgetown, KY, circa 1997.)

Last chance for Toulouse-inations

2008-08-10T08:23:00.002-04:00

The final show in this production of Toulouse-inations comes today, in the form of a 2pm matinee. Don't miss this last historic chance to see the show in its earliest embryonic form!

We'd like to thank everyone who turned out to see the play so far, and the overwhelmingly positive response we've received. If you saw the show and would like to be added to our mailing list, just drop us a line!

Extra special thanks goes out to Noelle Shotwell at the MEX Theatre for making our Kentucky Center experience a very warm and pleasant one at the end of the day!

Toulouse-inations opens tonight!

2008-08-07T07:36:00.004-04:00

And so, dear readers, the time has come in which the juggernaut that is Toulouse-inations shall be unleashed, like Frankenstein's monster, out into the world. It's too late to stop it now and the world will, quite literally in a quantum sense, never be the same.

We apologize in advance for nightmares, behavioral changes, paranormal manifestations, existential anxiety, sexual arousal, confusion, past-life regression, spiritual transcendence, intrinsic aesthetic alterations, awakened kundalini, retrocognition, midlife crises, migraine headaches or poltergeists that occur due to viewing women in anachronistic underwear discussing things like the smell of Vincent Van Gogh's beard.

See you at the Kentucky Center at 8pm.

The Sudden Death of Baer Fabrics

2008-07-20T04:58:00.005-04:00

Everyone was stunned to hear that Baer Fabrics made an abrupt announcement that they were closing their doors forever, effective immediately at 5pm yesterday.

The announcement came with zero warning, and gave little or no heads-up to even their own employees. No "going out of business" sale was held. One day the store was there, and then suddenly it just wasn't.

I think that's really, really, really odd. And troubling.

Baer's had been in continuous business for over a century, and Catclaw had come to depend highly on them for their astonishingly deep selection of everything fabric-related. Their button department alone boggled the mind with its tens of thousands of incredible buttons of all conceivable varities. Much of our supplies for Toulouse-inations comes from their wonderful costuming department.

Baer's always referred to themselves as "The world's largest button and fabric store", and though this probably wasn't quite true - I feel certain that it must be dwarfed by someplace in NYC, Europe, India or China - it's nevertheless a great loss for the entire world of fabrics, textiles and fiber. Not to mention us.

Toulouse-inations tickets now on sale!

2008-07-17T07:22:00.003-04:00

That's right, you heard right, a truly historic once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has arrived - your chance to score tickets to the first-ever production of Jeffrey Scott Holland's Toulouse-inations at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Louisville!

After its run in Louisville, the show will go on to play in other cities and will set its sights on an Off-Off-Broadway production in NYC in 2009. Says JSH:

"By sheer persistence, stubbornness, and plugging away, this play will eke out a reputation for itself, for better or for worse, by hook or by crook, a bis ou a blanc".

Someday you'll kick yourself for not having jumped on this chance to see the show in its very first raw incarnation with its original cast, so save your future self the anguish of hindsight, and purchase tickets NOW!

Consult the Kentucky Center's schedule here, select "August", and click on "Toulouse-inations" to peruse and purchase. The show opens August 7 and runs for FOUR DAYS ONLY.

Questions? Call the Kentucky Center at 502.562.0100 or Catclaw Theatre Company at 502.649.3378.

JSH book signing in Lexington, KY

2008-07-12T08:21:00.003-04:00

Catclaw's artistic director, Jeffrey Scott Holland, will be on hand at the grand opening of Morris Book Shop in Lexington, KY today at 2pm to sign copies of his new best-selling book Weird Kentucky!

Morris Book Shop is located at 408 Southland Drive in Lexington.

Toulouse-inations rehearsal photos

2008-07-05T23:49:00.004-04:00

Kate Holland

2008-06-30T21:38:00.003-04:00

Catclaw Theatre is very excited to have Kate Holland playing the part of Madame Doucet in Toulouse-inations, opening at the Kentucky Center For The Performing Arts on August 7th. Madame Doucet is the stern, dictatorial overseer of a brothel/bar in Paris where Toulouse-Lautrec sometimes stays for long periods of time.

Kate has most recently been seen in Broadway at Iroquois' production of Willy Wonka, as Grandma Josephina. Other notable roles include Joanna in Stephen Sondheim's Company, Little Sally in Urinetown, Princess Escalus in Romeo and Juliet, and multiple roles in PEACC's production of The Vagina Monologues. She's studied under luminaries such as Dennis Krausnick, Rinda Frye, Jim Hesselman, and Nefertiti Burton, and simply radiates talent.

Catclaw Theatre goes Brick-and-mortar in 2009!

2008-06-23T21:19:00.003-04:00

It's our intent that by this time next year, we at Catclaw will have our own autonomous theatre space. This will enable us to put on high-frequency high-quality shows completely under our own control, free from the many random terrestrial variables that can be a pitfall for fledging companies.

Would you like to help us achieve this noble goal, dear reader, and thus help better serve the cause to which we are all so devoted? Please contact us and let's figure out ways we can work together to make this happen. We welcome donations of any size, and will do our best to insure that your money was well spent. (Note: Catclaw is a new company and donations to us are not tax-deductible at this time.)

Forgotten Scripts

2008-06-21T00:22:00.003-04:00

It's a pet peeve of mine that so many theatre companies tend to put on the same three dozen plays, over and over, eternally. In fact, it seems like theatre nowadays is split into two camps: one that fetishizes newness for its own sake and puts on "new plays" regardless if they're any good or not; and the other side obsesses on well-worn familiar plays that everyone knows and has already seen multiple times.

But what about the vast untapped ocean of plays that aren't new, but have rarely been seen in years, perhaps decades and even centuries?

I have a copy of the 1953-1960 edition of Wilson's Play Index and it never fails to fascinate me, reading the short and bewildering plot summaries of scores of obscure plays that have probably never been staged in my lifetime. Reading these summaries for prolonged periods of time has a very surreal effect on my consciousness. Here's just a smattering of examples:

He Said He Was Santa by Edith Quick and James O. Fluckey, 1953. "When Santa gets lost in Swiss Alps he is rescued by gnomes who decide to cut off his hair and give him a shave while he is asleep." Three acts.

My Bus is Always Late by James Gibson, 1955. "Old lady waiting for bus in suburban bus station befriends a vagrant and reconciles a young couple." One act.

The Prescott Proposals by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. "Charming American woman finds her work on United Nations committee jeopardized by Communist intrigue." (I was surprised to learn that this play actually opened on Broadway in 1953 for a short run. I bet it's hardly been done since then, though.)

The Pastor's Guiding Hand by Lois M. Sandberg. "One day in the life of New England clergyman in 1872 as he settles quarrels and problems, and is mainstay of his parish". Two acts.

Out of the Mist by Olive Price. "Mysterious space man figures in young man's plot to win back his girlfriend from her absorption in astronomy". Three acts.

Paper Foxhole by James Elward. "In order to speed up return home at end of World War II, American soldiers in non-combat zone of Pacific stage fake attack by Japanese guerillas." (This one was actually staged on live television in 1956, on Kraft Television Theatre, and it was Rance Howard's second-ever role.)

Crispin the Tailor by Lillian Douglas. "A tailor and a magic bird drive away some witches and restore the count's lost daughter". One act.

Many of the fascinating entries don't even include these meager descriptions, and we can only speculate on their content from their enigmatic titles, like N. McCaslin's "The Gift of Corn", and S. Sakanishi's "Plop! Click!".

Okay, well, so maybe these aren't the best examples to prove my point.

But nevertheless, there is a vast treasure trove of plays out there that have been long forgotten and deserve dusting off, waiting for some unthinkably horrible hand to rescue them from the memory hole.

I am that unthinkably horrible hand.

- - JSH

Pianist needed for "Toulouse-inations"

2008-06-18T09:51:00.005-04:00

To whom it may concern:

We're looking for a pianist who can accompany cabaret singers for four very simple, bluesy (I-IV-V changes) musical numbers in Catclaw Theatre's "Toulouse-inations" for five performances.

Ability to play "head arrangements" without sheet music is a plus. So is some familiarity with jazz.

Pianist will be compensated. Contact us for details.

The performance schedule is:

Thu, August 7 - 8pm
Fri, August 8 - 8pm
Sat, August 9 - 8pm
Sun August 10 - 2pm

The show is at the Mex Theatre, Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.

Contact:

Stage Manager Karissa Singleton at kksingleton@gmail.com or 593-7948, or:

Artistic Director Jeffrey Scott Holland at catclawtheatre@gmail.com or 649-3378.

Be a Catclaw Volunteer!

2008-06-17T00:18:00.003-04:00

Now that rehearsals are underway for Toulouse-inations, we're scouting for reliable volunteers to help out in all departments: costumes, props, sets, gophering, transportation, moving, and front-of-house staff.

There's no direct pay involved but we do throw some pretty decent parties. Front-of-house staff volunteers also get to see the play for free.

To help, contact Stage Manager Karissa Singleton at kksingleton@gmail.com.

Voraxical disclaimer and consumer warning

2008-06-16T20:44:00.009-04:00

In case we weren't clear previously, what took place at the BBC Taproom as part of the Louisville Theatre Hop was most assuredly not a Voraxium show, despite having originally been billed as such.

Hostess and emcee Jennifer Ray announced at the very outset that due to certain factors that would not be named, there'd been a change of plans and the program for the evening would now instead be "Friends of the Voraxium", and would essentially be a stripped-down minimalist performance art piece in which mostly nothing happens. And oh my goodness, darling, did we ever deliver.

It's come to our attention that some folks were confuzzled by what they saw. Good. Some complained that it "wasn't burlesque". Yes, we know. Voraxica is not burlesque. Voraxica is to the 21st century what burlesque was to the 19th and 20th. But you know, even having said that, some people need to be reminded that if what they saw at the BBC that didn't fit their idea of what "burlesque" is, then they need to re-educate themselves. Here, let us help:

The original true Burlesque shows, way back in the day, like before your parents were born, literally meant a deliberately lame hodgepodge variety show, usually held in a crappy venue, usually consisting of bad songs by inept performers, and jokes from comedians who weren't very funny. Originally it had very little to do with striptease and "hot chicks" dancing for your pleasure. If you walked away from the BBC show disappointed that you didn't see strippers, well, hey, sorry about your luck, Jack.

Does this mean there's no nudity in Voraxium shows? Oh, heck no, we run around stark naked at the drop of a hat when we're feelin' it. But if we show up and decide that our performance for the evening will be to play Scrabble in Aunt Bee hats while you get the privilege of watching us exclaim "triple word score!", then like it or lump it, buster.

To be fair, we certainly understand that the mass-market pop-culture appropriation of the "burlesque" meme has led many to the popular misconception that a burlesque event is supposed to consist of women in faux-retro Betty Page haircuts, either flouncing around with a feather boa and high heels, or looking like a Suicide Girls wanna-be goth dominatrix reject, or both; either doing some sort of weak "trying to be old school" boop-boop-a-doop striptease or trying for modern hipster shock value like cutting into your flesh with huge hooks as a burlesque act, or both.

We ain't really into any of that, honey-bunny. Sorry. I said it before but I guess nobody heard me.

Anyway, it doesn't matter, because I must strenuously repeat, this was not a burlesque show, and it most certainly was not, not, NOT a Voraxium show. (But you may not like an actual Voraxium show either. We're not for everyone. Certainly not for the faint of heart or short of sight.)

At the recent controversial show in question, however, you got skits and snappy repartee with a crossdresser and a peculiar eccentric woman dressed like Uncle Sam's stepdaughter. You got amazing leftist-Ayn Rand-inspired songs from said woman, giving you a rare sneak preview of what one day will be her very successful musical. You got the amazing and mysterious winged dancer Ten - her name is just "Ten", like, nine plus one, dig? - who gave the public far more dancing than they deserved. And most important of all, you got the marathon live art-modeling session with Terry Wunderlich showing much skin and spinning tasty yarn, and for that alone, we rule. Yes we do.

I think Jennifer Ray summed it up best when she declared to the crowd (after her third Altbier): "We're not here for your amusement! You're here for ours!"

Even funnier, the real striptease show took place outside, around the corner, in Nanny Goat Strut, just minutes after almost everyone left, for those in the know. If you weren't there, then you missed it. Those that were are now die-hard fans!

Vanessa Ferguson

2008-06-15T01:05:00.002-04:00

Meet Catclaw's new lighting design/tech person for Toulouse-inations, Vanessa Ferguson!

In addition to being a skilled lighting director in shows such as the ST@B Festival of Shorts and David Lindsay-Abaire's Snow Angel, Vanessa is also an actor well respected for her roles in Beyond Therapy, Dead Man Walking, Wild in the Streets and Finnigan Productions' original play My Daddy's Name is Big Oil.

Call for Plays for 2009!

2008-06-14T22:29:00.003-04:00

Catclaw is making a call (but not a catcall) for playwrights to submit new plays, especially from Kentucky but also from anywhere else in the solar system.

Short plays, one-acts, children's plays, musicals and full-length productions are all being sought for 2009. Don't try to predict or second-guess what we might like - it can't be done. We're completely omnivorous and polyamorous. So contact us!

The call is ongoing and currently without deadline.

A cover letter should include the title of the play, the playwright's name, address, telephone numbers, e-mail address, and a brief bio. Multiple submissions are welcomed.