Kate Holland

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!

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

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"

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!

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

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 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

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.