Burlesque’s Feminist History

by moxielicious

Why Burlesque? So let’s dive in for a moment and learn a little something about the shake and shimmy of the art form that has inspired our 2013 Annual Fundraiser An Evening of Burlesque with MOXIE on May 25th featuring performances by a bit o’ Burlesque and a finale’ by the MOXIEs! Chances are, you’ll learn it’s a whole lot more than you thought!

Lydia Thompson and the British Blondes toured the US in 1860 revolutionized how we saw Burlesque.

We chose our favorite summary of Burlesque written by Burlesque performer Burgundy Brixx. You can learn more about Burgundy and other Burlesque performers on www.burlesquestars.net

 A brief History of Burlesque:

Burlesque itself was first recognized as a theatrical art form in the mid 1800’s, although its roots clearly lie in our human nature and early Greek comedy. Our foremother of burlesque is recognized as Lydia Thompson. Performer, producer, troupe-leader, and writer, she is accredited with popularizing burlesque shows in Europe, and bringing burlesque to America. The burlesque that began thriving in the 1840’s was inherently feminist in nature. Women were breaking new ground by creating, producing and acting – including the male roles while wearing such shape-revealing men’s costumes as Greek togas – in witty, earthy productions that commented on society and in doing so, challenged women’s roles in that society. As earthy humor and skimpy attire were always at burlesque’s core, it makes sense that as society became more liberal, so did the art form.

Minsky’s was one of the most famous Burlesque houses in New York from 1912-1937

Soon the theatrical form evolved into burlesque’s “Golden Age” of the 1930’s in shows that included saucy showgirls in revealing costumes singing songs full of double entendres, operatic singers crooning popular ballads, top comics performing blue comedy and of course, striptease. This was the era of the big burlesque strip-tease stars headlining the shows. As time wore on, the theatres closed and burlesque moved to the nightclubs. The down-size eliminated a lot of the large-scale theatrics and began focusing on the strip-teasers in the 1940’s. Most full burlesque theatres were gone by the 1950’s.

Why is it so popular today?

We live in an era of immediacy and burlesque is short-attention-span-theatre. It has the ability to give an audience absolute gratification in a short period of time. We’re also in a period of economic unrest, and historically Burlesque always thrived during similar times, with the Great Depression of the 1930’s being the golden heyday of the art. It was always touted as “working class entertainment”.  The jokes poked fun at the rich, and the strip-teasers peeled out of gowns more decadent and elegant as ones worn by the wealthiest of matrons, showing that we all have the same flesh and humanity underneath. And that, dear friends, is the naked truth!

And there you have it. The MOXIEs are thrilled to party down with you Burlesque style on May 25th 8pm at An Evening of Burlesque with MOXIE. We invite you to put together a costume, maybe even create your own Burlesque name and join us for a little libation and liberation. Tickets on sale now www.moxietheatre.com/burlesque or call 858-598-7620

Depression and Recession – Our Intern Speaks

by moxielicious

Gottlieb, Harry, “New York Skyline”

MOXIE’s intern Liz is WICKED SMART. We never want to let her go. We asked her to give us some insight into Trestle since she’s been creating study guides for the show. After you read this, don’t try to steal her from us…unless you’re a grad school cuz apparently she thinks that’s worth leaving her unpaid job with us for.

Since reading the script for The Trestle At Pope Lick Creek my MO has been to bring as many people as possible to MOXIE to see this amazing performance.  I’ve been talking it up to friends, coworkers, and even trying to convince my parents to fly across the country. The problem is that every time I mention Trestle’s Depression Era setting, it has a tendency to kill the conversation. For many of my peers who are out of work or underemployed, and have been for much of the Great Recession, spending an evening watching a play about people struggling through the Great Depression doesn’t hold much appeal.

But ”Grapes of Wrath” this is not. Nor is Trestle an overwhelmingly depressing reminder of present tough times for those of us who are struggling in this recession. Naomi Wallace’s award-winning work transcends the 1930s with characters whose struggles are identifiable and relatable. Two teenagers seeking to define their relationship with each other and the world around them; a woman trying to save her family, job and husband from the grips of the Depression; a man who has lost his job and with it any sense of meaning. The Depression setting was not off-putting, but rather provided context for universal conflicts; it could just as easily be a story about rural America in 1982 or 2012. It is especially relevant now as America lingers in the Great Recession, unemployment hovers at 8.3%, and much of our country questions the reality of the American Dream.

Trestle makes us wonder whether or not the American Dream of upward mobility and hard work translating to success still exists. Regardless of the answer, does that mean that all hope is lost, that we should give up and fade into forgotten history? Despite the odds they face, the characters in Trestle choose to move forward and not to give up all hope. Just as Americans survived the Great Depression, we too will move through the Great Recession. We have an opportunity to reinvent ourselves as a society and as individuals we will come out stronger in the end.

The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek is playing now – Oct 28, 2012.  Learn more and buy tickets at www.moxietheatre.com/trestle

From Rejected Christmas Tree to Star – An Interview with “Trestle” Cast Member Michelle Brooks

by moxielicious

Cast member Michelle Brooks takes a moment from rehearsal for The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek to answer a few questions. This is Michelle’s first MOXIE show.  In fact, the whole cast of Trestle is new to MOXIE so this is the first part in an ongoing series dedicated to learning more about these new members of our MOXIE family!

 

We’re pretty sure that’s Michelle there in the pink.

1. When did you start acting Michelle?

When I was in first grade, I was in a school production of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. I was one of the trees that Charlie Brown doesn’t pick.

2. What was the last production you were involved in?

“Boston Marriage” at Compass Theatre.

3. This is your first time working with Delicia and MOXIE. What’s it been like so far?

It has been rewarding and challenging. Everyone is easy to work with and generous of spirit. Delicia is wonderful. She’s gutsy, smart, and has a strong vision. I trust her completely.

4. You’re playing Gin in “The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek”. Can you tell me about the character?

 Gin is a woman who is determined to make things better for her family and save her marriage. She fights fiercely to make this happen during the Great Depression.

 5. The play has deep historical context. Have you done any  research in order to prepare? If so, what?

 Yes, I have watched couple films that place during the Great
Depression such as “Cinderella Man” and “They Shoot Horses, Don’t
They?”. In addition, I have become fast friends with the internet
investigating workers rights during the 1930s, unions, the WPA,
textile factories, and women in the 1930s.

  6. What do you think audiences will appreciate most in this
production?

  In an earlier blog post about the play, I love the image that Delicia
 evoked about Eve “daring to taste that apple”. I think that is what
audiences will appreciate most in this production- the boldness of the characters and the ideas. 

Thanks Michelle! We’re looking forward to sharing your work with our audiences during The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek which runs Sep 29 – Oct 28, 2012. To purchase tickets Click Here or call 858-598-7620.

Daring To Taste That Apple – Delicia Speaks About Directing, Naomi Wallace and Eve

by moxielicious

Paul Serusier’s “Eve Picking the Apple” – 1906

I asked Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, MOXIE’s Artistic Director and the director of Naomi Wallace’s The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, to speak with me about directing and her current project. In true Delicia form, she tossed me this bit o’ brilliance:

As an artist I am very influenced by my early childhood recollections of growing up in the South. I was struck by the contradictions there – the clarity of seeing humanity at its worst AND its best. My granddaddy’s a preacher, and I loved going to church. I loved how a story could spark my imagination and rouse my soul (it’s this love of rousing stories that now drives my passion for Theatre). When I first heard the story of Adam and Eve, I could just picture her standing there before the Tree of Knowledge being beguiled by the Serpent. Naked. Wanting to KNOW.  Daring to taste that apple. The sheer audacity of the moment blew me away. I’m sure that’s not what my granddaddy or my Sunday school teacher wanted me to take away. But, Eve naked and vulnerable, yet still courageous enough to act – I just never got over it. As Artistic Director of MOXIE Theatre, I aspire to uncover provocative female voices writing for the Theatre and I work to change ideas about what people consider “women’s work.” As a director, I am most drawn to stories that pit individuals against larger forces:  humans vs. nature, family vs. self, individuals vs. injustice, Eve vs. God.

I fall in love with playwrights the way others fall in love with rock stars. My newest love is Naomi Wallace.  Directing her play, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek feels like a privilege.  It has everything I am drawn to in a play- great story, complex characters and provocative imagery. Like the Eve from my imagination, Naomi is not contented, but dares to ask big questions: What happens to hard working people when the American Dream becomes a nightmare?  What happens to the next generation?  The characters in this play are not content either.  They are battling forces much bigger than themselves, literally and figuratively.  And, ultimately reminding us all of the smallness of humanity, and at the same time humanity’s courage in the face of great odds. 

Graphic Design by Tess Rigby

Don’t miss seeing Delicia work her magic and hearing why Naomi Wallace is a genius. No, really, she won the MacArthur “Genius Grant” so we aren’t exaggerating. The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek Sep 29 – Oct 28, 2012 at MOXIE Theatre. Buy Tickets Now or call 858-598-7620.

The Trestle at….what?

by moxielicious

Graphic Design by Tess Rigby

Yeah, we hear you. It’s a mouth full but The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek is more than the title of the first show of Season 8 at MOXIE, it’s a real place that’s spawned urban legends and seen the tragic loss of many lives. Naomi Wallace’s play doesn’t claim to be based on any real events but the heart of her story takes place under a trestle (a bridge trains cross over) in Kentucky, which also happens to be Wallace’s home state. The real Trestle at Pope Lick Creek has attracted many visitors who have sadly dared to cross the tracks, despite the construction of an 8 foot fence which the town hoped would keep dare devils out. When the train crosses there is nowhere to hide which forces people to jump or face the train. Some people claim there is actually a monster, the Pope Lick Monster, that lures people onto the tracks with voice mimicry or hypnosis. The monster is supposed to be a human/goat hybrid and some say it was once a circus freak.

There’s no monster in Wallace’s play, unless you count the Great Depression which looms over the lives of all the characters, or the 560 ton train that thunders over the trestle, but here is one hell of wicked twist. We hope your curiosity is piqued. The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek runs Sept 29 – Oct 28, 2012 at MOXIE. We can’t wait to share this haunting and beautiful play with San Diego!

Buy Tickets Now or call 858-598-7620

Learn more about the place and the monster here

Is the theatre subscriber dead?

by moxielicious

Why subscribe? I mean really…why buy a bunch of tickets to shows that take place over the next year that you have no idea whether or not you’ll like? The subscriber is someone theatres have relied on for a long time, but it’s a model that’s becoming increasingly difficult to sell. Most audiences claim they’d prefer to purchase single tickets, even if they’re more expensive, to the shows they’re interested in.

The album I remember looking forward to purchasing the most

This scenario brings to mind another industry that has drastically changed recently, music. I am part of the last generation to buy the album, or in my case, the cassette tape. It was thrilling to go to the local record shop and pick up the newest album by your new favorite band. Opening the case, pouring over the cover art and whatever the band deemed worthy of sharing….please oh, please let there be lyrics inside. I miss the click of the cover closing, the sound of popping a tape into your player and the sound of rewinding as you played and replayed your favorite song. What I really miss the most about buying albums is discovering the song you never heard on the radio. You can still buy physical albums but somehow, even though I don’t download singles, it seems like a strange way of spending money in our digital age. So on occasion I ask my husband to burn me a cd of someone I like. The naked cd feels incomplete without the cover art though.

A season of plays is easily compared to an album of songs. The artist of that album is the Artistic Director and she compiles a collection of plays into a series that stretches over a year. Various factors go into choosing the plays, if they meet the companies mission, the order they appear in, the time of year they are featured and if they fit the theme of that season. The goal is that the order in which you experience the plays enhances the enjoyment of each particular production and that the season overall accomplishes a the intended artistic and monetary goal. This year we hope audiences leave feeling like they’ve seen our country, the good ol’ U S of A,  in a new light and have gained appreciation for our diversity, our history and for our very character, even when we’re at our worst.

We love single ticket buyers but we have a special love for people who take the leap and decide to experience the real art we’re selling, the season. We appreciate those people so much we entice them with discounts, special offers and experiences. We want to share our whole album with them, from start to finish. We want to surprise them and move them when they discover a production they never would have bought a single ticket to but which after seeing they feel enriched their lives or helped them gain perspective.

So again I return to earlier question. Is the theatre subscriber dead? The answer is no but the fight is getting tougher to win and many theatres are ditching the model for a membership based program or in many cases relying entirely on single ticket sales. MOXIE isn’t ready to give up the fight though. If you’re on our mailing list you’ll get a brochure in the mail soon (here is a digital version if you wanna tak a look MOXIE-BROCHURE)  Open it and consider joining our subscription family and if you don’t live near us (6663 El Cajon Blvd. Suit N San Diego, CA) please consider subscribing to some other theatre. They need you just like we do.

DIY

by Elaine

Production Manager Missy Bradstreet showing off her Wonder Woman Style at the Opening of “The Toughest Girl Alive”. Missy is full of moxie, an amazing mama and the kind of friend you’d want in your corner.

I used to work for a theatre company that had the mission to “tell good stories well”. There is nothing I adore more than a really good story, told in a beautiful, honest, emotionally connected, raw way. Granted, that’s not exactly what this company does, though back in the day that I was working for them, they did it more often then I feel they do now (now-a-days, you’re not going to see much “raw” on that stage, for instance). Their work now tends to lean a bit more commercial than I prefer, though is still some “good” stories told “well”, so they have not shied away from their mission.

When I worked with the now (mostly) defunct Sledgehammer Theatre, back when the stunningly talented Kirtsen Brandt was the Artistic Director, “raw” was all over that stage. The work we did there made me feel proud to put my name in the program and vital to the continuation of an artistic process. We missed big, sometimes, but the intentions lay more in producing art than in selling tickets; which I found immensely satisfying as a closet artist who has worked exclusively as an administrator for the length of my career.  We would gather on dark weekends to share ideas, train, push through to the emotion under the surface of a piece, fight and once, to have a shaman clean the ghosts out of the theatre (no lie). This, up until now, was the high point in my career as Sledge allowed me to pull all my values into a single place and work tirelessly towards an end I was deeply proud to present. Of course, it didn’t pay. And then I got pregnant and the “tireless” ran out. So I quit and made babies for a couple years (of which I am deeply proud).

Now I work for one of the largest theatres in town and while I can feel a great deal of pride about the product the company produces, there isn’t a lot of room to be connected to the process when you run the pub. That and the work they produce is a little too commercial for my blood, though immensely entertaining. Working there, I often tell people, feeds my family, but not my soul.

That’s where MOXIE comes into play.

At MOXIE, I feel like we get to tell amazing stories in surprising ways. Often, people assume this is a company with a deeply respectable budget. They assume, based on what they see on the stage, that our funding is well cared for. If I shared with you the actual budget, you’d be right to insist that nobody could produce this level of product with that little money. Nobody, that is, except someone with moxie, and that’s what this company has in spades. The commitment to the mission, “to create more diverse and honest images of women for our culture using the art of theatre” has never been so beautifully displayed, despite funding limitations. And being part of a feminist theatre has fed my soul in a way I didn’t even know it was lacking. As the mother of two daughters, I can show them what strong, powerful women can do, no matter what gets in the way or what we are told we cannot do. It’s heartbreakingly awesome and opens them to a world of options even I didn’t know they had.

Imagine what we could do with “real” money?

Seriously, I want you to imagine it. In the comments, tell me what you think MOXIE could achieve with a budget that allowed us to pay our staff for full time work. If enough of us get the vision flowing, we just might find a way to make it happen. Dream big, people; we’ve already shown that we are capable of more than anyone would suspect.

Right, how do we work this thing?

by Elaine

It’s been over a year since one of us MOXIE girls sat down to share with the fine folks that live in our computers. This is downright irresponsible of us. But then, you try creating award-winning art while making & caring for small humans, maintaining relationships and keeping food on the table in this economy. It’s shockingly hard at times.

And yet, we are more often in love with the work we do than not. This is due in large part to the people we get to work with and those crystal clear moments where everything comes together on stage and creates a perfect breath… one that is raw and honest and speaks into the very heart of the those we aim to serve.

That would be you, by the way.

But really, as the newest MOXIE, I’m working on getting this bidness back up and talking about what we do, what YOU do and how art moves forward in all our lives, no matter if you’re a MOXIE or “just” a Mama with poster paint in your hair.  I aim to post some photos of what’s happening behind the scenes (I have a particularly interesting set of photos that include a certain MOXIE birthday girl and a “fireman”, but I can’t promise they’ll make it here), with our audiences (opening night of The Toughest Girl Alive we snapped a photo of the audience), those people who make all of this possible and whatever else comes to mind.

But before I do, can I get an echo?  In other words, is anybody even out there anymore?  Say hello and let us know you want more moxielicious content.

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Elaine Gingery is the newest MOXIE, working as a “Managing Associate”.  Previously she worked as Managing Director for Sledgehammer Theatre and New Village Arts.  She has made her way through various other arts organizations in San Diego since 1991.  Currently she works as the Pub Manager at The Old Globe and parents two little girls, age 5 & 7, while knitting poorly, photographing everything that’ll hold still, raising chickens and writing her own blog at Wannabe Hippie.

MOXIE goes to La Jolla

by Esther Emery

MOXIE has just been named the La Jolla Playhouse’s Resident Theatre Company for the 2009-10 season.  Woo!  We’re getting two months of rent-free performance space, and access to the LJP infrastructure for administrative support and publicity. And, in return, they get some MOXIE. Win-Win.

It’s the second year of this program, conceived by LJP artistic director Christopher Ashley, and we’re thrilled.  Here’s more.

About that MOXIE

by Esther Emery

Right, so patience isn’t my strong suit. I want to tell you RIGHT NOW about Missy Bradstreet, who was the severely attitudinal college freshman in the photo we posted yesterday.  The date was 1989. The location was Bloomington/Normal, IL, Missy’s home town,  and the next photo in the series features a fellow with a 12 inch “I’m not joking about how I’d rather starve than succumb to the man” mohawk. 

The winner’s ribbon goes to Dustin for guessing 1990, only one year late. Nick also guessed 1990, but he didn’t post his own comment, so I don’t think that counts.

Here’s what Missy looks like now: 

MOXIE Staff Position: Co- Production Manager

What She Does:  Missy stage manages about half the MOXIE Theatre shows, and is production manager for the rest. She stage manages elsewhere as well, especially when begged or coerced by Delicia, and before MOXIE and her daughter were born she worked at San Diego Rep. She designs wigs and makeup for almost all of our shows and some lucky others, including Yank! at Diversionary and The Princess and The Black Eyed Pea at San Diego Rep.  

And she makes sure the Artistic Director eats during tech.