Off the beaten path: Gusto at the Gallery and Rock'n'Bowl

There was a certain small amount of controversy among the Infringement organizers this spring about whether we should take the festival into totally un-fringe-y spaces like the Albright-Knox (which also happens to be quite far from the heart of the action in Allentown). I was all for it, because I want to do everything in my power to help audiences and artists find each other, and I couldn't care less about distinctions like "mainstream" and "alternative." Back in the day (ie, the 60s and early 70s) , some of Buffalo's major cultural organizations (the AKAG, the BPO, Studio Arena) were hotbeds of experimentation and collaboration; it was only when they started to ossify that artists felt a pressing need to start creating grassroots alternatives. Under the directorship of Louis Grachos, the gallery has taken a huuuuuuuge leap forward in recent years, and its "Gusto at the Gallery" series of free Friday events is an unmistakeable sign that the museum is once again embracing not just (truly) contemporary culture but local culture as well.

Judging from Friday's mini-infringement fest, I'd say the gallery was a great fit for the fest after all. The lineup, like the rest of the festival, was an uncurated grab-bag and unfolded in numerous sites around the museum. Sadly, I missed the site-specific production of The Staircase (after missing every one of its performances at Nickel City as well, dammit) and the dance piece by Janet Reed and her company, and I only caught the final moments of Kathleen Foster's poetry-and-visual-art piece, ...And So I Moved to Buffalo:



I did manage to see the strolling madrigal singers the Western New York Chorale performing first in the auditorium and then in the sculpture court:



Anyone who thinks the festival is nothing but a collection of oddball avant-garde bizarreness (not that there's anything wrong with that) might be advised to take note of this community chorus performing music from the pre-medieval era through the 19th century in a fairly straightforward (if informal) way. I had misread the description of their program and expected a full bill of ballads from the early days of sailing on the Great Lakes, but those didn't come along until fairly late in the set. Perhaps because that was what I was expecting, I thought those songs were the strongest part of the performance, and I also thought the show worked much better outdoors than in the auditorium, but I loved the very fact that these men and women were part of Infringement.

Where else could you go from sea shanteys and medieval polyphony to hiphop in the space of an hour? I'd really enjoyed Aaron Piepszny's dancing in the Temporary Dream/Nimbus show the night before, and I wasn't quite sure at first if it was the same guy wowing the crowd in the Lower East Gallery,but it was:



That photo absolutely does not do justice to the power of Piepszny's performance. For one thing, he was constantly in motion, his body a veritable museum of classic breakdance, locking, robot, and other pop culture moves spiced up with the language of contemporary dance. You also don't get to see the impressive audience he gathered--young and old, black and white, (ahem) "mainstream" and "alternative," etc. A delightful festival moment.

As was the segment that followed, in which Annette Daniels Taylor (a Gusto regular by now) and the Flawless Records team offered up their signature blend of spoken word, R&B, gospel, and hiphop.

Throughout all of this, people were strolling all over the gallery wearing the unmistakeable headgear of The Zero Hour:





I'll say more about this incredibly fun mobile radio broadcast in a separate post (since I revisited it the following day in its Allentown digs), but let me just say it was a mind-expanding way to experience the Albright. As a friend and I wandered aimlessly wherever the signal allowed us, we'd bump into other foil-hat-wearing gallery goers, and many bemused newcomers. I talked to another (non-equipped) friend for at least 5 minutes before she caught on that we were listening to something in the headphones beneath the crazy headgear. "Ohhhhhhh," she said when I finally let her listen in. "I thought you just got really high before you came to the gallery and decided to wear foil on your heads."

After we left the museum, we headed even farther away from Allentown, to the Kenmore Lanes for a taste of Rock-n-Bowl 2006:



This WBNY-sponsored event would have gone on with or without the festival (and I doubt there was much crossover in terms of audience), but it looked like folks were having a great time. We couldn't stay long because we had to meet up with still more friends returning from the previous night's Flaming Lips/Death Cab for Cutie show in Cleveland to compare notes. I would have loved to have seen the Cleveland concert, but nothing on earth could have dragged me away from Buffalo this week.

Temporary Dream

I caught this show on its second and final night at Gallery 164. (Ah, if only it had had a longer run!) Given how impressed I was by the last event I'd seen in this space by the same folks, Story of a Girl back in April, there was no way I was going to miss this one.

If you ask me, choreographer Beth Elkins and designer/architect Brad Wales of Nimbus Dance have done more for movement/performance in WNY than just about anyone else I can name. Granted, I don't follow local dance that much, mainly because I haven't cared for most of what I've seen--until these folks came along. Their combination of movement, media, live music, and other material feels fresh and exciting. I've seen other artists using many of the same tools in other cities--primary in the East Village in the mid80s and early 90s--but this doesn't seem like a retread, more like a reinvention for a new place and time. Watching Thursday night's show I had the strongest sense yet that Buffalo's live performance scene is in a kind of golden age right now.

This was a perfect coming-together of artists from several media whose individual work I've long admired: media artists Brian Milbrand, Meg Knowles, and Vince Mistrettra, musician/video artist Dave Gracon and his band (they're really the ones called "Temporary Dream," I believe), architect Wales, dancer/choreographer Elkins, and her small but amazing company of performers.

While the evening had a looser structure and theme than Story, it held together beautifully, since all the elements were so strong. I enjoyed it all, but Brian Milbrand's 3-screen projection The Film Robert Longo Should've Made was a particular favorite. Think of it as a remix, in the DJ sense, of Longo's horribly disappointing feature film debut, Johnny Mnemonic. By eliminating the (silly) plot and all the dialogue (thus rendering Keanu Reeves blissfully mute), replacing the original's color with breathtakingly crisp black-and-white, and presenting the whole thing as a triptych with live accompaniment by Gracon and company (sounding very much like early Longo buddy Glenn Branca's group), Milbrand created something that totally lived up to its title:



The final piece of the evening brought everything together: the band played while the dancers did lots of aerial work (on straps hanging from the ceiling, as rigged by Wales); meanwhile Milbrand and Mistretta were hand-manipulating 16mm film (live!) and projecting results on the dancers' bodies:




FYI, the male dancer in these photos is Aaron Piepszny, and I saw his solo piece at the Albright-Knox Friday. If you read this in time, you may still be able to catch his show at College Street Gallery on Sunday night at 7.

Like everyone else in Thursday's show, he's evidence of a wonderful moment in Buffalo's cultural history.

Infringies (aka The IFfys): The do-it-yourself awards

Several audience members have suggested that there by some sort of end-of-festival awards as a way of singling out particular shows and performances from among the 200 or so total. Now, we infringement organizers can be a contentious group, but we pretty unanimously nixed this idea for two reasons, one philosophical and the other logistical:
1. It goes totally counter to the spirit of the festival, encourages competition instead of collaboration, sets up a potentially bad vibe, etc., and
2. It's physically impossible for any one person to see everything in the festival, so there's no way to objectively rank stuff.

So instead of a panel of jurors, we thought it might be fun if EVERYONE felt free to create awards of their own--not just for shows, but for audience members, venues, weather conditions, you name it. Some random examples we've tossed around for awards beyond the usual kind: drunkest audience member, smallest crowd, most creative use of a small budget, etc. But really: use your imagination. Be as serious or as silly as you want. IF we get enough of these before Sunday night's ultra-casual Closing Night Party at Nietzsche's, maybe we'll read 'em out loud. If not, they'll be here for all the world to see until the end of time, or until Blogger goes out of business, whichever comes first.

Post your nominees/winners in the comments section below.

Brush up your Shakespeare!

As I write this, SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOT is mere hours away. This late night event was so much fun last year that we decided to bring it back once more.

This is self-serve Shakespeare--it's up to the audience to make the show, so bring your own props, costumes, and scripts, or use ours. (Hot tip: you can download selected monologues here
and full plays here.)

Of course, you're welcome to just watch, too. Emcees Ronawanda and Auntie Establishment will do their best to make sure a goodly time is had by all.

Saturday, August 5th at 10 PM
in front of
The Allen Street Hardware Store Café
245 Allen Street
It’s FREE!!!

SOME IMPORTANT FESTIVAL UPDATES

Hey Infringers - Just a quick update to let you all know about a few new cancellations we've had at Day's Park:

S.Vestas, the fire dancers everyone's been talking about, had to cancel all of their remaining The Sky Could Fall shows. They will not be performing anymore this weekend.

Also, Laughing at Clouds is cancelled for Saturday and Congenitalia is cancelled for Sunday.

But there's good news too - Francis Halin will still be performing his remaining shows at the park. I did not see his show on Friday night, but heard from another Infringer that it was incredible - some great music.

There's still plenty more Infringement left too and only two more days to take it all in. Keep checking our festival website and the festival info hotline (408.0488) for all the latest updates.

Kinda Sexy

The Sky Could Fall
Overheard at the end of last night's show presented by S.Vestas (the fire dancers):

First guy in a trance-like state, "That was kinda sexy. Women and fire."
Second guy in a trance-like state simply responded, "Yeah."

Perhaps they were so subdued by the fire because that's all they could say before wandering off. But then, who hasn't been drawn in by watching fire in motion at some point in their lives? Staring into a bonfire, letting a match burn down until it almost reaches your fingers, using sparklers to write your name in air...fire can be powerful, scary, relaxing, seductive...it all depends on you.

(A note to parents: Fear not, for as Ron said earlier, the show is still definitely suitable for the young ones. For a more in depth review and an "obligatory crappy cell phone shot" see Ron's post below.)

S.Vestas did indeed hold their mayhem parade from Nickel City down Allen Street right into Day's Park before their show. There were probably around a dozen people (many of them in some sort of costume), but it seemed like more - mostly due to all the noise they were making. It was a happy noise though - my favorite was the five gallon bucket used as a drum. I was in front of Nietzsche's when they went by and everyone outside the bar stopped to feast their eyes on this delightful spectacle. If we're lucky, they'll parade again. You have three more chances to catch this enchanting show.

The fire dancers aren't the only women bringing heat to this year's festival...

Flawless Presents: Words and Music
As part of this Flawless Records performance, Annette Daniels Taylor simply steals the show. Last night at Nietzsche's was the second time I saw her perform as part of Words and Music. I've seen her perform solo twice before (both times in connection with Infringement) and every time I've seen her up on stage she has just blown me away. She has a lot of power in her voice, not just in the way she speaks and sings, but also in what she has to say. She does a beautiful spoken word piece in honor of her Grandma Cilla Mae, who has clearly been a huge influence in her life - that piece alone is worth coming out to see the show. Annette has an incredible stage presence and she knows how to work an audience. Before she was done, several people who were up front (waiting to see another band that was not part of Infringement) came to the back to hear her perform.

Of course, Annette doesn't do all this alone. She has a lot of help from DJ Reazon, JHeat, MODES and Aaron Piepzny. Flawless describes their show as a stylistic collaboration between musical beats and poetic lyricism. All of these performers do have a lot of style - the beats and the lyricism go down smooth. Be good to your ears and take in this show while you still can. Their last performance is tonight during Gusto at the Gallery at Albright Knox.

Saucebox
This group originally formed in 2001 as a forum for young women writers. Eventually they split up and went their separate ways, but two of it's founding members have regrouped with some new women artists. And just in time too...seven of these women are using their talents over the course of Infringement to celebrate and give voice to who they are and women everywhere, past and present.

When I saw this show early on in the festival, the line-up included four of the women. Katherine DuVall, a visual artist, brought several of her pieces to the show that were on display all around the room. It is well worth spending some time checking it out after the performance (the work she brings to the show is all for sale). The other three women were all spoken word artists: MC Vendetta, Kisha Patterson-Tanski and Robin Brox, founder of Saucebox and host for the evening.

If you've never heard MC Vendetta perform, you really should. She warmed up the crowd with a couple of her shorter poems before doing a longer piece from her other show Preserving Our American Way of Life (you can catch that show this Saturday and Sunday). She has a lot to say and does so with great passion, intensity and guts. Her words clearly invoked strong feelings in the audience and reached across the generations too - an older couple came in at the beginning of her Preserving piece and were so absolutely impressed by her words, that they immediately bought a cd and couldn't stop raving about her (even though Robin was already up on stage doing her thing).

Perhaps my favorite thing about this show was that each artist had such a different style. Robin and Kisha each performed in a quieter, calmer fashion. That is not to say they were any less passionate about spoken word or their own performances, they just delivered their words in a subtler way. Some of their poems were still pretty intense, but they also brought a lot of humor to this show.

My only regret is that I cannot see all of their performances. All four of these women appeared again last Sunday along with two new performers, Shayna Raichilson-Zadok and Elizabeth Mariani. While I did not see that show, I did hear something about dueling fiddles (?) from someone who did. I don't know about the specifics on that, but you can find out for yourself. The last Saucebox performance is tonight at Rust Belt Books and will include spoken word by six of the women, including a first appearance by Rebecca Stanievich, and on the night before her wedding no less.

Three More Days...
There are plenty of other shows to see too, but only three days of Infringment remain, so whatever you think you might want to see, just get out and see it while you still can.

Scene Report: Day 7 (Wednesday)

Queen Kong
Dana Block takes the notion of a one-person show to the limit: not only does she play all the characters, but admission ($5 or pay-what-you-can) is via an unstaffed can, stage lighting is nonexistent, she runs the sound herself, and does a costume change midperformance, beseeching the audience to enjoy the music on the boombox while she's gone and everything else grinds to a halt.

This show is nuts, and I mean that in the best possible way. Take the premise: Leni Reifenstahl (under a slightly different moniker, but how many other 90-year-old German women film directors can you name?) plots a comeback by filming a new version of King Kong starring Ken and Barbie. The usual complications ensue.



I really don't want to give too much away, especially since the whole show is less than half an hour long, but there's just so damn much good stuff here, including the best use of both slam poetry and the Vagina Monologues I've seen. Oh, and here's the Queen herself:



There's something delightful, and also a little off-putting, about the sight of a grown woman playing with dolls and costumes with this much abandon. I thought at various points about Gilda Radner, Andy Kaufman, and especially Pee Wee Herman--but I'm only mentioning those revered names to provide some reference for Block's idiosyncratic craft, in which the toys of childhood are used for thoroughly adult purposes. I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I walked in (probably a far more sedate multi-character comic monologue), and I completely enjoyed the whole bizarre adventure. Leni assured the crowd it was a work in progress, and I'm pretty tempted to return near the end of the run to see where the hell it all ends up. If you appreciate a truly eccentric sense of humor and relish rough edges as much as I do, you'll want to check this out for sure. (The show continues every day through Sunday at Rust Belt.)

Journey to the West
All of us organizer types were astounded when we learned that an artist was planning to come all the way from Taiwan to perform a 15-minute puppet/video piece twice during the festival. Sadly, the live portion of the show was not to be, but the video seems to stand on its own just fine. The short, witty animation/live action segment was fun and just weird enough to leave folks scratching their heads.

Ask Her to Dance
I wanted to be sure to support this new project by two young media artists (Brian James Griffo and Ryan James Detzel) not only because the stills on their site looked cool but because they just seemed so excited about being part of the festival and I didn't want them to be disappointed with a small turnout. Little did I know they'd pack Hallwalls' screening room with very little help from me or anyone else! Their video, a travelogue of their journey to Thailand, was technically quite impressive--a real treat for the eyes (and the ears, since it feels a bit like a music video for a 70-minute mix tape--a really nice mix tape at that). I confess I had my qualms about the content--which was somewhat interesting as an abstract portrait of a foreign country seen through the eyes of American visitors; not so interesting when the two filmmakers were onscreen, at which points it seemed too much like (extremely well-edited) vacation footage. Much of the imagery here was glorious to behold purely on a visual level--I just wish there was more going on beneath the dazzling surface. (Though I admit I ducked out early in time to get to a 9 o'clock show, so maybe I missed something crucial near the end.) The tape will make a killer demo reel should these guys decide to pursue jobs in the industry, and I wish them luck if that's their goal (even if it's not a particularly infringe-y one--but hey, maybe they'll donate a portion of their first million to the festival...). No matter what, they've got a good feel for the possibilities of their chosen medium, and I expect to see great stuff from them in the future.

The Sky Could Fall
Watching this Montreal-based duo breathe, eat, twirl, and dance with fire in Days Park with an audience of 100 other folks was one of those moments I'm going to cherish from this year's festival for a long time to come. I'm having trouble finding words to describe this one, but then why do I need to bother? If that last sentence isn't enough to get you out to the park after the sun goes down between Thursday and Sunday night, then you clearly have no idea what a special opportunity awaits you there:



That's a burning umbrella, in case you can't tell from my obligatory crappy cell phone shot. John Carocci, my colleage in the Real Dream Cabaret, has posted some far better images from tonight's show here, and the group's own site has many more from past performances around the world--but trust me, no photo can capture the experience of fire in motion. FYI, this is one Infringment show you can bring the kids to see with no qualms. (Bonus FYI: The group announced after the show that they are planning a "mayhem parade" from Nickel City Co-Op to Days Park starting at 8 p.m. tomorrow, although that was before they learned the Violent Femmes are at Lafayette Square.)

Happy Hour at La Tee Da
I finally made it to La Tee Da, the festival's nightly post-show hangout. Heard this was hoppin' last Saturday; tonight there were about three tables' worth of folks I recognized as performers and/or organizers, along with a nice jazz combo. Lots of talk of plans for the future, a little festival gossip, tasty bread and hummus, and 2-for-$5 beers. Can't beat that.

Amount spent on admissions for the evening (4 shows total): $8 + the boombox I donated to S. Vestas for the run of their show.

Sincerity Forever

Here's a little beef of mine: David Mamet gets all this attention for being some great master of dialogue, when in fact there are plenty of other contemporary playwrights out there doing pretty amazing things with language, and not in nearly so formulaic a fashion. Take Mac Wellman, whose 1990 play Sincerity Forever makes something entirely fresh out of one of Mamet's favorite devices: endless repetition of simple phrases (many of them commonly considered obscene). Most of the characters in this brief (under an hour) show are ostensibly smalltown Klansmen, but they behave like horny high school students while simultaneously addressing the Big Questions of existence itself. (Spoiler: the answers to those questions involve potty-mouthed furballs.) "Life is so mystical sometimes," one of them says during one of many moments that seems straight out of an updated remake of Our Town (albeit an NC-17 remake).

Wellman has been a highly regarded writer for the stage for a couple of decades now, but as far as I know the Subversive Theatre's is probably the first local production of one of his plays. And it's a doozy, staged under the stars on a set that consists of a vintage Mustang convertible, behind Quaker Bonnet on Allen St.:



There's no place I would rather have been on the hottest night of the year than watching this show, revelling in Wellman's often-hilarious flights of fancy as delivered by a wonderful ensemble cast.



On the night I went, director (and festival poobah) Kurt Schneiderman introduced the play by mentioning its origins in the heyday of the NEA culture wars at the start of the 1990s, but don't get the wrong idea: this is by no means a period piece. You don't really need to know anything about its historical context to appreciate the message; in fact, in these days of rampant religious fundamentalism on multiple fronts, I'd say it feels more relevant than ever.

(An added bonus, if you want to call it that, to Tuesday night's performance came from a particularly noisy voice during the masterful final scene that I first assumed belonged to a cast member--particularly since the voice was spewing the same wild and nonsensical profanity as the characters in the show. Turns out this interruption was not in the script, but the cast incorporated it so briliantly that my head started to spin. Infringement, like those furballs, is a force beyond anyone's control, it appears.)

Three more chances to catch this one as of now; click here for details.

Rants 'n' Raves

My last few multi-artist reviews took up a lot of room, so here's another of those periodic spaces where you can post reviews of your own. Have at it! (And if you want to file "scene reports" of your own, feel free to email them to me and I'll gladly post 'em for you. The more voices, the merrier around here.)

Scene Report: Day 5 (Monday)

Caught two shows back to back at Nietzsche's last night, and it's hard to imagine two more different events in the same room (both of them well worth my time):

Locust Sympathizer
I missed the first half of this show, but I got the basic idea pretty fast: dark ambient industrial sounds, most of them produced by Ben Hockenberry adjusting a table full of knobs and plugs. Samples of The Decider in Chief uttering fragmentary phrases like "America must reward..." and "Justice is distorted..."

If all that sounds familiar and/or off-putting, be aware that Hockenberry's approach to the genre also incorporates traditional American folk instruments like a banjo, washtub, and jug, which tells me he's up to a lot more than just making noise. (He had an accomplice, but the other guy was mostly hidden behind the aforementioned table, squatting on the ground.)



It's dark music for dark times. Given that folks on the other side of the world are busily blowing each other up while our little festival rages on, it feels perfectly right for this particular moment in history. You've got one more chance to catch this, Thursday, August 3rd, from 8:30-9:00 p.m. (That show is a shared bill with Praying For Oblivion.)


Ramona and Juliet
At the opposite end of the spectrum in every way was this fast, funny, four-person feminist re-envisioning of Romeo and Juliet. I happened to catch the opening night not only of the play, but of the new company presenting it, Brazen-Faced Varlets, and I am completely convinced that both are going to cause a sensation in this town. The room was full (on a Monday night, no less), and people loved the show. DC-based playwright Shawn Northrip (a boy writing quite skillfully about girl stuff, ladies and gentlemen) ditches 98% of Shakespeare's dialogue but retains the essential plot of R&J (based on my super-fuzzy memory of it)--only now the central battle is not between two families or even the Sharks and the Jets, but between queers and homophobes. The laughs are broad (and raunchy) as all get-out, but they are relentless, and every single cast member in the quartet--Heather Fangsrud, Lara Haberberger, Kelly Beuth, and Katie White--does a beautiful job delivering them. (Beuth and White must play a dozen characters between them.) Nietzsche's is not the most lavish setting in town for live theater, which makes their collective accomplishment all the more impressive. (Here's hoping they make a cameo appearance during this year's Shakespeare in the Parking Lot this Saturday, hint hint.)



I've been missing Hag Theatre since they evaporated a couple of years ago, and the arrival of BFV is an extremely encouraging sign for the future of lesbian and/or feminist theater in Buffalo. Welcome, welcome!

There are three more performances of Ramona during the festival--tonight through Thursday night--and I have a feeling you'd better arrive early, because something tells me this one's gonna be packed.



Amount spent on admissions for the evening (2 shows total): $5

Scene Report: Day 4 (Sunday), Part Two

Handclaps and Cowbells: A Klezmer Dance Party

I was so tired by the time the sun was setting Sunday night that I almost didn't go to Soundlab, but I'm mighty glad I did, because this Paul Kozlowski-curated evening was a high point of the festival for me so far. The space was used brilliantly, starting with a shadow play (masterminded by an artist whose name I didn't catch) featuring a huge cast of puppeteers and musicians in one nook of the room:



Then came The Baby Machines on the main stage for some relatively straightforward, very catchy indie rock featuing a strong lead vocalist (who later cameoed during one of Paul's numbers):



Next up was Gaybot from Rochester. Sheer insanity. I described it to one latecomer as the look and sound of a human brain melting. I forget how many people were in the band, and it was hard to tell because throughout the night there were so many people running around in bizarre costumes that you were never quite sure who was "in" what. Safest to say we were all a part of everything, although only a few of us came wearing feathers, rubber nipple-y outfits, or other festive attire. I do know for sure that Gaybot included one cheerleader, one guitarist playing heavy metal cock-rock solos that were always being interrupted by other band members, and one guy who stood completely still on the edge of the stage like those guys that used to accompany Public Enemy--at least until he burst into maniacal dancing for about thirty seconds, then stopped. Instruments were bashed, PA-system speakers were whirled around, and general mayhem ruled. The word "Gaybot" appeared often during their lyrics. I thought of Negativland a little. And I was glad no one got hurt.



After that, Paul K (and his partner whose name I never know) got the whole room dancing to his virtuoso flamenco guitar playing, and without losing a beat, the 12/8 Path Band took over. I am normally not the biggest fan of the 12/8 and was a little skeptical about how they'd go over at Soundlab, but I'll be damned if they didn't rock the house. Their blend of New Orleans brass band and Latin and African rhythms was so much fun, and such a huge crowd hit, that I'm pretty sure almost everyone in attendance will be remembering that night for a long time to come. I turned to a friend of mine at the bar and said, "When is the rest of the world finally going to catch on to what an amazing hotbed Buffalo's art/music scene is?"

I had intended to leave many hours earlier, but I was having such a great time I couldn't get out the door. By the time Dimetrodon played (the band I had originally come to see!), it was getting late, so I figured I could catch a few numbers and then depart. I know 'em, I love 'em, but I had to get some sleep sooner or later.

Thanks to all the musicians, to masterful Paul K, to Curt Rotterdam and Kyle Price, and to Craig Reynolds and everyone at Soundlab for a wonderful night.

Amount spent on admissions for the day (4 shows total): $6

The Real Dream Cabaret melts in your mouth

Kudos to this year's Infringement performance by TRDC. A rather "quiet" piece compared to the usual hootenanny the cabaret is known for. "The Picture" exposed the hidden history of the infamous, mysterious and utterly divine Dorian Gray, beloved to both Styx, Bono Vox and Motley Crue (according to the word of wisdom wikipedia). I laughed. I laughed. I laughed. I almost cried but somehow it did not become a part of me. But all the same a truly remarkable performance even without the lovely Katie Young (absent at Sunday matinee due to globalization) and her OCD cement monologue. And this year's fashions! Miss Ronawanda you make Miss America look like peat bog. Throw her the towel (jacket)!!!!!
yours truly, sr

Scene Report: Day 4 (Sunday), Part One

Once the Real Dream show ended around 3 pm, I was finally free to get out and start seeing more of the festival. I was still pretty groggy, but I managed to make it to...

Subversations
Even though I was exhausted enough to want to fall asleep the minute I sat down at Squeaky, Brian Fending's long-distance collaboration with Ric Royer was so exciting that I felt totally energized when it was done. The project compiles recordings of 8 people telling stoies from their lives, chops each oral history into tiny chunks, and then recombines them in a random, computer-generated sequence (preserving the beginnings, middles, and endings in that rough order). This might sound really dry and electronic and inaccessibly avant-garde, and you might be expecting a lot of this:



But that only happened during the setup. The actual "performance" looked pretty much like this:



In other words, bare stage, no human interaction whatsoever. I realize that may sound even less appealing than watching a guy twiddle knobs, but trust me: it works, thanks in part to the voices telling the stories, all of whom are endlessly listenable. (The tales themselves seem to have something to do with cross-country travels, orthodox Jews, and a porn version of Tron, among many other things.) The concept owes a bit to the audio experiments of John Cage and Glenn Gould, but the end result is incredibly entertaining. If you're a fan of This American Life, you should love this. (And the producers of that show would be wise to pick up on this project, even if some of the best lines would have to be bleeped out.)

There's another performance of the show this Thursday evening at 7:30 at Squeaky, and Fending is doing a different project on Friday at Squeaky at 8:30. Based on this one, it promises to be interesting.

Palimpsest
Festival PooBah Kurt Schneiderman was sitting next to me during this movement piece at College Street Gallery by Brittany Murchie, and when it was over he raved, "This is exactly what Infringement is all about!" I totally agreed with his comment. Murchie is a relatively young dancer/performer trying out an idea, and that's why the festival exists. She is exploring terrain that many women artists before her have explored--which is why it didn't totally blow me away, but that's no reason why a new generation can't also give this material their own spin (and thank god somebody is still raising the issues Murchie raises in the era of Paris Hilton and Christina Agulera!). I don't want to reveal too much of what goes on, but here's a shot of the opening tableau:



Between this shot and the last one of Subversations, you're probably wondering if there are any human beings in this year's festival, but fear not-- here's Murchie in action:



The movement is impressive, the staging is just plain cool, and the piece has a wonderful soundtrack. I also appreciate the fact that piece is only about 15-20 minutes long; the dance makes its point and then ends without any extraneous filler, and it's a perfect appetizer-sized offering for an action-packed festival. You have several more chances to catch this, and it's well worth the visit.

College Street Block Party
This low-key affair offered free food, a chance to catch up with friends and festival peformers/organizers, and several bands. I caught one punk group (never learned the name) and then saw the Pamplemousse Explosion one more time. Totally different setting and crowd than Merlin's the night before, but once again they delighted the audience. Wish more people could have seen them; hope they come back to town soon. They say they're heading back to Montreal with fond thoughts of Allentown, the festival, and Buffalo in general. Next year we hope to have details on the block party in time to include them in festival materials.

Reviews, previews, and other festival talk

Here's another space for you to add your two cents. Just click on the word "comments" below.

The Real Dream Cabaret's "The Picture"

Hey all - Lynn here with a very quick report on a show I saw yesterday:

"The Picture" presented by the Real Dram Cabaret: it's their interpretation of the book "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. Admission to the show is your hourly wage and it was well worth every hard-earned cent. I traded an hour of my work for an hour of theirs - I have to say I think they work much harder than I do though and their work is truly so much more enjoyable!

I never did read the book they adapted and now I think I never shall. While it was a rather loose interpretation, I'll still happily consider this show as my Cliff notes. If only all the books on my highschool reading list could've been this much fun! "The Picture" was just so creative and laugh out loud funny...there was some really beautiful singing, dancing, all manner of costume changes, a magic cat, even candy and jello shots...and oh, so much more...

Well, you'll just have to go see for yourself, but do it today - their last show is at 2 pm.

Now I'm off to see The Pamplemousse Explosion at Nietzsche's...

The Pamplemousse Explosion

As Anthony Chase suggests in his Artvoice story on the festival, Infringement can be a chance to broaden your horizons, move outside your safety zone, etc. And so it was that for the first time in my 25 years of living in Buffalo, I found myself inside Merlin's tonight.

I was there to see the Pamplemousse Explosion, a Montreal band that came highly recommended by uber-Infringer Jason of Car Stories. Truly had no idea what to expect, and I was very pleasantly surprised by what I saw and heard: keyboard and drum duo (Anna Luisa Daigneault and Sam Vipond) playing a very catchy batch of musically sophisticated cabaret-ish art songs with a jazz vibe that sometimes took a turn toward punk/hardcore in intensity (well, as hardcore as you can get with electric piano as one of your main instruments). I thought at times of both Bjork and Zappa, though mostly I just enjoyed their thoroughly unique sound, peppered as it was with little flourishes of Tibetan chanting, funny mouth noises, and eccentric lyrics about eggs, dinosaurs, visitors from the future, and other surreal subjects. In less confident hands, this might get annoying or pretentious pretty quickly, but TPE have a wonderfully down-to-earth quality about them, and a playful sense of humor--to say nothing of some killer melodies--and they utterly charmed the small but enthusiastic audience in this legendary biker bar. Here's the obligatory crappy cell phone shot:



They are also playing the musical brunch at Nietzsche's on Sunday (July 30) at 2 p.m., and rumor has it they might appear elsewhere in town while they're around, too. If you like well-crafted, off-the-beaten-path music, you'd be wise to seek them out before they return to their native land.

Or maybe visit their MySpace page for some audio clips, and hope they return, soon.

Scene Report: Day 1 (Thursday)

I will do my best to post report on shows I see throughout the festival, and I invite you to do the same. If you want to file regular reports like these yourself, email ronehmke@hotmail.com and I will send you an invite from Blogger so you can do so anytime you like. You can also just email me your reports and I'll post them for you as soon as I am able.

I've been so busy with the show I am part of that I haven't seen too much other stuff yet, and I probably won't get a chance to do any heavy-duty festival going until we wrap up ours on Sunday afternoon. However, I did check out one of the plays sharing the space at Squeaky Wheel with us: Morphine Hearts' production of Matt LaChiusa's Fred's Requiem, which runs off and on through August 4. (FYI and BTW, another show running at Squeaky now is Scott Kurchak's My Life as an Ape, which got some blog comments by several people last year.)

Requiem is an ambitious play for the festival and the space: about an hour and a half long, with a cast of eleven. It unfolds as a series of two- and three-character vignettes (many of which could probably stand on their own as self-contained mini-dramas), capped with one piece featuring most of the cast onstage at the same time. As always, my blurry cell phone photos don't do it justice, but here's a quick glimpse:





For a play that centers around a funeral, there's a lot of humor here (though I wouldn't exactly call the show a comedy, per se), and it's fun figuring out the various interconnections between the characters, who span three generations of working-class Buffalo.

Tried to make it to La Tee Da for the 10-11 pm Happy Hour, but it was not to be, so instead I stopped by Soundlab for the Kick Off Party. I was mainly there between acts, and most of the decent-sized crowd was outside, which gave me a chance to catch up with 2 of the acts who drove down from Montreal: Car Stories (which has a different cast and storyline this year) and The Pamplemousse Explosion. Jason from Car Stories (he's one of the founders of the Infringement movement) tells me that Buffalo's may well be the largest festival on the circuit this year.

Back inside, I caught a snippet of Axis of Evil, whose elaborate setup apparently involved four carloads of equipment,including a bicycle wired for sound:



Had a long day ahead of me the next day (which involved no festival-going beyond the Dream Cabaret), so I headed home. But the hoppin' scene outside Soundlab--punctuated by spontaneous percussion and singing by performers and audience members--was a sign that festival season is back, and not a moment too soon.


Amount spent on admissions for the evening (2 shows total): $5

Art on Porches 2006

We got an email about this the other day. It's not a festival event, but it's during the same period and is certainly in the communitywide/DIY spirit of Infringement:

We are a small neighborhood art-festival in the Richardson Towers Community on the upper west side in Buffalo. This is the 4th year that we will promote local artists and showcase our neighborhood. You can find more info on our website. We have around 30 artists participating this year. They will set up on porches throughout the neighborhood on Saturday, August 5th from 11-5 pm.

Could you see the Forest for the Trees?

Does anyone know if the street theater project Can You See the Forest for the Trees? actually took place Friday evening? It was poring down where I was at 7; I drove by the intersection of Elmwood and Forest at 8 but didn't see anything going on.

Calling all bodies!

Curt Bish of The Body Beautiful wrote to say he is looking for more bodies to beautify:
 
I will be located on the Nickel City CO-OP front porch (Phone 882-6003)
as I proceed to PAINT ON SATURDAY FROM  9 AM to NOON to 5 PM (for colors)
in support of my "The Body Beautiful" project.
 
We then parade onward to Rust Belt Books at 5pm & New Phoenix at 6:30pm; on Saturday the 29th, as scheduled, if I have enough people to paint. I am asking for help in rounding up anyone who may agree to be partially painted as contestants or as part of their own performances. Nudity is NOT involved. This is now an arms, shoulders, neck & face painting with non-toxic theatrical paints. 
  
This could also mean that the theatrical make-up painting might possibly be available during the remainder of the Festival until August 6th. Though not as a scheduled performance, just an improvised drop-in & make-up gig.

College Street Block Party this Sunday

The folks on College Street sent us this. If you're in Allentown for the festival on Sunday afternoon, stop by...

4th Annual College Street Block Party
Sunday July 30th, 2-8 pm  
College Street (between Allen & Maryland)

LIVE MUSIC FOOD AND FUN
BRING A CHAIR AND SOMETHING TO SHARE
RAINDATE: August  6th
for more info: 716-882-9727

With a little help from Holley Farms, Flying Bison, Tops Markets The Meating Place and Washington Street Market.

Aesthetic Meltdown: Help make a living documentary

Submitted by Jim at Gallery 141B:

Stop by Gallery 141B (141B Elmwood (in back, to the right) most weekday evenings and weekend afternoons/evenings during the festival and become part of a documentary about the whole event. Add your 2 cents about INfringe art/life/culture. You can talk about a show you've seen, one you're in, or the festival itself.

Click here for a list of times the gallery is open and more info on the project.

Car Stories looking for Buffalo players

Got a request to post this from our pals in Montreal (who are now back in Buffalo). If you have something you want to post here, email it to ronehmke @ hotmail.com, minus the spaces.


Montreal's longest-running theatrical experiment is returning to the Buffalo infringement festival and playing Friday, July 28th and Saturday, July 29th, between 7pm and 10pm and Sunday, July 30th, between 2pm and 5pm, with a new show leaving from Mulligan's Brick Bar every 30 minutes.

We're looking for local players to join our group and be a part of this highly interactive theatrical experiment.
If you're interested, please e-mail optativelabs@yahoo.ca. If you have a car that holds at least 3 people and would like to let us use it in the show, please let us know that, too.

For more on the project, please visit our site.

Day One and beyond: your thoughts?

After 6 months of planning, the festival is a reality! The first wave of shows begins in multiple locations at once at 7 p.m. tonight.

Using this blog can be glitch-y sometimes, so I will be creating little spaces like this one every few days to allow folks to post reviews, previews, candid thoughts, and other feedback about the festival as a whole and/or individual events within it. You don't need to join Blogger or be a member of this blog to post a comment yourself in spaces like these. Just click on the word "comments" (immediately beneath the words you're reading right now) and type away.

Take it away, infringers!

What's on your personal Must-See list?

Now that the complete schedule of events for the 2006 festival is available, what shows and other projects are you most interested in seeing? Post your picks in the comments section below.

Infringement on the air

1. Catch a segment on Infringement 06 during Off Beat Cinema on Channel 7 in Buffalo this Friday night/early Saturday morning. Not 100% when the show is airing--some sources say 1 a.m., others 2, and even 2:30 a.m. So stay up all night until you spot us!

2. And here is an hourlong MP3 of the WHLD show "speakEasy" about the festival recorded last Saturday, July 15. The first 10 minutes or so is general announcements about things going on around town, then host Theresa Baker interviews Kurt Schneiderman and your humble blogger here about the festival. After that, the cast of Tim McPeek's play The Staircase provide a sneak preview of their show in radio-drama form.

3. There will be another segment on the festival on ''Crossroads'' on Adelphia Channel 13, Wednesday, July 26 between 3 and 4 p.m.

Rehearsal stories?

Festival artists: anyone care to report on how rehearsals are going for your show? Post your behind-the-scenes sagas in the comments section below.

Ron E.

PS.: To create a post of your own here--as opposed to commenting on an existing post like this one--you have to receive and reply to an invitation from Blogger. I'll be sending these out to interested festival artists as soon as I can, but if you can't wait, you can just email your post to me (ronehmke@hotmail.com) and I will add it for you.

Preview party recap

Just got home a while ago from the preview party at Nietzsche's, during which ...
(in no particular order)
1. Julian Montague's stunning festival brochure was unveiled,
2. various festival acts gave one-minute sales pitches for their shows (one of which involved some rather lovely aluminum foil headgear),
3. Annette Daniels Taylor gave us a great glimpse of her talent with a few a capella numbers and poem/stories,

4. Paul Kozlowski and one of his many collaborators stopped the show with some virtuoso guitar (up to now I'd only seen him play electronic instruments--always a treat, but this was incredible--even if he did use a stack of our brand-new brochures as a foot stool!),

5. Lonesome Tom wowed us with his "Wild One" solo tribute to rockabilly greats (sadly, this excellent act really was kinda lonesome, because most everyone was still in the front of the bar while he played the back),

6. and a bunch of us handed out flyers for our shows to each other, met each other for the first time (or the thousandth), and vowed to see each other's work.

The whole thing got me right back in that delightful frame of mind from last summer, when the festival was at its peak and it was clear that all the months of work so many people have put into this festival have been worth it.

Okay, my list is just a cursory and highly personal one. I'm leaving out many, many acts that I didn't see, and maybe someone will describe them in a comment to this post. Many thanks to all the folks who loaned their talents to the evening, and especially to Matt LaChiusa for organizing and hosting this intimate extravaganza.

Crash: it's not just a movie.

This year's festival features 13 acts from out of town, and we're trying to find lodging for several of them. If you've got a little extra space to offer to one or more people, click here to join the "Crash-Buffalo" Yahoo group, which is designed to connect traveling Infringers with a place to stay. It's a great way to support the festival and support a working artist at the same time.

Infringement Preview Party: July 12 @ Nietzsche's

Get a sneak preview of the 2006 festival!
Sample upcoming shows and grab a copy of the full event schedule hot off the presses!

Wednesday, July 12, 2006
from 8 p.m.-1 a.m.
@ Nietzsche's
248 Allen St., Buffalo, NY
Just $5 to get in, and all the cash goes to support the festival!

music by
WILD ONE; Lonesome Tom; Tori Sparks: Praying For Oblivion;
Gabe Mayer; MC Vendetta; Paul Kozlowski & Dave Phillips.

+performances from the 2006 Infringement Festival by
Annette Daniels Taylor; Lara Grinchelle;
Locust Sympathizers; Exercises in Blasphemy.

+more!

Interested in performing? Contact Matthew LaChiusa at (716)884-4858 or email MLACHIUSA@AOL.COM.

Fundraiser wrapup from Kurt S.

(Above: Lea P. in action. Click here for more photos of the March 31 fundraiser.)


My God, I can't believe how well last Friday's fund-raiser went! It was an amazing line-up of acts, turnout was fantastic, and everybody had a blast!!! The audience loved it, the organizers loved it, even Nietzsche's staff was thrilled with how well it worked out! On the financial side of things -- I won't go into specifics -- but rest assured that THAT worked out very well too.

For anyone who wasn't able to stay through to the end, the night wrapped up just as well as the rest of it went. Solo guitarist Lea Prentiss performed till 4am closing with some beautifully mellow introspective songs.

Of course, there were FAR too many fantastic acts to thank them all by name, so I just wanted to thank EVERYONE for the extraordinary part they played in making the Fund-raiser such a gargantuan success. I know there were some delays and I apologize to anyone who had to perform later than they were suppose to. But everyone took this in stride. Each performance was utterly unique, inspired, and empassioned. A wonderful example of the spirit of "infringement" in action.

I also want to take a minute to thank all of our organizers who put the whole thing together and kept it running. Most of all Scott Kurchak (a.k.a. "Auntie Establishment") who lined up all the bands, juggled all the insanity, and even Emceed with Ron Ehmke (a.k.a. "Ronawanda") who handled publicity. Stage Manager Lynn Lasota, Stagehands Matt LaChiusa and Hugh Davis, Merchandize Table Staffers Michele Costa, Christian Brandjes, and Dave Pape. Door staffers Kathleen Foster, Leslie Stehlin, Christian Brandjes, and Lynn Lasota. Z. Mann Zilla deserves the credit for churning out the fund-raiser's excellent poster in double-quick time. And Julian Montague has endless accolades coming for the Graphic Design work he did on the festival's logo.

And, of course, thanks to Jana Blaha for donating her momentous winnings at 50/50!!!

There were so many people who did such a great job, I'm worried I may be forgetting to mention some. If so, forgive me. There are just too many to name here (and I know I've rambled on too long already).

Thanks again to all!
infringilly yours,
Kurt.

Fundraiser Friday March 31, 2006 @ Nietzsche's

It’s a ...
Benefit Concert/Cabaret for the 2006 Buffalo Infringement Festival!
Friday, March 31, 2006 from 9:30 p.m. till quite late
(got another event to attend that night? Stop by later—we’re goin’ on and on and on...)
At Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen Street, Buffalo, 886-8539
Admission is a teensy $5

Join emcees Ronawanda and Auntie Establishment for an action-packed evening featuring...
MUSIC by the Skiffle Minstrels, Terrible Elephant, Pam Swarts,
Z. Mann Zilla and the World’s Largest Trio, and GreggreG
THEATER & PERFORMANCE by Annette Daniels-Taylor,
the Eclectic Improv Company, and Soundpainting Orchestra
POETRY by Lea Prentiss, Luciano Iacobelli, and a carload o’ writers from Toronto
SPOKEN WORD by Bonita Z and MC Vendetta

PLUS! Speed Dating all night long with the Real Dream Cabaret!
ALSO! Midnight revelation of (some of) the acts for this summer’s festival!!
AND! Surprise guests SO EXCITING we can’t even mention them by name!!!

An event this huge is too big for one stage: we’re takin’ over ALL of Nietzsche’s!
Our guarantee: there will be something interesting happening everywhere you look!
(Disclaimer: the Infringment Festival may not be responsible for 100% of the interesting things you discover.)


AND MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR SUMMER FUN!
The 2006 Buffalo Infringement Festival happens July 27-August 6.
For more info, click here.

Time to start thinking about the 2006 Festival!

ATTENTION BUFFALO INFRINGERS!

Take heed, starving artists, bohemian aesthetes, and anti-establishment art lovers of all kinds! The “infringement” movement is starting to rouse from hibernation. This time around, we’ll be infringe-ing on more than ever. Internationally, new “infringement” festivals will be spreading to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Regina, Saskatchewan, and Philadelphia—and returning to Montreal, Ottawa, NYC, and other cities far and near.

Here in Buffalo, we’re starting to work on the task of building the 2006 festival, which will be held July 27th through August 6th. As we all know, festivals don’t happen by themselves. We’re looking for YOU to get involved as an artist, an organizer, a sponsor, a venue-provider, or all of the above! Here are some important upcoming dates you should know about:

NEXT ORGANIZING MEETING:
6 p.m. Monday, February 27th, 2006, at the Allen Street Hardware Café
245 Allen Street

PROJECT PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS:
accepted March 1st through April 1st

FIRST FUND-RAISER/CONCERT/FIESTA:
Friday, March 31, details TBA

ORGANIZATIONAL MEETINGS. Our organizational meetings—like all other aspects of the festival—are open to anyone who has the chutzpah to get involved. The more people help out, the better the festival will be. So come and join in.

PROJECT PROPOSAL DEADLINES. We’ll keep taking late-comer projects through June. But for first consideration for performance dates, venues, and listings, you’ll wanna get your proposal in no later than April 1st. This year our first fundraiser fiesta is intentionally timed to coincide with the submission day. So you’ll be able to come out to Neitzsche’s, put in your proposal, and party with your fellow infringementarians. Project proposal forms will be available at Rust Belt Books (202 Allen Street, Buffalo, and at our main website, too (but give us a couple more days to put them together)..

INFRINGEMENT FUNDRAISERS. These are night-long parties featuring local indy musicians, short scenes, and impassioned intoxicated artistic debates. If you’d like to perform something—maybe as a preview of what you’ll be doing at the festival—or if you’re a musician sympathetic to the “infringement” cause, SPEAK UP! We’d love to have you perform at the next fundraiser.

For more information on any of this, jcheck for updates on our website: www.infringebuffalo.org.

The invisible festival

Even though the 2005 fest ended a week ago, several people have expressed interest in keeping the blog going year-round. Fine by me, since I still had some thoughts to share regarding the last few days of events. Maybe you do, too. If so, post 'em here!

Walking around Allentown between performances on that glorious second weekend of the festival, I had plenty of time to reflect on what was so unique about this 11-day extravaganza. As we all know, WNY has no shortage of summer festivals, celebrating everything from gay pride to Italian heritage to corn on the cob. But unlike all the other festivities, inFRINGEment was sort of invisible, in the sense that you had to look around to find it. No white tents, no fried dough stands, no massive crowds.

That thought occured to me as I was trying (unsuccessfully) to find Arzu Ozkal's "Self de/fence" during one of the times it was scheduled to take place. This wasn't the kind of piece where you could report to a given venue at a given hour; it was more the sort of thing you just kind of stumbled upon. I stumbled upon plenty of other things instead, like



this bit of Hiroshima Day sidewalk art. Not officially part of the festival, but it fit in beautifully, particularly when I watched a group of people standing by one of the several stencils in the neighborhood debating what it was and what it meant.

The weekend before, by chance, I happened to be performing a wedding in Days Park (long story). A couple of days later, a friend told me she'd seen it on the Buffalo Rising blog. Turns out the person who wrote the entry had stumbled upon the wedding by chance: "At first we thought it was some sort of production... like a play, or a poetry reading." So, in a sense, that ceremony became part of the festival, too.

And if you were anywhere around Allen Street during the run of



Car Stories, you heard the constant cries of "I WILL NOT ATTRACT ATTENTION TO MYSELF" every half hour or so. (Not sure I have the line right, even though I heard it enough times to memorize it before I saw the show myself and got to yell it with my fellow audience members.) The first time I caught the screaming off in the distance, there was a debate about whether or not it was "part of" the festival, too. "Probably just some fratboy assholes," someone insisted.

Throw in various people blowing bubbles, quoting Shakespeare, conducting tours of the afterlife or doing tequila shots in an alley, offering aura readings, and the usual sights and sounds of Allentown, and you have a remarkable convergence of the planned and the unplanned. In a way, I kind of love the fact that large numbers of people out and about had no idea the festival was going on, while another group of devoted inFRINGErs was busily comparing notes about what to see next. It was all part of the mix.

Wrapup meeting Monday, Aug 15 @ Rust Belt @ 8: all are welcome!

from the Poobah:
Congratulations to everyone who made the 2005 buffalo
infringement festival possible -- artists, producers,
volunteers, venue-holders, sponsors, everybody -- it
couldn't have happened without you.

Now that the festival is over and the dust has had a
little time to settle, the infringement organizing
committee will be holding a final wrap-up meeting to
discuss what we've learned from this year's festival
and make plans for the future. This is a golden
opportunity to pool all the lessons we've learned the
hard way and apply them to whatever plans we want to
make from here.

That's why we'd like to invite everyone who was
involved with the festival in ANY capacity to come to
this meeting and share your perspective on our
adventure in infringement. Come tell us what YOU
think -- positive or negative -- about all that
happened. If we're to grow from this experience, we
need as much input as possible.

The final wrap-up meeting will be held Monday, August
15th, at 8pm at Rust Belt Books (202 Allen Street).
Hope to see you there!

Promo: Closing Party tonight (Sunday)

from the Grand Poobah:

The festival's shows all end by 7pm this Sunday. After that, we'll be wrapping things up with a closing night party at Nietzsche's, and everyone's invited. The party starts off at 8pm on Sunday and goes till the cows come home. Just as she did for our Kick-off party last week, local singer/guitarist Lea Prentiss is bringing out her amazing retinue of singers, poets, and musicians to regale the masses. We hope you'll join in on the revelry and help us wrap up this festival with a bang!

Ron again: We've all been off on separate, sometimes intersecting, adventures for the last 11 days. Here's a perfect opportunity to bring performers and audience members together at last.

(BTW, the blog ain't over, for a while at least. Watch here for closing thoughts, and POST YOUR OWN, TOO. (Still plenty of room for reviews of shows you saw and liked/didn't like/etc.) And be sure to check the "Latest Festival News" section of the main site for updates about possible wrapup activities. If you ask me, I say a postfestival gathering is in order a little later on, to celebrate what happened this year and ... shudder... start planning for next time.

Cavalcade of amazement: Saturday field report, continued

I've lived in Buffalo for over twenty years now, and I'm pretty sure today ranks as one of the most delightful afternoons and evenings I've ever spent in this town. First, the Real Dream Cabaret did our third show of four (pictures of which are posted here), then, as noted elsewhere, I spent a little time with Julie Perini's Hydration project (documented here).

Next, I set off in search of Arzu Ozkal Telhan's roaming street performance, Self-De/fence. I never quite found her, so you'll just have to pretend that this



is a picture of her in action, since it looks a teensy bit like her specially designed wearable fence. Abandoned that search, saw Gary Corbin at Allen Dance Studio (described in a separate post), made a reservation for Car Stories for Sunday, then walked over to Coit House for a bit of Virtual Reality MicroTheatre. Somewhere in there I had a bite to eat at the Hardware Cafe and watched some of the aura readings across the street:



The scene on Allen Street Saturday night was glorious. I haven't lived in Allentown in years, but I kinda doubt this is a usual occurence: people clustered around Rust Belt for the shows there, crowds inside Nietzsche's which spilled outside and intersected with Kate Parzych's Fluxus-style piece, Constellations, which called for collective bubble-blowing:



Right next door there was an opening at College Street Gallery.Meanwhile, MC Vendetta was across the street outside the Hardware Cafe doing another of her excellent spoken-word shows (now with a mic and backing tracks, unlike the previous 2 times I'd seen her). And just a few feet away, a nice-sized crowd sat in Days Park watching Squeaky Wheel's evening of short animated films (which continues in Martin Luther King Park, by the way):



Fiiiiiinally, Scott Kurchak, a carload of his cronies, several folks I recruited at the last minute, miscellaneous strangers, and I kicked off the premiere production of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot (more like Shakespeare in the Parking SPACE, but nobody seemed to mind). Lit by car headlights and flashlights, this was about 90% spontaneous and 100% fun. Dave Pape took way better pictures and posted them here, but I'll share my meager snapshot just because I can:



I've had days like this in New York, scurrying from one show to another, but never quite this many in one evening. I was in hog heaven. The street scene reminded me (on a MUCH smaller scale) of public festivals I've been to in Toronto and New Orleans, but it had a distinctly Buffalo flavor. Low-key but heartfelt. Friends and strangers galore. I heard many of them remark about how incredible all this was.

So, what did you do this weekend? Post your inFRINGEment (and/or other) stories here.

And, I dunno, but I keep thinking as the festival continues that the city has really turned a corner somehow, culturally speaking; it doesn't feel like the same place it was 10 or 15 years ago. That was a good place, too, but this one feels like it's come of age, or is in the process of catching up with the times or something. No county funding? City and county governed by control boards? If you ask me, that's only part of the story. The Allentown I spent the day in didn't look like it was on life support at all; it looked like a thriving urban hotspot to me. Now all we need is to get that word out to more people, locally and otherwise.

Gary Corbin, FOUR ONE-LEGGED MEN

One of my biggest regrets about this year's festival (and I don't have many) is that the overload of events has meant that some shows have ended up with very small audiences. (In my experience, one-person shows by male performers are the hardest sell around, and have been for years.) That's especially unfortunate in the case of Gary Corbin, who came in from NYC to present his solo ...four one-legged men!. My own schedule meant that I didn't get to see his show until Saturday, but I met him a few weeks before the festival started and was immediately struck by his energy and his dedication. (He's also just plain incredibly sweet.)

The one comment I heard from someone who saw the show before me was "It's really ... intense." Corbin had told me the basic outline of the work, so I figured I had a pretty good idea about it going in, but I was still floored. This is raw, unvarnished theater of the best kind.

It's exactly what it sounds like: brief character sketches, basically first-person short stories, about four men from four different eras who have only one thing in common: they (like Corbin himself) have only one leg. Each of them has arrived at this condition in a different way, and they've each dealt with it differently. One, for instance, is a married guy in the 1950s, whose marriage is falling apart partly because he cares more for his mother-in-law than his wife. (Here, he's impersonating one of the wife's friends:)



Another is a gay man, reminiscing about his adventures at a bathhouse in the 70s:



Here's another picture of that character, because I like 'em both:



There's also a present-day man whose visit to the nursing home where his adoptive parent now lives forms a kind of frame for the show. But most devastating of all is the final character, a Vietnam-era vet who dreamt of being a dancer before getting drafted. I get goosebumps as I replay in my head the very last moments of the play, which are both heartbreaking and totally inspirational. Trust me, you've never seen anything like it.

Corbin's vignettes are remarkably detailed; we get very specific bits and pieces of each man's experience. The whole show is an act of exposure: he's dressed for the dead of winter in the first scene, and with each successive sketch, a few more layers come off, in more ways than one. (In)visibility is a recurring theme: this is a chance to look straight at the kind of people we often try to ignore away.

I'm pretty sure the show is headed for Off Broadway in October, and if there's any justice in the world, it'll cause a sensation there. You've only got one more chance to see it here--Sunday at 5:30 at the Allen Street Dance Studio--and it would be wonderful to send him off with a packed house.

Field Report: Hydration

I'm sending this via my superduper phone from Julie Perini's apartment, about to take a nap between the Real Dream show I just did and the evening's events--Gary Corbin, Car Stories, & more. Meanwhile, Julie & co are sharing hydration and conversation (about community, liquids, and happiness, among other subjects) with passersby:

In the process, she's getting to know her neighbors, interacting with strangers and friends... And I'm infringing on her space with my nap, as someone points out.

PS from later in the evening... Here's the view from Julie's window (taken shortly after Saturday's hydrating ended):




And here's lingering evidence of the piece a few houses down from the hydration station:




Still time to catch a few drops on Sunday afternoon, 3-4:30 (maybe 5) pm!

Promo: Torn Space Benefit @ Soundlab

info courtesy of Craig Reynolds and Soundlab

***A Benefit for TORN SPACE Theater Company***

Featuring live sets by Knife Crazy and The Frame up, DJ sets by Jon Solo and MJB Corporation & an appearance by Spiritwind Internal Arts, a local dance/improv music collective that focuses on traditional Asian dances.

Starts at 9 p.m., goes on for a while. Click here for directions to Soundlab.
Suggested donation $7, but they'll take whatever you can offer ...

The company’s 2005 production, "Muriel Vanderbuilt Goes Walking" (written by Dan Shanahan) was recently accepted to the Fringe Festival in NYC. Though a great accomplishment, the non for profit company will incur many costs such as accommodations for cast and additional crew and a complete set rebuild.

The Torn Space theater company, founded by Dan Shanahan in the spring of 2000, is committed to utilizing the talents of local artists to create contemporary drama not otherwise produced in the WNY area. Since its conception, the company has been developing shows at the Adam Mickiewicz Dramatic Circle on Buffalo’s East Side, which in turn rejuvenated the venue and surrounding neighborhood.

Good times for a good cause.

Random comments

This seems like a good spot to leave room for any of you to post further thoughts on the festival--as a whole, or individual shows, or anything else that's on your mind. (You can do it anonymously if you want, and you don't have to join Blogger if that's the route you choose.) Don't be shy--click on the word "comments" below and speak your mind!

Behind the scenes/promo: REAL DREAM CABARET

I've been so busy spreading the word about other people's shows here that I haven't had time to say anything about the one I'm most closely involved in: The Real Dream Cabaret's Super Intense Decision Show, which runs tonight through Sunday afternoon at Squeaky Wheel (175 Elmwood). Opening night has come and gone now, so maybe instead of plugging the show in the usual way, I'll give you a brief peek behind the scenes and encourage you to come see one of our remaining performances this weekend. Clicking one of the links above will give you all the info you need.

First, let me state the obvious: Squeaky Wheel is an oven in August, particularly if you're wearing several layers of costume. (I dread to think what my colleague's "Gay Sasquatch" outfit is going to smell like, come Sunday afternoon.) But we have found ways to incorporate the heat factor into the Super Intense Decisions the audience must make, and I don't think the end result is all that unbearable, even on what may have been the hottest night of the year. We originally joked about doing the entire show from a wading pool filled with ice cubes. We didn't end up going quite that far, but it's still mighty tempting.

Tonight was a typical RDC opening night: rough, sometimes painfully so from our perspective, but not a total disaster. Okay, so three people did bolt out the door at a key moment, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves as they did, and it made sense given what was happening onstage at the time. (Hope that doesn't scare anyone away--but hey, we take this "super intense" thing quite seriously.) With a show as audience-driven as this one, it's hard to know how things are going until they're... gone. And one of my favorite things about our way of working is the ability to fine tune from night to night. Granted, tomorrow night's audience may not make the same decisions as tonight's did, and that can change the course of the show pretty dramatically.

The live show this time is built around the DVD project we've been working on for at least a year now. (Like our live performances but even more so, the DVD is radically different every time you watch.) It was great to see the video finally complete, and if all goes well we'll have copies to peddle soon enough, meaning that folks can enjoy the RDC house style in their own homes.

With air conditioning, if they so decide.

If you have comments on the show, please post them here.

Promo: MAMA SONGS

posted by Annette Daniels Taylor. If you see the show, please post your comments on it here.

HIP-HOP THEATER COMES TO BUFFALO!

ANNETTE DANIELS TAYLOR PERFORMS MAMA SONGS AT THE 2005 BUFFALO INFRINGEMENT FESTIVAL WITH DJ REAZON.

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 9:00-10:00P; SATURDAY AUGUST 6, 9:00-10:00P

ADMISSION IS ONLY $2.00
AT THE ALLEN STREET DANCE STUDIO, 85 Allen

Mama Songs is a theatrical hip hop performance piece. A sparse set, handful of props, music and sound effects, two performers: singer/storyteller and a DJ.

Originally commissioned by the Arts In Education Institute of Western New York, Mama Songs is a musical-memory –hip-hop-love poem of story songs inspired by stories about Cora Lee, a mother; Cilla mae, a grandmother, and Reatha .

While growing up in the forgotten New York City borough of Staten Island and annual trips to North Carolina to visit her grandparents, Annette Daniels Taylor regularly heard stories about her family's past. Sometimes she wrote them down, sometimes she didn’t, but she always tried to remember because they were important to her.

“Mama Songs is my mother’s story more than anyone else's; most of the stories are about her: what she, my father, or grandparents would tell me. I enjoy translating the stories into poems or songs; it’s very challenging to try and capture a big emotion into a few lines, a few words.”

Dj Reazon aka Jason Redding is a native to Buffalo and cofounder of Flawless Records, a local independent hip-hop label. In Mama Songs DJ Reazon layers sound with blues, funk, soul, gospel, rock and jazz beats to compliment Annette’s voice and range of emotions. Annette wanted to work with DJ Reazon because, she says, “He could create the sound I wanted for the piece.”

“After I saw Annette in A Symphony Down In My Soul I told her that I wanted to work with her. When she asked me about doing this I was excited but a little nervous because I had never worked in theater before, but after we recorded the cd and I really heard which poems she turned into songs, I was able to do what I do. It was easy producing music with her because she lets me do what I do and everyone that hears the Mama Songs cd or sees the show loves it!”

Mama Songss will be touring schools throughout Western New York this November, with a free public performance at Niagara Falls High School in December, and another at The Albright Knox Art Gallery on December 30 as part of their Friday night Gusto at the Gallery series.

MY LIFE AS AN APE

This entry was sent in by Tom Markham. When you see the show--or any InFRINGEment offering--please share your thoughts with the rest of us!

just wanted to compliment Scott Andrew Kurchak's fantastic performance last night!
with sweat dripping off him..his hard work and focus was truly amazing...what a great show!!!
congrats!

Okay, Ron again: I'm gonna post my Blurry Photo Du Jour here, because I don't think I can include it in the Comment I'm adding to this post. Here 'tis:

Promo: SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOT

This is a project that grew directly out of the planning sessions for the festival. Both the venue and the name of the event come from local mover/shaker Mark Goldman, and we took it from there. This one is NOT a carefully planned performance but more of an experiment in audience-driven improvisation and participation. Could be five minutes long, could go an hour. Everything depends on what YOU bring to the experience. We've heard from lots of people who love the title; now let's see what actually happens.

Heare ye, heare ye!
The Buffalo InFRINGEment Festival doth present…

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOT



Bringeth thine own scripts, props, and costumes—or useth ours!

Saturday, Aug 6, 10:00-11:00 PM (after the movies in Days Park)
Sunday, Aug 7, 2:00-3:00 PM

Outside the Allen Street Hardware Store Café
245 Allen Street
(Note! This is a slight change of venue, just down the street from the original location. Okay, so it's not really a parking lot anymore: theater is all about imagination, isn't it?)

BRING YOUR OWN BARD!
IT’S SELF-SERVE SHAKESPEARE!

MOTHER DIS-COURAGE

One of the reasons I was most excited about the festival was the chance to finally see work by some of the many small independent theater companies in town I've been hearing about. One of those was the Subversive Theatre Collective. Its founder and artistic director, Kurt Schneiderman, is also the unofficial Grand Poobah of the festival, and I've gotten to know him pretty well over the last several months of planning meetings, which made me even more eager to see a show of his own design after missing every one of them for the last few years.

And now, at last, I've seen one--surely not the last I plan see, either. I made it to Mother Dis-Courage last Saturday, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The show is fast, funny, and smart, staged with ingenious economy given the small budget and venue. (Small is good! Small is beautiful! Small is where the action is!)



As always, you'll have to forgive the crappy image quality of my snapshot. Pictured from left to right we have Michael Karr (here, the talking/kazoo-playing head of a hospital staffer, but more prominently featured elsewhere as the ghosts of both George Orwell and John Lennon), Mary Mobius as the title character, Rick Lattimer as her son (stepping in a mere week before opening night!), and Sarah Orloff as Britney Spears, the narrator of the show.

Actually, Britney shares narration duties--and, uh, poetry--with the ghost of Bertolt Brecht (Keith Elkins). As the title suggests, the play is a riff on Mother Courage, but you certainly don't need to know that play to enjoy this one. For that matter, it steals just as heavily and openly from A Christmas Carol (a lovely theft indeed in these 90-degree days), with ample references to Orwell's novels, pop songs, and current events. The more you know where they're coming from, the more likely you are to laugh at what they do with it all--and the more likely to appreciate the ongoing commentary on the effectiveness of political theater in the face of real-world horrors.

The broad acting style owes less to Brecht than to the agit-prop street theater of the sixties (and maybe the SNL-style TV satire of the seventies and later), but it absolutely fits the tenor and pace of the script. Many of the performers are familiar from (slightly) larger, better-known companies in town, and it's exciting to see them in this context.

Unlike Mother Courage, this show probably won't live on half a century after its inception; its of-the-moment pop-culture references will probably seem dated or indecipherable in a couple of years. But that's not the point: this one is of its moment, and that moment is now. As I write, there are two more chances to catch it in town (before it heads to the NYC inFRINGEment fest in September), so don't let the moment slip away.

Promo: COLLECTIVE SIMULATED SYNAESTHESIA (note change of venue)

Contributed by Stephanie Rothenberg. If you attend, please post feedback below. If you have more detailed info on another inFRINGEment event, please post it yourself or e-mail announcement to ronehmke@hotmail.com.

In case you missed it last time at Niagara Falls--

Now is your chance to get a free divine data mining diagnosis from PAN-O-MATIC at Infringement Buffalo '05!.

Developed by PAN-O-MATIC, Collective Simulated Synaesthesia (CSS) uses the body’s own frequencies to recalibrate its internal rhythm and create a healthy external field. The procedure offsets the harmful effects of pervasive radiation frequencies emitted from computers, hand-held devices, satellites, and power grids. CSS is a simple, natural and safe procedure that takes less than 5 minutes. Results may vary and can include improved sensitivity to color, increased tonality
and sound reception, and more accurate spatial organization. First time users have even noticed significant changes when standing in close range of their cellular devices and electronic equipment after recalibration.

For more specific information about the procedure, please click here to visit our web site.

Stop by during these times for a free, 5-minute session. All procedures conducted outdoors to maximize the earth's ionic plasma:
Thursday, Aug 4 @ 8:30-10:00/ Hardware Cafe (College/Allen)
Friday, Aug 5 @ 7:30-9:00 / Squeaky Wheel (175 Elmwood)
Saturday, Aug 6 @ 7:00-8:00 / Hardware and 8:00-9:00 / Days Park

Be sure to stick around for the grand finale which happens the last 15 minutes of each evening session. Your data will be compiled and output into the atmosphere in operatic form.

Promo: Virtual Reality MicroTheatre

Info provided by Josephine Anstey. If you visit the MicroTheatre, please post your responses in the comments section below.

This is a festival within a festival featuring interactive virtual reality works of fiction and drama. ((Click here for links to desciptions of individual pieces.)The 3D stereo graphics are projected on a wall size screen and the participants interact with virtual worlds and computer controlled (AI) characters. Each show is for a very small (micro) audience of 1-10 people; three or four different works will run, each 15-20 minutes long; audience members will interact with the virtual experiences. Two shows daily. First come first served.

Coit House: 414 Virginia, at Elmwood
Two Shows Nightly at 6:00 & 8:30
Thursday, Aug 4
Friday, Aug 5
Saturday, Aug 6
(The advertised Sunday show has been cancelled.)

Suggested Admission $4

THE CROSSING

As I write this, Tim McPeek is presumably in the eleventh hour of a 26-hour performance in the back room of Rust Belt Books. I fully intended to check it out and write something about it here tonight, but the rehearsal I was in ran late and I didn't make it. But hey: I--and you--still have till 6 p.m. Wednesday to walk in the back door of RBB and peek in on Tim's super-slow-motion journey from one side of the room to the other.

One of several reasons I've been looking forward to The Crossing is its sense of time. Most (though not all) of the other festival events are an hour or less, which can lend an air of consumerism to the proceedings. (For instance, last week I was distracted during one show because I didn't want to miss the next one, mere minutes later.) Here's an event that doesn't play by the usual rules/conventions of theatergoing, and that's pretty exciting... in a slow, subtle kind of way.