ARCADIA! Opening Night Gala May 30 at CBGB Gallery

Top Ten Reasons to Love Arcadia!

1) Arcadia reminds me of Acadians, and Penny Arcade, and Atlantis, and other A-words..

2) Zazoo, Satori, Jo-Jo Baby and Gigi Deluxe are coming to town for a whole week!

3) I am getting my darling husband into a costume, finally - and its NOT his J.C. Vampire cape... We are performing together as The Emperor and The Empress - TOO much fun!

4) A whole new generation is discovering the work of the late great Art L'Hommedieu, whose Blacklips tarot images grace our invite.

5) The show was MADE ONLINE

6) Producer's meetings at Bowery Poetry Club, Orlin and Urge Cafe help local economy

7) I've always liked tarot but have been too lazy to study it. I now know the whole Major Arcana, more or less..

8) The volunteers have been INCREDIBLE (thanks Allegra et al) and it makes me feel great about New York again

9) Tarot readers in the basement all night, along with zines and baked goods and CDs and all that good festival stuff

10) CLOSING night gives us another great excuse for a party, and it will be the annual Motherboards bash on Friday June 20 with a special edition of VERBAL ABUSE from 10 to midnight to open it up!

Enormous props to Tonya, Jade, Mia, Derrick and everyone else whose been working so hard on this, and I can't wait!

Its great to have all that talent in town -

In case you haven't met them yet, I'm sure you will this week, between Cabaret Magique, Cheez reunion, multiple Nina shows and of course Arcadia!

Here's a sneak preview of Z & S design for the Aeon card, which they will be wearing at Arcadia and then is on display at the Gallery..

The one and only, and a true treasure at that ... Gigi Deluxe ... psst ... she's the Arcadia! High Preistess Friday night all the way from Chicago in this one of a kind, not to be missed show ...

This night is gonna rock Tonya! Looking foward to the closing party too!

Well behaved women rarely make history.

Break a leg!!!

white curls, whispy satin and my heart aflutter ...

Good luck to all the artists performing tonight and a thank-you to all those who participated in the hanging this week. CBGBs 313 is decked with an onslaught of amazing pieces and tonight I do believe there is magic on the rise ...

What a visual/aural/sensory overload was ARCADIA! opening night - there was so much to take in I think it will take a while to process.

First, congrats in order to TonyaKnudsen for dreaming up the whole thing and working so many months to make it happen. Secondly, to my three co-producers Jade Barbee, Derrick and Mia I have nothing but admiration for the heaps of time and energy that you put into the process.

My critical-eyed Emperor said that it is the best-hung show he's ever seen at CB's, and the art is definately worth the trip any afternoon.
JoJo Baby's window is mega...walk by it at any hour and you'll agree.

To all the performers, who also put so much into their segments, deepest thanks. With 21 performances its hard to single only a few out, but my personal faves and raves were Velocity's standout Star, Sarah Vasilas' imaginative Moon, and old scene-stealer Hattie Hathaway's devil. And Daddy was SUCH a gorgeous Napoleon..

To all the DJs, Minerva who held down the door, Jason our adorable tech and all the others who hammered and primped, thank you! thank you!

And finally, everyone who travelled great distances to be with us last night - Zazoo and Satori, Amoree, Gigi, JoJo et al - we are humbled and hope it was worth the trip!

Brava! Bravo!

Now its time to clean the house.

and worth every minute of it. This was one of the most unique and warm group shows I've had the pleasure of participating in for a long time. Thank you Tonya for involving me in your ambitious brain child...I had a blast! Thank you Chi Chi...(*blushes* and *hugs*).
xoxox,
Velocity Chyaldd

Well behaved women rarely make history.

Tarot was such an inspired theme, and you all took it to places where I didn't know it could go! I wish I had got there in time for the 1st set.

I especially liked the ladies of the Wheel of Fortune for their shambling goof-ball antics, their glitter, their costume accident & their mantra of "Repetition is a form of change." True! and it gave me insight into that card that I didn't have before.

Also, Hattie Hathaway's devil routine & I didn't catch the name of the Wednesday Addamsy gal sharing the stage with her, but she was a crack-up too.

And Jade has unrivaled MC skills! I got the feeling he could do it in his sleep. The head-set mic didn't hurt matters and the tech for the night kept on!

Mm, I also liked the piano-playing girl singer who I think was the Temperance card. She came 3 days on bus--from where?

Z&S: gorgeous & sweet (I met one--Z, I'm pretty sure)

Am just emerging ... I have so much to say and so many thank yous to give that I know not where to begin ... I am off now to get Amoree (the piano playing girl) back on her bus, she has a show in Portland on Wednesday ... but I wanted to pop in here quick to answer Gato's question and make one little note of critical importance.

Amoree currently resides in Portland and is one of two of my childhood "Art soul-mates" -- we shocked and took a small, midwest town by the balls most of our young lives, please check out this link on the mboards where I spent an afternoon many months ago introducing Amoree to this community ...

Click here!

Second thing, this event and the Artmaker forum, our representive of what our community is now capable via these great boards created by Chi Chi and Johnny. Although, I may be an explorer on the forefront of experimenting with how to use them to find that "Another New York" -- I hope more than anything -- others are inspired to use these boards to bring their own creative brain children to life. I can't wait to see what the future holds as we all stand on these brave, new frontiers.

Congrats on birthing that baby Tonya! I thought it was one of the smoothest running eves I have ever took part in. All the performers were tip top notch - SPECIALLY Needles Jones and Hattie who each claimed a roomful of devoted fans (if they were not converts already!). Vulgaris won my heart as she cleaned herself and sullied the stage singing like Diamanda meets Nina... and Sarah was so hypnotic she me proud as she strutted or rather strapped her stuff on stage.

Props to Jade (boy you NEED to make a living singing already!) and Jason who was so cute AND responsible (traits usually not paired in such a smiling package!) and the lovely stage manager with the blonde hair and glasses whose name (gasp!) escaped me at the moment (forgive me!).

AND it was GREAT to meet so many of the faces and stylings of the people behind the lines and lines of typed words and cyber rants...JoJo LOOKED amazing....

and to Stacy Amber for the FAB card reading that reassured me the SUN is coming out in full force sometime soon and I'm gonna be basking in it like a lizard.

Kisses to Chi Chi and Daddy - you did it again!

I am proud you all allowed me to play a (small) part.

X

Derrick

these boards are all my wife's doing. She and Al Gore invented the internet, I just surf the porn sites. Thanks anyway.
But didn't I look pretty last night?

What a production! You are just amazing!

I'm so unbelievably bummed not to have been there. But it's so lovely to read that it was a giant success!

And I'm burning up with curiousity to find out what Hattie did with The Devil. Descriptions?

Kudos to Tonya and Jade for their perserverance and persistence. And a giant shout out to ChiChi and Daddy for making such a thing possible.

And now back to rehearsals...

p.s. Taylor, we send huge regrets not be able to make your show(s). I'm sure you were fabulous, you were back in the day at JCR and I'm sure nothing has changed except that you've grown more wonderful.

'in matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.'
-oscar wilde

Nobody would've never been to such a gorgeous opening nite of an art exhibition...
Here is a peek of that nite***
Jade "RoCk" Barbee-->

On the top of my thank-you list are the names Jade, Mia and Derrick "” who put up with me week after week, let me be bossy on occassion, but always kept the momentum going, especially during those few dark hours when I found myself pulling my hair out!

Chi Chi, thank-you so much for putting your confidence in me, when we started, you probably thought I could do anything, and (while I'm not saying that's not true) I know I may have shocked you with just what minor setbacks proved to show what in me is most novice and weak. Daddy thanks for surfing porn!

Allegra Muzzillo's work on the bios was by far a turning point in the right direction coming late in the game! Altho, I would have loved to personally edit the bios, I had to pass the entire program project onto this gal eager to make her way in the city and is what I call "” a true friend, although she did tell me she was going to kill me two weeks ago, she's decided to let me continue breathing for now.

Next, many thanks to the crew and staff at CBGBs spearheaded by Micheline, who I knew from the get go, was not a lady I wanted to let down in anyway, so no matter how frustrating things got, giving up was never an option.

Thanks to D. for nursing me back to sanity, taking care of the pups (Malice and Chalice), the garden, the house and being Prince charming in all ways. Thanks to Malice and Chalice for holding off on becoming house broken all this time so that I may help fight the good battle, now going on 6 months, with D. in getting the little turd birds in line.

Thanks to Missy Galore and SelenaVarius for extended efforts in media/video planning and orchestrating.

To all the artists! It was so cool to work with each and every one of you "” what a joy we were all able to bring every element to fruition while maintaining respect and awe for each other! Unique and warm indeed!

Dani (if I'm spelling this wrong please forgive!) who came in the day of the production and made do with what little I gave her to event plan the performances with. You, my lady, really are a star! And someone to learn from if only by watching you in action one day.

Kudos to Minerva who it was nice to finally meet in the flesh; and, Jason, for both helping and causing a stir among the artists who couldn't help but gander and gander at him.

A big f-ing thank-you to such a great group of personal friends who all happen to be kick-ass DJs who came in to do this event for no funds simply because they wanted to show their support for whatever mixed-up madness I had cooked up. I didn't get to thank them enough. A few, I barely said a few rushed words to lacking much appreciation or understanding for all the tech problems they had on both floors with DJ flow and mechanics. Krieg and Steve Travolta, I don't think got to play at all, but, have spun hours in my book by just being there and being the coolest of the cool!

Thanks to Tommy and Michael for commiting to an ad in the program book!

I'll save the rest for the next post!

I had a great time as well and want to thank Tonya and the artmakers for the opportunity. I was the Universe (and last performer of the evening) - Derrick or anyone have pictures from my performance????

Kat

before this topic fades into the mists - I had a fierce time hosting Arcadia! - what a workout - I recommend it to all queens who want to kick their own ass into gear. I hadnt MCd anything in years - after the first few bumps felt right at home.

special thanks to Derrick (gwirl, Im workin' on it!)And Johnny Gato your words are music to my ears big hugs to Tonya (the brainchild), ChiChi (the energizer), Mia (the fabulous) - you know why - its been a hoot being a "producer" on this and getting to play such a big part. Im so glad we could stir things up and create something *new* out here in cold new york. The exhibit makes Arcadia even more special as the event that just keeps on giving...so much beautiful work to see until our orgiastic closing gala on the 20th!!

The audience was fantastic - I love that so many of my favorite people turned out including the Flawless One - who's big mouth is ultimately responsible for getting my face out of my computer and in front of people. Maki - thanks for making me look way cooler than I felt. And katherine assisting you on the Universe was totally dyonesian. Dany, Jeff, Doug - all of you made this event something people are still talking about!

la la
j

Fingers crossed all - CDs hopefully ready by Thurs/Fri if the live recording went well!

Bettie Crow - You can still catch the magic! The exhibit is up until June 20th and there is now video of the show to watch on rotation at the gallery. My camera died during filming, so if anyone has some footage of the last five acts and, as it turns out, my own 2 mins. on stage, this is all I am missing in order to have the whole show documented. And I am hoping to hear from Selena soon for vid. documentary and footage that we can all get lost in watching! Hoping between she and I, we can have some vid. copies for sale at the gallery soon for those making vid. requests.

Johnny Gato - ArtMaker community is just beginning!! We have topics waiting to be thread for any who wish to post about artmaking and artmakers! Now, the idea of zine has pro and con draw strings ebbing from it, but it is a topic for good discussion in the ArtMaker forum in the future especially as we already have at least three zinesters actively posting. Please head into the forum and start a topic re what you're thinking or would like to see or, perhaps join in making? ... :-) But, I should mention, I do think two projects that we've talked about in the forum in the past that have gotten put on the back burner 1) Jade's Weekly Salon and 2) rebuilding PCs for community members who would benefit so much from online interaction, these two items are going to be at the top of my community agenda this summer.

Darla Diamond - Your kind words mean so much! It's so hard to tell sometimes what fellow community folks make of such commotion from me. TMT (Too Much Tonya)! I'm glad some endeavors make some of you proud of this youngish upstart!

Jade and Maki! - sniff! snort! love you two!

Surreal and Real Arcadia! Collage

All images and tape from D.

I have the first 20 of 150 numbered CD/Program Books finished and I am running them into CBGBs now! They are amazing!!!!! I really love listening to it, the great gallant voxing of Brandon Olsen to "Repetion!!! is a form a change" and so very much more!

The first 80 of the CD/Book run will be sold online here at the mboards and out of CB's 313 Gallery, price point $8-$10. These are numbered 1-80 of 150 copies.

By Monday I hope to have all 150 burned and will be getting one comp copy to all the artists, these are numbered 81-150. As there about 40 to 50 artists, contributors, advertisers, etc. that each should get one - it may take me some time to get yours to you, I'll be mailing these out a few every day. But if want additional copies, I recommend purchasing them here or at the Gallery before they sell out.

FYI - As Chi and Johnny are headed out of town, it may take until next week to get purchading info via the mboards.
On vid front! By Monday I hope to have the full run of show on vid available for purchase. But I will post a note for sure!

Congratulations to everyone who sent up Arcadia. The living imagery was very steep and celebratory. My only suggestions, (and suggestions for the sake of nudging the production in to even better form than it was, not for the sake of criticism) would be to get the sound for live vocals a bit better on the board. I'm not sure if the problem is with the configuration of the gallery space or the actual board mix, Jade's MC'ing was particularly clear but the stage mics weren't delivering as well as they could have. Some more thought might be given to the flow of the event. It is almost inevitable that by a third set there will be a thinner audience. I am not sure what the solution is to this but it could use some extra thought. Similarly, and I know this is very difficult with so many presentations, the trick to a very long program in part is to have it develop or build up and this means paying a lot of attention to the particular moods created by each presentation, the level of energy achieved by each -a lot of image and content and pacing type of considerations. But I have very seldom attended this type of marathon event where it all goes as smoothly as Arcadia did with very minimal technical stutters. And almost never have I been at a lengthy event where there was not great evidence of ego jockying. Arcadia really had the collectivized, cooperative vibe at the top.

Seven Thank you so much! Thank-you for taking the time and care to write it.

Originally, we had worked out a deal to record in a professional studio one month ahead of the event for the CD however 1) sponsorship interest had dropped when we went to war. 2) In order to have done the CD in the studio the artists had to have their songs ready to go by March 1, March 15 at the latest. Although most of the show was cast mid-Feb. Folks were just not working that far in advance. Mia worked very hard all of May to get these compositions to the point they were for the debut, chasing down artist after artist. She really is amazing.

FYI - Should the 80 CDs sell and there is interest for more, or from a theater to tighten and tweek the production for off-off-off theater, etc. I think it would be great to go into the studio and get it all right.

Additionally, Jade and I had discussed and planned for rehearsals which never came to pass. By May 1, I was still hoping to have the cast from each set in for individual group dress rehearsals so that transitions were interactive between characters to unify and tighten the storyline. But without funding, we had to work around everyone's work schedules. We did not have volunteer musicians, except Mia at our disposal, this hurt us. However, the biggest issue, was that we were replacing folks up until days before the event. I think I heard from Bobby something like 4 days before the opening.

I learned a lot on this one. Near the closing on June 20, I'd like to get the Arcadians together and discuss showing the art at another gallery down the road and/or find out who would and/or would not be committed to really turning the performances into a production. Something for folks to dwell on. In the meantime, I've CDs to burn, videos to make, press to drum up hopefully (please help get folks to the show before June 20!), performance pics to get from photographers, professional pics of the gallery installation to take, etc., etc. It's not over until the fat lady sings. (And perhaps after a couple more weeks of attending to these things that should get done) I'll gladly take a mic.

BTW - If there are a few of you veterans out there that have any advice that you can be persuaded to pass along on how we could get further sponsorship or promotion for this show, I'd love to get the other producers together if available and meet you out for coffee ...

But, if not for this one, I'm already thinking of another couple of concepts for the ArtMaker group show next year (although would love to get some ideas from interested co-curators) ... and hope to help Jade get his weekly salon going. Any leads on places with stages that would let us create, playact and stage, during "empty hours" once a week, let Jade know!

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FYI - Should the 80 CDs sell and there is interest for more, or from a theater to tighten and tweek the production for off-off-off theater, etc. I think it would be great to go into the studio and get it all right.



Near the closing on June 20, I'd like to get the Arcadians together and discuss showing the art at another gallery down the road and/or find out who would and/or would not be committed to really turning the performances into a production.

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Boy am I sorry that I dropped off the Motherboards/ArtMaker radar during April/May (always a crazy busy time for me as a theater writer). Organizing and blending and pacing this kind of highly collaborative thing is something I'm pretty good at, even (perhaps especially) when flying the seat of my pants. Plus, this sort of wildly creative venture is definitely something my (admittedly almost resourceless) theatre troupe NeoNeo would love to support. I'm a resource! Use me!

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... and hope to help Jade get his weekly salon going. Any leads on places with stages that would let us create, playact and stage, during "empty hours" once a week, let Jade know!

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Hmmm. The Marquee would seem like a natural for this. Exactly the kind of downtown-ness that M. Nardicio's really interested in supporting.

-Jonathan Warman (almost totally absent my Addison persona)

[This message was edited by Drama Queen on 06-07-03 at 02:10 AM.]

Tonya, I take some of my suggestion back, I was not aware that you were attempting to rehearse the whole show set by set. That indeed would have really tightened up the flow and really added a lot of texture by way of 'structured improv' for transitions, etc. And of course it is always the struggle to get a large group of highly individualistic contributors with all their far flung life situations to be able to comit to rehearsals. The very simple point here is that you, or any ONE else can not conceive, direct and produce the whole production alone. And designing a 'flow' for a show is not something that works at all well by committee either. Show design really takes the vision of one person with perhaps a couple of assistants for objectivity.

On Andy's Chest

http://www.andyschest.com/weblog/index.shtml

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I hardly know where to begin with how wonderful Arcadia was. .. It was one of those nights that transcends time - exists outside of time in this particularly mysterious and wonderful New York way. It reminded me of why we live here in the first place. An evening of creative people expressing themselves in a multitude of exciting and surprising ways. There was a positive energy in the room that I haven't felt in a New York club in ages.

A bit of background: the event was conceived and curated entirely through The Motherboards which is the virtual incarnation of the club Mother and The Jackie Factory. Anybody who remembers Mother and Jackie 60 will know what I'm talking about. (Also I'm realizing that I have been stupidly failing to make it to the Cabaret Magique at Chez Es Saada. I think I'm going to have to start planning my nightlife a little more carefully. Conscientiously.

The concept was that each act would perform a piece that was based on one of the Major Arcana of the Tarot.

So many of the acts were so good that I hardly know where to begin... There was great hosting by Jade Barbee, a clever dance/performance piece by Sulai Lopez & a friend, an elegant and beautiful dance piece by Sarah Vasilas, amazing musical performances from Velocity Chyaldd of the band Vulgaras and the stunning Taylor Mac. Performance art and poetry from downtown legends like Bobby Miller and Hattie Hathaway. It just went on & on & on, three great sets of performances complete with an audience that was also in fantastical dress.

This is why we live in NYC. This is the new, old nyc. This is the spirit that some places have forgotten. And it reminded me, more than anything, that art & magic happen only from the heart and cannot be forced. And the power of the imagination to transform is infinite. Dig it...

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There certainly was much to be enjoyed. For those who could not make it, you poor wretches, Hattie Hathaway was an impertinently seductive devil. Needles Jones ably assisted as the uncorrupted puritan, simultaneously attracted and repelled by the devil's offerings of money, jewels, porn... Interestingly enough, the fine artist who did the Devil card, Stacy Amber, had a similarly humorous take on temptation.

Looking at the footage from the night, there really was some lovely work. But special thanks to the people behind the scenes, who usually do the thankless work. Tonya, for seeing it through and getting it done. Jade and Mia for organizing/orchestrating the acts. Derrick and Micheline for a rockin gallery show. Dany, Jason, and the folks who projected and kept the house rolling. Allegra and Chichi for getting out one nice-looking programme. Arcadia is something of which to be proud.

Selena

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I was the Universe (and last performer of the evening) - Derrick or anyone have pictures from my performance????

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Hi Kat --

If you're desperate for some images, I could pull off a couple from the video. It might not be the greatest quality, but I could email a jpeg you might be able to do something with. Really, a still dosen't seem to do the movement justice.

So, did Jade have any prep for that voiceover? It went well.

Selena

Don't know if you still need pictures from the show, but Zazoo and Satori have put up some great ones on their site -

ARCADIA! Opening Pictures

Amber (l) and Venus