Forbidden Broadway

Le Chat Noir - Opens September 12 

Bring on the verboten, bring on Forbidden Broadway! There has always been a distinct line between the popular and the forbidden. Artistically, they have always been at odds with one another –a rivalry so intense that virtually every weapon imaginable has and can be utilized. From the subtlest tickle to the scar-leaving pinch, these enemies follow no rules in their quest to belittle one another. 

Enter the undying god of American Theatre, the Broadway musical.  Untouchable, beyond rebuke, rebuttal, or satire! Unless, that is, your name is Gerard Alessandrini. First seen at Palsson’s Supper Club on New York’s Upper West Side in January 1982, Forbidden Broadway, New York’s longest running musical comedy revue, will make its Augusta debut at Le Chat Noir.

Spoofing such memorable musicals as  Chicago, Annie, Hello Dolly, Wicked, Wizard of Oz, Le Miserables, Mamma Mia, Rent, Cats, and Hairspray, to name a few, the little theatre at the corner of Eighth and Ellis is quite excited to open its third season with such an irreverent show. With only five performers to play, parody, and sing every part, this will be a high-energy, laugh-a-minute romp through musical theatre history.  Under the brilliant musical direction of Jim Nord and starring such talented performers as Roy Lewis, Pam McCorkle, Greg Goodwin, Joy Swanson, and Matthew Perret, Forbidden Broadway is sure to chant its profane prayer to that Deity of Broadway, the Musical.

Forbidden Broadway runs September 12-13, 18-20, and 25-27 at Le Chat Noir located on 8th and Ellis in downtown Augusta. Tickets are $30 (plus tax) and can be reserved by calling the box office at 706.722.3322 between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm Tuesday through Friday. Details: lcnaugusta.com.

on the horizon / a visceral haunted house experience

le chat noir’s grand guignol  coming in october

Theater has always been somewhat obsessed over gore.  Around 429 B.C.E., Sophocles set the precedent of theatrical bloodshed with Oedipus Rex; the title character blinds himself and enters the stage during the last act covered with blood. Last year brought “demon barber” Sweeney Todd to the silver screen, revitalizing the late 70s Sondheim musical. But for those who aren’t too intrigued with Greek tragedy or a date with the DVD player this October, for those who want a live spectacle of the grotesque, Le Chat Noir presents Grand Guignol: Theatre of Horror.

Le Theatre du Grand-Guignol (French for “The Theatre of Large Puppets”) opened in Paris during the late 1800s. Playwright Oscar Metenier began the theater in an old chapel. Evenings at the theater were comprised of several short plays ranging from burlesque sex parodies to intense detective and crime dramas. What made the theater infamous was its fundamental basis of high class, third degree horror.  As Time Magazine wrote in their 1947 article, “Murders in the Rue Chaptal,” the original Grand Guignol “depict[ed] a milieu which had never before appeared on stage - that of vagrants, street kids, prostitutes, criminals, and ‘apaches,’ as street loafers and con artists were called at the time.”  These characters merged in morbid yet fantastic productions of blood, guts and corpses.  

While Le Chat will offer a collection of the original plays as well as a short by local author and photographer Duane Brown, they’re excluding the farce and focusing on the gore.  ”I wanted to produce a haunted house attraction for Halloween this season, but I’ve never really been pleased with the format,” says Krys Bailey, the visionary behind Le Chat’s version of Grand Guignol. “Most haunted houses tout ‘13 rooms of horror, 20 minutes of terror, guaranteed to make you scream!’ What you actually get is an hour in line, five minutes of stumbling around in the dark, some extremely poor acting, one startle and some not-so-special effects. Then you are chased out by a fat redneck with an impotent chainsaw; you spent $30 for you and your date.”

Thus he began researching the more obscure niche of Grand Guignol and decided it was the perfect recipe to satiate the thirst for those who’ve been looking for a more effective haunted house. Live effects coupled with the intimate space of the theater will provide an experience you won’t get even with the newest edition of Saw. Bailey is toying with the idea of a “splatter zone” for particularly zealous fans. Le Chat’s production of the Pillowman gave Bailey the opportunity to build a carbon dioxide powered stage squib (a special effect method uses the force of compressed air to blast fake blood from a length of tubing) which produces a seemingly seamless effect. In combination with other faux blood-and-gut manipulations, several onstage mutilations are going to involve casting and molding work. 

“We’ve got an amazing make-up artist. There will be some make-up practicals, such as bleeding wounds, smoldering flesh, bursting boils. Maybe a little pyro, but mainly a lot of blood. Oh, and if I didn’t mention it, there will be blood. And not only the artsy ‘drink your milkshake’ kind, but the gratuitous ‘swallow your soul’ kind,” promises Krys.

“Our Grand Guignol will put the audience through as much horror they can keep their eyes open for. Summoning that wretched type of fear that follows you out and has you looking over your shoulder on the way to the car; lying awake because sleeping could make you vulnerable to, at the very least, terrifying nightmares; it keeps your appetite replaced with horrible visions being replayed in your mind.”

Grand Guignol: Theatre of Horror will be performed October 17 and 18, then 24 through 30 with two shows each day at 7 pm and 9 pm.  The Halloween showing on October 31 is at 7 pm only, followed by the annual Black Cat Ball.  Tickets for Grand Guignol are $13 each, add the Ball for an additional $17. Call 706.722.3322 or visit  HYPERLINK “http://www.lcnaugusta.com” lcnaugusta.com for more information including season ticket packages.

 

story and art by Ashley Plocha - photo by David Hanna 

 

 

 

discovering the real “eve” / chris sizemore

I love it when something makes me realize that the human mind is really not as strange and complex as it seems. Maybe this isn’t the typical way you would expect to begin a piece about a woman with multiple personality disorder.  Surprisingly, I found I could relate the story behind The Three Faces of Eve. So, everyone doesn’t suffer from blackouts that lead to other personalities like “Eve,” but everyone can marvel and learn from Chris Sizemore’s story of a war within.

After witnessing several scenes of death including a drowned man’s water-logged body, a man who met a less than friendly sawmill, her cousin’s immature death, and kissing the face of her dead grandmother, Chris’ mind found its only way to cope: retreat and leave someone else to deal with the situation. It just so happened that this “someone else” was inhabiting the same body. Beginning when she was a toddler and continuing through her late forties, Chris suffered from other “someones” coming to her rescue.

Since 1975, Chris Sizemore’s multiple personalities have been integrated and unified into what she says is her twenty-second personality; a composite of all her past selves. But can she notice certain characteristics of Eve Black, The Purple Lady, or Strawberry Girl in herself still to this day? According to Chris, “Oh once in awhile that happens. It should happen; they’re all a part of me.  I do especially if I’m at a party and I start having fun I think of Eve Black ’cause I know she would love it! Sometimes when I’m with my family and children I think of Eve White, but I am much more realistic, she was not realistic in her thinking, but she certainly loved her family as do I. When I’m doing something professional I think of Jane; she really was a very sophisticated lady.”

Though Chris attributes most of her recovery to the unconditional support of her family, especially her daughter Taffy, she does feel the therapy she received through painting was immeasurably healthful. Painting therapy became a way for her therapist to better understand her disorder, and it has continued to be a way for Chris to purge herself. “He [Dr. Tsitos] could look at the artwork and see who it was, which personality. I feel in paint, it makes me feel good. If I feel anger I put it on the canvas and I don’t feel it anymore!” 

Of Chris’ artwork there is one subject her paintbrush comes back to again and again: the attic child. “When I was five years old we lived in this huge house. The third story had this stained glass window. They gave it to me as my play room and that window was very important. When I looked out though the golden window I could see the sands of Egypt.” Little did young Chris know that the stained glass window would become a metaphor of her life. She would soon learn how she, not just the window, would come to change from blue to green to purple, not from the setting sun, but from the great struggles she would soon face. Her canvases still return to portray the image of herself at one of the most meaningful points of her life, when childhood magic still reigned before the cold reality of adolescence and her disorder set in. 

Because Chris was discouraged by her therapist Dr. Thigpen (who authored The Three Faces of Eve, then sold it to Hollywood), she didn’t attend the 1957 Augusta premiere of the film written about her life. Days before opening night at the Miller Theatre, film hype hit the city in full force. Boutiques and hair salons called on patrons to “Change the way Eve did!” Chris’ eyes wandered up and down Broad Street looking for her name. Where was Chris Sizemore in all of this? It seemed to her that Augusta wanted her story but not her. Is it possible to imagine your own life being embraced without you in it?

One day Chris passed a store window to see her own red silk dress on display. Next to it was a sign reading “The Dress Eve wore as Eve Black.” Even more unsettling was the picture of another woman wearing it: the actress Joanne Woodward (who looked nothing like her)! The life that had tortured her every experience and relationship was now being worn by a blonde, green eyed beauty. Years later, Chris’ heart has healed along with her illness, for now she sings Joanne’s praises for her great talent. 

As painful as the rejection she received from her hometown, Chris speaks of being welcomed back with open arms last year for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the film as “a wonderful experience. It made me feel accepted. It happening when it did in my life was the best time it could have happened. I have lived enough in my life to know what they did for me in Augusta was the best thing.”

Chris wanted to go public with her identity long before the movie premiered, but Dr. Thigpen told her it would lead to a life of misery. “I’d like to believe that Dr. Thigpen’s decision at the time was in my best interest,” she offers. Since then she has published two successful memoirs, I’m Eve, with her cousin Elen Sain Pittillo, and A Mind of My Own.  

Even through Chris Sizemore suffered unimaginable trauma in her life, she has definitely come out on top. Chris has been open and forthcoming with her story for a purpose: to simply help others. She expressed this in her memoir, I’m Eve, “Nobody really knows what made me like this, or what makes anybody mentally ill; if I can tell everything about myself, perhaps it will help other sick people. If I leave out even one thing, it might be just what is necessary to complete a whole picture.” 

Though the story of Chris Costner Sizemore will never be simple, this testament of the human spirit will always be treasured. For many people who have felt lonely and confused, few have been able to reach out for help, and everyone needs to find acceptance and understanding. 

This September, the Imperial Theatre will once again accept “Eve” with welcoming with an encore presentation of The Three Faces of Eve, beginning with tours of the Miller Theatre where the film first premiered in 1957. Chris Sizemore will be joining the celebration again this year, along with Jim Davis, original emcee for the 1957 World Premiere at the Miller Theatre. A special guest this year is longtime Augusta resident and founder of the Augusta Choral Society, Emily Remington, who was the organist for the 1957 World Premiere. Proceeds from the event will help restore the Imperial Theatre’s original Wurlitzer pipe organ.

on the horizon / a visceral haunted house experience

Theater has always been somewhat obsessed over gore.  Around 429 B.C.E., Sophocles set the precedent of theatrical bloodshed with Oedipus Rex; the title character blinds himself and enters the stage during the last act covered with blood. Last year brought “demon barber” Sweeney Todd to the silver screen, revitalizing the late 70s Sondheim musical. But for those who aren’t too intrigued with Greek tragedy or a date with the DVD player this October, for those who want a live spectacle of the grotesque, Le Chat Noir presents Grand Guignol: Theatre of Horror.

Le Theatre du Grand-Guignol (French for “The Theatre of Large Puppets”) opened in Paris during the late 1800s. Playwright Oscar Metenier began the theater in an old chapel. Evenings at the theater were comprised of several short plays ranging from burlesque sex parodies to intense detective and crime dramas. What made the theater infamous was its fundamental basis of high class, third degree horror.  As Time Magazine wrote in their 1947 article, “Murders in the Rue Chaptal,” the original Grand Guignol “depict[ed] a milieu which had never before appeared on stage - that of vagrants, street kids, prostitutes, criminals, and ‘apaches,’ as street loafers and con artists were called at the time.”  These characters merged in morbid yet fantastic productions of blood, guts and corpses.  

While Le Chat will offer a collection of the original plays as well as a short by local author and photographer Duane Brown, they’re excluding the farce and focusing on the gore.  ”I wanted to produce a haunted house attraction for Halloween this season, but I’ve never really been pleased with the format,” says Krys Bailey, the visionary behind Le Chat’s version of Grand Guignol. “Most haunted houses tout ‘13 rooms of horror, 20 minutes of terror, guaranteed to make you scream!’ What you actually get is an hour in line, five minutes of stumbling around in the dark, some extremely poor acting, one startle and some not-so-special effects. Then you are chased out by a fat redneck with an impotent chainsaw; you spent $30 for you and your date.”

Thus he began researching the more obscure niche of Grand Guignol and decided it was the perfect recipe to satiate the thirst for those who’ve been looking for a more effective haunted house. Live effects coupled with the intimate space of the theater will provide an experience you won’t get even with the newest edition of Saw. Bailey is toying with the idea of a “splatter zone” for particularly zealous fans. Le Chat’s production of the Pillowman gave Bailey the opportunity to build a carbon dioxide powered stage squib (a special effect method uses the force of compressed air to blast fake blood from a length of tubing) which produces a seemingly seamless effect. In combination with other faux blood-and-gut manipulations, several onstage mutilations are going to involve casting and molding work. 

“We’ve got an amazing make-up artist. There will be some make-up practicals, such as bleeding wounds, smoldering flesh, bursting boils. Maybe a little pyro, but mainly a lot of blood. Oh, and if I didn’t mention it, there will be blood. And not only the artsy ‘drink your milkshake’ kind, but the gratuitous ‘swallow your soul’ kind,” promises Krys.

“Our Grand Guignol will put the audience through as much horror they can keep their eyes open for. Summoning that wretched type of fear that follows you out and has you looking over your shoulder on the way to the car; lying awake because sleeping could make you vulnerable to, at the very least, terrifying nightmares; it keeps your appetite replaced with horrible visions being replayed in your mind.”

Grand Guignol: Theatre of Horror will be performed October 17 and 18, then 24 through 30 with two shows each day at 7 pm and 9 pm.  The Halloween showing on October 31 is at 7 pm only, followed by the annual Black Cat Ball.  Tickets for Grand Guignol are $13 each, add the Ball for an additional $17. Call 706.722.3322 or visit  HYPERLINK “http://www.lcnaugusta.com” lcnaugusta.com for more information including season ticket packages.