April 10, 2025 • 57 mins
Brett Cullum has a conversation with the Shunya Theatre group about a romantic comedy they are staging at the MATCH in Houston for four nights only. It's about a white guy meeting an Indian guy at a temple and the clash in cultures and families that results. The show is called A NICE INDIAN BOY, and it has recently been turned into a film starring Jonathan Groff.
Find out about Shunya:
https://www.facebook.com/ShunyaTheatre/reels/?_rdr
Then Olly Oxen joins Deborah Moncrief Bell to talk about The Shimmer Show. It's a Burlesque & Variety event held on the third Monday of every month starting next week at Dan Electros in Houston.
And finally, Brett Cullum has a conversation with legendary playwright Ken Ludwig, who wrote the play the Alley Theatre is doing right now: It's called BASKERVILLE: A SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY. Ken talks about his career and the secrets to writing great plays.
Tickets for this production can be found at:
Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here. Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond. Check out our socials at:
https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody, this is Queer Voices, a podcast
version of a broadcast radioshow that's been on the air in
Houston, texas, for severaldecades.
This week, brett Cullum has aconversation with Shunya Theatre
Group about a romantic comedythey are staging at Match in
Houston for three nights only.
(00:21):
It's about a white guy meetingan Indian guy at a temple and
the clash in cultures andfamilies that results.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
The objective was to sort of bring South Asian
theater, south Asian Americantheater, specifically to South
Asian American you know, thediaspora audience and there's
been over the years, like anumber of different productions
that the company has, you know,sort of brought to Houston.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Then Ollie Oxen joins Debra Moncrief-Bell to talk
about the Shimmer Show.
It's a burlesque and varietyevent held on the third Monday
of every month, starting nextweek at Dan Electro's in Houston
, and Brett Cullum has aconversation with Ken Ludwig,
who wrote the play that theAlley Theater is doing right now
(01:11):
.
It's called Baskerville, aSherlock Holmes mystery.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
I just wandered around my library and this book
was kind of sticking out alittle bit and it was Conan
Doyle's how to the Baskervillesand I thought to myself gee, I
haven't read that since I wasprobably a kid and I pulled it
out and read it and it's such aremarkable story.
I would say it's one of the twogreatest adventure stories ever
written in the English language.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Queer Voices starts now.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
Hi there, it's Brett Cullum, and today I have an
entire crew with me here.
This is the cast of a play thatis going to be produced at the
Match from Shania Theatre.
It's going to be called A NiceIndian Boy.
It runs April 10th through the13th.
The premise of the play is ameet-cute at a temple results in
a romance between NaveenGavaskar and Keshav.
(02:06):
Is that right, yes, okay.
A Hindi-speaking,bollywood-loving man who happens
to be white.
As the love story unfolds, theGavaskar household must also
brace itself for the return ofNaveen's older sister.
Arunthati, arunthati, arunthatiWow, that's a good one.
An uproarious journey followsas the family navigates duty,
(02:30):
tradition and self-discovery intheir quest for happily ever
after.
Madhuri Shikhar's comedy offersa warm and witty portrayal of
love and marriage in today'sSouth Asian or Desi diaspora.
Oh, what a mouthful you guys.
But I would like to welcomeJohn Dunn, who is an actor in
the play, and then we haveAnjana Menon, who is the
(02:52):
director, and Tahir LokhondwalaAcent.
Oh, thank goodness.
Okay, if I stumble through thisthe whole time, do not worry,
you did so good.
Oh, thank you.
I feel so accomplished forgetting through that paragraph
already, but obviously thissounds like a great little cute
(03:14):
romantic comedy.
So how did you all get togetherto make this production at the
match?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
When was it?
November 2015,.
We actually did the play as areading at.
Spring Street Studios and itwas me directing it and also at
the time I passed Tahir in therole of Naveen.
We had worked together on aproduction, also with Junior
Theatre, and I happened to belooking for a white man who
(03:42):
could play the role of Kesha.
I was going to say Art.
Speaker 9 (03:45):
Wheel, looking for a white man who could play the
role of keshav.
I was gonna say, aren't we all?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
oh, six, five blue eyes looking for a man in
finance.
So, yeah, I was looking forsomeone to play the role of
keshav and biba ashraf, whoplayed the role of megha in the
reading recommended.
John, to me that was Novemberof 2015.
And I remember thinking backthen that if I had a chance to
(04:11):
direct this as a full lengthproduction, I would, you know,
jump on it artistic director ofShunya mentioned to me that
there was the chance that thiswas coming back as part of
Shunya's comeback into theHouston theater scene and I was
(04:33):
like tell me about Shunya alittle bit.
Speaker 5 (04:36):
I'm not familiar with the theater company myself.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Tell me about their mission, how long they've been
around that kind of a thing 2003has been an existence yes, I
think 2002 or three I I can'tremember offhand, but like the
early 2000s, and it was foundedby a gentleman called soham
mehta, who has now since movedon.
We make movies but theobjective was to sort of bring
(04:59):
south asian theater, south asianamerican theaters, specifically
, to South Asian American.
You know the diaspora audienceand there's been over the years,
like a number of differentproductions that the company has
, you know, sort of brought toHouston.
That has served the South Asiandiaspora in many different ways
(05:20):
.
And there was a bit of a hiatus.
You know COVID happened In thecase of Shunya.
Harvey happened first becauseit was the waiting room that was
scheduled to go up the weekthat Harvey happened, and then,
you know, they only managed toopen, have one show and then
they had to postpone that andthen it took some time to
(05:41):
recover, and when they wereready to recover, covid hit A
little bit of bad luck.
I think with this play therereally isn't a better chance or
a better opportunity to comeback.
And so, you know, here we are,fingers crossed.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
Yeah, definitely no, I've got my fingers crossed and
it's an interesting time tobring this play to Houston
because the writer MadhuriShikhar is known for her
Blumhouse movie.
It's a horror movie called EvilEye, which was based on an
Audible drama that she did.
She's written for the Netflixseries Three-Body Problem, also
(06:14):
the Nevers.
I mean.
Just an incredible writer.
She worked on Sister.
Act 3 for Disney.
Come on, I didn't know that.
Yeah, and then this one isbeing adapted into a film
starring jonathan groff andkaren sony, and what's weird is
it's debuting in the us thismonth, after it's been traveling
around and doing a lot of thefilm festivals, and the movie
(06:37):
actually has 100 rating onrotten tomatoes so far.
So that bodes well for yourscript.
Speaker 9 (06:44):
We held off on watching the trailer for it
because we didn't want to beinfluenced by it.
But I think some of us sneakeda look and it's actually seems
to be very different from thescript, from the stage script.
You know there are things thatare sort of more fleshed out
perhaps, and you know kind ofslightly different situations.
So I think seeing both would beprobably a good approach,
(07:06):
because I think it looks likethey might complement each other
in that way.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Come to the play first.
Speaker 7 (07:11):
Yes, come to the play first, and then we're doing a
watch party later too, right?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (07:18):
For the plan as a con .
Speaker 5 (07:20):
I think what would be brilliant is do the play.
Obviously, you're going April10th through the 13th, at the
match On the 13th, right afteryou take your final bow, just
roll out the little audio visualthing and start the movie.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Just be like here we go as we dismantle the set
around it.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Well, it looks like the writer is so embedded in
doing like series and thingslike that, so it doesn't
surprise me that she wouldprobably adapt the script for
the screen and maybe give you alittle bit of differences and
stuff.
So, john and tahir, tell me howyou both got involved in this
production.
I mean, obviously we have anidea that john was obviously
pulled in as a referral, buttahir, how did you end up in
(08:02):
here?
Speaker 7 (08:03):
so originally anjana and I like she mentioned him we
we were castmates in another oneof shunya's productions.
That's when I got to know her.
I did the reading.
Then, strangely enough, thehiatus that shunya took I had a
somewhat longer one.
So the the last thing I'veactually done in houston from a
(08:23):
theater standpoint was this playreading.
So I actually haven't doneanything for about a decade on
stage.
But Anjana was remaking this andwas like hey are you who, like
by chance, interested in doingthis, and I was like I haven't
fed this part of my soul forlike a very long time and this
(08:44):
felt like a star's alignmentkind of moment.
I was so grateful that shecalled me and, yeah, I like
jumped at the opportunity to getinvolved and it's truly been
fantastic.
So for anyone listening wholike has a creative soul, it's
important to feed that from timeto time.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
Oh, we'd love a good comeback story.
Speaker 7 (09:03):
Give me a break, feed that from time to time.
Oh, we'd love a good comebackstory.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Give me a break.
I was just thinking.
I've been writing for BroadwayWorld about 10 years and I
hadn't seen you in a production,so I thought, yeah, hiding in
the somewhere.
Speaker 7 (09:14):
Yeah Well, ty will tell if it's a successful
comeback story, but I'm hopefuland, given the amazing cast and
team around this, I'm prettysure it is going to be.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Well, this is full-scale production, right?
I mean, you did a reading atthe Spring Street Theater and
now this is the full sets andeverything and all of that.
How many?
I mean?
How big of a cast is it?
It seems like it's a prettysizable cast if we're talking
about the sister and the familyand all of that.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
There's five, okay, five on the cast.
Speaker 9 (09:42):
No, it's a nice medium size.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, it's a nice cozy size yeah.
Speaker 9 (09:46):
Okay.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
I was imagining this army of Fellini-esque family,
extended members.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
That's the secret.
Yeah, just like the leads inthe front and all the extras in
the back.
Yes, you know, like Bollywoodand the trees and flowers.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Yeah, no, I mean, I always think of that.
And John, your character has tobe a Bollywood fan.
Were you a Bollywood fan beforeyou entered this production?
Speaker 9 (10:13):
I have seen maybe a couple of Bollywood movies prior
to this and, in part of thepreparation for this play, I did
watch yet another one.
It is Dilwale Dulania LaJayenge, which La Jayenge yeah,
Le Jayenge yeah almost.
Almost so close.
You can tell we're working onthis.
It's Le Jayenge.
There you go, yes, there you go, okay, yes.
(10:34):
So, which it is often shortenedto DDLJ.
This is a movie that has beenplaying for now 30 years
constantly.
It is still showing in Mumbai,right At a particular theater,
and it is a three hour longromance, like romantic comedy,
bollywood film, and it's gotgreat music which we are playing
(10:55):
throughout the show.
It's in the script.
It says you know, in betweenthe scenes we play songs from it
.
So, yeah, my characterreferences this show and the
music and some of the situationsin the play I think were kind
of inspired by events in thefilm and themes in the film and
this is a beloved filmthroughout the Indian diaspora,
like some neighbors of mine, Iran into them and mentioned I
(11:18):
was doing the show and Imentioned DDLJ and they were
like, oh, okay, we have to seethat.
So, yeah, it's a it's, it's aphenomenon, and how I, how I
came to be associated withShunya, was that years ago I was
doing a 24 hour play festivalcalled Madcap 24.
And I reached out because Iwanted to involve people from
(11:40):
different theaters who maybehadn't worked together before,
and so it was kind of an excuseto do a 24-hour setting of
theater and just have people runin, write a script, learn the
lines and then go up the nextnight.
So I reached out to SanjayMeduwella at Shunya and started
bringing people in to act inthat, and then later on, that
(12:00):
was my first connection toShunya.
And then later on, I did a showcalled Chinglish in 2013, where
I was a white man living inChina who had to.
The majority of my lines werein Mandarin.
So that was Diba had seen thatshow and she said oh well, maybe
you should look at him.
He's the white guy who does allof the you know Asian things.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
So that's apparently become my brand perhaps your
massive brand that includesdancing cockroaches and Texas
legislators Right.
Speaker 9 (12:34):
That's my Tamari Cooper thing.
Surprisingly, the role thatI've played the most in theater
is actually Jesus in variousforms.
Speaker 5 (12:42):
Yeah, Well, what does this one offer?
I mean, obviously we're lookingat some South Asian traditions
and things like that.
Do we get into the culturereally hard?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I would say so.
Yes, the opening scene it's ata temple.
I feel like it's a culturalimmersion at that point.
There's a lot of references tothe movie DDLJ and you see, you
are in the living room of theparents.
As point, there's a lot ofreferences to the movie DDLJ and
you see, you know you are inthe living room of the parents
as well.
It's a typical South Asianfamily in the Bay area.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
Where's their location?
They're in California.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yes, so they yeah the .
It's sort of alternate betweenSan Francisco in the city and,
like the suburbs of the Bay area.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
So we're dealing with people in the U?
S rather than Mumbai or exotic.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (13:29):
So, two generations of people in fact.
So you know, the parents are,are are from from India, but you
know the the children is.
That, is that true?
The?
Speaker 7 (13:40):
children are born here.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
Yeah, does that spark the dramatic conflict or what
is the center core thing?
I'm imagining this is a got todo with you guys as a couple
yeah, I mean I, I think it is.
Speaker 7 (13:53):
That is like I think there's that's one of the
central tensions.
I mean I think it's um keshav'scharacter really embodies kind
of an interesting tension too interms of like who he, what he
looks like versus how he feels.
I think there's tension betweenNaveen and Keshav as a result
(14:13):
of that.
But I think, yeah, I think itembodies so many like unique,
distinct experiences the queerexperience, the South Asian
experience, andintergenerational immigrant
experience among first andsecond generation immigrants,
and so there's so many of theselike wonderful, like rich,
layered themes that like Madhuribrings through just really,
(14:38):
really artfully.
So I think, if you relate toeven one of those groups, or
even none of them, there's likevery human elements in there
that you can fall in love with,I think, very easily it struck
me how, how there are thosecrossovers between these various
identities that are that aresort of vying for position in
the play.
Speaker 9 (14:56):
Trying to find who you are, trying to find your
identity and your authenticityand what it means to you is
something that's pretty muchcommon throughout all of the
characters, but they're allcoming at it from different
directions and so it's likeTahir said, it's very layered.
There are some lines in theplay.
If you step back from them andthink about them, they can be
really sad or really dramatic.
(15:17):
I mean, essentially it's aromantic comedy but yeah, on
paper, if you pull any one ofthese lines out from time to
time you're like, oh, thatperson really hurts, that person
really wants something and whatthat's.
What I really love about aboutthe playwright's approach to
this is that she's really madethese dynamic characters and
they just just from the, fromthe get-go when they're in any
(15:41):
scene.
Together they are going forwhat they want and and it's
great.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
Well, I love the fact that this is going to be so
universally appealing, because Iknow that when I look at Shunya
theater at first I just think,oh, this is for a specific
audience.
But it sounds like you've gotthe capability to really have a
broad group come in and allrelate and all be able to kind
of enjoy it and things like that.
But obviously south asian groupis going to understand some of
the references and thesituational things.
Speaker 9 (16:08):
Junior doesn't only do indian plays like they did
john patrick shanley's italianamerican reconciliation.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
I believe in one in one of the seasons yeah, yeah,
we did art in 2012 and it was it.
Interestingly, it was at thesame time as art was also being
performed somewhere else in thecity, so it was like,
interestingly, it was at thesame time as art was also being
performed somewhere in the city,so it was like one weekend, two
productions of art.
That's something that Iremember.
It's for the South Asianaudience, but it's also for the
South Asian creators, but it'sfor those of us who actually
(16:39):
live here, who have a life thatis not confined or contained
within South Asian-ness, lifethat is not confined or
contained within SouthAsian-ness.
I think this play especially.
I really don't think that youhave to be South Asian or have a
South Asian, you know, lovedone to be able to come in and
enjoy what's actually happeningon the screen.
Sorry, on the stage on thescreen later afterwards, but
(16:59):
come watch the play first, whichmakes it that much more
relevant.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
And Anjana, you're the director.
What else have you directed?
Is this just kind of a?
Do you just exclusively workwith this group, or no, so this
is my directorial debut.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Good, yes, and other than the fact that I did direct
the reading of this, but youknow that doesn't really count.
Maybe not, maybe it does, maybenot, I think it does stage with
(17:40):
Chunia and now I'm debutingsort of like as a director with
them.
But you may have seen me inother productions around Houston
.
Most recently I was in Synapsewith the Octarine Accord and
Creative Movement Practices.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Rec Room.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yes, I was Dance Nation at the Rec Room and a few
others.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Not a bad pedigree there and you got a rookie like
John on the stage as well.
Speaker 9 (18:07):
I'm very thankful they let me play, but I will say
, like some of the members ofShunya have gone on, like
Karthik went on to, he's doingmovies in India now, like so
we've got such an interestingrange of experience here in this
community.
Shiva, who plays Archit in theplay, his parents were actors
(18:28):
and he always dreamed aboutgetting into tollywood films and
apparently he's had small rolesin that.
So yeah, so it's interesting tosee what people bring to the
table.
I have really loved being inthe room because in our company
here we have what?
Something like eight differentlanguages spoken, four different
faiths, and everybody bringssuch interesting insights to the
(18:51):
experience and it's really fun.
The really funny part is whereyou know we'll have the indian
experience being shared and thentahir and I will be like, okay,
well, in gay culture this wouldnever happen.
And we, we learn each other'snames after the date.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
That's great.
I love the idea of all of thismashup.
It seems to be a hallmark ofHouston theater right now A lot
of diversity and a lot of justcultural queer identity.
Everything gets thrown intogether and just see what comes
out of all of it.
I'm very excited about this one.
I am so glad that I've alreadygot my tickets and everything.
(19:27):
So, and then I want to warneverybody it's the match and
it's only the 10th through the13th, so this is a fast run.
It's Thursday through Sundayand it runs about an hour and 40
minutes is what I'm gathering,and you actually have an
intermission.
Thank you.
Speaker 9 (19:45):
Thank you for doing that.
Speaker 5 (19:48):
They are an endangered species.
Speaker 9 (19:50):
They really are.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I also don't know if maybe we need the intermission
more than the audience does.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yeah, I find that with an audience it helps to
have that a lot of times,because an hour and 40, hour and
30, it's okay, but that canpress some of your, your
audience members, a little bit.
So it's good to give them thatbreak and let them kind of
refresh and get back.
And is there anything formallyplanned next for sunya theater
or?
Speaker 2 (20:14):
not at the moment.
No, I think all of thecompanies that energies and
efforts are sort of focused andconcentrated on this production
and everybody is excited,excited really, to see this, you
know, come to fruition.
Honestly, it's really exciting.
Every rehearsal is just a joy.
I can't wait to see this onstage, but also it's going to be
(20:35):
gone real fast.
And that makes me a bit sad.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
Well again, the name of the play is A Nice Indian Boy
at the Match, april 10ththrough the 13th, presented by
Shunya Theatre.
And of course, we thank you,john Anjana and Tahir, for
coming and talking about all ofthis stuff.
It's wonderful.
Speaker 9 (20:54):
I'll see you guys.
Please, everybody, get yourtickets soon, because all the
aunties and uncles are showingup.
And Matchbox 1 is a smalltheater, so please get your
tickets as soon as you can.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
That's a good thing to have.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
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funded?
There are no underwriters, soit's up to all of us to pay for
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That means you participate inour programming just by
(21:29):
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Please do that now by going tothe KPFT website and clicking on
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Thank you.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell, and I'm talking
with Ollie Oxen.
Ollie is well an interestingperson that I've come to know
over the last several months,and I learned that they're
involved in something called theShimmer Show, and so we're
going to talk about that.
But first of all, let's get toknow Ollie a little better.
(22:07):
Ollie, you've been in Houstonfor a while now.
What brought you here?
Speaker 8 (22:13):
I moved here in 2010 after I graduated, and I came
because of a relationship andbecause of a job.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
And this was in 2010?
.
Speaker 8 (22:26):
This was in 2010, the end of 2010.
So I've been here for wowalmost 15 years.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
I hadn't realized that you'd been in Houston that
long.
You were in a relationship withsomeone who was from France.
Speaker 8 (22:42):
We met on a study abroad in Mexico.
I was a devout Catholic at thetime and during the study abroad
I ended up falling in love withsomeone from France and came
out and stopped being Catholic.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Well, that's amazing how that happens, isn't it?
Speaker 8 (23:01):
It is.
I went in with the mindset ofoh, I'm going to go to Mass in
another country and further myCatholicism, and that is not
what happened.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
France is a largely Catholic country.
Were they also Catholic?
Speaker 8 (23:18):
They were not they grew up Catholic, but same as me
.
They had their awakeningearlier than I did.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
And of course, we know that people have been in
many different kinds of churchesand have come out and stay
within their religion orwhatever religious practices,
and sometimes they change.
They go to a more welcomingenvironment.
We have LGBTQIA affirmingcongregations, a number of which
(23:48):
here in Houston, and for me, asan atheist, I often am
perplexed at people beingreligious, especially if they're
queer.
That's the way it goes.
Sometimes you find a differentpath and you make choices about
how you want to conduct yourlife.
(24:09):
I take it that they were tryingto get a visa.
Did that happen?
Speaker 8 (24:14):
They did end up getting a work visa, an H-1B
visa, but they did not get theirgreen card.
When we were together, they didan internship and then through
their internship, they were ableto find a job which solidified
their H-1B visa and then afterthat, they kept working towards
(24:36):
getting their green card thatthey kept working towards
getting their green card.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
That's an interesting thing that a lot of people are
looking at right now with allthe issues around immigration.
You, I believe, have a minor intheater.
Speaker 8 (24:49):
I do.
I have a major in communication, sciences and disorders and a
minor in theater.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
How soon after you arrived in Houston did you get
involved in anything to do withtheater?
Speaker 8 (25:04):
It took about five years.
I was involved in some of thequeer sports because growing up
I've always been super intosports as well.
So I got into the PrideSoftball League and got involved
that way into the queercommunity.
And then it happened one nightI wasn't even looking at getting
(25:28):
into the theater world but Iwas walking with some friends
downtown and we started chattingwith some people who were
smoking a cigarette outside ofthis building called the
Kaleidoscope Theater and struckup a conversation with them and
they said that they were alwayslooking for volunteers and so I
(25:49):
started volunteering on setdesign, costume design.
I even got to be kind of not intheir shows but I would help out
off-scene with the performers.
And then they also.
As I said, I'm a speech or Imajored in communication
sciences and disorders, so Iwork right now as a speech
(26:11):
language pathologist assistantin elementary education.
So I have always beenfascinated by dialects and
accents and they let me kind ofwork on some dialect coaching
when they had roles thatrequired accents.
So I got to do a little bit ofthat as well.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Is there a particular accent that you like?
Speaker 8 (26:41):
accent that you like.
Well, the ones that I defaultto are the British accents.
They are a little bit easierfor me to just slide into and I
like a lot of accents.
There's the Georgia peach.
You got your little southernbelle that you can go into.
Speaker 4 (26:54):
We'll have to have a talk because most people do a
terrible southern voice.
You know who seems to do itreally well are are the british
and australians.
They can do a southern voice.
It's really interesting, infact.
I was listening to a woman ontiktok who was doing different
accents.
She was saying the samesentence and doing different
(27:16):
accents and it would say whatthe accent was.
And so I'm listening and allthese British accents, the like,
like the Cockney and theYorkshire and the Sussex and
different areas of England, andyou could hear a bit of a
difference in the Scottish andthe Irish.
And then she did a southernAmerican southern.
(27:37):
It said and, and I said oh no,oh no, you got that wrong In
traveling this path.
Speaker 8 (27:49):
I mean, within the Kaleidoscope Theater was there a
queer element the producers andowners of the well, I guess
they weren't owners, but theyrented the space.
But the producers and thedirectors were all queer.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
There were three of them, and so they did hire queer
and non-queer performers aswell, but it was a very queer
and open space well, brian and Iare both big theater buffs and
we have come to the conclusionthat all theater is queer in
(28:20):
some degree, and it and inhouston we have such a vibrant
and thriving theatricalcommunity and it seems like
every day there's a new companyforming or some new thing that I
had never heard about before,and some just amazing theater,
whether it's a writer, adirector, the performers or the
(28:44):
content.
There's plenty for people whoare interested in those subject
matters or with those identities.
The Shimmer Show takes place atDan Electro's.
Had that been going on a whilebefore you joined, or were you
part of the formation of it?
Speaker 8 (29:03):
I was part of the birthing of this show.
So Dan Electro's we're actuallyhaving our one year anniversary
show in April, so we will havebeen putting it on at Dan
Electros for one year.
And it's actually put on by ourproduction company called Last
(29:24):
Hole on the Left.
It's comprised of me, ali Oxen,taryn Tella and Emma Dilemma
and we're the three producers ofthat show.
We came up with the productioncompany about two years ago for
my Yeet the Teat fundraiser showand that was our first show
that we put on as a productioncompany.
(29:45):
That was not at Dan Electro's,that was at Last Concert Cafe
and then we had kind of a lullperiod.
It's kind of difficult finding avenue in Houston for our shows.
A lot of bars are open toputting on these shows.
It's just finding a bar, avenue that kind of works for
(30:06):
what you want to put on.
And Emma reached out to DanElectros and they were about it.
They were like, yeah, we wantto know what the Shimmer show is
about and we told them it's avariety burlesque show, so
there's going to be burlesquedrag, sometimes we'll have side
(30:26):
shows, sometimes we'll havebelly dancing, circus performers
.
It just kind of kind of changesevery show, but there's
definitely burlesque and there'sdefinitely drag kings.
Speaker 4 (30:37):
That's what we try to always have you've been doing
this on the first monday of eachmonth, but I hearlesque and
there's definitely drag kings.
That's what we try to alwayshave.
Speaker 8 (30:44):
You've been doing this on the first Monday of each
month.
But I hear in April there's achange coming.
There is, there is a change.
Yeah, we are starting in April.
We are changing to the thirdMonday of every month.
We figure it's going to be alittle easier on people's
pocketbooks because it won't beright after rent, right after
they pay rent.
We wanted to change it up alittle bit, so it'll be April
(31:04):
21st, starting in April, andthen I believe the next one
after that will be May 19th.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
The doors open at 7 pm, and where is Dan Electro's?
Speaker 8 (31:16):
Dan Electro's is located in the Heights.
It's just east of Main Street.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
It's 1031 East 24th Street and I think Dan Electro's
could be called Dan Eclectic,because they have everything
from country music to theseburlesque shows, to individual
bands, rock and roll, I meanthere's there's many different
kinds of things that can beenjoyed there.
(31:46):
The shimmer show is described,as you'll see glitz, glam,
shimmer, shammer, and who am Ikidding?
It's a burlesque and varietyshow starring all your favorite
weirdos from Houston, texas andbeyond.
Why do you think they'reweirdos?
Speaker 8 (32:05):
They're weirdos because they don't fit into a
box.
Hire burlesque performers whomight not be able to find a
stage to put on some of theirtheir weird and out-of-the-box
ideas.
Uh, same with drag kings it's.
(32:28):
You're seeing it more now, butfor the longest time drag kings
were not able to find a space toperform, and so we wanted to
provide a space for drag kingsto feel comfortable and to put
them on our stage.
And then, as I said, our otherslots that we usually try to
fill are sideshow, which I thereare only a couple other shows
(32:53):
out there that might havesideshow, but that is a pretty
niche kind of performance and soit's not for everyone.
We also we've had belly dancersbefore and I don't know, I just
kind of think as weirdos.
It's just not your typicalperformer.
(33:15):
You have classic burlesque andso that's going to be very
sultry and use more classicalnumbers and focus a lot more on
the tease, the art of the tease,which is burlesque, and we do
bring burlesque performers whoare more neo-burlesque.
(33:38):
So the newer burlesque stylestyle, they're going to be
flashy, they're going to have uh, I believe let's see, oh, one
of our latest, our lastperformers that we brought on,
mac fontina did a kraken numberas well as a noxio tw cheese
number.
Uh, so it's those kind ofweirdos that we like to have on
(34:00):
stage.
You're gonna make a mess, sure,make a mess.
You're gonna bring fire well,not all fire, because we don't
have permits for a huge flame,but like you want to.
You want to bring candles andplay with wax on the stage?
We'll make it happen.
You want to swan dive intoLegos?
Sure, that's fine, bring thaton our stage.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
Explain a little bit more about what is meant by
burlesque and what is meant bysideshow.
Speaker 8 (34:30):
When people think of sideshow, you have people who
are doing maybe painful, maybegross things with their body.
A lot of people think ofblockhead, so hammering things
in their nose.
One of our sideshow performersuses animal traps and does a
(34:51):
performance where he sticks bodyparts in various animal traps.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
So it's really they're putting their bodies on
the line for the audiencepleasure and, as you said, that
may not be everyone's cup of teaand burlesque itself.
For someone who's my age, Ihave a more of an idea of
burlesque as it was in the oldentimes.
Speaker 8 (35:18):
Where they would be on stage for like 20 to 25
minutes and that was the realact of the teas.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
Right, and it was everything from what was called
strip teas to variety kind ofacts, kind of novelty, a lot of
silliness.
There could even be an animallike dogs performing things like
that.
You serve as a stage managerand sometimes host and performer
(35:48):
.
Now what do you do in yourperformance?
Speaker 8 (35:51):
I would call my kind of performances more performance
art.
So, yes, my clothes do come off,but I am doing it more for a I
don't know how I would say it.
I want the audience to questionwhat they just saw, so I can
(36:15):
give you an example of a numberthat I do often, and it is a
number where I start off in afoam head that looks like a
woman long hair, big lips and Iam wearing a sequined bodysuit,
(36:37):
and then, as the musicprogresses, my head comes off
and then it reveals thatunderneath my head I am dancing
as I am a sequined reproductiveorgan, and then I'm dancing to
the song of you Came Out of aLady by Rubble Bucket, and at
(37:00):
the end I somehow not somehow Iunzip myself and I'm on stage as
a baby and I have a umbilicalcord that I dance around with as
well.
That number was created for aPlanned Parenthood benefit show
(37:24):
to bring awareness to abortionand also reproductive rights,
and I've had a lot of peopletell me it's kind of a meta
number, so it makes them reallythink.
A lot of people don't know howto react on the spot, and those
(37:45):
are the kind of numbers that Ilike to do for the audience my
favorite food is food forthought, so performance for
thought is right in that it's.
Speaker 4 (37:55):
The shimmer show takes place at dan electro's on
24th street.
The third monday doors open atseven.
Show is eight ollie oxen.
Thank you for being with us andI look forward to seeing you
sometime at the shimmer showthis was such a pleasure and I
(38:15):
love speaking with you.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
This is KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, 89.5 FM Galveston, 91.9
FM Huntsville, and worldwide onthe internet at kpftorg.
Speaker 8 (38:35):
This is Avery Bellew.
My pronouns are she and her,and I am the CEO of the Montreux
Center, houston's LGBTQ pluscenter, and you are listening to
Queer Voices an integral partof Houston's LGBTQ plus
community.
Speaker 5 (38:50):
I'm Brett Cullum and today legendary playwright Ken
Ludwig joins me.
Ken has written notable showssuch as Lin-Mea Tenor, which was
produced by Sir Andrew LloydWebber in London's West End and
then performed on Broadway itwas like his first show, or
something like that and he alsowrote Crazy for you and Moon
Over Buffalo.
The Alley Theatre and Ken havea special relationship.
(39:11):
You may recall that the companydid a world premiere for his
script Leading Ladies back in2004.
And they've done variousproductions over the years.
Leading ladies back in 2004.
And they've done variousproductions over the years.
And now the alley is preparingfor Baskerville, a Sherlock
Holmes mystery which will markTodd Waits final casting as
Sherlock Holmes.
The show runs through May 4th.
Ken Ludwig, it is such an honorand a privilege to talk to you.
(39:32):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
Thank you very much.
It's really an honor to talk toyou.
I'm just thrilled.
I'm thrilled you're coveringthis show.
It means a lot to me.
Speaker 5 (39:42):
It's a very interesting show because I saw
Baskerville by you and I waslike what inspired you to write
a Sherlock Holmes play.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Well, it was just one of those odd serendipitous
moments.
I like to write all the time,generally write two things a
year, two plays a year, justbecause I think very seriously
the notion of this being myprofession.
You know, I always sayplaywright is spelled W-R-I
G-H-T.
It's like a cartwright or awheelwright, it's somebody who
(40:12):
rolls up their sleeves and doestheir work, and I love that part
of being a professional writer.
And so I had finished anotherplay I don't remember what it
was at the time and, you know,sometimes I have new ideas, you
know, in my pocket.
Oh, I can't wait to startwriting this new one.
Or sometimes I think, hmm, whatwill I write next?
(40:34):
And I just wandered around mylibrary and this book was
sticking, kind of sticking out alittle bit, and it was Conan
Doyle's Hound of theBaskervilles and I thought to
myself gee, I haven't read thatsince I was probably a kid and I
pulled it out and read it andit's such a remarkable story.
I would say it's one of the twogreatest adventure stories ever
(40:54):
written in the English languageand you can't put it down.
And I thought wouldn't this befun to put on stage?
But then I thought to myselfI've done a couple adaptations
over the years.
My very first one was done forthe Alley Theater.
It was Treasure Island, gregBoyd, who was then the artistic
director.
(41:15):
I had done some other showswith the Alley and he said could
you write something for family?
I picked Treasure Island.
So I'd done a couple adaptationsand I thought, oh, I want to do
Baskerville, but I don't wantto do it in the same way that I
did Treasure Island, which wasfull cast.
Everybody who's mentioned inthe novels are on the stage, so
(41:36):
you know about 15 people or so.
I'd like to do something kindof more original or interesting.
And what if I do it with fiveactors and they simply double a
lot?
Wouldn't that make the storymore interesting?
And it would ultimately.
What ultimately happened was itmade the play itself less about
(42:02):
a hound on the moors inDartmoor than it did a play
about the theater and what it'slike putting actors on a stage
and suspending our disbelief forthose two hours because we've
(42:22):
got people talking to us who weknow are actors, and so that's
ultimately what the play becameabout you know one of the things
I love about sherlock holmes.
Speaker 5 (42:32):
It is one of the most played characters on stage.
It runs.
He runs neck and neck withdracula.
Believe it or not, those arethe two characters that get put
on stage and film and andadaptations and things like that
just the most consistently?
What is it about sherlockholmes and arthur conan doyle's
work and things like that thatyou think makes him such a
(42:53):
cultural touchstone for like theentire world?
Speaker 3 (42:56):
It is remarkable, isn't it?
I think of that often.
Conan Doyle, with a singlestroke of the pen, the very
first novel he wrote aboutSherlock and Watson, created a
myth, and not too many authorsin the history of the world
create myths, be it their firstwork or their second or third.
(43:19):
I mean the ones that come tomind are Alexander Dumas, the
Three Musketeers.
As soon as he created that, forsome reason there was some kind
of relationship between themthat we go, oh my God, we want
heroes, and these are suchinteresting people that that's
something they have in commonwith.
(43:40):
With Sherlock Holmes, it wasn'tjust three swashbuckling people
who were all perfect, you know,it was Porthos and Athos and
Aramis, and, and then they addedD'Artagnan to it.
And and it's the same withSherlock and Watson are so
interesting as created by ConanDoyle, they're a myth, so that
(44:02):
makes them extra fun to writeabout.
Speaker 5 (44:05):
You know, do you feel like yours is a little bit
different than it exists inDoyle's?
I mean, how is this play kindof more your own thing?
Speaker 3 (44:12):
Well, as I say, I think the play itself is deeply
about the theater, because thechanges that occur sometimes in
front of us so we have to reallyput realism aside and which
makes us delve into the truth ofthe story better.
So I think that's what thisversion does.
(44:32):
It's been adapted a lot, butthis, thank goodness, not quite.
It's been adapted a lot, but,thank goodness, not quit.
It's been very popular and Ithink it's because this play is
special, because it's aboutcharacters, it's about acting,
it's about myth, it's about thetheater, it's about theater,
magic, and that adds a certaindimension to a story that we all
(44:58):
know very well.
Speaker 5 (45:00):
You know it says that your first play was Lend Me a
Tenor and that one won a Tony.
It established you in 1989.
Were you always a playwright?
How did you get into this partof the arts?
Speaker 3 (45:10):
Well, I always wanted to be in the theater ever since
I was a little kid and I wasmesmerized.
My parents bought me arecording of Richard Burton in
Hamlet and I just you know Ican't I'd lie if I say I
memorized it all, but I sure didmemorize all the soliloquies
and all I wanted to do was be inthe theater.
And when I got out of college,my parents said well, what
(45:33):
graduate school are you going togo to now?
Because and I said I'm not I'mgoing to the theater.
And they said no, you're not,because you can't make a living,
you need to have something tofall back on.
Good advice, good advice, as itturned out.
So I went, I applied to someschools and I went to Harvard
Law School.
So I practiced law, I went, Ifinished, I got a scholarship to
(45:57):
Cambridge as well, in England,and I studied there Big academic
sort of guy.
And then I wanted to go rightinto the theater, but I couldn't
make a living at it, as they soacutely observed.
So I practiced law in theafternoons and wrote in the
mornings.
Wow.
And I did that for about threeyears until I had my first hit
on.
Speaker 5 (46:16):
Broadway.
Yeah, is that when you knew youmade it?
Is that when you said, hey,this is probably going to work
out for me as a job?
Speaker 3 (46:22):
Yes, yes, it did, it did.
It was actually the firstiteration was on the West End.
Andrew produced it on the WestEnd first, then he produced it
on Broadway, and then I got acall and said would you like to
do a musical for the Gershwins?
And Crazy, for you came along.
So I had two in a row and Ithought, all right, I can assure
my parents that at least I havea start in making a living at
(46:45):
the theater.
Speaker 5 (46:46):
And these were like your first stabs at this right.
It wasn't like you had thiskind of struggle through
multiple iterations of plays andthings like that.
You just kind of came up withthis.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (47:00):
That is amazing.
Speaker 3 (47:01):
Well, I got lucky.
I was very, very lucky.
I hit on two good ideas forstories that were comic, and,
and in both cases they they wereserendipity.
You know, serendipity?
I got a call from an, from adirector, who said hey, I love
your play.
Speaker 7 (47:18):
It got into my hands.
Speaker 3 (47:19):
I'd like to call my friend Andrew Lloyd Webber to
produce it.
And then the other time was aman named Roger Horchow, who was
a businessman who had acquiredthe rights to all the Gershwin
music and lyrics, and he calledme out of the blue and said you
have a hit on Broadway right now, a comedy.
I'd like you to write a musicalfor me.
Speaker 5 (47:39):
Well, tell us all a secret.
Is there something that makes aplay good?
Is there a formula or somethingthat people could almost follow
?
Speaker 3 (47:47):
I don't think so.
I wish there was and then Icould follow it all the time.
I think every play has its ownmagic and if it works, in the
end it will be because youcreated really interesting
characters.
You came up with a really goodstory.
(48:08):
Story, story is so important.
You know, if you don't want toturn the page on a novel,
something's wrong, they didsomething wrong in writing.
And if you don't want to sitthrough the next minute of a
show and you're on the edge ofyour seat, something's wrong.
So you know, there's a very bigimportance on entertainment
value.
That can easily get lost, and Ithink it was lost for a time in
(48:33):
American theater during thoseperiods of we're going to write
existential plays that tell us alot about the world but don't
entertain us, and theyultimately die.
Speaker 5 (48:45):
So you're really all about the.
There has to be that element ofentertainment in there too.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
Yeah, or story is a better way of putting it.
There has to be a sense thatthis is a story that is so
interesting that ultimately thenit maybe tells me these.
I hate to say lessons, becauseI don't think you ever learn
anything by lessons, but itmakes me think about this.
(49:10):
Shakespeare never tells youwhat to think.
He makes you think.
Where makes you think?
Where do you live now?
Because you don't live in NewYork, do you?
I don't, I live in WashingtonDC.
Speaker 5 (49:24):
Yeah, that's amazing.
How long have you been in?
Speaker 3 (49:27):
Washington DC Ever since I got out of graduate
school.
I never wanted to live in NewYork.
I love it, I'm dazzled by it, Ithink it's great, but I always
had the sense that, gee whiz,I'd be constantly surrounded by
professional theater andprofessional writers and it
would be intimidating to me.
(49:48):
I'd think, oh my God, they'reso successful.
I'll never be as successful andI had a sense I couldn't make
it in that environment.
Speaker 5 (49:56):
Well, you know, you've had a couple of plays
here at the alley.
It seems like you have arelationship with this company.
So how did you initially hookup with this theater in houston?
Speaker 3 (50:05):
that's you know well, I love the alley.
I think the alley is just thetippy top of the american
regional theater movement.
There's five great Americanregional theaters and it's one
of them and there's 450 of themtotal.
So that's pretty good standing.
(50:26):
And I don't recall what it was.
I have an agent in New York,william Morris Endeavor, and I
must do.
Whatever play I had finished Iwould send them to him and then
he'll contact a theater here orthere that he has ties with and
he must have sent that play.
(50:49):
The first play I did with thealley and I don't recall if the
first one was Treasure Island, Idon't think so, but I did like
four world premieres in a row atthe Alley and I just had
another one recently, let Me, aSoprano, directed by Eleanor
Holdridge.
She did such a great job.
So I've always had a wonderfulrelationship with the Alley and
(51:10):
I love it and I think RobMelrose is just a genius
artistic director and he's agreat director in his own right
and I just love working there.
You know you don't want to goand spend, because you spend
weeks and weeks and weeksworking at the theater and you
don't want to go somewhere whereyou're not either confident in
the artists around you, orcomfortable in the sense that,
(51:33):
gee, I fit in there.
These are people who think likeme, and I've always, always
felt tremendously comfortable atthe alley and have enormous
respect for the work there.
Speaker 5 (51:43):
It's definitely one of the Houston treasures is what
I always say oh, my God.
I just love being so close toit and being able to see their
work.
And you know Rob really doesdesign a season that just kind
of hits all the touch points.
You know you really does designa season that just kind of hits
all the touch points you knowyou were talking about.
A play has to be entertaining.
He certainly offers that withhis season he does.
Speaker 3 (52:05):
Consistently, one of the plays of mine that was done
in the alley is called Be myBaby and it was with Hal
Holbrook and Dixie Carter, andJohn Rando directed it and Hal
and Dixie had not worked at theAlley before and they thought
where are they going to goBecause I called them to do it
(52:26):
first.
And they said we're all in andwhere are we going to do it?
And I said I think we should doit at the Alley Theater and
they said we never worked there.
How is it?
What's it like?
We're going to be living therefor them for 10 weeks or 12
weeks?
I said just trust me, it'stheater heaven.
And they got there and they gotinvolved working there and they
(52:47):
just said you were boy, wereyou right?
This is where we want to workthe rest of our lives.
Speaker 5 (52:53):
Hal and Dixie were so special.
I, alan Dixie, were so special.
I just they were amazing.
So you've written over 30 plays, musicals.
You even have an opera underyour belt.
They say that a Ken Ludwig showis running somewhere in the
world every night.
Is there one work that you'rethe most proud of that you look
(53:15):
at and say that just defines mywork?
Speaker 3 (53:18):
It's very nice of you to say all that, and I've been
very lucky.
I'm so thrilled that my workgets done.
No, the answer to that is no.
There is not one work and oneplay that defines my work, or
one musical.
Not at all.
You know, I'm always mostenthusiastic about the play I'm
writing next, and I know thatsounds sort of like a cliche or
a sweet little thing to say, butit's the truth.
(53:39):
I'm always working.
I work too much, and I'm alwaysworking on new plays and I love
what I do.
I just love what I do.
Aren't I lucky?
When I speak to kids atgraduations and this, I say look
, the trick is to do what youlove.
My dad said if you don't wake upin the morning and look forward
to going to work, you've made amistake, Go fix it.
(54:01):
And it's so true.
And I just can't wake up.
Wait to wake up in the morning.
I set my alarm especially early, sometimes too early, because I
stayed up too late and I'mgroggy in the morning and I
don't get a good workday.
But boy, I can't wait to wakeup and work on my next play.
I just love it.
Sometimes they work andsometimes they don't, but it
doesn't matter.
(54:21):
I write by hand, I use pen andpencil and I sit and I write
about eight hours a day.
Speaker 5 (54:29):
And somebody actually transcribes that for you onto a
computer.
Wow yeah.
What advice would you give anew playwright?
Like somebody is sitting downand they're saying, all right,
I'm going to write a play or Iwant to be a playwright.
What do you think is the bestadvice for those?
Speaker 3 (54:43):
people.
The absolute best advice andI've thought about this before
is there's three secrets tobeing a good writer.
The first one is read, thesecond one is read and the third
one is read.
The second one is read and thethird one is read, read, read,
read.
You how in the world would youknow what a good play, how it
(55:07):
works and how it's created andwhat its shape should look like
and what its form should looklike, unless you've read plays?
I've read thousands of plays and, of course, go to see plays
when you have a chance.
It's just you know part of the,of course, of course.
But actually reading them iseven better because you
understand how they'reconstructed.
It's like you know, plays areblueprints.
(55:30):
You know, then a director getsa hold of them, you add actors
and things get richer and deeper, and then you rewrite and so on
.
But it's a blueprint.
So if you're going to startbuilding a house, you need the
blueprint to know how, you knowwhat timber to buy and this and
then start constructing it.
And how are you going to knowthat in playwriting if you don't
read?
Speaker 5 (55:50):
That's an amazing answer.
I want to thank you so much,ken Ludwig.
Of course we've got your playBaskerville, a Sherlock Holmes
mystery.
It's going to run at the Alleythrough May 4th.
It is such an honor just to getto sit down and talk with you
about your writing and all ofthat, and I'm sure this one
sounds just amazing.
Of course we can't wait to seeBaskerville.
(56:11):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (56:28):
Thank you very much.
So kind of you.
I enjoy every second of this.
It's an honor for me.
For more information, queerVoices executive producer is
Brian Levinka.
Deborah Moncrief-Bell isco-producer, brett Cullum and
David Mendoza-Druzman arecontributors.
The News Wrap segment is partof another podcast called this
(56:50):
Way Out, which is produced inLos Angeles.
Speaker 6 (56:54):
Some of the material in this program has been edited
to improve clarity and run time.
This program does not endorseany political views or animal
species.
Views, opinions andendorsements are those of the
participants and theorganizations they represent.
In case of death, pleasediscontinue use and discard
remaining product.
Speaker 1 (57:06):
For Queer Voices.
I'm Glenn Holt, Thank you.
Hello everybody, this is Queer Voices, a podcast
version of a broadcast radioshow that's been on the air in
Houston, texas, for severaldecades.
This week, brett Cullum has aconversation with Shunya Theatre
Group about a romantic comedythey are staging at Match in
Houston for three nights only.
(00:21):
It's about a white guy meetingan Indian guy at a temple and
the clash in cultures andfamilies that results.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
The objective was to sort of bring South Asian
theater, south Asian Americantheater, specifically to South
Asian American you know, thediaspora audience and there's
been over the years, like anumber of different productions
that the company has, you know,sort of brought to Houston.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Then Ollie Oxen joins Debra Moncrief-Bell to talk
about the Shimmer Show.
It's a burlesque and varietyevent held on the third Monday
of every month, starting nextweek at Dan Electro's in Houston
, and Brett Cullum has aconversation with Ken Ludwig,
who wrote the play that theAlley Theater is doing right now
(01:11):
.
It's called Baskerville, aSherlock Holmes mystery.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
I just wandered around my library and this book
was kind of sticking out alittle bit and it was Conan
Doyle's how to the Baskervillesand I thought to myself gee, I
haven't read that since I wasprobably a kid and I pulled it
out and read it and it's such aremarkable story.
I would say it's one of the twogreatest adventure stories ever
written in the English language.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Queer Voices starts now.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
Hi there, it's Brett Cullum, and today I have an
entire crew with me here.
This is the cast of a play thatis going to be produced at the
Match from Shania Theatre.
It's going to be called A NiceIndian Boy.
It runs April 10th through the13th.
The premise of the play is ameet-cute at a temple results in
a romance between NaveenGavaskar and Keshav.
(02:06):
Is that right, yes, okay.
A Hindi-speaking,bollywood-loving man who happens
to be white.
As the love story unfolds, theGavaskar household must also
brace itself for the return ofNaveen's older sister.
Arunthati, arunthati, arunthatiWow, that's a good one.
An uproarious journey followsas the family navigates duty,
(02:30):
tradition and self-discovery intheir quest for happily ever
after.
Madhuri Shikhar's comedy offersa warm and witty portrayal of
love and marriage in today'sSouth Asian or Desi diaspora.
Oh, what a mouthful you guys.
But I would like to welcomeJohn Dunn, who is an actor in
the play, and then we haveAnjana Menon, who is the
(02:52):
director, and Tahir LokhondwalaAcent.
Oh, thank goodness.
Okay, if I stumble through thisthe whole time, do not worry,
you did so good.
Oh, thank you.
I feel so accomplished forgetting through that paragraph
already, but obviously thissounds like a great little cute
(03:14):
romantic comedy.
So how did you all get togetherto make this production at the
match?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
When was it?
November 2015,.
We actually did the play as areading at.
Spring Street Studios and itwas me directing it and also at
the time I passed Tahir in therole of Naveen.
We had worked together on aproduction, also with Junior
Theatre, and I happened to belooking for a white man who
(03:42):
could play the role of Kesha.
I was going to say Art.
Speaker 9 (03:45):
Wheel, looking for a white man who could play the
role of keshav.
I was gonna say, aren't we all?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
oh, six, five blue eyes looking for a man in
finance.
So, yeah, I was looking forsomeone to play the role of
keshav and biba ashraf, whoplayed the role of megha in the
reading recommended.
John, to me that was Novemberof 2015.
And I remember thinking backthen that if I had a chance to
(04:11):
direct this as a full lengthproduction, I would, you know,
jump on it artistic director ofShunya mentioned to me that
there was the chance that thiswas coming back as part of
Shunya's comeback into theHouston theater scene and I was
(04:33):
like tell me about Shunya alittle bit.
Speaker 5 (04:36):
I'm not familiar with the theater company myself.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Tell me about their mission, how long they've been
around that kind of a thing 2003has been an existence yes, I
think 2002 or three I I can'tremember offhand, but like the
early 2000s, and it was foundedby a gentleman called soham
mehta, who has now since movedon.
We make movies but theobjective was to sort of bring
(04:59):
south asian theater, south asianamerican theaters, specifically
, to South Asian American.
You know the diaspora audienceand there's been over the years,
like a number of differentproductions that the company has
, you know, sort of brought toHouston.
That has served the South Asiandiaspora in many different ways
(05:20):
.
And there was a bit of a hiatus.
You know COVID happened In thecase of Shunya.
Harvey happened first becauseit was the waiting room that was
scheduled to go up the weekthat Harvey happened, and then,
you know, they only managed toopen, have one show and then
they had to postpone that andthen it took some time to
(05:41):
recover, and when they wereready to recover, covid hit A
little bit of bad luck.
I think with this play therereally isn't a better chance or
a better opportunity to comeback.
And so, you know, here we are,fingers crossed.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
Yeah, definitely no, I've got my fingers crossed and
it's an interesting time tobring this play to Houston
because the writer MadhuriShikhar is known for her
Blumhouse movie.
It's a horror movie called EvilEye, which was based on an
Audible drama that she did.
She's written for the Netflixseries Three-Body Problem, also
(06:14):
the Nevers.
I mean.
Just an incredible writer.
She worked on Sister.
Act 3 for Disney.
Come on, I didn't know that.
Yeah, and then this one isbeing adapted into a film
starring jonathan groff andkaren sony, and what's weird is
it's debuting in the us thismonth, after it's been traveling
around and doing a lot of thefilm festivals, and the movie
(06:37):
actually has 100 rating onrotten tomatoes so far.
So that bodes well for yourscript.
Speaker 9 (06:44):
We held off on watching the trailer for it
because we didn't want to beinfluenced by it.
But I think some of us sneakeda look and it's actually seems
to be very different from thescript, from the stage script.
You know there are things thatare sort of more fleshed out
perhaps, and you know kind ofslightly different situations.
So I think seeing both would beprobably a good approach,
(07:06):
because I think it looks likethey might complement each other
in that way.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Come to the play first.
Speaker 7 (07:11):
Yes, come to the play first, and then we're doing a
watch party later too, right?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (07:18):
For the plan as a con .
Speaker 5 (07:20):
I think what would be brilliant is do the play.
Obviously, you're going April10th through the 13th, at the
match On the 13th, right afteryou take your final bow, just
roll out the little audio visualthing and start the movie.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Just be like here we go as we dismantle the set
around it.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Well, it looks like the writer is so embedded in
doing like series and thingslike that, so it doesn't
surprise me that she wouldprobably adapt the script for
the screen and maybe give you alittle bit of differences and
stuff.
So, john and tahir, tell me howyou both got involved in this
production.
I mean, obviously we have anidea that john was obviously
pulled in as a referral, buttahir, how did you end up in
(08:02):
here?
Speaker 7 (08:03):
so originally anjana and I like she mentioned him we
we were castmates in another oneof shunya's productions.
That's when I got to know her.
I did the reading.
Then, strangely enough, thehiatus that shunya took I had a
somewhat longer one.
So the the last thing I'veactually done in houston from a
(08:23):
theater standpoint was this playreading.
So I actually haven't doneanything for about a decade on
stage.
But Anjana was remaking this andwas like hey are you who, like
by chance, interested in doingthis, and I was like I haven't
fed this part of my soul forlike a very long time and this
(08:44):
felt like a star's alignmentkind of moment.
I was so grateful that shecalled me and, yeah, I like
jumped at the opportunity to getinvolved and it's truly been
fantastic.
So for anyone listening wholike has a creative soul, it's
important to feed that from timeto time.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
Oh, we'd love a good comeback story.
Speaker 7 (09:03):
Give me a break, feed that from time to time.
Oh, we'd love a good comebackstory.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Give me a break.
I was just thinking.
I've been writing for BroadwayWorld about 10 years and I
hadn't seen you in a production,so I thought, yeah, hiding in
the somewhere.
Speaker 7 (09:14):
Yeah Well, ty will tell if it's a successful
comeback story, but I'm hopefuland, given the amazing cast and
team around this, I'm prettysure it is going to be.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Well, this is full-scale production, right?
I mean, you did a reading atthe Spring Street Theater and
now this is the full sets andeverything and all of that.
How many?
I mean?
How big of a cast is it?
It seems like it's a prettysizable cast if we're talking
about the sister and the familyand all of that.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
There's five, okay, five on the cast.
Speaker 9 (09:42):
No, it's a nice medium size.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, it's a nice cozy size yeah.
Speaker 9 (09:46):
Okay.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
I was imagining this army of Fellini-esque family,
extended members.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
That's the secret.
Yeah, just like the leads inthe front and all the extras in
the back.
Yes, you know, like Bollywoodand the trees and flowers.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Yeah, no, I mean, I always think of that.
And John, your character has tobe a Bollywood fan.
Were you a Bollywood fan beforeyou entered this production?
Speaker 9 (10:13):
I have seen maybe a couple of Bollywood movies prior
to this and, in part of thepreparation for this play, I did
watch yet another one.
It is Dilwale Dulania LaJayenge, which La Jayenge yeah,
Le Jayenge yeah almost.
Almost so close.
You can tell we're working onthis.
It's Le Jayenge.
There you go, yes, there you go, okay, yes.
(10:34):
So, which it is often shortenedto DDLJ.
This is a movie that has beenplaying for now 30 years
constantly.
It is still showing in Mumbai,right At a particular theater,
and it is a three hour longromance, like romantic comedy,
bollywood film, and it's gotgreat music which we are playing
(10:55):
throughout the show.
It's in the script.
It says you know, in betweenthe scenes we play songs from it
.
So, yeah, my characterreferences this show and the
music and some of the situationsin the play I think were kind
of inspired by events in thefilm and themes in the film and
this is a beloved filmthroughout the Indian diaspora,
like some neighbors of mine, Iran into them and mentioned I
(11:18):
was doing the show and Imentioned DDLJ and they were
like, oh, okay, we have to seethat.
So, yeah, it's a it's, it's aphenomenon, and how I, how I
came to be associated withShunya, was that years ago I was
doing a 24 hour play festivalcalled Madcap 24.
And I reached out because Iwanted to involve people from
(11:40):
different theaters who maybehadn't worked together before,
and so it was kind of an excuseto do a 24-hour setting of
theater and just have people runin, write a script, learn the
lines and then go up the nextnight.
So I reached out to SanjayMeduwella at Shunya and started
bringing people in to act inthat, and then later on, that
(12:00):
was my first connection toShunya.
And then later on, I did a showcalled Chinglish in 2013, where
I was a white man living inChina who had to.
The majority of my lines werein Mandarin.
So that was Diba had seen thatshow and she said oh well, maybe
you should look at him.
He's the white guy who does allof the you know Asian things.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
So that's apparently become my brand perhaps your
massive brand that includesdancing cockroaches and Texas
legislators Right.
Speaker 9 (12:34):
That's my Tamari Cooper thing.
Surprisingly, the role thatI've played the most in theater
is actually Jesus in variousforms.
Speaker 5 (12:42):
Yeah, Well, what does this one offer?
I mean, obviously we're lookingat some South Asian traditions
and things like that.
Do we get into the culturereally hard?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I would say so.
Yes, the opening scene it's ata temple.
I feel like it's a culturalimmersion at that point.
There's a lot of references tothe movie DDLJ and you see, you
are in the living room of theparents.
As point, there's a lot ofreferences to the movie DDLJ and
you see, you know you are inthe living room of the parents
as well.
It's a typical South Asianfamily in the Bay area.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
Where's their location?
They're in California.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yes, so they yeah the .
It's sort of alternate betweenSan Francisco in the city and,
like the suburbs of the Bay area.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
So we're dealing with people in the U?
S rather than Mumbai or exotic.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (13:29):
So, two generations of people in fact.
So you know, the parents are,are are from from India, but you
know the the children is.
That, is that true?
The?
Speaker 7 (13:40):
children are born here.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
Yeah, does that spark the dramatic conflict or what
is the center core thing?
I'm imagining this is a got todo with you guys as a couple
yeah, I mean I, I think it is.
Speaker 7 (13:53):
That is like I think there's that's one of the
central tensions.
I mean I think it's um keshav'scharacter really embodies kind
of an interesting tension too interms of like who he, what he
looks like versus how he feels.
I think there's tension betweenNaveen and Keshav as a result
(14:13):
of that.
But I think, yeah, I think itembodies so many like unique,
distinct experiences the queerexperience, the South Asian
experience, andintergenerational immigrant
experience among first andsecond generation immigrants,
and so there's so many of theselike wonderful, like rich,
layered themes that like Madhuribrings through just really,
(14:38):
really artfully.
So I think, if you relate toeven one of those groups, or
even none of them, there's likevery human elements in there
that you can fall in love with,I think, very easily it struck
me how, how there are thosecrossovers between these various
identities that are that aresort of vying for position in
the play.
Speaker 9 (14:56):
Trying to find who you are, trying to find your
identity and your authenticityand what it means to you is
something that's pretty muchcommon throughout all of the
characters, but they're allcoming at it from different
directions and so it's likeTahir said, it's very layered.
There are some lines in theplay.
If you step back from them andthink about them, they can be
really sad or really dramatic.
(15:17):
I mean, essentially it's aromantic comedy but yeah, on
paper, if you pull any one ofthese lines out from time to
time you're like, oh, thatperson really hurts, that person
really wants something and whatthat's.
What I really love about aboutthe playwright's approach to
this is that she's really madethese dynamic characters and
they just just from the, fromthe get-go when they're in any
(15:41):
scene.
Together they are going forwhat they want and and it's
great.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
Well, I love the fact that this is going to be so
universally appealing, because Iknow that when I look at Shunya
theater at first I just think,oh, this is for a specific
audience.
But it sounds like you've gotthe capability to really have a
broad group come in and allrelate and all be able to kind
of enjoy it and things like that.
But obviously south asian groupis going to understand some of
the references and thesituational things.
Speaker 9 (16:08):
Junior doesn't only do indian plays like they did
john patrick shanley's italianamerican reconciliation.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
I believe in one in one of the seasons yeah, yeah,
we did art in 2012 and it was it.
Interestingly, it was at thesame time as art was also being
performed somewhere else in thecity, so it was like,
interestingly, it was at thesame time as art was also being
performed somewhere in the city,so it was like one weekend, two
productions of art.
That's something that Iremember.
It's for the South Asianaudience, but it's also for the
South Asian creators, but it'sfor those of us who actually
(16:39):
live here, who have a life thatis not confined or contained
within South Asian-ness, lifethat is not confined or
contained within SouthAsian-ness.
I think this play especially.
I really don't think that youhave to be South Asian or have a
South Asian, you know, lovedone to be able to come in and
enjoy what's actually happeningon the screen.
Sorry, on the stage on thescreen later afterwards, but
(16:59):
come watch the play first, whichmakes it that much more
relevant.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
And Anjana, you're the director.
What else have you directed?
Is this just kind of a?
Do you just exclusively workwith this group, or no, so this
is my directorial debut.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Good, yes, and other than the fact that I did direct
the reading of this, but youknow that doesn't really count.
Maybe not, maybe it does, maybenot, I think it does stage with
(17:40):
Chunia and now I'm debutingsort of like as a director with
them.
But you may have seen me inother productions around Houston
.
Most recently I was in Synapsewith the Octarine Accord and
Creative Movement Practices.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Rec Room.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yes, I was Dance Nation at the Rec Room and a few
others.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Not a bad pedigree there and you got a rookie like
John on the stage as well.
Speaker 9 (18:07):
I'm very thankful they let me play, but I will say
, like some of the members ofShunya have gone on, like
Karthik went on to, he's doingmovies in India now, like so
we've got such an interestingrange of experience here in this
community.
Shiva, who plays Archit in theplay, his parents were actors
(18:28):
and he always dreamed aboutgetting into tollywood films and
apparently he's had small rolesin that.
So yeah, so it's interesting tosee what people bring to the
table.
I have really loved being inthe room because in our company
here we have what?
Something like eight differentlanguages spoken, four different
faiths, and everybody bringssuch interesting insights to the
(18:51):
experience and it's really fun.
The really funny part is whereyou know we'll have the indian
experience being shared and thentahir and I will be like, okay,
well, in gay culture this wouldnever happen.
And we, we learn each other'snames after the date.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
That's great.
I love the idea of all of thismashup.
It seems to be a hallmark ofHouston theater right now A lot
of diversity and a lot of justcultural queer identity.
Everything gets thrown intogether and just see what comes
out of all of it.
I'm very excited about this one.
I am so glad that I've alreadygot my tickets and everything.
(19:27):
So, and then I want to warneverybody it's the match and
it's only the 10th through the13th, so this is a fast run.
It's Thursday through Sundayand it runs about an hour and 40
minutes is what I'm gathering,and you actually have an
intermission.
Thank you.
Speaker 9 (19:45):
Thank you for doing that.
Speaker 5 (19:48):
They are an endangered species.
Speaker 9 (19:50):
They really are.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I also don't know if maybe we need the intermission
more than the audience does.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yeah, I find that with an audience it helps to
have that a lot of times,because an hour and 40, hour and
30, it's okay, but that canpress some of your, your
audience members, a little bit.
So it's good to give them thatbreak and let them kind of
refresh and get back.
And is there anything formallyplanned next for sunya theater
or?
Speaker 2 (20:14):
not at the moment.
No, I think all of thecompanies that energies and
efforts are sort of focused andconcentrated on this production
and everybody is excited,excited really, to see this, you
know, come to fruition.
Honestly, it's really exciting.
Every rehearsal is just a joy.
I can't wait to see this onstage, but also it's going to be
(20:35):
gone real fast.
And that makes me a bit sad.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
Well again, the name of the play is A Nice Indian Boy
at the Match, april 10ththrough the 13th, presented by
Shunya Theatre.
And of course, we thank you,john Anjana and Tahir, for
coming and talking about all ofthis stuff.
It's wonderful.
Speaker 9 (20:54):
I'll see you guys.
Please, everybody, get yourtickets soon, because all the
aunties and uncles are showingup.
And Matchbox 1 is a smalltheater, so please get your
tickets as soon as you can.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
That's a good thing to have.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yes, Did you know that KPFT is completely listener
funded?
There are no underwriters, soit's up to all of us to pay for
the freedom to say what you hearhere on Queer Voices and on
this station in general.
That means you participate inour programming just by
(21:29):
listening and also by pledgingyour support.
Please do that now by going tothe KPFT website and clicking on
the red Donate Now button, andplease mention queer voices when
you do.
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell, and I'm talking
with Ollie Oxen.
Ollie is well an interestingperson that I've come to know
over the last several months,and I learned that they're
involved in something called theShimmer Show, and so we're
going to talk about that.
But first of all, let's get toknow Ollie a little better.
(22:07):
Ollie, you've been in Houstonfor a while now.
What brought you here?
Speaker 8 (22:13):
I moved here in 2010 after I graduated, and I came
because of a relationship andbecause of a job.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
And this was in 2010?
.
Speaker 8 (22:26):
This was in 2010, the end of 2010.
So I've been here for wowalmost 15 years.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
I hadn't realized that you'd been in Houston that
long.
You were in a relationship withsomeone who was from France.
Speaker 8 (22:42):
We met on a study abroad in Mexico.
I was a devout Catholic at thetime and during the study abroad
I ended up falling in love withsomeone from France and came
out and stopped being Catholic.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Well, that's amazing how that happens, isn't it?
Speaker 8 (23:01):
It is.
I went in with the mindset ofoh, I'm going to go to Mass in
another country and further myCatholicism, and that is not
what happened.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
France is a largely Catholic country.
Were they also Catholic?
Speaker 8 (23:18):
They were not they grew up Catholic, but same as me
.
They had their awakeningearlier than I did.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
And of course, we know that people have been in
many different kinds of churchesand have come out and stay
within their religion orwhatever religious practices,
and sometimes they change.
They go to a more welcomingenvironment.
We have LGBTQIA affirmingcongregations, a number of which
(23:48):
here in Houston, and for me, asan atheist, I often am
perplexed at people beingreligious, especially if they're
queer.
That's the way it goes.
Sometimes you find a differentpath and you make choices about
how you want to conduct yourlife.
(24:09):
I take it that they were tryingto get a visa.
Did that happen?
Speaker 8 (24:14):
They did end up getting a work visa, an H-1B
visa, but they did not get theirgreen card.
When we were together, they didan internship and then through
their internship, they were ableto find a job which solidified
their H-1B visa and then afterthat, they kept working towards
(24:36):
getting their green card thatthey kept working towards
getting their green card.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
That's an interesting thing that a lot of people are
looking at right now with allthe issues around immigration.
You, I believe, have a minor intheater.
Speaker 8 (24:49):
I do.
I have a major in communication, sciences and disorders and a
minor in theater.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
How soon after you arrived in Houston did you get
involved in anything to do withtheater?
Speaker 8 (25:04):
It took about five years.
I was involved in some of thequeer sports because growing up
I've always been super intosports as well.
So I got into the PrideSoftball League and got involved
that way into the queercommunity.
And then it happened one nightI wasn't even looking at getting
(25:28):
into the theater world but Iwas walking with some friends
downtown and we started chattingwith some people who were
smoking a cigarette outside ofthis building called the
Kaleidoscope Theater and struckup a conversation with them and
they said that they were alwayslooking for volunteers and so I
(25:49):
started volunteering on setdesign, costume design.
I even got to be kind of not intheir shows but I would help out
off-scene with the performers.
And then they also.
As I said, I'm a speech or Imajored in communication
sciences and disorders, so Iwork right now as a speech
(26:11):
language pathologist assistantin elementary education.
So I have always beenfascinated by dialects and
accents and they let me kind ofwork on some dialect coaching
when they had roles thatrequired accents.
So I got to do a little bit ofthat as well.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Is there a particular accent that you like?
Speaker 8 (26:41):
accent that you like.
Well, the ones that I defaultto are the British accents.
They are a little bit easierfor me to just slide into and I
like a lot of accents.
There's the Georgia peach.
You got your little southernbelle that you can go into.
Speaker 4 (26:54):
We'll have to have a talk because most people do a
terrible southern voice.
You know who seems to do itreally well are are the british
and australians.
They can do a southern voice.
It's really interesting, infact.
I was listening to a woman ontiktok who was doing different
accents.
She was saying the samesentence and doing different
(27:16):
accents and it would say whatthe accent was.
And so I'm listening and allthese British accents, the like,
like the Cockney and theYorkshire and the Sussex and
different areas of England, andyou could hear a bit of a
difference in the Scottish andthe Irish.
And then she did a southernAmerican southern.
(27:37):
It said and, and I said oh no,oh no, you got that wrong In
traveling this path.
Speaker 8 (27:49):
I mean, within the Kaleidoscope Theater was there a
queer element the producers andowners of the well, I guess
they weren't owners, but theyrented the space.
But the producers and thedirectors were all queer.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
There were three of them, and so they did hire queer
and non-queer performers aswell, but it was a very queer
and open space well, brian and Iare both big theater buffs and
we have come to the conclusionthat all theater is queer in
(28:20):
some degree, and it and inhouston we have such a vibrant
and thriving theatricalcommunity and it seems like
every day there's a new companyforming or some new thing that I
had never heard about before,and some just amazing theater,
whether it's a writer, adirector, the performers or the
(28:44):
content.
There's plenty for people whoare interested in those subject
matters or with those identities.
The Shimmer Show takes place atDan Electro's.
Had that been going on a whilebefore you joined, or were you
part of the formation of it?
Speaker 8 (29:03):
I was part of the birthing of this show.
So Dan Electro's we're actuallyhaving our one year anniversary
show in April, so we will havebeen putting it on at Dan
Electros for one year.
And it's actually put on by ourproduction company called Last
(29:24):
Hole on the Left.
It's comprised of me, ali Oxen,taryn Tella and Emma Dilemma
and we're the three producers ofthat show.
We came up with the productioncompany about two years ago for
my Yeet the Teat fundraiser showand that was our first show
that we put on as a productioncompany.
(29:45):
That was not at Dan Electro's,that was at Last Concert Cafe
and then we had kind of a lullperiod.
It's kind of difficult finding avenue in Houston for our shows.
A lot of bars are open toputting on these shows.
It's just finding a bar, avenue that kind of works for
(30:06):
what you want to put on.
And Emma reached out to DanElectros and they were about it.
They were like, yeah, we wantto know what the Shimmer show is
about and we told them it's avariety burlesque show, so
there's going to be burlesquedrag, sometimes we'll have side
(30:26):
shows, sometimes we'll havebelly dancing, circus performers
.
It just kind of kind of changesevery show, but there's
definitely burlesque and there'sdefinitely drag kings.
Speaker 4 (30:37):
That's what we try to always have you've been doing
this on the first monday of eachmonth, but I hearlesque and
there's definitely drag kings.
That's what we try to alwayshave.
Speaker 8 (30:44):
You've been doing this on the first Monday of each
month.
But I hear in April there's achange coming.
There is, there is a change.
Yeah, we are starting in April.
We are changing to the thirdMonday of every month.
We figure it's going to be alittle easier on people's
pocketbooks because it won't beright after rent, right after
they pay rent.
We wanted to change it up alittle bit, so it'll be April
(31:04):
21st, starting in April, andthen I believe the next one
after that will be May 19th.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
The doors open at 7 pm, and where is Dan Electro's?
Speaker 8 (31:16):
Dan Electro's is located in the Heights.
It's just east of Main Street.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
It's 1031 East 24th Street and I think Dan Electro's
could be called Dan Eclectic,because they have everything
from country music to theseburlesque shows, to individual
bands, rock and roll, I meanthere's there's many different
kinds of things that can beenjoyed there.
(31:46):
The shimmer show is described,as you'll see glitz, glam,
shimmer, shammer, and who am Ikidding?
It's a burlesque and varietyshow starring all your favorite
weirdos from Houston, texas andbeyond.
Why do you think they'reweirdos?
Speaker 8 (32:05):
They're weirdos because they don't fit into a
box.
Hire burlesque performers whomight not be able to find a
stage to put on some of theirtheir weird and out-of-the-box
ideas.
Uh, same with drag kings it's.
(32:28):
You're seeing it more now, butfor the longest time drag kings
were not able to find a space toperform, and so we wanted to
provide a space for drag kingsto feel comfortable and to put
them on our stage.
And then, as I said, our otherslots that we usually try to
fill are sideshow, which I thereare only a couple other shows
(32:53):
out there that might havesideshow, but that is a pretty
niche kind of performance and soit's not for everyone.
We also we've had belly dancersbefore and I don't know, I just
kind of think as weirdos.
It's just not your typicalperformer.
(33:15):
You have classic burlesque andso that's going to be very
sultry and use more classicalnumbers and focus a lot more on
the tease, the art of the tease,which is burlesque, and we do
bring burlesque performers whoare more neo-burlesque.
(33:38):
So the newer burlesque stylestyle, they're going to be
flashy, they're going to have uh, I believe let's see, oh, one
of our latest, our lastperformers that we brought on,
mac fontina did a kraken numberas well as a noxio tw cheese
number.
Uh, so it's those kind ofweirdos that we like to have on
(34:00):
stage.
You're gonna make a mess, sure,make a mess.
You're gonna bring fire well,not all fire, because we don't
have permits for a huge flame,but like you want to.
You want to bring candles andplay with wax on the stage?
We'll make it happen.
You want to swan dive intoLegos?
Sure, that's fine, bring thaton our stage.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
Explain a little bit more about what is meant by
burlesque and what is meant bysideshow.
Speaker 8 (34:30):
When people think of sideshow, you have people who
are doing maybe painful, maybegross things with their body.
A lot of people think ofblockhead, so hammering things
in their nose.
One of our sideshow performersuses animal traps and does a
(34:51):
performance where he sticks bodyparts in various animal traps.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
So it's really they're putting their bodies on
the line for the audiencepleasure and, as you said, that
may not be everyone's cup of teaand burlesque itself.
For someone who's my age, Ihave a more of an idea of
burlesque as it was in the oldentimes.
Speaker 8 (35:18):
Where they would be on stage for like 20 to 25
minutes and that was the realact of the teas.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
Right, and it was everything from what was called
strip teas to variety kind ofacts, kind of novelty, a lot of
silliness.
There could even be an animallike dogs performing things like
that.
You serve as a stage managerand sometimes host and performer
(35:48):
.
Now what do you do in yourperformance?
Speaker 8 (35:51):
I would call my kind of performances more performance
art.
So, yes, my clothes do come off,but I am doing it more for a I
don't know how I would say it.
I want the audience to questionwhat they just saw, so I can
(36:15):
give you an example of a numberthat I do often, and it is a
number where I start off in afoam head that looks like a
woman long hair, big lips and Iam wearing a sequined bodysuit,
(36:37):
and then, as the musicprogresses, my head comes off
and then it reveals thatunderneath my head I am dancing
as I am a sequined reproductiveorgan, and then I'm dancing to
the song of you Came Out of aLady by Rubble Bucket, and at
(37:00):
the end I somehow not somehow Iunzip myself and I'm on stage as
a baby and I have a umbilicalcord that I dance around with as
well.
That number was created for aPlanned Parenthood benefit show
(37:24):
to bring awareness to abortionand also reproductive rights,
and I've had a lot of peopletell me it's kind of a meta
number, so it makes them reallythink.
A lot of people don't know howto react on the spot, and those
(37:45):
are the kind of numbers that Ilike to do for the audience my
favorite food is food forthought, so performance for
thought is right in that it's.
Speaker 4 (37:55):
The shimmer show takes place at dan electro's on
24th street.
The third monday doors open atseven.
Show is eight ollie oxen.
Thank you for being with us andI look forward to seeing you
sometime at the shimmer showthis was such a pleasure and I
(38:15):
love speaking with you.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
This is KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, 89.5 FM Galveston, 91.9
FM Huntsville, and worldwide onthe internet at kpftorg.
Speaker 8 (38:35):
This is Avery Bellew.
My pronouns are she and her,and I am the CEO of the Montreux
Center, houston's LGBTQ pluscenter, and you are listening to
Queer Voices an integral partof Houston's LGBTQ plus
community.
Speaker 5 (38:50):
I'm Brett Cullum and today legendary playwright Ken
Ludwig joins me.
Ken has written notable showssuch as Lin-Mea Tenor, which was
produced by Sir Andrew LloydWebber in London's West End and
then performed on Broadway itwas like his first show, or
something like that and he alsowrote Crazy for you and Moon
Over Buffalo.
The Alley Theatre and Ken havea special relationship.
(39:11):
You may recall that the companydid a world premiere for his
script Leading Ladies back in2004.
And they've done variousproductions over the years.
Leading ladies back in 2004.
And they've done variousproductions over the years.
And now the alley is preparingfor Baskerville, a Sherlock
Holmes mystery which will markTodd Waits final casting as
Sherlock Holmes.
The show runs through May 4th.
Ken Ludwig, it is such an honorand a privilege to talk to you.
(39:32):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
Thank you very much.
It's really an honor to talk toyou.
I'm just thrilled.
I'm thrilled you're coveringthis show.
It means a lot to me.
Speaker 5 (39:42):
It's a very interesting show because I saw
Baskerville by you and I waslike what inspired you to write
a Sherlock Holmes play.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Well, it was just one of those odd serendipitous
moments.
I like to write all the time,generally write two things a
year, two plays a year, justbecause I think very seriously
the notion of this being myprofession.
You know, I always sayplaywright is spelled W-R-I
G-H-T.
It's like a cartwright or awheelwright, it's somebody who
(40:12):
rolls up their sleeves and doestheir work, and I love that part
of being a professional writer.
And so I had finished anotherplay I don't remember what it
was at the time and, you know,sometimes I have new ideas, you
know, in my pocket.
Oh, I can't wait to startwriting this new one.
Or sometimes I think, hmm, whatwill I write next?
(40:34):
And I just wandered around mylibrary and this book was
sticking, kind of sticking out alittle bit, and it was Conan
Doyle's Hound of theBaskervilles and I thought to
myself gee, I haven't read thatsince I was probably a kid and I
pulled it out and read it andit's such a remarkable story.
I would say it's one of the twogreatest adventure stories ever
(40:54):
written in the English languageand you can't put it down.
And I thought wouldn't this befun to put on stage?
But then I thought to myselfI've done a couple adaptations
over the years.
My very first one was done forthe Alley Theater.
It was Treasure Island, gregBoyd, who was then the artistic
director.
(41:15):
I had done some other showswith the Alley and he said could
you write something for family?
I picked Treasure Island.
So I'd done a couple adaptationsand I thought, oh, I want to do
Baskerville, but I don't wantto do it in the same way that I
did Treasure Island, which wasfull cast.
Everybody who's mentioned inthe novels are on the stage, so
(41:36):
you know about 15 people or so.
I'd like to do something kindof more original or interesting.
And what if I do it with fiveactors and they simply double a
lot?
Wouldn't that make the storymore interesting?
And it would ultimately.
What ultimately happened was itmade the play itself less about
(42:02):
a hound on the moors inDartmoor than it did a play
about the theater and what it'slike putting actors on a stage
and suspending our disbelief forthose two hours because we've
(42:22):
got people talking to us who weknow are actors, and so that's
ultimately what the play becameabout you know one of the things
I love about sherlock holmes.
Speaker 5 (42:32):
It is one of the most played characters on stage.
It runs.
He runs neck and neck withdracula.
Believe it or not, those arethe two characters that get put
on stage and film and andadaptations and things like that
just the most consistently?
What is it about sherlockholmes and arthur conan doyle's
work and things like that thatyou think makes him such a
(42:53):
cultural touchstone for like theentire world?
Speaker 3 (42:56):
It is remarkable, isn't it?
I think of that often.
Conan Doyle, with a singlestroke of the pen, the very
first novel he wrote aboutSherlock and Watson, created a
myth, and not too many authorsin the history of the world
create myths, be it their firstwork or their second or third.
(43:19):
I mean the ones that come tomind are Alexander Dumas, the
Three Musketeers.
As soon as he created that, forsome reason there was some kind
of relationship between themthat we go, oh my God, we want
heroes, and these are suchinteresting people that that's
something they have in commonwith.
(43:40):
With Sherlock Holmes, it wasn'tjust three swashbuckling people
who were all perfect, you know,it was Porthos and Athos and
Aramis, and, and then they addedD'Artagnan to it.
And and it's the same withSherlock and Watson are so
interesting as created by ConanDoyle, they're a myth, so that
(44:02):
makes them extra fun to writeabout.
Speaker 5 (44:05):
You know, do you feel like yours is a little bit
different than it exists inDoyle's?
I mean, how is this play kindof more your own thing?
Speaker 3 (44:12):
Well, as I say, I think the play itself is deeply
about the theater, because thechanges that occur sometimes in
front of us so we have to reallyput realism aside and which
makes us delve into the truth ofthe story better.
So I think that's what thisversion does.
(44:32):
It's been adapted a lot, butthis, thank goodness, not quite.
It's been adapted a lot, but,thank goodness, not quit.
It's been very popular and Ithink it's because this play is
special, because it's aboutcharacters, it's about acting,
it's about myth, it's about thetheater, it's about theater,
magic, and that adds a certaindimension to a story that we all
(44:58):
know very well.
Speaker 5 (45:00):
You know it says that your first play was Lend Me a
Tenor and that one won a Tony.
It established you in 1989.
Were you always a playwright?
How did you get into this partof the arts?
Speaker 3 (45:10):
Well, I always wanted to be in the theater ever since
I was a little kid and I wasmesmerized.
My parents bought me arecording of Richard Burton in
Hamlet and I just you know Ican't I'd lie if I say I
memorized it all, but I sure didmemorize all the soliloquies
and all I wanted to do was be inthe theater.
And when I got out of college,my parents said well, what
(45:33):
graduate school are you going togo to now?
Because and I said I'm not I'mgoing to the theater.
And they said no, you're not,because you can't make a living,
you need to have something tofall back on.
Good advice, good advice, as itturned out.
So I went, I applied to someschools and I went to Harvard
Law School.
So I practiced law, I went, Ifinished, I got a scholarship to
(45:57):
Cambridge as well, in England,and I studied there Big academic
sort of guy.
And then I wanted to go rightinto the theater, but I couldn't
make a living at it, as they soacutely observed.
So I practiced law in theafternoons and wrote in the
mornings.
Wow.
And I did that for about threeyears until I had my first hit
on.
Speaker 5 (46:16):
Broadway.
Yeah, is that when you knew youmade it?
Is that when you said, hey,this is probably going to work
out for me as a job?
Speaker 3 (46:22):
Yes, yes, it did, it did.
It was actually the firstiteration was on the West End.
Andrew produced it on the WestEnd first, then he produced it
on Broadway, and then I got acall and said would you like to
do a musical for the Gershwins?
And Crazy, for you came along.
So I had two in a row and Ithought, all right, I can assure
my parents that at least I havea start in making a living at
(46:45):
the theater.
Speaker 5 (46:46):
And these were like your first stabs at this right.
It wasn't like you had thiskind of struggle through
multiple iterations of plays andthings like that.
You just kind of came up withthis.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (47:00):
That is amazing.
Speaker 3 (47:01):
Well, I got lucky.
I was very, very lucky.
I hit on two good ideas forstories that were comic, and,
and in both cases they they wereserendipity.
You know, serendipity?
I got a call from an, from adirector, who said hey, I love
your play.
Speaker 7 (47:18):
It got into my hands.
Speaker 3 (47:19):
I'd like to call my friend Andrew Lloyd Webber to
produce it.
And then the other time was aman named Roger Horchow, who was
a businessman who had acquiredthe rights to all the Gershwin
music and lyrics, and he calledme out of the blue and said you
have a hit on Broadway right now, a comedy.
I'd like you to write a musicalfor me.
Speaker 5 (47:39):
Well, tell us all a secret.
Is there something that makes aplay good?
Is there a formula or somethingthat people could almost follow
?
Speaker 3 (47:47):
I don't think so.
I wish there was and then Icould follow it all the time.
I think every play has its ownmagic and if it works, in the
end it will be because youcreated really interesting
characters.
You came up with a really goodstory.
(48:08):
Story, story is so important.
You know, if you don't want toturn the page on a novel,
something's wrong, they didsomething wrong in writing.
And if you don't want to sitthrough the next minute of a
show and you're on the edge ofyour seat, something's wrong.
So you know, there's a very bigimportance on entertainment
value.
That can easily get lost, and Ithink it was lost for a time in
(48:33):
American theater during thoseperiods of we're going to write
existential plays that tell us alot about the world but don't
entertain us, and theyultimately die.
Speaker 5 (48:45):
So you're really all about the.
There has to be that element ofentertainment in there too.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
Yeah, or story is a better way of putting it.
There has to be a sense thatthis is a story that is so
interesting that ultimately thenit maybe tells me these.
I hate to say lessons, becauseI don't think you ever learn
anything by lessons, but itmakes me think about this.
(49:10):
Shakespeare never tells youwhat to think.
He makes you think.
Where makes you think?
Where do you live now?
Because you don't live in NewYork, do you?
I don't, I live in WashingtonDC.
Speaker 5 (49:24):
Yeah, that's amazing.
How long have you been in?
Speaker 3 (49:27):
Washington DC Ever since I got out of graduate
school.
I never wanted to live in NewYork.
I love it, I'm dazzled by it, Ithink it's great, but I always
had the sense that, gee whiz,I'd be constantly surrounded by
professional theater andprofessional writers and it
would be intimidating to me.
(49:48):
I'd think, oh my God, they'reso successful.
I'll never be as successful andI had a sense I couldn't make
it in that environment.
Speaker 5 (49:56):
Well, you know, you've had a couple of plays
here at the alley.
It seems like you have arelationship with this company.
So how did you initially hookup with this theater in houston?
Speaker 3 (50:05):
that's you know well, I love the alley.
I think the alley is just thetippy top of the american
regional theater movement.
There's five great Americanregional theaters and it's one
of them and there's 450 of themtotal.
So that's pretty good standing.
(50:26):
And I don't recall what it was.
I have an agent in New York,william Morris Endeavor, and I
must do.
Whatever play I had finished Iwould send them to him and then
he'll contact a theater here orthere that he has ties with and
he must have sent that play.
(50:49):
The first play I did with thealley and I don't recall if the
first one was Treasure Island, Idon't think so, but I did like
four world premieres in a row atthe Alley and I just had
another one recently, let Me, aSoprano, directed by Eleanor
Holdridge.
She did such a great job.
So I've always had a wonderfulrelationship with the Alley and
(51:10):
I love it and I think RobMelrose is just a genius
artistic director and he's agreat director in his own right
and I just love working there.
You know you don't want to goand spend, because you spend
weeks and weeks and weeksworking at the theater and you
don't want to go somewhere whereyou're not either confident in
the artists around you, orcomfortable in the sense that,
(51:33):
gee, I fit in there.
These are people who think likeme, and I've always, always
felt tremendously comfortable atthe alley and have enormous
respect for the work there.
Speaker 5 (51:43):
It's definitely one of the Houston treasures is what
I always say oh, my God.
I just love being so close toit and being able to see their
work.
And you know Rob really doesdesign a season that just kind
of hits all the touch points.
You know you really does designa season that just kind of hits
all the touch points you knowyou were talking about.
A play has to be entertaining.
He certainly offers that withhis season he does.
Speaker 3 (52:05):
Consistently, one of the plays of mine that was done
in the alley is called Be myBaby and it was with Hal
Holbrook and Dixie Carter, andJohn Rando directed it and Hal
and Dixie had not worked at theAlley before and they thought
where are they going to goBecause I called them to do it
(52:26):
first.
And they said we're all in andwhere are we going to do it?
And I said I think we should doit at the Alley Theater and
they said we never worked there.
How is it?
What's it like?
We're going to be living therefor them for 10 weeks or 12
weeks?
I said just trust me, it'stheater heaven.
And they got there and they gotinvolved working there and they
(52:47):
just said you were boy, wereyou right?
This is where we want to workthe rest of our lives.
Speaker 5 (52:53):
Hal and Dixie were so special.
I, alan Dixie, were so special.
I just they were amazing.
So you've written over 30 plays, musicals.
You even have an opera underyour belt.
They say that a Ken Ludwig showis running somewhere in the
world every night.
Is there one work that you'rethe most proud of that you look
(53:15):
at and say that just defines mywork?
Speaker 3 (53:18):
It's very nice of you to say all that, and I've been
very lucky.
I'm so thrilled that my workgets done.
No, the answer to that is no.
There is not one work and oneplay that defines my work, or
one musical.
Not at all.
You know, I'm always mostenthusiastic about the play I'm
writing next, and I know thatsounds sort of like a cliche or
a sweet little thing to say, butit's the truth.
(53:39):
I'm always working.
I work too much, and I'm alwaysworking on new plays and I love
what I do.
I just love what I do.
Aren't I lucky?
When I speak to kids atgraduations and this, I say look
, the trick is to do what youlove.
My dad said if you don't wake upin the morning and look forward
to going to work, you've made amistake, Go fix it.
(54:01):
And it's so true.
And I just can't wake up.
Wait to wake up in the morning.
I set my alarm especially early, sometimes too early, because I
stayed up too late and I'mgroggy in the morning and I
don't get a good workday.
But boy, I can't wait to wakeup and work on my next play.
I just love it.
Sometimes they work andsometimes they don't, but it
doesn't matter.
(54:21):
I write by hand, I use pen andpencil and I sit and I write
about eight hours a day.
Speaker 5 (54:29):
And somebody actually transcribes that for you onto a
computer.
Wow yeah.
What advice would you give anew playwright?
Like somebody is sitting downand they're saying, all right,
I'm going to write a play or Iwant to be a playwright.
What do you think is the bestadvice for those?
Speaker 3 (54:43):
people.
The absolute best advice andI've thought about this before
is there's three secrets tobeing a good writer.
The first one is read, thesecond one is read and the third
one is read.
The second one is read and thethird one is read, read, read,
read.
You how in the world would youknow what a good play, how it
(55:07):
works and how it's created andwhat its shape should look like
and what its form should looklike, unless you've read plays?
I've read thousands of plays and, of course, go to see plays
when you have a chance.
It's just you know part of the,of course, of course.
But actually reading them iseven better because you
understand how they'reconstructed.
It's like you know, plays areblueprints.
(55:30):
You know, then a director getsa hold of them, you add actors
and things get richer and deeper, and then you rewrite and so on
.
But it's a blueprint.
So if you're going to startbuilding a house, you need the
blueprint to know how, you knowwhat timber to buy and this and
then start constructing it.
And how are you going to knowthat in playwriting if you don't
read?
Speaker 5 (55:50):
That's an amazing answer.
I want to thank you so much,ken Ludwig.
Of course we've got your playBaskerville, a Sherlock Holmes
mystery.
It's going to run at the Alleythrough May 4th.
It is such an honor just to getto sit down and talk with you
about your writing and all ofthat, and I'm sure this one
sounds just amazing.
Of course we can't wait to seeBaskerville.
(56:11):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (56:28):
Thank you very much.
So kind of you.
I enjoy every second of this.
It's an honor for me.
For more information, queerVoices executive producer is
Brian Levinka.
Deborah Moncrief-Bell isco-producer, brett Cullum and
David Mendoza-Druzman arecontributors.
The News Wrap segment is partof another podcast called this
(56:50):
Way Out, which is produced inLos Angeles.
Speaker 6 (56:54):
Some of the material in this program has been edited
to improve clarity and run time.
This program does not endorseany political views or animal
species.
Views, opinions andendorsements are those of the
participants and theorganizations they represent.
In case of death, pleasediscontinue use and discard
remaining product.
Speaker 1 (57:06):
For Queer Voices.
I'm Glenn Holt, Thank you.
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