This is the second episode of Let Me Ascertain You is drawn from “Flops, Failures and Fiascos,” an original cabaret that explored and celebrated disasters of all shades as told by those who have survived the shame, horror and glory of failing big. “Flops, Failures and Fiascos,” was curated by 2015-16 R&D Group directors Sanaz Ghajar and Colette Robert and featured interviews conducted by the Civilians’ Field Research Team. This episode features two original songs and a story about extra special flops that live on as spectacular stories Maria-Christina Oliveras performs “The Only Time,” written by Eric March about an extra bloody production of "Hamlet". Next, we hear Cindy Cheung perform “Lament for a Tuesday (or, Aftermath,” a song written by Sam Chanse and Christopher Larkin that tells the tale of a Tinder date gone spectacularly wrong. Finally, the episode closes with Nic Cory portraying Michael R., a theater critic whose sharp tongued response to a production of "Fiddler on the Roof" garnered him a blow to the head. “Flops, Failures and Fiascos” was performed live at the Metropolitan Room on February 23, 2016. Sanaz Ghajar and Colette Robert directed a cast that featured Ally Bonino, Cindy Cheung, Nic Cory, Cornelius Davidson, Alex Grubbs, Jen Kwok, Nedra McClyde, Maria-Christina Oliveras and Chris Tyler.  The cabaret featured songs written by Adam Cochran, Jo Lampert and Matthew Marsh; Julia Meinwald and Gordon Leary; Eric March; Sam Chanse and Christopher Larkin; and Trevor Bachman. Featured musicians included Trevor Bachman, Alex Grubbs, Cheeyoung Kim, Eric March and Greg Tock.

Let Me Ascertain You: The Civilians Podcast

Flops, Failures, And Fiascos - Part II

This episode of Let Me Ascertain You is drawn from Flops, Failures and Fiascos, an original cabaret that explored and celebrated disasters of all shades as told by those who have survived the shame, horror and glory of failing big. Flops, Failures and Fiascos was curated by 2015-16 R&D Group directors Sanaz Ghajar and Colette Robert and featured interviews conducted by the Civilians’ Field Research Team. In this episode we hear two original songs and a pair of intertwined monologues all surrounding epic fails. First, Jen Kwok, Ally Bonino, Cindy Cheung, Nic Cory and Alex Grubbs perform “Go For It,” written by Adam Cochran, Jo Lampert and Matthew Marsh. Next, we hear Ally Bonino sing “Lost and Found,” written by Julia Meinwald and Gordon Leary. This original song draws upon an interview with a woman who flirts with disaster, but makes it by with a little help from her friends. Finally, the episode closes with Maria-Christina Oliveras and Chris Tyler portraying guests at two different, but equally calamitous, wedding celebrations. Flops, Failures and Fiascos was performed live at the Metropolitan Room on February 23, 2016. Sanaz Ghajar and Colette Robert directed a cast that featured Ally Bonino, Cindy Cheung, Nic Cory, Cornelius Davidson, Alex Grubbs, Jen Kwok, Nedra McClyde, Maria-Christina Oliveras and Chris Tyler.  The cabaret featured songs written by Adam Cochran, Jo Lampert and Matthew Marsh; Julia Meinwald and Gordon Leary; Eric March; Sam Chanse and Christopher Larkin; and Trevor Bachman. Featured musicians included Trevor Bachman, Alex Grubbs, Cheeyoung Kim, Eric March and Greg Tock.To hear more of these podcasts, subscribe to Let Me Ascertain You here on Soundcloud, or on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/let-m…cast/id477971690

Flops, Failures, And Fiascos, Part I

This episode of Let Me Ascertain you is the third and final installation of “The Way They Live,” the final performance of the Civilians’ season-long residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “The Way They Live” was written by Micharne Cloughley, based on interviews Civilians associates and members of the company’s Field Research Team conducted with curators, artists and visitors in the Met’s American Wing between 2014 and 2015.This episode includes song crafted from interviews about three artworks in the wing.First up, Kyle Beltran performs an original song by Michael Friedman, "John Brown," inspired by Thomas Hovenden’s painting "The Last Moments of John Brown." The song is introduced by Cindy Cheung, playing a museum curator.Next, Grace McLean performs her original song "Obsessed by Madame X," inspired by a filmmaker’s reaction to John Singer Sargent’s "Portrait of Madame X."Finally, Ty Defoe and the company of “The Way They Live” perform Ty's "In All Directions," a song inspired by a Native American dancer and choreographer's reaction to James Earle Fraser’s iconic sculpture "The End of the Trail."“The Way They Live” was performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 15 and 16, 2015. Mia Rovegno directed a cast that included Damian Baldet, Jordan Barbour, Kyle Beltran, Cindy Cheung, Irene Lucio, April Matthis, Grace McLean, Jennifer Morris, Tanis Parenteau, Monica Salazar and Rona Siddiqui. The piece featured songs by Maggie-Kate Coleman and Erato A. Kremmyda, Grace McLean, Lady Rizo and Yair Evnine, Kirsten Childs, Michael Friedman, Rona Siddiqui and Ty Defoe.To hear more of these podcasts, subscribe to Let Me Ascertain You here on Soundcloud, or on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/let-m…cast/id477971690

Live at the Met Museum: The Way They Live, Part III

This episode of Let Me Ascertain you is the second of three culled from “The Way They Live,” the final performance of the Civilians’ season-long residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “The Way They Live” was written by Micharne Cloughley, based on interviews Civilians associates and members of the company’s Field Research Team conducted with curators, artists and visitors in the Met’s American Wing between 2014 and 2015.This episode includes monologues and a song crafted from interviews about three artworks in the wing.First up, Jennifer Morris and Irene Lucio portray two women on the curatorial staff of the American wing, talking about Mary Cassatt's "Portrait of the Artist."Next, Morris--still portraying a Met Museum curator--introduces Winslow Homer's painting "Dressing for Carnival." April Matthis then plays a visitor to the museum who responds to the piece. She sings a song called "Never" by Kirsten Childs.Finally, actor Cindy Cheung plays a museum technician talking about moving pieces of art around the gallery. She discusses Homer's painting "Veteran in a New Field."To hear more of these podcasts, subscribe to Let Me Ascertain You on Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/thecivilians), or on iTunes (itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/let-m…cast/id477971690).“The Way They Lived” was performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 15 and 16, 2015. Mia Rovegno directed a cast that included Damian Baldet, Jordan Barbour, Kyle Beltran, Cindy Cheung, Irene Lucio, April Matthis, Grace McLean, Jennifer Morris, Tanis Parenteau, Monica Salazar and Rona Siddiqui. The piece featured songs by Maggie-Kate Coleman and Erato A. Kremmyda, Grace McLean, Lady Rizo and Yair Evnine, Kirsten Childs, Michael Friedman, Rona Siddiqui and Ty Defoe.

Live at the Met Museum: The Way They Live, Part II

This episode of Let Me Ascertain you is the first of three culled from “The Way They Live,” the final performance of the Civilians’ season-long residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “The Way They Live” was written by Micharne Cloughley, based on interviews Civilians associates and members of the company’s Field Research Team conducted with curators, artists and visitors in the Met’s American Wing between 2014 and 2015.This episode includes monologues and songs crafted from interviews about three artworks in the wing. First up, actor Jennifer Morris portrays a curator discussing the Tiffany Magnolia Vase. Then, Cindy Chung performs the song “What He Saw,” by Maggie-Kate Coleman and Erato Kremida, about one visitor’s conflicted reaction to the vase.Next, Irene Lucio portrays the Wing’s new Latin America curator, who discusses special objects in the Wing and introduces composer Rona Siddiqui’s song “To Sleep with the Dogs,” performed by Jordan Barbour and Sarah Farrell.Finally, Jennifer Morris returns as a curator to discuss the 19th century painting “Moving Day,” which depicts the chaos that historically occurred on May 1st, when leases in New York City all expired and the entire city would move at once. This context sets the scene for Lady Rizo and Yair Evnine’s song “Crowded Solo,” performed here by Evnine and Monica Salazar.To hear more of these podcasts, subscribe to Let Me Ascertain You here on Soundcloud, or on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/let-m…cast/id477971690“The Way They Lived” was performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 15 and 16, 2015. Mia Rovegno directed a cast that included Damian Baldet, Jordan Barbour, Kyle Beltran, Cindy Cheung, Irene Lucio, April Matthis, Grace McLean, Jennifer Morris, Tanis Parenteau, Monica Salazar and Rona Siddiqui. The piece featured songs by Maggie-Kate Coleman and Erato A. Kremmyda, Grace McLean, Lady Rizo and Yair Evnine, Kirsten Childs, Michael Friedman, Rona Siddiqui and Ty Defoe.

Live at the Met Museum: The Way They Live, Part I

For this episode of Let Me Ascertain You, we bring you back to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where The Civilians are artists in residence. As part of our research, we were wandering through some of the museum's halls like the Petrie Court, looking at nude sculptures that fill that space, like Jacques Sarazin’s gentle Leda and the Swan and Antonio Canova’s indifferent Paris. Surrounded by such a rich history of the representation of the human form, we questioned how the human body and what we find beautiful have changed through time. In our last podcast, we brought you some of our interviews with Met curators who spoke about these dynamic human representations. For this episode, we've gathered other conversations from the past couple of years that also examine these intertwining themes of beauty, love, and the body. First, Jeanine Serralles brings us to the El Buen Pastor Women’s Prison with Ana Yolanda, a contestant in the prison’s annual beauty pageant. Nedra McClyde performs Pookie, from our investigation into Weddings in America, and Damian Bladet gives us an interview with the founder of NYC’s Hot Nude Yoga. Finally, Alyse Louis closes with a performance of the original song “Pretty Monster,” written by Robin Eaton and Jill Sobule for our new musical “Times Square.” We’ll be closing out our year as artists-in-residence at the Met with one more cabaret in mid-May. Taking its title — “The Way They Live” — from Thomas Anschutz’s painting, the original play with music will explore concepts of America and how American art reflects those ideas. For more information about the Met residency, please visit The Civilians’ website: www.thecivilians.org 

Live at The Met Museum: Beauty, Love, Body

On this special podcast, we're back inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, investigating within the halls and installations of this iconic museum.Focusing on beauty, sex, love, and the body for this Let Me Ascertain You episode, we asked the curators to speak on these topics in relation to the artworks and share the compelling histories behind them. This past September, we turned their interviews into monologues and songs, which we then performed in the Petrie Court Cafe at the Museum itself.First up, we have David Cale performing an interview we did with Luke, a curator of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. Then, Daniel Jenkins performs our interview with James, another curator of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. And finally, Michael Friedman performs an original song that he wrote and performed called “Like a Virgin” based on an interview with Melanie, a curator of Medieval Art.This marked the first of three performances we'll have throughout our Met residency. Read more about this unique partnership, and the upcoming performances, here: http://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/met-museum…et-the-civilians 

Live at The Met Museum: Curators and the Objects They Love

What you’re about to hear has been workshopped and presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of The Civilians' artist residency. The performances come from interviews we did during our investigation for our upcoming musical, “Pretty Filthy,” about the ‘Other Hollywood’ in the San Fernando Valley...porn capital of the world. We went behind-the-scenes and interviewed countless directors, porn stars, agents and beyond. “Pretty Filthy” goes up at Abrons Arts Center on the Lower East Side in New York City on Jan. 31st. Here’s a look at some of the interviews that didn't make it into that musical but were too good not to share. First we have Damian Baldet as a famous porn director, Keith. Then, Jeanine Serralles performs the legendary porn star Ginger Lynn and Jennifer Morris performs porn star Tabitha Stephens. To close, Heidi Blickenstaff performs an original song written by Michael Friedman that will appear in "Pretty Filthy," called ‘Beautiful.’ Learn more about The Civilians' “Pretty Filthy” and get tickets here: http://www.prettyfilthymusical.com If you haven’t already, subscribe on iTunes to Let Me Ascertain You to find our other podcasts and be the first to hear new ones coming down the pike. 

Live at The Met Museum: The Civilians Tackle The Other Hollywood

Welcome to the final episode of our Let Me Ascertain You series on sex and death. According to Freud, the death drive is the drive towards self-destruction and the return to the "inorganic." Eros on the other hand is the drive to create and be productive. This episode explores these often competing drives. First up we have the original song “We Could Always Try Counting Sheep!” written and performed by Andrea Grody based on an interview about “sexomina.” Then Cindy Cheung performs an interview we did with Doan about sex and love addiction. And to close this episode out we have César Alvarez performing a lullaby he wrote for his daughter called “The Year of Dying.” We want to thank all of the interviewees, and the actors and composers who worked very hard to bring these stories to life. Many thanks to the Civilians' team of interviewers: Quinlan Corbett, Ian Daniel, Amina Henry, Michelle Jalowski, Leicester Landon, Gina Ratton, and Benjamin Viertel. Michael Liebenluft was our project director, and the live show was directed by Mia Rovegno. For more, please visit http://www.thecivilians.org.To leave a comment, please visit The Civilians' blog http://blogforthecivilians.blogspot.com/!

F*ing & Dying: Love/Sex/Reproduction

Let Me Ascertain You is back with the third episode in our series about all things sex and death related. In this episode we are leaning towards the sex side of the sex and death equation, looking at those elements of life that in one context might seem unpleasant or downright awful, but in another context can be well, kind of sexy. First, Dan Domingues performs an interview we did with Peter, a man who recounts how bondage became a path to self-discovery, and then Rebecca Hart performs Emily, a woman who dated a sometimes hit-man who taught her her how to strangle people without leaving any marks. To close out this episode we have special guest Adam Cochran accompanying himself on guitar with a song by writing team Erato Kremmyda and Maggie-Kate Coleman. Erato and Maggie-Kate are both members in our R & D Group for writers, directors and composers. “I Don’t Want To Know Your Name” is based on interviews about “terror and catastrophe sex,” a phenomenon where cataclysmic events drive you into the bed of a stranger. To find out about upcoming live shows from The Civilians check out our website (www.thecivilians.org) and join our email list for special announcements and discounts. For more, please visit http://www.thecivilians.org.To leave a comment, please visit The Civilians' blog http://blogforthecivilians.blogspot.com/!

F*ing & Dying: The Brink

We are in the thick of exploring our competing sex and death drives, and that interesting space where the two overlap and even coalesce. In this episode, we are searching for the "white light," that surreal experience that can really open happen in sex or death, when we glimpse the soul. First up is actor Parker Drown performing Trevor, an NYC “rent boy,” followed by Jeanine Serralles performing Kelli Dunham, a writer/performer with the tag line “Everyone’s Favorite Ex-Nun, Genderqueer, Nerd Comic.” Learn more about Kelli’s fascinating story at kellidunham.com. To close out this podcast, we welcome back Grace McLean, whose layered vocals you may remember from our Sex Variants series. Grace’s original song, “Where is the White Light,” was inspired by an interview we did with Veronica, an energy healer. For more, please visit http://www.thecivilians.org.To leave a comment, please visit The Civilians' blog http://blogforthecivilians.blogspot.com/!

F*cking & Dying: The White Light

Let Me Ascertain You is back with a new series examining two of The Civilians’ favorite fixations: sex and death. This first podcast in the series focuses on death as the ultimate turn-on. To start us off, we have Stephen Plunkett performing a monologue from an interview we did with famed porn director Craven Moorehead. Then we have Sam Breslin Wright performing an interview with Johannes, an Austrian who runs an arts/technology festival that buries people alive, aptly named, “The Six Feet Under Club.” Following that, cabaret superstar Lady Rizo performs her original song “Under” which she wrote with Yair Evnine. This song is based on our interview with Kitty, a “Six Feet Under Club” participant who got buried alive with her lover. For more, please visit http://www.thecivilians.org.To leave a comment, please visit The Civilians' blog http://blogforthecivilians.blogspot.com/!

F*cking & Dying: Turned On

This is our fourth and final episode of our Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941, taking inspiration from a study conducted in the 1930’s by Dr. George Henry in which he interviewed a couple hundred individuals and cataloged data such as a complete family history with symbols to indicate who had what venereal disease, tuberculosis, alcoholism, who committed suicide, who was psychotic. We set some of these personal histories to song and brought others to life with monologues performed at Joe’s Pub in NYC. To kick us off, we’ll start with a song written and performed by Max Vernon taking inspiration from the case study of Moses I. And the little intro you’ll hear is taken from Dr. Henry’s own words, performed by Trey Lyford. Also featured, actor Nedra McClyde performing the case study of Myrtle K, a vaudeville comedian. After that, we’ll wrap things up with a sea shanty, “Odd Girl Out” written by Jill Sobule, inspired by Roberta H., and performed by Marykate O’Neil. Many thanks to everyone involved in this project and our project contributors Ian Daniel, Joel Glassman, Amina Henry, Leicester Landon, and Benjamin Viertel. For more, please visit http://www.thecivilians.org.To leave a comment, please visit The Civilians' blog http://blogforthecivilians.blogspot.com/!

Sex Variants, Part IV

Welcome to episode three in our series Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941. Recorded live at Joe’s Pub in New York City, this show takes its inspiration from the medical book Sex Variants: A study of Homosexual Patterns by Dr. George W. Henry. For each of his case studies, Dr. Henry recorded a detailed and intimate personal history, and we are sharing some of these with you now through performances by actors and in original songs. In between, you will sometimes hear Dr. Henry’s own introductions to these case studies; those bits are performed by actor Trey Lyford. Our first piece is a song by the writing team of Erato Kremmyda and Maggie-Kate Coleman. Cyrilla Baer interprets the words of Rowena K. Following that is Rudolph Von H, a monologue performed by David Cale. And to close the third episode, we have a song by Michael Freidman inspired by the case study of Sydney H. Michael’s song is performed here by Dito Van Riegersberg accompanied on the piano by Nathan Dames. For more, please visit http://www.thecivilians.org.To leave a comment, please visit The Civilians' blog http://blogforthecivilians.blogspot.com/!

Sex Variants, Part III

Hi! We’re back with the second episode of Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941 recorded live here in NYC at Joe’s Pub. This series takes its inspiration from a 1941 medical book by Dr. George W. Henry. Subtitled "A Study of Homosexual Pattern," Dr. Henry classified these case studies as homosexuals, bi-sexuals, or narcissists. A little something for everyone. In this episode we’ll start off with the case study of Irene K., played at our live show by Kate Buddeke. The evening’s MC Trey Lyford will first give us a little intro to Irene K., and his words are taken verbatim from Dr. Henry’s "general impressions" of the variant in question. Then you’ll hear "That Crazy Business" a song written by Andrea Grody about the case study Nora M. performed by Jessie Shelton and Nathan Dame. The last two performances are based on the same patient, Donald H. First actor Dan Domingues performs Donald’s own words from his personal history and we’ll follow that with a song, "The Future Looks Very Fine," written by Cesar Alvarez, and performed here by Cesar and the rest of his band The Lisps which are Sammy Tunis, Eric Farber, and Lorenzo Wolff. For more, please visit http://www.thecivilians.org.To leave a comment, please visit The Civilians' blog http://blogforthecivilians.blogspot.com/!

Sex Variants, Part II

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Let Me Ascertain You: The Civilians Podcast

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