Queer Voices
Queer Voices
April 10 2025 Queer Voices: Shunya Theatre, Burlesque at Dan Electros, and Ken Ludwig!
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:
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https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/
Hello everybody, this is Queer Voices, a podcast version of a broadcast radio show that's been on the air in Houston, texas, for several decades. This week, brett Cullum has a conversation with Shunya Theatre Group about a romantic comedy they are staging at Match in Houston for three nights only. It's about a white guy meeting an Indian guy at a temple and the clash in cultures and families that results.
Speaker 2:The objective was to sort of bring South Asian theater, south Asian American theater, specifically to South Asian American you know, the diaspora audience and there's been over the years, like a number of different productions that the company has, you know, sort of brought to Houston.
Speaker 1:Then Ollie Oxen joins Debra Moncrief-Bell to talk about the Shimmer Show. It's a burlesque and variety event held on the third Monday of every month, starting next week at Dan Electro's in Houston, and Brett Cullum has a conversation with Ken Ludwig, who wrote the play that the Alley Theater is doing right now. It's called Baskerville, a Sherlock Holmes mystery.
Speaker 3:I just wandered around my library and this book was kind of sticking out a little bit and it was Conan Doyle's how to the Baskervilles and I thought to myself gee, I haven't read that since I was probably a kid and I pulled it out and read it and it's such a remarkable story. I would say it's one of the two greatest adventure stories ever written in the English language.
Speaker 1:Queer Voices starts now.
Speaker 5:Hi there, it's Brett Cullum, and today I have an entire crew with me here. This is the cast of a play that is going to be produced at the Match from Shania Theatre. It's going to be called A Nice Indian Boy. It runs April 10th through the 13th. The premise of the play is a meet-cute at a temple results in a romance between Naveen Gavaskar and Keshav. Is that right, yes, okay. A Hindi-speaking, bollywood-loving man who happens to be white. As the love story unfolds, the Gavaskar household must also brace itself for the return of Naveen's older sister. Arunthati, arunthati, arunthati Wow, that's a good one. An uproarious journey follows as the family navigates duty, tradition and self-discovery in their quest for happily ever after.
Speaker 5:Madhuri Shikhar's comedy offers a warm and witty portrayal of love and marriage in today's South Asian or Desi diaspora. Oh, what a mouthful you guys. But I would like to welcome John Dunn, who is an actor in the play, and then we have Anjana Menon, who is the director, and Tahir Lokhondwala Acent. Oh, thank goodness. Okay, if I stumble through this the whole time, do not worry, you did so good. Oh, thank you. I feel so accomplished for getting through that paragraph already, but obviously this sounds like a great little cute romantic comedy. So how did you all get together to make this production at the match?
Speaker 2:When was it? November 2015,. We actually did the play as a reading at. Spring Street Studios and it was me directing it and also at the time I passed Tahir in the role of Naveen. We had worked together on a production, also with Junior Theatre, and I happened to be looking for a white man who could play the role of Kesha. I was going to say Art.
Speaker 9:Wheel, looking for a white man who could play the role of keshav. I was gonna say, aren't we all?
Speaker 2:oh, six, five blue eyes looking for a man in finance. So, yeah, I was looking for someone to play the role of keshav and biba ashraf, who played the role of megha in the reading recommended. John, to me that was November of 2015.
Speaker 2:And I remember thinking back then that if I had a chance to direct this as a full length production, I would, you know, jump on it artistic director of Shunya mentioned to me that there was the chance that this was coming back as part of Shunya's comeback into the Houston theater scene and I was like tell me about Shunya a little bit.
Speaker 5:I'm not familiar with the theater company myself.
Speaker 2:Tell me about their mission, how long they've been around that kind of a thing 2003 has been an existence yes, I think 2002 or three I I can't remember offhand, but like the early 2000s, and it was founded by a gentleman called soham mehta, who has now since moved on. We make movies but the objective was to sort of bring south asian theater, south asian american theaters, specifically, to South Asian American. You know the diaspora audience and there's been over the years, like a number of different productions that the company has, you know, sort of brought to Houston. That has served the South Asian diaspora in many different ways. And there was a bit of a hiatus.
Speaker 2:You know COVID happened In the case of Shunya. Harvey happened first because it was the waiting room that was scheduled to go up the week that Harvey happened, and then, you know, they only managed to open, have one show and then they had to postpone that and then it took some time to recover, and when they were ready to recover, covid hit A little bit of bad luck. I think with this play there really isn't a better chance or a better opportunity to come back. And so, you know, here we are, fingers crossed.
Speaker 5:Yeah, definitely no, I've got my fingers crossed and it's an interesting time to bring this play to Houston because the writer Madhuri Shikhar is known for her Blumhouse movie. It's a horror movie called Evil Eye, which was based on an Audible drama that she did. She's written for the Netflix series Three-Body Problem, also the Nevers. I mean. Just an incredible writer. She worked on Sister.
Speaker 5:Act 3 for Disney. Come on, I didn't know that. Yeah, and then this one is being adapted into a film starring jonathan groff and karen sony, and what's weird is it's debuting in the us this month, after it's been traveling around and doing a lot of the film festivals, and the movie actually has 100 rating on rotten tomatoes so far. So that bodes well for your script.
Speaker 9:We held off on watching the trailer for it because we didn't want to be influenced by it. But I think some of us sneaked a look and it's actually seems to be very different from the script, from the stage script. You know there are things that are sort of more fleshed out perhaps, and you know kind of slightly different situations. So I think seeing both would be probably a good approach, because I think it looks like they might complement each other in that way.
Speaker 2:Come to the play first.
Speaker 7:Yes, come to the play first, and then we're doing a watch party later too, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 7:For the plan as a con.
Speaker 5:I think what would be brilliant is do the play. Obviously, you're going April 10th through the 13th, at the match On the 13th, right after you take your final bow, just roll out the little audio visual thing and start the movie.
Speaker 2:Just be like here we go as we dismantle the set around it. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5:Well, it looks like the writer is so embedded in doing like series and things like that, so it doesn't surprise me that she would probably adapt the script for the screen and maybe give you a little bit of differences and stuff. So, john and tahir, tell me how you both got involved in this production. I mean, obviously we have an idea that john was obviously pulled in as a referral, but tahir, how did you end up in here?
Speaker 7:so originally anjana and I like she mentioned him we we were castmates in another one of shunya's productions. That's when I got to know her. I did the reading. Then, strangely enough, the hiatus that shunya took I had a somewhat longer one. So the the last thing I've actually done in houston from a theater standpoint was this play reading. So I actually haven't done anything for about a decade on stage.
Speaker 7:But Anjana was remaking this and was like hey are you who, like by chance, interested in doing this, and I was like I haven't fed this part of my soul for like a very long time and this felt like a star's alignment kind of moment. I was so grateful that she called me and, yeah, I like jumped at the opportunity to get involved and it's truly been fantastic. So for anyone listening who like has a creative soul, it's important to feed that from time to time.
Speaker 5:Oh, we'd love a good comeback story.
Speaker 7:Give me a break, feed that from time to time. Oh, we'd love a good comeback story.
Speaker 5:Give me a break. I was just thinking. I've been writing for Broadway World about 10 years and I hadn't seen you in a production, so I thought, yeah, hiding in the somewhere.
Speaker 7:Yeah Well, ty will tell if it's a successful comeback story, but I'm hopeful and, given the amazing cast and team around this, I'm pretty sure it is going to be.
Speaker 5:Well, this is full-scale production, right? I mean, you did a reading at the Spring Street Theater and now this is the full sets and everything and all of that. How many? I mean? How big of a cast is it? It seems like it's a pretty sizable cast if we're talking about the sister and the family and all of that.
Speaker 2:There's five, okay, five on the cast.
Speaker 9:No, it's a nice medium size.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a nice cozy size yeah.
Speaker 9:Okay.
Speaker 5:I was imagining this army of Fellini-esque family, extended members.
Speaker 2:That's the secret. Yeah, just like the leads in the front and all the extras in the back. Yes, you know, like Bollywood and the trees and flowers.
Speaker 5:Yeah, no, I mean, I always think of that. And John, your character has to be a Bollywood fan. Were you a Bollywood fan before you entered this production?
Speaker 9:I have seen maybe a couple of Bollywood movies prior to this and, in part of the preparation for this play, I did watch yet another one. It is Dilwale Dulania La Jayenge, which La Jayenge yeah, Le Jayenge yeah almost.
Speaker 9:Almost so close. You can tell we're working on this. It's Le Jayenge. There you go, yes, there you go, okay, yes. So, which it is often shortened to DDLJ. This is a movie that has been playing for now 30 years constantly. It is still showing in Mumbai, right At a particular theater, and it is a three hour long romance, like romantic comedy, bollywood film, and it's got great music which we are playing throughout the show.
Speaker 9:It's in the script. It says you know, in between the scenes we play songs from it. So, yeah, my character references this show and the music and some of the situations in the play I think were kind of inspired by events in the film and themes in the film and this is a beloved film throughout the Indian diaspora, like some neighbors of mine, I ran into them and mentioned I was doing the show and I mentioned DDLJ and they were like, oh, okay, we have to see that. So, yeah, it's a it's, it's a phenomenon, and how I, how I came to be associated with Shunya, was that years ago I was doing a 24 hour play festival called Madcap 24.
Speaker 9:And I reached out because I wanted to involve people from different theaters who maybe hadn't worked together before, and so it was kind of an excuse to do a 24-hour setting of theater and just have people run in, write a script, learn the lines and then go up the next night. So I reached out to Sanjay Meduwella at Shunya and started bringing people in to act in that, and then later on, that was my first connection to Shunya. And then later on, I did a show called Chinglish in 2013, where I was a white man living in China who had to. The majority of my lines were in Mandarin. So that was Diba had seen that show and she said oh well, maybe you should look at him. He's the white guy who does all of the you know Asian things.
Speaker 5:So that's apparently become my brand perhaps your massive brand that includes dancing cockroaches and Texas legislators Right.
Speaker 9:That's my Tamari Cooper thing. Surprisingly, the role that I've played the most in theater is actually Jesus in various forms.
Speaker 5:Yeah, Well, what does this one offer? I mean, obviously we're looking at some South Asian traditions and things like that. Do we get into the culture really hard?
Speaker 2:I would say so. Yes, the opening scene it's at a temple. I feel like it's a cultural immersion at that point. There's a lot of references to the movie DDLJ and you see, you are in the living room of the parents. As point, there's a lot of references to the movie DDLJ and you see, you know you are in the living room of the parents as well. It's a typical South Asian family in the Bay area.
Speaker 5:Where's their location? They're in California.
Speaker 2:Yes, so they yeah the. It's sort of alternate between San Francisco in the city and, like the suburbs of the Bay area.
Speaker 5:So we're dealing with people in the U? S rather than Mumbai or exotic.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 9: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:children are born here.
Speaker 5:Yeah, does that spark the dramatic conflict or what is the center core thing? I'm imagining this is a got to do with you guys as a couple yeah, I mean I, I think it is.
Speaker 7:That is like I think there's that's one of the central tensions. I mean I think it's um keshav's character really embodies kind of an interesting tension too in terms of like who he, what he looks like versus how he feels. I think there's tension between Naveen and Keshav as a result of that. But I think, yeah, I think it embodies so many like unique, distinct experiences the queer experience, the South Asian experience, and intergenerational immigrant experience among first and second generation immigrants, and so there's so many of these like wonderful, like rich, layered themes that like Madhuri brings through just really, really artfully. So I think, if you relate to even one of those groups, or even none of them, there's like very human elements in there that you can fall in love with, I think, very easily it struck me how, how there are those crossovers between these various identities that are that are sort of vying for position in the play.
Speaker 9:Trying to find who you are, trying to find your identity and your authenticity and what it means to you is something that's pretty much common throughout all of the characters, but they're all coming at it from different directions and so it's like Tahir said, it's very layered. There are some lines in the play. If you step back from them and think about them, they can be really sad or really dramatic. I mean, essentially it's a romantic comedy but yeah, on paper, if you pull any one of these lines out from time to time you're like, oh, that person really hurts, that person really wants something and what that's. What I really love about about the playwright's approach to this is that she's really made these dynamic characters and they just just from the, from the get-go when they're in any scene. Together they are going for what they want and and it's great.
Speaker 5:Well, I love the fact that this is going to be so universally appealing, because I know 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 got the capability to really have a broad group come in and all relate and all be able to kind of enjoy it and things like that. But obviously south asian group is going to understand some of the references and the situational things.
Speaker 9:Junior doesn't only do indian plays like they did john patrick shanley's italian american reconciliation.
Speaker 2:I believe in one in one of the seasons yeah, yeah, we did art in 2012 and it was it. Interestingly, it was at the same time as art was also being performed somewhere else in the city, so it was like, interestingly, it was at the same 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 I remember. It's for the South Asian audience, but it's also for the South Asian creators, but it's for those of us who actually live here, who have a life that is not confined or contained within South Asian-ness, life that is not confined or contained within South Asian-ness. I think this play especially. I really don't think that you have to be South Asian or have a South Asian, you know, loved one to be able to come in and enjoy what's actually happening on the screen. Sorry, on the stage on the screen later afterwards, but come watch the play first, which makes it that much more relevant.
Speaker 5:And Anjana, you're the director. What else have you directed? Is this just kind of a? Do you just exclusively work with this group, or no, so this is my directorial debut.
Speaker 2:Good, yes, and other than the fact that I did direct the reading of this, but you know that doesn't really count. Maybe not, maybe it does, maybe not, I think it does stage with Chunia and now I'm debuting sort of like as a director with them. But you may have seen me in other productions around Houston. Most recently I was in Synapse with the Octarine Accord and Creative Movement Practices.
Speaker 4:Rec Room.
Speaker 2:Yes, I was Dance Nation at the Rec Room and a few others.
Speaker 5:Not a bad pedigree there and you got a rookie like John on the stage as well.
Speaker 9:I'm very thankful they let me play, but I will say, like some of the members of Shunya have gone on, like Karthik went on to, he's doing movies in India now, like so we've got such an interesting range of experience here in this community. Shiva, who plays Archit in the play, his parents were actors and he always dreamed about getting into tollywood films and apparently he's had small roles in that. So yeah, so it's interesting to see what people bring to the table. I have really loved being in the room because in our company here we have what? Something like eight different languages spoken, four different faiths, and everybody brings such interesting insights to the experience and it's really fun. The really funny part is where you know we'll have the indian experience being shared and then tahir and I will be like, okay, well, in gay culture this would never happen.
Speaker 9:And we, we learn each other's names after the date.
Speaker 5:That's great. I love the idea of all of this mashup. It seems to be a hallmark of Houston theater right now A lot of diversity and a lot of just cultural queer identity. Everything gets thrown in together and just see what comes out of all of it. I'm very excited about this one. I am so glad that I've already got my tickets and everything. So, and then I want to warn everybody it's the match and it's only the 10th through the 13th, so this is a fast run. It's Thursday through Sunday and it runs about an hour and 40 minutes is what I'm gathering, and you actually have an intermission. Thank you.
Speaker 9:Thank you for doing that.
Speaker 5:They are an endangered species.
Speaker 9:They really are.
Speaker 2:I also don't know if maybe we need the intermission more than the audience does.
Speaker 5: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 can press some of your, your audience members, a little bit. So it's good to give them that break and let them kind of refresh and get back. And is there anything formally planned next for sunya theater or?
Speaker 2:not at the moment. No, I think all of the companies that energies and efforts are sort of focused and concentrated 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 on stage, but also it's going to be gone real fast. And that makes me a bit sad.
Speaker 5:Well again, the name of the play is A Nice Indian Boy at the Match, april 10th through the 13th, presented by Shunya Theatre. And of course, we thank you, john Anjana and Tahir, for coming and talking about all of this stuff. It's wonderful.
Speaker 9:I'll see you guys. Please, everybody, get your tickets soon, because all the aunties and uncles are showing up. And Matchbox 1 is a small theater, so please get your tickets as soon as you can.
Speaker 5:That's a good thing to have.
Speaker 1:Yes, Did you know that KPFT is completely listener funded? There are no underwriters, so it's up to all of us to pay for the freedom to say what you hear here on Queer Voices and on this station in general. That means you participate in our programming just by listening and also by pledging your support. Please do that now by going to the KPFT website and clicking on the red Donate Now button, and please mention queer voices when you do. Thank you.
Speaker 4:This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell, and I'm talking with Ollie Oxen. Ollie is well an interesting person that I've come to know over the last several months, and I learned that they're involved in something called the Shimmer Show, and so we're going to talk about that. But first of all, let's get to know Ollie a little better. Ollie, you've been in Houston for a while now. What brought you here?
Speaker 8:I moved here in 2010 after I graduated, and I came because of a relationship and because of a job.
Speaker 4:And this was in 2010?.
Speaker 8:This was in 2010, the end of 2010. So I've been here for wow almost 15 years.
Speaker 4:I hadn't realized that you'd been in Houston that long. You were in a relationship with someone who was from France.
Speaker 8:We met on a study abroad in Mexico. I was a devout Catholic at the time and during the study abroad I ended up falling in love with someone from France and came out and stopped being Catholic.
Speaker 4:Well, that's amazing how that happens, isn't it?
Speaker 8:It is. I went in with the mindset of oh, I'm going to go to Mass in another country and further my Catholicism, and that is not what happened.
Speaker 4:France is a largely Catholic country. Were they also Catholic?
Speaker 8:They were not they grew up Catholic, but same as me. They had their awakening earlier than I did.
Speaker 4:And of course, we know that people have been in many different kinds of churches and have come out and stay within their religion or whatever religious practices, and sometimes they change. They go to a more welcoming environment. We have LGBTQIA affirming congregations, a number of which here in Houston, and for me, as an atheist, I often am perplexed at people being religious, especially if they're queer. That's the way it goes. Sometimes you find a different path and you make choices about how you want to conduct your life. I take it that they were trying to get a visa. Did that happen?
Speaker 8:They did end up getting a work visa, an H-1B visa, but they did not get their green card. When we were together, they did an internship and then through their internship, they were able to find a job which solidified their H-1B visa and then after that, they kept working towards getting their green card that they kept working towards getting their green card.
Speaker 4:That's an interesting thing that a lot of people are looking at right now with all the issues around immigration. You, I believe, have a minor in theater.
Speaker 8:I do. I have a major in communication, sciences and disorders and a minor in theater.
Speaker 4:How soon after you arrived in Houston did you get involved in anything to do with theater?
Speaker 8:It took about five years. I was involved in some of the queer sports because growing up I've always been super into sports as well. So I got into the Pride Softball League and got involved that way into the queer community. And then it happened one night I wasn't even looking at getting into the theater world but I was walking with some friends downtown and we started chatting with some people who were smoking a cigarette outside of this building called the Kaleidoscope Theater and struck up a conversation with them and they said that they were always looking for volunteers and so I started volunteering on set design, costume design.
Speaker 8:I even got to be kind of not in their shows but I would help out off-scene with the performers. And then they also. As I said, I'm a speech or I majored in communication sciences and disorders, so I work right now as a speech language pathologist assistant in elementary education. So I have always been fascinated by dialects and accents and they let me kind of work on some dialect coaching when they had roles that required accents. So I got to do a little bit of that as well.
Speaker 4:Is there a particular accent that you like?
Speaker 8:accent that you like. Well, the ones that I default to are the British accents. They are a little bit easier for me to just slide into and I like a lot of accents. There's the Georgia peach. You got your little southern belle that you can go into.
Speaker 4:We'll have to have a talk because most people do a terrible southern voice. You know who seems to do it really well are are the british and australians. They can do a southern voice. It's really interesting, in fact. I was listening to a woman on tiktok who was doing different accents. She was saying the same sentence and doing different accents and it would say what the accent was. And so I'm listening and all these British accents, the like, like the Cockney and the Yorkshire and the Sussex and different areas of England, and you could hear a bit of a difference in the Scottish and the Irish. And then she did a southern American southern. It said and, and I said oh no, oh no, you got that wrong In traveling this path.
Speaker 8:I mean, within the Kaleidoscope Theater was there a queer element the producers and owners of the well, I guess they weren't owners, but they rented the space. But the producers and the directors were all queer.
Speaker 4:There were three of them, and so they did hire queer and non-queer performers as well, but it was a very queer and open space well, brian and I are both big theater buffs and we have come to the conclusion that all theater is queer in some degree, and it and in houston we have such a vibrant and thriving theatrical community and it seems like every day there's a new company forming or some new thing that I had never heard about before, and some just amazing theater, whether it's a writer, a director, the performers or the content. There's plenty for people who are interested in those subject matters or with those identities. The Shimmer Show takes place at Dan Electro's. Had that been going on a while before you joined, or were you part of the formation of it?
Speaker 8:I was part of the birthing of this show. So Dan Electro's we're actually having our one year anniversary show in April, so we will have been putting it on at Dan Electros for one year. And it's actually put on by our production company called Last Hole on the Left. It's comprised of me, ali Oxen, taryn Tella and Emma Dilemma and we're the three producers of that show. We came up with the production company about two years ago for my Yeet the Teat fundraiser show and that was our first show that we put on as a production company. That was not at Dan Electro's, that was at Last Concert Cafe and then we had kind of a lull period.
Speaker 8:It's kind of difficult finding a venue in Houston for our shows. A lot of bars are open to putting on these shows. It's just finding a bar, a venue that kind of works for what you want to put on. And Emma reached out to Dan Electros and they were about it. They were like, yeah, we want to know what the Shimmer show is about and we told them it's a variety burlesque show, so there's going to be burlesque drag, sometimes we'll have side shows, sometimes we'll have belly dancing, circus performers. It just kind of kind of changes every show, but there's definitely burlesque and there's definitely drag kings.
Speaker 4:That's what we try to always have you've been doing this on the first monday of each month, but I hearlesque and there's definitely drag kings. That's what we try to always have.
Speaker 8:You've been doing this on the first Monday of each month. But I hear in April there's a change coming. There is, there is a change. Yeah, we are starting in April. We are changing to the third Monday of every month. We figure it's going to be a little easier on people's pocketbooks because it won't be right after rent, right after they pay rent. We wanted to change it up a little bit, so it'll be April 21st, starting in April, and then I believe the next one after that will be May 19th.
Speaker 4:The doors open at 7 pm, and where is Dan Electro's?
Speaker 8:Dan Electro's is located in the Heights. It's just east of Main Street.
Speaker 4: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 these burlesque shows, to individual bands, rock and roll, I mean there's there's many different kinds of things that can be enjoyed there. The shimmer show is described, as you'll see glitz, glam, shimmer, shammer, and who am I kidding? It's a burlesque and variety show starring all your favorite weirdos from Houston, texas and beyond. Why do you think they're weirdos?
Speaker 8:They're weirdos because they don't fit into a box. Hire burlesque performers who might not be able to find a stage to put on some of their their weird and out-of-the-box ideas. Uh, same with drag kings it's. You're seeing it more now, but for the longest time drag kings were not able to find a space to perform, and so we wanted to provide a space for drag kings to feel comfortable and to put them on our stage. And then, as I said, our other slots that we usually try to fill are sideshow, which I there are only a couple other shows out there that might have sideshow, but that is a pretty niche kind of performance and so it's not for everyone. We also we've had belly dancers before and I don't know, I just kind of think as weirdos.
Speaker 8:It's just not your typical performer. You have classic burlesque and so that's going to be very sultry and use more classical numbers and focus a lot more on the tease, the art of the tease, which is burlesque, and we do bring burlesque performers who are more neo-burlesque. So the newer burlesque style style, they're going to be flashy, they're going to have uh, I believe let's see, oh, one of our latest, our last performers that we brought on, mac fontina did a kraken number as well as a noxio tw cheese number. Uh, so it's those kind of weirdos that we like to have on 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 and play with wax on the stage? We'll make it happen. You want to swan dive into Legos? Sure, that's fine, bring that on our stage.
Speaker 4:Explain a little bit more about what is meant by burlesque and what is meant by sideshow.
Speaker 8:When people think of sideshow, you have people who are doing maybe painful, maybe gross things with their body. A lot of people think of blockhead, so hammering things in their nose. One of our sideshow performers uses animal traps and does a performance where he sticks body parts in various animal traps.
Speaker 4:So it's really they're putting their bodies on the line for the audience pleasure and, as you said, that may not be everyone's cup of tea and burlesque itself. For someone who's my age, I have a more of an idea of burlesque as it was in the olden times.
Speaker 8:Where they would be on stage for like 20 to 25 minutes and that was the real act of the teas.
Speaker 4:Right, and it was everything from what was called strip teas to variety kind of acts, kind of novelty, a lot of silliness. There could even be an animal like dogs performing things like that. You serve as a stage manager and sometimes host and performer. Now what do you do in your performance?
Speaker 8:I would call my kind of performances more performance art.
Speaker 8:So, yes, my clothes do come off, but I am doing it more for a I don't know how I would say it.
Speaker 8:I want the audience to question what they just saw, so I can give you an example of a number that I do often, and it is a number where I start off in a foam head that looks like a woman long hair, big lips and I am wearing a sequined bodysuit, and then, as the music progresses, my head comes off and then it reveals that underneath my head I am dancing as I am a sequined reproductive organ, and then I'm dancing to the song of you Came Out of a Lady by Rubble Bucket, and at the end I somehow not somehow I unzip myself and I'm on stage as a baby and I have a umbilical cord that I dance around with as well.
Speaker 8:That number was created for a Planned Parenthood benefit show to bring awareness to abortion and also reproductive rights, and I've had a lot of people tell me it's kind of a meta number, so it makes them really think. A lot of people don't know how to react on the spot, and those are the kind of numbers that I like to do for the audience my favorite food is food for thought, so performance for thought is right in that it's.
Speaker 4:The shimmer show takes place at dan electro's on 24th street. The third monday doors open at seven. Show is eight ollie oxen. Thank you for being with us and I look forward to seeing you sometime at the shimmer show this was such a pleasure and I love speaking with you.
Speaker 1:This is KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, 89.5 FM Galveston, 91.9 FM Huntsville, and worldwide on the internet at kpftorg.
Speaker 8:This is Avery Bellew. My pronouns are she and her, and I am the CEO of the Montreux Center, houston's LGBTQ plus center, and you are listening to Queer Voices an integral part of Houston's LGBTQ plus community.
Speaker 5:I'm Brett Cullum and today legendary playwright Ken Ludwig joins me. Ken has written notable shows such as Lin-Mea Tenor, which was produced by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber in London's West End and then performed on Broadway it was like his first show, or something like that and he also wrote Crazy for you and Moon Over Buffalo. The Alley Theatre and Ken have a special relationship. You may recall that the company did a world premiere for his script Leading Ladies back in 2004. And they've done various productions over the years. Leading ladies back in 2004. And they've done various productions over the years. And now the alley is preparing for Baskerville, a Sherlock Holmes mystery which will mark Todd Waits final casting as Sherlock Holmes. The show runs through May 4th. Ken Ludwig, it is such an honor and a privilege to talk to you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much. It's really an honor to talk to you. I'm just thrilled. I'm thrilled you're covering this show. It means a lot to me.
Speaker 5:It's a very interesting show because I saw Baskerville by you and I was like what inspired you to write a Sherlock Holmes play.
Speaker 3: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, just because I think very seriously the notion of this being my profession. You know, I always say playwright is spelled W-R-I G-H-T. It's like a cartwright or a wheelwright, it's somebody who rolls up their sleeves and does their work, and I love that part of being a professional writer. And so I had finished another play 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 start writing this new one. Or sometimes I think, hmm, what will I write next?
Speaker 3:And I just wandered around my library and this book was sticking, kind of sticking out a little bit, and it was Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles and I thought to myself gee, I haven't read that since I was probably a kid and I pulled it out and read it and it's such a remarkable story. I would say it's one of the two greatest adventure stories ever written in the English language and you can't put it down. And I thought wouldn't this be fun to put on stage? But then I thought to myself I've done a couple adaptations over the years. My very first one was done for the Alley Theater. It was Treasure Island, greg Boyd, who was then the artistic director. I had done some other shows with the Alley and he said could you write something for family? I picked Treasure Island.
Speaker 3:So I'd done a couple adaptations and I thought, oh, I want to do Baskerville, but I don't want to do it in the same way that I did Treasure Island, which was full cast. Everybody who's mentioned in the novels are on the stage, so you know about 15 people or so. I'd like to do something kind of more original or interesting. And what if I do it with five actors and they simply double a lot? Wouldn't that make the story more interesting? And it would ultimately. What ultimately happened was it made the play itself less about a hound on the moors in Dartmoor than it did a play about the theater and what it's like putting actors on a stage and suspending our disbelief for those two hours because we've got people talking to us who we know are actors, and so that's ultimately what the play became about you know one of the things I love about sherlock holmes.
Speaker 5:It is one of the most played characters on stage. It runs. He runs neck and neck with dracula. Believe it or not, those are the two characters that get put on stage and film and and adaptations and things like that just the most consistently? What is it about sherlock holmes and arthur conan doyle's work and things like that that you think makes him such a cultural touchstone for like the entire world?
Speaker 3:It is remarkable, isn't it? I think of that often. Conan Doyle, with a single stroke of the pen, the very first novel he wrote about Sherlock and Watson, created a myth, and not too many authors in the history of the world create myths, be it their first work or their second or third. I mean the ones that come to mind are Alexander Dumas, the Three Musketeers. As soon as he created that, for some reason there was some kind of relationship between them that we go, oh my God, we want heroes, and these are such interesting people that that's something they have in common with. With Sherlock Holmes, it wasn't just three swashbuckling people who were all perfect, you know, it was Porthos and Athos and Aramis, and, and then they added D'Artagnan to it. And and it's the same with Sherlock and Watson are so interesting as created by Conan Doyle, they're a myth, so that makes them extra fun to write about.
Speaker 5:You know, do you feel like yours is a little bit different than it exists in Doyle's? I mean, how is this play kind of more your own thing?
Speaker 3:Well, as I say, I think the play itself is deeply about the theater, because the changes that occur sometimes in front of us so we have to really put realism aside and which makes us delve into the truth of the story better. So I think that's what this version does. It's been adapted a lot, but this, thank goodness, not quite. It's been adapted a lot, but, thank goodness, not quit. It's been very popular and I think it's because this play is special, because it's about characters, it's about acting, it's about myth, it's about the theater, it's about theater, magic, and that adds a certain dimension to a story that we all know very well.
Speaker 5: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 part of the arts?
Speaker 3:Well, I always wanted to be in the theater ever since I was a little kid and I was mesmerized. My parents bought me a recording of Richard Burton in Hamlet and I just you know I can't I'd lie if I say I memorized it all, but I sure did memorize all the soliloquies and all I wanted to do was be in the theater. And when I got out of college, my parents said well, what graduate school are you going to go to now? Because and I said I'm not I'm going to the theater. And they said no, you're not, because you can't make a living, you need to have something to fall back on. Good advice, good advice, as it turned out.
Speaker 3:So I went, I applied to some schools and I went to Harvard Law School. So I practiced law, I went, I finished, I got a scholarship to Cambridge as well, in England, and I studied there Big academic sort of guy. And then I wanted to go right into the theater, but I couldn't make a living at it, as they so acutely observed. So I practiced law in the afternoons and wrote in the mornings. Wow. And I did that for about three years until I had my first hit on.
Speaker 5:Broadway. Yeah, is that when you knew you made it? Is that when you said, hey, this is probably going to work out for me as a job?
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, it did, it did. It was actually the first iteration was on the West End. Andrew produced it on the West End first, then he produced it on Broadway, and then I got a call 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 I thought, all right, I can assure my parents that at least I have a start in making a living at the theater.
Speaker 5:And these were like your first stabs at this right. It wasn't like you had this kind of struggle through multiple iterations of plays and things like that. You just kind of came up with this.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 5:That is amazing.
Speaker 3:Well, I got lucky. I was very, very lucky. I hit on two good ideas for stories that were comic, and, and in both cases they they were serendipity. You know, serendipity? I got a call from an, from a director, who said hey, I love your play.
Speaker 7:It got into my hands.
Speaker 3:I'd like to call my friend Andrew Lloyd Webber to produce it. And then the other time was a man named Roger Horchow, who was a businessman who had acquired the rights to all the Gershwin music and lyrics, and he called me out of the blue and said you have a hit on Broadway right now, a comedy. I'd like you to write a musical for me.
Speaker 5:Well, tell us all a secret. Is there something that makes a play good? Is there a formula or something that people could almost follow?
Speaker 3:I don't think so. I wish there was and then I could follow it all the time. I think every play has its own magic and if it works, in the end it will be because you created really interesting characters. You came up with a really good story. Story, story is so important. You know, if you don't want to turn the page on a novel, something's wrong, they did something wrong in writing. And if you don't want to sit through the next minute of a show and you're on the edge of your seat, something's wrong. So you know, there's a very big importance on entertainment value. That can easily get lost, and I think it was lost for a time in American theater during those periods of we're going to write existential plays that tell us a lot about the world but don't entertain us, and they ultimately die.
Speaker 5:So you're really all about the. There has to be that element of entertainment in there too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, or story is a better way of putting it. There has to be a sense that this is a story that is so interesting that ultimately then it maybe tells me these. I hate to say lessons, because I don't think you ever learn anything by lessons, but it makes me think about this. Shakespeare never tells you what to think. He makes you think. Where makes you think? Where do you live now? Because you don't live in New York, do you? I don't, I live in Washington DC.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that's amazing. How long have you been in?
Speaker 3:Washington DC Ever since I got out of graduate school. I never wanted to live in New York. I love it, I'm dazzled by it, I think it's great, but I always had the sense that, gee whiz, I'd be constantly surrounded by professional theater and professional writers and it would be intimidating to me. I'd think, oh my God, they're so successful. I'll never be as successful and I had a sense I couldn't make it in that environment.
Speaker 5:Well, you know, you've had a couple of plays here at the alley. It seems like you have a relationship with this company. So how did you initially hook up with this theater in houston?
Speaker 3:that's you know well, I love the alley. I think the alley is just the tippy top of the american regional theater movement. There's five great American regional theaters and it's one of them and there's 450 of them total. So that's pretty good standing. 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 I would send them to him and then he'll contact a theater here or there that he has ties with and he must have sent that play.
Speaker 3:The first play I did with the alley and I don't recall if the first one was Treasure Island, I don't think so, but I did like four world premieres in a row at the Alley and I just had another one recently, let Me, a Soprano, directed by Eleanor Holdridge. She did such a great job. So I've always had a wonderful relationship with the Alley and I love it and I think Rob Melrose is just a genius artistic director and he's a great director in his own right and I just love working there. You know you don't want to go and spend, because you spend weeks and weeks and weeks working at the theater and you don't want to go somewhere where you're not either confident in the artists around you, or comfortable in the sense that, gee, I fit in there. These are people who think like me, and I've always, always felt tremendously comfortable at the alley and have enormous respect for the work there.
Speaker 5:It's definitely one of the Houston treasures is what I always say oh, my God. I just love being so close to it and being able to see their work. And you know Rob really does design a season that just kind of hits all the touch points. You know you really does design a season that just kind of hits all the touch points you know you were talking about. A play has to be entertaining. He certainly offers that with his season he does.
Speaker 3:Consistently, one of the plays of mine that was done in the alley is called Be my Baby and it was with Hal Holbrook and Dixie Carter, and John Rando directed it and Hal and Dixie had not worked at the Alley before and they thought where are they going to go Because I called them to do it first. And they said we're all in and where are we going to do it? And I said I think we should do it at the Alley Theater and they said we never worked there. How is it? What's it like? We're going to be living there for them for 10 weeks or 12 weeks? I said just trust me, it's theater heaven. And they got there and they got involved working there and they just said you were boy, were you right? This is where we want to work the rest of our lives.
Speaker 5: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 under your belt. They say that a Ken Ludwig show is running somewhere in the world every night. Is there one work that you're the most proud of that you look at and say that just defines my work?
Speaker 3:It's very nice of you to say all that, and I've been very lucky. I'm so thrilled that my work gets done. No, the answer to that is no. There is not one work and one play that defines my work, or one musical. Not at all. You know, I'm always most enthusiastic about the play I'm writing next, and I know that sounds sort of like a cliche or a sweet little thing to say, but it's the truth. I'm always working. I work too much, and I'm always working on new plays and I love what I do. I just love what I do. Aren't I lucky? When I speak to kids at graduations and this, I say look, the trick is to do what you love.
Speaker 3:My dad said if you don't wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work, you've made a mistake, Go fix it. 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'm groggy in the morning and I don't get a good workday. But boy, I can't wait to wake up and work on my next play. I just love it. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, but it doesn't matter. I write by hand, I use pen and pencil and I sit and I write about eight hours a day.
Speaker 5:And somebody actually transcribes that for you onto a computer. Wow yeah. What advice would you give a new playwright? Like somebody is sitting down and they're saying, all right, I'm going to write a play or I want to be a playwright. What do you think is the best advice for those?
Speaker 3:people. The absolute best advice and I've thought about this before is there's three secrets to being a good writer. The first one is read, the second one is read and the third one is read. The second one is read and the third one is read, read, read, read. You how in the world would you know what a good play, how it works and how it's created and what its shape should look like and what its form should look like, unless you've read plays?
Speaker 3: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 is even better because you understand how they're constructed. It's like you know, plays are blueprints. You know, then a director gets a 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 start building a house, you need the blueprint to know how, you know what timber to buy and this and then start constructing it. And how are you going to know that in playwriting if you don't read?
Speaker 5:That's an amazing answer. I want to thank you so much, ken Ludwig. Of course we've got your play Baskerville, a Sherlock Holmes mystery. It's going to run at the Alley through May 4th. It is such an honor just to get to sit down and talk with you about your writing and all of that, and I'm sure this one sounds just amazing. Of course we can't wait to see Baskerville. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much. So kind of you. I enjoy every second of this. It's an honor for me. For more information, queer Voices executive producer is Brian Levinka. Deborah Moncrief-Bell is co-producer, brett Cullum and David Mendoza-Druzman are contributors. The News Wrap segment is part of another podcast called this Way Out, which is produced in Los Angeles.
Speaker 6:Some of the material in this program has been edited to improve clarity and run time. This program does not endorse any political views or animal species. Views, opinions and endorsements are those of the participants and the organizations they represent. In case of death, please discontinue use and discard remaining product.
Speaker 1:For Queer Voices. I'm Glenn Holt, Thank you.
