Hello, stranger! Your ole pal Trav S.D. here. It's been a long while (over a year?) since I've done one of these newsletters, mostly because I took a self imposed breather from the stage. 2014 and early 2015 were intense maelstroms of activity for me: first Marxfest, then producing, director and acting in the Fringe revival of the Marx Bros' I'll Say She Is,: THEN directing and acting in Dead End Dummy, Dick Zigun's ventriloquism fantasia at Coney Island USA, which then transferred to LaMama (a six week run); then the HUGE (downtown) star-studded Theatre Askew production of my play Horseplay at LaMama. And in the wake of those, I collaborated with the Mad Marchioness on a solo show about P.T. Barnum that was in UTC #61's Money Lab at HERE, and had a playreading at Dixon Place, among other things.

 

In the middle of all that, in late '14, my mother (we'll call her "Mam S.D.") passed away. So in addition to feeling tired and stressed, I was feeling reflective. The feeling was amplified by passing a major birthday benchmark a year later (let's just say the Big Con Man upstairs flipped me a wooden half dollar). I cancelled some planned activities and became deeply engrossed in some related, though different sort of work. Encouraged by my brother, I began to research my family and began to publish on my blog raw writing inspired by my discoveries (by "raw" I mean unpolished and unedited as opposed to emotionally raw, although there has been some of that, and there will be much more). Some of the writing has been personal, some has been more about American and world history (as it intersects with my ancestry) and some has been political. It has turned out to be an extensive reservoir of source material I intend to draw from for future writing projects once I get it properly digested: plays, screenplays, books, etc. The fact-finding stage of this uber-project is scheduled to go through April of next year, but ya never know know what new can of worms will get opened up. 

 

The other factor at play was sorting out what would be "next" for I'll Say She Is and that took some time. And actually the most recent reincarnation of I'll Say She Is (on which I was a co-producer), and the Slipper Room room benefit I produced in the lead-up were the first stirrings of my re-emergeance. Exciting stuff is just around the bend once again -- lots of it! 

 

 

I am particularly excited to be acting in Untitled Theater Company #61's production of Edward Einhorn's adaptation of Jack London's dystopian socialist novel The Iron Heel. It's not just the perefct play for this political moment, but the political play for me at the moment. (I've been blogging about society and politics a lot in the past few months; I intend to do a bunch more in the coming weeks, on topics directly related to this book and this play). It has been nothing short of a treat to get to focus on playing this part (a great part, actually several parts -- I get to have my cake and eat it too by playing a thundering capitalist oligarch AND an earnest member of a socialist acting company. Plus the banjo!). We open tomorrow! And we'll be playing a wide variety of locations throughout the city. All shows are free or pay-what-you-can. Get all the details here: http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/the-iron-heel.html

 

 

For centuries Little People have been a mainstay of popular entertainment. In this illustrated talk, I will trace the historical ups and downs of very short-statured entertainers from medieval times through the era of P.T. Barnum and dime museums, to side shows and circuses, to vaudeville, to movies and television. Along the way, we trace the evolution of the Little Person’s image in popular culture, from one of cruel derision in the age of the court jester…to one of glamour, as personified by sex symbol and Emmy-winning actor Peter Dinklage…to a virtual return to carny days on reality tv.

The talk will take place Monday August 22, 2016 at 7pm at the Morbid Anatomy Museum, 424 Third Ave, Brooklyn. Tickets are $8

More info and tickets are here: http://morbidanatomymuseum.org/event/more-than-munchkins-a-history-of-performing-little-people-an-illustrated-lecture-with-trav-s-d/

Fields Fest! 

Christmas day of this year will mark the 70th anniversay of W.C. Fields passing. To commemorate the event I am working with W.C. Fields Productions (Fields' gracious grandchildren) and others on a series of events that will celebrate the life and art of the Great Man. Much more will follow (especially if you follow us on Twitter at @WCFieldsFest and remember to check in as get closer to the date at www.wcfields.com. (And of course HERE). But at this point we can announce the following events:

October through Election Day: a theatrical adaptation of Fields' humor book Fields for President, orchestrated as a mock political campaign and staged at various locations TBA across the city, with none other than Glen Heroy as Fields. 

December 1: W.C. Fields in Vaudeville: A free talk by myself at the main branch of the New York Public Library. 

December 10: W.C. Fields in Astoria: A talk by me at the Greater Astoria Historical Society about his silent movie careera at Paramount's Astoria studio facility

And several other talks, scheernings, shows and events TBA. 

Come to Some or All! You're Sure to have a Ball! 

Stay cool out there,

I remain, 

yours,

 

Trav S.D.