Let Me Ascertain You: The Civilians Podcast

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.

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

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

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).

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.