Re: RAT THE SUPERBOWL?

[Mathew Bretz <mabretz@cbomedia.com>]

dear lucie,

please stop calling me a yank or i will have to start calling you a
steamroller.  woody guthrie was not a nationalist if that is what you are
implying and i certainly am not.

i know that pina bausch and peter sellars and others have already changed the
way i do theatre.   but if i had to pin point an influence that led to me as an
adult paying attention to pina and peter, it would be the sid and marty kroft
era of american entertainment.  what started as an adult burlesque show in
hollywood using lifesize psychedelic puppets somehow made its way to mainstream
american TV and live variety shows at suburban drive in theatres round the
country.  the shows were bizarre, theatrical, terrifying and terribly
intriguing.  i watched a lot of lidsville and the bugaloos when i was a kid and
you know what, it was all paid for by corporate america.  and its part of why i
like to blow things up now.

when i quote woody writing/singing this land is your land, this land is my land
(i'm singing too bill houts), my point is that inspiration is boundless,
personal and dialectical (eat your heart out audie.) speak your mind, as you've
done.  but it sounds like your mind is telling my mind where to go, so to
speak.   and you ain't gwan be any more successful than corporate america : )
this is where i'm coming from.

yours

matty



Lucie Manheim wrote:

> Well, since I wasn't clear, what I meant to say was this:
> I don't think that artists need to live in some sophmoric cliche (ie lattes
> and cigarettes-- though both are lovely), in fact to the contrary.  And I
> certainly don't think we should always assume we're going to be poor and at
> the mercy of our respective corrupt governments for hand outs, but I DO
> think that the list below (fashion week in NY, Golden Globes, the GAP, "hot"
> writers in Hollywood, etc) represent the most vile and insidious corporate
> packaging plans possible. They exist as an opportunity to make somebody a
> whole bunch of money. And so, I think whenever possible we should suspect
> the motives of corporate packaging.  And sorry Yanks, to me, the Superbowl
> is nothing more than packaging, packaging, packaging.  In my time in the
> States, I watched many highschool and college football games and
> appreciated, no loved the game.  And in my own country I'm an Arsenal fan
> through and through, make no mistake.
> But I guess my question was this -- isn't this really a tremendous
> opportunity to do more than talk about what corporate packagers want us to
> talk about?  That's all.
> I wasn't too surprised to get alot of Yank "In this country we have
> something known as free speech"  rhetoric back--What I meant to do was
> question the validity and the necessity of that particular topic in this
> particular forum.
> As someone who spent more than 15 years in mainland China, I am fully aware
> of what it really means to have freedom of speech taken away.  Please don't
> be sloppy.  It's an overused term in both the US and the UK.  Just be aware
> of what it actually means.
> So I seem to have made people mad-- frankly don't care.  I'mm going to
> change the subject and see if anyone wants to come with me...
> So here's a question...who thinks that the advant of Dance Theater as (ie
> Pina Bausch) and contemporary Opera (ie Peter Sellars)  are going to
> actually, radically change the way we do theater?  And I don't mean simply
> adding more music and dance to what we do.. but rather will we begin to
> conceptualize differently?  will we begin to think in terms of a larger
> canvas when we make stuff?
> I hope to God so.
>
> >From: TimNGail@aol.com
> >Reply-To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
> >To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
> >Subject: Re: RAT THE SUPERBOWL?
> >Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 00:21:23 EST
> >
> >In a message dated 02/01/2000 4:43:43 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> >luciemanheim@hotmail.com writes:
> >
> > > Why don't we talk about the Golden globes next?
> > >  Thenw e can talk about fashion week in New York.
> > >  Then we can talk about really "hot" writers in Hollywood.
> > >  Then we can talk about really cool tv shows.
> > >  Then we can talk about what we want to buy at the GAP.
> > >  Then we can talk about Pokeman.  Or teletubbies.
> > >  Or we can just go to e online.
> >
> >hmmm.... last time I checked, the theatre I was working on had nothing to
> >do
> >with people sitting around, stroking their goatees smoking unfiltered
> >Luckies
> >and sipping a latte while trying to pontificate about grand theories....
> >although, that may not be a bad idea....
> >
> >I'm much more interested in work that sprouts from conversations about
> >fashion, or hot writers in Hollywood (if anyone is interested in reading
> >it,
> >Gabriel and I are collaborating on a piece called OPTION dealing with this
> >very thing... well, kind of...), or Telletubbies, or Taymor-esque puppets
> >making an appearance at the halftime show of the friggin Super Bowl (don't
> >know if I really liked the idea, or if I thought it was an
> >ABC/Disney/Eisner
> >slanderous capitalist machine in high gear... then again, whaddaya want
> >from
> >the Super Bowl?) or WHATEVER....
> >
> >Creation comes from the act of living.  And discussing living.  Although, I
> >don't knock whatever may work for you.
> >
> >Gosh... that was deep.... well, gotta get back to my smoke and my latte....
> >
> >tim
> >
> >P.S. - who KNEW there were any "theatre types" willing to come out of the
> >closet and admit they watch football!  Testify!  Hallelujah!
> >
> >P.P.S. - Sorry... the clarification should be "American football"... :)
>
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