OK, folks. Forgive me if I gush just a bit, but last night's Brevity Fest was such a blast. I'm just so filled with gratitude for all the talent and generosity of spirit that filled El Cid (to the rafters!) last night. As Fred Nelson pointed out when it was all over, we really must do this in New York. And soon!
The show started out with the usual warm and witty welcome from our MC, J.D. DiSalvatore. The wonderful thing about J.D. is that in spite of her vast accomplishments as a fierce producer of indie film, she is one of the most unpretentious and engaging presences on stage. She really knows how to work a room. First up was Larry Dean Harris, who shared an amusing and surprisingly heart-warming tale of childhood holiday rides in the back seat of the family car. In a last-minute burst of inspiration, Larry had CJ the sound guy pop in a piano Christmas CD as background muzak for his piece. The combination worked like a charm. There had been brutal traffic on the 405 and the 101 so almost a quarter of our performers were not on hand until the very moment we began. In fact, I was worried we wouldn't see Karen Hart at all, but lucky for us all, she breezed in with her drum and got the crowd warmed up just in time with her fabulous Baby Jesus a capella gospel number. OK, so there was a definite Holiday theme to this night's offerings... that is, until Rolando took to the stage and shared the 3rd installment of his very dark and twisted take on one woman's struggle with Ovarian Cancer. Rolando was a bit concerned that the piece he'd selected -- a monologue in which a woman dooms her extended family to all burn in hell while performing a eulogy at a distant relative's funeral -- might be a bit of a downer. Fortunately, Rolando made some last-minute cuts to the piece. That, coupled with the very decorative bright red Christmassy blouse he was wearing, helped temper the overal impact. We were sad to have missed Irene Soderberg's singing. She's been a favorite of past Brev Fests and was sorely missed. Irene is nursing a thrown out back and we send her positive vibes for a speedy recovery. After Roland put everyone into a funk, Julie Perkins showed herself to be a true pro in her expert banter before her funny monologue. She basically returned us to a festive place before delivering a delectably dark and twisted and hysterically funny take on Mommy's relationship to Santa. I won't give any more away in case she takes my advice and videotapes this gem for YouTube. Next up was the beloved Gary Garrison who became even more beloved (is that possible?) as before our very eyes he transformed himself into a 17 yr. old latina high school girl at her prom, fretting about boys and the girls who steal them from her. As most of you already know, Gary has an uncanny ear for character and his monologue just transported us to another time and place and reminded us all of our shared innocence. Dennis Danziger threw a curve ball by reading an unexpected portion of his hysterically funny book, A Short History of a Tall Jew. And, as always, Dennis was marvelous. He has such a beautifully modulated way of reading his own material. He really brings out the humor, the wink-winks to the audience in all the right places. We were howling! Monica Ashton is such a gem. This accomplished composer arranger has been generous enough to lug her Roland keyboard to the stage of El Cid for each Brevity Fest and we're so lucky for that. Because her piano writing is just gorgeous and the two pieces she performed -- one in which she was joined by her co-writer and singer Donna Abels -- were gorgeous. I may have mixed up the order here a bit. My memory's getting a bit foggy in my advancing years... but anyway, Rich Ferguson is a force of nature. He and his accompanist Bo Blount and his percussionist (whose name I did not get -- Sorry! If you're reading this, comment with your name, please) filled the room with undulating rock-infused music and spoken word that sailed and hurled and reminded me a bit of Anne Sexton and Her Kind... for those of you with really long memories. Rich was, as always, just amazing. A new addition to Brevity Fest was storyteller Antonio Sacre. His portrait of his cubano father through their exchanges over the telephone managed to achieve a combination of sexiness, old-world nostalgia, heart-warming detail and cross-generational hysteria. I was really glad we were able to get Antonio to join us and hope he can become a Brev Fest regular. Carl Palmer is such a fine actor and his sensitive portrayal of his own quest for his birth parents and their Shakespearean correspondence and near-misses with fate was chilling. There was an eerie silence in the room when Carl's monologue came to its unexpected conclusion. And I even heard one of those all-too-rare gasps from the back of the room. Another new addition to Brevity Fest was Julie Perkins' gal pal, Jan Davidson, who brought the house down with her hysterically anachronistic monologue in the voice of the Virgin Mary. Too funny for words. Finally, before we all went home, Karen Hart graced us with one more tune -- this one in celebration of Hanukkah -- and we were all left singing or humming as we paid our tabs. Actually, I didn't pay mine. While I was in the men's room, Gary Garrison had the audacity to pick up my tab for me. Shame on him! But it was a great night and I hope we can continue this really fun tradition of informal hodge-podge entertainment mixed with strong drinks and excellent food. Big thanks to the staff at El Cid in Silverlake. They make us feel so welcome and really do inspire us to tip big. I hope we can find a similar spot in NYC so we might extend this neato thing to the other coast. That's all I got. Thanks for reading. Wish you were here! (those of you who weren't) For bios of the lineup, go here.
