Wednesday, January 20, 1999
Take NOTE: show will be unique
THEATER: Newcomers, established performers take part in
Marathon
By Carrie Meathrell
Daily Bruin Contributor
Writers, actors and comedians will join Tibetan horn blowers,
heavy metal jugglers and opera singers at the Hollywood Performance
Marathon, an annual event being held at the Theatre of NOTE (New
One-Act Theatre Ensemble). The Performance Marathon is a day-long
festival of the arts being held in Hollywood on Jan. 23, featuring
several well-known performance artists, along with spotlighting
many new faces on the Los Angeles art scene.
The show starts at 2 p.m., continues into the night, and is
expected to reach a conclusion in the early hours of the following
morning. The lineup of artists is expected to include famed
performance artist John Fleck (one of the notorious National
Endowment for the Arts Four); Louis Alfaro, head of the Mark Taper
Forum’s Latino Theatre Initiative; and Michael C. Ford, a poet
recently named as "Pick of the Week" in LA Weekly.
Richard Werner is producing the show for NOTE as a benefit for
the theater company. Werner hopes to have anywhere from 70 to 80
acts participate in this fourth-annual event, ranging from local
artists to national celebrities in the arts.
"The show includes just about anything you can imagine, and it
has become quite a tradition in the L.A. area," Werner
explains.
The Theatre of NOTE itself recently celebrated its 19th birthday
and has spent five years in its new building in Hollywood. The
original NOTE was created by playwrights in downtown Los Angeles
and was dedicated to supporting new works and new interpretations
within the world of performance.
It has gained a reputation in L.A. theater circles for being
"edgy," and was recently nominated for 13 LA Weekly awards.
The theater presents both one-act and full-length productions,
along with other festivals and performances.
Among the artists featured in the Performance Marathon, Werner
is most enthusiastic about Fleck, whom he calls "a hero among
performance artists."
Werner also commented on the family atmosphere of the show,
saying, "It’s nice to have that feeling of community in L.A. (among
artists), especially among smaller theaters."
The show also looks to be very eclectic, with acts varying from
traditional spoken word performances and play readings to a live
cooking show.
"This is totally unique in L.A.," says Diane Werner, a past
performer and supporter of the marathon. "There’s nothing else like
this out there. It’s a really amazing event.
All the experimental artists in town participate, and everybody
comes together for the same purpose."
The show also has a unique atmosphere within the audience
itself, with some people bringing sleeping bags and pillows in
order to relax and stay comfortable throughout the night-long
show.
"It’s a great feeling in the room, everyone gets very
comfortable with each other and it’s just a great party," Werner
says. "In L.A., the art scene tends to be very fragmented, so this
is an opportunity for everyone to see each other and share in the
feeling."
The event is becoming rapidly more popular in the L.A. area, due
to both the talent it attracts and its uniqueness.
NOTE is the first company in Los Angeles that produces such a
wide-ranging presentation like the Performance Marathon, and it has
become more and more well known in the four years of its existence.
Werner calls it "an excellent introduction to theater. This is a
well-regarded, experimental group of people. The show is very
crowded and always lots of fun."
The program promises to range from the "sacred to the profane,"
according to Werner, with acts such as Ryan Cutrona’s Samuel Becket
interpretations and the L.A.-based Theatresports company.
Several celebrities are also slated to host, including Nancy
Cartwright, voice of Bart Simpson on the television show "The
Simpsons."
Although the show starts at 2 p.m., Werner recommends arriving
around 7 p.m. This is "when most of the best acts start to perform.
But after a while, everyone starts to feel like a family – it’s not
pretentious at all.
"It’s turning out to be our most popular event."
THEATER: "The Fourth Annual Hollywood Performance Marathon"
begins at 2 p.m. on Jan. 23 and continues into the early morning
hours. Tickets are $6 for an all-day pass. For more information,
call (323) 856-8611.
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