One Glitz Wish: A Surreal Masked Comedy that talks about how we talk about Little Girls

ONE GLITZ WISH, this work respresents the full production world premiere of original COMMEDIA-INSPIRED play by Kristin Harrison, commissioned by Waxing Moon Masks, and directed by Tara Cariaso.

This is a play that came about because I complained to my best friend say 4 years ago that I didn't have a play that I really wanted to direct that was a modern Commedia in which to use both COMEDY and MASKS. Kristin is a little bit magical, okay a lot, and she surprised me several months later with a play. The criteria she integrated into the play that were important to us both:

1) The play needed to use masks
2) It needed to be a PRESENTATIONAL production, and not follow the rules of the fourth wall that keep out the audience. We wanted the full gammut of direct addresses, audience plants, improvisation, character schtick and yukking it up in this play. After all, it was a play that had to make us, me and Kristin, laugh.
3) It needed to be FUNNY.
4) It needed to feature women predominately, and speak plainly to concerns that address women's lives.

Kristin supplied these criteria in spades with the first draft of OGW, and we had a staged reading of the play at The Strand Theatre in 2012 where we packed the house to the gills with laughing patrons and jokes about ducks, lions and patriarchy bs.

Fast Forward 2 years, and I met Elissa Goetchius, the then Artistic Director at The Strand Theater, who agrees to do a full production in the Spring of 2014, much to mine and Kristin's elation. I am grateful to The Strand, specifically Elena Kostakis and Elissa for producing our multi-specied, absurdi feminist duck baby.

My work as director of this wacky Commedia/Toddler in Tiaras hybrid was to bring forward the talents and skills of an astounding group of women, (yes all women) to present dance, comedy, mask, singing, and audience interaction all from underneath 4 inches of hair spray and in honor of little girls everywhere. I hope you enjoy my collection of GLITZ moments and reflections.

This play is a culmination of many many people's hard work and talents, all directed fulfilling a simple need: to laugh at what gets us down.

Performing "Little Girls": Gender Performance and my five year old Hero

This is a picture of my daughter, Nadya Elson. She is ferocious. She is strong willed. She is also a child who absorbs messages from the world around her and integrates them, instinctively, into her hard-wiring about how she should behave... all children do this. ONE GLITZ WISH aims at bringing awareness (through tears of laughter) to the attitudes and social mechanisms in our culture that dictate a 'weakness' in being female. I am proud to tell my daughter that she was a strong inspiration for this production, and her bold spirit continues to inspire me every day.
Summary of the Play

"a semi-ridiculous comedy with teeth and heart, tries on notions about the performative nature of being a ‘little girl.’ The play’s absurd humor reconsiders the hierarchies of race, gender, and species using characters based on Commedia Dell’Arte stock types..."
A Sped Up Seduction Scene from ONE GLITZ WISH

In order to help a viewer "get" my direction for the stage (and I mean, as the director, not a cab driver going uptown), it's sometimes useful to show my work in different ways. Here I've sampled a scene in the play entitled, The Pitch, and sped it up x2 to allow you to see how physically specific the actor's choices had to become to meet the height of the form "commedia". Then I slow it down again so that you too can revel in the fun of these actors playing a lion trying to woo a duck.
Live Performance of Galeano

Performed by Ken Jordan
A Crown

Although this was not OUR crown, the unique absurdity of the size of the crowns that young pageant contestants compete for and then, if a winner, eventually wear is startling. This image, an actual pageant crown, sparkles beyond the pale and represents the misplaced hopes and desires that get wrapped up in the hype of being perfect enough to win the contest. Its an excellent metaphor for all that is wrong with our cultural expectations of young girls.
Mask, Audience Interaction and the Metaphor of Mask

This segment is a fun little "Intermezzo" from the show that features the character named Destinie. You'll notice her mask, hers is more prominent than most of the other girls' masks. This is not by accident. This character, who's mask is in the likeness of a baby, is actually trying to cheat in the competition--- she, (like the others, you'll find) is not really a little girl. Actually, she's an adult! But she's missing something special in her life, something that she only had back when she was much much younger. Played by the expert in timing, Ms Tia Stokes, you can see how the mask she wears really thrives on stage when she is in direct address wit the audience. The mask training was central to our production because masks require a different size and carriage on a stage than boring old bare faces. They need bodies that amplify time, rhythm and space.
The Play in the words of the Production Team

Hear what its all about from the production's Dramaturg, Catherine Rodriguez, and Elissa Goetchius the play's producer... What is One Glitz Wish? (oh and me too!)
Arlen the Duck in Human Drag, and Mama the Lion in confusion

THIS PRODUCTION WAS BEAUTIFUL. Here you see the gorgeous detail in costume design provided by the massively talented Kitt Cresenzo. Arlen, a male duck character played expertly (she actually won an award for her portrayal, folks) by Samrawit Belai in the forefront. In the background sitting is the Lion character, Mama Leonie played with ferocity and talons by my dear friend Mazie Baskin, with Make-up by Samantha Trionfo. Also, you can see the subtle but wholly face altering 1/3 face mask created by talented Waxing Moon Mask Associate Nick Martin.
The beautiful Cast and Creator Crew of ONE GLITZ WISH

Our cast was a diverse group of women from Baltimore and DC. The playwright, center in blue, wrote that the production was, in its ideal realization, a piece to be played completely by women, allowing women to play male roles and amplify the gender performance theme of our work.
Review of ONE GLITZ WISH by Bad Oracle

"...none of it matters because it was fully agreed that The Bad Oracle and myself have not had such a blast at a show in quite some time. This shit was funny, people. Really. clucking. funny. I laughed so loud at some points TBO turned to me and gave me the stink-eye..."