Tools
Voice, Language, Sound
Hairdo = Elvis + Jimmy Swaggart
Costume collar + authentic calling.
What’s the difference between
performing and embodying?
impersonating and becoming?
playing and attempting to overthrow conventions?
wit and seriousness?
Movement: Posture, Gesture
Dramatic. Iconic. Recognizable.
Text and Improvisation
Is it prophecy and channeling? Scripted performance? Jazz improvisation?
Narrator comes from the same root—gno—as cure.
A number of savvy people in the theatre world describe Talen as writing some of the most evocative, powerful and poetic work on any American stage today
Reverend Billy's notebook.
Photo by Brennan Cavanaugh (CC)
Blessing of the Water Day, Chelsea, NYC, 3/22/09
Photo by C.S. Muncy (CC)
“...when we pray, it becomes prayer...you don't do that from a position of parody...'Reverend Billy' is just a way of meet and greet. The parody's over in seconds.”
Blessing of the Water Day, Chelsea, NYC, 3/22/09
Photo by C.S. Muncy (CC)
© 2024 The Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, All Rights Reserved.