Well, grab your pants you moralists, you republicans -in or out of the closet-, you conservative relics of yore: assisted suicide is back in full force and this time the future corpse will be none other than your favorite entertainment formula: theatre. You are invited to translate the previous statement as a threat to your constant need for self-deception –read Broadway / Hollywood-.

The assisted suicide was requested directly by the virulent Body of Theatre. Unable to stand the sight of itself anymore after been ransacked & penetrated mercilessly by all sorts of filth, the body cried out: “I’ve had better days, living with no dignity is worse than being dead…help me die out of this mediocre misery…’ and to the rescue, there came The Empire of Teeth.

They knew the task was daunting: to turn obsolete the main levers of a machine that churned out fake smiles, can-can dresses and that indispensable food for the impotent: the always well endowed dollar Bill. At least they found out in their research, that’s exactly how “Broadway Musicals” got started: amidst the burning of theatres, of calcite, amidst accidents and coincidences and of course, the right amount of greed.

Warning!!! All characters in this performance are self referential. The Devil & Andy Warhol are here to help you deconstruct your own brand of greed

 

A company sets a Faustian tale –Faustian is an intellectual and elevated term for the poorly plagiarized version that the Crook turned out to be-, another company across town sets its own –again, poorly plagiarized- ‘Parisian Burlesque’. One of the theatres burns down, one of the companies is out of luck. Hey, why not join the two of them together and lo and behold: a huge, of almost atomic proportions, whaaam!!!

Total success. The Crook is a sensation back in 1866 both in Broadway and throughout the rest of the country. It’s High Gear Times. It's around the time the northern part of Mexico is found to be 'full of gold' and settlers from up north begin heading south, killing just about every indian in their paths. It's the Wild West. There's a W missing: Wow!

But -perhans in some unconscious level,- the Crook also inaugurates some other, grander scheme: Broadway as the new Opium for the Masses. Broadway Musicals as a way to 'dumb down' foreign cultures for local consumption and to cover 'social ills', Broadway Musicals as the first -embarrasingly loud- collective make-up that would let us feel 'presentable' in front of one another in the social scene. After all, to keep appearances, even the new rich of the world had to pretend to have cultural needs. Since civilization nor sophistication truly offer any shortcuts however, they were forced to 'import' that which was scarce locally.

Thus were born the smashing 'Broadway Musicals: like everything else in America, with a bit of ingenuity and awesome packaging and lots of 'grease' if you know what I mean. Those behind the Sales Machine realized that with the right wrapping most widgets suddenly acquired that elusive 'perceived value' which makes the crowd want to come barging in.

Empire of Teeth then, has gotten itself in some deep, murky waters, simply for trying to unwind the screws of theatre's oldest tricks. The effort however, is not just worth it, it's long overdue and perhaps actually much needed. Jarring can sometimes be its own form of epyphany... at least of you leave the safety cocoon and are willing to go out and take a peek... The avant-guarde is pushing some unfatomable limits out there, do yourself, no, your brain and soul, a favor, get off your arse and stop watching so much dumb TV. You might have to hurry... next time you leave the house something might had happened... while you were watching commercials, commercial theatre became extinct...

Extra! Extra! Extra! Watching too much TV will cause the tiny worms of comfort to settle in your brain. Get out and support radical self expression. Get your tix for The Black Crook, a revivalist piece orchestrated by The Empire of Teeth

OK, finally –after some serious digression- some much needed facts:

Empire of Teeth –ambitious and ambiguous as usual- are tackling the assisted suicide of traditional theatre all by themselves –Antonin Artaud may have helped along the way somehow-... Here's some facts about this incredible production. If you pride yourself in being a cognoscenti, well buddy, prove it, head out in the direction where it's at... 

Empire of Teeth is headed by producers -and wife & husband- Rochelle Fabb and Michael Sakamoto, both with a steady record as executive producers of truly underground, raw performance art. I was going to say 'in the local scene' but their work is truly getting around. Just months after returning from the presentation of their incredible piece The Last Waltz in Oklahoma, the Empire used their 'work-in progress' research and jumped straight into the production of The Black Crook.

To jarr things a bit, the Fabb/Sakamoto duo got in touch with highly regarded noise artist -and Il Corral founder for those of you in the know- Bob Bellerue. His immense technical and engineering skills bring to this production state of the art dubbing, mixing and straight out wild tinkering with electronic gadgets, metal drivers and other aural experiments such. Be prepared to have sound sneak up past your consciousness and not able to know precisely how...

Let there be light! According to Scripture these words were first pronounced by God. Recent research unearthed by The Empire of Teeth however seems to suggest otherwise... (All photos in this article by Martin Cohen)

For tickets go to www.empireofteeth.org

Production details follow:

World premiere:

Track 16 Gallery (At Bergamot Station)
Santa Monica, CA
April 21-May 6, 2006 @ 8:30pm

Written and directed by Rochelle Fabb and Michael Sakamoto
Choreographed by Michael Sakamoto
Sound score by Bob Bellerue
Featuring Rochelle Fabb, Lauren Mace, Michael Morrissey, Michael Sakamoto and Joe Seely