THE LIVING THEATER LIVES ON

Words by Mo Kelly Nolan, photography by Maurice Narcis

Top from left: Peter Dizozza, Jason Trachtenburg, Risa Mickenberg, Chris Rael, Penny Arcade, Lianne Smith, Edgar Oliver, Anni Rossi, Ralph Denzer and Charlie Nieland. Bottom is Chris Tanner and Susan Hwang.

Caveat on Clinton

The Living Theater lives on at Caveat (caveat.nyc / IG: @caveatnyc) located downstairs at 21a Clinton Street. Caveat is a snappy, new cabaret space with pub tables for seating, plus a full bar with food. It was home to The Living Theater built by Judith Malina in 1947. Originally, The Living Theater had traditional risers and a large stage. Caveat did a gut renovation, designing a performance venue with a speakeasy groove. I’d bet Judith Malina (d. 2014) would be proud. Her legacy lives on. 

The Bushwick Book Club (BBC) (IG: @TheBushwickBookClub / www.bushwickbookclub.com) has been a regular happening since 2009 with sister chapters worldwide. Popular for its innovative concept, BBC reinterprets the words of beloved authors as song, dance, performance art pieces, even food. 

Edgar Oliver

Edgar Oliver (IG: @edgargibsonoliver56) is a performance poet, storyteller, actor, and playwright. He weaves hauntingly tender verse stories about his life as a bohemian artist. In 1975, he arrived in New York City hailing from Savannah, GA via a 2 year stay as a young artist in Paris. This Southern Gentleman once resided in a squat on E. 10th Street. Many of his tales stand at the intersection of connectedness and solitude, bound by his joyful love of art and the “wild and wonderful” people who have populated his life. 

The Moth (IG: @mothstories) must be mentioned for bringing the stories of Edgar Oliver to a worldwide audience. Equipped with a sonorous baritone that could soothe a tired soul, he brought many of his tales to life at The Moth. 

Penny Arcade (IG: @Penny_Arcade_Forever) the legendary downtown performance artist, hosted the event. She describes Oliver as “like family.” Arcade delightfully embraced this celebration of his work and entertained the crowd with her signature wit and charm. “Now write this down,” she’d say to me, pen in hand. I realized I had become her prop, such is her improvisational versatility. 

Susan Hwang (IG: @soozee3) multi-instrumentalist, composer, writer, actor, and producer and founder of BBC was the stage manager this evening and Penny’s helpful co-host. While Hwang was clearing the stage for a video performance, Penny Arcade cheekily remarked that we were about to witness some interpretive dance. Ms. Hwang cheerfully obliged by ‘walking like an Egyptian.’ Susan Hwang ran a tight ship. No surprise, then, when Hwang adeptly swung from passionate percussion in one act to mesmerizing jazz vocals in another act to her own composition intertwining piano, main vocals and beatbox loops; all in one show. 

Charlie Nieland (IG: @CharlieNieland) is a music producer, soundscape composer, songwriter, multi-disciplinary musical artist, and a co-producer/founder of BBC. Described as the “lynchpin” of BBC by Arcade, he contributed his talents to many musical compositions during the show. Nieland’s solo later on in the evening, brought a musical soundscape “like stained glass fireworks.” It was a mellifluous melody, evocative of the heartsong Oliver brings to his verse. 

Risa Mickenberg with a video of Oliver

Risa Mickenberg (IG: @taxidriverwisdom) cold-opened the show while a video of Edgar Oliver reciting a story ran behind Mickenberg’s gentle harp. She brought a graceful dance to the stage, watering houseplants - an allusion to Oliver’s mother “nursing a vine back to life” as described in a story about Oliver’s mother, an artist who also had affection for a local harpist. 

Edgar Oliver was introduced and the audience was able to hear and feel his magical words. He recited three poems - old and new - about Prospect Park, his sanctuary over the years. He describes his love of wandering to find a secluded place to write, loving being “lost in the depths of the Park at dusk / In love with the sun setting over Flatbush Avenue.” With perfect diction and a slow cadence, his baritone vocal styling adds texture to his stories. He writes, “Oh how I loved the trees. Oh how in love with life I was. And I knew nothing.” 

Adira Amran

Adira Amran (IG: @adiraamran) actress, dancer, theater artist took to the piano.  (As her namesake implies – she is of the great musical Amram family of the Lower East Side.) She composed a song about Oliver’s “loony friend, Richard” - a reflection on friendship, love and loss, as Oliver made a brief return to Savannah after ten years in NYC to bury his mother. Adira’s song was an endearing tribute to love and kindness. 

Anni Rossi

Anni Rossi (IG: @annirossi) a wild musical stylist and composer, followed. Rossi played a “musical sculpture meditation” on an electric viola. With a syncopated cadence, she played that mysterious instrument by plucking, strumming, even gently knocking to rhythmically combine with her vibrating soprano. ‘Can You Stop Time’ was a short musical reflection, leaving the audience wanting more. 

Don Rauf with Chris Rael, Ralph Denzer and Charlie Nieland

Don Rauf (IG: @donrauf) singer, author of several books, theater producer and a veteran of BBC, presented an upbeat reflection on a Coney Island short poem. “I think of myself as untouchable and alone” is a fascinating line, as Oliver was surrounded by friends dancing on the seashore. The chorus line, “I would have loved to wrestle my father on the sand,” referenced the father Oliver never knew, passing right before his birth. 

Rauf was accompanied by four other musicians: Chris Rael (Twitter: @chrisrael) singer, songwriter, bandleader of The Church of Betty and BBC veteran contributed backing vocals. Susan Hwang played the Korean drum (janggu) and foot tambourine. Charlie Nieland added depth with his bass guitar. Also joining the septet was the extraordinary trumpist, Ralph Denzer (IG: @rdbklyn.) 

Rachelle Garnier

Rachelle Garnier (IG: @rachellegarniez) singer, songwriter, accordionist was unable to attend but provided a video of her performance. Beginning with the line, “I’m an insect in a flower,” her song was a trajectory of Oliver’s words combined with her unique sound. It was a visually verdant video with a focus on her musical composition. 

Ralph Denzer

Ralph Denzer (IG: @rdbklyn) trumpist, music composer, and fellow wandering artist, dazzled the audience’s inner jazz hands as he performed a jazz/klezmer/New Orleans style jazz-ditty based on the poem “Hunger and Light” by Edgar Oliver. Susan Hwang stepped in as lead vocalist to passionately croon the words he had written.

Peter Dizozza (IG: @dizozza) composer, lyricist, playwright, filmmaker and another veteran BBC player, lent an adept hand on piano. Chris Tanner, whose composition closed the show, added backing vocals which popped this song along. 

Lianne Smith

Lianne Smith (IG: @liannecsmith) was described by Penny Arcade as a cult musician.  This song utilized just her voice and a bass guitar. It referenced the “wandering soul” of Oliver, as she sang about an ethereal Trickster who came and would eventually win the NYC real estate game. The composition was both melancholy and hopeful, her music both vivid and endearing. 

Jason Trachtenburg

Jason Trachtenburg (IG: @JasonTrachtenburg) singer/songwriter, playwright, actor and comedian actually lives in Bushwick. With his family, forms The Trachtenburg Family Sideshow Players, similar to Edgar Oliver’s artistic family. This comedic musician was told by Penny Arcade to “play, play.” He complied by continuing with his comedic monologue. He played his original song, ‘We’re Different, Why? Because We’re Artists’ based on “A Seven Year Vacation” by Oliver. His quirky song described artists as “real life vampires.” It was uptempo and absurdly funny. 

During Susan Hwang’s composition, she was joined by Charlie Nieland, Ralph Denzer with the vocal stylings of Chris Tanner, Don Rauf and Jeremy Vance (IG: @JeremyKieVance.) Based on Oliver’s book ‘East 10th Street: Self Portrait With Empty House,’ she spoke about how Oliver’s wanderings inspired her to write a song “with no wrong turns.” Indeed, Denzer’s trumpet added a jazz vibe to it. With five other artists adding to the composition, the result was foot stomping and freewheeling. 

Chris Tanner with Susan Hwang, Ralph Denzer and Charlie Nieland

The final act was Chris Tanner (IG: @ChrisTannerArt) - a fine artist, performer and playwright. His vocal quality was eerily similar to Edgar Oliver. His tenor belt was accompanied by Charlie Nieland, Ralph Denzer and whomever wanted to join in the chorus, including Ms. Hwang. ‘My Sweet Dead Sailor’ included the hilarious chorus: “A wishing and a hoping and a swabbing on the deck.” This hootenanny of a song was a great way to end the show, funny and melancholy at once, just like the work of Edgar Oliver, a downtown poet, one of our own, “lost together.” 

Extras:

Caveat was the perfect venue for honoring the work of Edgar Oliver, as an historic LES art space. A BBC musical review of his work was perfectly matched. Oliver seemed to be on the verge of tears hearing his own words through the hearts of performers who retold his stories and poems in beautiful and sometimes hilarious songs.