As we move forward in our work this year and begin to stage the second play in our trilogy, Riley Ann Visits The Outcast Café, we wanted to give you readers a chance to check in with some of the amazing folks we had the privilege of working with on the several iterations of our first piece, The Dick and The Rose.
To kick us off, here’s a few words from the radiant Kelsey Jayne Hogan:
Kelsey shares a laugh with Company members Dave Demke and Caley Milliken at the Gryphon Venues’ Opening Night party in Edinburgh 2011.
OC: Can you tell us a little about your initial collaboration with Outcast Café?
KJH: I remember getting an email from Biggs early into the new year. I had loved working with Biggs in my freshman year improv class. He introduced me to so many new forms of theatre and I had never felt more expressive. This opened my world. I had always been a bit reserved in auditions and life in general, Biggs was the opposite. Larger than life with an ability to express the deepest emotions. I admired him as an artist, professor, and person. When I learned he wanted to work with ME, I was shocked and looked forward to getting to work.
OC: Sounds exciting! What was it like, bringing to life the work of your mentor? How was the rehearsal process? And what was the Edinburgh Fringe like?
It was hot, but magical in the Berkshires. That first summer with Gail, Emma, and Dylan as my fellow Ministering Angels was incredible. Being under a sticky sweaty parachute with puppets really does create a bond that can’t be broken easily (really the entire cast spent a lot of time under there and we loved each other in spite of our smells). There were days that felt like we were swimming through the air and I was excited to get to Edinburgh with its cooler forecast.
Layover in Heathrow with the gang (R to L: Kelsey Hogan, Dylan Wittrock, Emma Sims-Biggs and Ian Milliken)
Traveling there was another adventure all together…I suppose this show was really entirely one huge adventure with millions of others taking place inside of it. A night spent in London’s Heathrow, an amazing flat, the pubic triangle, flirting with the coffee shop boy down the street, making friends with our venue managers, telling dead baby jokes to passersby, handing out hundreds of flyers, scotch lessons from my dad, ACDC karaoke, and performing a wildly fun, dark, and entertaining show…Edinburgh Fringe was a delight and ended way too soon.
Kelsey and her puppet baby “Bob” work the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.
OC: Indeed, it was. But we were lucky enough to have you with us again in 2012.
KJH: Yes, the following year I received another email from Biggs, we were going to New York. I was thrilled. The play had evolved and so had the cast and crew. I was reunited with my puppet (Bob) and introduced to our new ministering angels. It was a great evolution. We clicked again (I am convinced that parachute makes you friends for life). Bob (my puppet) often had a lot to say. One of my distinct memories was Biggs pulling me aside to tell me “You don’t even realize you are talking when you have your puppet with you, but you need to tell him to pull back a bit”. It was a realization that masks and puppets have a life of their own, it was what truly made me appreciate the art form. Bob did need to pull back and he did.
We had a great time experiencing the NY Artist lifestyle. We had a small apartment and I chose the smallest room (I could touch both walls at the same time). That summer the show really hit a stride, and we got to see other fantastic shows.Performing in the Cherry Lane Theater was an experience I will never forget.
Kelsey rocks the spoons again in our new four-man band (Ian Milliken, Evan Gambardella, Robert Biggs) for NYFringe 2012!
OC: Neither will we! You were such an important part of the experience both times around. It was a pleasure to work with you and we miss your enthusiastic and collaborative presence in the rehearsal room. You’ve had a big journey since we parted ways 3 years ago (!!). Could you tell us a little about what you’ve been up to?
KJH: Of course. A lot of time has passed since then. I truly miss it everyday. It was a time in my life that I was incredibly passionate and excited to get up every morning to create something and be around and connect to other artists. Though I still perform here and there and write when I take the time for myself, I have now moved back to the west coast.
After graduating from Emerson I moved to Washington D.C. and took a year long internship in devlopment and administration with Woolly Mammoth. It was great experience and I found a way to soothe my creative mind in an office by taking on event planning. After a year there I moved back west and took a job with Berkeley Rep handling donor relations and assiting with events.
I just had a one year anniversary with this job, something I have never had! It is exciting and terrifying. I enjoy what I do, love the company and my co-workers, though it can feel a little monotonous not working under a hole-filled parachute with a 7ft penis puppet…I’m moving up in the company and starting in September will be the special events manager which I am very proud of and grateful for. I tend not to plan my life ahead of time; that must be the artist, nomadic soul in me.
Kelsey’s first encounter with the Puppet Babies (South Lee, MA 2011)
OC: We, too, know that traveling spirit very well;) Congratulations on all your hard work and many accomplishments over the past few years! We are so proud of you. Anything else you’d like to treat our readers to? Big life lessons? One more laugh?
I do hope I can see Bob again…when you connect with a puppet it never really leaves you (and my non-puppeteer friends don’t get it). Having Biggs in my life, being a part of “The Dick and the Rose”, connecting with Tori, Caley, Dave, Ian, Ron, Dylan, Emma, Gail, Jenny, Jake, Evan, Barbara, Deborah (I know the list goes on, but for the sake of this sentence I’ll end it here) also will never really leave me. They pushed me to be better every day and make me who I am now. I don’t stay in a shell and won’t be reserved; my self-confidence has soared and I will be forever grateful for them.
The main lesson I learned is to take life by the 7ft. dick, if you will, and live your adventure.
XOXO
Kelsey
Kelsey in action in The Dick and The Rose (with Gail Shalan).
After the most horrendous winter we’ve seen in a good long while, I think it’s FINALLY safe to say we’re officially approaching Summer. Next weekend we arrive at the Vernal Equinox and this muggy week beckons in a hot next few months. To celebrate the warmer days, here’s a collection of our warm Summer Memories from the 2011 and 2012 rehearsals for The Dick and The Rose:
The Band of the 2012 NYC Tour rehearses (L to R: Evan Gambardella, Robert Biggs, Ron Botting, Ian Milliken)
ME and HIM rehearse in Lee, MA 2011 (R to L: Ian Milliken, Robert Biggs)
Occasionally we found time to relax and enjoy a light read (Dylan Wittrock)
A Fantastic Puppetry Discovery (Kelsey Hogan)
A Fantastic Puppetry Discovery (Dylan Wittrock)
A Fantastic Puppetry Discovery (Gail Shalan)
The Ministering Angels Camp at Beartown State Park (Gail Shalan and breakfast)
The Band of the 2011 EdFringe Tour rehearse (L to R: Dylan Wittrock, Robert Biggs, Ian Milliken and Kelsey Hogan)
Puppet Call sans Puppets : NYC Fringe 2012 (Back L to R: Kelsey Hogan, Caley Milliken; Mid R to L: Evan Gambardella, Jake Elitzer; Front R to L: Gail Shalan, Jennifer Vargas)
Kelsey kickin’ it rustic style (Kelsey Hogan)
Summer Evening on the back porch (R to L: Emma Sims-Biggs and Dylan Wittrock)
Amazing multi-tasker, Ian Milliken, plays guitar and accordion simultaneously.
Layover in Heathrow with the gang (R to L: Kelsey Hogan, Dylan Wittrock, Emma Sims-Biggs and Ian Milliken)
First Encounters!
Discussing the Dance Moves (L to R: Caley Milliken, Ron Botting and Barbara Allen)
Yolk of Opression Pick-up for the 2012 Fringe NYC Tour (R to L: Caley Milliken, Gail Shalan, Kelsey Hogan, Jen Vargas, Evan Gambardella and Jake Elitzer)
Intense Tango Rehearsal: 2012 Fringe NYC (R to L: Kelsey Hogan, Caley Milliken, Ron Botting, Ian Milliken and Gail Shalan)
Sweet Relief! Rehearsal in Lee, Ma for the 2011 EdFringe Tour (Front: Dave Demke; Back: Caley Milliken)
Puppets and Tutus: NYCFringe 2012 (L to R: Gail Shalan, Jake Elitzer, Jennifer Vargas, Barbara Allen)
More Ginger Puppet Magic with Kelsey Hogan and friends
Ta Da!! (Robert Biggs)
Thunder Makers: 2011 (R to L: Ian Milliken, Robert Biggs)
Lift! NYCFringe 2012 (Ron Botting and Caley Milliken)
Circus Girl’s Desperation (L to R: Robert Biggs, Caley Milliken, Gail Shalan and Kelsey Hogan)
Making something fun for the Royal Mile : EdFringe 2011 (L to R:Dave Demke, Kelsey Hogan, Ian Milliken, Gail Shalan, Dylan Wittrock, Caley Milliken)
Dylan Caught an Emma (2011)
Dylan Caught a Gail (2011)
How will we get all these puppets, all these instruments, and an oven into these bags? (L to R: Ian Milliken, Dave Demke and Kelsey Hogan)
Actors on the floor 2011
Actors on the floor 2012
Breaking down at Topia Arts 2011 (L to R: Kelsey Hogan, Caley Milliken, Dave Demke, Robert Biggs)
Enjoying a cast dinner at The Elitzer Home (L to R: Tori Sheehan, Jennifer Vargas, Kelsey Hogan and Cindy Elitzer)
An Actor Prepares ( Ron Botting)
Rehearsing important hand-offs NYC Fringe 2012 (Robert Biggs and Ian Milliken)
The exquisite Circus Girl extinguishes the Home (L to R: Ron Botting, Kelsey Hogan, Caley Milliken and Ian Milliken)
Caley Dances: NYC Fringe 2012 (L to R: Kelsey Hogan, Jennifer Vargas, Ian Milliken, Gail Shalan and Caley Milliken)
Outcast Café is hard at work on our future projects. Our team is spread far and wide right now (and so is our film Coyote Girl) before we come together again early this Spring to start work on the next installment of Robert Biggs’ original works. We can’t wait to tell you more about are plans for the Spring of 2015, but first lets all go back to some past adventures in a little image throwback. Enjoy!
The cast of the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Tour of “The Dick and The Rose” hang out in the Gryphon Venues’ lobby in Edinburgh, ScotlandOur first Sleeper, Dave Demke, from “The Dick and The Rose” premiere production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011Actors Kelsey Hogan and Gail Shalan ( plus babies) in the Puppet Baby Funeral March from our preview of “The Dick and The Rose” at Shakespeare and Company in Lee, MA 2011“The Dick and the Rose” Edinburgh 2011 tour’s musical trio (Dylan Wittrock, Ian Milliken, and Robert Biggs) entertain at the Gryphon Venue’s opening party.Our cast and producer celebrate in style at the Gryphon Venues Opening Party (feat. Dylan Wittrock, Emma Sims-Biggs, Deborah Sims, Caley Milliken, Kelsey Hogan).Musical Director and Ministering Angel, Ian Milliken, plays around with Mickey in rehearsal for the 2011 Edinburgh Tour of “The Dick and The Rose”Bob the puppet baby makes friends during rehearsal in 2011Actors Emma Sims-Biggs and Gail Shalan celebrate the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Tour at the Gryphon Venues Wrap Party (also feat. Jax Seager of Gryphon Venues)The poster for “One Year’s Crop”, our original documentary film featuring artistic director Robert Biggs’ journey from his upbringing on a small town farm in Westfield, IL to his hand spun theatre and film company in Lee, MAOur 2012 NYC Fringe Tour Sleeper, Ron Botting, holds up baby Noah at the end of our Berkshire preview in Lee, MAMinistering Angels Gail Shalan and Evan Gambardella share some puppet love on the streets of lower Manhattan during our 2012 NYC Fringe tour of “The Dick and the Rose”The Ministering Angels and Puppet Babies take part in Fringe NYC 2012’s “your couch is making you small…” initiativeChoreographer and Movement Director Barbara Allen meets us for a pick up rehearsal in NYC. She discusses The Tango with actors Caley Milliken (Circus Girl) and Sleeper (Ron Botting).Actors Gail Shalan and Kelsey Hogan throw a tantrum with the other puppet babies during our Berkshire Preview for the 2012 NYC Fringe Tour of “The Dick and The Rose”Actor Gail Shalan trains with puppet master Tom Lee in the traditional Bunraku form of puppetry in Brooklyn, NY April 2013Actors Robert Biggs and Gail Shalan rehearse the Workshop sharing of “Coyote Girl” for our sharing at The Bookstore in Lenox, MAA first iteration of Coyote for the upcoming short “Coyote Girl” and upcoming play “Riley Ann Visits the Outcast Cafe”A second iteration of Coyote from the upcoming short “Coyote Girl” and play “Riley Ann Visits the Outcast Cafe”Our current iteration of Coyote learning his lines.