VO
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Elevator Repair Service’s 2024 annual spring gala honoring Mark Russell. Please take your seats. The program is about to begin.
VO
Please welcome Elevator Repair Service ensemble members Scott Shepherd and Susie Sokol.
SUSIE
Hello and welcome to the Elevator Repair Service Spring Gaala!
(to Scott)
Gahhla?
SCOTT
Gayla?
SUSIE
GuhLAHH?
SCOTT
We should have practiced. —Welcome to tonight’s event thing, honoring one of the great nurturers and curators of live performance in our time, Mark Russell.
(applause)
SCOTT
I’m Scott Shepherd. I’ve been working with Elevator Repair Service for over 25 years.
SUSIE
I’m Susie Sokol. I’ve been working with ERS for over 30 years.
SCOTT
Show off. And maybe our biggest cheerleader for almost that whole time has been Mark Russell. Mark is one of the international performance community’s most influential and important presenters. His work spans decades.
SUSIE
Even more decades than our work with ERS.
SCOTT
Going back to his days as Artistic Director of Performance Space 122 and through his founding of the Under The Radar Festival, which this January will celebrate 20 years of presenting some of the most exciting work from around the country and around the world.
SUSIE
Mark has championed the work of so many incredible artists at pivotal points in their careers. Like Eric Bogosian and John Leguizamo,
SCOTT
and Claire Danes, Sarah Michelson, Tarrell Alvin McCraney,
SUSIE
and Taylor Mac and Nature Theater of Oklahoma
SCOTT
… And Blue Man Group, to name just a few.
SUSIE
Even if you weren’t lucky enough to visit PS122 during Mark’s tenure or haven’t yet been to Under the Radar (which you should definitely correct in January 2025), his curatorial vision has profoundly shaped the performing arts today.
SCOTT
Do you remember the first time Mark presented ERS?
SUSIE
It was back in the 1900s.
SCOTT
Right. It was a play called Shut Up I Tell You (I Said Shut Up I Tell You). That was our first show that Mark booked at PS122. And my first big role with ERS. I played a mean teenage boy named Johnny.
SUSIE
And I played an old man practicing black magic who gets brutally murdered by a mean teenage boy named Johnny.
SCOTT
Sorry about that. Our next show in Mark’s theater was Cab Legs, our Bollywood twist on Tennessee Williams. That one was kind of a game changer. Thanks to Mark’s stamp of approval, that was the first show we got to take on tour. We drove our junky set in a van around Germany on the Autobahn.
SUSIE
You wrecked that van.
SCOTT
No I didn’t.
SUSIE
Yes you did.
SCOTT
…Yeah, I did… Next Mark programmed Total Fictional Lie, where we collaged together a bunch of bits we stole from documentary films. I played Paul Anka’s manager.
SUSIE
I played Paul Anka.
SCOTT
You also lip-synced a John Glenn speech with your legs while trapped in a big wooden box. Your roles were definitely improving.
SUSIE
One learns one’s craft over time.
SCOTT
Jump a few years ahead. Our shows were playing on bigger stages. And Mark was presenting on a larger scale too. In 2005, he launched the seminal Under The Radar Festival, which in its first year hosted the very first incarnation of our crazy idea to stage the entire text of The Great Gatsby. Basically, every time something really big happened for ERS, Mark was involved. So tonight we’re going to hear from some of Mark’s many friends…
SUSIE
Wait, aren’t we supposed to tell them something about Gatz?
SCOTT
Oh right. I almost forgot. We have a special announcement. The Great Gatsby turns 100 years old a little less than a year from now. That gave someone at Simon and Schuster the idea to give us the idea... to do Gatz one last time in New York.
SUSIE
Oh no. Really?
SCOTT
Yeah, Sus. Remember how much fun we had doing that 8-hour show at The Public before? You had time to go to the gym after our kiss in chapter 4… We played ping pong during the dinner break…
SUSIE
We’ll have the ping pong table again?
SCOTT
Definitely.
SUSIE
Ok fine. But this is it! This is the last time!
SCOTT
Ok! So now I can announce that Gatz will return to The Public Theater for its very last New York run this November! You can reserve your seats tonight, because we’ll be auctioning off a pair of VIP tickets to the opening.
SUSIE
Now please enjoy a short video, put together by ERS’s own Ben Rubin and featuring ERS ensemble member James Hannaham.
SCOTT
And some other old friends telling you why you made the right decision to be here tonight.
SCOTT/SUSIE
Enjoy your night!
[Gala video plays]
VO
And now a message from actor, playwright and monologist Eric Bogosian
[Eric Bogosian video plays]
VO
Please welcome director, performer, and arts advocate Lucy Sexton and Elevator Repair Service ensemble member Mike Iveson, also known as The Factress and Nurse Baby Asparagus
[Lucy and Mike Bit]
LUCY
Mark Russell walked into an abandoned school in the east village in 1980, and helped found, invent, curate and run the legendary Performance Space 122. Over the next 2 decades, his vision made PS122 into a world-renowned presenting institution committed to developing the work of New York City artists, including presenting ERS in their seminal early shows, believing in their groundbreaking theater from the start.
MIKE
In January 2005 Russell launched the Under the Radar Festival first at St. Ann’s Warehouse, and then for many years at the Public Theater. It became a centerpiece in the New York City theater season; mixing international performances with national and local artists.
LUCY
Whatever the venue, whatever the decade, Mark Russell has worked to support so many artists over his career, creating opportunities for them to grow and reach wider audiences. He has now launched The Under the Radar Festival in a network of theaters, creating space for a new generation of radical, boundary-pushing performing artists.
MIKE AND LUCY
Put your hands together for Mark Russell
MARK
Thank you Lucy and Mike—(I think?)
Thank you. Thank you Elevator Repair Service for this incredible honor. I would not be standing here without the support of a lot of people—First and foremost my wife Jennifer and my son Nicholas who is away at college. But also all of the folks that supported my adventures at Performance Space 122, and the Under the Radar Festival, Ishmael Houston Jones who was key to shaping P.S. 122, Meiyin Wang who helped me build UTR and Tommy Kriegsmann and Sami Pyne of Arktype my partners in crime who helped keep Under the Radar alive last year, and all of the venues and volunteers that made it happen, it was a collective labor of love. Watch out this coming January for our 20th Anniversary of Under the Radar, we have some surprises.
And most of all to you who came out and bought tickets and tables to support the work of one of my favorite theater companies. These are hard times for the theater—especially for those on the front line imagining a new theater—like ERS. Your dollars tonight make a difference, not just to this company but to the health and future of our city. If anyone will keep the magic mojo of downtown New York—the thing that makes New York New York—alive, it will be ERS.
Thanks also to the amazing crew that put this whole event together.—and of course the brilliant John Collins and everyone at Elevator Repair Service. It is such an honor to be recognized by you.
Here is a story about ERS, as I remember it.
Way—way—way back many many years ago… I heard about a group who were performing downtown. There was a lot of buzz. I was intrigued. Finally, they came to visit me at P.S. 122. Back then Steve Bodow was the business end of the stick—and I don’t know why—but I trusted him. This John Collins kid he was with was pretty quiet—but had been doing sound for the Wooster Group so I knew he was legit. I gave them a weekend to perform.
ERS did a show in our upstairs space—it was a wild piece with all of these great performers—James Hannaham, Rinne Groff, Susie Sokol—and shaped by John’s intricate soundscapes and off-kilter perspective. To tell you the truth I did not get it. But something was going on there and a fiercely loyal crowd showed up. So, as was my practice at P.S. 122, I booked them again, and again….and then when they created the performance “Cab Legs” in our downstairs space—it FINALLY CLICKED! “Cab Legs” was based on Tennessee Williams’ “Summer and Smoke” but the performers paraphrased the text speaking very quietly, as if they were on a movie set, or in the next room. The audience had to lean in to listen. In fact, on opening night someone in the audience yelled Speak up! And then it hit me! ERS was breaking all the rules of making theater performance, Including that part where the actors project….
ERS put their own mark on the many-layered collage processes of the Wooster Group and Richard Forman—it was sophisticated—disarming—rigorous, and truly spellbinding.
“Cab Legs” caught the eye of the European festival producers and began to tour all the cool places, with world tours and commissions. They quickly became one of the premier new companies coming out of New York. But Then, as with all ensembles, people began to grow up and out. People began to write their own plays, even novels, appear in Major Motion Pictures and run late-night politically important national impact Comedy Shows.
Even with all their success, it is not easy keeping an ensemble theater alive. I know John and the company were considering throwing in the towel. However, they had one project that they wanted to try: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” Actually inspired by an Andy Kaufman bit where he started reading “The Great Gatsby” as his curtain call and proceeded to read the whole book aloud to all who would stay. They began working on it.
Meantime, I was creating the “Under the Radar Festival” a festival that celebrated theater not made in the traditional way—…I invited their Great Gatsby—GATZ—to the first edition of UTR in 2005—Except after we advertised the festival the Fitzgerald estate put out a cease-and-desist order. We canceled the shows, but in true downtown style—we didn’t really cancel—we held “rehearsals”. If you knew someone who knew someone—you could nab a seat—making a minimal donation at the door. Now everyone wanted to see this forbidden new work. UTR had gathered a host of theater leaders from around the world, they all came to GATZ. “Gatz” played to the leaders of American theater and curators from places like the Walker Art Center, the Wexner Center, REDCAT, On the Boards and most of the premier festivals in Europe and Asia in those secret “illegal audiences”. GATZ turned things around for ERS. The rest is history and future. I cannot wait to see their version of Joyce’s Ulysses! Make your reservations now. Take the train or bus, or bicycle, rent a car! but get up to Bard College in June.
As someone who tries to create opportunities for artists to meet their audience, artists like ERS keep me going. They turn the world on its ear and show audiences a unique perspective on life. They surprise us, make us laugh, and truly give me hope for the future.
Thank you for this honor, and finally for this chance for me to express to John and ERS—how much I love you.
VO
Please welcome Elevator Repair Service Managing Director Marilyn Haines and Development Associate Quincy Confoy.
MARILYN HAINES
We are thrilled to be able to have this party tonight, and, just like the ERS shows you know and love, it’s only possible because of the hard work of so many people behind the scenes.
QUINCY CONFOY
We want to take this moment to thank our fellow ERS colleagues—Producing Director Hanna Novak, Associate Artistic Director and Stage Manager Mo Lioce, who is running the cues tonight, Production Manager Aaron Amodt, Graphic Designer Maggie Hoffman, our financial consultants at Arts FMS, and last but not least Artistic Director John Collins.
MARILYN HAINES
Well into its fourth decade, ERS is going stronger than ever. In June, we will finally have the world premiere of Ulysses at the Fisher Center at Bard College. We are thrilled to announce the final New York run of Gatz at The Public ahead of The Great Gatsby’s centennial in 2025. And we’re preparing for tours of Ulysses to Philadelphia, the University of Michigan, LA and beyond. It’s thanks to our artists, designers, and a small but mighty staff that ERS can make the work we do. Quincy and I are grateful we get to work with you every day.
QUINCY
We’re also grateful for the support of line producers Lindsey Chetkof and Emma DeLisio as well as from gala assistant Becky Hermenze. We’d like to thank our volunteers Rachel Bekkerman, Tayler Everts, Michael Lapinsky, Willie Page, and Adam Vossen. And thank you to the wonderful, attentive staff at Tribeca Rooftop. Enjoy your dinner and your company.
[15-20 min break; dinnertime]
VO
And now a message from director, performer and ERS ensemble member Kaneza Schaal.
[Kaneza video plays]
VO
Please welcome Elevator Repair Service ensemble members Dee Beasnael and Kate Benson.
KATE
So this is the part of the evening where you get to help ERS directly.
DEE
Specifically: with money. Kate and I are cast members of Ulysses, gearing up for the world premiere at The Fisher Center. And we need your contributions to support this amazing piece.
KATE
…As well as to support brand new work that frankly, we know hardly anything about yet.
DEE
That’s one of the most fun parts of being in this company. So we’re going to do a live auction—
KATE
—To get money. And then we’ll do a paddle raise.
DEE
Also for money.
KATE
There should be a paddle in the middle of your table with your name on it. Our excellent auctioneer Ruth Mauldin [MALL-DIN] will be looking out for your bids.
DEE
Hold that paddle high, wait for Ruth to call your number, and congratulations! You just made a donation to support ERS’s mission of creating new works of theater.
KATE
Please welcome Auctioneer Ruth Mauldin [MALL-DIN]!
[LIVE AUCTION by Ruth Mauldin ]
[PADDLE RAISE by Ruth Mauldin]
VO
And now a message from performance artist, musician and educator Karen Finley.
[Karen Finley video]
VO
Please welcome Elevator Repair Service Artistic Director John Collins.
JOHN
Thank you.
We are so grateful to you all for being here tonight. Our staff and our board of directors have worked hard to make this happen and you owe your good time to them! I need to say before I go on that our board of directors is the envy of every other theater company I know. They are led by the always steady hand of our chair Bill Stasiulatis. He and the whole group give us the best advice, support and encouragement and we could not be more grateful. They also happen to all be warm, generous and thoughtful people whom I consider friends as well as supporters.
I want to say a few words about Mark Russell. My first meeting with him is one he probably doesn’t remember. At the age of about 22, I somehow found myself interviewing for the job of technical director of PS 122’s downstairs theater. I can’t remember how I even got that opportunity but there I was being interviewed by a current technical director there and by Mark Russell. Even then, Mark was already something of a celebrity to me. As a college student spending summers in the city, I had my mind blown over and over again at PS122. This place, I already knew, was the mothership of downtown avant-garde performance. So I was quite intimidated and nervous sitting there with the guy who ran what was already such an important place. The thought of ever directing a show there myself hadn’t even entered my mind. (Fortunately for all involved, I did NOT get that job.)
But as Mark said (and as Susie and Scott so accurately remembered), ERS did eventually find quite a good home there. And we were not there because we had proven ourselves as the next big thing in downtown theater – we had done no such thing. In fact, we were there being given the chance to prove ourselves. And that was an invaluable opportunity given to us by Mark Russell.
What I want everyone to understand about the kind of work we do, is that it only happens, and, if it’s lucky, thrives, because of someone like Mark. We can be happily taking artistic risks in our dusty rehearsal loft, well out of sight of any audience, but those risks (and their rewards) never see the light of day unless someone with Mark’s vision and fearlessness steps up and gives us a chance. He opens doors that artists simply cannot open for themselves. That is exactly what he did for ERS.
And when he says of our work “he didn’t get it at first” what that tells you is that he has an instinct that he draws on when he curates work that is deeper and more meaningful than “I get it / I don’t get”. To be able to recognize real potential in work that isn’t easy to “understand” or “get” on first blush is a rare gift. And we have been the recipients of it numerous times.
As Scott and Susie said at the start of the evening, whenever ERS made a huge leap forward, Mark was there. I cannot imagine what ERS, our entire community, what all of New York Theater would be, were it not for him. I’m talking about everything from Broadway right down to the tiny venues across the city today that are carrying a torch that he first lit.
SO congratulations, Mark, on a career of great discovery and triumph, and thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking a risk on this company when it was young and inexperienced and again when it dared to do something really big.
And thanks, again, to all of you, our supporters. What Mark helped us start, you help us keep going. To do what we do, we first have to be given a chance, but even when it starts to work, when more and more people get it, we still are utterly dependent on your generosity and your faith in us to keep it going.
Speaking of keeping going, before I go I want to tell you a little bit about what’s coming up next for us.
This summer we will finally premiere our new production of James Joyce’s Ulysses at The Fisher Center at Bard College. It’s been a long time in the making. It was supposed to happen last fall but a little virus got in the way and now it’s coming back in full force. I want to thank Gideon Lester of The Fisher Center. He, very much like Mark, saw something in this new piece at an early stage and has been a tireless advocate for it ever since. I’d like to encourage all of you to come to the beautiful Hudson Valley this summer and check it out. Performances begin June 20th. We’re really proud of this one and this Bard run is going to be a fantastic introduction of this, our leap into the deep end of modernist literature.
It’s going to be a very busy 2024. After Bard we’ll be on the road with Ulysses, then back to NYC for Gatz at The Public. This is a wonderfully busy time for us and the engine all this planning and organizing runs on is ERS’s talented and hard-working staff. For the next 12 months, ERS’s producing director Hanna Novak, Managing Director Marilyn Haines, Associate Artistic Director and Stage Manager Maurina Lioce and Development Associate Quincy Confoy will be working their hearts out to see that all this happens. I want to congratulate them in advance for the upcoming year. You are doing incredible work and this company is so lucky to have you.
Thank you all so much. Now enjoy some dessert and DJ Old Man GG! Hope to see you in the audience soon!
[Program ends. DJ set begins]