On July 17th, 2009, at Georgia Tech I performed “Pump that Pussy”, an excerpt from Bride of Wildenstein – the Musical, in which an aging socialite grows fur and claws to recapture her philandering game hunter husband’s attention.
Using puppets and masks to augment the body, this solo cabaret performance playfully unpacks desire and the contagion of identity with songs that examine the making of a monstrosity. The weird and tragic love story wildly reimagines tabloid accounts of the real-life “cat woman”, Jocelyn Wildenstein. As the protagonist’s marriage dissolves, she begins to reinvent herself through drastic measures. But biomedical and surgical procedures to become more feline only heighten her sense of estrangement and embolden her quest to find a fiercer sense of self.
After being estranged from her husband, Jocelyn finds herself in a junk yard pumping party* where she encounters a rat doctor and a pigeon recovering from a beak job. A cockroach who’s just had his thorax pumped convinces Jocelyn to inject her face so she can feel beautiful again.
*a gathering where participants inject industrial grade silicone to create low-cost curves as a dangerous, often fatal alternative to medically sanctioned cosmetic surgery
Bride of Wildenstein – The Musical was written with long time collaborator, P.J. MicWhiskers. In this iteration, music was composed by Josh Senick and costumes were designed by Rachel Weir. Choreography was developed with Alice Gottschalk.
PERFORMANCE
The performance was part of a late night cabaret hosted by Lucky Yates at the National Puppetry Festival that took place at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Friday, July 17th, 2009
at 10:00PM
North Ave NW,
Atlanta, GA 30332
Georgia Institute of Technology is a leading research university committed to improving the human condition through advanced science and technology.
The National Puppetry Festival is a project of the Puppeteers of America, a national non-profit that provides information, encourages performances, and builds a community of people who celebrate puppet theatre.
Bride of Wildenstein was developed at CalArts and the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center with funding from The Durfee Foundation and Ibex Puppetry.
