On November 13th, 2009, I performed Bride of Wildenstein – The Musical at the New Orleans Fringe.
design: Marsian De Lellis
Have you ever gone too far for love?
In Bride of Wildenstein, an aging socialite grows fur and claws to recapture her philandering game hunter husband’s attention.
The New Orleans iteration was produced by Ibex Puppetry in Orlando. I worked closely with Tory Oakes – to develop a tourable set that referenced cat scratch toys that transforms with the protagonist. After the New Orleans Fringe performance, Bride of Wildenstein premiered at the Velaslavasay Panorama in Los Angeles.
Have you ever gone too far for love? Bride of Wildenstein is a weird and tragic love story that examines the making of a monstrosity through one woman’s personal struggle, and the loss of her sense of self. As her marriage dissolves, she begins to reinvent herself through drastic measures – surgical procedures to become more feline, which only further heighten her sense of estrangement. The heroine’s story is loosely inspired by tabloid accounts of the real-life “cat woman”, Jocelyn Wildenstein.
The New Orleans Fringe began in 2008 as a Festival to nurture emerging and established performing artists by presenting fun, fearless and affordable theater to the community and creating ties between artists, audiences, businesses and local organizations.
Ibex Puppetry is an entertainment company dedicated to promoting the fine art of puppetry in all of its various mediums, nurturing work for a myriad of venues including stage, film, and gallery.
Ibex Puppetry
Presents
Bride of Wildenstein – The Musical
Written + Performed by
Marsian De Lellis
Written with
P.J. McWhiskers
Direction
Derron Wood
Musical Composition
Josh Senick
Production Manager
Technical Director
Tori Oakes
Stage Manager
Tara Kromer
Sound
Curtiss Mitchell
Costume Design
Hunter Wells
Corset Design
Costume Builder
Lee Frank Perez Vargas
Sound Design
Vocal Coach
Sarah Marie Ibrahim
Puppet Builders
Davey Jordan
Sarah Yates
Tori Oakes
Sarah Sowell
Chase Woolner
Special Thanks
Alice Boehm
Byung Lee
Chi Kyung
Chris Barecca
Ellen McCartney
Greg Ballora
Heather Henson
Janie Geiser
Larry Seigel
Leslie Cararra-Rudolph
Lynn Jeffries
Lynn Rosenfeld
Marianne Kubik
Martin Robinson
Pam Arciero
Raphael Lopez Barantez
Richard Termine
Ron Binion
Robert Smythe
Steven Levine
Susan Simpson
Tyler Bunch
Vandy Wood
Z. Briggs
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.
