Bride of Wildenstein, New Orleans

©2009 Marsian De Lellis
©2009 Marsian De Lellis

On November 13th, 2009, I performed Bride of Wildenstein –  The Musical at the New Orleans Fringe.

photo: Nicholas Shoob,
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

SUPPORT

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.