THE LEADING MEN: Denman and St. Little
By Tom Nondorf
Jason St. Little photo by Blaise Kearsley
SAINT OF SOUNDS
Jason St. Little wants to be the greatest living iPod shuffle. His theatrical/cabaret/rock shows at the Zipper Factory Theatre leave no doubt, with his music selection often eliciting the "Oh my God! That song?" reaction from his raucous audience. By day, the Dean of Students at the Stella Adler School of Acting, by night, his alter ego, "Tits Fisher," commands the stage of the Zipper, supported by his chameleon-like band of pros, Kitten's Kiss.
Question: How did this show come to be? Jason St. Little: I just had a bunch of songs in my head that I felt were theatrical that made no sense on the page, but I thought I could fashion them together into some sort of theatrical moment. There's not enough rock 'n' roll theatre to me, and I don't mean theatre with rock 'n' roll, I mean as a theatrical idea. I think theatre right now is too safe and boring. When I first came to New York in the 1980s, there was all sorts of experimental theatre and downtown theatre and all that stuff, and that movement has sort of died, and I wanted to do a variation on that.
Q: Do you come from a theatrical or rock background? St. Little: I had played Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch about seven years ago, and that unleashed the inner rocker in me and also taught me that that sort of theatrical experience is very powerful for an audience. Audiences like rock 'n' roll in a theatrical context, and that was my inspiration. I thought this could be really fun. The reaction I imagined would be, "Oh my God, AC/DC, then wait! Kurt Weill. How did he do that? Where is that coming from?" I just followed the map in my head, which is pretty crazy.
Q: The pure variety of your show is what makes it fresh, not knowing what song is next, the Smiths, Rufus Wainwright, disco, rock… St. Little: Absolutely. It is my mad bipolar head, and I'm opening it up and saying, "Hi everybody. Come watch!" I think a lot of cabaret is too safe, and it becomes almost cliché.
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Q: The show seems to have quite an effect on audiences, who were quite boisterous at the show I saw.
St. Little: That's been really fascinating for me. My director Peter Flynn, who is one of my dearest friends, he comes from a total theatrical background. He was Lumiere in
Beauty and the Beast for three years, that's his world, and he was very much like, "This scares me. I think we should think about this as a theatrical experience." And I was like, "No I want a rock club sensibility." Yes, I want people paying attention, but I don't mind that they are talking and dancing and yelling and screaming. That sort of rambunctiousness is sorely lacking in audiences. I had a show on Halloween that was a little over the top. People wouldn't stop dancing, but at the same time, I was like, that's what I signed up for, so I had to go with it.
Q: Another wild element is the bizarre images that come up on screen behind your performance. How do you come up with those? St. Little: I'm just an absurd person. I culled all these crazy images from the internet, and my director and I just sort of went crazy. "What does this song remind us of?" I'm sort of weird in the way that I don't understand why the world isn't more absurd. I don't see how we walk the streets and feel like the world is normal [laughs]. Some of the images are literal, and other things it's like, I'm singing a sexy song, who do I find sexy? Anderson Cooper!
Q: How did you create the character of Mr. Fisher? St. Little: When I did my first performances, I really had no idea who I was. And that was the criticism I got. "We're not really seeing Tits Fisher. We need more of the story." He's a borscht belt punk rocker, obsessed with celebrity. He's the bad me on steroids. He allows me to be really outrageous. He's also way more masculine than me, which is funny. I have the name because I had this acting teacher — this was back in the days before sexual harassment was understood as it is today — and there was a very large-breasted woman in class named Carol Fisher, and the teacher came in and goes, "Where's Tits Fisher?" And I thought this was one of the funniest things I'd ever heard even though it was totally horrible and demeaning to this poor woman. So I adopted the name.
Q: It has to be hard to find a band as up for anything as Kitten's Kiss. How did you connect with them? St. Little: Seth Rudetsky, who I know you know, because we all know him. He's one of my best friends since we were like 18 years old, which is very cute because I've seen him become, like, "Seth Rudetsky." I did the very first Rosie O'Donnell Cruise and did Hedwig , and they invited me back. Seth set me up with the band, and we just really clicked, and they said, "We should do something in the city." I told them about my idea and they were in. Mark Fifer is my music director. He teaches at Pace. Ray Marchica is the drummer for Mamma Mia! Maryann McSweeney, the bassist, has been with Avenue Q since the beginning of that show. The guitarist, Greg Utzig, was with Curtains and now is with West Side Story . The fun thing for them is they are in their eight-show-a-week for the last ten years sort of thing, and my show is fun for them because they get to play live rock 'n' roll and be silly. So they have been a dream come true for me.
[Jason St. Little plays as Tits Fisher featuring Kitten's Kiss on the last Friday of every month (no show this month, next is Jan. 30, 2009). The Zipper Factory is located at 336 West 37th Street. Go to thezipperfactory.com for a calendar of events. Lots of great holiday happenings there, so check it out.]
HITHER AND YULE Tony Martin announced for shows at Feinstein's at Loews Regency Jan. 13 and 17, 2009. . . . Mr. Michael Feinstein himself will be performing "The Sinatra Holiday Project" at his club all month long. For ticket reservations and club information, call (212) 339-4095 or head to feinsteinsatloewsregency.com. . . . On Dec. 13, from 3-6 PM, Chartwell Booksellers in the Park Avenue Plaza, 55 East 52nd Street hosts a free concert by Vince Giordano's Nighthawks , for fans of 1920s and '30s jazz stylings. Call (212) 308-0688 for more information. . . . The talented and funny GUYTUNES returns to Birdland Dec. 15 for a little holiday fascination. GUYTUNES is Nick Blaemire , Justin Keyes and Joey Khoury . . . . Also at Birdland, Dec. 29, the Johnny Rodgers Band . Singer/songwriter and pianist Johnny is part of Liza Minnelli 's new show at the Palace. Check out birdlandjazz.com for the details. . . . Another year in the books — almost — and I wish everyone out there a happy holiday season. What are your favorite hard-to-find Christmas albums? Drop a line and let me know. In the meantime seek out some of my faves: Barbara Mandrell 's "Christmas at Our House," "The Voices of Christmas" by The Voices of Walter Schumann , "A Partridge Family Christmas Card," and Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians ' "Now is the Caroling Season." See 'ya next year!
Tom Nondorf can be reached at tnondorf@playbill.com.
