The talented Julius Ferraro has been conducting interviews with some of our SoLow artists. We'll be featuring them here on the blog leading up to and through the Festival. Thank you Julius! And don't forget, you can view the entire lineup of artists in the full SoLow listings!
He doesn't really
belong here, but he doesn't comment on the oddness of that
Seth
Reichgott is an actor/director/writer who has been working the Philly theater
scene for years. Slim Bob Slim is an itinerant vaudevillian out of synch with
time and place. Both are avid ukulele players. Both are born performers. Both
wear a wicked bow tie sometimes. We caught up with Seth to ask him about SoLow,
Slim Bob, and being a theater artist in Philly.
SoLow Fest: Who is
Slim Bob Slim? What does he want from his audiences? Where’d he come from?
Seth
Reichgott: Well really this whole process has been about discovering the
answers to those very questions. So I'm still working on that. He's a
vaudevillian who plays old-timey music on the ukulele. If it was 1920 I guess
he'd be playing tunes from the 1890s. But it's now, so his old-timey music
happens to be ‘80s tunes (at least for this show). He doesn't really belong
here now, but he doesn't comment on the oddness of that. The show really is a
concert first and foremost, with a very thin web of a story that connects
everything together. The more I play in Slim and work from his point of view
the more I'm learning about who he is.
SF: You’re also
directing Dear Diary, Bye—tell us a
little bit about that show.
SR:
That show was the brainchild of Ellie Brown. She found her diary from 3rd grade
and on a whim had a guy friend of hers read it out loud. She thought it was so
funny that she decided she wanted to create a performance of it. It's a fun
idea, and it's interesting to hear a 26-year-old man read a 9-year-old girl's
diary—not like he found it or something, but like it actually is his diary. Funny, and surprisingly
moving at points.
SF: How is creating a
solo show different from working with a company?
SR:
It's a totally different animal, especially when you're starting from a place
of complete nothing like I did for this show. I had an idea that had been
cooking in the back of my mind for years and a whole lot of things happened and
then finally I put it on the front burner and turned the heat up. I've tried
very hard to approach the creation of this show in an organic way. Rather then
sitting down and writing it I've just been discovering my own arrangements for
lots of songs and working on finding who Slim Bob Slim is and letting him write
the show.
SF: What are you doing
here that you wouldn’t if not for SoLow?
SR:
The whole thing, really. Playing a concert is something that I've maybe
wondered about or dreamed about, but never really thought I'd do.
SF: What challenges do
you face being a full-time artist? What excitements and delights?
SR:
Pretty much the same challenges as everyone, but without a steady paycheck to
rely on. I have kids, a house, all the same sorts of issues everyone has, and I
have to figure out a way to find or create enough work to make that life
possible. Excitements and delights? I don't work in an office, I'm able to be
home with my kids most of the time, my schedule is generally mine to make, and
if I decide I want to go out on a limb and create a concert of ‘80s tunes
played on the ukulele I can actually make it happen. That's terrifying, but
it's equally exciting.
Slim Bob Slim in Stand Back I'm Gonna Uke: An Evening of Old-Timey Music runs June 24, 28, 29 @ 8pm at Quigs Pug at Plays and Players. Walk ups welcome or email slimbobslim@gmail.com for reservations . PWYC $5-10
Julius Ferraro is a Philly freelancer. He writes regularly for Art Attack and his blog, Notes on Words.