"Andy@62", a deeply personal and voyeuristic theatrical experience, might offer new insights into four icons: Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Marilyn Monroe, and Marlene Dietrich. However, that is not really the point of this part-play, part-tour exhibiting the suffering that writer/director/actor Michelangelo Alasa’ experienced as a child at the hands of his parents. Sexually abused by his father and physically/verbally abused by his mother, Alasa’ took years of pain and transformed it into a creative space full of pornographic images, children’s toys, and photographs of his parents, old Hollywood stars, and miscellaneous gay icons. Alasa’ takes the audience up to this “safe space” on the third floor of the Duo Multicultural Arts Center (DMAC), a theater formerly used by Andy Warhol to screen gay porn films in 1969. The audience journeys through his nightmare childhood and visits four of the celebrities — via vignettes performed in different rooms — who inspired him to overcome his demons.
The links between Alasa’, Warhol (portrayed by Alasa’), Kahlo (Antonio Minino), Monroe (Alexandra Perlwitz), and Dietrich (Reet Roos Värnik) are somewhat tenuous, and muddled even more in light of Alasa’s childhood abuse. It’s not quite clear what about these people in particular inspired him. The connection to Warhol is all but ignored, aside from a brief mention during the Monroe piece. We glean that Kahlo was someone whose own life was defined by pain, much like Alasa’. The connection to Monroe seems to be born from his imagining as a child that she was his mother, and JFK his father. Dietrich’s portrayal as an old reclusive woman is linked to his mother’s last dying days when she confirms that she never loved her son. As superficial as these characters appear in his life, you have to applaud Alasa’ for exposing himself in this raw and vulnerable attempt at therapeutic release.
"Andy@62" is a daring look at the hypocrisy of both domestic life and the façade of fame. The photos smile back, their faces frozen in happiness, yet underneath lurks something darker. Frida may be free-spirited, but she is broken inside and tied to a man who causes her both joy and heartache. Marilyn’s face is projected onto sheer curtains that move and distort her face, marring the image she worked so hard to develop. Marlene, as an elderly woman, hides her wrinkles and grey hair from a public who adores her. Yet, despite the darkness the light pushes through, determined to not let the past ruin the future.
"Andy@62" runs Tuesdays through December 17, 2013 at Duo Theater, 62 East 4th Street (between 2nd Ave and Bowery). Check out their website for more information: https://duotheater.org/
