Interview: Marcy Richardson and PARIS by Company XIV

Company XIV has announced a 2016-2017 pop-up season at The Irondale Center (85 South Oxford St. in Brooklyn), which will include two adult-only shows, the World Premiere of PARIS, and a revival of their sexy hit holiday show NUTCRACKER ROUGE. Both productions are conceived, directed and choreographed by Drama Desk Award nominee Austin Mccormick. PARIS runs from October 13th to November 12th in a limited 5-week engagement.

In PARIS, The Greek myth 'The Judgement of Paris' gets a haute Baroque-Burlesque makeover in the hands of Austin Mccormick's acclaimed Company XIV. Sip champagne while you're transported to a French dance hall, seduced by three goddesses and entertained like never before! Don't miss XIV's signature fusion of dance, opera, circus, theatre, classical storytelling, high fashion and stunning design in the world premiere of PARIS. Their can-can girls, circus boys and singing divas anxiously await your arrival...

Broadwayworld.com had the pleasure of interviewing performer, Marcy Richardson about her career and Company XIV.

Hailed by the New York Times for her "clear, pealing voice" (Scarlatti's L'Arianna-The Arianna Project, Musica Nuova) and by Opera News for her "best all-around performance" (Handel's Ariodante - The Princeton Festival) soprano Marcy Richardson is a versatile artist with a passion for baroque, contemporary music, cabaret, musical theater, and pole and aerial dance. She will be appearing once again with Company XIV in their 2016/2017 season, which runs Oct 13th-January 7th 6 nights a week at the Irondale Theater in Brooklyn. She will appear first as Athena in The Judgement of Paris, followed by the reprise of her role as a singing aerialist, pole dancer, and vocalist in Nutcracker Rouge. In 2015/2016, Marcy completed a 7 month Off-broadway season with Company XIV, where she performed as a classical soprano, pole acrobat, aerialist, singing aerialist, and dancer 6 nights a week in their productions of Snow White, Nutcracker Rouge, and Cinderella at the Minetta Lane Theater in the West Village. Other recent appearances include shows with L'Opera Burlesque as a singing aerialist at New York City's Duane Park, the 1940's burlesque musical comedy revue Knockers: A Burlesque Musical off Broadway at the Elektra Theater with the Hot Box Girls, Fades Away with Aera Dance at The House of Yes, aerials in the Curiosity Cabinet's Night Like Velvet: in twelve letters at Dixon Place, and classical vocal ensemble in Michael Haydn's Requiem with American Classical Orchestra at St. Ignatius of Antioch.

What were your earliest interests in theatre/performing arts?

My family never went to the theater, so it was a long time before I had any exposure to it. I started taking ballet when I was 6, and piano when I was 9. I used to practice piano so much that my family started putting time constraints on me because it was a little much hearing me banging away all the time. Even in my childhood years, I had dreams of becoming a pop star or an actress. I spent a lot of time lip synching to Madonna in my room alone or with my friends-but I had HORRIBLE stage fright. I was absolutely terrified before most of my ballet recitals and all of my piano recitals were God awful and full of mistakes. I would get up there and completely panic.

How did your education guide your path to performance?

I credit my public high school education at Grosse Pointe South in Michigan with leading my path to performance 100 percent. Up to that point, I had very little experience singing in public, but thought joining choir would be an easy A, and a way to make new friends. Little did I know, it happened to be a choir program that is known nationwide, and was extremely competitive in both classical music festivals and show choir. Affordable private voice lessons were offered to all students in the choir, and through that, I unintentionally discovered I had a classical soprano voice. The program instilled tremendous discipline in all of us and was extremely competitive. We all were expected to dance in every show that wasn't a classical music concert, regardless of our dance background. I got hooked on all aspects of performing in high school, overcame my stage fright, and was also very influenced by high school summer programs at Tanglewood and BUTI at Northwestern. But without my public high school education, I would not be doing what I am today. Music and performing became my life during that time. I wouldn't have gotten the exposure to the art or that level of training otherwise.

Mentors?

Most of whom I consider "mentors" are my high school teachers. My first voice teacher, Jennifer Fitch, choreographer Andy Haines, my choir director, Ellen Bowen. They were the people that really instilled that intense spark in me to follow this indescribable passion inside of me to sing and perform and gave me the discipline and tools to do so. Since then I have had many amazing guides along the way-my friends and instructors at Body & Pole-they have changed my life! My voice teacher of over 10 years, Trish McCaffrey, my teachers in college at Indiana University, soprano Patricia Wise, and mezzo soprano Mary Anne Hart, who encouraged me to always embrace multiple styles, think outside the box, and not take any crap. A lot of people in the opera business want to put you in a box, and she really encouraged me to not be afraid to say, "screw that!"

What advice do you have for young people who wish to become performing artists?

Man, this question comes up so often and I hate to give some kind of generic "Don't give up!" answer... I guess first and foremost, don't let anyone define success for you. If you want to sing and dance- DO IT. Do it with absolutely everything you've got every time you hit the stage. A successful career doesn't always mean being an A House Opera Star, or being on Broadway. There are dance ensembles, choirs, composers, churches, recording artists, all wanting to create and make music and art. Think outside the box-there's work out there aside from the obvious, most famous opera houses and theaters in the world, and the product and experience is often even better. Secondly, if you can pick up another money making skill-DO IT. Learn to code, get your real estate license, design and sell a product, become an expert in something you can consult on, whatever-being an artist does not have to be all or nothing. Sometimes it is feast or famine, and the cost of living in a big city like New York is high, especially if you want to keep your skill set up. Most of us scoff at the idea of a "back up" plan, because let's face it, you can't go into performing thinking it's not going to work. You have to really believe you can and will be an artist. Instead of a backup, why not pick up something you can do in tandem? I wish someone had encouraged me to do that! Getting a degree in "music education" (which I did not, but lots of people think it's some kind of back up) is NOT a backup plan. Educating is a FULL TIME JOB and we need teachers who are passionate about educating who are not doing it on the side or as an afterthought.

Why is Company XIV such a great experience for the talented performers in their shows?

Company XIV embraces each of us as individuals. Our biggest strengths are always utilized so that every person has the chance to shine. As vocalists and specialty performers, we get a lot of input when it comes to ideas and music, so that everything is really tailored to each of us. There is no instance where another singer comes in and is expected to fit a "track" created by someone else. Each track is tailored to that person's strengths and personality. Many of the dancers have also expressed how freeing it is to be in the company- you will see dancers of different heights and builds in every show, not all with the same type of dance background. It's very much a group of individuals, which you aren't going to find in a lot of dance companies.

Tell us a little about your fellow artists/creative team.

They are a beautiful group of magical misfit unicorns! I have never loved a group of artists or creative team more. Everyone is disgustingly talented, passionate about what they are doing, and a touch of crazy in the best way. There's always a lot of love and support in the room, in every rehearsal, during every show. Our costume department is to die for. Zane won't let anyone step onstage without looking stunning, (even if the costume is a...ahem..a bit of a hindrance) and I don't even want to think about the hours our team spends rhine-stoning every corset and shoe by hand. Our lighting designer, Jeanette, tirelessly lights our show moment by moment-it's like watching someone agonize over choosing an Instagram filter every 30 seconds in real time. But she always has a smile on her face doing it. No detail is overlooked by the artists or creative team. The work and love that goes into every moment of every show is pretty sick!

What can the audience expect from PARIS?

I overheard a girl in the bathroom last night asking her friend if there was a plot to our show-YES! There is a plot. The show is based on the Greek Myth "The Judgement of Paris"-Zeus is supposed to award a golden apple to the most beautiful Goddess and decides he doesn't want the task, so he asks Paris, a mortal and a shepherd, to do it for him. From there the Goddesses and entourage compete for the prize. There you go! Paris is full of humor, tongue in cheek numbers, high stakes/more serious dance solos and duets that require super human control and strength, a mixture of pop/R&B music and vocals (Storm Marrero has some PIPES-if you have not heard her, you are in for a treat!), baroque music, classical opera singing by myself and gorgeous countertenor Randall Scotting, sparky pasties and thongs, acrobatic pole dancing (of course!). And butts. Lots of butts.

Future Plans?

My only future plan is to kick ass and take names.

For more information on Marcy Richardson, visit her web site and follow her at www.marcyrichardson.com and follow her on social media @OperaGaga on Instagram and Twitter.

For more information on Company XIV and ticketing for PARIS, you can visit http://companyxiv.com/.

Photo Credit: Mark Shelby Perry