Thrillpeddlers to Welcome Return of CLUB INFERNO at The Hypnodrome
By: BWW News Desk Jan. 21, 2016
The Hypnodrome is located at 575 10th St., in SF. 94103. (Bryant & Division Streets). Tickets: $30 gen. admission or $35 for Front Row Seats, "Shock Boxes" and "Turkish Lounges"***, available at app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=thril
or by calling 415/ 377- 4202.
CLUB INFERNO, a Glam-Rock Musical based on Dante's The Divine Comedy, is "one hell of a good time", blending sinful women and kick-ass rock with a classic story of the afterlife. This home-grown rock-stravaganza is a perfect fit for Thrillpeddlers' 9th Theatre of the Ridiculous revival, their annual tradition that revived The Cockettes musicals. The show's creators and a number of the original cast members are back* to make Dante sing again in this Thrillpeddlers' production.
CLUB INFERNO opens with the mega-star extraordinaire Danté (Peggy L'Eggs), performing her high energy club act - singing her smash hit, "I Want My Fifteen Minutes of Fame". Her number is cut short by a tragic accident and she wakes up at the Gates of Hell. She is greeted by the poet Virgil (John Flaw) who offers to guide her back to the Land of the Living. They begin their musical descent with the help of sassy Xaron (Birdie-Bob Watt), who gives passage to the dark kingdom. Each new level of Hell reveals a famous diva suffering her own brand of torture. Among them are a lustful Cleopatra (Noah Haydon), a love struck Karen Carpenter and Mama Cass (Leigh Crow), and a murderous Lucrezia Borgia (also Leigh Crow). Despite the taunts of horrible demons, an attack by the three-headed dog of Hell, and sundry decapitations, eviscerations and immolations, our heroes continue their journey. At the final circle, they encounter Judy Garland (Zelda Koznofski), whose ascension to Heaven makes Danté realize her own reasons for living. In a spectacular musical epiphany, Danté returns home with renewed spirit and determination. Additional cast members include: David Bicha, Barney Ford, Lisa McHenry, Amber Sommerfeld / Marilynn Fowler, Jason Wade, Carol Ann Walker, Crystal Why, and Diogo Zavadzki.
CLUB INFERNO concept, book, & lyrics by Kelly Kittell; music & lyrics by Peter Fogel; additional material, musical direction & arrangements by Birdie-Bob Watt; choreography by Marilynn Fowler. Flynn DeMarco - Wig Master, Tina Sogliuzzo, Glenn Krumbholz & Jim Kumiega - Costumes, James Blackwood - Scenic Designer, Mister Wa - Video Projections Designer, Nicholas Torre - Lighting Designer / Special Effects.
The show is directed by Russell Blackwood.
Music credits include: Birdie-Bob Watt - Musical Director, Steve Bollinger - Band Leader (drums & guitar), Tim Perdue - Bass, Tommy Salami - Drums, Diogo Zavadzki - electric guitar. Some of the cast members also play instruments: Birdie-Bob Watt - Keyboard, John Flaw - Acoustic Guitar, Peggy L'Eggs - Keyboard
* The original production took in 2000 at The Paradise Lounge in SOMA and featured the incredible talents of Connie Champagne, Arturo Galster, Leigh Crow, Birdie Bob Watt, Princess Kennedy, Jordan L'Moore, Trauma Flintstone, as well as the shows creators Peter Fogel and Kelly Kittell.
***About Seating: Pairs of patrons will surely enjoy The Hypnodrome's Shock Box seats for two, which garnered SF Weekly's "Best of San Francisco 2008" for "Best Bonus Theater Experience." These themed seats include sumptuous Turkish Lounges, as well as private boxes including "Heaven and Hell," 'The Pharaoh's Tomb," and "Padded Cell," which offer the same opportunity for illicit trysting that was once a feature of the Parisian Théâtre du Grand Guignol - with added special effects as a nod to the 1950's horror movie gimmicks of William Castle.
BIOS:
Russell Blackwood (Director / Producer) produced and directed his first Grand Guignol horror play twenty years ago with his own adaptation of the 1926 shocker The Laboratory of Hallucinations. That production led him to found Thrillpeddlers with his boyhood friend, Daniel Zilber. He's produced and directed for Thrillpeddlers ever since. In 1999, the duo produced the first Shocktoberfest!! , Thrillpeddlers annual Grand Guignol spectacular. Four years later, Thrillpeddlers launched the research web site www.grandguignol.com. In 2004 Russell and his husband, Jim Toczyl, opened The Hypnodrome to be Thrillpeddlers home. Producing and directing Scrumbly Koldewyn's four Cockettes musicals: Pearls Over Shanghai, Hot Greeks, Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma, and Vice Palace were other delightful milestones for Thrillpeddlers along the way. Russell's productions have played throughout the U.S. from NYC to Alaska, The Pirates of Penzance (Lamplighters), Ex-Lovers, Strangers in Paradox, and Women Behind Bars (Theatre Rhinoceros); Cabaret and Medea (Shotgun Players); and productions for the S.F., L.A., and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festivals. He earned his BFA in Acting from Boston University.
Birdie-Bob Watt (Musical Director, Keyboards, Xaron) is a gadabout town and has been on the local scene for many years, performing in numerous San Francisco nightclubs, restaurants & theatres. Birdie has been waitress at various cafes (winning Best of the Bay Hostess in 1997), a disco denizen in many venues (Klubstitute, Nightclub Confidential, Trannyshack), and some of her memorable stage roles include Mary Haines in Jungle Red, Eve Harrington in Eve, and Christina in Christmas with the Crawfords, (all with Artfull Circle Theater). In 2009, The Bird joined the Thrillpeddlers during the 22-month run of Pearls Over Shanghai and since then has been a kingpin with the company, appearing in Hot Greeks, Vice Palace, Tinsel Tarts In A Hot Coma, and three Shocktoberfests; Kiss Of Blood, Fear Over Frisco, and The Bloody Debutante.
Peter Fogel (Music and Lyrics) is an award-winning composer, bandleader, singer and guitarist. Along with his creative partner, Kelly Kittell, he is a founding member of the Tuck 'n' Roll Players, the drag/rock musical comedy collective responsible for staging the original production of "CLUB INFERNO" in 2000 at the Paradise Lounge. Other rock musicals for which he has written songs for include "Cyberotica!" and "Exospective!" Peter played guitar and and wrote music for 80's psychedelic punk rockers AlieNation, and 90's multi-media theatrical troupe Enrique. He currently leads 1960's retro pop group Whoa Nellies and glam rock/gender benders Pepperspray. Musical highlights include opening for Cher (Pepperspray, 2003), Billy Idol (AlieNation, 1981), Santana (Enrique, 1995) and backing Joan Baez and the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus at Davies Symphony Hall (Whoa Nellies, 2009). In 2001, Peter was the recipient of two Outstanding Achievement Awards from the Bay Area Theater Critic's Circle for Music and Lyrics featured in "CLUB INFERNO". Peter wishes to dedicate the Thrillpeddler's 2015 remount to Arturo Galster, who originated the roles of Cleopatra, Isadora Duncan and Joan of Arc in the first production of "CLUB INFERNO". www.pepperspraytheband.com | www.whoanellies.com
Kelly Kittell (Concept, Book, and Lyrics) started as a stand-up comic in 1982 at the Valencia Rose, learning the comedy ropes alongside Marga Gomez and Lea DeLaria. From there he graduated from Bay Area Theatersports, mentored under Doug Holsclaw, and wrote several plays for Theatre Rhinoceros. Those plays included a collaboration with Doonesbury's Gary Trudeau for "Out of the Inkwell," as well as the world's first all-woman rockabilly musical, "Hillbillies on the Moon." In 1998 he began developing work with musician Peter Fogel, and continued to explore the role of gender and sexuality. Their prescient 1999 rock musical on Y2K angst and internet communities, "Cyberotica!," became a cult hit, and in 2000 they tackled women and fame in "CLUB INFERNO," an all-female version of Dante's Inferno. It received eleven Bay Area Critics Circle Award nominations, and he was awarded Outstanding Book and Lyrics. He is a contributor to the on-line culture and technology site, Boing Boing, and is currently working on a musical adaptation of Randy Shilts' Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the US Military.
Thrillpeddlers have been performing their unique brand of horror and fetish theatre in San Francisco since 1991. Under the direction of Russell Blackwood, Thrillpeddlers is continuously engaged in translating, adapting, and producing classic plays from the infamous repertoire of Le Théâtre du Grand Guignol and producing other works inspired by the Grand Guignol tradition. In 2008, Thrillpeddlers embraced another niche theatrical genre with the company's annual Theatre of the Ridiculous Revival. That same year they were invited to perform for NYC's HOWL Festival with their productions of Charles Busch's THEODORA, SHE-BITCH OF BYZANTIUM; Charles Ludlam's JACK IN THE BEANSTALK; and Link Martin and Scrumbly Koldewyn's PEARLS OVER SHANGHAI. Following this, a full production of PEARLS was mounted in San Francisco in 2009 and ran for twenty-two months. In the summer of 2011 they revived another of Koldewyn's works, VICE PALACE. The hit show garnered six SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards and the group's second trip to New York to perform at the HOWL Festival which also included a special performance at NYC's Lincoln Center to celebrate the life and works of long time Koldewyn collaborator, Martin Worman.
The company's SOMA performance venue, The Hypnodrome, is tailor-made for the specific needs of horror theatre, musical extravaganzas, and "lights-out" spook show spectacle. Inaugurating The Hypnodrome with WELCOME TO THE HYPNODROME in 2004, Thrillpeddlers have gone on to produce wildly popular Grand Guignol bills including BLOOD BUCKET BALLYHOO, FLAMING SIN, AUDACIOUS ARTEFACTS, KISS OF BLOOD and the recent hit, FEAR OVER FRISCO. SHOCKTOBERFEST!!, Thrillpeddlers' annual pageant of terror and titillation, is now in its 16th year and has become a San Francisco Halloween favorite. Prior to that, the company's production history includes the American premiere of Clive Barker's FRANKENSTEIN IN LOVE, MONDO ANDRONICUS (selected Best of the 1997 S.F. Fringe Festival), and a double-bill of THE MEDIUM and A CRIME IN THE MADHOUSE (in Pretoria, South Africa). Thrillpeddlers has won the Guardian's "Best of the Bay" and GOLDIE AWARD and four "Best of San Francisco" awards from SF Weekly including 2013's "Best Theatrical Sideshow". In 2010, 7 X 7 Magazine named Thrillpeddlers "BEST UNDERGROUND THEATRE COMPANY IN SF." They are also the purveyors of www.GrandGuignol.com, the most complete source of Grand Guignol information on the Net.
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