Dumbo

By Bailey Nolan
August 27 - 29, 2015

Told from the vantage point of Dumbo’s Mother, a retired showgirl played by Bailey Nolan (BabySkinGlove, Buoy, Ann Liv Young Dance Company), Dumbo is re-imagined as the tale of a gender-free outcast relayed through a series of vignettes invoking a feeling, a childhood memory, and the idea of Dumbo buried within all of us. With a pop music soundtrack including Mariah Carey, Johnny Cash, Florence and the Machine, Aerosmith, Joni Mitchell, and more, the circus tricks begin as soon as the audience enters the door. Dumbo is a one-woman cabaret with a cast of ten. Using performers from her collective BabySkinGlove, characters range from Dumbo’s boyfriend Timothy Mouse (Charley Parden) to the villainous Stork (Viva Soudan, Nessa Norich) to the Madame Ring Leader (Ellen Robin Rosenberg) to Dumbo’s Guardian Angel (Wesley Flash), and more, exploring themes of relationships while bridging the gap between unabashed self-indulgence and delicate nostalgia. The tale is told in two acts with a whirlwind of lightly choreographed emotions as explored on the laps of the audience.

BIOS

BAILEY NOLAN formed the collective BabySkinGlove in 2008 to create experiential performance pieces. She performs with Ann Liv Young and has toured internationally with Young's Sherry Truck, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Mermaid Show, Elektra, and Elektra Cabaret. Nolan collaborates with other accomplished artists including Ryan Trecartin, Lizzie Fitch, Zebra Katz, Gelitin, Vanessa Beecroft, and the Kardashians. Her work has been shown at PS1, Greene Naftali, the former Deitch Projects and chashama. A graduate of New School University, she is the co-curator and founder of Buoy with Viva Soudan, a joyous dance revolution.

Charley Parden (Timothy Mouse) was born in a teacup South of the border. He was originally cast as Magic Mike but declined the role to tour with BabySkinGlove. In 1993, Parden shined as the Page Boy in the Royal Court at the Mobile Mardi Gras. As a trending fashion photographer, his sacral mission involves the exploration of aerial dance and felines.

Viva Soudan (Stork) has starred in over ten thousand stage productions in her lifetime; she is a teen prodigy. Formally trained in the school of Isadora Duncan, she is a spiritual leader and emotional healer. Her dance sensation BodyRoll is endorsed by Reebok and has kept the entire cast of Dumbo fit. Her innovative dance duo, Buoy, is both her love child and her life force.

Wesley Flash (Guardian Angel) is both at once the parent and child of us all. Throughout his past lives, he has been fluent in every language. He has achieved the highest academic acclaim ever recorded in BabySkinGlove history and is blessed with a perfect sense of style. He resides in Philadelphia with his cat Cecil and can be contacted for Tarot readings.

Ellen Robin Rosenberg (Ring Master), not to be confused with Britney Spears, was born in a public bathroom in the ‘90s and spent the first four hours of her life cradled by a Coach purse. Her handiwork can be seen in circus tents across the world; she was the inventor and infiltrator of Illuminati blacklight labeling.

Claire Christerson (Guard Dog), the Virgin Bride of Dumbo, is a beam of light. Her talents range from loose spandex to leather tanning to cycles like clockwork. When her cat ran away it came back. Although Christerson is not very tall, her nursery rhyme elocution is impeccable. She has many followers on social media and she graduated college.

Marta Borazanian (Mean Girl Elephant) spent a brief period of her life as Kanye West’s muse. Her exclusive line of lingerie is sold at tourist shops throughout Puerto Rico. She was recruited for Dumbo at a yacht party in the Hamptons after spilling her Martini on a series of sailors and demanding a free refill.

Anne Goodfriend (Nice Girl Elephant) was raised on an island off the coast of Delaware. She is the eldest of twelve siblings. She recently retired from the family business of selling kayaks to pursue her childhood dream of making paintings from wing pigments.

Eva Moore (Clown) is a nocturnal, vampire-like creature who has burst upon the social scene with blood dripping from her fangs. She is as equally dangerous as she is desirable. She spends much of her time influencing Anime artists and enjoys challenging men to wrestling matches at the Bronx’s underground fight club Xena’s Shit. Her dog won best-in-show for four consecutive seasons.

Nessa Norich (Circus Roadie) is able to lift weights equivalent to one elephant. After building her fortune selling wooden masks in the suburbs of Louisiana, she has joined the cast of Dumbo under the false assumption that we will be training dolphins for Sea World and/or ice fishing.

Carol Loan (Technical Support) starred as Shirley Temple in an off-Broadway production of Shirley Temple’s Memoir in 1982, a one-woman show directed by Bailey Nolan before birth. Her soundboard skills are unparalleled in North America and she does not now nor has she ever owned a smart phone.

Photo by Charley Parden