My best friend, Jess Barbagallo, introduced me to Tina Satter in 2008. She needed some help editing video for a project. At the time, Tina was creating a theater company called Half Straddle, with Jess, Eliza Bent, and Julia Sirna-Frest. I composed a sound score, as well as some original songs that were sung as part of the company’s debut theatrical production, The Knockout Blow, at the now-defunct Ontological Hysteric Theater in New York’s East Village. I sat on the side of the stage and played tracks I had made in GarageBand from my iPod, and mixed the three, wired microphones from a tiny sound board.
Since then, I have collaborated with Tina and her company to create original music, soundscapes and scores for most of the company's theatrical works, including Seagull (Thinking of you), Ancient Lives, and In The Pony Palace / FOOTBALL. Most recently, I co-composed music with Erin Markey for Ghost Rings, a song-cycle which premiered at New York Live Arts in 2016. I also arranged, music directed and sound designed that piece, which toured North America in 2017. I've also performed the role of Joel in House of Dance on tour at Culturgest in Lisbon, Portugal, for which I learned some rudimentary tap moves, and wore prosthetic eyebrows.
The canon of Half Straddle songs remains very dear to me, and I’ve had to the privilege of performing the songs outside of the context of the plays they were composed for on several occasions. Kimberly Clark, my drag alter-ego, even got to host and music direct an evening called Half Straddle Forever at Joe’s Pub, with guest artists, a backing band, and a 2-drink-minimum.
PRESS:
New York Times, "Review: Tina Satter’s ‘Ghost Rings,’ an Elliptical Tale of Lost Connections" — Laura Collins-Hughes, April 2016
New York Times, "Plunging Teenage Angst Deeper Into the Woods" – Ben Brantley, January 2015
New York Times, "A Tap-Dancer in Training With Hopes as High as Falling Stars" – Ben Brantley, October 2013
