ANGELS OF THE TABERNACLE OF HEDONISM!
WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE OUR TEMPORARY LOCATION. WE COULD NOT CONTINUE WITHOUT YOU, AND IN TWO YEARS FROM NOW, WE WILL HAVE PROVIDED A FREE SPEECH STAGE FOR FOUR DECADES! THANK YOU!

Thanks to you, the Tabernacle of Hedonism continues at our temporary new location. Please support our cause and consider a modest donation to help with promotion, equipment, props, and ecumenical church activities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 5/29/2022

The Reverend Angeldust's Tabernacle of Hedonism with your Host, Tom Miller provided final services on the Hardback Cafe's Last Days in Undertown on May 25th, 2022. The Hardback is in transformation and when it returns, The Tabernacle of Hedonism will return to those beautiful shores. Until that time, we have been granted a safe haven at our new temporary location.

BEGINNING NEXT MONDAY, JUNE 6th, 2022:
THE REVEREND ANGELDUST'S TABERNACLE OF HEDONISM WITH YOUR HOST, TOM MILLER holds services Monday Nights, 10pm at UNIVERSITY CLUB - 18 E. University Ave. Upstairs - Top Floor Bar with our signature bartender Daryl Marshall!

Daryl was our bartender back in the Club 1982-days for many a night, and the University Club has been home for the Tabernacle in several different past incarnations over three decades, so everybody involved knows what we're getting into! We hope our regular parishioners will join us, along with our beloved regulars in the cast and crew. The University Club is a full liquor bar, the cover to our show remains FREE of charge, and there is a patio for SMOKE BREAKS!

The show will be very much the same, and also very different as we prepare the way for Jamba the Great Dumpster Goddess and Doobietopia in 2022. Expect some surprise guests, some new features, and a different feel. All paths lead to Ojamba Care and Hempness Almighty. Rejoice. Hallelujah. We are not a cult, so far as you know.

As always, the Tabernacle of Hedonism welcomes all, regardless of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, age ... mostly (18 and up, must be 21 to drink), gender, socioeconomic status, or religion. We welcome free speech, but not violence. You bring violence up in here, we'll beat the living shit out of you. Our open mic is available to all. The sign-up list is available at 9:30 at the club. No outside booze is allowed inside. Inside booze, however, is allowed outside.

We'll see you in a week! Long live the Hardback Cafe.

Every so often, I stop everything and ask myself: "Where am I? What am I doing here?" The way my brain works, I'm rarely cognizant of my surroundings while fully immersed in the work; whatever that may be. As a multi-disciplinary performance artist, that could mean anything from studying a role for a play, fashioning an independent movie, recording a music album, painting pictures, editing a screenplay … the possibilities are endless. And so I find myself writing a blog about my peculiar connection to a mysterious place called Black C Art, owned and operated by Ani Collier. I sit at the desk. From 11-3 P.M. most Mondays-through-Fridays. If you happen by particular space, I'll be there to greet you and answer questions. So that's the "where": Black C Art - 201 S.E. 2nd Place, Gainesville, Florida - the Known Center of the Universe. That's where I am.

What am I doing here?

I first became aware of Ani Collier and her performance art work at the Hippodrome Theatre. I was the manager of the HIPP bar at the time; this is around 2008. Normally, the HIPP had professional plays on the Main stage often directed by the force that is Lauren Warhol Caldwell. But every so often, I'd hear of an unusual show happening, something involving dance and performance art, with a classically trained Bulgarian ballerina. The show was conceptual, unusual, provocative, challenging, risky, strange, all my favorite words when it come to arts. And these shows were not easy to get seats for, and they were pricey tickets, and they felt like some underground spectacle that the hoi polloi were not necessarily aware of. No, this was for the folks who dig to find art like buried treasure, who will adventure around the corner, into the unsafe darkness to find the light. Inside the HIPP, Ani Collier and company would fashion a show and utilize whatever set was currently on the stage. Hell, sometimes, I've heard, she'd just dance right over the seats, down the Voms, in the rafters, wherever necessary to tell a story and engage an audience.

"Of Air and the Water" - a collaboration with Ani Collier, Mark Tanner, Lola Haskins - Poetry, Music, Dance. "Mistresses of Many Voices" - a collaboration with Ani Collier of dance & monologues. "Swan Song" - featuring dance and musings from Carlos Somoza's novel "Art of Murder". "The Nightingale and The Rose" - a romantic fifty-minute "movement poem". You can see more here at Ani's web page: http://anicollier.com/public_html/performances.html

I never found my way into even one of these performances, but they were highly regarded and people talked. Without ever having met Ani, I knew she was Gainesville's secret epicenter of exploratory mixed-media, dance and expressionism. She also danced with and choreographed for the world-renowned Dance Alive organization and was a classically trained ballerina from Bulgaria. And that's why, when Creative Director Lauren Warhol Caldwell parted ways with the Hippodrome and found herself creating new work with Ani Collier at the little black box space around the corner, Black C Art, I took a more direct interest - me, being a long-time Caldwell fan. I attended and reviewed some of those performances, and found them to fill a niche that simply didn't exist in any other performance spaces in town. The work was inspirational, confrontational, community and issue-minded, and compelled more questions and dialogue than it answered. It was about exploration and discovery for artist and audience alike; often accompanied with refreshments and an interrogative talkback. Between these two enigmatic power-house women, it all gets covered; photography, art, dance, theatre, storytelling, music, lights, spectacle, romance, the kind of stuff Aristotelians spend their nights dreaming about. 

I don't want to be too specific. That would ruin the magic.

But I can tell you I find myself now as a strange passerby; or better, passer-through. We amuse and muse each other in the search for childlike fun, adult matters of cosmic significance and also happenstance, and a hunger & thirst for adventure, exploration, risk, and bedazzlement. I've been authorized to be influenced and to influence, all to the better undiscovered downtown where art is the strangest, finest, most perplexing, and fiercely rewarding. 

Lauren Warhol Caldwell (she got permission from Andy Warhol himself to use the name), yes, was Liza Minelli's personal assistant. Did you hear me? And beyond that, the Creative Director at the Hippodrome for much of my Gainesville residency. You can read about her here: 

Lauren Caldwell - Gainesville Downtown

I'll tell you another story too. I've reviewed a number of plays at the Hippodrome, Directed by Lauren Warhol Caldwell. You'll see my reverence for her work in the reviews and I'll list them below. But also, know that at one time I was a student of non-traditional age (shut up!) at the University of Florida where I dug out and escaped with a Bachelors in Theatre Arts. One of my beloved mentors, Tim Altmeyer, got a role and had to take some days off. In his place, Lauren Caldwell appeared. It was an audition class. She scared the living shit out of me! In the best way, of course, by being demanding and uplifting and never letting anyone take a free ride. You had to step-up, earn your stripes, deliver your best work, or suffer your own disappointment. She'd never shame you, but in her presence, you might sure shame yourself. (Why didn't I remember the lines? Why was I late? Why didn't I have a resume and a great headshot with living dazzling moist eyes?!) You'd feel an almost mystical compulsion to not bullshit, to deliver the goods, to rise above mediocrity and earn her respect. I think I did so.

Because you see, she's directed tons of shows, held the Hippodrome during it's best formative and durational years, on her shoulders like Atlas - never compromising her vision, her audacity, her voice, her style. To be admired, here are several reviews by Tom Miller (that's me) written in the afterhours of experiencing a Caldwell-Directed show:

ZOMBIE TOWN

THE TEMPEST

TOXIC AVENGER

THE TWO MUSKEETERS

THE ELEPHANT MAN

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE

MR. BURNS - A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY

THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK CHRISTMAS MUSICAL

GOOD PEOPLE

… Just to name a few.

So immediately my interest in Black C Art is peaked. What in the world are these two artists now doing together? I knew Black C Art had been in the Downtown because, as I state clearly in all my work, Downtown Gainesville is the Known Center of the Universe. To be fair, I stole that line from Shamrock McShane, who is the official discoverer of this fact. All I did was to repeat it until the universe gave up and agreed with us. Between Shamrock and I, we pin-pointed the precise Center of the Universe as being the inside-right seat just as one enters Maude's Café. Sit there, and know all!

Back to Black C Art. Fascinating performances are there, and shown only to a limited audience. The inside space feels like a gallery, but transforms easily into a black box theatre with theatrical lighting and sound design. It wasn't always the case, Ani tells me. The space began as a formal gallery and dance space, primarily to present the works of Ani Collier. But a confluence of invited "Creatives" enter and exit the space over time colliding and exploding in a surprising diversity of happenings. So in a way, Black C is to enter the mind of Ani, and also to engage her playfulness, dance, theatricality, imagery, and artistic vision as one converses and collides with the forces that exist in the Known Center of the Universe. That makes sense to me, I hope it does to you fair reader. I began to attend these experiences and to review them as I had the Hippodrome shows.

A couple of my reviews are below:

THE STRONGER

JOURNAL ENTRY

I saw Oedipus ReDux: (Lauren Warhol Caldwell recruits my long time band-leader, Charles Ray Martin to interpret Oedipus from Jocasta's point of view, with original contemporary Rock-a-Billy songs!)

I saw Ani Collier shows featuring photo-collage superimposed on metal structure - sideways glimpses of New York Buildings, Flowers, Dance, Shoes, Movement, Colors, Umbrellas open inside where no rain falls, waterfalls of plastic bottles; their beauty destroying, preserving, transforming, colluding. 

I saw "There Was a Girl" - a collaborative reading in which Ani Collier expresses, by movement, what is spoken in the script), with another mentor of mine, Gregg Jones, taking a role as antagonist, player, villain, muse. Just look at some of the imagery from these collaborations!

Look at the beauty and mesmerizing tapestry of visuals and dance in "In search of ... " with  dancer/collaborator Tzveta Kassabova. This is what you might experience inside the Black C!

And at some point, Ani and Caldwell asked me to participate in a play. It was called "White Rabbit, Red Rabbit". Here's the thing: This play has rules. The actor is not allowed to see the script until the night of the play. He/She/They must prepare some specific moments in advance, but the play itself remains a mystery until the night of the performance. Ani performed this piece first, then (she tells me) she enjoyed watching me and after, the profoundly awesome Sara Morsey performing on night #3. These shows were well attended. You're not supposed to see the show performed by ANYONE until you've personally done it. You can never perform it again either. So I won't tell you anything about the play.

I begin tending to the gallery, welcoming the few stragglers who venture downtown, find a place to park where they won't get towed or have to use their smart phones and navigate an app and surrender their credit card information and license plate and be sur-charged until their time is accounted for. They pass by, peek in cautiously, and I say, "Hi. Come on in." They respond, "What is this?" And I say, "Come on in! Enjoy. This is Ani Collier's space."

While we're deciding what to show for ArtWalk -- Ani dances and ponders and goes into the back room to look through her voluminous photographic work -- "What should we do?" She asks. I act like I know what I'm doing. "How about this?" She emerges with some balled up paper and silver air-conditioning insulation. She positions these on one of the display areas in the gallery. "What do you think?" 

"Cool!" I say. Then, I suggest, "It's making art from what's around." She agrees, and retreats to the back area. After a spell, she emerges with a brilliant image of an old woman in Cuba smoking a cigar. "I got this in Cuba," she tells me. "Look at her. She knows the good life." That's it, we decide. We call the show, "The Good Life." Lauren Warhol Caldwell arrives. She taps into the creative vibe. "What about this!" Lauren says. Her visual sensibilities imbue the process. We are all standing, moving, dancing, adding and creating together. There is a joy that permeates the gallery. Lots of laughter. When it's all said and done, a show is up on the walls. It makes sense, if only to us. Patrons will come during Gainesville Art Walk - the last Friday of the month - and decide what they see for themselves. I remember the one woman who, after careful consideration of everything displayed in the gallery, says in a calculating tone, "Where's the art?" 

I think: If you don't see it, it's not there for you. It's there for us. Come back again in a few days, it will all be different. Or it won't even be an art show, it will be a play, or a dance, or a photography session or a video. Or maybe the place will be in-between shows and nothing will be on the walls. And someone will walk in, take a measure of the place--the empty walls--, and say, "This is fantastic work!"

Since I've been in residence with Ani Collier and Lauren Warhol Caldwell, we've come up with an invisible piano player named Morine French, we've used scraps of paper and tape and red fabric flower petals to present "The Good Life", the gallery has been drenched in red light, where cinnamon candy looks like butter scotch and vice-versa, with Ani Collier dance photo collage printed on metal; cityscapes, and roses have adorned the space. While all this is going on, Ani just happens to be working in parallel with Dance Alive choreographing/playing/dancing a primary role in freakin' Carmina Burana at the Performing Arts Center with a cast of over 250 performers. Later, Ani throws a retirement reception in the Black C for the conductor, Dr. Raymond Chobaz. Champagne, catering, suits, ties, a brilliant piano cake, the works! 

And as of the time of this writing, Ani is in Bulgaria attending to her sister-gallery, whilst Warhol is working with Chuck Martin on a ReDux of Oedipus ReDux! It's a ReDux-ReDux! Further, Warhol and I have collaborated on a new short play called, Jack and Jill Go Downtown - a satirical look at the debacle that is Downtown Gainesville Parking, the inconvenient convenience of modern technology, and how having a good time might just be a product of nature: no assembly required. We're going to play it to small houses on certain afternoons.

Perhaps we are meteors, comets, and particles in a long collision of arts, music, contemplation, and exploration swimming in the ocean of possibilities, and who knows how long it will last, but do see it while you can. Enjoy and appreciate each fortunate moment like drops of water in the sea, and ultimately, move along. Flowers aren't meant to last, they're meant to be immortalized in stories, poetry, and art.

PROJECTS AND GALLERY SHOWS:

MORINE FRENCH, Invisible Piano Player (February 2022):

RED - Digital Collage by Ani Collier (March 2022):

THE GOOD LIFE (APRIL 2022):

Celino - Sculptures in Light (May 2022)

Iris Coe-Gross (June 2022)

Coming Soon...

I recently had a terrific breakfast dish at Afternoon, and this inspired me to dole out my current choices of favorite Gainesville nosh spots. In no particular order:

1. La Cuisine (Ocala), and still Gainesville's best restaurant! ;-)
2. Dragonfly - Great cocktails, and they've really stepped up their already impressive game.
3. Superette Wine + Provisions - Super place with great food & wine, and a patio.
4. Alpin - Simply terrific, and a lovely Saturday brunch.
5. Indian Street Food / Indian Cuisine - They don't dial it down for the Western palate. 
6. Mr. Han - Among the best Chinese food in town, a strange wonderful place. Dim sum.
7. The Leaning Pig - Killer sandwiches. Don't sit under the tree, the squirrel will piss on you.
8. Sensei - Beautifully composed dishes.
9. Bankok Square - Solid Thai!
10. Yummy House - Dim sum.
11. Fehrenbacher's Artisan Sausage - Spectacular charcuterie and specials.
12. Afternoon - Busy because they're doing it right.
13. Public & General - Great casual spot w/ full bar, charcuterie, specials & burgers.

What are your favorite spots? 

Some of the most intimate and fascinating theatre work being done in Gainesville -
"The Known Center of the Universe" -  happens at a Downtown space known as Black C Art. Within these walls, multilayered collaborative performance art with rich introspective provocative storytelling is a constant. Productions here can be scripted, non-scripted, improvised, there is flexible seating from one show to the next. In this black box interior, we see dance & movement, and our Director and cast invite reaction during post show opportunities to engage the audience in conversation.

The current show is called Journal Entry and directed by Lauren Warhol Caldwell, features Ani Collier and Sara Morsey. From the playbill: "A woman has kept a personal journal. However, in looking back, her entries cause her pain, unwanted memories, and difficult reminders. The journal ends up in the hands of another woman who understands the entries all too well. And this is where the journey begins."

Of course it is the journey of both characters (as well as the audience's journey) as they engage each other through movement and dialogue, offering in equal measure conflict, support, and transformation. I say we are shown layers because the artists are working from structured original collaborative source material. Certainly, there is plotting and a through-line to the choreography. Yet, the piece breathes with moments of spontaneous improvisation between the characters, keeping us and them excited for surprises as we find ourselves rapt with attention and suspense. What happens next!?

Upon entering the space, the players are already on the stage. Ani lies prone on a pink fleece fabric which at times presents like a magic carpet, other times like the sea or wind depending on how it's utilized in motion. Sara, downstage right, leans against a wall in repose, in thought. We enter cautiously, carefully, to take our seats. The characters are, to this reviewer's eye, disconnected to begin with. That is, until Ani and Sara awaken to each other and the Journal is shared.

Within the journal are thoughts and messages, secret and revealing. In response, Sara's character offers her interpretation as she digs in to articulate the passages, some in narrative prose and others in the poetry of Sandra Belfiore, Khalil Gibran, and Charles Bukowski. She questions, beckons, advises, challenges, and discovers. Before too long, that which is fearful becomes welcoming. "Don't be afraid to dive in, we were born swimming." Conversely, certain comforts become unwelcome. Are we so safe as to be imprisoned?

From the playbill:
Tell me who you are,
and what brings you here.
What piece of driftwood do you cling to,
bobbing on the swells, and
How do you imagine the raft or boat
you hope will rescue you someday?

I repeat, this play is in layers. The playbill itself is a journal entry of sorts. Within the playbill we are prompted with questions: "What lies in the journal? Who is this woman who ends up with the secrets written upon the pages? What leads them to a reconciliation of the content of the journal?" For me, I was struck with the notion that one is a protagonist and the other is her conscience; the two that are one. These roles are interchangeable. Someone else will find a different meaning in the abstractions offered. They may see mother/daughter, patient/doctor, perhaps it is the journal contemplating itself. All this is the very point. We see their story and leave with our own.

The lighting, designed by Bob Robbins, is a character in itself, filling the room with amber and fuchsia mood, temperature, liquid, sky and land, suggesting the passing of time, the turning daydreams into shadows and back again--an emotional dream-time.

Sound Design by Caldwell feels haunted somewhere in the 1980s, with choices hearkening to both past and future as well; often surprising with jolting disturbance or conversely, sanguine comfort; sometimes mirroring and other times in juxtaposition with the characters.

For the show I saw, the technical operations for both light and sound were covertly and expertly employed by Stage Manager, Paul Gabbard. Amanda Nipper was the technical engineer for Warhol's excellent music and sound design.

Warhol, Morsey, and Collier are of the highest caliber in their respective fields, absolutely riddled with talent and passion. The urgency of Caldwell's storytelling and direction, the commitment of Sara in her acting and voice, and Collier's fierce creativity and athleticism with her powerful dance and movement; all bringing to the stage enormous risk, trust, and empathy transmitting this challenging work to the stage. Both the experiment and the control are present, prescient, palpable and alive. Theatre in motion.

One more thing...

On stage, there is also a box, about the size of a treasure box, covered in that same pink inviting fleece material. The journey of the play, of the characters, and of the audience--it all leads to this mysterious container. If the reader wonders what's in the box, there's one sure way to find out. Maybe it's you in there. Dive in.

I wonder,
will you listen
when I invite you,
gently;
Dive in, and sink.
You will not drown
You were born
swimming.

GET TICKETS HERE: www.eventbrite.com/e/journal-entry-tickets-199401895437

JOURNAL ENTRY - SHOW DATES/TIMES
Thursday December 9th, 5:30pm-6:30pm
and Saturday December 11th, 2:00pm to 3:00pm

MORE AT BLACK C GALLERY: www.blackcproduction.com/

Music by Kevin MacLeod
Production: Michael Eaddy, Ramon J. Otero
Video: Broni Veltcheva
Art & Graphic Design: Liliana Dvorianova

Directed by Lauren Warhol Caldwell
Conceived by Ani Collier, Sara Morsey, Lauren Warhol Caldwell

I'm the Christmas guy. I love it. I start playing Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts music about a week before Halloween. But as a performance artist, I have an obligation to be a contrarian, to crap on Christmas, to belittle and mock the yuletide charm and innocence of yesteryear just to mess with people, just to fudge-up the paradigm. Why would one undertake such a task, you may ask? Because when the soup is stirred, the clutter and fog rises to the surface. The Chef skims off the fat, the detritus, the Scrooginess, the visceral bah-humbugness, and what remains is a clarity, a comfort, a nutritious delicious holiday antibiotic for the soul. If we do it right, Christmas is about compassion, sharing, reflecting, improving, attempting to generate the conditions for happiness and wellness and good cheer. It's about story-telling, and fantasy, magic and wonder. But look at us. I dare not count the ways the heart can darken. How easy it is to throw coal in children's holiday socks instead of into the chestnut-warming fire, where coal probably belongs. We've learned to find comedy in ruination. We've learned to Grinch out, and not receive the lessons. Look, I'm not religious. But I get Linus in his speech about where the Christmas spirit gathers its inspiration. I get the secularism, I get the complaints; that Christmas favors the wealthy or the white, the entitled or the corporations, that it's designed to profit with consumption and consumerism being the ways-and-means of good olde Santa and his weird toy-making elves and animal friends. But hasn't the underlying message always been this: It's not about money or status, nor color, race nor creed nor orientation, gender, self-worth?! It eclipses religion and rites, many tales told in many countries, and becomes a gathering of friends, family, stragglers and strangers; a collective welcoming, affirming, ludicrously sappy if you let it. And that ludicrously sappiness awakens the heart of any shitty character who ever tried to ruin everything in the classic Christmas movies! I won't belabor the points here (I already have...), but when I tell you the story of what happened to me watching the press run of the Hippodrome's new musical, maybe you'll understand.

Miracle on 34th St
Live Musical Radio Play
Adapted from the 1947 Lux Radio Broadcast by Lance Arthur Smith,
Original songs and Arrangements by Jon Lorenz
Nov 26 – Dec 23

Let's do the review:

This musical play has many layers. For fans of Miracle on 34th Street, one of the great feel-good films ever, we have the telling of that story - in the form of a radio play, in the style of Orson Welles classic tales of 1934-1952. We, the audience, are flies on the wall in the KSDMT Studios as we watch characters from the movie perform the characters from the script. The time being 1947 *coincidentally when a pilot named Kenneth Arnold saw some UFOs flying around Mount Rainier in Washington state and coined the phrase, "Flying Saucer". Me, I'm thinking all he saw was Santa, but I digress.

This review has a Christmas Present for you:

Without divulging the story if you don't know it, and the manner of theatre if you haven't seen it, you'll be surprised by a few salient points:

1. The cast is absolutely outstanding. They are having fun, and the chemistry and joy in their performances is infectious - in the Holiday Spirit kind of way, not the Covid way.

2. The quality each actor brings to their role is top-notch. There are standouts, but it's each cast member at different times. You'll remember them all as unique characters, and profoundly talented singers and actors.

3. Speaking of the singing, these are among the finest voices to ever grace the Hippodrome stage. And with that talent, Bryan Mercer's mercurial leadership rewards the audience with tight snappy tunes that sound like a record, if that can be said. I felt as if I was truly listening to a radio broadcast but then I looked at the stage and...

4. This is a radio play. A flash of that classic show, A Prairie Home Companion springs to mind. You see in real time the performers engaging in creative Foley work which emulates the sounds of walking, horses, crowd noises, doors opening and closing, clinking of flatware at a social gathering, and so on. Watching the actors seamlessly performing these acts of physical musicality and dexterity while also singing and "reading" their script lines is a sight to behold. It's a great inside look at what it takes to entertain in the radio medium. You remember...before TV and Smart Phones? Families would gather around and use...yes...their imagination?

5. Carson Holley. I don't mean to highlight any actor over another, but the young genius who plays Gracie Demarco performing as Susan Walker - well, she's going to be famous. Soon. Mark my words. Get an autograph after the show if you can.

6. Although the actors play characters performing as other characters, they also perform as even other characters. What I mean to say is that each character will be doing a number of different voices. And as I intended not to highlight any actor over another, be on the lookout for some comically out-there voice work with the extraordinary David Patrick Ford as Grady Williams performing Fred Gailey among others. You starting to see the layers yet?

7. That said, Laura Hodos as Cordelia Ragsdale performing Doris Walker imbues her character with real-deal humanistic qualities, the kind that beg empathy from the crowd. We cheer and cry for her. She brings the goods. Sophia Young as Olivia Glatt performing--as the press handout says--"Female Character Actor", well she's far beyond that. She, subtly, resonately strikes as the outsider. But her saucy assured no-nonsense power is palpable. By the end of the performance, in many ways, she eclipses the supporting roles. You'll not forget her.

8. David Carey Foster (there's a super-star name for you!) portraying Kristofer Van Lisberg performing as the big man, Kris Kringle (that's Santa for those who don't know), is so beguiling. He's able to give the audience what Judge Judy might call "reasonable doubt" to this Santa character. Is he? Isn't he? Lisberg's vocal cadences as the protagonist in the radio play are spot-on. He's gentle, kind, vulnerable, and human. He's freakin' Mr. Rogers if Mr. Rogers was Santa. And who's to say he isn't? Wasn't? The chemistry between young Susan Walker and Kris Kringle are absolutely heart-melting.

9. Bryan Mercer - holding court at the pian-ah! (That's what Director Stephanie Lynge affectionately called it on the night of our preview.) Wow. He's acting, playing the music, he's arranged the performances and worked with the actors to such a turn, they modulate and land every harmonic cadence like ABBA. That good! (Haters be damned.) Mercer, as the center of the show, holds court but never outshines his orchestral performers. This is a true ensemble with profound collective camaraderie and joy. They get Christmas. They get Linus. They get older cynical rat-heads like me. And they fix my head, if only for a moment. They, through this play, remind us all that we can do good. We can be good. We can share joy. We can overcome adversity. We can triumph over evil. We can find a common ground. We can tell stories. We can, if only for the moments of a play passing in the night, experience blissful innocence, the way we popped out into the infinite mortal coil.

See it, if you have even a hint of light still left in your heart. It's a good blissful burn!

Incredible Technical Direction: Warren Goodwin
Amazing Lighting by: Bob Robbins
Fantastic Sound Design by: Amanda Nipper
Remarkable Costumes by: Erin Jester
Awesome Stage Manger: Amber Wilkenson
Brilliant Assistant Stage Manager - Laura Hart

https://thehipp.org/miracle-on-34/

Working on the sub-titles (English and Spanish) to The Seven Sides of Shakespeare. Why? Because it's premiering in the L'HOSPITALET- BARCELONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL in September, and some of our team will be there to see it.

Speaking of...we've been very tight on letting this film out of the bag. Shot almost exclusively on an iPad for a budget of around $3,500 bucks, over several months in chronological order in which we get to see the main character age into an old man on a magical island, this film's loaded with delights. And even the producers hadn't seen the entire completed picture until last Saturday night. It was a great success, and there were laughter and tears. That's all one can ask for.

I had a great art opening at the Hardback Cafe last Wednesday, and there are still a couple of pieces left. So consider joining us for the Tabernacle of Hedonism on July 14th, Wednesday night at around 9pm, and pick up an Official Miller for your home or office. Priced to sell!

Speaking of Nothing, the world press has been debating the merits of Nothing and our documentary film about Nothing is winning awards, getting views, and stirring controversy. I recently did an interview for Dubai's most popular talk radio news station. Whether something or Nothing will come of it, who knows? I can't say more as this has become an International Legal Issue. All I can tell you is there's much more to come, and I have to sign disclosure agreements so you'll hear Nothing from me about Nothing any time soon, but be prepared for some surprises I think you'll like.

Musically, I've been back at rehearsal with Chuck Martin and Larry California and you can expect to see some version of our eleven versions of the band out and about in the very near future.

In theatre, Shamrock McShane and I have embarked on a mission to play David Mamet's The Duck Variations - a crisp one-act coming soon to various venues near you. The rehearsals have been a blast, and the material is more timely than ever concerning politics, global climate change, and the ever-varying nature of ducks in the waste. Here's a promo photo:

As far as the Screenwriting goes, still honored to be an official judge for the prestigious International writing competition at NYCMidnight. Elmer's Saucer is still under consideration and listed in the IMDB as: In Development. I'm sure some funding will come now that UFOs are in the mainstream news and Covid is stepping down (we hope - get vaccinated!) Roach Buddy and The Tabernacle of Hedonism are back in various markets looking for options, and there have been increasing hits for both stories.

Other than that, please continue to enjoy the music/art/theatre/performances and if you're having a good time with this, become a patron. There are several ways to show support for my work on every level.

You can buy a song or album here: https://tommiller.bandcamp.com/music


You can become an official patron for as little as a dollar a month and get first access to new projects and works by signing up here: https://www.patreon.com/tommiller

You can buy a book of my writing here: https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Miller-Sophisticated-Schlock-Production/dp/1494430886

Or you can hit the little yellow DONATE button at the top right of this page and let me know I'm entertaining you. Without Patrons, art is just business.

Stay creative - Creativity is the cure for adversity!

Enjoy each and every moment you can.

-- TM

Soon as the word came down from the CDC that vaccinated folks can option out of their masks, Gainesville has seen a flood of music and arts return to stages and venues - so much so that on any given day, there may in fact be too many things to do. All your favorite folks are doing their thing at the damn same time. Luckily for July 2 (which is a glorious Friday), things are spaced out enough where you might get a taste of them all. And I'm here to tell you about them. We begin at 6pm for Celino's big art opening gala. Fabulous art in a ritzy hotel with all the people you know, and probably some snooty catering and booze (wine for sure, I'm told.) And day-of, Celino's dropping his prices for those who attend.

At 8pm, find artist and musician Dan Stepp crooning some classics with a full jazz ensemble outside in front of The Bull! I heard a sample last night at The Bull's Jazz evening, and he was as smooth as can be! And the band are the cream of the crop of Jazz musicians in town. Catch some of that for free, enjoy some quality beer & wine from The Bull!

Then at 9pm in what we call Undertown, Gainesville, Florida - yours truly will be having an Art Show at the legendary Hardback Cafe, featuring multi-media MILLER performances. Select Miller videos, Miller music, Miller spoken word, and a few surprises. I'll be showing some new paintings and everything is priced so that you can afford to keep me supplied with box wine and lobster. I promise an evening of eclectic Gainesville characters, good conversation, quality art and performance, and some semi-snooty nibbles.

I've just described a one-of-a-kind classic Gainesville evening for you and your friends. All the entry fees are all free! No excuses, be there to witness all of these great events and kick your July 4th weekend off in proper fashion!

Peace and Love, Meditate and Create!

Maharishi was a great teacher, explorer, scientist, and creator. I know this because I have studied the man and his teachings, and I practice what he taught, Transcendental Meditation. Some say he was a charlatan, that TM is a cult of wacky people from the sixties who think hopping around with their legs crossed is step-one of hovering in the air with supernatural powers. So, I've been to college at Maharishi International University and learned TM. I've meditated in the Golden Dome. I've earned an MFA in the David Lynch MFA Screenwriter's Program there, and taken courses in consciousness. And a few things immediately spring to mind when faced with the folks who have made a splash impugning Maharishi's character and nay-saying the organization as a cult. I've seen all the tawdry pot-shot documentaries designed to suggest TM is simply a dark money-making scheme. I can tell you from personal experience, as a skeptic, as a proponent of science and rational thinking, that to me, the nutjobs are actually the conspiracy theorists trying to destroy one of the great positive beautiful practices to ever grace humanity.

Ask yourself, does David Lynch need money or fame? Would Paul McCartney and Ringo Star - beloved creators and musicians who changed the world, do they really have a need to endorse something sinister and oppressive? That would help them how? That's what they're about? No. Peace, love, and making the world a better place through music and activism was always the modus operandi.

We are basically talking about a very simple natural practice - to sit, twice a day for twenty minutes, comfortably in a chair to take a deep-dive into the self. Turn off the computers, the politics, the noise and the stress, and employ stillness, silence, and rest. That's really all there is to it. We've been so conditioned by the immediacy of social media, politics, the exponential and rapid evolution of communication, science, and interconnection, that we find it almost impossible to stop for a moment and give ourselves some attention and awareness. And in going within to the deepest place within ourselves, we find we slip into the one ocean in which we all reside, the cosmic ocean. And we find the unified field where there is no separation from this or that. We connect with the whole of everything - the cosmic consciousness - and in that singularity, we have a moment in which we are ALL. Nothing to do, nothing to say, nothing to be. That's what the "flying" is, nothing more. Just a higher state of being. Flying within. Sitting in silence.

Some say, if it's so great, why charge money? Give it to everyone for free. Okay, give everyone coffee for free. Give everyone food for free. Give everyone art and music for free. In this model, one's time has no value. One's experience is worthless. You could say, if education is beneficial to humanity, it should be entirely free. I actually agree with this sentiment. But then unless everything is free, I suppose the teachers don't get to live in a home and eat food, and travel to do their work. Because although the technique of TM is simple, and can be taught in just a few hours, this is not the end, it is the beginning. Teachers of TM study hundreds of hours how to help people navigate the powerful beneficial experiences one encounters through TM. The practitioner always has questions and concerns as they go for the teacher to answer: What does this mean? Am I doing it right? How do I process what I am experiencing in the most beneficial way? Am I thinking the mantra correctly? Can I meditate in an airplane? On a bus? What does it mean when I see images as I meditate, and so on. These questions and experiences will be unique to each student, and that's why the student needs a teacher. That's why you can't get TM for free watching some Internet video - TM teachers are trained to teach the technique, provide feedback, answer questions, and provide understanding and context as the student unfolds new and deeper potentialities of the mind - over time, years, a lifetime. When you learn TM from a trained qualified teacher, you will have teachers and many other resources around the world available to you for free for the rest of your life. The teacher's time has value, and time our most precious commodity. Picking up the technique in a book or video is not the lifetime experience of T.M. and cannot be so.

I'll give you an analogy: A teacher can teach you how to hammer a nail into a piece of wood. But you won't build a home without study, mentors, masters of the craft to support and guide you through the lifelong process. Alone, you smack your thumb a few times and eventually not only give up the hammer, but make a passion of telling others how the hammer is bullshit. And you may enjoy a home someone else has built for you to live in, but you will never build a home for yourself, or others. You'll stress and fret and work your ass off to pay the rent, and never own your home. It's that simple.

For me, TM has been a revelation. My consciousness has expanded, things have become easier, stress is ever more manageable, and a calm and knowingness pervades each moment. The science supports TM without question as a beneficial practice. And TM differs from all other forms of meditation. All forms are beneficial but only TM offers directed Transcendence - you don't concentrate on a candle flame, you don't work to be present in the moment, it's not a breathing exercise, you simply think the mantra as any other thought, and then the mantra disappears, the natural state of being occurs, you travel deep within to the unified field. You enliven it, it enlivens you. Then, when you return to the surface of diversity, you are expanded, more aware, more present, more giving, more loving, more creative, and filled with the energy which comes from the deepest rest.

No bullshit, friends. This is what happens to me. I don't work for the TM organization, nor do I benefit from sharing my experience other than to say - if you learn this technique and you are diligent and determined in your practice, you will find the twenty minutes twice a day (forty minutes in all) does not seem like a waste of time. Rather, it will be as if in the remaining 23-hours 20-minutes, you accomplish more than ever because you are exponentially effective, energetic, and passionate. I want you to have the opportunity I had, to let the stress and anxiety go, and allow creativity, expanded consciousness, and keen awareness to flower.

Paying for TM helps teachers provide long-term support for students. It helps share TM with those who cannot afford it - at risk youth, veterans with post-traumatic stress, prisoners, inner city folks, and the homeless. So truly it is free for those who need it, and for those who can pay, they will have TM centers and community available to them across the world, and support for their entire life. My TM was subsidized in my college program as a grant. In other words, David Lynch paid for my training. Each person will discover for themselves if they can pay a little, a lot, or if there is a resource for learning the technique at no expense. But again, remember, you pay for a good cup of coffee because many people and much effort, from bean to cup, goes into the experience. And as David will tell you, a good cup of coffee is damn fine, and gives a lifetime of reward beyond the purchase.

When I graduated from the David Lynch MFA Screenwriter's Program, I had three screenplays under my belt. One of my screenplays was optioned for a film to be made in 2021 by a producer who recently co-wrote and co-produced a film with Al Pacino! In our program, Transcendental Meditation is at the center of what we call Consciousness-Based Learning. And as David Lynch says, "If you have a golf-ball sized consciousness, when you read a book, you will only ever have a golf-ball sized understanding of the book." The idea is to expand consciousness which, in turn, expands our knowledge of the self and the cosmos in which we inhabit. The focus on consciousness in our study through Transcendental Meditation made all the difference for me. I learned more in the two years there than I did in the entire proceeding six years of undergraduate study in conventional institutions. To this day, I never miss my two sessions of twenty-minutes of bliss.

I encourage you to read this article, "In Defense of TM" and if you have any questions or anything you'd like to discuss about TM, Screenwriting, or the David Lynch Foundation, just drop me a line at millerworks@hotmail.com and I'll be happy to share my experiences. Based upon my experience, I'm of free mind and free will, I felt no religious persuasion nor salesmanship nor pressure, frankly nothing one would associate with a "cult"

The peer-reviewed science is there, Maharishi has provided a way for anyone to learn this technique and be supported by trained teachers on the journey-to-self for a lifetime. There will always be those who resist the calling of peace, love, education, and expanded consciousness and awareness because they've hit themselves again and again with their own hammer, and look to blame the hammer. If we can't help them to make a house for themselves, maybe we can simply give them one.

-- T.M.

MYTHS AND BULLSHIT ABOUT TM ADDRESSED IN DETAIL HERE:
http://meditationasheville.blogspot.com/2010/12/myth-meditation-is-difficult-and-it.html

MYTHS AND BULLSHIT ABOUT MAHARISHI ADDRESSED HERE:
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/arts/music/07yogi.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

GREAT NEW DOCUMENTARY: MEETING THE BEATLES IN INDIA:
https://gathr.com/beatles/

MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI BIO & TIMELINE
http://oaks.nvg.org/maharishi-bio.html

There are certainly those out there making quite a bit of money stoking fires of negativity. TM is not a cure-all, nor a medical treatment to deal with psychological problems, though it may help. It's a simple practice, a gift of silence, contemplation, and transcendence which allows for expanded consciousness, awareness, creativity and peace. For most everyone who practices TM, this is precisely the outcome. For a few who perhaps had distorted expectations or who were not diligent in their meditation, or who came into the practice with negative agendas, their light burns dark and sad and aggressive and angry, and this darkness is instantly revealed by obsessive behavior and actions to incite fear and destroy. People love to slow down for the car accidents and in the world of social and consumer media, the way to get immediate attention is to become the hater in popular culture. That's the click-bait book writers, bloggers, the attention seekers, the persons who fuel their passions through stoking fear and sowing doubt.

I can only share my personal experience with TM, and it has been a life-changer; profoundly beneficial. I was in the center of Meditation at Maharishi International University in the beautiful small city of Fairfield, Iowa, for two years and nobody tied my hands, held me prisoner, brainwashed the skepticism out of me, tried to turn me Hindu, no. All that happened to me was I met people from many different countries, cultures, and of many faiths, learned about consciousness, how the brain works, Transcendental Meditation, and it all helped every aspect of my life. I learned screenwriting from great instructors who are working experts in their field, and earned an MFA, and sold a script soon to be made into a feature film. If I wanted to stop meditating tomorrow, I'd simply stop. TM has been nothing but a benefit to me, so I continue. You are always free to make up your own mind as you wish. But don't just read the reviews, go see the movie. Then you can engage it with some authority.

I find great value in the words of the Upanishads: "Add light to remove the darkness." I'm always looking to find commonality, understanding, promote compassion, encourage dialogue, and experience pure inner silence and consciousness. I absorb what is useful, embrace diversity as a strength, and look out for others; for what we do to others we do to ourselves. That's every reason to be good and to do good things.

In my experience, TM has been very very good.

-- T.M.

It turns out my attempts at humorous performance art were just me being a petulant asshole.

A few weeks ago, I read a story about a German Professor who was offering grants to students that would be willing to do Nothing. To me, that's already funny. Since I've made some art out of Nothing (as has John Cage and Seinfeld before me), I thought it would be funny to accuse the Professor of stealing Nothing from me and to threaten ultimately to not sue him.

He took it all wrong.

So let's begin with the original article here:
GERMAN PROFESSOR OFFERS GRANTS FOR STUDENTS TO DO NOTHING

Then, here's my letter to the Professor:

--------------------------------

RE: NICHTS IST SEHR WICHTIG - SOFORT LESEN / NOTHING is Important, but I've already done Nothing...

Dear Dr. Borries,

My name is Tom Miller and I'm an American Performance Artist.

I read with great interest your recent appeal for applicants to qualify for a scholarship for doing Nothing in this article: LINK

I must say though, I have already done Nothing several times now, and this strikes me as an unoriginal and possible infringement of my work doing Nothing.

I dare say, one could argue Nothing has been stolen from me. I stole Nothing from our U.S. television show Seinfeld, and also I stole Nothing from John Cage who inspired my work. But maybe this is all just an unfortunate coincidence. As long as you're stealing Nothing, it should not present a legal matter.

But as you can see, I have already made a sculpture of Nothing: LINK

I have also made a film of Nothing which is an official selection of the NYC Indie Film Awards 2020: LINK

And I have even done Nothing as a live performance on stage: LINK

So, while I admire the idea of students receiving money for Nothing, I'm also of a mind to sue you. The only thing preventing me from going forward with such a suit is that I'm not sure Nothing has been done in Hamburg, and perhaps the jurisdiction would not be to my legal advantage, and also, I would expect to win Nothing for the trouble. Unlikely that I will be taking legal action. I may do Nothing at all.

However, I feel my work in the field of Nothing should at least be recognized in the context of Nothing you are doing at the college, so that your institution will lose Nothing in terms of Respect and admiration for your project.

At the very least, I hope you will immediately reply and give me the acknowledgement that I was doing Nothing first. I think that's only fair.


Kind regards,

Professor Tom Miller, MFA
Gainesville, Florida, USA - The Known Center of the Universe

------------------------------------

Well, after two attempts, the Professor responded to my letter, and the reply was neither funny nor entertaining. It seems he takes Nothing very seriously!

And from what I gather of his letter, what I think is performance art and being humorous is by his interpretation just me being a petulant asshole. Here is my petulant asshole face:

Here is the Professor's reply - Grammar and Spelling exactly as written:

----------------------------------------

Fri 9/18/2020 2:23 AM
To:

• You

hi tom miller, 
do be honest: i don‘t like agression and try to keep it away from me. And your mail was agressive. 
anyway, here are some reflections for clarification.

The English word „Nothing“ is close to „No-thing“.  The German word „Nichts“ is more extreme, it is not just No-thing, it means Non-Existence. 
But, nonethess, in German we say „Nichtstun“ - Doing-Non-Existence. Kind of contradictionary. But if you delete the „s“ in „Nichtstun“, you get „Nicht-Tun“, what could be translate to „Doing-Something-Not“ or „Not carrying something out“ ... That is what I am interested in. I am not interested in „Doing-Nothing“, neither as Artwork nor as individual attitide, I am interestet in the question what we should not carry out to avoid the destruction of our planet; 

kind regards
Friedrich


Prof. Dr. Friedrich von Borries
www.friedrichvonborries.de

---------------------------------------------------


My guess is that he must have used Google Translate in both directions and Google is to blame for the misunderstanding and the Professor's appalling Grammar. I may sue Google for Nothing on his behalf.

I didn't realize that my idea of performance art and humor was actually me just bullying and thinking highly of my work, sort of the way a child thinks highly of toilet-papering a neighbor's tree on Halloween even though he's doing art.

I apologized for everything in my final letter to Dr. Friedrich von Borries, and for you dear reader, please do not be entertained by any of this for you would be complicit in being an asshole, and I would have to sue you as well.

Not for Nothing!

-- Tom Miller
Bully, Petulant Asshole, Eternal Child of the Universe


-----------------------------------------------

9/18/2020 12:17 PM
To:

• HFBK

Dear Dr. Borries,

Thank you for your reply.

My letter was intended as comedic performance and not aggression. I agree with your mission, and wish you all the best with your project.

Please accept my apologies for any misunderstanding.

If you follow the links I provided, you'll see my intent was only to amuse and explore.

I have failed at other things besides Nothing, and I'll hopefully learn from this interaction.

I shall not disturb you again, and appreciate the time you've taken to respond.


Kind regards,

-- Tom Miller
Performance Artist, Screenwriter
https://millerworks.journoportfolio.com/

------------------------------------


FINAL THOUGHTS:

Nothing was a selection of the New York Indie Film Festival and you can see Nothing in its entirety by clicking the laurel. The lesson I learned from all of this is to be nice to people, and to save planet Earth as much as possible.