Eleventylife: A conversation with Matt Langston

Matt Langston

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Matt Langston on the podcast Eleventylife. We talk about my new podcast Bubble&Squeak, which is also part of the Rock Candy Network. This is where you can find Matt’s music and other podcasts like Stephen Long’s Sacred Tension and The Bible Bash podcast I host along with Liam Hooper.

Perhaps the most meaningful part of the conversation to me is when Matt talks about his faith and the challenge of now coming out as someone who doesn’t hold to the Christian faith anymore. It is moving and will likely resonate with others who have questioned their faith and moved on.

eleventyseven

I share my secrets of how I survive as an introvert in highly extroverted spaces.

And we talk about the music Matt has made with the band eleventyseven and his solo work in The Jellyrox. Under the jaunty pop punk sound are themes that point to deeper places of questions, pain, and longing. I find these track fit beautifully with my Bubble&Squeak podcast.

Enjoy this conversation on EleventyLife

Plays, Prayers, and Dinner Parties with Peterson Toscano

Featured Photo by Karen Powers on Unsplash (because Matt likes unicorns so much)

Using Comedy to Take on the Hard Stuff

I recently sat down with a student journalist over at NYU. Amelia Henry was interested in how I use comedy to talk about LGBTQ issues and climate change.

I think part of the process is being vulnerable. I need to first find the humor in myself. Take my conversion therapy experience for example. It is traumatic, but it’s also ridiculous. While it’s easy to make fun of the people who are running these programs, I had to look at myself and find what was ridiculous in myself. The other part of it is the commitment to be non violent. Humor can be violent, right? You can really attack people with humor. So I tried to create characters that I like, that I have an affection for, and I never try to hurt someone with my humor. Humor can be dismissive, and I’m not trying to make light of issues; I’m trying to shed light on them. Also, humor is one of those things where everyone has their own tastes. That’s something else I have to be aware of — it doesn’t work for everybody.

Amelia asked about my comic influences.

I have been very influenced in my comedy by Mad Magazine, by Joan Rivers, who was fearless in taking on really serious issues through comedy, by the marginalized people who’ve done comedy through the years like John Leguizamo, Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg. They all did one-person shows where they took on multiple characters because I think as a marginalized person, you’re often alone so you have to move in and out of all sorts of worlds and speak in different languages. That definitely has inspired me.

There is lots more in the interview about bing LGBTQ and finding our way in a world that often puts us in boxes.

You can get it out over on Washington Square News

Making Movies about the Bible–Midrashic and Morally Meaningful?

In an interview with Erika Funke on NPR WIVA’s ArtScene program, we talked about theology. Most importantly we highlighted how theology is not simply a means of understanding ancient texts in their time, but theology and Bible scholarship can help us better frame our own values and concerns for our modern time. In the interview Erika weaves in music from the film The Ten Commandments and begins the segment with a series of excellent quotes about appropriation and when it is appropriate.

Film, theology, midrash work well together to help us better understand ourselves. We spoke about the new film, Transfigurations–Transgressing Gender in the Bible and the need for such a work in the world today. The full interview is below. Definitely listen to the first part as Erika shares the quotes about Bible interpretation and film.

Official Trailer Transfigurations-Transgressing Gender in the Bible from Peterson Thomas Toscano on Vimeo.

On Art, Comedy, and a heterosexual God

We cover lots of ground in the first part of my interview with the Student Christian Movement in the UK. In particular we talk about comedy and how it can be used to explore trauma and oppression. I guess you can say that comedy is a subversive art. In using it, we do change the way our audiences feel and think. Perhaps this is why some folks are so resistant to humor.

Missing the Point

Still some people get so caught up in the words that they miss the point. That or they get confused that the topics I pick are so deadly serious, they fail to see the humor in it. In a way that is understandable–what is so funny about cancer or homophobia or global warming?

The role of the artist is not simply to entertain, but at times to use comedy to focus us in on an issue deserving of our attention. But comedy comes with risks that people will not get it or appreciate it. And the risk that we can get it wrong.

Reacting Badly to Good Comedy

Most recently Pat Boone, the pop singer of old and a white American Christian icon, has spoken out about a parody on Saturday Night Live. The sketch comedy piece reveals the heterosexism that is at the heart of much of the anti-LGBTQ Christian rhetoric. It is satire about how some Christians say they are the most oppressed group in the country (the white Christian woman character says this to her Black friend.)

It is clearly over the top, exploiting and exploding stereotypes that some Christians have about gays and that some liberals have about conservatives, but it makes an important point about the lengths some folks will go to force God and religion to give moral authority to oppression. As I say in the interview, comedy can be a tool to expose injustices.

An Interview with a quirky queer Quaker

Many of your performances employ humour and comedy to make serious points about LGBTQ+ inclusion, gender, climate change and other issues close to your heart. How does humour help you tackle these and other issues?

Humour relaxes the body and the brain. When we experience fear and shame, we physically tense up. This tension happens in the brain too – neural pathways close making it harder to reason and retrieve information. This is why when we begin to panic, it’s easy to forget simple instructions. Comedy helps to loosen us up. This is especially important when talking about hot topics like sexuality, faith, gender, climate change, and justice.

Comedy also helps to shed light on issues and expose injustices. While it is true that comedy can be violent, for example when it mocks others, it’s a powerful tool to help us see our own shortcomings as well as to highlight the flaws in systems and in the way the world works. The role of the court jester is not simply to entertain, but to say the things that people are often too afraid to utter. The comic jab can lead to revelation and action.

I agree that comedy can be and has been used to hurt others and dehumanize people and groups of people. It can be rude and crass and disrespectful. But I have found over and over that it is a way to bring people closer to hot topics that desperately need our attention.

You can read the entire piece: An Interview with Peterson Toscano–part one.

Also, feel free to share with me your thoughts about comedy. When does it work for you? When does it cross the line? What are examples of comedy that does social good.

Here is my latest comic video that uses satire to draw an audience into a serious topic.

Here is the Saturday Night Live satire: God is a Boob Man

Meet Poeina Suddarth–singer and fellow Amtrak Passenger

Last month as I criss-crossed North America on several trains, I met many wonderful people. Also, as someone who enjoys audio and song, I recorded a lot of train noises as I travelled. You know how the ear can tell the difference between live music and recorded? One day on a train from Portland, Oregon to Sacramento, CA I heard live music from the other end of the Observation Car. There was an energetic woman with a guitar, strumming, singing from her gut, and giving a concert to two other passengers. Turns out I was sharing the train with none other than Poeina Suddarth, an awesome singer/songwriter from LA on tour. She is well known in the Portland music scene and have appear at Pride there and on KBOO’s Out Loud program. She told me she even gave voice lessons to one of my favorite singers, Joe Stevens.

Fortunately I had my portable recorder on me, so asked if I could interview her. Poeina did one better; she also let me record one of her newest songs, Miracle. I include the interview and song on the latest episode of Climate Stew where I also talk about train travel–new service, delayed service (thanks a lot crude oil), and discontinued service. We even have a report from the year 2164 looking at train service over the next 150 years (turns out Tom Cruise is going to be around in one form or another for a LONG time.) But the jewel in this audio crown is Poeina Suddarth. Enjoy!

Off the Rails–An Interview with Poeina Suddarth

Poeina Suddarth

WVIA ArtScene Interview–comedy, climate change, and funny voices

In our local area we are fortunate to have WVIA Radio, a public radio station that still offers local programming. One of these is ArtScene with the host, Erika Funke, who records an interview with someone then edits it, adding music, quotes, and commentary to make a nice final product. It airs weekdays at 11:00 am.

I had the privilege of sitting with Erika recently for an interview that aired this week. In it I got to talk a lot about being a character actor and fusing art with activism. I spoke about my new play, Does This Apocalypse Make Me Look Fat? and even gave some samples, moving in and out of character during the interview. I also spoke very candidly about climate change and why I feel hope. I also got to I explain in detail the Citizens Climate Lobby’s approach to a carbon fee and dividend and gave a shout-out to the Sunbury Chapter, the smallest CCL Chapter in the country.

Erika wove in great music and lots of interesting information about Walt Whitman, one of the subjects of my new play. And what an interviewer. She sat in her chair shooting questions at me and then, like an orchestra conductor, she egged me on to get the best possible performance out of me. I don’t know who was more animated, me with my characters or Erika with her enthusiastic interview style.

I like the final product a lot, and wanted to share it with you. Enjoy ArtScene and a chat about performance art, climate change, and funny voices.

And if you want to hear more funny voices, climate comedy, and hope for the future, check out the Climate Stew, the global warming podcast that’s not afraid to be funny (or gay)

Peterson’s Quickie Interview with Dr. Jalonne L. White-Newsome of WE ACT for Environmental Justice

Last month at the Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) annual conference and lobbying days, I attended a workshop on Environmental Justice led by Dr. Jalonne L. White-Newsome. Like many environmental organizations, CCL is uncomfortably and almost exclusively white (oh, and heterosexual, but that’s for another post.) With CCL’s goal to place a fee or tax on greenhouse gases with proceeds of the collected fee given as a refund to households to help with the inevitable rising energy costs, CCL seems genuinely interested in looking out for the interest of poor and working class people while lobbying for pragmatic energy policy. In hopes of educating its members about the environmental concerns of people of color, CCL invited Dr. White-Newsome to talk about justice and the environment and the work of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, the organization based in Harlem, NYC for which Dr. White-Newsome works as their federal policy analyst.

First a little about WE ACT for Environmental Justice:

West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT for Environmental Justice) is a Northern Manhattan community-based organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by assuring that people of color and/or low-income participate meaningfully in the creation of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. As a result of our ongoing work to educate and mobilize the more than 630,000 residents of Northern Manhattan on environmental issues affecting their quality of life, WE ACT has become a leader in the nationwide movement for environmental justice, influencing the creation of federal, state and local policies affecting the environment.

Peggy Shepard, Executive Director of WE ACT with Chuck Sutton one of the first protests

Since its inception in 1988, WE ACT has grown to the point where it is now reaching out beyond its neighborhoods in Northern Manhattan to play a key role in national environmental justice legislation. Years ago when I attended City College in Harlem and lived on West 146th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam, I saw firsthand some of the actions organized by WE ACT as they demanded justice in addressing the dangers of the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, a massive sewage treatment complex that stretches along the Hudson River from 137th to 145th Street. In the early 1960’s the city originally intended to build the sewage treatment plant near 72nd Street, but the white community there insisted it go elsewhere, so the city fathers dumped it on the citizens of Harlem.

In July 2011 the treatment plant erupted in flames and smoke from a fire in an engine room. In a News One story, Racial Backstory Behind Harlem’s Sewage Plant Explosion, Peggy Shepard, Executive Director of WE ACT, shared some of the history of environmental justice/injustice in NYC. Although hopeful that the city is responding better now than in the past, she also raised some on-going concerns.

Today, all of Manhattan’s sewage treatment plants are located above 96th Street, which for many years was “the line” that separated white Manhattan from Black.

The plant sparked the founding of the very first African-American-led environmental organization in New York, West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT). Peggy Shepard, WE ACT’s Executive Director, says that it’s always been difficult to track the exact effects of the plant on human health. “It’s hard to know now without doing certain kind of tests, but we know to be cautious because of bacteria and other human health issues.”

Wednesday’s fire and sewage discharge illustrates the continuing struggle to rectify the asthma, infant mortality other environmentally influenced statistics that are so high in poor urban areas. And yet, Shepard, hopes that things may be improving.

“I have found the Department of Environmental Protection to be pretty responsive. These events do occur but I think the city is handling a bad situation. It wasn’t that way when we started working on things in the Koch administration,” Shepard said of WE ACT’s early battles with the city to secure adequate measures. “The subsequent administrations have been very responsive.”

Last month in Washington, DC hearing Dr. White-Newsome speak about the work of WE ACT, the environmental justice (ej) movement, and her challenge to CCL, a mostly white, middle-class environmental group, I reached out to her for this interview.

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Question One: I heard you speak at the Citizens Climate Lobby annual conference. You are a brilliant presenter. From hearing comments from CCL members that day and the next, your presentation made an impact and opened up a number of climate activists to the reality of environmental injustice and the need to pursue solutions that will promote it. With all of the issues in the world that demand attention, what has drawn you to do environmental justice work and what sustains you?

I am a native of Detroit, Michigan and from a young age, I was intrigued by environmental science, specifically looking at urban pollution. As I progressed through school, and worked in the industrial sector, it became even more apparent that certain communities were worse off than others. That communities of color, and areas that were low on the socioeconomic spectrum, suffered more. It is ludicrous that in the 21st century, people in the US are living – in some cases – like they are living in underdeveloped countries. The fact that many of the challenges we started working on when the environmental justice movement began in the 70s, are still a challenge now, sustains me. The fact that people are still getting sick, dying, being forced to live with trash, breath in dirty air and live near toxic facilities – is unacceptable – especially when we have laws and regulations that are supposed to protect our health, life and welfare. So the quest for environmental justice continues on.

Question Two: In your experience working for environmental justice (ej) where have you seen meaningful partnerships develop in this work among groups or demographics who may not initially have had any engagement in environmental justice? What makes these partnerships successful?

I am a somewhat of a ‘newbie’ in the ej movement, so the answer to this question is totally dependent on perspective. What is interesting is that there are some ‘really authentic collaborations’ that have developed between unlikely partners. However, there have been many moments in the past – on both the national and local level – where the strife between mainstream environmental and conservation groups, for example, have not included an ej perspective in their work and advocacy, purposefully. These past ‘ills’ in some cases, still breed feelings of mistrust from the ej community. However, in the time I have been engaged, slowly but surely, those in the environmental community – well, some – realize that you cannot have a WIN if ALL voices don’t work together. If the fight is ‘climate change’, well, you need those that are most impacted to help ‘make the case’ against those sectors/people/organizations that are more funded and more positioned to make more ‘noise’ that we can. Successful partnerships to me are founded on respect, authenticity and a common goal. I have had the opportunity to work with mainstream enviros, groups of faith, politicians and many others in my advocacy and it has been a wonderful experience. But there is still a long way to go.

Question Three: You shared some similar thoughts at the Citizens Climate Lobby, and I remember how striking your answer was then. I appreciate your honesty and directness. In fact, it is one of the main reasons I wanted to interview you. As you continue to lobby and organize for environmental justice, what does success look like for you and for WE ACT?

Personally, success is pretty specific to me…and would include: getting environmental justice legislation passed in Congress; having mainstream environmental organizations, Congressional staff seeking out OUR voices to be a part of the policy making process; acquiring the resources to sustain a building and staff for our ej federal policy office, with a full staff in Washington DC; increasing federal Agency accountability through the development of a annual scorecard to assess how well Agencies are doing to adhere to the Executive Order on Environmental Justice.

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WE ACT members speaking out

Many thanks to Dr. Jalonne L. White-Newsome for taking the time to answer my questions. Please take some time to visit the WE ACT for Environmental Justice website. It has helpful and insightful resources including Principles of Environmental Justice, links to WE ACT publications, and the WE ACT theory of Change diagram (see below) Also, consider making a donation to contribute to Dr. White-Newsome’s and WE ACT’s vital work.

Come back soon for more Quickie Interviews and check out past interviews with Marlo Bernier and Rev. Nancy Wilson. Stay tuned for more interviews soon; I have been talking to some pretty amazing people.

(All photos and graphics come directly from the WE ACT website.)

Peterson’s Quickie Interview with Nancy Wilson, Moderator of the MCC

Daily Devotions to White House Visits to Climate Change & Ever Evolving Social Justice

Meet Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, a queer national treasure

I first saw Nancy Wilson sitting next to Paula, her wife/partner/significant other (she addresses Paula’s title below) in the front row of a Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in Florida laughing her ass off while I performed Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House. We then met up a few years later at the European Forum of Gay and Lesbian Christians. That time I got to see Nancy “perform” as she gave a keynote address. Hearing her speak with such authority, compassion, and cutting edge insights about gender and the queer movement, I began to understand why she has been such a cherished leader both in the MCC and in the wider queer world. I have been impressed and, yes, blessed by the Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, moderator of the Metropolitan Community Church, and I have just three questions for Nancy. She doesn’t waste a word and packs her answers with insight, wisdom, and humor. She is also freakishly photogenic!

If you do not know this amazing person, here is a bio from the MCC site:

Rev. Elder Dr. Nancy Wilson

Rev. Elder Dr. Nancy Wilson has been Moderator of MCC since 2005. She began her ministry with MCC at the age of 22 as Associate Past or at MCC Boston in 1972.

Rev. Wilson is an Associate Minister with The Fellowship, and in 2011 was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Advisory Council of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Rev. Wilson obtained her B.A. from Allegheny College, her M.Div. from St. Cyril and Methodius Seminary, and her D.Min. from Episcopal Divinity School.

Question One: In 1972, when you were 22 years old, you began your ministry with the Metropolitan Community Church, and you have been with the MCC ever since. What are some ways in which you are similar to that 22 year old Rev. Nancy Wilson, and in what ways are you radically different today?

I believed then, at 22, that young people could change the world, with our passion for change, justice, with our undiminished hope. I was someone who had already been stirred by the civil rights movements and the anti-war movement, which had a huge impact on my consciousness. I had a pastor’s heart then, and do now, it is one of the most powerful lenses I have on the world. I loved the prophets and identified as a follower of Jesus. That has not changed.

At 22, I was not as sophisticated about racial or sexual and gender politics. Since then, I have been through our holocaust, AIDS, and the suffering and redemptive relationships, dealing with life and death on a daily basis when I pastored MCC in Los Angeles has changed me. I also became a cross-cultural learner, who pastored a bilingual congregation, and have had the privilege to travel the world, meeting with activist, sharing the message of MCC’s transgressively inclusive gospel.

I am a little more skeptical about politics, and feel like my eyes have been opened about the destructive power to corrupt – money and politics. I know that activism cannot be episodic, it must be sustained, fearless and committed, even when hope seems dim.

I have become a birdwatcher! And that view of nature has also radicalized me even more about the planet, our health and survival.

I have to say that marriage equality seemed like an impossible dream to me at 22 – then, I thought of marriage as only an oppressive, patriarchal institution! Maybe as women have changed heterosexual marriage in some cultures, and as same sex marriage has gained acceptance, my view has shifted. Paula, my wife of 37 years, likes me to call her “wife,” though that seems like a really alien to me – she says it is clear and unequivocal, and she is right. I am adjusting.

Hopefully, I am still as eager to learn, and change, and be challenged as I was . . .

At 22, I had no idea I would be a frequent guest of the White House, and also march for equality in Jamaica, and speak at an LGBT Center in China about religion and homosexuality! The world is a surprising place, thank God!!

Question Two: Great leaders and influential people of faith are often highly disciplined people with important and sometimes mundane daily routines that keep them grounded, informed, and sharp. What are some regular disciplines that you have developed through the years that sustain you and have become essential in your life, relationships, and work?

It seems I am a person of habits, and many are good (not all. . .). I am a morning person, and I read the New York Times, and pray my way through it. That can take a while. . .Then I journal some. I try to be accountable in the journaling, for commitments to myself, in particular, and reflect on the day before. The journal is full of prayers, intercessory prayers.

I then read from 2 or 3 daily devotional books. I am a fan of God Calling, a very dated devotional, but, it is uncanny in it’s prescience. Sentimentally, I still include it. I have used the Celtic Daily prayer book (Richard Foster), a rich compendium. I am currently using Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh. He is amazing – I did a retreat with him more than a decade ago with a close friend. That friend and I text daily about the reading – we rarely both miss a day – and that is wonderful. You have to have soul friends who are drawn to the same teachers and sources.

I try to read 4 scripture texts, daily, but, sometimes only get to one. If I have only time or patience for one, I read a Psalm. I read a Hebrew scripture passage, a gospel passage and an epistle passage, I just go through it all, and start again from the beginning of each of these. I have done this since New Year’s Day in 1981.

And, of course, since I preach, there is study and reflection time for that as well. It is always challenging to find new sources, new commentaries, new perspectives. I preach from the lectionary, since it forces me to preach from scriptures I may not be as fond of. . .

Besides morning, I love to walk, and bird watch. Mostly, during that time, I try to just be grateful, open and curious.

Rev. Dr. Mona West introduced me to some online sources – like gratefulness.org which I love. I love the virtual labyrinth, and lighting virtual candles. I use those occasionally.

When I am in my car, I often listen to news. But, in the last year, I have fasted some from that. Then, I listen to classical music instead, or, I try to just be present and attentive and quiet.

Al anon was a life-saver for me years ago. I still think of the 12 step caution, “HALT: don’t get too hungry, angry, lonely or tired.” They have great tools, like the “Detachment” pamphlet, and prayers like “Just for Today.” Those are incredible, in very tough times.

When I am discouraged, in a deep way, I create gratitude lists, and I find that simple exercise lifts my spirit.

Also, change your routine, from time to time. Spent more time outdoors. For me, being near water is healing.

If I get too far from these helps, I make poorer choices, am less kind, less healthy.

Traveling makes this difficult at times. I have had to find creative way to bring my routine on the road, and to forgive myself when it gets interrupted, and always to get back on my path.

When I travel, I often find friends to walk with, that is enormously helpful.

I also write poetry, that is spiritual in nature. I don’t care much about publishing them, they are really like my children. I polish them and nurture them, and improve them from time to time. They are rarely finished. A few are perfect!

I also play the piano, not enough. . . It is a percussion instrument, so it is physically taxing, which makes it therapeutic for me. I love playing old hymns. . .

Question Three: Lately you have expressed a concern about global warming. As a queer person of faith, what are your concerns and where do you look for hope?

Well, lately indeed! This is a conversion process, and I got invited to go deeper, and accepted the invitation – and it has really rocked me. So many of us think that someone, somewhere, smart scientists and powerful people will figure this out and outsmart the forces of climate destruction. But, I fear it is not true!

My hope is in a movement – where diverse groups come together and this issue moves quickly to the top of our agenda, not as issue #7 or 9 that we care most about. This is going to take a political and spiritual movement, incredible will. People are making a lot of money off of fossil fuels, and we are addicted, and the resistance to radical change is enormous. I have hope that that will change.

In the eradicating human traffic movement, we say that trafficking is a high profit, low risk business, and we have to reverse that. The same is true of fossil fuel production. A carbon tax, and the kind of campaign that targeted smoking, times 10, is needed. At present, climate change is the most divisive issue in the US, politically, more than guns – why? Because fossil fuels are making some people huge amounts of money. Period. This must change.

Thank you, Nancy, for taking the time to visit with us. I am growing more and more excited about working together with you on Climate Change, well, shoot, really anything. We can just gather around the piano and belt out our favorite hymns. Your magnetic personality and your depth are not only attractive, they are needed in the world today.

(photo credit “Towards a free and equal world” Bill Owen)

Peterson’s Quickie Interview–Marlo Bernier 3/3

This week I have had the joy of connecting with Marlo Bernier and hearing her answers to my questions about her career in film and tv and learning about her latest project, Myrna. Marlo is raising funds to create a television pilot for a comedy/drama about Myrna, an actress who later in life and after a full career in the entertainment business, transitioned from male to female. While this storyline has some similarities with Marlo’s own life experiences, it is not pure autobiography.

Yesterday Marlo talked about the differences between her and and her character, Myrna. Today Marlo gets more personal as she answers the final question in my Quickie Interview series.

Question: Marlo, thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us. Here’s my final question for you, well it’s actually two in one. What part of this project feels vulnerable and risky for you? In light of the risks, why do you still pursue it?

Answer: The part of this project, Myrna that makes me feel excruciatingly vulnerable is the simple fact that I had moved on from referring to myself as a “transgender woman”, or a “trans-woman” – and that “moving-on” for me had less to do with that I had (at least for me) completed my voyage from male-to-female, than it had to do with the fact that for more than a few years now, let’s say approximately two-thirds way through my transition I no longer felt “gender dysphoric”, I was (now & at that point) feeling and owning myself in the gender I had always been, since birth. And let me clarify by stating that gender and (anatomical) sex are two completely different parts of the human equation. By that I mean, that when someone were to pose the question to me thusly; Are you the same gender you were born? I would answer, yes. If, on the other hand, they were to ask; Are you the same sex you were born? I would answer, no.

So at this point in my life and for some time now I have (gratefully) been received as a woman, no matter the circumstance. And when I contemplated bringing Myrna (the tv series) back into production, I knew that I would (again) be “leading with that foot”, and it shook me a bit, because the press, the media will be referring to me as “Marlo Bernier – Transgender Actress”, and I’m not saying that I am ashamed of this title, or label in any way. But, I’m putting myself publicly back out there for the sake of the show. Because Myrna (the character) is still in the throes of her transition and so there will be those situations within the show, within the various episodes where that issue (of being tagged and labeled) will be exposed. Shown and told with all the pathos and humor we can muster. And I’m not trying to say that I’m being all altruistic in my endeavor, either. But I do want people, our audience, to see, to listen, to comprehend this version of a person’s coming to terms with who they really are.

And at the end of the day, I will still gently, but firmly proclaim; “Though it is impossible for me to escape my past, this does not mean however, that I must continue to reside in it.”

And remember, please remember this, if nothing else, “One’s Gender Identity is invisible to everyone,…except you.”

Thank you, Peterson for talking with me about our show, about our shared respect for the craft and art of acting and for asking me some really unique and insightful questions.

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Very special thanks to Marlo for submitting herself to my questions and for answering with so much heart and depth. Now I want to take the train to LA and hang out with her for the rest of the day.

Marlo’s fan-based fund raising campaign is doing very well and getting close to its target. Join in and take part in this historic endeavor. Also you can follow Marlo on Twitter: @Marlob59 and follow the Myrna TV Show on Twitter as well: @MyrnaTvShow

Do you have a suggestion about who to interview next? Let me know in the comments or find me on the many social media platforms that I haunt. 😛

Peterson’s Quickie Interview: Marlo Bernier 2/3

Actress, producer, and writer Marlo Bernier has embarked on a new project, a television Dramedy in which she plays Myrna. Here is a synopsis from the project’s fundraising page: (Donations keep growing–how about you add to the pile to make this project happen?)

After a successful career in front of the camera and on the stage, an actor is willing to sacrifice everything when she finally confronts her true gender identity and transitions from male-to-female. We follow Myrna as she struggles to find work as an actress, wrestles with a manager who still wants to send her out as her former-famous self, Michael and deals with the drama of her friends’ reactions as they make an effort to come to terms with Myrna and her life-altering transition.

Yesterday I asked Marlo about her craft as an actor and why she keeps at it. Check out Peterson’s Quickie Interview w/ Marlo Bernier 1/3. Today I focus on her new project.

Question: In your latest project, you will play Myrna, a woman who like you was assigned male at birth and raised as male and then transitioned to female later in life. How is Myrna unlike you, and what might you express or explore through her as a character that you have not experienced in your own life?

Answer: This is an amazingly difficult question to answer, at least the first part because I’m not sure yet in-part due to the way I came up in the theatre as an actor. I studied for a few years with mentors who had themselves studied under Hagen and under Adler. So I (hope I) was getting an 2nd generation education. Looking back, I’m certain I did. And in a kind of “The Method” sort of approach; score the role, employ “substitution” (when necessary), etc.

And I loved that. I mean I really loved that approach and they’re all so intertwined and connected anyway and I’m certain they all stole from one another.

But somewhere during my career, I’m pretty sure that it was during Love! Valour! Compassion! And there was this scene in Act III, where I had to be on stage as both John & James (the Jekyl twins 🙂 god, McNally, I mean, really?) and though I had always committed to being in “the moment”, there were some nights when I just couldn’t “bring it”, that huge emotional scene, full-on breakdown by them both, you know? I mean, I would feel compelled to employ all the “tricks” I had learned years prior, but the stage is a harsh mistress and if I didn’t (feel) that I had delivered an amazingly perfect performance, I would oft times find myself backstage, beating myself up. I won’t repeat the names I’d call myself when I was unable to “get there”. (I’d invent new swear words and euphemisms – a mixture of Greek and German)

Then something magical happened. I fell onto a book by Mamet called; True and False – Hearsay and Common Sense for the Actor. (and p.s. Mamet stole most of the stuff in this book from Chekov and Meisner (and I’m certain Anton and Sandy stole some of their stuff from someone else as well) – thieves, all of them! And that’s their best character trait.

I won’t belabor it, but this book saved my life as an actor and it was from this book that I learned what works for me best, which is first and foremost to; Deny Nothing. Invent Nothing. Tell the Truth.

And also something that I now live by, regardless, be it on the stage, or on set and it’s this; We (actors) do not go to the theatre to exercise our emotions, rather it is the audience who attend and pay good money to exercise theirs.

And lastly, stay in the moment and bring it from the text – that text, that dialogue, monologue, what have you, was written by someone with a different “job title” than you – and my job as an actor is to “act as if…” period. End of story. At least for me.

And once that cooked in my brain for a bit, I relaxed and I became liberated to a degree I hadn’t yet experienced and one of the best plays ever written (for my money) is Kushner’s, Angels in America, in which I was cast to play Roy Marcus Cohn – Parts I & II. And because I had fully digested the Mamet book, I was able to simply let go and “act as if I were Roy” – I no longer had to become him. I just acted as if I were him and listen, when the writing is that slick, that sharp, etc, one’s job as an actor is “cake”.

So in a way, I will play Myrna, as if…her life is an embellishment of and on my own, of my own making. Did most of these things happen to me? Yes. But we’ve taken theatrical license in order to deliver the point. And also this, and this is the toughest bit for me, I can’t tell you how incredibly hard it is for me to first, write for myself and second to then play that role, that character that I’ve written. I am for the first time in my career on both hallowed and shaky ground and I am truly cognizant of that and I will be leaning on my director, colleague and good friend, Ted Campbell to guide me in a way I’ve never been directed before.

Tag: interview

Missing the Point

Reacting Badly to Good Comedy

An Interview with a quirky queer Quaker

Many of your performances employ humour and comedy to make serious points about LGBTQ+ inclusion, gender, climate change and other issues close to your heart. How does humour help you tackle these and other issues?

You can read the entire piece: An Interview with Peterson Toscano–part one.

Here is my latest comic video that uses satire to draw an audience into a serious topic.

Here is the Saturday Night Live satire: God is a Boob Man

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Come back soon for more Quickie Interviews and check out past interviews with Marlo Bernier and Rev. Nancy Wilson. Stay tuned for more interviews soon; I have been talking to some pretty amazing people.

(All photos and graphics come directly from the WE ACT website.)

Daily Devotions to White House Visits to Climate Change & Ever Evolving Social Justice

Meet Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, a queer national treasure

If you do not know this amazing person, here is a bio from the MCC site:

Rev. Elder Dr. Nancy Wilson

Question One: In 1972, when you were 22 years old, you began your ministry with the Metropolitan Community Church, and you have been with the MCC ever since. What are some ways in which you are similar to that 22 year old Rev. Nancy Wilson, and in what ways are you radically different today?

Question Three: Lately you have expressed a concern about global warming. As a queer person of faith, what are your concerns and where do you look for hope?

(photo credit “Towards a free and equal world” Bill Owen)

Very special thanks to Marlo for submitting herself to my questions and for answering with so much heart and depth. Now I want to take the train to LA and hang out with her for the rest of the day.

Marlo’s fan-based fund raising campaign is doing very well and getting close to its target. Join in and take part in this historic endeavor. Also you can follow Marlo on Twitter: @Marlob59 and follow the Myrna TV Show on Twitter as well: @MyrnaTvShow

Do you have a suggestion about who to interview next? Let me know in the comments or find me on the many social media platforms that I haunt. 😛