J. Michael Feldman in "Fairy Tale Theatre, 18 & Over"
The journey of Fairy Tale Theatre: 18 & Over began when I spotted a squirrel running frenetically around a park in Santa Monica.
At the time, I was performing character monologues at various comedy clubs around LA. The inherent desperation in the squirrel’s motions struck me as hilarious, and I thought, “What if I were a squirrel who just woke up from hibernating and I couldn’t find the nut that I buried away before the winter?” A week later – wearing brown stockings and a bushy tail – I started performing this insane character. It was going so well that I thought, “how could I put this in a longer show?” That’s when Fairy Tale Theatre was born.
J. Michael Feldman
From that point on I spent nearly every day writing or thinking about morality tales for adults. What are the little things that happen to all of us that we never talk about? What pisses us off? What are things that adults should be taught about sexual relationships or dealing with work or friends? I felt like I finally found the show that would give me free rein to do what I love doing — being ridiculous.
After a few months of writing tales such as The Tale of the Handsome Charming Prince & His Average Friend and The Tale of the Kangaroo Who Didn’t Have Health Insurance, I approached Annie McVey, a talented director I knew from NYU, and she signed on. I’ve been working with her side by side ever since.
I needed a good costume designer. A friend recommended Stephen Rowan. We met, and about a week later I gave him several hundred dollars to buy fabric. Though I didn’t have enough money to pay my rent, I now had an ogre costume, rabbit pants, and a series of strap-on tails that would form the basis of my first show (and make it so that I could no longer have dates over to my apartment).
Courtney Pauroso and J. Michael Feldman
It became increasingly clear that I would need to utilize another person, or puppeteer. I was taking classes at the Groundlings at the time. One day after class, while chatting with classmate Jess McKay, he said that it sounded as if I could use puppets, and that he just happened to be a puppeteer! Jess has been on board ever since.
We had our first performance at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in L.A. in April 2010. It went very well, and because I’m a masochist I decided to make FTT a monthly comedy show with brand new tales and different “Special Guest Stars” each month. We were given a year-long residency at the ACME Comedy Theatre at the end of 2010.
I got what I wanted. The only question: “How the f*$# am I gonna pull this off?” Making one show took a lot of effort and a lot of money. But 12? To give you a sense of how broke I was at the time — one evening, while cutting up images of magazine porn (to turn into a “porn house” for a “Hansel and Gretel”-style tale), I got hungry. All I had in my fridge was a bag of frozen green beans, but the pilot light was out in my stove. I couldn’t possibly have the manager come into this raunchy, bizarre scene with porn pictures everywhere, so instead I sat there among the hard-core images, eating frozen green beans.
J. Michael Feldman and Jess McKay
In January 2011, we performed the first of the monthly shows to a sold-out crowd, and the response was so overwhelmingly encouraging that it propelled us forward. From then on, there was no stopping; the show took on a life of its own. We weren’t just sold out every month – several times we actually had to turn away audience. I wanted to ask celebrity guest stars to be in it, but some even asked me if they could be in it. Over the year we’ve had incredible guests such as Bruce Vilanch, Phil LaMarr, Michaela Watkins, and Taylor Negron.
One year and more than 40 tales later, the show has grown into a fully realized production (complete with an amazing team of designers that includes Stephanie Kerley Schwartz), opening at the Matrix Theatre tonight. This was made possible by Emmy Award winner Elliot Shoenman and Daniel Shoenman (artistic directors of the Inkwell Theater), who are producing the show. There are now three puppeteers (the incredibly talented Tina Huang, Matt Cook, and Jess McKay), along with several other rotating guest stars from the Groundlings and NYU ,with whom it’s an honor to share the stage (Courtney Pauroso, Corey Podell, Eileen Mullane, and Kimrie Davis).
Ultimately, my goal is to turn the show into a television series. This run at the Matrix is the crucial and much needed next step. The journey that began watching a squirrel in a park in Santa Monica is now continuing in Hollywood this weekend.
Fairy Tale Theatre, 18 & Over, presented by Inkwell Theater and Elliot Shoenman. Opens tonight. Runs Thurs.-Sat. 8 pm. Through Feb. 11. Tickets: $25. Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles. http://www.inkwelltheater.com/
***All Fairy Tale Theatre, 18 & Over production photos by Lew Abramson
J. Michael Feldman is known at theaters and colleges throughout the country as a comedic savant, who has created and performed in numerous productions that have toured nationally, running in the New York and San Francisco Fringe Festivals, as well as internationally in Australia, Israel, and Canada. He is currently a writer for the upcoming MTV show The Inbetweeners.
