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Tayler Green, Actress: GangLand. Tayler Green is an actress and composer, known for GangLand. Listen & Download illegal Weapon on Itune link. Gregory 'Rabbit' Stewart chronicled killing after gangland killing on the streets of New Orleans, naming guns, shooters, vehicles and motives behind a litany of slayings as the admitted assassin began.
Beau Meyer
Gangster Jasmine Princess
Plays by Bertolt Brecht aren’t subtle. They are enormous stories of injustice and pain, most often presented as the author intended, in an epic style that reminds audiences not to get too emotionally carried away. We are meant to understand the piece intellectually and fight the exposed oppression once we leave the theater.
Gangster Jasmine
Gangster Jasmine Pictures
Knowing this, I believe Brecht would wholeheartedly endorse the production of his infrequently seen play, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, onstage in the Mitchell Theatre at UW-Madison through March 18. A satire written in 1941 specifically for U.S. audiences, Brecht dramatized the spread of the Third Reich by setting it in the world of Chicago gangsters with Tommy guns. Masterfully directed by visiting professor Shad Willingham, the production is visually and thematically stunning — from the first tableau of archetypal wiseguys and mob dolls to the literal advance of Nazi forces at the end of the play, with Hitler perched high above the crowd.
Instead of campaigning for the final solution, Arturo, the ruthless mob boss with the funny mustache, infiltrates a cauliflower syndicate and squeezes protection money out of grocers and truckers. Soon, he’s not satisfied with Chicago; he also wants to bring his boys to Cicero. Through political maneuvering, graft, intimidation and force, he conquers the neighboring city, expanding his empire with the help of red armband-wearing thugs. At several points we hear cries that “Someone should help! Someone should stop them!” But, of course, resistance to the Nazi/mafia machine is futile.
Though the play was not staged until 1958, Brecht’s idea of translating the political crisis in Europe to Al Capone’s Chicago was a brilliant one. The parallels between the two stories — spelled out literally through projections and radio announcements — are striking. Also striking is the stylized world of the play, created with beautiful period costumes by Jim Greco; stark, exaggerated makeup by Emma Grady; and an ingenious set by Mike Lawler. Period details from the 1930s blend with a blank backstage space that clearly shows the audience the costume racks and props used in the play. But the space constantly transforms, from a corrupt courtroom with a judge on high, to a warehouse and scene of a mob hit, to a funeral creatively punctuated by black umbrellas. Dramatic lighting by Deb Smrz and sound design/composition by GW Rodriguez heighten the tension of the piece.
The ensemble cast excels under Willingham’s direction: Christian Stevenson as the scheming Arturo; Ana Gonzalez as Giri, the mobster with the cruel laugh; Erika Marks as the blonde bombshell Dockdaisy; Denzel Taylor as the club-footed Givola; and Jasmine Kiah as the Barker. The actors all channel their considerable talents in crisp, non-naturalistic performances. Although the text is overly dense and the production itself is long, coming in at 2:45, this production is a remarkable achievement.
Photographer Michael Sullivan documented the production from the first reading until opening night. Some of that work is excerpted in the gallery above; see his complete photo essay here.