BLURBS FROM THE PRESS ABOUT MY SOLO SHOWS:
Below is a preview blurb about my first solo show, "The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard", which I first presented in the SF Fringe Festival in 2001 after work-shopping pieces of it at The Mock Cafe, Monday Night at the Marsh, Piaf's Gay Comedy, SF City College's Solo Performer Festival, Kvetch at Sadie's Flying Elephant, and Shotwell Studios in the Mission District.
San Francisco Fringe Festival
Below is a preview blurb about my first solo show, "The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard", which I first presented in the SF Fringe Festival in 2001 after work-shopping pieces of it at The Mock Cafe, Monday Night at the Marsh, Piaf's Gay Comedy, SF City College's Solo Performer Festival, Kvetch at Sadie's Flying Elephant, and Shotwell Studios in the Mission District.
San Francisco Fringe Festival
Preview by Charyn Pfeuffer
By SF Station Staff
http://www.sfstation.com/san-francisco-fringe-festival-a1763
Think you're edgy? 10 days of the area's most audacious theater may just make you think again. Born in Scotland, bred across the States, the Fringe Festival invades downtown San Francisco, from the Financial District to the Mission, in a multi-ring circus of theatrical performances from September 6th through the 16th. This year, 50-plus groups will put on 256 mind-expanding shows, making choosing downright difficult. Lucky for you, no ticket is over $8, and you can get ten tickets for $55 by buying a Frequent Fringer Pass. We've summed up some a few of the must see events for this year's Fringe.
The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard
by Darren Patrick Blaney
Venue: Phoenix II (upstairs)
60 minutes, Recommended for ages 16+, not for young children--some mature content & coarse language, Tickets $8
SAN FRANCISCO FRINGE FESTIVAL 2001
The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard
Darren Patrick Blaney
Dboyflare Productions
Written in NYC, 1st produced in San Francisco
60 minutes
Multi-media Solo Performance Art
Children over the age of 16 could enjoy it.
Not for young children
Some mature content; coarse language
Revealing more than a handful of subtle character monologues and folk songs, in "The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard", Darren shows us a collection of wistful and melancholy, yet at the same time optimistic, people who challenge the viewer to come along for the ride of his sanguine daydreams. Playing everything from a former stripper turned bored Brooklyn housewife, to a transgendered lesbian pining for true love, to a visionary anthropologist, to an optimistic HIV+ housecleaner, Darren gives us real life in sixty-five minutes without the commercials of prime-time television. His vision is one that moves from despair to hope in an attempt to inspire!
$8.00
PHOENIX II (UPSTAIRS)
Saturday 8 5:30 PM
Wednesday 12 10:00 PM
Thursday 13 7:00 PM
Saturday 15 8:30 PM
Directed by Kristina Goodnight and Marilee Talkington
Slides and Freedom by Glenna Allee
Voice Overs recorded by Andrew Leavitt
Attitude Coaching by Tommy Strong
Inspiration by Querida, Ramona, Strid, Mom, Dad, and a phalanx of other amazing humans.
Darren's regional and community theater credits include Chorus Member in "Cymbeline" at CalShakes, Sebastian in "The Tempest", and Montano and First Senator in "Othello". Darren made his off-off-Broadway debut in 1995, playing assorted characters in the original cast production of "My Own Private Eyeshadow" at the CrowBar Theater in the East Village of Manhattan. Darren has also performed as a solo artist in San Francisco at The Marsh, City College's Solo Performance Festival, Kvetch, and Gay Comedy at Piaf's.
Darren's regional and community theater credits include Chorus Member in "Cymbeline" at CalShakes, Sebastian in "The Tempest", and Montano and First Senator in "Othello". Darren made his off-off-Broadway debut in 1995, playing assorted characters in the original cast production of "My Own Private Eyeshadow" at the CrowBar Theater in the East Village of Manhattan. Darren has also performed as a solo artist in San Francisco at The Marsh, City College's Solo Performance Festival, Kvetch, and Gay Comedy at Piaf's.
I performed the show again at San Jose Works in March of 2004. Here is a review about it:
http://www.workssanjose.org/newsletterSUMMER2004.shtml#3
Brandi J. La Zard & Darren Patrick Blaney (3/13/04)
Brandi J. La Zard opened the evening with her performance “Conversations with God”—stunning the Works audience with her honest, intense delivery of self-authored text – a combination of essay/diary/prayer. In this performance, she addressed god with a “chat” about death, achievements, and anxiety. LaZards’s monologue/performance borrowed from life situations she’s faced since childhood and created a haunting voice that searched both within as well as to a higher force for possible answers to the human condition. 
Darren Patrick Blaney followed with a colorful performance of “The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard.” Originally, Blaney meant to deliver the show in drag to Sandra Bernhard at the Westbeth Theater where she was performing, but the plan went sour, and the performance was transformed, instead, into a bittersweet tale of pan-gender metamorphoses. “The Bird Club” is a series of vignettes about wistful, yet optimistic people, a fantasy of reality chapters metamorphosing from one scene and character to the next. For close to an uninterrupted hour, Blaney performed a wide range of roles with uncanny veracity, including a former stripper turned apathetic Brooklyn housewife, a farsighted anthropologist, a lusty guy running wild with sexual fantasies in the locker room, a transgender lesbian hoping for true love, even an optimistic housecleaner who knows he is HIV+. This Works performance was by no means the first for Blaney: “The Bird Club” had been presented at numerous venues including festivals, cabarets, and galleries, in places like New York, Portland, and the Bay Area. Despite these multiple previous performances, Blaney’s delivery was both fresh and saucy, entertaining as well as compassionate, insightful. Nora Raggio/ Saaba MBB Lutzeler
I was very pleased that Nancy Redwine wrote this preview blurb (below) for the Santa Cruz Sentinel about one of my 2004 performances of "The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard". This one took place at the Broadway Playhouse in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz Sentinel
May 13, 2004
Darren Blaney pays tribute to comedienne Sandra Bernhard in his one-man show, 'The Bird Club.'
(Dan Coyro / Sentinel)
One-man show channels Bernhard
By NANCY REDWINE
sentinel staff writer
The main reason Darren Blaney was accepted into the Bird Club was that he was the only effeminate boy in the neighborhood. The influence of that pre-adolescent-girls-only club would forever shape his life and perspective.
"Those girls were all older than me and I looked up to them," said Blaney, who was 3 years old when he joined the Bird Club. "Since then, I’ve had lots of older women role models."
One of those role models, comedienne and social critic Sandra Bernhard, is at the center of his new one-man performance, "The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard," with two shows Saturday night at the Broadway Playhouse.
"I look at Bernhard like I looked at my baby-sitter," said the actor and playwright.
"I want to emulate her."
It’s not only the wry, lippy and outrageous delivery of Bernhard the Santa Cruz teaching assistant is after, but her skill in moving from character to character to tell a story.
In "Bird Club" he moves through a range of characters in the telling of his prolonged childhood growing up gay in a New England Catholic family.
Moving from chair to chair — and through various stages of "gussied-up" drag — the tall, copper-haired Blaney channels the likes of a stoned night-watchman-turned-motivational speaker, a former stripper-turned-bored housewife, and an optimistic transgender housecleaner living with HIV.
"It’s a story of the struggle for fulfillment," he said. "All of the characters want things that sometimes they can’t get. They’re imperfect people in an imperfect world."
In that imperfect world, the main character abandons socially accepted gender roles in favor of what Blaney calls "a more liberated, pan-gender sense of identity."
He admits to drawing his characters and dialogue from the lives and words of his friends. How do they feel about that?
"Some are flattered," he said. "Some think it’s funny. And some have spanked me."
Blaney, who graduated last year from UC Santa Cruz’s fifth-year theater arts program, had his first taste of theater in middle school when he played Jesus in the Passion Play.
"It’s been a hard act to follow," he said. So for awhile, Blaney spent his creative energies as a portrait painter.
At 25, he came back to acting with an East Village spoof on the television series, "Dynasty."
"It was called ‘My Own Private Eyeshadow,’" said Blaney. "It was guerrilla boot camp acting training."
He was hooked. Since then Blaney has performed in Bay Area theater productions like of "Cymbeline," "Othello," "The Tempest," as well as "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" He studies with local acting teacher Ian McRae.
Last year, Blaney collaborated with playwright Christina Goodnight on "What the Hell is Going On?" which ran in UC Santa Cruz’s Chautauqua Festival.
"It was set in a coffee shop where George Bush was an incompetent waiter," he said.
Contact Nancy Redwine at nredwine@santacruzsentinel.com.
WHAT: ‘The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard’
WHERE: Broadway Playhouse, 526 Broadway, Santa Cruz.
WHEN: 8 and 10 p.m., Saturday
TICKETS: $8. Students are two-for-one.
Pasted below are some audience reviews of my second solo show, which was a satire about the same-sex marriage debacle in San Francisco. It was entitled, "YOU MAY NOW KISS... MY SASS...?"
SAN FRANCISCO FRINGE FESTIVAL September 2005
YOU MAY NOW KISS... MY SASS...?
written and performed by Darren Blaney
Someone wants to get married and even though his radical feminist mother doesn't approve, he's going for it. Will the cake ever get frosted? Will the ice sculptures arrive on time? Are queers supposed to give each other stag parties? Discover the answers to all these questions and more in this show that explores the paradoxes and trials surrounding the current political struggle for gay marriage. Most importantly, “You May Now Kiss...My Sass…?” attempts to answer the perennial question: if Boy Scouts can tie the knot, why can't I? Come on down and sing with the choir!
AUDIENCE REVIEWS
Play: You May Now Kiss My...Sass?
Reviewer: aaron levi
4 Stars
While watching Darren Blaney's one man show "You May Now Kiss My ...Sass?", you may wonder why he attempted such an ambitious project alone. A 60 minute theatre piece with 12 different characters seems better suited for a cast of at least three. But with this well-written and often hilarious work, one can't help but get caught up in his enthusiasm and charm. Well worth the ride.
Play: You May Now Kiss
Reviewer: Lisa Hadley
5 Stars
Darren Blaney's one-man show "YOU MAY NOW..." at the Exit Stage Left -- part of the current SF Fringe Festival -- is a truthful, often comical, hour-long journey through the vicissitudes of a gay marriage that never happens. Darren's sharp writing skills are honed just so for this subject matter. He gleefully takes us on a journey through funny and often hellish scenarios made enjoyable to watch. Darren's skillful portrayals of characters include the embittered wedding planner who begins and ends the play with an AIDS cocktail; a young, hyped out stud who envisions his own Hollywood fame; an overbearing mother who's own meddling brings down the marriage; and last but not least, the fabulous, fading, narcissistic wedding cake designer whose frosting takes on a whole new meaning. Through these characters and others we can see why this particular union never did become sacrosanct. Beyond this, there are political statements made, (not overtly, but neatly tied into the action) that remind of us why. This show should play an extended run in the City, for starters. Having said that, see it while it's playing now -- and you'll see what I'm talking about. Darren is an artist to keep an eye on.
Play: you may now kiss my sass
Reviewer: mike
3 Stars
A for effort!! lots of energy and some funny moments, very(almost too)topical. I never really beleived the story, why would a republican gay man agree to bridemaids in burkhas? Ice sculptures? things were a little too stereotypical for me, dare I say it? too gay? playing the black soldier at the end didn't really work for me either, even in the subdued lighting, you are just not black. the show was enjoyable, and did get a chuckle or two out of me. the guy is a talented actor. all in all I liked it.
Play: You may now kiss...my sass!
Reviewer: Carly Tanaka-Lubensky
5 Stars
This one man show with a multitude of characters deals with human emotions on every level. Darren brings each character to life with his energy and enthusiasm. Way to go Darren!
Play: You may now kiss my...sass
Reviewer: Julie Willhite
5 Stars
Play: You May Now Kiss...MY Sass!
Reviewer: Christina Schiesari
5 Stars
Sassy, witty, intelligent, and sensitive, this brilliantly written one-man show performed by Darren Blaney brings socially relevent theatre to the hearts of all "Sinfundiscans" with its poignant exploration into the issues surrounding gay marriage. More importantly however, Darren tells a story about love, in a way that touches us all. The humanity which reveals itself throughout the story overcomes identity politics, and connects us to a space which is not exclusively gay, not exclusively political, but rather to space which is fundamentally human. Bravo Darren!!
Play: You May Now Kiss...My Sass
Reviewer: Kristina Goodnight
5 Stars
Darren Blaney's show was both hilarious and poignant. He deals with the issue of gay marriage in an original way by not beating the audience over the head with a political statement, but rather introducing a collection of interesting characters who create a fascinating story.
Play: Kiss My.......Sass
Reviewer: Hsin-yi
4 Stars
Darren captivated me with his multitude of characters. I loved his use of political lingo associated with the gay/lesbian community. I really liked how the play shows the lives of these people all touched by the federal governments inability to accept love in all forms. During the play I laughed and wanted to cry.
I performed excerpts from "The Bird Club: Letter to Sandra Bernhard" again in 2007, at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica. Pasted below is a blurb about that evening's lineup, which also featured D'Lo.
HIGHWAYS PERFORMANCE SPACE
November 2007
4 X 4: FOUR NEW WORKS BY FOUR QUEER ARTISTS Featuring Darren Blaney, Gregory Barnett and DanceGood.Damnit!!, Alison De La Cruz and D’Lo. HIGHWAYS PERFORMANCE SPACE, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., Nov. 9-10, 8:30 p.m. (310) 315-1459 or www.highwaysperformance.org.
Highways Performance Space presents 4 X 4: Four New Works by Four Queer Artists, featuring Gregory Barnett/DanceGood.Damnit!, Darren Blaney, D'Lo and Alison De La Cruz. Building on the traditions of socially progressive alternative performance, these emerging artists were selected to develop and present fierce new works.
4 X 4: Four New Works by Four Queer Artists at Highways
Highways Performance Space and Gallery (Santa Monica, CA)
Darren Blaney presents “Never Too Late for a Saint: excerpts from An Epistle to Sandra Bernard.” Culled from both real life and the crinkling edges of sanguine daydreams, this piece blends the fantastic with the interpretive. For the eve of the millennium, it had been Darren's plan to get "gussied-up" in drag and hand-deliver his autobiography to Sandra Bernhard at the Westbeth theater in N.Y.C. His plan goes awry in this story of a pangender artist discovering a full identity amidst the vestiges of unrequited love and the natural wonders of the Golden State.
