Bradford Louryk
Encyclopedia
Bradford Louryk is a multi-award winning American theater artist and actor. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania
and educated at Vassar College
in Poughkeepsie, New York, he is best-known for his collaboratively generated solo performance work, which often incorporates multimedia elements and gender reversal in the exploration of its subject matter. This, along with the "intellectual and linguistic complexity" of his work, has led to comparison to Charles Ludlam
and Charles Busch
, though Louryk has historically received consistent praise for his portrayals of male characters, as well. He is also known for his deeply entrenched and quirky sense of style: "Louryk, tall, dark and handsome in his boho black clothes and colourful bandana - has, at 26, been voted one of New York's most eligible bachelors."
Beginning in July, 2005, Louryk garnered international critical acclaim (including a half-page profile in The New York Times) for Christine Jorgensen Reveals
, a painstaking recreation of a circa 1958 long-form recorded interview with Christine Jorgensen
, one of the first American recipients of gender reassignment surgery, in which "both performers lip-synch, with uncanny precision, to the actual recording... at the same time providing visual counterpart to every phoneme, snort, scratch, or hesitation." Following its critically heralded New York premiere, Christine Jorgensen Reveals played to great acclaim in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the Festival Fringe; in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Boston Center for the Arts
; and in Dublin, Ireland, at The Project Arts Centre. In 2006, at the age of 28, Louryk was subsequently nominated for and awarded the prestigious Drama Desk Award
in the category Unique Theatrical Experience, the same category in which Robert Wilson
was also nominated. In America, the production also received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Best Off-Broadway Play, in addition to awards and nominations in Dublin and Boston.
In addition to his work as an artist, Louryk served as founding Artistic Director of Studio 42 from 2001 until 2010, and its philanthropic off-shoot, The Starving Artists Award Fund. He has also been listed among New York City's 100 Most Eligible Bachelors by the society publication Gotham Magazine.
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
and educated at Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
in Poughkeepsie, New York, he is best-known for his collaboratively generated solo performance work, which often incorporates multimedia elements and gender reversal in the exploration of its subject matter. This, along with the "intellectual and linguistic complexity" of his work, has led to comparison to Charles Ludlam
Charles Ludlam
Charles Braun Ludlam was an American actor, director, and playwright.-Early life:Ludlam was born in Floral Park, New York, the son of Marjorie and Joseph William Ludlam. He was raised in Greenlawn, New York, on Long Island, and attended Harborfields High School. The fact that he was gay was not a...
and Charles Busch
Charles Busch
Charles Louis Busch is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and female impersonator, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, which was a success on Broadway.-Early life:Busch was born in 1954 and...
, though Louryk has historically received consistent praise for his portrayals of male characters, as well. He is also known for his deeply entrenched and quirky sense of style: "Louryk, tall, dark and handsome in his boho black clothes and colourful bandana - has, at 26, been voted one of New York's most eligible bachelors."
Beginning in July, 2005, Louryk garnered international critical acclaim (including a half-page profile in The New York Times) for Christine Jorgensen Reveals
Christine Jorgensen Reveals
Christine Jorgensen Reveals is a theatrical show that depicts the 1957 one-hour interview of Christine Jorgensen by Nipsey Russell. This was her only recorded interview. The show begins with a brief documentary. Then, Jorgensen's entire interview is lip synched by the two actors...
, a painstaking recreation of a circa 1958 long-form recorded interview with Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen was the first widely known person to have sex reassignment surgery—in this case, male to female.-Early life:...
, one of the first American recipients of gender reassignment surgery, in which "both performers lip-synch, with uncanny precision, to the actual recording... at the same time providing visual counterpart to every phoneme, snort, scratch, or hesitation." Following its critically heralded New York premiere, Christine Jorgensen Reveals played to great acclaim in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the Festival Fringe; in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Boston Center for the Arts
Boston Center for the Arts
The Boston Center for the Arts is a 501 nonprofit visual and performing arts complex in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The BCA houses several performance and rehearsal spaces, restaurants, a gallery, the headquarters of the Boston Ballet, the Community Music Center of Boston...
; and in Dublin, Ireland, at The Project Arts Centre. In 2006, at the age of 28, Louryk was subsequently nominated for and awarded the prestigious Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
in the category Unique Theatrical Experience, the same category in which Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson (director)
Robert Wilson is an American avant-garde stage director and playwright who has been called "[America]'s — or even the world's — foremost vanguard 'theater artist'". Over the course of his wide-ranging career, he has also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video...
was also nominated. In America, the production also received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Best Off-Broadway Play, in addition to awards and nominations in Dublin and Boston.
In addition to his work as an artist, Louryk served as founding Artistic Director of Studio 42 from 2001 until 2010, and its philanthropic off-shoot, The Starving Artists Award Fund. He has also been listed among New York City's 100 Most Eligible Bachelors by the society publication Gotham Magazine.
Quotes
- "This piece is all about happy accidents. I didn’t know who she was when I found the recording. I bought it because it looked interesting. And it was very, very expensive."
- "I’ve never been interested in playing the starving artist. I have a great family. I never wanted for anything. I was taught when I was a child that you give someone else what you’ve got because there’s always more. And I came out of four years at Vassar, for Christsakes, so I never wanted to do the East Village thing. I’m not interested in playing that role because it’s not what I am. I was on a panel... with Taylor Mac and Neo-Futurists, great people, and there was this conversation where people were saying, ’Oh, I’m doing my work for myself; I don’t care if anyone’s there. I want to find my stuff in the garbage and do it in the downstairs of a bar.’ I said, ’Bring me a contract for the Helen Hayes and I’ll move in tomorrow!’ Give me a Broadway house with a cushy dressing room and a couple of dressers and I’m there. If people aren’t seeing it, if you’re not reaching the greatest audience possible, what’s the point of doing it?"
- "It would be ridiculous to say I’m not interested in gender, because obviously I am, but more so than gender, I love the challenge of playing the opposite of what I am."
- "I don’t love naturalism. I think it’s so boring. I could sit in my living room and have a conversation... And I think our playwrights' wanting to bring television audiences into the theater is noble, because we need people to fill seats, but I think that’s undercutting what the theater can do. I love a performance style, when I’m actually using my own voice, that is more out of the Comédie-Française, really hyper-theatrical and declamatory. That’s so much more fascinating."