We're at it again! You are most welcome to come join us at Dog Story Theater for our latest show SUBVERT! May 5, 6 & 7 (thur. fri. and sat.) As we're always evolving there are new Cangue Leaguers joining us and we bid a fond farewell to some veterans.

Still doing great work in the Cangue League Orchestra is Mickey Makenzie, Rebecca Rodriguez, Don Mangione and Gary Perrine. New to the pit is Shirley Overton with her electric violin.

There's new talent on the boards as well. Nick Reynolds, Gretchen Schwarz and straying from the Orchestra is the talented Rebecca Rodriguez will join old-timers Bobbie Gilbert, Don Mangione and Gary Perrine.

New to us is Root Boy doing two performance pieces; one oral and one aural! He promises us that he'll show you how to eat a beet and then fill the stage with audio equipment for some fine noises.

Long time stage managers Amanda Mitchell and Suzanne Bladey, no longer comfortable watching from the wings, have concocted a short piece that revolves around a flood. That's all I can reveal about that one.

Cangue League is proud to have been a small part of Wil Lucy's life and we dearly miss him. We will show a video of his first performance with Cangue League in Love: Filters.

Back, also, is one of the pillars of Cangue League, with us from the start and without whom we couldn't have done one show, percussionist extrordinaire, Josh Dunigan as our light and sound boards operator with assistance from Morgan Sterling. Morgan's mom, Abbie Sterling will help back stage and has created a conceptual piece for SUBVERT!

Thanks for supporting avand-garde theater in good ol' GR and watch for updates!

They Said It wouldn't Last

Almost six years ago in the Fall of 2009 Cangue League spread its wings and paddled up the creek of alternative theater.  Artists of every stripe came together for no other reason than to perform with the hopes that we'd find a niche in the heart of conservative Michigan.

We always include the audience as participators. In our first show, Flowers, as the audience entered the theater they were encouraged to color a length of clear 16mm film that was later projected then cut into pieces for the audience to take home.

Also from Flowers, three audience members were recruited to "fill in" for some "missing" actors.

In Revolutions, they spun a marble in a large tin can around a lit candle to accompany the Cangue League Orchestra as the lights were dimmed.

In our latest piece, The Death of Schopenhauer, Gary Perrine read a piece on art vs. the artist written by Arthur Schopenhauer while audience members echoed the word that was written on a piece of paper for them before the show.

With various artists from the community Cangue League is persevering on with a planned show this fall and a film in the works!  These are exciting times.  Enjoy a sampling from our second show Revolutions.

Victim/Criminal

We Did It

20 Poems of Love and One AK-47

Cangue League Orchestra

Profiles in Schopenhauer: Molly Zigler and Joshua Burge

This is part of the ongoing series that profiles a couple cast members in Cangue League's upcoming production of "The Death of Schopenhauer."

First on the docket is one of our newer members, Molly Zigler! Ms. Zigler has been with us since "Technicolor Yawn" where she played Richard Feynman's wife opposite Gary Perrine who played the unconventional theoretical physicist in Hugo Claudin's "Atomic Bongos."  Here she is coloring some clear 16mm film in Dog Story's lobby for an audience [and cast] participation piece.

 

Molly returned for "Want Want Lovely Play," Cangue League's entry into the Lake Effect Fringe Festival.  Among other things, she was an unfortunate passenger in a car with O. J. Simpson and Richard Nixon in "We Did It."  Here she is in that piece as O. J. operates the vehicle in an inappropriate manner.

 

 In "Schopenhauer" Ms. Zigler plays Andrew Dice Clay, a sock and... well, that's a surprise.

Next up is Joshua Burge, a multi-talented force in GR. He's a singer-songwriter for his alter ego's band, Chance Jones.  Mr. Burge spent a lot of the last year promoting Joel Potroykus' first feature film, APE, a film that follows the hapless exploits of a not-so-funny stand-up comedian with Faustian tendencies. Josh first joined us for our second show, "Revolutions." Here he is playing Thelonious Monk aping Satchmo in the original "We Did It".

In "Regime Change" with Mary Brandt their worlds flip into fantasy and culminates with him giviing birth to bananas and money. In "Skwert of Blud" he played Young Man in Antonin Artaud's absurd play written 100 years ago that started the avant-garde theater movement.  On the right Young Man is being strangled by the Priest played by Hugo Claudin.

Even though "The Death of Schopenhauer" is an ensemble piece, Joshua Burge shoulders the burden of Arthur, the main character that is given a lesson in compromise good and hard!

Join us Nov. 14th, 15th or 16th at Dog Story Theater for "The Death of Schopenhauer", Cangue League's first avant-garde opera!

Profiles in Schopenhauer: Rebecca Rodriguez and Kyle Colter

Sketches of the cast and crew of Cangue League's upcoming avant-garde opera, "The Death of Schopenhauer"

Most of Cangue League is made up of musicians of one sort or another and today's two featured artists are no exception.

Rebecca Rodriguez has played with some very popular local bands such as Corcavado, The Tiger Passion and The Icicles whose music was featured on a couple national tv spots.  Currently this active mother of two is working with a new band called Telemission. Her husband, James created with his brother the indie avant-garde music label, Elsie and Jack.  James created the very first sounds that a Cangue League audience had heard for our first show, "Flowers" with a layered/sound audio piece using a line read by Alida Perrine.  Rebecca was one of the first members of the "orchestra". Here she is playing in "Skwert of Blud".

For "The Death of Schopenhauer" Ms. Rodriguez created the various musical mood pieces.  The show's director (Gary Perrine) insisted on the guitar being the only traditional instrument. As our dear friend Herr Bach is accused of saying, "The guitar is a miniature orchestra in itself." Augmenting her classical guitar will be a selection of acoustic noise devices such as a cannon ball on a car wheel and a bucket of gravel and a shovel to name a few. Here she is performing "Ball and Chain" with Gary Perrine where the seed-filled ball was used to reverberate the strings.

Next up is another guitarist, Kyle Colter. Of course, those familiar with Kyle's work know that he also plays, the trombone, thermin and didgeridoo. When Kyle isn't slinging booze at The Meanwhile you can catch him having fun with the Pistolbrides, the psych-surf-experimental rockers. Kyle joined Cangue League for the "Revolutions" show. Here he is as a dead box person from "LTD".

 Kyle is also an original member of Sean Kenny's brain child, "Parade Parade!" where the weirdos in the city have a parade for no goddam reason whatsoever. Watch for a line of locals marching to their own beat and feel free to join in. Looks like fun, doesn't it?

For "Schopenhauer" Mr. Colter will play multiple roles including, Sound, Stage Hand and Cedric The Entertainer! The resemblance is uncanny!

"The Death of Schopenhauer" will be performed Nov. 14th, 15th &16th at Dog Story Theater. Doors open at 7:30  Show starts at 8:00

Profiles in Schopenhauer: Mike Saunders and Mary Brandt

First in our series about Cangue Leaguers involved in our newest project, "The Death of Schopenhauer" is starting, appropriately enough, with Mike Saunders.

Mike Saunders was the first person that Cangue League founder, Gary Perrine approached in 2010 about doing some avant-garde theater for a show that turned out to be "Flowers." Here he is playing the outer bowl.

Mr. Saunders, while a bartender at The Meawhile has accrued a long list of Producer credits in local films including the big splash indie flick, APE.  Local cineastes can thank him for putting together iii Film Series at the Wealthy Street Theater "that not only investigates and examines the world around us but shows us a new and fresh approach towards film making."

Mike has played synth/keyboard for Cangue League's "Orchestra", Chance Jones and Moss Folk.  In our follow-up show, "Revolutions" Mr. Saunders penned, "Fiefdom," a skit that lampooned a particular art contest here in GR. Below are Don Mangione, Kyle Colter and Bobbie Gilbert creating a sculpture on stage before the audiences very eyes! "It's good for business."

In "The Death of Schopenhauer" Mike will play the part of megalomaniac producer which we assure you is a far cry from his real personality. Below, Mike helps out in LTD with Bobbie Gilbert and Ben Brandt.

Next up is Mary Brandt whom the theater gods sent us via a series of scheduling problems. Through a friend of a friend Mary contacted us and the rest is Cangue League history.  Our show "Skwert of Blud" had Mary all over it. Here she is playing Rita in one of Chris Eddy's "Mr. Spookity" pieces.

She handled an assault rifle in Hugo Claudin's, "20 Poems of Love and One AK-47" and Strangled Micheal J. Fox as Richard Nixon while being chauffeured by O. J. Simpson in "We Did It". Here she is marrying Josh Burge on the left and employing new birthing techniques after he becomes pregnant in the piece, "Regime Change"

In "Death of Schopenhauer" Mary will play a variety of roles from a sock puppet to Sisyphus to a producer in the shows pivotal scene. Mary has been a great asset to Cangue League.

Come and check out these talented people and others November 14th, 15th & 16th at Dog Story Theater [7 Jefferson se] for a unique theater experience. The Death of Schopenhauer an avant-garde opera!

The Death of Schopenhauer

We're producing our first avant-garde opera!

November 14, 15 & 16 at Dog Story Theater Cangue League will present "The Death of Schopenhauer" by Gary Perrine

Departing from our usual segmented, thematically diverse style Cangue League presents a full opera for its Grand Rapids audience.

Poster Art by Nate Neal

The story takes odd leaps from one theatrical style to the next while telling the tragic tale of a writer that has his soul trampled upon by other powers in the universe. Mr. Perrine has asked Cangue League to use entirely recycled, reused, re-purposed materials for the props, set and even the large white back curtain required for this piece.

Cangue League's past five shows have been multi-media events and The Death of Schopenhauer is no exception. Bobbie Gilbert, Sean Kenny, Don Mangione and Gary Perrine will provide videos.  Mr. Kenny, CL's projectionist, is always looking for a unique material to use for a screen, Mr. Mangione will provide one of his wonderful abstract deconstructions of found footage, Ms. Gilbert is presenting a special unconventional animation using found and donated toys and Mr. Perrine will illustrate the entire de-evolution of writing and the evolution of music in a few minutes.

Rebecca Rodriguez

The phenomenal guitarist, Rebecca Rodriguez will be the center of sounds provided for The Death of Schopenhauer.  Ms. Rodriguez, known for her conventional work with The Icicles and as a soloist, will be surrounded by experimental acoustic objects such as old car parts and bark from sycamore trees and various reused matter to evoke the many emotions that an opera requires.

Nate Neal, author of the graphic novel, The Sanctuary and the intriguing  The Big Trip, returns to create another amazing poster. Click on the poster for a better look!

Click on one of the images below to check out some videos from our past shows:  

Victim/Criminal

           

Whispered Consuela

We Did it

The Answer

                            

                                                                            

Monday & Tuesday!

Want Want Lovely Play

Dog Story Theater

Lake Effect Fringe Festival

Tickets at www.dogstorytheater.com

Cangue League will be kicking up winter with their usual spices of unusual pieces.  CLO (Cangue League Orchestra) will do a set smack dab in the middle of the show. Watch for Rebecca Rodriguez and Gary Perrine to take the stage for their world famous "Ball and Chain" act!

Mexican soap operas, wild rides in the dessert with celebrities, people that aren't flowers, musicians that are and an old fashion film made by You!

It's all part of the odd fun from your friends at Cangue League on Monday February 11th and Tuesday February 12th at Dog Story Theater at 8:00pm!

Want Want Lovely Play is Cangue League's entry in the first annual Lake Effect Fringe Festival.

Want Want Lovely Play

Lake Effect Fringe Fest

Cangue League invades local theater sampler!

Lake Effect Fringe Fest is a festival of local theater groups performing in a two week period to heighten awareness for the various groups.

February 11th & 12th Cangue League will put up another full 90 minutes of contemplative, challenging, provocative and entertaining avant-garde theater pieces.  Besides using a different set of lenses to spy on familiar ideas and attempting to verbalize new perspectives we consider our job incomplete if we don't incorporate the audience, if only to hold a noisy candle.






In "Flowers", our very first show, we invited our guests as they entered the lobby of Dog Story Theater to help colour a section of clear 16mm film. Some chose to memorialize their moniker while others used a more abstract pen coloring random (seemingly) lines and splotches of many hues.  At the very end of our performances I enlightened the crowd as to the title of the piece that they participated in - "Communion".  After projecting our cameraless film I cut it into 3 or 4 frame snippets depositing each clip into an envelope marked "Communion" and distributed it amongst the audience.  We could all meet on a future date and splice it back together, to rejoin  for another screening.  We will do "Communion II" for Fringe Fest but with an additional twist. Come commune with us!






For our second show, "Revolutions", we decided to incorporate the audience in one of the renown Cangue League Orchestra's seminal compositions. The Orchestra employs marbles in bowls to create a mesmerizing whirl of sound as a basis for some of the musicians more exotic vibrations.  The twist was that each audience member was handed a can with a marble with a candle inside.  As the music swelled our grand media tech, Josh Dunigan slowly lowered the theater lights until we witnessed only a glow from each seat in the room.  It was beautiful.

Victim/Criminal

Whispered Consuela in the Dark

Be sure to visit our facebook page and like the shit out of it!

Technicolor Yawn avant-garde dinner theater

This Saturday expand your horizons with the enigmatic Cangue League! As usual we'll serve you the unusual as our troupe sings, dances, acts and asks questions, but the added ploy is that we'll feed you various courses of edibles while feeding you various ideas of existential fare.

If you interest is piqued, go to that PayPal button in the upper right corner that allows you to choose Single $15 or Couple $25 (Deal!) and we will send you an email asking your choice of Meat or Vegetarian.

This is our most ambitious attempt at turning GR's head around. Hugo Caudin's - "Atomic Bongos", Katherine Marty's -  "Alone With Doris", Chris Eddy's - "Carcosa In Sesame", Don Mangione's video - "Presence", Gary Perrine's - "Just A Gig"

Starring: Mary Brandt, Molly Zigler, Kyle Colter, Katherine Marty, Chris Eddy, Hugo Claudin, Gary Perrine, Bobbie Gilbert and others...

Waiter, there's a cangue in my soup!

It's time for something strange...

Technicolor Yawn

avant-garde dinner theatre - Saturday, November 3rd

 

 Cangue League will present it's latest offering, "Technicolor Yawn," an event that will pair avant-garde theater with a multi-course meal. Six authors will collaborate with local chefs to create edible counterparts to their pieces. Participating artists will include founder, Gary Perrine, Kyle Colter of local indie rock darlings Pistolbrides, Katherine Marty of Super Happy Funtime Burlesque, art superstar Hugo Claudin, Mary Brandt great local thespian and many leading lights of the Grand Rapids art scene. Musical accompaniment will be provided by the Cangue Leauge Orchestra, who will present a short concert after the dinner. 

Cangue League is an organization of like-minded collaborators, representing many different artistic disciplines who come together periodically to present avant-garde cabaret events. The cooperatively run theater troupe seeks to challenge and inspire audiences through performances of original plays and music.

Technicloor Yawn will be performed at Hugo Claudin's popular jazz venue, Mexicans Sans Frontieres, 120 S. Division. Prices for the performance and dinner will be $15 each, $25 per couple, $5 for post show music performance only. Tickets can be purchased with credit card at the upper right through PayPal or Cash at the door.

Cangue League Orchestra at Pyramid Scheme April 20th!

CLO members: Mike Saunders, Hugo Claudin, Rebecca Rodriguez, Mickey Mackenzie, Kyle Colter and Gary Perrine.

Cangue League Orchestra will join Spydre Murphy, Jake Stilson, Bearcat, Faux Fur & The Extra Texture and Petals Rang the Bell in a fundraiser to support the decriminalization of Marijuana laws in Grand Rapids, MI.  This will be Cangue League Orchestra's first appearance at the Scheme and has all the makings of a great show. For half a sawbuck ($5) you could do a lot worse.  The music and chatter starts at 9:00pm and the doors open sometime before that.

In 2010, 750,591 Marijuana possession arrests were made in the US. In Michigan in 2002, 17,708. In Kent County, 1507.  Even if there were no arrests it is still absurd that marijuana carries such a steep punishment.

Cangue League Orchestra is in the process of recording vibrations unusual. Maybe you will buy it at Vertigo.  Remember: April 21st is National Record Day!

Skwert of Blud

March 1, 2, 3 (Thurs., Fri., Sat.) at Dog Story Theater (7 Jefferson) 

Doors: 7:30 Show 8:00 $10

Skwert of Blud is an amalgam of seemingly disparate performance pieces and probably are. The anchor play is a version of Antonin Artaud's "Jet of Blood" written in 1925 and still seems as fresh today as it did then. Cangue League's Skwert of Blud features Josh Burge, Mary Brandt, Kyle Colter, Katherine Marty, Bobbie Gilbert, Don Mangione and Hugo Claudin as the Priest!

Also we have Katherine Marty doing a presentation of one of her monologues.  Don Mangione will show another de-re-constructed russian video with music by Mike Saunders.

Cangue League will reprise the popular LTD.

"LTD" from "Flowers" with Katherine Marty, (left) Ben Brandt (center) and Mike Saunders

Our most experimental pieces, Stand-up Tragedy, will run throughout the night where Josh Burge, Katherine Marty and Gary Perrine will take turns trying to make you cry. PLUS! Surprises!  

Once again Nate Neal did our poster art. We are grateful to everyone that contributes. Certainly the actors receive immediate gratification through your applause but Nate is one of the many behind-the-scenes Cangue Leaguers that merely gets a pat on the back and a swig of bourbon. Thanks, Nate. 

New this time behind the curtain helping things run smoothly is Amanda Mitchell. Welcome Amanda.

Naturalment - Cangue League Orchestra will do their thing with new pieces by Rebecca Rodriguez and Hugo Claudin with assistance from fellow orchestra members, Mike Saunders, Micky Mackenzie, Kyle Colter and Gary Perrine.

 Come join us for some weird fun March 1st, 2nd or 3rd (Thur.,Fri., or Sat.) Doors: 7:30 Show 8:00 $10

You can order online at dogstorytheater.com. Ciao!

past + future

"The idea was for everyone to be treated like flowers, without punishment when they did badly, without praise when they did well. Things didn't work out."

We wanted to see if there was any interest in avant-garde theater in GR with our first production, "Flowers". It was a reasonable assumption that there was indeed.  After all, Hugo Claudin had been hosting avant bands at Mexicains Sans Frontieres for quite some time and a lot of the art in GR leans that way. Thanks to the people that came out. Below is contact info to participate in our next show.

Thanks to Eric Tank for documenting "Flowers".  We did get a lot of positive feedback for the band's set. Our tune "Bowls" with Wil Lucy, Mike Saunders, Hugo Claudin and Gary Perrine using marbles acoustically whilst Rebecca Rodriguez worked the melody on her classical guitar was received well.

Katherine Marty lit up the stage. I don't think I've ever worked with a pure theater person until Katherine. Her poetry was engaging, challenging and thought provoking.

Unfortunately there aren't any stills of Wil Lucy in Filters: Love. He brought deeper dimension to a simple piece.

Ben Scott-Brandt sat in for Gary Perrine on Friday in Spot-Light-Vast-Dark and LTD (above). Bobbie Gilbert and Mike Saunders appear as Box People.

 

Here The Noble Blue and Hugo Claudin color some

16mm clear leader for the performance piece Communion.

Review in the Rapidian!

We are planning our next show for June.  Any of you that would like to submit any 'stage actions', poetry, music, film, video, performance art or installations contact Gary Perrine. email: cangueleague@gmail.com  FB: cangue league.

Invasion of the Box People!

FLOWERS is on your heals!  Less than one week and Cangue League will invade your psyche. 

Eric Tank will document it.

The Cangue League Orchestra is our soundtrack.  

Dog Story Theater is our venue.
 

The miasma of the universe is our milieu.

 

The Poster Has Arrived

Comic Book Artist / Graphic Novelist / Social Critic: Nate Neal lent his talented hands and twisted mind to the "Flowers" poster.  Contact Gary Perrine for a photo quality 11 x 17 copy for only $2.00! Wow! Support the Cangue League by buying some of our junk like the cool posters, "cangue" dictionary pin back badges, T-shirts, etc. or coming to the performance March 3rd, 4th or 5th 7:30 pm at Dog Story Theater. They are just south of Fulton St. next to the Chinese restaurant. Yow!

The Infamous Link Post!

 Cangue League is benefiting from a diverse and amazing group of forward thinking artists.  Witness these intricate drawings donated by Ted Klug to the "Flowers" project.  You may have heard him do some interesting stuff  with James Rodriguez on their "Monera" cds.  Check out Elsie and Jack for some nice vibrations.

The first cat to join the Cangue League Orchestra (CLO) was Mike Saunders from the experimental / psychedelic band Moss Folk and of Chance Jones fame.


  Next is Hugo Claudin, creator of Mexicains Sans Frontieres the venue for music with new ideas whilst being percussionist for many groups, most recently- The Fainting Generals.

Wil Lucy joins us with his melodica and banjo that he claims he can play simultaneously!  He basses for Semi-Casual Bedtime. His day job is with the Skywalk Deli who without hesitation let me have their empty cans.

Rebecca Rodriguez has played mucho musica around town as a soloist and with bands such as The Tiger Passion and now with The Icicles.

 Nate Neal, who has just had his graphic novel, Sanctuary published by Fantaghaphics is providing art work to our little show the first week-end in March.

 DAST the aural abstractionists in town will perform with a Stan Brakhage film playing in "Flowers" on Saturday night only !
 
Thursday and Friday night The CLO will provide the live score to Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon".

Poet / Writer / Performance Artist Katherine Marty will perform two of her spoken word pieces with the incomparable CLO providing some aural assistance.

Filling in on Friday night in two of the theater pieces is Ben Scott-Brandt, a musician of note currently with Ribbons of Song.

 You, the audience will color and draw and write on some 16mm clear leader in the lobby of Dog Story Theater that will be used in a performance piece entitle "Communion".

We'll tell you about other talented Grand Rapidians that are joining the League in the future.

We're just starting, but we want to continue to bring alternative theater to the area.  See you March, 3,4,5 Downtown GR.