FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 12, 2003
Big Goddess Pow Wow Returns to Chicago
'Big Goddess Nation' March 27-29, 2003
CHICAGO—Don't miss the return of your favorite goddesses to Chicago March 27-29, when several former Chicagoans will be
joined by current hot local performers for a wild Big Goddess Pow Wow Eleven: Big Goddess Nation.
Paula Killen, Lisa Buscani and Marcia Wilkie are well-known former Chicago actors and performance artists who are now making
their way in the entertainment worlds of California and New York. The Big Goddess Pow Wow has entertained sold-out crowds in
Chicago for more than a decade, bringing together top comics, poets, actors and musicians.
The out-of-towners will be joined by some of the best Chicago has to offer, including Cheryl Trykv (for the March 27 show), Cin
Salach and C.C. Carter. The host will be Brigid Murphy.
In addition, each of the shows will also feature special guest hosts and performers. The Thursday, March 27 show will feature the
bands Stewed Tomatoes and Sweet Accord (with Amy Matheny and Elaine Dame), plus guest host Joan Jett-Blakk. The Friday,
March 28 show features musician Ellen Rosner and writers Donna Rose, Lisa Alvarado and RoiAnn Phillips, along with guest host
Honey West. And the Saturday, March 29 show features slam poet winner Duriel Harris, Bev Spangler and Lisa Samra doing an
excerpt of the Kathy & Mo Show, plus Patty Elvis rocking the crowd, and co-host Jessica Halem.
All three shows are at Circuit Nightclub, 3641 N. Halsted, 7:30 p.m. and will be general seating and standing-room. Tickets are
$25 and available through Windy City Media Group, sponsors of the event and publishers of Windy City Times newspaper. Call (773)
871-7610 to charge by phone, or e-mail WindyCityMedia@aol.com .
Co-sponsors of the event are American Airlines, Circuit and New City.
See www.WindyCityTimes.com for more info and for photos of the artists.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:
Paula Killen:
This writer and performer has spent the last two years as a consultant with Mandalay Entertainment, developing television and
promotional pitches and writing/producing multiple projects for the Branded Entertainment division. She has contributed
commentaries and essays to the popular NPR radio series, This American Life since its inception in 1997. Killen has a national
reputation as a playwright and monologist—premiering works at The Goodman Theater, The Museum of Contemporary Art, The
Steppenwolf Theatre, American Blues and Organic Theater in Chicago, La Mama, Dixon Place and PS122 in NYC and Zoo District
Theatre, Largo, The Falcon Theatre and HBO Workspace in L.A. She has written the official biographies of hundreds of stars and
directors for the 20th Century Fox archives and web sites and is developing a full-length feature for Maverick. She has created and
produced multiple spoken word events including 'Two Big for the Chorus' (Garry Marshall, executive producer), 'The Big Goddess
Pow Wow,' and is currently directing a new works series at the Lillian Theater. Since arriving in Los Angeles in 1999, Killen has
performed her original material at Bang (hosted by Jeff Garlin), The Mint, The Improv Olympic, The Tamerind Theatre, The Comedy
Union and is a regular guest at Jill Solloway's hip series, 'Sit and Spin.' Killen is also a teacher, voice over talent and actor—having
just returned from a tour of The UK in Bill's New Frock with the Mark Taper Forum.
Lisa Buscani
got her start in Chicago's poetry slam scene and went on to become a National Poetry Slam Champion. She spent three years as a
Neo-Futurist, writing and performing in Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. She co-produced and curated the Big Goddess
Pow Wow series at the Metro. She authored of a book of poetry, Jangle (Tia Chucha Press), and two acclaimed solo shows,
Carnivale Animale and At That Time. She has appeared on NPR, CNN, PBS, HBO, Much Music, and Voice of America, as well as in
numerous spoken word anthologies and CDs. Now based in Brooklyn, Lisa is currently touring with Late Nite Catechism at the Hanna
Theater in Cleveland's Playhouse Square and finishing her first novel, Downtime.
Marcia Wilkie
toured nationally for more than a decade with her solo shows, from the Joseph Papp Public Theatre in NYC to the historic Hahn
Cosmopolitan in San Diego, Calif., as well as many major colleges and universities and numerous Pride events. Following a move to
Los Angeles, she appeared in one really bad guest star spot on one really bad sitcom and decided to take up the pen in television.
First writing for game shows, she was soon brought on to Donny & Marie as the head writer. In addition to the talk show, Marcia wrote
the book, Behind the Smile, for Marie Osmond, which became a New York Times, U.S.A. Today and Los Angeles Times bestseller,
and also her critically acclaimed speech for the Unique Lives and Experiences tour. Marcia has worked as a writer and consulting
producer on a number of pilots and shows for Columbia Tri-Star, Buena Vista television and Telepictures. She continues to perform
solo works at venues in Los Angeles, including the Falcon Theater, the Tamarind Theater, The Mint and The Triangle Room. She is
currently authoring a series of fiction books for young girls, promoting self-esteem and respect for cultural differences under the title
Magic Attic and due for publication in summer 2003. Despite the pressure of homesteading in Los Angeles where she says 'it's tough
to shop as a size 14,' Marcia claims her identity as a BIG GODDESS.
cin salach:
Performance poet cin salach has been a Slam Champ, Loofah, Disgrace & Big Goddess. Her CD & video recordings have been on
WBEZ, Image Union and Oprah, and her poetry has been published in Rhino, Columbia Poetry Review and ACM: Another Chicago
Magazine, among others. She is the author of the poetry book Looking for a Soft Place to Land and in the fall of 2001, wrote and
performed in 'undone,' a musical based on her poetry and directed by Eric Rosen at About Face Theater. An Illinois Arts Council
award recipient and two-time Ragdale fellow, cin is a segment host on the PBS show ArtBeat and can also be seen around town with
her band ten tongues which the Chicago Sun-Times called 'blissful … and hypnotic … .'
C.C. Carter
is a Chicagoan with national prominence on the performance poetry scene. Her first book, Body Language, a collection of poetry, was
just nominated for a 2003 Lambda Literary Award. She has created and maintained several traditions in the poetry community,
including national and local poetry slams for people of color, and the women of color night at Mountain Moving. She has participated
in dozens of women's music festivals, including the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, and has sold out performances on both coasts.
She recently began a weekly poetry slam on Chicago's South Side.
Patty Elvis
has performed at hundreds of clubs, events, benefits and festivals in the Chicago area and midwest. A talented singer songwriter who
sings Elvis renditions live to her adoring fans, Patty Elvis puts on a fabulously entertaining show the King would be proud of.
Lisa Alvarado
is a Chicana poet, performer and writer. She is the author of The Housekeeper's Diary, a chapbook based on her experiences as a
maid for one of Chicago's wealthiest families, as well as a one woman show by the same name. Lisa's also been profiled in the
Reader, Windy City Times, New City, The Chicago Tribune, The Daily Defender, WGN-TV, FOX-32, WBEZ, and NPR's Latino USA.
Luis Rodriguez wrote, 'She is a fine poet, able to address deep concerns in trenchant, crisp language.' Lastly, she wants you to know
that she loves women, loves men, that the written word gives her infinite pleasure, and that she grateful for every door opened for her
by the sacrifices of her ancestors.
Bev Spangler
is an actor, writer, singer and artistic director of Chicago's AWAKE Productions, a theatre company (mostly) dedicated to exploring the
monologue as a dramatic form. The Kathy & MoShow is AWAKE's next full-length production slated for October 2003 (premieres at
Mountain Moving Coffeehouse Oct. 11). Bev sings and performs monologues and scenes at various venues every month around the
city
Lisa Samra
enjoys creating, directing, thinking and talking about performance. She was last seen performing scenes from Parallel Lives (The
Kathy & MoShow) at Bailiwick ArtCenter's Dyke Mic and Winter All-Girl Revue. She also performed in and directed Gurlesque
Burlesque and One Bad-Add Burlesque Show (Sissy Butch Bros. productions). Stay tuned for a full run of Parallel Lives in October.
Donna Rose:
48 years young; out African descent lesbian; social agent for positive change; essayist; social commentator; performance poet
provocatuer with thespian tendencies; percussionist, producer/director, and writer. Veteran in the quest for Black/people of color,
women, especially African descent women, and queer visibility in art, venues of culture, and politics; kindness to the infirm, seniors
and children; co-founder of the International Women's Day Dance; Licensed, allied health professional Interests: health advocacy,
education, and policy and finding like minded individuals with whom to discourse ... uh on, my meds are wearing off.
Duriel E. Harris
holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and an M.A. from the Graduate Creative Writing Program at NYU. Recent appearances
include performances at the Insight Arts Annual Women's Performance Jam (Chicago), the Horton Poetry Society Conference (North
Carolina) and—with other founding members of Black Took Collective— at The Poetry Project (NYC) for 'The Wild Reading' the first
in a series of 'assaults.' Her writing has most recently appeared in Beyond the Frontier, African American Review, Works & Days and
Fence. Currently at work on Soma, a sound recording, she has received grants from the Cave Canem Foundation and the Chicago
Bar Association and was recently heralded as one of three Chicago poets for the 21st century by WBEZ Chicago Public Radio. Harris
is the Poetry Editor for Obsidian III: Literature in the African Diaspora and the recipient of a 2002-2003 Illinois Arts Council Artist
Fellowship. Drag, her first book, is forthcoming from Elixir Press.