Photo by Aaron Kopec
Alchemist Theatre’s The King of Pop plunges audiences into the aluminum foil-lined world within Andy Warhol’s studio, The Factory. This semi-factual telling of the famed New York City-based artist’s ascent to fame begins with a jarring, psychedelic video montage. The stage’s video projection blends images of ’60s and ’70s art with iconic brands and labels that made Warhol a household name, before turning the lights up on two men.
The production follows the rise of both Warhol (Randall T. Anderson) and Bob Dylan (David Sapiro), who took very different paths. Dylan stumbles in and out of the story. He sometimes takes the stage, guitar in hand, to bemoan the state of art, music and corporate corruption, before drifting back into the shadows. The story, however, begins with Warhol’s fateful encounter with Edie Sedgwick (Shannon Nettesheim) in a haughty art collector’s high-rise. Anderson, Sapiro and Nettesheim here give excellent performances. Warhol is encapsulated perfectly by Anderson, who gives him the distant albeit sharp-tongued attributes most audiences have come to know of the late pop artist. Nettesheim as Edie is rather sublime. Charming, a tad ditzy, with a pair of spindly little legs, the actress seems to enchant the audience with her every move.
Edie is but one of the entire ensemble of characters that brings Warhol’s “Exploding Plastic Inevitable” to life during the show’s intermission. Guests are invited to freshen up their drinks while the cast slinks through the crowd, dancing with unsuspecting victims, nailing their art to the walls and giggling with Warhol in the corner. The Alchemist is quickly transformed into a debauchery-laden kaleidoscope of color.
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The King of Pop’s set shifts periodically from swanky uptown apartment to dilapidated studio to Warhol’s silvery workshop with the help of a series of portable walls. It’s in The Factory that the play finally comes to a head. Warhol’s ragtag team of artists, druggies and “superstars” finally face the inevitable truth: They are simply disposable pawns in their hero’s rise to meteoric fame. By the end, Warhol delivers a passionate speech to the audience reveling in his artistic future. “I am a bloodsucker,” Warhol proudly proclaims, “I’ll give them what they want.”
The show is the second installment in the New York Stories trilogy. The series of three Alchemist Theatre plays delve into the glitz and glamour of ’60s and ’70s pop culture, including the Warhol scene, CBGB, Max’s Kansas City and Studio 54.The third installment, titled The Scene You Need, is due to hit the stage in late June.
Through May 16 at the Alchemist Theatre, 2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. For tickets, email the.alchemist.theatre@gmail.com or visit thealchemisttheatre.com.
