Tom X. Chao

Tom X. Chao
Occupation Playwright, writer, actor, musician
Nationality American
Alma mater University of Southern California
New York University
Notable works Cats Can See the Devil
Website
tomxchao.com

Tom X. Chao is a comedic playwright, actor, and musician based in New York City whose works have been produced in the United States and Canada. Chao regularly stars in his own work, usually playing an unflattering autobiographical character named "Tom." During the 1990s, Chao was a member of New York City's Art Stars alternative performance scene, and The New York Times called him "a dryly funny downtown comedian,"[1] and Time Out New York labeled him a "hilariously angsty writer-performer."[2] He is best known for his play Cats Can See the Devil, which appears in Plays and Playwrights 2004.

Plays

The Negative Energy Field

Chao's first production, an experimental one-act play in which he also starred. The lead character spends the entirety of the show delivering existential monologues while lying under a large piece of black cloth, until he is challenged by an otherworldly woman in a white dress. Chao created The Negative Energy Field as part of his Masters thesis in performance art at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, premiering it in 1996 at Pink, Inc. in New York City, with Shawn Sides originating the role of the Woman in the White Dress.[3] It was subsequently produced at Dixon Place, the New York International Fringe Festival, and elsewhere.[4]

Summer, Deepening Then Gone

Chao's first produced work to include a full cast and the only in which he has never played a role, Summer, Deepening Then Gone involves a teenage girl who magically summons an unwitting poet to protect her from the unwanted advances of a suitor.[5] It debuted in 1999 at HERE in New York City[6] under the original title The Universe of Despair before being retitled for later productions. Script published on Indietheaternow.com in May 2016.[7]

Can't Get Started

A one-act play in which a young woman tries to help a hapless King Crimson fan understand relationships, Can't Get Started premiered at the St. Marks Theater in 2000[8] as Chao's first work as an artist-in-residence at New York's Horse Trade Theater Group.[9] An early performance of the play was included in the video archive series of New York City experimental theater NotPerformanceArt.[10] Can't Get Started later saw multiple productions in Canada, one featuring Chao at the 2006 Edmonton International Fringe Festival,[11] and a revival with a new cast for the 2011 Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival.[12]

Cats Can See the Devil

An absurdist comedy in which an experimental theater production—involving a puppet show in which all the characters are abstract shapes—devolves into a scathing deconstruction of its creator and his failed romantic life when he's confronted and ridiculed by a series of women. Cats Can See the Devil premiered in 2003 at the New York International Fringe Festival[13] in a production starring Chao and directed by John Harlacher, with choreography by Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers.[14] The play was published in the 2004 edition of the Plays and Playwrights anthology series,[14] and monologues from it were excerpted in several books, including The Best Men's Stage Monologues of 2004.[15][16][17] The original working script for Cats Can See the Devil is in the collection of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Callous Cad

A 2009 semi-autobiographical work in which Chao stars as himself on the occasion of a visit by a magical being come to celebrate Tom's first true love. Instead, the Being finds Tom unsatisfied and morose, and she attempts to determine why.[18] Charlotte Pines was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for outstanding actress in a lead role for her performance as the Magical Being in a 2011 revival of the play,[19] a production that The New York Times called "intriguing... droll and ruminative."[20] Script published on Indie Theater Now in September 2016.

Acting

Chao frequently appears in his own plays, usually as himself. Aside from his own work, Chao's acting appearances include Deb Margolin's Critical Mass,[21] Jen Mitas and Hilary Koob-Sassen's feature film The Bioengine,[22] John Harlacher's feature film Urchin,[23] a recreation of the lost 1932 film Charlie Chan's Chance,[24] and the radio comedy Special Relativity.[25]

Music

Tom X. Chao composed and performed original songs for several of his plays. In 2008 he released a four-song EP of original music, The Only Record.[26] It was followed by singles in 2010 and 2012.

List of works

Full-Length Plays

  • The Negative Energy Field, New York, Pink Inc., 1996.
  • Summer, Deepening Then Gone, (née The Universe of Despair), New York, HERE, 1999.
  • Can't Get Started, New York, The St. Marks Theater, 2000.
  • The Scientists, New York, Surf Reality, 2001.[27]
  • Cats Can See the Devil, New York, UNDER St. Marks, 2003.
  • Callous Cad, New York, Dixon Place, 2009.[28]

Short Plays

  • "Please Don't Eat My Lucky Pear," New York, Dixon Place, 1998.
  • "Tom Chao's Sketch Comedy Troupe," New York, DTX, 2001.
  • "The Relationship Expert," New York, The St. Marks Theater, 2002.[29]
  • "How to Invoke Pan" (with Craig Heimbichner), New York, Brick Theater, 2004.[6]
  • "Jaded Individual," New York, Prospect Theater, 2004.
  • "Freak Out Under the Apple Tree," Montreal, CFCF-CTV Stage, 2005.[30]:251
  • "The Peculiar Utterance of the Day," New York, The Red Room, 2007.[30]:263
  • "The Alternative Lifestyle Fair," New York, Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 2008.[31]
  • "The King Looks Out for Your Well-Being," Astoria, New York, One-Minute Play Festival, 2010.[32]
  • "My Sister's Magnetic Personality," Ottawa, Ottawa Fringe Festival, 2014.[33]
  • "40th Anniversary of the Womyn's Empowering Movement Lab," New York, New Ohio Theatre, One-Minute Play Festival, 2016. [34]

Music

  • The Only Record, 2008.
  • "Woman, I'm an A*****e," 2010.[35]
  • "I Wish I Were Pretty," 2012.[36]

Podcasts

  • The Peculiar Utterance of the Day, libsyn, 2006–2008.[37]
  • Tom X. Chao’s New Podcast, Posthaven, 2011-2013.[38]
  • Tom X. Chao's Podcast, Soundcloud, 2013–2014.[39]

References

  1. ↑ McKinley, Jesse. "The Festivals Come Thick, Fast and Wild". The New York Times (July 9, 2004).
  2. ↑ "2xTXC". Time Out New York (January 25-February 1, 2001).
  3. ↑ Chao, Tom (September 1996). "The Uses of Stillness: A Postmodern Performance Technique".
  4. ↑ Tanzer, Joshua (January 24, 2001). "The brother's grim". OffOffOffTheater.
  5. ↑ Abalos, Marilyn. "Asians and Amazons by Abalos". New York Theatre Wire.
  6. 1 2 "Tom X. Chao". doollee.com: The Playwrights Database. Julian Oddy. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Summer, Deepening Then Gone". Indie Theater Now. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Tanzer, Joshua (October 13, 2000). "Some more Chao fun". OffOffOffTheater.
  9. ↑ "Resident Artist". Horse Trade Theater Group. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Can't Get Started". NotPerformanceArt. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  11. ↑ Wuensch, Yuri. "By all means, get him started". Edmonton Sun (August 22, 2006).
  12. ↑ St. Germain, Pat. "Fringe Show Reviews – Can't Get Started". Winnipeg Free Press (July 7, 2011).
  13. ↑ Lewonczyk, Jeff (August 15, 2003). "Cats Can See the Devil". nytheatre.com. The New York Theatre Experience, Inc. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  14. 1 2 Denton, Martin (February 2004). Plays and Playwrights 2004. New York: The New York Theatre Experience, Inc. ISBN 0-9670234-5-9.
  15. ↑ Lepidus, D.L. (2004). The Best Men's Stage Monologues of 2004. Hanover, NH: Smith and Kraus. ISBN 1-57525-403-4.
  16. ↑ Lepidus, D.L. (2004). The Best Women's Stage Monologues of 2004. Hanover, NH: Smith & Kraus. ISBN 1575254026.
  17. ↑ Ratliff, Gerald Lee (2008). Young Women's Monologues from Contemporary Plays #2. Colorado Springs, CO: Meriwether. ISBN 156608153X.
  18. ↑ Reisberg, Jay (October 13, 2011). "Cheerful Insanity: Chao and Katzberg in Repertory". Culture Catch.
  19. ↑ "2012 New York Innovative Theatre Awards Nominees". New York Innovative Theatre Awards.
  20. ↑ Webster, Andy. "Support From a Love Sprite and Some Fractured Friends". The New York Times (October 10, 2011).
  21. ↑ Marks, Peter. "Gently Turning the Tables on Critics". The New York Times (March 8, 1997).
  22. ↑ "The Bioengine". YouTube. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  23. ↑ "Urchin". IMDb.
  24. ↑ Charlie Chan Collection, Volume 3 (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. August 14, 2007.
  25. ↑ "Special Relativity: A Radio Comedy Starring Alex Borstein". Special Relativity. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  26. ↑ "The Only Record by Tom X. Chao". Spotify. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  27. ↑ Tanzer, Joshua (December 6, 2001). "Aural gratification". OffOffOffTheater.
  28. ↑ "Dixon Place Presents Tom X. Chao's CALLOUS CAD, Opens 12/4". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  29. ↑ "The Lab @ Horse Trade". TheaterMania.
  30. 1 2 Willis, John (2009). Theatre World: Volume 63, 2006–2007. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN 1557837287.
  31. ↑ "Tiny Theater at the Ontological!". TheaterMania.
  32. ↑ "The 4th Annual New York One-Minute Play Festival".
  33. ↑ Reid, Kevin (June 27, 2014). "Ottawa FRINGE-COMA 2014 – DICKY DICKY". The Visitorium.
  34. ↑ "The 2nd New York City Indie Theatre One Minute Play Festival". New Ohio Theatre. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  35. ↑ ""Woman, I'm an A*****e" by Tom X. Chao". iTunes.
  36. ↑ ""I Wish I Were Pretty" by Tom X. Chao". Spotify. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  37. ↑ "The Peculiar Utterance of the Day". libsyn.
  38. ↑ "Tom X. Chao's New Podcast". Posthaven.
  39. ↑ "Tom X. Chao's Podcast". Soundcloud.


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