Contact info:
www.decadesapart.org
http://www.facebook.com/rickpulos
Birthplace:
Alameda, CA
Zodiac sign:
I’m all Taurus!
Your medium/genre:
Theatre, multimedia performance, videography
Describe what you do:
Writer, Artist, Media Designer, Performer, Producer, Educator
Turn on’s:
Sense of humor, style, and inclusive aptitude. Creativity without arrogance.
Turn off’s:
Negative energy and overt attitude, haters
Describe your perfect date:
Being with someone that pays attention that is carefree and goes with the flow, and leaves life’s stresses at the door!
Pet peeves:
I hate it when people touch my TV or computer screens – it’s like putting you’re finger on my Mona Lisa while the paint is drying!
Fave sex idol:
Right now it is Enrique Iglesias but Madonna is forever for me.
1ST crush:
I was working running crew on My Fair Lady in the 10th grade and I was so in to this 11th grader, Brandon, another stage hand, and I remember after the show that I would make sure to walk by him all over campus just to see him – hoping he’d say hi. I wonder what he’s like today…
Fave music:
The Queen, Madonna.
Top movies that inspire you:
I’m going to mention a TV show here that is current: Shameless. Film examples include A Nightmare Before Christmas, Silverlake Life: A View From Here, The Grifters, Ruthless People, The Bicycle Thief, and Fight Club.
Fave quote:
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” - Dr. Seuss
Reading List:
Harry Potter series, Beloved, Burried Child and other Sam Shepard plays, Jurassic Park and other Michael Crichton novels.
One of your obsessions:
Helping others have fun!
Fave queer from history:
Harvey Milk, Survivors from the dark day of AIDS
Most Pivotal Performance/event/etc:
Watching Phylicia Rashad’s dazzling performance on Broadway in Osage County. I never thought anyone could perform so brilliantly.
Fave performance experience:
Any Madonna concert – a true “assault on the senses.”
Most frightening performance experience:
I recently attended a performance of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying with Daniel Radcliffe. Unfortunately, a stagehand passed away and I saw the EMTs remove the purple-faced man from the backstage door. The show did not go on since Radcliffe and John Larroquette and the rest of cast’s “hearts…not in it.”
Places performed:
Harry Warren Theatre of the Ryan Repertory Company (Brooklyn, NY), Nuyorican Poets Café (Manhattan), and the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts (Long Island, NY); among others.
Education:
Yale, University of Southern California, City University of New York, and Long Island University.
What do you (does your art) stand for:
Compassion and navigating the surprises of life while trying to survive.
Thoughts on the LA queer art scene:
From what I am experiencing, artists here seem to care about each other in a real way. That is very inspiring.
What is your Vision for the Queer Future:
I think a lot of art will eventually retreat from media and return to traditional forms.
What are your upcoming events:
Highways Performance Space
+
the Ryan Repertory Company
as part of
BEHOLD! A Queer Performance Festival
present the multimedia theatrical performance
Decades Apart: Reflections of Three Gay Man by Rick Pulos
Fri + Sat, July 22 + 23 @ 8.30pm
This multimedia work from New York-based artist, performer and writer Pulos captures significant moments in the lives of three gay American men living and surviving in 1970s San Francisco, 1980s New York City, and 1990s Los Angeles.
Chicago Stage Style raves that Decades Apart demonstrates “real innovation[s] in gay theatre” and that the text is “…a provocative and thought provoking picture of same-sex proclivities and issues. If the response to Pulos' World Premiere was any indication, this is a work that can really get blood boiling out there, and isn't that one of the benchmarks of great theatre?”
New York Theatre Wire writes “Pulos [uses] videos to great effect, creating time, place and mood with tapes of actual events as well as fanciful imagery.”
Tickets: $20/$15
Purchase tickets online @ www.highwaysperformance.org
1651 18th Street, @ 18th Street Arts Center, (½ block north of Olympic Blvd.),
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Sample of Work:
Patrick
(1985, New York City)
Media: Imagery that recalls 1980s New York City with music that defines the coke sniffing, AIDS fearing, greediness of the time and place. Useful images might include Nancy Reagan, subway trains overrun with graffiti, and executives in suits crowding NYC streets.
I voted for Reagan. Twice! (Media: Ronald Regan with an American flag proudly in the background) I’m not ashamed to say it. Why should I be? It feels like every single fag in New York City hates me for my political views but they have no problem fucking each other to death. I’m protecting myself and this body. This is all I have. It’s gotten to a point where all I see are sick faces. Even the healthy ones look like death to me. Too much decadence and overindulgence has run amuck in the city.
I used to see sexy bodies and transcending smiles, but now the bodies seem emaciated and teeth are falling to the floor everywhere. (Media: Rock Hudson turning from gorgeous to a skeleton).
Well I’m not bending down to pick those teeth up. I’m not getting my hands dirty for people that take unforgivable risks. I’m not waking up one morning and looking in the mirror to see the back of my mouth when I smile---it’s not happening to me!
I spend a lot of nights at home. (Media: a map of America engulfed in flames). I spend a lot of days at funerals. Men I loved and men I’ve made love to. So I can’t put myself out there and maybe that’s made me cold and maybe that’s made me smart.
Maybe being cold and smart is the only defense against all this suffering.
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