The Ballad of Belle Siddons by Jim MotavalliMeet Belle Siddons, aka Madam Vestal, aka Lurline Monteverde, aka Montel Holman: a woman of many names, many talents, and many stories. Motavalli presents us with an interview of Belle towards the end of her life as she sits behind bars. Belle is a picture of the Civil War-era south she grew up in and the wild west where she thrived.
The play aired on Motavalli's radio show on Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 at 9pm. It is expected to air on Second Saturday Magazine on Saturday, August 8th, 2020. |
Written by Jim Motavalli
Directed by Bob Johnson
Associate Produced by Kate Greenberg
Music by Liz McNicholl
Directed by Bob Johnson
Associate Produced by Kate Greenberg
Music by Liz McNicholl
Cast
Belle Siddons: Brenda Currin
Reporter: Don Gibson
Jailer: Robert Davey
Narrator: Harry Minot
Reporter: Don Gibson
Jailer: Robert Davey
Narrator: Harry Minot
Biographies
Brenda Currin (Belle Siddons) NY theater credits include Obie Award for My Sister in This House by Wendy Kesselman. Film credits: In Cold Blood, The World According to Garp, Reds, Taps, and cult classic C.H.U.D., Out of Blue starring Patricia Clarkson, Happy Death Day 2U, Gossamer Folds, The Friend, Claws. In New Orleans Brenda played Thelma Toole in the New Orleans Tennessee Williams Festival’s Confederacy of Dunces, Dividing the Estate, To Kill a Mockingbird, Orpheus Descending and Suddenly Last Summer. With David Kaplan, Brenda has worked on adaptations of Eudora Welty’s stories, Sister and Miss Lexie and A Fire Was in My Head.
Don Gibson (Reporter) is Dean and Professor of Management at the O’Malley School of Business, Manhattan College, in Riverdale, New York. Previously, Don served as Dean and Professor at Fairfield University, where he was co-producer of the Academy Players, and acted in productions of Perpetual Peace (2011), Glengarry Glen Ross (2012), Way to Heaven (2013), Life of Riley (2014), All in the Timing (2016), and Life Sucks (an update and adaptation of Uncle Vanya) (2017).
Robert Davey (Jailer) began a career in journalism at the Fairfield County Advocate and other Connecticut publications including Connecticut Magazine. His articles on the TWA Flight 800 crash and on electronic surveillance in the Bush and Obama eras have appeared in the Village Voice and Penthouse. He graduated from the University of Leeds with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He played roles on stage and on TV in Coronation Street, Crown Court, and Jesus of Nazareth. He studied singing, piano and music theory in Vancouver, BC, toured Vancouver schools with a small opera company, and sang a baritone role in Carmen for a startup opera company. He also handled advance publicity for the company.
Harry Minot (Narrator) started out at WLAD Radio in Danbury CT at age 16. At 19 he began working as a Producer at Compton Advertising in NYC. At 25 he became General Manager of WPKN Radio in Bridgeport, CT, continuing for almost 30 years in a tenure which included that station’s transition to independence from its educational licensee. He has worked as a Customer Service Representative at a call center and as a Security Officer. He hosts a monthly WPKN program on the 4th Wednesdays from 4 to 6:50pm and also records voice acting projects from his soundproof announcer booth. https://www.voices.com/actors/HarryMinot/demos
Jim Motavalli (Playwright). This is my first play, and I got the idea for it while researching my latest book, The Real Dirt on America’s Frontier Outlaws (Gibbs Smith). Belle Siddons emerged as a larger-than-life figure--society debutante, Confederate spy, faro dealer in Deadwood, South Dakota during the same period covered in the eponymous HBO TV series, cabaret performer of some repute. Belle (also known as Lurline Monte Verde and Madam Vestal) was also a prodigious alcoholic and opium addict, and following some derring-do and love-gone-wrong in Deadwood, she drifted from town to town, finally washing up in San Francisco in 1881. The play is based on a piece in the San Francisco Examiner in the fall of that year. It’s an interview with Siddons in the drunk tank, and also a retrospective of her whole colorful career. Some of it was definitely embellished, which is why I’m back at the research. Thanks to the team who assisted so ably in the production of the play: Bob, Kate, Brenda, Harry, Don, Robert and Liz.
Liz McNicholl (Musician) singer/songwriter: is a native of Co. Meath, Ireland now living in Hamden, CT and performs as a soloist and with her band The Liz McNicholl Band. Liz intertwines folk, Americana and Irish music into her shows and engages her audience with wit and storytelling. She plays the guitar, ukulele and bodhrán (Irish drum) and has released three albums: Grand Central Station, Tiny Lights, and an album with her band (formerly) called The Crickstones. Liz also runs an Early Childhood Music Program in the New Haven area called Musical Folk (offering the Music Together program).
Kate Greenberg (Associate Producer) is excited to continue the role of associate producer for Second Saturday Magazine’s series of radio plays. She previously acted in War of the Worlds. Kate worked with Bob on the American premier of Lofty Larceny, for which she was an actor, the stage manager, and the script editor. She graduated from Skidmore College in 2019 with a major in Education Studies and a minor in Theater.