 When my friends Abby DeVuyst and Kerry Young first told me about their show "Big Knockers: Debunking The Fox Sisters", which would be performed at the 2017 Rochester Fringe Festival, I did a little dance of joy.
The show is a spoof on the Fox Sisters, often credited with founding the American Spiritualist movement thanks to their claims that they could communicate with the spirit world via a system of rappings or knockings. If you read my blog or follow me on social media, you know that for the last couple of years I've been researching and writing a book about...well, it started as a book about Mt. Hope Cemetery, but it's now rabbit trailed all over the place as I've encountered fascinating stories about Rochester's history and the unknown residents who lay buried, often in unmarked graves, not only in Mt. Hope but other local cemeteries. I've got piles of research notes, chapter drafts, and half-written blog posts on everyone from Wild West showman Buffalo Bill Cody to American aviatrix Blanche Stuart Scott, from clairvoyant physician Mrs. Dr. Jennie C Dutton to murder victim Emma Moore. So when I offered to provide Kerry and Abby with some research that might help them put the Fox sisters in context with local history, they told me to send along anything I wanted. I went through my files and then inundated them with stories about local inventors, mediums, and clairvoyant physicians. I sent newspaper clippings and wrote rambling paragraphs outlining crazy stories that have fascinated me for years. I spouted facts and dates. I sent links to stories I'd already written. And then I apologized a hundred times for overloading them with information. And then they thanked me, and told me that they used what I'd sent them to help form the characters and stories in the show. By that time, I'd already auditioned for and gotten a part in "Big Knockers", so I was over the moon that these people who have lived for years in my head and in file folders would have their stories heard. But even better? I got to bring one of my favorite women to life: I play a notorious local madam named Matilda Dean. While the "Big Knockers" writers obviously had to take liberties with dates and story lines in order to make it all work for the show (and add the humor), the characters actually are based on real people, and much of details they share about themselves are true. So for those of you want to know more, here's a little backstory for"Big Knockers". Keep in mind that these are just small snippets of stories; much more about them lies in folders piled up on my desk, waiting to find a home in blog posts and book chapters. Or who knows? Maybe on another stage? Anyway, you can click HERE to read my post with more information about the characters you met in "Big Knockers: Debunking The Fox Sisters". |