Archive for March 18th, 2007

Its a familiar paradigm:

The Yin Yang of Art imitating Life, and Life in turn imitating art. Seinfeld even once pulled the meta-tasticly ironic quadfecta of Art-imitates-Life-imitates-Art-imitates-Life in the brilliant episode #155 known as “The Muffin Top” (The show’s Cosmo Kramer hosts a Jay Peterman reality tour -which is based on Real-world Kenny Kramer hosting a Seinfeld reality tour based on The TV show Seinfeld, which is based on the real lives of Jerry Seinfeld and Kenny Kramer. Whoa.)

In attempting to apply this to the Barefoot Theater’s performance of “Dog Day Afternoon” I found an even more complex display of the spiral: It seems I’ve stumbled upon Art imitating Art imitating Journalism imitating Life. Or is Journalism a bridge between Life and Art? . . . Christ I need an aspirin.

In 1972, two men held up a Chase Bank on Ave P and E3rd st. in Brooklyn NY. What ensued was a bizarre 14-hour Urban Dramedy in which it was discovered that the cause for the hold-up was so that the “mastermind” (if he could be called one) needed money for his male-wife’s sex change.

Only in New York, right? Well, only in Brooklyn to be exact.

The story was unique and fascinating enough to inspire journalist P.F. Kluge to write a feature article in Life Magazine entitled “Boys in the Bank” as if the sex-change bank-robbery weren’t enough, the other factors that simmers in the stifling heat and tension of the summer of 1972 in Brooklyn, seeped through every inch of the Brooklyn streets on that strange, strange day.

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