A COFFEE WITH...

A peek into the partnership behind 'Peepshow'

Talking love, creativity and Tom Waits with "Peepshow' creators

By Kaitlin Ballard
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, April 10, 2009

By nature we are pleasure-seeking beings looking for our next fix. Maybe we express it through music, art or guzzling a beer with friends after work; maybe through gardening. Whatever the outlet, there's certainly a need to indulge.

And as we're bombarded by news of the collapse of business after business and the layoffs of fellow comrades, that need for pleasure palpitates even stronger through many of us. So taking our mind off the meltdown is exactly what Ellen Stader and Rick McNulty look to achieve with their new ''RubyRico's Peepshow Magnifico.'' One might say they're in the pleasure-seeking business, just not the kind that first comes to mind.

And because they "get it," as I like to say, they've set aside 10 tickets per show that are free to those who call 480-0799 and reserve a ticket. They've dubbed them the "Pleasure for Pain" tickets.

When I sat down with the two over lattes at Progress Coffee, I was allowed a glimpse into the passionate friendship that they've now made a lifelong commitment — they recently got married. They often look to each other to help complete thoughts when the right words can't be found. And although they come from different backgrounds — an Indiana farm and the suburbs of Chicago — it's the Midwestern connection that helps blend their styles.

It also helped that they were both into Tom Waits, whose influence took over a portion of their early years together. While driving to a wedding in the Rio Grande Valley five years ago (and listening to Waits), Stader expressed her interest in putting together a kid's show with music by the dark, melodic musician.

"When we got back, (McNulty) surprised me with a huge package of all the lyrics and notes to every song Tom Waits ever recorded," Stader says. That was one way he found into her heart.

But instead of a kid's show, a peepshow evolved — the ''Tom Waits Peepshow.'' With this, they were able to meld Stader's background in choreography and modern-burlesque dance with McNulty's intimate knowledge of music history and instrumentation (he now hosts weekly music shows on KOOP and KUT). Eventually, after gaining permission and royalty rights to use Waits' songs and performing sold-out shows in Austin, they took the show on the road.

But when the tour got close to Waits' home in Northern California, the man himself became flooded with calls from people who thought he was performing. He wanted the whole thing called off to avoid further confusion. But before doing so, Waits' publishers asked Stader and McNulty to make a video of the peepshow, mostly to see what is was all about. They did, and just after wrapping and about $7,000 later, the project was shut down.

"Imitating Tom irritates Tom," McNulty says.

The new show stems from the experience with the Tom Waits' show, just maybe not in the most delightful of ways. The subtitle for 'Peepshow Magnifico' won't be printed here, but that's revealing enough to provide insight into the theatrics of the performance.

Think mythical creature centaur getting down to Prince's 'Darling Nikki.' Or a dancer in a banana skirt being chased by a monkey. While these thoughts resonate in your mind, I'll add that the Bollywood sequence is the most over-the-top; both Stader and McNulty agree. "It's so ripe for parody," Stader says.

But don't let the absurdity, weirdness or borderline freak show frighten you; this is no amateur floor show. The six months of preparation and plethora of experience have compounded into a show possibly unlike any other in Austin. Stader says this is her dream team cast of dancers, whose backgrounds vary across the board.

McNulty's band, No Salvation Army, has rearranged the majority of songs — performed for the first time — from the Rolling Stones to Cole Porter to the White Stripes. The one song that virtually remains the same is from local band T-Bird and the Breaks.

MC Shameless McFatty leads the show in between sequences and reveals a sibling-rivalry-esque relationship with one of the band members. But though all the variety acts are mostly scripted, improvisation plays a role when an audience member is asked to spin the ''Wheel of Pleasure,'' reiterating the main focus of the production.

The burlesque, vaudeville show also will take you through areas of the world. A back-and-forth battle of the sexes performed to a dramatic tango sends you south to Buenos Aires. Then experience India, Russia and life in the bullring.

And though it might appear like a vamped-up scene from "Lost in Translation," that's essentially what's happening. They've created their own translation of dance, music, theater and comedy to fit their sense of humor and hopefully that of others.

But this show wouldn't exist if Stader and McNulty had not met. His giddy, childlike passion for music melts into her love of creating dance.

It's all thanks to a mutual friend who brought them together for a second time. And it was on that outing that Stader made a comment about the way McNulty was sitting.

"She said, 'You cross your legs like Dean Martin.' And that to me was the ultimate compliment," McNulty says.