Bill Talen and Reverend Billy

BILL TALEN AND REVEREND BILLY: A SHARED JOURNEY by KATHLEEN M. THOMAS Presented to the Department of Theater Arts and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2013 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Kathleen M. Thomas Title: Bill Talen and Reverend Billy: A Shared Journey This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Theater Arts by: John Schmor Chairperson Michael Najjar Core Member Jack Watson Core Member Linda Kintz Institutional Representative and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation; Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded March 2013 ii © 2013 Kathleen M. Thomas iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Kathleen M. Thomas Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theater Arts March 2013 Title: Bill Talen and Reverend Billy: A Shared Journey As the cultural upheaval of the ‗60s fought its way into the ‗70s, Bill Talen began his career first as a poet, hitchhiking the interstate highways from the Midwest to the Coasts eagerly engaging the literary, intellectual, and artistic opportunities offered by those cultural venues. He settled in San Francisco where he earned an M. A. in Theater Arts and joined with friends to open a theatre, ―Life on the Water.‖ Here Talen met Sydney Lanier, a minister, who became his lifelong mentor and champion. Lanier recognized in Talen a bold presence which accompanies successful preachers and elevates their sermons. He promoted and supported Talen‘s move to New York City where Talen fully embraced his role as Reverend Billy and directed the full might of his talents against consumerism—especially Michael Bloomberg‘s socio- economic goals for the City. Eventually, Talen‘s critique came to challenge foreign policies that promote corporatism, environmental decline, and the global homogenization of culture. Talen‘s body of work is extensive and two strong threads run iv through it that are exemplary. One evidences a complete and purposeful disregard for any artistic borders, especially the edgy land between acting and not-acting, including the tiny gradients as one merges into the other. Talen‘s recognition of the porosity of borders likely facilitated his willing assimilation of his character, Reverend Billy, into his own daily life and persona, until the two merged, endowing Talen, the performance artist, with the skills and insights of a spiritual leader. The second thread is simply Talen‘s life‘s journey from reluctant performer of a religious role, to the willing engagement of that role, and finally the adoption of spiritual responsibility, eventually forming a church and a religion based on activism and a strong commitment to environmental causes. The performance artist became Reverend; the Reverend was born to act. This merging of talents, goals, and dreams created a character who would run for public office. It created a performance artist who would wed lovers, baptize new congregants, and console the grieving. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Kathleen M. Thomas GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene California State University, San Bernardino DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Theater Arts, University of Oregon Master of Arts, Sociology, 2010, University of Oregon Master of Arts, Theater Arts, 2006, University of Oregon Bachelor of Science in Theater Arts, 2004, University of Oregon Master of Business Administration, 1985, California State University, San Bernardino Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, 1984, California State University, San Bernardino AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Protest Performance Lighting Design Middle Eastern Drama PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Oregon, Eugene, 2009-13 Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of Theater Arts, University of Oregon, Eugene, 2004-09 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express sincere appreciation to John Schmor for his careful guidance and thoughtful evaluations. I am grateful to Linda Kintz for introducing me to the works of Bill Talen and his alter ego, Reverend Billy, and for her ceaseless support and careful reviews. I also wish to acknowledge the unflagging support of Jack Watson for his mentoring, faith, and encouragement. I am indebted to Michael Najjar not only for carefully reviewing this document, but also for offering insights that were very useful in creating a more cohesive story than might otherwise been told. I thank Marshall W. Baker, Jr. for his patient editing of this document. vii To the Saints inducted into Sainthood by the Church of Earthalujah for standing strong against the prevailing wind. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1 II. THE EARLY YEARS ...................................................................... 25 III. BECOMING REVEREND BILLY ................................................... 111 IV. BECOMING REVEREND ............................................................. 174 V. A RELIGIOUS AWAKENING .......................................................... 238 APPENDIX: INTERVIEW WITH BILL TALEN ...................................... 305 REFERENCES CITED ....................................................................... 322 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Bill Talen is an actor who has devoted his career to countering social and economic injustice through his widely known persona, Reverend Billy. Even though Reverend Billy was wrought from careful analysis of scripted and improvised performances, theatrical arts, and Talen‘s social critiques, today Reverend Billy and Talen are as inseparable as any other person‘s public and private personas. Talen‘s early engagement with the San Francisco theatre scene in the early 1970‘s brought him into contact with many performers, who committed themselves to art in order to engage social concerns. Talen took that commitment to the streets and confronted his social adversaries in their own carefully designed buildings and before the global public eye of modern media. Many come to their life‘s work with hesitancy, initially overlooking a niche that would first welcome them and then consume their vocational energies for many years. This is true for Talen as well; however, for Talen this welcoming niche was hidden in his playwrighting skills. Initially the idea of a ―preacher‖ did not suit him. He could not envision himself in such a role. A friend‘s cajoling insights guided him to choices that he would not have otherwise made. When he donned a preacher‘s collar, and let loose his lanky 6‘ 2‖ frame, booming voice, and 1 grandiloquent style, Talen encountered Reverend Billy for the first time. A televangelist occupied the space that Talen once held alone. The message Reverend Billy broadcast was not Christian conservative, or even a challenge to that theology; rather Reverend Billy preached a fiery demand for human rights over corporate power. He demanded social justice. Reverend Billy, the televangelist, found the camera‘s eye in a multiplicity of studios, such as CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC, which vied for his attention as a counter to the pro-shopping message broadcast ceaselessly each Christmas season, not because the networks were anti- consumerism, but because the Reverend provided an amusing counter point to the standard sales hype. He has become a news staple on the Friday after each Thanksgiving as he pleads with the audience to buy nothing, or to buy local, and to remember that true love comes from the heart, not from discounted luxury gifts. Throughout the year, Reverend Billy stages protests of the corporate aggression against local neighborhoods, social injustice, and environmental mayhem. These protests are not strident rages, but staged events that repeatedly lure the media to his performances. As he holds the camera crew‘s attention, he prays for the viewers‘ consumerist souls and offers redemption through unique experiences, which are not mediated by corporate advertising. 2 Reverend Billy tours both nationally and internationally, supporting activist groups with kindred needs and concerns. He shares his theatrical expertise and notoriety, helping to draw media attention, to show solidarity, and to bolster weary spirits. Many years of experience make it almost certain that where the Reverend travels, the camera is sure to follow. His performance style is representative of many contemporary performers who have taken their act to the public stage, garnering attention for their cause by their staging, costumes, and delivery, knowing that the message is of little interest to a media industry which has come to blend entertainment with most news broadcasts. Still, Bill Talen, and Reverend Billy, are exceptional in the extent to which Talen came to embody his theatrical creation, or vice versa. Talen‘s journey from solo performer in San Francisco to the leader of a theatrical church in New York City is an intriguing tale of self discovery, vocational growth, and acceptance of an unexpected calling. Talen became a preacher, he gathered a following, he organized a church, and then he finally founded religion. Written as a professional bibliography, this work traces Bill Talen‘s theatrical persona from its inception in the San Francisco theatre scene to its modern form which is anchored

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