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Mandy and Bebe: ‘This is It’

 

Mandy and Bebe are two characters created in 1983 by Wade Madsen and Nancy Cranbourne.

 

Nancy Cranbourne is Mandy, a self-absorbed classic Hollywood celebrity who talks about seemingly random, disconnected events while also posing her deep questioning existential thoughts. Assisted by Wade Madsen as her sidekick Bebe, she connects her grand statements and mental escapades into sometimes absurd, sometimes astute points of view.

 

Bebe speaks directly to Mandy in a made-up, French-inflected gibberish that only Mandy can interpret and will perhaps translate. Bebe may also speak directly to the audience on a wide range of topics. Together they inform through highly choreographed monologues, illustrating philosophies of life and death, of multi-dimensions, art and human experience, revealing an insightful allegory and nothing less than the purpose for all existence.

 

 

‘Looking Back at Itself' 

Created for the original premiere of the Seattle International Dance Festival in 2016

 

A group of performers will explore their way through life, accompanied by a sound score of selected text by Allen Watts. The Big Question is asked: who, what and where are we on a macro scale? Observing the family of humanity in all its fragility, joy, pain, struggle and contentment, this is an examination of ourselves amidst and within the universe as a whole. A sister work to Mandy and Bebe and evolving to a level only hinted at in its original production, the re-set piece has found new life through various workshops, re-staging, and theatrical reimagining. The cast of accomplished dancers includes Jamie Karlovich, Sean Tomerlin, Amy Ross, Chloe Albin, Nahshon Marden, Nicole Leung, and Calie Swedberg.

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This production is made possible with the generous support of Cornish College of the Arts.