One-man show salutes street poet
By MICHAEL SMITH World Entertainment Writer 9/29/00
Dysfunctional parents. Alcoholism. Ulcers, hepatitis and skin cancer. Barroom brawls. Jail. Attempted suicides. Prostitutes. Groupies. Rats and silverfish. Los Angeles freeways and cars that wouldn't run. Bad days at the track.Sounds like a recipe for disaster, and one wonders how liquored-up street poet Charles Bukowski lived to be 73. One look at this list of life experiences, and there is little wonder why this underground sensation wrote works with titles like "To the Whore Who Took My Poems," "Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail," "Notes of a Dirty Old Man," "Love Is a Dog From Hell" and "Play the Piano Drunk/Like a Percussion Instrument/Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit."
The poem noted here gives a nice insight into the man, but it is definitely a G-rated piece taken from his R-rated existence and works.
Charles Bukowski's punishing, often crude and scathingly honest prose about humanity made him an international anti-hero -- and worthy of a tribute for Tulsa audiences, said Randy Whalen, who is producing and starring in this one-man show.
"He's passionate, and he slaps you right in the face," Whalen said of Bukowski. "When I discovered him, I needed him and connected with him. I had just broken up with this girl, and I went into a bookstore and found this book about a guy having women problems. And it was the most amazing thing I had ever read."
He will pay tribute to this kindred spirit with a one-man performance, a poetry reading that may see him behind a desk, or maybe going into the audience to look for someone to talk back to him. Or maybe not.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen. I may just sit there and drink beer and spit in their eye for a bit," Whalen said. "I want to keep it loose and let the audience get involved and really experience it. Then we'll see what happens."
The show sounds like a nice fit for the Nightingale Theater, where the staff has been presenting this kind of non-traditional fare all year. "I'm just trying to do something a little different, and this is the perfect place for me," Whalen said.
WHAT: Randy Whalen presents his one-man show portraying "Charles Bukowski"
WHERE: Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
TICKETS: $5-$7, reservations may be made by calling 583-8487 [As of February 2007, 633-8666]
(Note: This play has adult themes.)