Any artist will tell you, especially starting out, it’s easier to die from exposure than to sustain yourself with it. At the same time, while struggling artists fight to feed, clothe and house themselves, exposure is still the common nonlegal tender that’s offered.
The artists of the Julesworks variety show know that rule. They're collected from the surrounding area and driven by a common purpose: to perform art. Though they're not paid, the performers continue with their theatrics as a labor of love, toiling away at day jobs, exposure or no.
Without the time or resources to produce an entire play, the Julesworks Follies are a scripted and rehearsed series of vignettes running the gamut of comedy, drama and experimental performance art. This motley approach to theater appears onstage yet again Feb. 16 in Julesworks' 42nd show, Not Quite Valentine's Day.
It's an almost vaudevillian endeavor, with multiple acts convening on the stage at the Jean Cocteau. "Vaudeville is a term that's come up. In fact, [theater owner George RR Martin] himself during that first year used to tell people, 'This is Jules; he's crazy and he's trying to bring vaudeville back singlehandedly,' or whatever," says Stephen Jules Rubin, producer of Julesworks Follies. "And I would laugh and [think], I'm not even sure what vaudeville is. It's evolved over the years; it wasn't even called the Julesworks Follies at first. It started as … a showcase for different talent in town, essentially people who have other jobs and don't have the time to [commit to a full production]."
During the day, Rubin works two jobs. One is a part-time gig at the Jean Cocteau, and he is also a waiter at the Jambo Café. He first arrived in Santa Fe in the late 1990s, jumping into the local open-mic and short film scene. "After four or five years … I stopped wanting to do so much low- to no-paying film stuff because, especially the editing, I started feeling badly about getting really talented people to donate their time," says Rubin. "Obviously, anyone who is in the Julesworks show probably would love to make a living off of it, but nobody really does. And not just Julesworks, but whatever their art is."
And it is a variety show, but not only in the types of acts performed. Julesworks attracts a wide social strata of people into its fold. Company member and local musician Johny Broomdust (birth name John Widell) describes himself as a "friendly neighborhood lawyer." Disenchanted with being a trial lawyer in Seattle, he turned his back on the rat race and now practices estate planning, mediation or other forms of low-key legal assistance. "Being a trial lawyer, you're really the ultimate whore. You're selling all of your creativity and energy," says Broomdust. "I had a crisis of spirit and became less of a lawyer and more of a musician and entertainer. I would prefer not to have a day job. And were it not for some big expenses as a result of poor romantic decisions, I'd figure out a way to pay the rent playing music. It seems frivolous, but ultimately it's not. The skills I was selling to people for $350 an hour can be used to do something with comedy and charisma and whatever else it is … to bring a little light to the people you encounter."
Greg Sonnenfeld is a scientific software programmer by day, who even worked for NASA early in his career, but by night he's an actor, director and sketch writer. "Me and my friend Laura saw this really cool flyer that had cats and unicorns and rainbows and guns; it seemed like something really cool," says Sonnenfeld. "They said if you want to come and perform that they have some audience slots during the end of the show. We said hey, that'd be awesome, and we did like, two sketches I think."
Sonnenfeld ended up on the crew and now is fully immersed. "I think it's a place where you can really try out some creative things. I really hadn't done it much since high school. It really gave me an opportunity to be in the performing arts. In high school I wanted to be an actor, but I thought, Nobody makes any money in acting—like one in a 100. So I became an engineer and a software developer instead."
For the members of Julesworks, it's not just a hobby. It's art inspiring life.
"Whatever it is in human nature that drives people to express and tell stories, if you're not doing it, it's not healthy," says Rubin.
Julesworks Follies,
Not Quite Valentine's Day
7 pm Tuesday, Feb. 16., $10
Jean Cocteau Cinema,
418 Montezuma Ave.
466-5528
Santa Fe Reporter