“You don’t know my struggle, you haven’t a clue,” proclaimed Sandup Sherpa, from Nepal, who had just dazzled the class with his break dancing. Stephanie’s family fled machete-wielding attackers during a 2004 coup. Hadeel’s father was shot in the face in Baghdad because he worked as a translator for the United States military. Sandup’s father, a legislator, was targeted for assassination by Maoist rebels and now lives in Elmhurst, Queens, selling cellphones. Leading the recent rehearsal at the International High School at LaGuardia Community College was Judith Sloan…She has spent a decade documenting immigrants’ stories and teaching teenagers to transform their experiences into theater—mainly in Queens, which, with 167 nationalities and 116 languages, was deemed the nation’s most diverse county in the 2000 census.

Ms. Sloan’s art and teaching cross-pollinate: She uses immigrant stories that she and her husband wrote about — dozens of them are included in a 2003 book, “Crossing the BLVD”—to demonstrate how to shape narrative and to get students talking about their lives. And the students flood her with new material. As she helps the students compose the performance, she is also coming full circle with a new work of her own. “Yo Miss! Teaching Inside the Cultural Divide,” which she performs with musical collaborators, re-enacts and riffs on her experiences teaching teenagers from myriad worlds: refugee camps, struggling neighborhoods, prisons. It is a performance about performances, a story containing many stories. And suddenly, “Yo Miss!” has another mission: To raise money to keep the story going. The New York Times, Anne Barnard


 

 

“Immigrant life as told in the intimate, rich, comic, ironic and sad stories so often seen but not heard in America’s big cities.”  The Washington Post, Lynn Duke


“Crossing the BLVD is a whirlwind tour and love poem of what has often been called the most racially and ethnically diverse county in America. In the tradition of the playwright Anna Deavere Smith, Ms. Sloan performs “Crossing the BLVD” adopting the personae (and respectfully mimicking the accents) of the varied immigrants whose stories are in the book… The New York Times, City Room Blog, Sewell Chan


“Crossing boldly carries the tradition of oral history into the 21st Century. Electrifying!”   Eve Ensler author The Vagina Monologues


Featured as a “Global Hit”
“An incredible and moving story… Sloan and Lehrer spent three years talking to immigrants and refugees in Queens, traveling the world, in a sense, while never leaving their backyard… a place where new immigrants from every corner of the globe come to start their lives in America. The result is a unique multi-media project. Oral History with a twist!” The World, PRI/BBC Marco Werman


“Behind the drab storefronts and nondescript homes that define the borough, Sloan and Lehrer discover a soulful place teaming with immigrants from Mexico to Australia whose stories unfold in a kaleidoscope of color…”
CNN


 

 

 









“Life is a post-modern neo-fascist garbage dump and Sloan’s’s Denial of the Fittest determinedly rakes through the detritus. It is a highly articulate show… Judith Sloan is funny, intimate, sexy and very frightening…” 
The Stage Thom Dibdin (London)

“Denial of the Fittest — A world view that sees comedy and tragedy as two bones of the same skeleton in the closet. Superb!.” The Scotsman Sara O’Sullivan (London)

“Funny and sad, topical and biting… Exquisite comic timingÉ best of all, Sloan can make you see your world in a slightly different way. And that’s what theater is supposed to do.” 
The Indianapolis Star Marion Gamel

“In listening to what people have to say, Judith Sloan captures the essence of their lives…She is one part Studs Terkel, one part Lily Tomlin, two-parts originality.” The Herald Bloomington, Indiana

“A therapy of self in an era of hard-boiled reality. Sloan’s monologues demonstrate the capacity of words to bear their own freakish existence in colour and comedy. Ever accessible, a committed and persistent humorist who uses pathos as a mojo stick to make us laugh and think.” The List Edinburgh, Ronan O’Connell

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Deputy Andrea Gibbs dared to break through the monkey order known as ‘the blue wall of silence’ by speaking out against the chronic brutal treatment of inmates in Mississippi prisons. A Tattle Tale brings to life her saga in Judith Sloan’s infectious solo performance. Co-written by Warren Lehrer in a folksy idiom that invites the audience to ‘come raid my refrigerator anytime,’ Sloan’s portrait reveals the unusual courage of a garden-variety conscience.” The Village Voice Charles McNulty

“A Tattle Tale” is a true and fascinating story about a cop breaking ranks against police brutality. Judith Sloan plays Gibbs as a friendly down-home gal who is a mix of bawdy, naive, street smart and funny..” New York Newsday

“In a Herculean, intermissionless opus, Judith Sloan delivers a provocative dramatization of a whistle-blower’s attempts to expose police brutality and political corruption in Mississippi.” New York Law Journal

“[A Tattle Tale is] an important show, incredible research, very touching, often humorous. The story of a feisty woman, a wonderful play of social commitment and passion.” Democracy NOW Amy Goodman

 

 

 


“Sloan wickedly skewers stereotypes… screws up her face with Lily Tomlin-esque elasticity. Plus, Sloan’s a good juggler!” 
The Village Voice Evelyn McDonnell

“Sloan challenges U.S. Foreign Policy, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, homophobia, and a host of other issues throughout an amazingly varied series of character-driven monologues.” 
MS Magazine

“A welcome voice crying in the contemporary wilderness of political correctness. On-the-money satire seasoned with tolerance and joie de vivre.” Theater Week

 

 




“Warren Lehrer in essence “performed” his book-in-progress named The Rise and Fall of Bleu Mobley: A Life in Books, an illuminated novel about the 101 books created by his alter ego, Bleu Mobley. Lehrer actually designed book covers and wrote excerpts for all 101 books, which he’s compiled into this crazy narrative that chronicles Mobley’s early fiction, a string of self-help books, and finally, his habit of blurring fiction with nonfiction, which results in him being jailed. Someone needs to publish this book, but most importantly, you should run if you ever get a chance to see Lehrer present this project.” 
Unbeige, MediaBistro

“Lehrer pioneered what might be best termed “typographic performance.”
Eye Magazine Steve Heller

“Lehrer explores the rich dissonance of sound and life surrounding each of us… challenging the line between life and art…” 
Afterimage Nancy Soloman

 

 

“Lehrer is a 21st century oral history, new journalism mastermind. Studs Terkel in cyberspace… eccentric, strange, dangerous and amazing stories.” 
City In Exile, WBAI, Matthew Finch

Collectively, the subjects of The Portrait Series make up a riveting group of eccentrics… Their stories echo in your mind long after the sound of them has ceased…” 
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Zoe Ingalls

“In the four new publications by Lehrer… the implications of a new kind of literature are at last being pursued. …The Portrait Series is articulated with enormous feeling and care by an author with an ear superbly attuned to the cadences of spoken language.”
Frieze Magazine, Rick Poynor

Actress, radio producer, Judith Sloan, known for her one woman performances and her collaboration with Warren Lehrer on the multi-media project Crossing the BLVD, spent 15 years teaching in schools and jails where she encountered and reported on immigration stories, cultural clashes, and generation gaps. Fusing the art of theatre and radio, YO MISS! Teaching Inside the Cultural Divide, is an eye- and ear-witness account of one artist navigating a maze of miscommunications and memories, while breaking down assumptions that divide residents of a city who live in close proximity but come from conflicting worlds. Sloan transforms into a multitude of characters, in this sometimes funny, sometimes sad, always truth-seeking performance, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist MIWI La Lupa (of Red Baraat) and DJ/Live Sound Engineer Luke Santy. Workshop directed by Joanna Settle. Musical consultants Frank London and Miwi LaLupa. Script Consultants Warren Lehrer, Touré “Southpaw” Harris. Development direction with Joanna Settle. Direction by Bob Berky.

Yo Miss! is represented by Morgan Jenness through Abrams Artists Agency

Read about the work in progress in:

NY TIMES
Huffington Post
Jewish Week

Music and sound developed by Judith Sloan in collaboration with the musicians and engineers. Includes music by:  Dave Guy, Guy Klucevsek, David Krakauer, MiWi La Lupa, Frank London, Taylor Rivelli, Adam MJ Hill and Red Ukachukwu, and Judith Sloan.  Additional music and sounds by: Touré “Southpaw” Harris, Immortal Technique, Luke Santy.

Listen to an excerpt here:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.


Join the mailing list to find out about touring


Yo Miss! is a project of EarSay, produced by Judith Sloan, developed in partnership with Viper Records and Morgan Jenness from Abrams Artist Agency. A portion of the proceeds from the Yo Miss! theatre project go to support EarSay’s Youth Education project for immigrant and refugee teenagers. Development of Yo Miss! with support from the Queens Council on the Arts, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Workshop presentations of Yo Miss were developed in 2009 and 2010 at the Danny Simmons Corridor Gallery, Nuyorican Poet’s Café, and LaGuardia Performing Arts Center. Special Thanks to Michael Dinwiddie for support with the work-in-progress, and Joanna Settle for directing the revised script.

As immigration policy is hotly debated around the country in terms of national and cultural security, Crossing the BLVD: strangers, neighbors, aliens in a new America presents the human stories of why immigrants and refugees have migrated to the US and what their experiences have been since they came here pre- and post-9/11. Based on Lehrer and Sloan’s critically acclaimed book, actor/writer Judith Sloan channels many of the people that the couple interviewed on their three-year journey around the world through the borough of Queens, New York. The performance is illuminated by projections of Lehrer’s stunning photographs  along with an original soundtrack of music and sounds, including Sloan’s audio mixes, music by Scott Johnson and Gogol Bordello. Home to the New York airports, Queens, is no longer made up of neatly partitioned ethnic enclaves. Today the choreography of Queens, a place where residents speak 138 different languages, is one of chaotic co-existence. This group portrait of a multi-ethnic, multi-racial community is a magnifying glass for the future of America. Above all, Crossing the BLVD is a celebration of resilient, prismatic character – in search of home.

Winner 2004 Brendan Gill Prize Municipal Art Society of NY

Crossing the BLVD: strangers, neighbors, aliens in a new America
Written by Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan
Performed by Judith Sloan
Photography and design by Warren Lehrer

To inquire about a performance CLICK HERE

BUY THE BOOK ON AMAZON

Watch the Video

 

 



Denial of the Fittest: excavations of untold truths and other outbursts is a one woman show that interweaves family secrets and public lies. Featuring a dozen characters in the person of actress performance artist Judith Sloan, this funny and haunting work traverses a Jewish family’s taboos, nervous breakthroughs, nuclear meltdowns, beauty school and an ever-expanding hole in the ozone layer. It is a chronicle of memory and transformation, based on Judith’s own coming to terms with the deaths of her father and grandmother when she was a young girl. Denial of the Fittest is a madcap look at the effects of whispers, silence and lies within a nuclear family and the nuclear secrets of a global family. Running time: one hour, twenty minutes. Workshop performances originally developed at La Mama ETC. It received critical acclaim at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has been produced in theaters, universities and conferences throughout the USA and in Canada. From the editors of the anthology From Memory To Transformation; Denial of the Fittest script included: “Judith Sloan is a superb performing artist who makes the personal into the political. She takes on the nuances of personal everyday life experiences and combines them with larger current world issues, plays with them and entices her audiences with biting insight and poignant realites. In her performance piece Denial of the Fittest, her protagonist must deal with the deceptions and secrets of her family and her own inner past before she can find her authentic identity.” Sarah Silberstein Swartz and Margie Wolfe.

 

Denial of the Fittest
Performed by Judith Sloan
Written by Judith Sloan in collaboration with Warren Lehrer. Directed by Lehrer.

To listen to an excerpt:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.


To inquire about a performance CLICK HERE

 

Judith Sloan portrays a muckraking southern woman with a sharp ironic wit, riding a roller coaster through an incestuous Mississippi legal system made up of frightening, odd and quirky characters. A Tattle Tale, the story of a teenage runaway, turned deputy sheriff, turned whistleblower, bears witness to coming of age in the face of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Inspired by the true story of Andrea Gibbs, who in 1989, sworn to uphold the law, blew the whistle on her superior officers for the brutal treatment of juvenile offenders in detention centers and prisons in Mississippi. In 1993, her efforts culminated in federal investigations and closings of prisons that were deemed “barbaric and unfit for human habitation.” Running time: one hour, fifteen minutes. Workshop performances originally developed at La Mama ETC. It premiered (1998) at Independent Performance Space at HERE, in New York, and has been produced in theaters, universities and conferences throughout the USA.

A Tattle Tale: Eyewitness in Mississippi
A play conceived and written by
Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan
Performed by Judith Sloan

To hear the play as performed on Democracy Now Click Here

To hear the documentary by Laura Sydell and Judith Sloan that aired on National Public Radio  Click Here

To inquire about a performance CLICK HERE

 

 

 



In an evening with Judith Sloan, anything can happen. Frustrated with not being able to say the F word on the radio while writing commentaries about Pat Buchanan, Sloan came up with an alternative word that would be FCC safe: K’Cufin, and embarked on a series of weekly radio commentaries with Warren Lehrer after Malachy Macourt asked Sloan to replace him on WBAI’s Talkback in 1994. Judith—who combines “fine acting that gives her performance depth and texture” (Variety), with “exquisite comic timing” (Indianapolis Star), “wickedly skewers stereotypes” (The Village Voice)—transforms into a myriad of characters in a full-length comic performance filled with laughter and tears. Judith’s character-driven monologues reveal the hypocrisy that lies beneath our information-glutted lives. Working in the comedic tradition of Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg, her characters challenge common assumptions about war and peace, women, generational struggle, gay and heterosexual relationships, and the ties that bind friends and family. Her monologues in this show are peppered with up-to-the-minute commentary on world affairs.

The Whole K’Cufin World and a few more things
Written and performed by Judith Sloan

To inquire about a performance CLICK HERE

 

 

In his reading/ performance tour of The Rise and Fall of Bleu Mobley: a life in books, Lehrer will present a hilarious and thought-provoking overview of the life and work of the controversial author/book visionary, Bleu Mobley, who is in prison for refusing to reveal the name of a confidential source. Highlights of Mobley’s story are paired with projections of many of his book covers—reflecting a half century of personal and American/global events, as chronicled in Lehrer’s illuminated novel. This low tech (digital projector and a glass of water), high impact presentation is perfect for design, book arts, and creative writing programs at colleges and universities, and for conferences, art centers, theatres, clubs, and bookstores. Presentations can be as short as 20 minutes or go an hour plus. The longer version includes a reading of a randomly selected excerpt (or two) from Mobley’s bibliography of 101 books, followed by a Q&A.

The Rise and Fall of Bleu Mobley: a life in books read/performed by Warren Lehrer based on his book of the same name

To inquire about a performance CLICK HERE

 

Warren Lehrer performs excerpts from Bleu Mobley from EarSay Inc on Vimeo.



This reading/performance features a selection of monologues from the first four books in The Portrait Series, which celebrate the riotous and heartfelt stories and perspectives of American eccentrics. “Lehrer’s animated readings bring to life the sit-down comedians, stoop philosophers, and off-the-cuff poets who are the subjects of his acclaimed series: a retired dockworker, an ordained minister turned street poet and raconteur, a gifted musician struggling with manic depression, and an orphaned citizen of the world and renaissance man.”

The Portrait Series: a quartet of men
Read/performed by Warren Lehrer based on his books of the same name

To inquire about a performance CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

Judith Sloan’s, Warren Lehrer’s, and EarSay performance works have been presented around the country and abroad, including at:

La Mama Experimental Theatre / The Knitting Factory / The Public Theater, New Works / The Quentin Crisp Theatre, San Diego, CA / Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa, FL / The Phoenix Theatre, Indianapolis / Broadway Theatre, Seattle, WA / Landis Theatre, Riverside, CA / The Theatre Project, Baltimore / Dixon Place / Kimmel Center Theater, New York University / Queens Theater in the Park / The Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth / The Rockefeller Institute of Public Policy, Dartmouth College / The Bowery Poetry Club / St. Marks Church in the Bowery / Nuyorican Poetry Café / Independent Art at Here / Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT / United Nations, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom / Laguardia Performing Arts Center, LIC, NY / The Jewish Museum, NY / The Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Brooklyn / The Prospect Park Picnic House, Brooklyn, NY / Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT / Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. / Kupferberg Center for the Arts, Queens College / The Painted Bride, Philadelphia / La Peña, Berkeley / Maine Center for the Arts, Orono / Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT / Stonington Opera House, Stonington, ME / Festival of Cultural Exchange, Portland, ME / The Bronfman Center, NYU / The Lower East Side Tenement Museum / National Conference on Criminal Justice Educators, John Jay College / Conference on Feminism, Ethnicity and Diversity, Washington DC / National Women’s Studies Association Conferences / New York As Global Village Conferences, New York Institute of Technology / National Oral History Conferences / National AIGA Conferences / National Book Arts Conferences / Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities / Jewish Women’s Conference, Toronto, Canada / The Market Theatre, Johannesberg, South Africa, The Theatre Workshop, Edinburgh, Scotland / Pargod Theatre, Jerusalem, Israel. . .