Welcome to the press page of Neal Medlyn, one of New York's premier performers, seen twice within six months in the New York
Times with no shirt on. Here you can find the most recent press releases, press photos and a smattering of the kind things
members of the press have said about Mr. Medlyn in their fine publications. And please feel free to contact Neal at this email
address nealmedlyn@hotmail.com with any and all inquiries. Thanks!
***NEWS***
NEAL IN THE NEW YORKER'S LEGENDARY "SEASON'S GREETINGS!" POEM BY ROGER ANGELL! Click HERE TO READ
OUR HIT PARADE LISTED AS ONE OF THE TOP TEN SHOWS OF 2008 BY ADAM FELDMAN IN TIME OUT NEW YORK! Click HERE TO READ
Neal Medlyn in his extravaganza
photo: Steven Schreiber
The Ultimate Outsider Under a Purple Umbrella
By CLAUDIA LA ROCCO
Published: July 11, 2008
Over the years Neal Medlyn has channeled superstars like Phil Collins, R. Kelly and Beyoncé. This week he is back at it with
a Prince extravaganza, “Neal Medlyn’s Unpronounceable Symbol,” which opened at Performance Space 122 on
Wednesday.
But if Mr. Medlyn is a chameleon, knowingly slipping on one outré pop persona after the next, he also remains irreducibly
himself: the ultimate outsider, nose pressed unabashedly to the window of celebrity and fame. The split is just one duality
in a rich welter of identity games, yet the strange power his art possesses depends on it. Some might remember their awkward
adolescent selves, the ones who spent nights barricaded in their rooms, lip-synching in the mirror, trying desperately to
untangle nascent desires through songs of love and loss.
But Mr. Medlyn is all grown up, at least on the outside, and he isn’t lip-synching. Surrounded by flowers, swirling
mists and various shades of purple, Mr. Medlyn lets rip a barrage of Prince songs. (He is backed by the stellar Kenny Mellman,
co-writer and musical director, on keyboard; Carmine Covelli on drums; and Farris Craddock on bass.)
No “Raspberry Beret” here: the playlist sticks mostly to lesser known tracks, shuttling between erotic and religious
Prince and serving as backbone for the story of messy romantic entanglements, power struggles and a crisis of faith and purpose.
Renderings of “Erotic City” and “The Beautiful Ones” stay with you, as do Mr. Medlyn’s costume
choices. He is resplendent in a gold-chain Cleopatra headpiece. High-waisted black tights showcase his long legs, at the expense
of his skinny, undefined torso. Simply to look at Mr. Medlyn, often, is to laugh — always with, never at, him.
People familiar with Prince’s 1984 movie, “Purple Rain,” will recognize the plot. (Mr. Covelli’s portrayal
of Prince’s antagonist, Morris Day, is delicious.) Those less familiar with Prince lore still have much to unpack in
this 70-minute show. Though the beloved downtown entertainer Murray Hill does a star turn, there are mercifully few knowing
winks as Mr. Medlyn, playing several characters, careers among rage, vulnerability and religion. Things get messy. Mr. Medlyn
makes no pretense of cleaning them up.
“Neal Medlyn’s Unpronounceable Symbol” runs through July 20 at Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue,
at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, ps122.org.
"Rimbaud famously said that all artistic illumination begins with 'sensory derangement'. Neal Medlyn's remix/mashups
of the lives and work of R.Kelly, Prince and the like suggest that sensory derangement can begin with sexual derangement."
--Ron Rosenbaum, cultural critic, <Slate>
"There's no denying it: Medlyn's commitment makes him hilarious, especially when he's tearing through a sexed-up song
like "U Got the Look" or acting out Jerry's unexpected trip to an afterlife filled with sex toys. [The] script is
just as funny, thwarting reality with a story that makes little sense but has plenty of great jokes."
click here to read the whole review!
"Neal Medlyn is one of downtown's most talented and flexible performance artists!"
Click here to read the whole interview!
"There's really no reason why the fantasia of an awkward, bespectacled, bi-sexual white boy from Texas should elicit
such frisson, but Medlyn is so brazenly committed to his own deeply eccentric vision that you can't help but cheer him on."
click here to read the whole review!
BOYS WILL BE BEYONCE "Medlyn deals in theatrical miracles. He transforms the stuff of our celebrity-obsessed,
media-saturated world into impossibly beautiful, absurdist happenings...He's amazing." -- "All Things Considered" NPR, April
4th, 2008
CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN!
PRESS FOR "NEAL MEDLYN'S COMING IN THE AIR TONIGHT"....
PRESS PRAISE FOR KENNY MELLMAN+NEAL MEDLYN=ROBERT KELLY:
"Hilarious!" -- Time Out New York
"It's hard to imagine anyone could be funnier than the 'sexasaurus' himself but Kenny Mellman (of Kiki & Herb fame) and Neal
Medlyn (of well-timed unicorn-blowjob joke fame) give Kelly a run for his money." -- the Onion
