Performance Club 2: Valley of the Dolls with Keith Cole

Performance Club 2: Valley of the Dolls with Keith Cole

DATES/TIMES:

Sessions 1–4: LIMITED ENROLLMENT
Super-8 Downtown Hotel, 222 Spadina Avenue

Tuesday 30 January / 7–9pm
Tuesday 6 February / 7–9pm
Tuesday 13 February / 7–9pm
Tuesday 20 February / 7–9pm

Session 5: **ALL WELCOME / PWYC
The Commons @ 401 Richmond, 401 Richmond Street West, suite 440

Tuesday 27 February
7pm: Keynote & Graduation
8pm: Screening

INFO & DETAILS
There is limited enrollment for sessions 1–4. You must attend ALL sessions to be enrolled. The first 8 participants to enroll will receive a FREE softcover copy of the book.

Each week, there will be a limited number of "audited" spots to attend single sessions 1–4. When you enroll, you will be added to the waiting list. These spots are PWYC.

ALL WELCOME for session 5. This is an open public event and screening.

+++

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS by Jacqueline Susann

You’ve go to climb to the top of Mount Everest
to reach the Valley of the Dolls.
It’s a brutal climb to reach that peak
which so few have seen.
You never knew what was really up there,
but the last thing you expected to find
was the Valley of the Dolls.
You stand there, waiting for
the rush of exhilaration
you though you’d feel–but
it doesn’t come.
You’re too far away to hear the applause
and take your bows.
And there’s no place left to climb.

Fifty years ago, Jacqueline Susann wrote these opening lines to what would become one of the most successful books of its time (with over 31 million copies sold, and counting) making Susann a household name (even if many still read her book under the covers in secret) and bestowing her with the honour of being the first author in history to have three consecutive books in the #1 position on the New York Times bestsellers list. Some might remember the Valley of the Dolls best as the cinematic vehicle for Sharon Tate’s short career, and a pill and booze soaked cautionary tale of female ambition, fame, fortune and failure. Fifty years later the story is still relevant, telling us as much about celebrity culture today and it forewarned us then.

You’re got to climb to the top of Mount Everest to see the Valley of the Dolls, and you’re invited to take this journey with Toronto’s very own performance provocateur Keith Cole in a 5-session book club-cum-academic master class. The first 4 sessions take place in a sprawling hotel room. In Session 5, book club attendees gather with audience to watch a screening of the 1967 film directed by Mark Robson, listen to a key note speech by a secret special guest, and receive their “V of the D” diplomas.

ABOUT PERFORMANCE CLUB
FADO's newest performance series, Performance Club, attempts to redefine the historical and contemporary performance art canon, one book club, and one book / article / essay / anthology at a time. Invited artists perform the role of book club facilitators, leading the audience through a performance of a reading, a reading performance, a performance about a book, or a bookish performance.

Performance Club: 2017–2018

Performance Club 1
Queer/Play edited by Moynan King
Performed by Moe Angelos
December 2017

Performance Club 2
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
Performed by Keith Cole
January 2018