Cher the Armenian - Armenian Reporter

Born in Tehran, Thomassianmoved to Los Angeles with herfamily when she was 3. “I lovedmusical theater just as muchas I loved cartoons,” she recalls.Thomassian has been performingsince the age of 5. She receivedher formal education at theSouthern California Conservatoryof Music and the PacoimaPerforming Arts Magnet School.She also attended Glendale CommunityCollege, where she appearedin a slew of plays, such asWest Side Story and Rhinoceros.“I did a number of plays at localtheaters, including Peter Pan,Scapin, and Let the Rocks Speak,which was written by my mother,Lilly Thomassian,” she says. “Idid a lot of writing in between:lots of poems and monologuesand self-discovery.”Thomassian’s meeting with ShahenHagobian was a turning point.Together they started the band FishCircus. “A whole new world openedup,” she says. “We had performances[at events and venues] ranging fromelementary school pancake breakfaststo the El Rey Theatre in LosAngeles. After that I met Voki andan equally strange world opened up:the world of the Gazillionaire.”Like the proverbial yin and theyang, Kalfayan and Thomassianbounce off one another with extraordinarytiming and wit. “Fromthe moment I met Voki, I knew wewould do something awesome together,”Thomassian says. “He hadthe Gazillionaire [character] alreadyand he helped me find my Pennycharacter with just three ten-minuterehearsals. But we needed somemusic and I knew Shahen would bedown to try something new.”The big showThe Gazillionaire is quite a sightfor anyone who hasn’t had an upcloseencounter with the character.“The Gazillionaire is an evolutionof all the different styles oftheater and performance that Ihave studied and performed overthe years,” Kalfayan explains. “Itreally combines clown, bouffon(a very dark and aggressive clownstyle), commedia dell’arte, mime,and a slew of other styles. Thecharacter is constantly changingand growing and learning frompeople I work with.”Commenting on audience response,Kalfayan says, “Audiencesalways have drastically differentreactions: from leaving during theshow to coming to see it over andover, to being indifferent, to beingoffended, to being offendedand loving to be offended. I thinkthat good theater should do that.If everyone loves it, you are Disney;if everyone hates it, you’relike Larry the cable guy... I like tomake the audience feel something,shake it a little bit.”The Gazillionaire show relies agreat deal on the band and musicthat back up the show. The band isalready playing when the audienceenters the venue. It seamlessly transitionsinto the show and continuesto provide music for both plannedmaterial and spontaneous momentswith the audience. “The originalGazillionaire Band was Mher Ajamian[formerly of Tallulah SoundExperiment], Shahen Hagobian,and Anais. It was a tiny ragtag bandthat pulled the whole show together,and the best part of it all was thatI had a band. That had been a reallyimportant part of creating theshow and I wasn’t sure it was goingto happen - but I am so proud ofwhat those guys did. After that, therest of Fish Circus saw the show andwanted to be part of it. The GazillionaireBand has ranged from threeto seven members and it has alwaysbeen a huge part of the show.”What’s in store for thefuture?“It seems like people take to theGazillionaire and the show,” Kalfayansays. “Right now, it lookslike we will be doing the show for awhile. Working at the Spiegeltentand with the producers there hasopened up a new world… to beable to do the show in differentcities and in different capacitiesand to find new audiences.” fconnect:myspace.com/vokiAbsinthe andGazillionaire’sLate Night Lounge,at the renownedSpiegelworldTent in MiamiBeach, shockand entertainaudiences withhigh-flyingtrapeze artists,contortionists,awkwardstripteases, andbeautiful displaysof strength, art,and humor.Armenian Reporter Arts & Culture 2/16/2008C23