news from indian country

Arigon Starr bring her talents to The Red Road
One-woman play and new CD
By Sandra Hale Schulman
Los Angeles, California (NFIC)
F
rom stage to screen to your local music store, multi-talent Arigon Starr is combining all her
talents into her biggest “road” show yet. Starting in late March, her one-woman show The
Red Road will make itsʼ world premiere at the Wells Fargo Theater at the Autry National
Center in Los Angeles. The play runs through Sunday, April 30.
Proud, vivacious and full of energy, Arigon Starr continues to defy the odds of becoming a
successful artist in show business. Her debut CD Meet The Diva, earned an enthusiastic response
from Native, college and community radio stations – plus a prestigious Native American Music
Award for “Best Independent Recording.” In 2001, the Native American Music Awards chose
“Junior Frybread,” from her second release Wind-Up, as the Song of the Year.
“Accepting that award was a personal triumph for me,” she smiled. “When I made the decision to leave my corporate job and become a full-time musician, I knew that I would make it on
the strength of my songwriting. There are so many stories left untold in Native America. I feel
honored to be a voice for the people.”
Arigonʼs blend of pop, rock, country, punk and funk reflects her upbringing as a military
“brat.”
“We pulled up stakes about every two years while I was going to school,” she says. “Thereʼs an
old country song that tells the story of a person whoʼs been ʻeverywhere, manʼ and that describes
my life. I was born in Florida and have spent time in Tennessee, Maryland, New Jersey, Oklahoma, New Mexico, California – you name it.”
The eclectic mix of scenery, music and people form her unique approach to contemporary
Native American music.
“The music must serve the song – and help tell the story. Taking elements of different styles of
music and mixing them up seems to me to be the most natural thing in the world.”
Arigon tells her “stories” as a performing musician on stages across the world, among them
New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, New Orleans, Las Vegas, London and Los Angeles. She
certainly hasnʼt ignored her Native audiences, with appearances on the Hopi and Navajo reservations in Arizona, at the Cherokee Homecoming in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon and at the Milwaukee Indian Summer Festival.
It was on the road that she befriended country group BR549, who perform on several tracks
of her Red Road and Backflip CDs.
“Those boys are my very unlikely musical soulmates. I grew up listening to the kind of music
they play, which is country music from the 50ʼs and 60ʼs. It was the first time ever that my dad and
I liked the SAME band,” she laughed. “It turned out that one of the band members, Chuck Mead,
had gone to school with my cousin in Lawrence, Kansas. We instantly bonded over that – and
trying to determine who was the most hardcore Beatles fan. Chuck has got me beat on that.”
ARIGON - Cont. next page
Verna Yahola
Creek, owner and resident waitress of the All
Nations Café, she keeps the cafe running and the
hot coffee pouring. Sheʼs been a Truckerʼs Bride
and a Truckerʼs Widow - and now three men are
fighting for her love.
Emmitt Tsinajinnie
The All Nations Caféʼs beloved Navajo frycook,
he picks, grins and longs to win Vernaʼs heart.
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NEWS FROM INDIAN COUNTRY: The Independent Native Journal
Arigon Starr: One-woman play and new CD
Continued from previous page
After all the music success, she was encouraged to add acting to her list of accomplishments. She received rave reviews
last spring as The Nurse in Native Voices
at the Autryʼs Kino & Teresa and has won
two Best Actress Awards from First Americans in the Arts for her lead roles in Native
Voices at the Autryʼs Equity productions
of The BuzʼGem Blues and Please Do Not
Touch The Indians. Recent TV appearances include guest spots on Barbershop and
top rated soap opera General Hospital.
“I have been watching GH since I was
a kid,” said Arigon. “My grandma, Flora
Cornell, used to tell me and my sister Gay
to finish our chores before noon so we
could watch the stories. I sort of made this
a habit, AAAY!,” she laughed.
“The closest I ever got to GH was when
I was a trustee for First Americans in the
Arts. One year, the organization gave
Choctaw actor Tyler Christopher (Nikolas
Cassadine) an acting award – and the actors who played Luke Spencer (Anthony
Geary), Bobbie Spencer (Jackie Zeman)
and Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil)
showed up for the ceremony,” she remembered. “I never really dreamed Iʼd actually
ever be on the show.”
D
uring the summer of 2005, AFTRAʼs Roxanne Brown set up an
interview with General Hospitalʼs
casting director Mark Teschner.
“I thought it went okay – but again,
didnʼt think theyʼd ever call me in,” she
smiled. The call finally came in during
late December – and Arigon was cast as
“Courtneyʼs neighbor” in a scene with
GHʼs resident hunk Ingo Rademacher.
Ingo is Jasper “Jax” Jacks, a wealthy business tycoon whose marriage to mobster
Sonny Corinthosʼ sister Courtney has been
on the rocks.
“GH and Port Charles is almost as
exciting as whatʼs going in Tulsa, LA or
Nashville,” she laughed. “I think I know
some of the storylines on GH better than I
should,” Arigon guffawed.
Hereʼs some trivia – some of Arigonʼs
best friends have been on the soaps. Both
Jean Bruce Scott and Randy Reinholz of
Native Voices at the Autry were on NBCʼs
Days Of Our Lives – and director Ken
Martines (Kino & Teresa) played a baddie
Arigon Starr at the Autry
Nation Center in
Los Angeles, CA
Photo by Maria Ventura
on ABCʼs Port Charles. Arigon and Ingoʼs
encounter is brief – but itʼs a lot of fun.
“One of the crew members joked that
I was like ʻNurse Betty,ʼ (the character
played by Renee Zellweger in the comedy
film of the same name) because I seemed
to know everybodyʼs business,” Arigon
laughed. “It was a really great set to work
on. Everyone was really nice – and man,
that Ingo is something else! I also canʼt explain to you what a thrill it was to walk past
the sets for the General Hospital reception
hub and the lobby of the Quartermaineʼs
mansion,” she said.
Imagine, a Kickapoo-Creek in Port
Charles! There goes the neighborhood. “I
tell you, those casting calls are often more
interesting than the job!” she says with a
laugh. “When I went up for the Cold Case
Files I knew everybody in the room, all
the same Indian women come to these
auditions when the call goes out. The real
coup is getting a non-traditional part. I did
a reading for a Michael Douglas movie,
which I didnʼt get, but it was just for a female cop, not necessarily an “ethnic” role.
I got a second call, which is a pretty big
deal, so I feel the boundaries are shifting,
and you have to be so good that youʼre
seen as just actors.”
The Red Road came from a trucker song
Arigon wrote a few years back. Her man-
MARCH 6, 2006
ager Janet Miner suggested she expand that
into a one-woman show with music. They
presented it to The Autry Theater – where
Arigon has starred in several productions
– and it was promptly commissioned.
The Red Road takes place in Sapulpa,
Oklahoma, in June 1977 at Verna Yaholaʼs
fictional All Nations Café. A well-known
diner/truck stop, the Café is home to Indians, truckers, cowboys and groups like the
Future Farmers of America.
Legendary country music star Patty
Jones (who just happens to be Choctaw)
is taping her tenth anniversary special at
the Café. Lights and cameras often attract
strange folks – including two die-hard Indian activists, a Bingo-obsessed Ojibway
elder and a British punk rock star. Mix
them all together with some country music
and youʼve got The Red Road. And yes,
Arigon plays ALL of the characters. Men,
women, kids, elders, hillbillies and Brits.
“The Red Road is one of the damndest, knee-slapping, raucous rides Iʼve ever
had. Itʼs chockfull of fine music and weird
characters, all played to perfection by Arigon herself. Donʼt miss this one!” said
Robert J. Conley, multi-award winning
Cherokee author and historian.
A
fter the Autry run (March 30th to
April 30th) she is taking the show
to Australia and to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington. March 30th
is also the CD release date both in stores
and online at CDBaby, Amazon and Yahoo
music.
The Red Road marks her debut as a
playwright and solo performer and inspired twelve new songs that were recorded this year in Los Angeles and Nashville
with a whoʼs who “A” list of musical talent including: Kenny Vaughan (Marty
Stuartʼs Fabulous Superlatives), Gary
Bennett (Grammy nominated co-founder
or country band BR549), Doug Pettibone
(Lucinda Williams, Jewel, Tracy Chapman), Skip Edwards (Dwight Yoakam),
Chris Lawrence (Mike Ness, Shooter Jennings), Stuart Duncan (Earl Scruggs, Alan
Jackson, Shania Twain, etc.), John Hatton
(Brian Setzer Orchestra), Thaddeus Graham (Vonda Shepherd) and Scotty Lund
(Agent Orange).
Randy Reinholz (Choctaw) is co-creator
and artistic director of Native Voices. He
has directed more than forty plays across
PAGE 3
NEWS FROM INDIAN COUNTRY: The Independent Native Journal
Continued from previous page
the U.S. and Canada, including The Rez
Sisters, The Waiting Room, How I Learned
to Drive, Hedda Gabler, Speed the Plow,
and numerous productions of Shakespeare.
Reinholz was director and executive producer of Urban Tattoo and the critically
acclaimed Equity productions of Jump
Kiss, The BuzʼGem Blues, and Please Do
Not Touch the Indians and was executive
producer of the 2005 world premiere of
Kino & Teresa.
In 2006 Reinholz will produce and direct the world premieres and tours of Stone
Heart and The Red Road, as well as direct
The Cherry Orchard for SDSU and Wild
Horses at The Kennedy Centerʼs New Visions/New Voices. Reinholz was recently
named one of the “Faces to Watch in 2006”
by the Los Angeles Times.
Jean Bruce Scott, co-creator and executive director of Native Voices at the Autry, has spent the last ten years developing
new plays including over thirty by Native
American playwrights. At Native Voices
sheʼs produced seven New Play Festivals,
seventy-six play readings, and seven new
plays including the Equity productions of
The Baby Blues, Jump Kiss, The BuzʼGem
Blues, Please Do Not Touch The Indians
and Kino & Teresa and Métis playwright
Marie Clementsʼ Now Look What You
Made Me Do (recipient of a McKnight Fellowship) and Urban Tattoo. Next up, Scott
will produce the 2006 Equity productions
and tours of Diane Glancyʼs Stone Heart
and Arigon Starrʼs The Red Road.
Native Voices at the Autry developed
The Red Road with Arigon through their
2004 playwrights retreat (original idea
set in motion), 2005 playwrights retreat
(first draft submitted and workshopped),
a three week workshop and residence at
Griffith University in Brisbane Australia
at a World Indigenous Theater event, numerous weeklong workshops in San Diego
throughout 2005, the 2005 November play
reading festival and four preview performances (at Tulsaʼs Cherokee Casino in
Nov. 2005 and the Theater of the World
Festival in San Diego in Feb. 2006).
This very funny play about contemporary Native peoples shares the stories of
American Indians in the cities and on the
MARCH 6, 2006
reservation. It also highlights the diversity
of Native America including Cherokees,
Choctaws, Pawnees, Apaches, Osages,
Creeks, Kiowas and Navajos.
2004
Outstanding Lead Performance by an Actor in Theater for The BuzʼGem Blues -First Americans in the Arts
T
Selected for CBS Television Network Diversity Theatre Showcase
ders.
his family friendly play can be
enjoyed by all ages, from young
school age kids to hipsters to el-
Interwoven throughout the play are
twelve original songs. Some are performed by the country singer Patty Jones
– others by the Navajo frycook named
Emmitt Tsinajinnie, a rockabilly love song
from Indian activist Richard Doolittle, a
sweet, yet angry protest song from his sister Bonnie Doolittle and a punk song about
wanting to be an Indian from punk rocker
Danny Dacron. Arigon performs all the
songs in character.
The Red Road – Original Cast Recording. Recorded in Los Angeles at Mad Dog
Studios and in Nashville at House of David Studios. All songs written, arranged
and produced by Arigon Starr.
The Red Road premieres Thursday,
March 30, at 8:00pm at the Wells Fargo
Theater at the Autry National Center in
Los Angeles. The play runs Thursdays at
8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm through
Sunday, April 30. Tickets: $20/Members
$12. Groups of 10 or more save 20 percent. Group leaders and schools: please
call 323.667.2000, ext. 257. For reservations, call TicketWeb at 866.468.3399 or
visit www.ticketweb.com
ARIGON STARR
Awards and Honors List
1998
Best Independent Recording – Meet The
Diva Native American Music Awards
2001
Song/Single of the Year – Junior Frybread
– Native American Music Awards
2002
Multiple nominations for Backflip – Native American Music Awards
Preliminary/First Round Nomination for
the Grammy Award – Country Song of the
Year for Daddyʼs Records
2005
Outstanding Lead Performance by an Actor in Theater for Please Do Not Touch The
Indians -- First Americans in the Arts
The Maverick Award – Los Angeles Womenʼs Theater Project
Top 10 Most Beautiful Native Actresses
-- Roscoe Pondʼs Native Hollywood Website
Storyteller of the Year/Performance
– Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and
Storytellers
www.arigonstarr.com
“The Red Road is
one of the damndest, knee-slapping, raucous
rides I’ve ever
had. It’s chockfull of fine music
and weird characters, all played
to perfection by
Arigon herself.
Don’t miss this
one!” said Robert
J. Conley, multiaward winning
Cherokee author
and historian.