{"id":161,"date":"1970-06-10T19:59:31","date_gmt":"1970-06-10T19:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/?p=161"},"modified":"2018-09-26T15:31:28","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T15:31:28","slug":"the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/","title":{"rendered":"The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>After traveling with the Traveling Company of <em>Arden of Faversham<\/em> to Italy and Yugoslavia, I went back to Amsterdam and along with Lamar Alford to begin what would eventually be known as La MaMa Amsterdam. Lamar wanted to stay in Europe and so did I, so with Ellen\u2019s blessing and help, we decided we would bring the style and technique we\u2019d learned at La MaMa NYC to Holland and have a good time too. \u00a0We workshopped and worked-out and put on quite a few different productions. We mostly produced works we had done in NY with a few tweaks here and there. We were able to re-create them and make them\u00a0all our own.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-161 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/arianamsterdamamericanexpresscoa\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamAmericanExpressCOA-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamAmericanExpressCOA-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamAmericanExpressCOA-88x88.jpg 88w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamAmericanExpressCOA-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamAmericanExpressCOA-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/arianamsterdamdokoutside\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamDOKOutside-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamDOKOutside-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamDOKOutside-88x88.jpg 88w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamDOKOutside-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamDOKOutside-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/arianamsterdamdokinside\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamDOKInside-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamDOKInside-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamDOKInside-88x88.jpg 88w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamDOKInside-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamDOKInside-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Ellen called me to say that the Playhouse was coming over to tour. I wanted to stay and work with them again and seeing a golden opportunity to stay and get paid to tour around, I said yes. It wasn&#8217;t like anyone ever had producer problems or got abandoned mid-tour in Europe&#8230; right?<\/p>\n<p>They all arrived at Central Station on Valentines Day. Marie (Antoinette) was the first off the train to greet me and she called me by someone else\u2019s name. Good to be remembered.<\/p>\n<p>The plan was to stay and cast the show and rehearse in town then go out and live on a beautiful farm\/theater called the Mickery Run owned by Ellen\u2019s friend Ritzart. So, like other La MaMa companies before us, we\u2019d perform at the farm, then go touring from this home base. Lamar and I had to find places for these people to stay before everyone got to the farm and we did a good job. They all had homes and a few had new lovers. We only arranged for the homes.<\/p>\n<p>John Vaccaro had decided to revive <em>Cock-Strong<\/em> and <em>Heaven Grand in Amber Orbit<\/em>. I hadn\u2019t been in either one, but had seen them both and <em>Heaven Grand<\/em> was the reason I wanted to work with this group in the first place. Since we knew most of the \u201ctalent pool\u201d in Amsterdam the show was cast and songs distributed. I seemed to be the only singer and got most of the songs in <em>Cock-Strong<\/em>. In <em>Heaven Grand<\/em>, I got what was to become a part I did all over Europe and in a bicentennial revival a few years later at La MaMa.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-161 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-medium'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/arianheavengrandrehearsal1\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"193\" src=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianHeavenGrandRehearsal1-300x193.png\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianHeavenGrandRehearsal1-300x193.png 300w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianHeavenGrandRehearsal1-768x493.png 768w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianHeavenGrandRehearsal1-1024x657.png 1024w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianHeavenGrandRehearsal1-816x524.png 816w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianHeavenGrandRehearsal1-1250x802.png 1250w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianHeavenGrandRehearsal1-400x257.png 400w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianHeavenGrandRehearsal1.png 1549w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-497'>\n\t\t\t\tMichael in the dressing room during <em>Heaven Grand in Amber Orbit<\/em>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>When I saw the La MaMa production of<em> Cock-Strong<\/em> in 1969 the policy allowed us to attend every performance after we bought the first ticket for $2 and we went to every performance, even bringing umbrellas for the not to be believed grand finale. We also brought a gallon jug of red wine every night. The order of events in the show always seemed out of order, but I assumed it was just the magic of the wine. Turns out the director wrote the number of each scene on paper then tore the paper into strips and drew them from a hat to establish the running order of the show. I would start the evening as God in a sparkly gold tunic, my long curly hair a definite advantage, then become some kind of feather hatted fop singing about having a chicken on the subway crapping in my face. I was a cheerleader in the autopsy scene-give me a big \u201cP\u201d and we spelled out psynosis or whatever gibberish letters I felt like yelling R H B O Q Q S etc. \u00a0At the end of the show we all came out dressed as American Indians for the Kama Sutra ballet\/sex dance. \u00a0Finally, after running around in circles underneath the Cock chanting &#8220;cum, cum, cum, cum&#8221;, well&#8230; it did. \u00a0Ergo the umbrella like when we first saw it in NYC.<\/p>\n<p>Ellen supervised the \u201ccockstruction\u201d and I never figured how she knew where to get a 10 foot zipper in Amsterdam but she did. At her instruction we built a totally collapsible portable penis 10 feet long. With a giant eyeball on the business end that pointed at the audience. \u00a0A garden hose was threaded through it and connected to a sink somewhere backstage. It rained and rained, except for that one time in Belgium.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 25%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-3' class='gallery galleryid-161 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/arianinparisheavengrand\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParisHeavenGrand-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParisHeavenGrand-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParisHeavenGrand-88x88.jpg 88w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParisHeavenGrand-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParisHeavenGrand-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-477'>\n\t\t\t\tMichael During <em>Heaven Grand<\/em> Performance in Paris\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/arianinparis1\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis1-88x88.jpg 88w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis1-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis1-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-474'>\n\t\t\t\tMichael during <em>Cock-Strong<\/em> performance in Paris\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/arianinparis2\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis2-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-475\" srcset=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis2-88x88.jpg 88w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis2-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis2-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-475'>\n\t\t\t\tMichael during <em>Cock-Strong<\/em> performance in Paris\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/arianinparis3\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis3-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-476\" srcset=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis3-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis3-88x88.jpg 88w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis3-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianInParis3-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-476'>\n\t\t\t\tMichael during <em>Cock-Strong<\/em> performance in Paris\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>We went to Basel, Switzerland then back to Holland for several dates, then to Paris at the City Universit\u00e9 where we lived in dorms on the campus for a month, right in the middle of crazy student unrest and rioting. \u00a0We got very unfriendly reviews on campus and very unfriendly treatment from angry students who called us something untranslatable in French, something anti-American. \u00a0We ate in the student cafeteria and the staff loved us, not letting us order the tripe even though we didn\u2019t know what it was and they couldn\u2019t explain it in English. \u00a0The audiences loved us too and we had a lot of returns and happy fans. \u00a0We went to disco and met Pat Cleveland and some other models who were just becoming famous; we also met a not yet discovered Jessica Lange. \u00a0Jim Morrison died while we were there. \u00a0Kenny Hill was friends with Thierry Mugler who became a fan and came to see us many times bringing great groups of beautiful French people. \u00a0He too was about to gain great fame, but in the meantime he became a friend and we even went button shopping in the Flea Market when he next came to Holland.<\/p>\n<p>Heading back to Amsterdam and home base we had a gig in Brussels. We couldn\u2019t make the driver drive near it so we barely got a glimpse of the Atomium landmark image of the 1958 World\u2019s Fair. The show was very well received and once again screams and ovations and lots of fans. One night we were invited to the city hall for a big reception with the mayor and bunches of local officials and flash bulbs and the star treatment. We all took turns sitting behind the mayor\u2019s desk banging his gavel and him sitting with the pretty girls on his lap leering at them. We were toasted with champagne and ate little dainties. Good times.<\/p>\n<p>Bright and early the next morning, we were woken by loud banging on our doors and screams of \u201cPolizei! \u201cand \u201cofen de doeur\u201d. I most certainly was groggy but had the presence of mind to pitch my stash of hashish out the window. All our rooms were around a courtyard and every one of us had the same thought at the same time and chunks of hash went flying out the windows like it was a hail-storm.<\/p>\n<p>We were taken to jail and threatened with arrest if we didn\u2019t point out who the culprits were in a stack of the best pictures we ever saw of the show. It was a funny losing fight for the police because we all had very heavy white-face and glitter in the photos and none of our passport names were the same as in the program and we weren\u2019t about to help. We had Reginald Rimmingtongue, Marsha Dimes, Helena Hallway. I was the only one using my real name but the fuzz didn\u2019t notice. We tried stealing the photos but didn\u2019t manage and ended up dragging our tired asses to the theater to find the place like a bee hive of activity. Ellen had showed up from who knew where and hearing what had happened she had rallied the artistic community to rebuild the cock as they had impounded it and refused to return it. It got done and, come curtain time, wet paint and all with about 100 extra people in the house and in the aisles, we went up.<\/p>\n<p>They carried on hootin&#8217; and hollerin\u2019 like I\u2019d never seen before and up until the &#8220;cum, cum, cum&#8221; part, it went smoothly and it was a smashing evening. It didn\u2019t come and didn\u2019t come and didn\u2019t come and suddenly the water collecting inside the shaft split the cock open and drenched the lot of us. A good time was had by all and we packed up and got the hell out of dodge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After traveling with the Traveling Company of Arden of Faversham to Italy and Yugoslavia, I went back to Amsterdam and along with Lamar Alford to begin what would eventually be known as La MaMa Amsterdam. Lamar wanted to stay in Europe and so did I, so with Ellen\u2019s blessing and help, we decided we would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,30,29,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-belgium","category-france","category-holland","category-switzerland"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1537983364:53"],"_edit_last":["53"],"_wpac_members_redirect_to":[""],"_wpac_show_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_show_excerpt_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_nonmembers_redirect_to":[""],"_wp_old_date":["2017-12-05"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.760000000000001563194018672220408916473388671875;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.3799999999999954525264911353588104248046875;}"]},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous - Michael David Arian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous - Michael David Arian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After traveling with the Traveling Company of Arden of Faversham to Italy and Yugoslavia, I went back to Amsterdam and along with Lamar Alford to begin what would eventually be known as La MaMa Amsterdam. Lamar wanted to stay in Europe and so did I, so with Ellen\u2019s blessing and help, we decided we would [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Michael David Arian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1970-06-10T19:59:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-26T15:31:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamAmericanExpressCOA-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael David Arian\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael David Arian\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael David Arian\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea8950bf636b1bd4acf0c0d7d48487ae\"},\"headline\":\"The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous\",\"datePublished\":\"1970-06-10T19:59:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-26T15:31:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1385,\"articleSection\":[\"Belgium\",\"France\",\"Holland\",\"Switzerland\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous - Michael David Arian\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"1970-06-10T19:59:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-26T15:31:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea8950bf636b1bd4acf0c0d7d48487ae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/\",\"name\":\"Michael David Arian\",\"description\":\"A Performing Arts Legacy Project site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea8950bf636b1bd4acf0c0d7d48487ae\",\"name\":\"Michael David Arian\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4b2872f7b1e440842ca20a34a1584728d2f81114d97c71f15bd20cd275f81d06?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4b2872f7b1e440842ca20a34a1584728d2f81114d97c71f15bd20cd275f81d06?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4b2872f7b1e440842ca20a34a1584728d2f81114d97c71f15bd20cd275f81d06?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael David Arian\"},\"description\":\"Resident of New York since 1967. Worked on plays, performance pieces, dance pieces, happenings, comedies, dramas, music, singing, acting and staged readings, made costumes, built and painted scenery, box office, coat check, ran front of house, sold refreshments and ushered. Lucky to have lived through and participated in early work that marked the beginning of Off Off Broadway. Worked with playwrights and companies that were also starting up. First Equity card in 1971.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/arian\\\/author\\\/arian\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous - Michael David Arian","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous - Michael David Arian","og_description":"After traveling with the Traveling Company of Arden of Faversham to Italy and Yugoslavia, I went back to Amsterdam and along with Lamar Alford to begin what would eventually be known as La MaMa Amsterdam. Lamar wanted to stay in Europe and so did I, so with Ellen\u2019s blessing and help, we decided we would [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/","og_site_name":"Michael David Arian","article_published_time":"1970-06-10T19:59:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-09-26T15:31:28+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/1970\/06\/ArianAmsterdamAmericanExpressCOA-150x150.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Michael David Arian","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael David Arian","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael David Arian","@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/#\/schema\/person\/ea8950bf636b1bd4acf0c0d7d48487ae"},"headline":"The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous","datePublished":"1970-06-10T19:59:31+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-26T15:31:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/"},"wordCount":1385,"articleSection":["Belgium","France","Holland","Switzerland"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/","url":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/","name":"The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous - Michael David Arian","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/#website"},"datePublished":"1970-06-10T19:59:31+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-26T15:31:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/#\/schema\/person\/ea8950bf636b1bd4acf0c0d7d48487ae"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/the-story-of-the-stolen-cock-an-episode-with-john-vaccaro-and-the-ridiculous-theater\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Story of the Stolen Cock: an Episode with John Vaccaro and the Playhouse of the Ridiculous"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/#website","url":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/","name":"Michael David Arian","description":"A Performing Arts Legacy Project site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/#\/schema\/person\/ea8950bf636b1bd4acf0c0d7d48487ae","name":"Michael David Arian","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b2872f7b1e440842ca20a34a1584728d2f81114d97c71f15bd20cd275f81d06?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b2872f7b1e440842ca20a34a1584728d2f81114d97c71f15bd20cd275f81d06?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b2872f7b1e440842ca20a34a1584728d2f81114d97c71f15bd20cd275f81d06?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michael David Arian"},"description":"Resident of New York since 1967. Worked on plays, performance pieces, dance pieces, happenings, comedies, dramas, music, singing, acting and staged readings, made costumes, built and painted scenery, box office, coat check, ran front of house, sold refreshments and ushered. Lucky to have lived through and participated in early work that marked the beginning of Off Off Broadway. Worked with playwrights and companies that were also starting up. First Equity card in 1971.","url":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/author\/arian\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/arian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}