When WPVH (The Wild Party Variety Hour) first began, the structure of the show was pretty simple: There were two hosts (at the beginning, Nathan Paul and Marvin Quijada), we would book 5-6 variety acts, which would get introduced by the two hosts, and there would be a loose theme, usually centered around a calendar event such as Valentine’s Day or X-mas in July.
The two hosts leaned into their antics: they would usually do a choreographed dance number, a ridiculous set of rules of the show, and in some of those beginning shows, there was even a raffle. But the biggest angle of the hosts was that one spoke while the other always remained silent.
That is how Silent Marvin came about. It was partly to appeal to the Silent Theatre niche since we were a physical theatre group, but primarily, it was to exhibit the sui generis that was Marvin Quijada, an actor with an endless fountain of creativity and physical communication skills.
As the Variety Hour evolved, “Silent Marvin” became a theme in itself. The bits between the variety acts became their own show. Silent Marvin was always getting into trouble, and the audience began to experience the play world created through his eyes. Other characters were brought in to develop relationships with Silent Marvin, such as Secretary Liz, ex-girlfriend Gillian, Narrator, Brendan, and Arch Nemesis Tabernacle Abernathy, portrayed by another physical theatre powerhouse and STC ensemble member, Marcus.
The productions, albeit a late-night fare, became so intricate that they would require their own production budget, props, costumes, set pieces, marketing, and schedule. But because we were still operating under the impression that it was just a fun little variety show, we would only meet the night before to work out the kinks and tech with lights and sound, and then go live the following evening. One of our granters came to see one of those in 2012 and couldn’t believe how much production value went into a show that was presented only one time. A flash in the pan.
Perhaps that’s what made WPVH so wildly popular. It was one night only. If you missed it, there was no other night to catch it. We only recorded about a third of the shows. And though the videos that survived are not of the best quality, we hope they still spark some laughter for you.
This was shot live at our hub space Hq in 2016 and features Kerfuffle, Fringe Factor Dance, Marz Timms, The Harmonious Hunks, and Lady Jack.
As an extra bonus and to celebrate Holy Saturday, here’s a clip from Nathan Paul’s last live performance with The Wild Party Variety Hour, in a bit aptly called The Exorcist.
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