Demon Opera
Biggest professional failure: Coming out of school I thought I would transform the American musical. Then at 24 I was fired from a Broadway show. I was also given a MacArthur grant. So I went on to a more global and diverse approach to performance.
What he drives: I don’t drive. I’ve lived in L.A. for 20 years, and I don’t have a driver’s license. I take the bus, and I have friends who drive me.
Why L.A.: Because it’s the best and worst of the future. It’s what New York was in the 1880s. It’s the place of immigration and big-time violence. It’s the place where it’s all happening, which is painful and brilliant.
Morning routine: I get up around 6 because in California you get up with the sun. I make some tea; sometimes I walk down the street to get the papers. I go up to the rooftop garden for some perspective on existence; then I make my European, African and Asian phone calls.
Best part of job: I don’t do one thing alone.
Worst part of job: I’m unqualified in most of the projects I’m involved in. I have to realize I know the least and ask the dumb questions and use that as an advantage.
Object that reminds him of himself: I have demon masks all over the house, because it’s very good to know your demons.
Well read: I wouldn’t dream of counting how many books I have. There’s almost no room for art.
Signature clothing item: I have a terrible addiction to polyester, and I have a beautiful selection of polyester shirts. They travel well and work in every occasion. We must summon the ’70s whenever possible.
Obsolete items he won’t toss: I have a giant collection of vinyl records in the two-car garage.
Always in fridge: Ice cream is my main food source. Here in L.A. we have spectacular Iranian ice cream. They have rosewater and pistachio that is just transcendent.
Book he’s read most: The “Vimalakirti Sutra” is this wild, avant-garde, comedic, Buddhist sutra that was revealed in the first century of our era. It is a radical democratization of Buddhism, and I am determined to stage it one day. I read it over and over.
Favorite recent gift: The video artist Bill Viola installed one of his works in my living room. It keeps morphing. It’s called “Bodies of Light,” and it’s based on the Tibetan cycle of living and dying. It runs on a 24-minute cycle; I never turn it off.
Favorite food: I eat one meal a day. I live on the edge of hunger.
Greatest misconception about him: Everybody says I am shocking and provocative. So what? That should be normal. I’m an enfant terrible? Oh, please. This is what I do everyday.
By his bed: Safety pins. I have these shirts from previous eras, and I always have to pin them together.
High art: I’m constantly reading texts from Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam. Art is about re-energizing spirituality in a secular context. We do religion, beyond the doctrine.
Religious practice: I practice religion extensively, what I don’t do — like a Southern politician — is talk about it.
How he stages an opera: You have to totally know the music; then you have to love the people you are working with. Basically, it’s celestial dictation. You walk in with your mind empty and then make the world revolve around the people.
Evening routine: Get in fairly late, because I am at a performance, then work through the night. I light candles, put on incense and work.
Travel routine: To be the last person on the plane. I am reckless and try to treat the airplane like a taxi. I like to arrive, get on the plane and have it take off.
His garden: It takes up the entire roof. It’s packed with desert plants of all shapes and sizes. I have no dog, no cat. The succulents are my family, and they are always content.
Next big purchase: I am going to get a new mattress. I have a beautiful bed from 1920s Bombay.
What he wanted to be as a child: I had three very intense phases. My first love was horticulture. Then I wanted to be a conductor. Then I wanted to be a naturalist. I had a big collection of reptiles and amphibians.
Recent collection: Documents relating to the development of nuclear weapons. I’m obsessed with the Pacific Island nuclear tests. It’s an example of the blindness of what we do with that part of the world.
Prized possession: My puppets. I apprenticed as a puppeteer when I was a teenager.
Favorite travel keepsake: A sacred Tapa cloth from Samoa. It’s a mat with bark and feathers for royalty. It was given to me in New Zealand at a ceremony of islanders from Samoa and Kiribati.
Favorite dream: I don’t remember dreams.
Always on him: Every day I wear beads. One of my biggest decisions of the day is which beads to wear. I choose power beads for days with big rehearsals.
Career nostalgia: I keep moving forward. The coolest thing about theater is that when it’s over, it’s over.
