About

2000 Questions
Watchface: A Commemorative Reunion
Countdown
Lifestyles
Statistics I
Religion
Questions I
Economics
Questions II
Politics
Statistics II
Society
Questions III

In 1990, the new millennium was close enough to imagine as part of one’s lifetime, yet it still
held the aura of a faraway futuristic promise. Would things change for better or worse with
the year 2000? Would visions from our imaginations, movies, and comic books suddenly
become reality? While planning their first fundraiser as an incorporated entity, the members
of Watchface conceived a performance for this event inspired by their own and the cultural
anticipation of the approaching millennium. The piece would look at our visions of the year
2000 in the context of our present situation, both individual and global. But before any of
these plans came to fruition, the group disbanded as many members desired the freedom to
pursue individual goals.

After the dissolution of Watchface, Kurt Fulton was interested in finishing the project and
sought out a producer and venue in the late winter of 1991. Kurt thought it would be a fitting
tribute to bill the work as a “commemorative” piece, though somewhat tongue-in-cheek
since the group had broken up only months before.

Almost immediately, Jedediah Wheeler, then director of Serious Fun! at Lincoln Center,
contacted Kurt about mounting the show which had since been named 2000 Questions.
Mr. Wheeler told Kurt that he was very happy to have received the proposal; he had
considered contacting Watchface for a place on that summer’s bill, but had been
disappointed to hear that the group was no longer in existence. He needed a short piece to
complete an evening’s program and offered that slot to 2000 Questions. In the proposal
letter, Kurt had propositioned the piece to be part of Megadance, the final evenings of the
festival that focused on new concepts in dance. Megadance proposal For Kurt, being offered
the first act of an evening of the festival was very rewarding and motivating. The Watchface
commemorative would now be highlighted at a prestigious festival at a New York City
cultural landmark.

Serious Fun! at Lincoln Center was an annual summer series of performance art and
nontraditional dance at Alice Tully Hall. Inaugurated in 1987, it was an experiment in
attracting downtown avant-garde audiences to New York City’s uptown hub of classical
dance and music. The summer festival ran through 1995. Some of the other performers
included in the festival during the summer of 1991 were David Gordon, Philip Glass, Johanna
Went, Dancenoise (Anne Iobst and Lucy Sexton), Blue Man Group, Reno, Lucinda Childs, and
Laurie Anderson. Choreographers featured in Megadance were Ann Carlson, Doug Elkins,
Charles Moulton and Elizabeth Streb. Serious Fun! calendar

With a high profile venue and date for the performance now set, Chazz Dean and Melanie
Monios agreed to join Kurt as performers and co-directors for 2000 Questions. The balance of former Watchface members agreed to help supply the raw materials.

The performance was well received, described in the press as a barbed and exuberantly
up-the-establishment meditation on “where we are going.” New York Newsday reported, “It
sticks in your craw. As the century turns, some of us will still remember this lily-white trio
singing `He’s got the whole world in his hands,’ holding their pointed hands aloft toward the
audience like smoking guns.” Lincoln Center Stagebill The night ended on a high note for all of the Watchface members as they celebrated this “final” performance with friends and fans at the Tribeca restaurant El Teddy’s, two blocks from where Watchface had begun eight years
earlier.

2000 Questions was performed only once more with the original cast, at a one night stand at
La MaMa in September of the same year. Chazz left New York City and moved to Southern
California just weeks later. La MaMa hosted the show a second time that fall with frequent
Watchface collaborator Richard Schachter taking Chazz’s role. The second half of this bill
was Richard’s zany, hysterical, and poignant “Crazy He Calls Me”, featuring the “homo-
phonic song stylings” of Dick St. Clair (Richard), a washed up lounge singer, dedicating
standards to his lost male loves. Richard was accompanied on the piano by artist and friend
Mark Chamberlain.

Also in the fall of 1991, Kurt traveled to Southern California to reunite with Chazz for a tour of
Sodomite Warriors. A two man version of 2000 Questions served as an opening act for
engagements at Highways in Santa Monica and Sushi in San Diego.

In 1999, Kurt was invited to perform in Basel’s International Performance Festival by curator
Linda Cassens. Linda had been a New York performance artist before moving to Switzerland
and worked with Watchface in White. Kurt’s presentation included parts of 2000 Questions,
again performed with Richard Schachter. Also included were sections of Sodomite Warriors,
with Richard taking Chazz Dean’s role and portions of rou-tine which Kurt and Richard had
created for Watchface: The Spring ’87 Collection.