I ran into the amazing performer/writer Amanda Miller at Think Coffee this week as she was hanging a poster for her knock-out One Breath, Then Another: An Interactive Yoga Show. Of course I had to stop and ask: So I get a solo show and a yoga class? I launched into an on the spot interview, and the ever sassy Miller agreed to chat, but threw in a prid pro quo deal. She would answer me, if I answered her.
The show, opens Aug. 18 as part of Theater For The New City's 4th Annual Dream Up Festival.
Scott Alexander Hess: Kudos on getting in the festival. So this is a yoga class and a show all in one? WTF! That's outrageous!
Amanda Miller: Thanks for the kudos! Yes, it's a yoga class/solo performance hybrid. The audience will be invited to chant, breathe, move and meditate while I simultaneously perform a show about my experience studying yoga on an ashram in India. Now my turn!
You published a book called Diary of a Sex Addict. Is this a titillating chronicle of your erotic escapades & fetishes?
Scott Alexander Hess: You'd have to ask my boyfriend about the fetishes. LOL. Honestly, the book is pretty dark and a bit sad at times. People looking to bone up are often disappointed, but I've had readers from Los Angeles, India and New York tell me the novel changed their lives so hey, I'm happy. Back to you! For someone like me who wants to go to India, does your show give us a glimpse of what that trip might be like?
Amanda Miller: The show gives a glimpse of a specific kind of trip to India: studying traditional Indian yoga and living the yogic lifestyle on an ashram. The show also gives a small glimpse of the way many non-citified Indian people live: in rural huts without electricity or running water.
You directed a trailer for your book in which a porno actor does a sex scene. Is this real sex? Were there any funny/awkward moments while directing this scene?
Scott Alexander Hess: Oddly, that trailer got so much action. Like 10,000 hits on vimeo and a lot of people then bought the book. I was blessed to have the amazing Gio Dell and Brandon Hawk as actors. It was odd shooting a nude sex scene on the floor of my cute studio kitchenette. But those two guys were such pros. Gio, who has an accent, at one point had trouble with the phrase "Fuck me harder." I got down on the floor and was yelling just say Heart-er Heart-er. He got it. So Miss Miller, it could be 100 degrees in New York in August. Can people show up to the show in swimsuits, bikinis or thongs? Will the heat add to a flavor of India?
Amanda Miller: I anticipate that the theater will be air conditioned. However, no one will be turned away if they arrive in swimsuits.
Scott Alexander Hess: I'll wear my Aussie Bum suit. It's hot.