The Fremonts revel in life's setbacks, introduce themselves to the Berkshires

The Fremonts revel in life's setbacks, introduce themselves to the Berkshires

By Benjamin Cassidy, The Berkshire Eagle

WEST STOCKBRIDGE — Boulder was just too sunny for Great Barrington newcomers Justin Badger and Stephanie Dodd.

When the husband-wife team behind The Fremonts uprooted to the Colorado city after 14 years of acting in New York City, they found an unusually optimistic crowd in the state that, accurately or not, is known for its 300 days of annual sunshine.

"What is there to be sad about in Boulder? Justin and I, we lived in New York for too long. We are like basically walking cigarettes at this point. We're so naturally sarcastic and dark," Dodd said during a joint phone interview with her husband.

Don't get them wrong: They still enjoy visiting their old home. On Friday, they were calling from Boulder before the latest sold-out run of "The Failure Cabaret." The part music, part stand-up, part confessional show draws from the couple's stage setbacks as well as other life challenges. The piece makes its Berkshire debut this weekend at The Foundry in West Stockbridge, where performances will be held on Friday and Saturday night starting at 8 p.m.

"It's like our coming out show of being Berkshire residents," Badger said.

The couple arrived in June, settling in just before the summer buzz picked up.

"It's been so blissful," Dodd said.

The move is a return to the county for Dodd, who acted in Shakespeare & Company's productions of "Much Ado About Nothing" in 2003 and "The Taming of the Shrew" in 2005. She later participated in readings and workshops with the Lenox organization, too.

"I just loved it," Dodd said of her time in the Berkshires.

She met Badger in New York. He was also pursuing acting in the city. At one point, he was a chorus member in a Broadway revival of "Hair."

"I guess that's my big claim to fame," Badger quipped.

Eventually, the couple decided to form a band. They called it The Fremonts, alluding to their home cities: Dodd is from Fremont, Neb., and Badger hails from Fremont, Calif. Early on, one of the venues they played was the Dream Away Lodge. Their Berkshire visitation led them to wonder what it would be like to live there.

"Finally, we just said, 'Let's do it!'" Dodd said.

Their cabaret piece stems from the duo's narrative brand of Americana. Though Dodd and Badger play the accordion and guitar, respectively, they are aware of their musical limitations.

"We've both played music for a long time, but we're certainly not virtuosic musicians," said Dodd, an accordionist. "We absolutely come at writing this music from a place of story and a place of character, and I think we just started noticing, as we performed the music more together, we do fall into these snarky, cynical characters pretty naturally. We are both hunting for the comedy in that."

That descent into darkness is apparent on "The Failure Cabaret," the cabaret show's companion album.

"I just want to be drunk and really profoundly ugly / I just want to be left alone," Dodd sings during the opening of "Find Me."

Ultimately, Dodd and Badger didn't want to confine their gloomy humor to just songs.

"You go see a band, they play music, and in between songs they might say something like, 'This next song I wrote after I broke up with my girlfriend,' and then they start playing the song," Badger said. "We were like, 'What if we turned that on its head and gave a little bit more story behind the songs?'"

A friend urged them to write about their failures as actors.

"It's just amazing how many horrifying failure stories you have after 14 years of being a professional actor. There's a lot of material to pull from," Dodd said.

"We definitely spare no honesty on the show. We get pretty raw," Badger said.

"It's pretty embarrassing," Dodd added.

During the day, Dodd works at the Center for Peace through Culture in Housatonic and remotely in human resources for a software company. Badger works remotely for an advertising firm. They've taken to the Berkshires' artistic culture.

"We're pretty inspired by all the folks we've met out there," Badger said.

They hope the influence of renowned cabaret performers such as Bridget Everett and Justin Vivian Bond will be apparent during their unofficial introduction to their Berkshire peers.

"That style of being so vulnerable and, at the same time, having just some bite to you," Dodd said. "'I'm here, my heart is exposed, but I will cut you.'"

The Fremonts offer marriage confessions in ‘The Failure Cabaret,’ a whiskey-tinged love story

By Kalene McCort, The Daily Camera
October 25th, 2019

PUBLISHED: October 25, 2019 at 10:00 am | UPDATED: October 25, 2019 at 1:30 pm

When most couples dive into therapy, they leave with a lighter bank account and hopefully new constructive ways to tackle issues that arise with cohabitation. Musicians Stephanie Dodd and Justin Michael Badger — also known as Americana blues duo The Fremonts — left marriage counseling with fodder for a show. The couple, who recently relocated from Boulder to The Berkshires, will return to the Front Range to perform their snarky and honest production, “The Failure Cabaret,” at the cafe at eTown Hall on Nov. 1-2.

“We didn’t set out to make such a vulnerable show,” said Dodd. “The idea for this piece was born at Jill’s, at the St. Julien, over a few rounds of drinks with our producer Chuck Porter. We were telling him some of our funny old theater stories and he was really curious about why we ever quit acting.  After we told him the whole tale, he said that he thought it would make a good show.”

What initially started as a production documenting the couple’s time in New York City working as Broadway actors quickly evolved into a much more personal show — one that presents their impromptu move to Boulder and their unrelenting will to maintain their sanity while juggling the many components that come along with committing to “till death to us part.”

In April, Dodd and Badger performed a string of sold-out shows at Longmont’s Still Cellars to audiences eager to witness the sincere serenades and sassy exchanges.

“Honestly, being this vulnerable has been a recent development for me,” Badger said. “I have pretty much stuck to the surface when it comes to what I create and how I perform. But, being diagnosed with a mood disorder changed that for me. The cabaret and the visual art that goes along with it became a way for me to rip off my clothes and say, ‘Look, scars!’ I mean, not really, but you get my gist. It’s been cool to have folks see the show and say, ‘Ooo, scars? Check out mine.’”

Humorous and at times hard-sitting, “The Failure Cabaret” — also a full-length album by the same title — touches on a heap of emotions, while still managing to entertain. Among the impassioned guitar strums, accordion’s distinct sound and chill-inducing harmonies, lies thoughtful dialogue and staggering authenticity.

While The Fremonts will take the stage at The Foundry in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on Nov. 8-9, they are looking forward to first making the plane ride back to Colorado for a two-night run within a venue they know and love.

“eTown is a pretty special place for sure,” Badger said. “We had a chance to share the main stage with Foxfeather and Paul Kimbiris a couple of years back and it was pretty magical. We’re taking over the downstairs cafe this time around for a more intimate setting. It’ll be really interesting to see how the downtown Boulder crowd responds to openness of the show.”

With the comedic timing of a stand-up special and the energy of an after-hours barroom gig, the duo  offers a one-of-a-kind production with a setlist that includes a variety of stellar tunes.

Dodd explores the thoughtful decision to not reproduce in a sultry and comical number titled “Songs About Babies.” The overall score of “The Failure Cabaret” has a nostalgic — almost at times vaudevillian — feel, yet it delivers fresh and relatable subject matter.

“We’re especially stoked to spend time with our Colorado pals, a lot of our friends who saw the show in Longmont are coming back to see it in Boulder,” Dodd said.

In addition to subjecting their instruments to TSA inspection, The Fremonts will travel to Denver International Airport with a fragile fake wedding cake, stacked with a topper that reads “We Still Do.”

“This run in Boulder is the first test of how well the show travels,” Badger said.

It’s The Fremonts’ hope that this production, one that offers a real glimpse into their own personal trials and tribulations, will eventually find a place at other notable venues throughout the country.

“We have a long history of performing original cabaret pieces in NYC, and we’re definitely hoping that this show will make its way there,” Dodd said. “The integration of confessional storytelling, comedy and music feels like a pretty natural fit for us. There are great cabaret festivals all over the world and it would be a real dream to tour this show for a while.”

Always looking to take their live productions to the next level, Badger and Dodd haven’t ruled out crafting more cabarets and have their eyes on a few Big Apple performance spaces.

“We actually made a four-person cabaret version of ‘Hamlet’ that used music from Irving Berlin to Gnarls Barkley back in 2008,” Badger said. “So, we have a few NYC venues in mind where we would love to perform ‘The Failure Cabaret’ in the winter of 2020.”

Flaws, fights and frustrations surface in this production that is every bit as witty as it is musically catchy. A testament to the vow of forever, Badger and Dodd have crafted a whiskey-tinged love story for the modern age — that just happens to be their own.

“I hope that this show sparks conversation about the things couples hide inside of a long marriage,” Dodd said. “We want to pull back the curtain on those secrets and just show that every couple is a little screwed up, and that’s OK. We shouldn’t have to put on a brave face for our neighbors or co-workers and pretend that everything is fine all of the time.”

The Fremonts gear up for new album and live cabaret!

It has been a busy 8 months! We are incredibly proud to announce that our new album, The Failure Cabaret, is finished and will be released on Friday, April 26th.

As if that wasn’t enough news, the release of the new album will be surrounded by three performances of our new stage show of the same name. We’ll be releasing more information about the where, the when and the why very soon.

Stay tuned!

-Steph & Justin