Lola Pashalinski (born Regina Hirsch) is an American theatre artist known for her work as a founding member of Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company.
Early life Born Regina Hirsch in Brooklyn, New York, Pashalinki's father was an insurance salesman. She spent her young adulthood "bounc[ing] around from odd job to odd job 'mostly in publishing' and briefly attended college before dropping out."
Career Pashalinski became involved in theatre as an assistant director with John Vaccaro's Playhouse of the Ridiculous, a resident company at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, during the 1960s. She left the Playhouse of the Ridiculous with Ludlam when he and John Vaccarro had a disagreement during rehearsals for Conquest of the Universe in 1967.
Ludlam then founded his Ridiculous Theatrical Company, and Pashalinski was a founding member, working with the company from its establishment in 1967 until 1980. During those years, she appeared in 17 of the company's productions, including as Lola Lola in Corn (1973), Brunhilde in Der Ring Gott Farblonjet (1977), and Miss Cubbidge in Bluebeard (1970). Black-Eyed Susan, Mario Montez,Dunning, Jennifer (August 5, 1988) "Bill Vehr, 48, Actor Who Was Director Of 70's Cult Classics" The New York Times and John Brockmeyer also performed in that production of Bluebeard, which took place at La MaMa. Mary Brecht and Leandro Katz did design for the production.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Bluebeard (1970)". Accessed May 29, 2018. She also performed alongside Black-Eyed Susan, Brockmeyer, and Ethyl Eichelberger in Eichelberger's Phedre and Oedipus at La MaMa in 1977.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Phedre and Oedipus (1977)". Accessed May 29, 2018.
After leaving the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, Pashalinski appeared in a range of theatrical productions and in film and television. In 1981, she played the jester Trinculo in The Tempest, directed by Lee Breuer at Central Park's Delacorte Theater. She then worked with Richard Foreman, appearing in his 1983 production of Egyptology (My Head Was a Sledgehammer) at The Public Theater and his 1987 production of Film is Evil, Radio Is Good at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She performed in Tom Eyen's Give My Regards to Off-Off-Broadway at La MaMa in 1987.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Give My Regards to Off-Off-Broadway (1987)". Accessed May 29, 2018.
She also worked several times with director/choreographer David Gordon, appearing in his 1983 collaboration with JoAnne Akalitis and Philip Glass, The Photographer, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, his 1992 production of The Mysteries And What's So Funny at the Joyce Theater, also with music by Glass, and his 1996 production of Punch and Judy Get Divorced. In 1999, she portrayed Gordon in his Autobiography of a Liar at Danspace Project."1999 - Autobiography of a Liar" Archiveography (Under Construction)Anderson, Jack (December 13, 1999) "Reminiscences With Literally No Holds Barred" The New York Times
She also appeared in film and television, including as the psychiatrist in Mary Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol, as Narc in Peter Sellar's The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez, as Mona Black in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, as Hedy Wormenhoven on One Life to Live, and in smaller roles in All Good Things, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, and The Equalizer.
In 1999, she and her partner Linda Chapman performed in a play they wrote called Gertrude & Alice: A Likeness to Loving, based on the relationship between Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. "I've always loved Gertrude Stein and felt that as a gay woman, I understood her in a way that many biographers did not," Pashalinski told journalist Simi Horowitz for a profile published in Backstage in 2005. "I wanted to explode the myth of what Stein was about... and the play gave me the chance to work with Linda." Pashalinski again portrayed Stein in 2022, in performance artist John Kelly's Underneath the Skin at La MaMa.Dale, Michael (December 5, 2022) "Michael Dale's Theatre Crawl - 'If Shakespeare had a psychiatrist we would not have had his plays or sonnets.'" OnStage
Awards Pashalinski won Obie Awards for Distinguished Performance by an Actress for her performances in the Ridiculous Theatrical Company productions Corn (1973) and Der Ring Gott Farblonjet (1977), and for her performance in Gertrude & Alice (2000).
Theater Year Title Role Notes 1970 Bluebeard Miss Cubbish 1973 Corn Lola Lola Obie Award For Distinguished Performance by an Actress 1977 Der Ring Gott Farblonjet Brunhilde Obie Award For Distinguished Performance by an Actress 1981 The Tempest Trinculo 1983 Egyptology (My Head Was a Sledgehammer) nurse 1987 Film is Evil, Radio Is Good Helena Sovianavitch 1999/2000 Gertrude & Alice: A Likeness to Loving Gertrude Obie Award For Distinguished Performance by an Actress she appeared as a housekeeper in the broadway production of Turgenev's FORTUNE'S FOOL- 2022 Underneath the Skin Gertrude Stein (remotely)
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1986The Sorrows of Dolores Gypsy Woman1987AnnaProducer1987IronweedFat Woman with Turkey1991The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez Narc1992Me and Veronica Mabel1994NorthOperator1995The Pesky SuitorBabeshort film1996I Shot Andy Warhol Psychiatrist1997Arresting Gena Mrs. Meanie1997BrokersRoz1998GodzillaPharmacist1998Claire Dolan Salon Client #21998PeckerPelt Room Announcervoice1999Sweet and Lowdown Blanche's Friend2001The Sleepy Time Gal Adoption Agency Director2001K-PAX Russian Woman2006Little Children Bridget2009The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Mrs. Mankievitz2010All Good Things Woman at Luxor2011Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Mona Black2019A Call to Spy Hilda Atkins
Television +YearTitleRoleNotes1987The EqualizerVera Polivka Episode: "Encounter in a Closed Room"1989The Days and Nights of Molly DoddZekiaEpisode: "Here's a Rough Way to Learn a Foreign Language"1998Remember WENNMrs. EtruscanEpisode: "Some Time, Some Station"1999As the World TurnsRosie2 episodes1999Now and AgainOlgaEpisode: "Pulp Turkey"200930 RockCleaning LadyEpisode: "Retreat to Move Forward"2014LouieMrs. FrameEpisode: "Back"2014The BlacklistApoloniaEpisode: "Monarch Douglas Bank (No. 112)"2015DeadbeatDottieEpisode: "Last Dance with Edith Jane"2019Broad CityNeighborEpisode: "SheWork and Shit Bucket"2020High MaintenanceCoraEpisode: "Soup"
References Notes
Further reading Katz, Leandro, Bedlam Days: The Early Plays of Charles Ludlam and The Ridiculous Theatrical Company,
External links
"Bluebeard" The seduction of Miss Cubbidge, audio and photographs by Leandro Katz (1970) (Vimeo)