EMAV 10 Bites: Keaton Delmar Johns, Performer

In every neighborhood, there is someone who makes the Arts a part of their life, and our community. You'd be surprised to discover how many different people use the arts to improve the quality of life in our hometown. EAT MORE ART! VEGAS will feature them regularly in our series "10 Bites."

Like many exceptional, local artists actor and musician Keaton Johns dazzles audiences from all walks of life in shows about everything from high stakes drama to drag, and lucky for us he released a new single. Enjoy these "Ten bites" and check out the tunes!

What kinds of art do you enjoy, create, or perform in?

I was trained mainly in musical theatre, but I also love pop music which is my current passion I’m pursuing. I’m also a local singing drag queen in town which is just as delicious as it sounds.

Why do you do it?

I come from a long line of performers, so it runs in my blood to perform. But I love getting to tell stories, diving into character’s psyches, and sharing experiences with audiences.

What’s your favorite production/performance experience so far?

I did a production of Next to Normal in college, and that was the single most incredible, demanding, challenging, and rewarding experience of my life. Here in Vegas, doing Spring Awakening and West Side Story were two of my most cherished shows I’ve ever done.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist, or what do you do when you are "at work?"

I currently work as a gondolier at the Venetian, singing Italian standards to guests from all around the world. I’ve also taught as a dance teacher to people of all ages.

What is an arts experience that you will never forget, or a memorable response to your work?

Whenever someone tells me how moved they were by my performance, I feel so grateful and humbled at the same time. My job is not to indulge in my own emotions as a performer, but to let it translate to the audience and let them experience the feelings.

What would you be doing if you weren't performing, creating, or enjoying the Arts in Las Vegas?

If I weren’t an artist, I would probably be a teacher of history, anthropology, mythology, or archaeology. I’ve been a huge fan of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider my whole life, and history/mythology/etc has always been so fascinating to me.

Name something you love about Las Vegas, and why.

I love the amazing community of performers here. From the local theaters, to the bars/lounges, and all the way to the shows on the Strip, everyone I’ve met is so incredibly kind, supportive, and talented.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

I heard this aphorism from one of my favorite singers, Sierra Boggess: you have nothing to prove, only to share. I like to keep that with me when I’m getting anxious, doubtful, or worried about performing.

What superpower would you have and why?

I’ve always loved Invisible Woman and Violet from The Incredibles, so I’d want invisibility and the force fields power. That way, I can summon immense power when I need it, and when I need to shut the world off for a moment and be more introverted, I can turn invisible and not worry too much about people.

Listen to "Chapter," the latest single by Keaton Johns.

What future projects are you looking forward to?

I’m currently working on my own album that will most likely be released next summer. I released my first single, Chapter, and the reception has already been so incredible. I’m looking forward to putting out more music for everyone to hear.

Follow Keaton @KeatonDJohns and at keatondelmarjohns.com.

Are you a local artist of any

discipline? Do you work with a company as a stagehand or administrative staff? Do you love to experience it as the audience? We'd love to get your 10 Bites to share. Fill out a form here, and you might be featured in a post!

CHECK OUT OUR 10 BITES FEATURE GALLERY HERE

#TenBites #EatMoreArt #vegasculture #vegasmusic #vegastheatre

EMAV 10 Bites: Keith Milkie, Opera Singer

In every neighborhood, there is someone who makes the Arts a part of their life, and our community. You'd be surprised to discover how many different people use the arts to improve the quality of life in our hometown. EAT MORE ART! VEGAS will feature them regularly in our series "10 Bites."

Like many visiting artists who travel to Las Vegas to collaborate with local companies, singer and musician Keith Milkie has found a new addition to his international collection of cultural homes with Vegas City Opera and their upcoming production of The Threepenny Opera; by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill at Charleston Heights Arts Center.

What kinds of art do you enjoy, create, or perform in?

I enjoy writing, music, acting, and athletics. These are all activities in which I find personal artistic expression and I try to approach each with a sense of beauty.

Why do you do it?

My father was an opera singer with the most beautiful baritone voice that I have heard. He and many others along the way made me believe that singing could take me places that I wanted to go in life and give me the experiences that I deeply wanted to have growing up. Looking back, singing and music has always brought me in contact with some the best people I know and provided the most fulfilling experience in my life, and this knowing keeps me doing it.

What’s your favorite production/performance experience so far?

In 2017 I was hired to sing the role of Dr. Bartolo in an uncut production of the Barber of Seville In NYC with Vocal Productions. The immensity of this role and my learning it was a huge accomplishment in my own eyes and then, as a young man, to bring this old man to life on stage every night with his cane and mannerisms was pure fun.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist, or what do you do when you are "at work?"

During high school I was a lifeguard for four summers. When I moved to NYC I worked with a fitness agency doing various print work as well as Big and Tall modeling for catalogue. This paid for my acting and singing education as well as housing at the time. As as volunteer this past year I have been happy to work with my local animal shelter in Kingman Arizona providing what I can in walks and time with the dogs in need.

What is an arts experience that you will never forget, or a memorable response to your work?

I once gave a recital at the Brooklyn Library in NYC with my dear friend, mentor, and Pianist James Besser who past one year ago this last September. As a side note, he gave me more in Artistic and musical education than most people get in a lifetime, and I am forever thankful to him. After this recital in which I had sung a number of pieces including Soliloquy from Carousel, an older women in her 90’s waited with her nurse to speak to me and she said, “When I was seven and my brother 12, he used to love the musical Carousel and singing Soliloquy, and at that age he was as tall to me as you are now. He past away at the age of 12 and when you were up there singing that song, in those moments I felt like he was with me again one more time.” This moment was a gift to me as a person and it made me realize the true power and ability that music has to transcend time and memory. In a world of ego and competition, her telling me this story made me actually feel as if I were doing and giving something worth while and not simply trying to accomplish feats for myself. This is the memory I hold onto when I feel that there is no more reason to sing.

What would you be doing if you weren't performing, creating, or enjoying the Arts in Las Vegas?

After I left New York I feel I also left my chase. I began volunteering at my local animal shelter in Kingman Arizona and this work, giving to souls that truly needed, wanted, and appreciated every moment and deserved it, was fulfilling to me in ways that cannot be put into only a few words. If I were to stop performing Then my life would be a chosen creation of simplicity. I feel I would enjoy teaching and continuing to help where I can.

Name something you love about Las Vegas, and why.

The people of this city are a very unique bunch and I’ve experience a much more collective and driven energy in the theatre space than I have in the past in other places. I also love a good game of Roulette.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

From my teacher Barbara Marchant at the William Esper Conservatory In NYC on our last day together after three years of intensive study, “Keith focus on the work and keep working, do not worry about being famous.”

What superpower would you have and why?

My chosen super power would be to teleport. I have friends in many cities and many countries from my travels and it would be nice to see them more often.

What future projects are you looking forward to?

I will sing Handel’s Messiah on Dec. 7th at the Green Vally Presbyterian church in Las Vegas Nevada.

Get your tickets to The Threepenny Opera today. One weekend only! October 27th - 30th.

Are you a local artist of any discipline? Do you work with a company as a stagehand or administrative staff? Do you love to experience it as the audience? We'd love to get your 10 Bites to share. Fill out a form here, and you might be featured in a post!

CHECK OUT OUR 10 BITES FEATURE GALLERY HERE

#TenBites #EatMoreArt

EMAV 10 Bites: Polly Superstar, Multimedia Artist, Performer, Author, & Provocateur

Polly Superstar.

In every neighborhood, there is someone who makes the Arts a part of their life, and our community. You'd be surprised to discover how many different people use the arts to improve the quality of life in our hometown. EAT MORE ART! VEGAS will feature them regularly in our series "10 Bites."

What kinds of art do you enjoy, create, or perform in?

I have spent the last 20+ years creating immersive, thematic, costumed events for the LGBTQ+, kink, ethically non-monogamous, and alternative lifestyle communities. I am most known for my international network of sex culture events: Kinky Salon (www.kinkysalon.com,) and for my book, Polly: Sex Culture Revolutionary (https://bookshop.org/shop/polly.) More recently I have been building inflatable, interactive, erotic, latex sculptures.

Why do you do it?

I have always been inspired and fascinated by human sexuality and I live to explore and interrogate the erotic experience. I thrive on the dynamic cultural dialog generated from sharing art with the world.

What’s your favorite production/performance experience so far?

For the first two years of the pandemic, my productions completely ground to a halt, and during that time two things happened: I completely lost my sense of identity, and then I rediscovered myself anew. I realized that the constant grind of event production had left me feeling creatively stagnant. I threw myself into my art studio and started working in latex to create large-scale inflatable sculptures. After lock down I debuted my first installation and it was pure joy. My events have always been individual experiences. No production ever happens twice and they are guided by the magic of spontaneity and synchronicity. But, nothing had ever compared to singular experience of the F**kball, a 7 ft tall, colorful, bouncy, inflatable, latex ball covered in penetrable vulvas, rolling into a room full of naked people.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist, or what do you do when you are "at work?"

My first real job was at a kink store in London when I was a teenager, selling latex clothes. I started to make my own latex fashion in the mid-'90s, and when I moved to the US in the late ‘90s I founded my label, The Moral Minority. Kink fashion shows were the platform for my first performances, as a model, then as a designer and director. It was around 2002 that I realized I was more inspired by the performances than the fashion, the clothing itself became less important to me, and I refocused my creative energy on the immersive, erotic, community-driven art experience that became known as Kinky Salon.

What is an arts experience that you will never forget, or a memorable response to your work?

I would like to give a shout-out to the librarians who have put my book on shelves in remote corners of the country. It’s always memorable when people show up because they picked my book up in a library and traveled hundreds of miles to find the nearest event. I feel humbled and grateful for the network of information that librarians continue to curate and foster.

What would you be doing if you weren't performing, creating, or enjoying the Arts in Las Vegas?

I would take some time off to enjoy the incredible nature we have around the city! Hiking in the mountains, camping in the valleys, soaking in the hot springs, and laying in a hammock in the dappled shade between two trees in my backyard.

Name something you love about Las Vegas, and why.

There’s an immense amount of creative energy here, making our huge tourist attractions roll 24 hours a day 7 days a week, which means the town is teeming with amazing artists, performers, and makers. But, there’s something else happening under the surface in Las Vegas that I found surprising when I moved here, and it’s counter to the image of the city: While the Strip can be loud, brash, and overwhelming, the pace of life here is actually very relaxed, and the city is full of authentic, heartfelt, and caring people. Oh, and the sunsets. Nobody does sunsets like Vegas.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Leave it better than you found it.

What superpower would you have and why?

I would have the superpower to heal sexual trauma. Culture has failed us on an epic scale.

What future projects are you looking forward to?

The Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas is exhibiting my new work. There is an intimate preview event on Monday, August 1st, where the public will be able to interact with the sculptures, and then they will be put on display in the museum.

You can RSVP to the event here https://hub.kinkysalon.com/events/44362

Find out more about Polly Superstar at www.pollysuperstar.com.

Are you a local artist of any discipline? Do you work with a company as a stagehand or administrative staff? Do you love to experience it as the audience? We'd love to get your 10 Bites to share. Fill out a form here, and you might be featured in a post!

CHECK OUT OUR 10 BITES FEATURE GALLERY HERE

#TenBites #EatMoreArt