Clay Drinko: Press

"Sweet, funny, clever comedy seeks crossover" would be the Craigslist come-on for "Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same," and it may well come true via Madeleine Olnek's wry homage to '50s sci-fi, urban dating and interspecies romance. "Codependent" could pass as a family film, given the right family. But small arthouse and huge DVD/VOD seem more likely.

On the planet Zots, the ozone layer is being depleted because of too much "big feeling": Left unchecked, individual Zotsians radiate love, which destroys the atmosphere. To save their planet, several women of Zots travel to the Earth -- where hearts are routinely broken -- to find someone who will love them, dump them, and render them environmentally friendly.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the good-natured but lonely Jane (Lisa Haas) is working in a New York stationery store in which all manner of Manhattan oddballs wander through to use the copy machine, so it's not that strange to Lisa when she's confronted by Zoinx (Susan Ziegler) or for that matter, the visitor's strange mating rituals (Zotsians hold each other's noses for erotic satisfaction). Meanwhile, the sexual trajectories of two other aliens -- Zylar (Jackie Monahan) and Barr (Cynthia Kaplan) -- are on a collision course, which will make them (metaphor alert!) an outsider minority among codependent lesbian space aliens.

The pic's seat-of-the-pants aesthetic recalls "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and the interplanetary paranoia of is genre; the odd-couple romance (and a scene near the Queensboro Bridge) suggests Woody Allen's "Manhattan"; the parallel storyline of two government agents (Dennis Davis, Alex Karpovsky) is a little bit "X-Files." But Olnek's sensibility is singular, and the work of the cast -- notably the sweetfaced Haas and the hilariously robotic Ziegler -- make for a movie that seeks, and earns, affection.

Production values are appropriately Eisenhower Era when they need to be -- the Zots language consists of dialogue run backwards; the skullcaps on the aliens won't sucker anyone. But Clay Drinko's music and d.p. Nat Bouman's on-the-run New York shooting lock the film into contemporary times.
Camera (B&W, color, HD), Nat Bouman; editor, Curtis Grout; music, Clay Drinko; music supervisor, Elisabeth Pierotti; costume designer, Linda Gui; production designers, Rebecca Conroy, Bryan Heyboer/Spaceship Design and Construction; sound, Laura Terruso; sound designer, Alan Guss; choreographer, Stormy Brandenberger; special-effects supervisor, Eugene Lehnert. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (Park City at Midnight), Jan. 25, 2011. Running time: 76 MIN.

The movie’s metaphor-laden, and may become a fave of the LGBT sect. The hope is a distributor exists who’ll not pigeonhole it. There’s a buoyancy behind this simple story of wanting to find love and be loved.

Shades of Wood, Corman and Woody Allen are heavy in NYC-based playwright Madeleine Olnek’s feature debut. It’s decidedly camp/low-budget but pumped up with a jaunty score from Clay Drinko as well as nifty set design and camerawork.

Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same embodies Sundance and all its aspirations. A movie not quite ready for nine figures at the box office, but one with gravitas, and (*gasp) heart.

If by some miniscule chance you've heard of Clay Drinko — a seriously gay DJ, dancer and improv artist ruffling feathers in New York City — then you'd be familiar with his hilariously danceable anthems like "White Girls With Dreads" and "Shake Shake Shake (The Tranny Song)." While Drinko's two previous electro-pop efforts sounded small and tinny, Suspicious Package is a fully engorged monster with full-on block-rocking beat production highlighted by such songs as "Terror Ass," "Rage Issues" and "Yoga Ho."

Imagine replacing the late, great Wesley Willis, a 300-pound, schizophrenic black man, with Clay Drinko, a rubbery, openly gay, white man. A wild performance artist from New York City, Drinko combines all the camp of Right Said Fred with the brilliantly absurd Friends song, “Smelly Cat.”

Sassy and risqué, Famous Name features spoken vocals and simplistic electro music arrangements. Songs like “White Girls With Dreads,” “Dickhead,” “Lesbians,” and “Pussies, Hos, and Beer” are so bad they’re actually good. Drinko’s lispy drone and Casio-inspired beats seem to work together like a push and pull kind of thing with a happy ending.

Uh, this is definitely an album with a specific time and place to play it (example: late night bedroom party, yes; with your parents anytime, no). Some may find the over-electro wears thinner than a pair of surf punk board shorts, and the lyrics a bit suggestively sarcastic, especially on “Cuddle Buttah” (just guess where Drinko wants to put his manhood).

Nevertheless, this album is ridiculous fun and danceable too. Discretion is key—when the disc is not in use, I might suggest keeping it locked in the naughty bedside drawer.

WOOSTER, Ohio - Fans of the hit television series "Law and Order" will see a College of Wooster graduate in next Wednesday (Nov. 5) night's episode, which airs at 10 p.m. on NBC. Clay Drinko, a member of the Class of 2002, will be seen in the role of a mentally challenged witness who tries to help the authorities. Drinko, who has been auditioning for roles on "Law and Order" for the past five years, will appear in two scenes on Wednesday.

"I've read for several different characters, but this is the first time I have been selected," said Drinko, who majored in theatre at Wooster and earned a master's degree in performance studies at New York University. "I've heard that if you don't get a part the first time, you have to keep trying. They might have you in mind for something else later."

Since graduating from Wooster, Drinko has stayed active in theatre, comedy, and independent films. He has also been taking classes, and recently started a Ph.D. program in drama and theatre studies at Tufts University in Boston.

Drinko attributes much of his success to his experience at Wooster. "I came to Wooster thinking I would be a doctor, but I had done a lot of theatre in high school and decided in my first year (at the College) that I would concentrate on acting," said the Coshocton County native. "Wooster was great because it gave me more options. Without the College and (associate professor of theatre) Shirley Huston Findley, I would not have gotten into the academic side the way I did.

"Wooster helped make me a 'smart' actor - someone who approaches a role with the desire to research the character instead of someone who just wants to be himself," he added. "Wooster helped turn acting into a discipline. The whole liberal arts approach is extremely important for actors because it gives them a range of life experiences."

Drinko, who recently appeared in the music video "Dream On" by the Swedish singer Robyn (best known for her 1998 hit "Show Me Love"), signed on with an agent earlier this year. As for the future, he is cautiously optimistic. "I've stopped thinking in terms of an ultimate dream or goal," he said. "I just want to get interesting character roles that could progress to bigger and better things. It's a slow and tedious process. You have to be patient."

The cast is engagingly committed and over-the-top: standouts include Johanna H. Clay, back on hand as Manny; Lucas Wotkowski as Michael, who quits Jason's film early in the play and winds up planning a Vegas act of film and TV impressions with Jerry; Melanie Angelina Maras, on-target as tough-but-sexy Marissa; Clay Drinko, hilarious as the whiny but egotistical budding auteur Jason; Alexandra Lemosle, adorable as the geeky Sandy; and Deondra Lyonne, who is daffily fearless as Jamie Lee.

All the soloists and the women's chorus (Sarah Rose Bodley, Abby Block, Storme Sundberg, and Takemi Kitamura, in addition to the three already mentioned) perform with gusto. But the agile, highly vocal members of the men's chorus (Philip Montana, Arturo Vidich, Bryan Campbell, Sydney Skybetter, Clay Drinko, and Brandin Steffenson) are the evening's real heroes. Huntsmen, hounds, archers, wild beasts, executioners, a red-hot gridiron—you name it. You wouldn't want to meet any of them in a dark forest or the shadow of a cathedral.