Cynthia von Buhler (; born Cynthia Carrozza, 1964) is an American artist, author, playwright, performer, and producer.
Early life
Cynthia von Buhler was born Cynthia Carrozza and raised in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the middle child in an artistic family with six children. Of her childhood, she says "As soon as we could hold a scissor, we learned every kind of craft imaginable, and worked in three dimensions, not just two." Creative from the start, she created large-scale papier-mâché floats for her hometown Halloween parades, and won her first art award while she was still in grammar school. Growing up in the Berkshires, surrounded by world-class theater, von Buhler staged, performed and sang in plays at school and camp. Her high school graduation was held at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Von Buhler studied art and children's books at The Art Institute of Boston. After graduating she continued her studies at Richmond, The American International University in London.
Royalty connection
Von Buhler claims her family is rumored to descend from the royal Italian Sforza family through an illegitimate child. This Sforza line was given the title of "Count" by the Pope to give them legitimacy. An Italian diplomat and anti-Fascist politician of this line is Count Carlo Sforza. In a manifesto von Buhler wrote in 2001 she explains why she has a title. "My grandmother's maiden name is Sforza, and the rumor in the family is that we are related to the infamous Francesco Sforza of Milan, known for treachery, hiring Leonardo da Vinci as his plumber, beautiful mistresses, and a delicious Italian nougat candy called Torrone." A friend began referring to the gothic Victorian house as Castle von Buhler and the name stuck—the press dubbed the artist Countess Cynthia von Buhler.
Immersive theater
Speakeasy Dollhouse by von Buhler is a true tale of New York City Prohibition-era bootlegging, mafia, infidelity, and murder. Von Buhler had been haunted by a shocking family mystery for years. Her grandparents Frank and Mary Spano owned two speakeasies in the Bronx during Prohibition: one that masqueraded as a bakery, the other a secret nightclub. Shortly after Prohibition ended, her grandfather was shot and killed on the street in Manhattan. Her grandmother was pregnant with her mother at the time, and upon hearing the news of the murder she went into labor. Von Buhler's grandfather's body was laid out in one room of their small Bronx apartment while her mother was born in the room next to it. "Nobody still living in my family knows why my grandfather was shot. Nothing was known about the killer, his motive, or a trial. My grandmother took these secrets to her grave. And so, over the past two years, I have been dusting off a complicated, historically significant story," explains von Buhler. To more thoroughly explore her grandfather's murder and events leading up to it, von Buhler created an elaborate speakeasy dollhouse set complete with handmade dolls in her art studio. The set includes a plush secret nightclub, a bakery, a pre-war apartment, a bootlegging bathroom, a morgue, and even Ellis Island. The set contains crime scene details that can be examined from every angle. Von Buhler was featured in the "Gurney For Grandpa" episode of Oddities discussing this project.
Taking it one step further, the artist created an immersive theatrical experience to go along with the sets and her own investigation. Speakeasy Dollhouse stages these events in a historic Lower East Side speakeasy elaborately set up to mirror the dollhouse sets. The actors aren't visually distinguished from the audience, making the audience as key to the show as the performers. The play's tagline is "The speakeasy is my dollhouse and you are my dolls." A limited-edition graphic novel book, The Bloody Beginning, and initial performances in 2011 were paid through Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site. The play will continue into 2015 with tickets available to the general public. Of Dolls and Murder, directed by Susan Marks and narrated by John Waters, is a documentary about Francis Glessner Lee's crime scene investigation dollhouse dioramas. Marks created an Of Dolls and Murder sequel based on Speakeasy Dollhouse.
Speakeasy Dollhouse became the brand name for all of Cynthia von Buhler's immersive theater productions. The original show was renamed The Bloody Beginning.