Cynthia Plaster Caster: Return of the Alginate Hero

By Bob Pomeroy

It's time to take another look at groupies. There is serious Oscar buzz for Almost Famous, a movie about rock stars, groupies and music scribes. Almost Famous is based on Cameron Crowe's experiences as a teenage rock critic in the early 70's. Crowe would certainly been aware of the Plaster Casters of Chicago. The Plaster Casters claim to fame is that they made casts of rock stars penises and preserved them for posterity. Some of the stars to receive the Plaster treatment were Eric Burdon, Dennis Thompson and Wayne Kramer of the MC5. singer/actor Anthony Newley and Jimi Hendrix. In the 70's, Kiss wrote the song "Plaster Caster" about the famous groupie, but never got cast themselves.

It's been a long strange trip for Cynthia Plaster Caster. Never in her wildest imagination could she have dreamed that her plaster casting exploits, which began in the 60's, would lead to gallery shows, documentary films and guest lectures at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her story is a heroic journey from outsider to artist which brought Cynthia into intimate contact with the best and worst aspects of rock and roll. I had a chance to speak to Cynthia while she "babies" were still on display at New York's Thread Waxing Space. As you read this, the film, Plaster Caster, is beginning to make the rounds at film festivals.

GROUPIEDOM

"How does it feel to be famous for being a groupie?" Cynthia laughs at my opening questions." It just feels weird to be famous period, honey. Just being famous is unsettling. I'm having this role reversal now. It's so weird to me. Rock stars are looking at me the same way I used to look at them. No doubt about it. I am truly digging it. My friends and I were doing this to get the attention of rock stars, not to gain worldwide notoriety. When this began to gain attention, we thought it was hilarious."

The revolution began innocently enough in 1966 with a college professor giving a weekend assignment: Make a plaster cast of something solid. The 19 year old Cynthia and one of her friends decided that a rock stars cock would be perfect for the assignment. Cynthia didn't get her first cast that weekend, but she did lose her virginity to Mark Lindsey of Paul Revere and the Raiders. After that, Cynthia was on the scene passing out her "Plaster Caster" calling cards.

As with any artistic endeavor, the early attempts at casting cock were not all that successful. It wasn't until Cynthia perfected the technique of using quick drying dental alginate that her casting career really took off. Casting involves two important roles. The mold mixer who prepares the alginate and the platter (from English slag for blow job) to prepare the subject. More often than not, Cynthia was the mold mixer when she went out to make her casts.

The subjects of Cynthia's castings include the famous and the not so famous. "In the early days, these roadies got in there," Cynthia explains. "In The Who's case, Roger Daltry  told me that he wanted to observe the process first, then he'd do it later. He helped me mix the mold, but he conveniently snuck out. I think he wanted to just have a good laugh and watch. I think that happened with another roadie too. They're there. They were roadies for very good bands. They're part of the story and they're very lovely specimens."

Cynthia's collection include members of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, the Churls and the Keef Hartley Band. While these names may not mean much to us now, Cynthia explains that,  "I thought were good and though might go a little further that they did.  It didn't matter. I chose them because I liked their music. I don't care how famous they are or how big their dicks are. If their music moves me..."

A large part of the Plaster Caster mystique is based on the casting of Jimi Hendrix. Another part of the mystique is based on her association with Frank Zappa. In the unlikeliest of twists, it was Zappa's business partner, Herb Cohen who brought Cynthia back into the news in the 1990's. When Cynthia left California, she left her collection with Cohen for safekeeping. When she tried to recover her casts, Cohen claimed ownership. The dispute ended up in court where Plaster Caster was represented by ex-Big Black guitarist Santiago Durango. After six years of legal wrangling, Cynthia got her "babies" back in 1993.

New Beginnings

The return of the original casts brought new opportunities. Not only did she have her originals back, she also gained attention and inspiration to return to her art. "These days I'm not confining myself to musicians," Cynthia explains when talking about her recent castings." I'm interested in what I call Superheroes. That's someone who has made an outstanding achievement, doing something good for the world or made my day better somehow. Maybe it's someone who has just generally entertained me in some way. It could be a film maker or an athlete.  I'd love to do Rev. Jesse Jackson."

Cynthia's idea of Superhero is unique. One of the non-musicians in her collection is the infamous comic artist, Mike Diana. Diana was tried and convicted on obscenity charges in  Pinellas County, Florida. After serving his sentence of house arrest, Diana moved to Chicago where Cynthia now resides. "I really like his comic and his art" Cynthia says of her reason for including the artist.. "I think he's brilliant, the stories are bent and twisted. The bonus is that he's super attractive. I had no recourse but to double roles on that one. I had to be both platter and mold mixer."

Not that Cynthia has given up on casting rockers. Unlike some folks who came of age in the 1960's, Cynthia is a big fan of contemporary rock bands. Her recent castings include Bill Dolan of 5ive Style, Dan Kroha of Demolition Doll Rods and Jon Langford of the Mekons. "It's a perfect world when a nice guy has a big dick," Cynthia sighs when recalling Langford's casting. "I'm not a size queen, but I was pleasantly surprised when Jon Langford hobbled into my kitchen with that."

Another recent casting that didn't go as well was with Momus. The casting session took place while the synthpop star was suffering from a notoriously nasty eye infection (those eye patches were not props). "Momus was nowhere near 50% capability," Cynthia relates. "Between 50 and 75% capability is the norm. Three different times I tried it on him and he just could not keep it up. I really think he was capable of many inches judging from the size of the head. Not that it matters to me because it looks so cute and cuddly the way it came out. I'd like to do him again sometime. Maybe he'll bring his girlfriend along for inspiration next time."

Another new area Cynthia is exploring is casting women rock stars. "I do tits now.  I did Susie Gardner from L7's tits a few months ago. I'm going to be doing Margaret from the Demolition Doll Rods tits"  Since then, Cynthia has done tit casts of both Margaret and Christine from Demolition Doll Rods and Laetita Sadier from Stererolab.

Thread Waxing Show

Renewed casting activity isn't the only big new. The year Y2K saw the first ever gallery showing of Cynthia's labors. The show was mounted at New York's Thread Waxing Space. "It's a moment I've been waiting decades for. This opening was the best day of my life. It was just so fabulous watching people react to my babies. I have to say, I didn't see a closed mouth in the whole place.  Everybody's tongues were hanging out, at least on my side of the room. There was a rumor that someone was licking one of the security bubbles."

"The people who talked to me said they liked the way everybody looked," Cynthia continues. "To me, they looked like they were floating on a sea of milk. Thread Waxing came up with a really, really great way of displaying them. They looked otherworldly. They went way beyond the call of duty to make sure I was happy. I'm beyond happy."

Plaster Caster on Film

The documentary film Plaster Caster had it's world premiere at the Landmark Century Centre in Chicago on February 22nd. The creative team behind the film are director Jessica Villines (who has worked as a recording engineer for KMFDM and Pigface), her mother, playwright Melanie Villines as executive producer and Jeff Economy as co-producer and director of photography. The film includes interviews with Pamela Des Barres, Camille Paglia, Noel Redding and Jello Biafra. The film also takes viewers along for Bill Dolan and Dan Kroha's castings.

The film is opening in Chicago then will play the New York Underground Film Festival in March. The Northwest Film Forum has approached Villines about showing the movie at Seattle's Experience Music Project sometime this spring. With a little luck, the movie will be picked up for theatrical distribution. The filmmakers are already thinking farther ahead. Some of the 200 hours of film that didn't make the final cut will show up as bonus footage on the DVD release. The footage of Sussi Gardner's tit casting will definitely be on the DVD.

If the Plaster Caster movie takes off, Cynthia may have to get accustomed to a whole new level of fame. Regardless of what fame may bring, Cynthia is sure to keep busy. She recently cast her first couple; apocalyptic lounge singer Bobby Conn and violinist Julie Pomerleau. She's also working on a book about her life as a groupie and artist. One thing is for certain, Cynthia Plaster Caster is not going away!

Which brings us back to where we began. What's it like being famous for being a groupie? "What's wrong with being famous for being a groupie?" Cynthia concludes. "I'm a groupie. It's in my blood and, I can't see what the problem is with being attracted to good looking, talented, witty, smart, extremely sexy men"