the devil and Daniel Johnston
When I lived in Space City (Houston, for those of you who aren’t down with the lingo), one of my favorite things was a local theatre company called Infernal Bridegroom Productions. For the last year I lived in the city, I caught literally every show IBP put on, including the first ever production of A Soap Opera by the Kinks and Brian Jucha’s meditation on the 9/11 tragedy, We Have Some Planes.
I’ve stayed on the IBP mailing list, waiting for things that motivate me to track back to Houston. The latest announcement from the group will definitely call for a road trip — they’ve commissioned Daniel Johnston to write a rock opera.
IBP offers this information:
“For one thing, we’ve been working with Daniel Johnston, who we’ve commissioned to write an original rock opera for us, called Speeding Motorcycle. Speeding Motorcycle is underwritten in part by a grant from the MAP Fund, and will premiere in late November. Johnston will draw upon some of his existing work for the opera, with about half the songs being previously produced pieces and the other half written specifically for the production. The piece will be performed by IBP’s resident company and orchestra, and like all of Johnston’s work it will draw on the day-to day fare that fills all of his music – unrequited love, pop figures, Captain America and the like.”