Before my Darling Democrat got sick, she and I used to volunteer as ushers at Stages Theater in Houston. One of the highlights was the annual "Tamalalia" show put on by a local theater troupe, "Infernal Bridegroom Productions". Imagine my surprise to find them featured on the homepage of the New York Times this morning.

HOUSTON, June 13 — The punk-rock club where Infernal Bridegroom Productions stages its shows is in a rough neighborhood, far from this city's velvet-curtained theater district. So it is not surprising that the troupe's latest offering, "Speeding Motorcycle," is equally far from some of the traditional fare offered at the city's more conventional sites.

An original rock opera, "Speeding Motorcycle" consists entirely of songs by Daniel Johnston, a musician and artist whose childlike and hallucinatory work chronicles his mental illness.

"We have stranger tastes than the norm," said Anthony Barilla, Infernal Bridegroom's artistic director. The company's founder, Jason Nodler, wrote and directed "Speeding Motorcycle," which features several actors playing the role of Joe Boxer, a man who has lost his mind after being rejected by the woman he loves. Flat-top, plasticine headgear gives the impression that the crowns of their heads have been chopped off, leaving a black, felt-lined nothingness inside. Captain America and Casper the Friendly Ghost make cameo appearances. The score, meanwhile, ricochets from toe-tapping, feel-good songs to discordant, despairing dirges, a reflection of Mr. Johnston's bipolar disorder.

This unusual production has won over critics. Everett Evans wrote in The Houston Chronicle last week that " 'Speeding Motorcycle' should be the cult hit of Houston's summer."

I've not seen this show, but i will tell you that the productions put on by this group are always entertaining if. . . unusual. So if you find yourself in Houston, i encourage you to look them up and get tickets to "Speeding Motorcycle", or whatever production they are doing when you are here. You will not be disappointed.

Posted by: Greg at 10:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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