Tragedy in 9 Lives by Karen Houppert Spring 2003 (Actors in the photo are T. Ryder Smith and Juliana Francis, photo: David Gotchfeld) Karen Houppert’s pop/rock music theater work at Andy Warhol’s factory, circa 1968, re-created the "happenings" of that era with audience members—like Warhol—as voyeurs, eavesdropping on The Chelsea Girls, on conversations with militant feminist Valerie Solanas, and on the new journalists who were seduced by the ‘60s scene. For 15 minutes, in Warhol’s New York, art, feminism, politics and the press intersected in an exhilarating and dangerous way. TRAGEDY taped the experimental vibe of the late 1960s when the possibilities seemed endless and the borders between “high” and “pop” were fluid. With original songs by Aaron Maxwell (of God Street Wine), incidental music by Alexander MacSween and directed by Stephen Nunns. Video by OBIE-award winner Marilys Ernst The cast featured Juliana Francis (2002 OBIE), T. Ryder Smith, James “Tigger” Ferguson, Laura Flanagan, and Chris Spencer Wells.
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