by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: John Wesley Harding and Eugene Mirman's Cabinet of Wonders w/ special guests - Oh! Pandora (MP3)

John Wesley Harding @ (Le) Poisson Rouge (more by Tim Griffin)

John Wesley Harding's last Wes & Eugene's Cabinet of Wonders show is happening Wednesday, April 15th at (Le) Poisson Rouge. (Though the Cabinet of Wonders show will be visiting the World Cafe Live on May 21st, so more dates may be on the way.) Tickets for that LPR gig are still on sale.

JWH will also be appearing at Barnes & Noble's free "Upstairs at the Square" series on Monday, April 27th (7pm) with crime writer Laura Lippman. "John Wesley Harding, whose new album is Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead, and Laura Lippman, whose new book is Life Sentences, discuss and perform their work in conversation with host Katherine Lanpher. Admission is free, and no tickets are required. Seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis." Past Upstairs in the Square events have ended with a musical performance in addition to a talk. Those past events include Antonio Monda & Nellie McKay and C. N. Adichie & Craig Finn, both in 2007 (videos linked). The singer (who has two novels to his name) also has a reading scheduled the day prior. All dates below.

And to update our Coraline/musical story, Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields is composing the music to the musical version of Coraline. The show opens May 7th, but before that - on Tuesday, April 21st - Merritt and other production members will disuss the process of making the musical. The event, titled "What's there to be afraid of? A conversation with the artists behind Coraline," will take place at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher St) and will include David Greenspan (book writer), Leigh Silverman (director), and Jayne Houdyshell (Coraline). Also: "The evening will conclude with a first-ever public performance of one of Coraline's songs, performed on the ukulele and sung by composer/lyricist Stephin Merritt." Tickets for that event are on sale now.

All John Wesley Harding tour dates and "Cabinet of Wonders" videos below...

Continue reading "John Wesley Harding & Stephin Merritt to sing & speak @ NYC events (separately)"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Stephen Merritt - Coraline sample 1 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Stephen Merritt - Coraline sample 2 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Stephen Merritt - Coraline sample 3 (MP3)

The Magnetic Fields @ Loews Theater (more by Chris La Putt)

MCC Theater presents Coraline, a musical with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields. Merritt's delightfully creepy and playful melodies and droll lyrics tell the story of lonely Coraline's discovery of another parallel world that is identical to her own -- with some scary differences. An animated film version of the story, based on the popular children's book by Neil Gaiman (author of the international sensation Sandman and 2009 winner of the prestigious Newbery Award) is currently in theaters. The production, which was adapted for the stage by celebrated downtown actor/playwright David Greenspan is the world premiere of Coraline for the stage.

Performances will begin at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on May 7 and continue through June 20, 2009. [press release]

Tickets for the show are on sale, as are VIP tickets. (There are also student & under-30 rush tickets available the day of each show). Samples of Merritt's Coraline songs can be heard above.

In other rock musical news:

Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark, featuring direction by Julie Taymor (Across The Universe, Frida, The Lion King on Broadway) with music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy Award-winners Bono and The Edge (from U2) will be holding open casting calls at major cities across the country starting next week. [press release]

The NYC audition is scheduled for Monday, April 13th at The Knitting Factory. Details on the casting call and info for other cities, below.

Advance group tickets are already on sale for Spider-Man, set to open February 18, 2010 at the Hilton Theatre.

Other bands with musicals in the works include Green Day, who are turning their 2004 album American Idiot in a Broadway show. About the adaptation, Billie Joe said to Entertainment Weekly:

It's about coming of age in a really politically-driven climate. It's pretty chaotic, and it's not by any means a conventional way of [doing] a musical. And that's why I liked [American Idiot director] Michael Mayer so much because of what he did with Spring Awakening. When I saw that for the first time I was like, this is not your grandparents' musical. He's going for it. He has a sense of anarchy in the way he approaches his craft.

Will the show have dancing?
Not "dancing" dancing. I don't know how to really explain it. It's got physical and violent moves. It's not like a Lion King thing. It's dirty and it's got a lot of heart and it's got a street mentality. There are no singing cats. No little girls with big curly red hair. It should be pretty cool, man.

Those aren't the only acts making the switch: Yeasayer guitarist Anand Wildeis working on a musical as well. And Amanda Palmer is in the process of producing an Airplane Over the Sea-themed high-school play, opening May 7th at Lexington High School in Lexington, MA.

Full Spider-Man press release below...

Continue reading "Stephin Merritt's Coraline (opening in May), U2's Spiderman (casting call info) & other musical news "

by Black Bubblegum

TMBG performing ninja moves avec their golden statuettes

Not to put too fine a point on it, but tickets are still available for They Might Be Giants at Le Poisson Rouge on Feb 28th, part of their previously mentioned residency.

After the sold out success of their last show, the band will once again perform their platinum album Flood in it's entirety, as well as a warm up set of songs new, old and possibly brand new. Flansburgh and Linnell will be backed up by their super-killer band Marty Beller on the drum, Dan Miller on guitar and Danny Weinkauf on bass. The show will also include an appearance by The Tricerachops Horns featuring Dan "The Machine" Levine on trombone, Curt Ramm on trumpet, and Stan "The Optimist" Harrison on saxophone and clarinet.

TMBG are also happy to welcome back their good friends all the way from Belfast, Northern Ireland--the always great, never late duo you can't overrate: Oppenheimer!

The show is an "encore performance" of Flood. The band's prior performance of their most popular LP was a huge success. TMBG also play Le Poisson Rouge on March 28th (tickets and more info here).

In other TMBG news, congrats to the guys on their Grammy win for "Best Musical Album For Children", Here Come The 123's! If you missed that broadcast, check it out here and scroll to 41:30 to see TMBG... and don't forget to check out an about-to-pop MIA, Lil Wayne, TI, Kanyeezy, and Jay-Z as well as Radiohead with a marching band.

And TMBG's winning streak in the kid's department continues. Their song, sung by John Linnell, is featured on the Coraline soundtrack.

This song was recorded for the movie Coraline. Due to cuts, this is the only song TMBG ended up providing for the film. It takes place when Coraline's other father (voiced by John Hodgman) shows how his piano plays him rather than he plays the piano. He proceeds to sing a song about how great Coraline is. The repeated mention of eyes and buttons plays on the fact that the Other Father's eyes are buttons. [this might be a wiki]

Watch the segment below.

They Might Be Giants were one of the last musical guests on Late Night With Conan O'Brian, but not THE last musical guest. Video from the February 12th episode is also, below...

Continue reading "They Might Be Giants - a Grammy, Coraline & FLOOD AGAIN"