MUSICAL THEATER TIP OF THE MONTH
Philip Glass, David Henry Hwang & Jerome Sirlin
1000 Airplanes on the Roof
The music of Philip Glass is in turns haunting, hypnotic, and provocative. Often labeled as ‘minimalist classical’, Glass blends modern keyboard patches with traditional string, woodwind, brass and percussive orchestrations in rhythmical and repetitive phrases which seem to tap into our basic brain frequencies. The results are emotive works which are routinely recruited for film scores, theater, ballet, multimedia and avant garde art performances. Never embarrassed about borrowing from his own repertoire, the distinctive Glass style is easily recognized by anyone possessing even a casual familiarity with his music. Many Philip Glass collections, such as “Solo Piano” and “Glassworks”, serve as powerfully provocative “mind stimulants”, perfect for background listening while deep concentration is demanded on writing, crafting, painting, scultping, building or other creative projects. These are highly recommended of themselves.
With “1000 Airplanes on the Roof”, the music of Philip Glass frames the psychological thriller and science-fiction monologue created by David Henry Hwang, set within the revolutionary staging and 3-D lighting effects of Jerome Sirlin. The result is mind-bending exploration of inner-space: “Am I going crazy, or am I being abducted each night by an alien space-craft which sounds like 1,000 airplanes landing on my roof?”; “I know it sounds crazy, and I am sure my friends and neighbors will think I am crazy, but this seems so real to me. In fact, I have evidence all around my apartment that it is real, that I am in fact being taken away several nights per week, and systematically studied by aliens! It’s ruining my ‘normal’ life, but it is also strangely fascinating.” The entire stage play challenges us to re-examine our epistemology, that is ‘how we know what we know, and how sure are we that we are right’. This is the future of theater: A brave new world of well-integrated multimedia which challenges our senses, and ultimately our mind.
Add Philip Glass to your musical radar screen and discover this uniquely seductive form of music for the mind.