![]() ![]() Over the last year, Byrne has been collecting stories, news, ideas, and other items that all either embody or identify examples of things that inspire optimism, such as a tech breakthrough, a musical act, a new idea in urban planning or transportation-something seen, heard, or tasted. It’s not easy, but music helps.Īmerican Utopia fits hand-in-hand with Byrne’s vision for his series “Reasons To Be Cheerful,” named for the song by the late Ian Dury. I am as mystified as any of us-I have no prescriptions or sure-fire answers-but I sense that I am not the only one asking, wondering and still willing to hold on to some tiny bit of hope, still willing to not succumb entirely to despair or cynicism. ![]() So, naturally, we all now ask ourselves-was it too much to ask? Are we wrong about how humans can be? Is there another way? Can we start over? The project seems on the verge of complete and utter failure. Now it seems we are seeing that hope, those possibilities, be withdrawn. Though it never did succeed in all its aims enough were realized in the brief history to give hope to many. There is a longing for possibility- and I have a feeling that is what these songs touch on.Īmerica-or to be correct the United States-was founded as a Utopian Experiment. Surely, we ask ourselves, it doesn’t have to be like this. The title is not so much about a utopia, as it is about our longing, frustration, aspirations, fears, hopes regarding what could be, what is possible. The songs are sincere-the title is not ironic. ![]() And what drives us to ask those questions. This group of songs is indirectly about those questions. As the evening wore on, it was the rock soundtrack that had guests boogying-and burning down the house-late into the night."These songs don’t describe this imaginary and possibly impossible place, but rather they attempt to describe the world we live in now-and that world, when we look at it, as we live in it, as it impacts on us-immediately commands us to ask ourselves- is there another way? A better way? A different way? Several of the show’s songs had the entire theater on their feet, and the revelry continued at Second for the after-party. He’s always just so and seems to age not at all.” “He’s kind of like the Chrysler Building. “David Byrne is a real hero of mine,” Mitchell said moments before the curtain went up. Meanwhile, actor-slash-director John Cameron Mitchell hit a graphic note in a houndstooth Rag & Bone bomber jacket and a black-and-white checked tie made to match his signature streaked coiffeur. “Sometimes, pure minimalism is the only way to go.” “The coolest thing about it is its simplicity-you wouldn’t think something so simple could hold your attention, but it really does,” she added. “I wanted classic chic-something that never goes out of style.” Hall, who was seeing American Utopia for the third time, praised the show for its raw, stripped-down appeal. “I’m going for a very minimalist, monochromatic look,” she said. Take Tony-winning actress Lena Hall, who suited up in an all-black Malan Breton tuxedo paired with a Saint Laurent clutch and a red statement lip. Many showgoers dressed the part in ensembles with a rock and roll edge. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Darren Aronofsky, Florence Welch, Elvis Costello, and Vogue’s Anna Wintour were among those in attendance, rocking out to tracks from Byrne’s 2018 studio album along with new-wave Talking Heads songs, such as “Don’t Worry About the Government” and “Burning Down the House.” In the production, The Talking Heads frontman and guitarist is backed by a motley crew of 11 musicians, singers, and dancers of diverse ages and ethnicities-all of whom perform barefoot in gray suits dreamt up by Byrne and made into a reality by master tailor and Brooklynite Martin Greenfield. For some on Sunday night, the answer could be found just behind the theater doors, where a star-studded Broadway premiere of David Byrne’s American Utopia was underway. “What is your utopia?” reads a sign above the entrance into the vast Hudson Theater. ![]()
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