The Open Fist has announced that it will present the world premiere of a stage adaptation of Frank Zappa’s classic rock opera Joe's Garage.
This production is adapted for the stage by Pat Towne and Michael
Franco, will be directed by Towne and feature musical direction by Ross
Wright and choreography by Jennifer Letteleir. The production, produced
with permission from the Zappa Family Trust, will run September 18
through November 22.
Joe's Garage tells us the story of Joe, a simple guitar
player in a garage band, as he is drawn into the dark and nightmarish
world of the music business. As Joe deteriorates from betrayal,
disease, and madness, our narrator, the Central Scrutinizer asserts
that music is responsible for his demise, and is therefore evil. The
piece uses the simplicity of a high school musical to focus on myriad
issues from governmental surveillance of its own citizenry to the
sexual escapades of the Catholic Church to the avarice of the music
business.
Towne recently directed an award-winning production of Gorey Stories,
a theatrical adaptation with music of the works of Edward Gorey, for
the Sacred Fools Theater. A founding member of the Zoo District Theatre
Company, Towne has directed and performed in several of its productions
including the world premiere of Bulgakov’s Heart of a Dog at the Ivan Franko National Theatre in Kiev, Ukraine. Among his other credits, The Real Live Brady Bunch Off-Broadway.
Franco has received LA Weekly, LADCC, Ovation and Garland Awards for his work on such productions as The Room, The Swine Show, Gorey Stories, Heart of a Dog, Uppa Creek, The Master and Margarita and Nosferatu for The Zoo District, The Sacred Fools and The Open Fist Theatre Companies.
Performances of Joe's Garage will be Fridays and Saturdays
at 8pm Sundays at 7pm at The NEW Open Fist Theatre (6209 Santa Monica
Blvd. -former home of The Actor’s Gang) in Hollywood. Tickets are
$15-$25 and can be purchased by calling 323-882-6912 or by visiting www.openfist.org.