The Unwritten History Project Detail Record

Detail Record for Thought Music

Event Title: Teenytown
Series Title:
Location: Franklin Furnace
Date: 2/18/1988 - 2/21/1988
Event Type: Performance

Event Documentation:

Teenytown	Teenytown	Teenytown	Teenytown
Teenytown	Teenytown	Teenytown	Teenytown

Artist Statement:

Bio:

Press Release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 4, 1987 Press Contact: Martha Wilson, Director (212) 925-4671 FRANKLIN FURNACE ARCHIVE, INC. ANNOUNCES A PERFORMANCE "TEENYTOWN" by Thought Music (Laurie Carlos, Jessica Hagedorn, Robbie McCauley, and John Woo) February 18, 19, 20, 21, 1988 at 8:30 PM Tickets: $4 members; $8 non-members; reservations suggested Produced by Franklin Furnace, visual artist John Woo collaborates with writer/performers Laurie Carlos, Jessica Hagedorn, and Robbie McCauley in "TEENYTOWN," a fast and loose, madcap modern minstrel show. The performance links original text, tall tales, tasteless jokes, song and dance in a collage of sight and sound reminiscent of the original minstrel shows. A sprawling set, replete with snaking wires, whirling TV cameras, light banks, cue cards and a blinking "applause" sign, "TEENYTOWN" provides a behind-the-scenes view of a live television event. Videos of previous "TEENYTOWN" performances are interspersed with vintage cartoons and found footage, laying bare the processes of both performance and television. Using entertainment as a powerful tool, the three performers address the major social issues of the day with humor that is at times self-effacing yet laden with irony and a sense of the absurd. The "Thought Music" group has been working on "TEENYTOWN" for over one year. Jessica Hagedorn was born and raised in the Philippines. She is an author, songwriter, and performer, and has received two NEA fellowships, two MacDowell Colony fellowships, and numerous other awards. Laurie Carlos was born and raised in New York City, attended the High School of Performing Arts and studied theatre with Lloyd Richards at the Negro Ensemble Apprentice Company. An actress, writer and director, Laurie has performed on Broadway, for PBS, and elsewhere. Robbie McCauley is a writer, performer and composer who has worked on and off Broadway, for television, and at many other New York venues. She won the Audelco Award in 1975, was a member of the Obie Award winning company for Tourists and Refugees II, and has received numerous grants. John Woo has a MA degree from the Evergreen State College in Washington, and runs his own film design and production company in New York. He won a NYSCA commission in 1984, and has served as a Panelist for NYSCA's Visual Artist Program. "Teenytown" is choreographed by Urban Bushwomen's Jawole Zollar. Franklin Furnace gratefully acknowledges support for its performance art series received from the Nation Endowment for the Arts, a Federal agency; Jerome Foundation; and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Proposal Information:

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