Empty Places

[radlein!ray@uunet.UU.NET (Ray Radlein)]

    I thought I would pause for a moment in my eternal agony of waiting for
"The Sensual World" to reccommend a potential diversion for love-hounds in
the Northeast Corridor.

    Unless my memory is playing me totally false here (a distinct
possibility, of course), I believe that Laurie Anderson's latest piece,
"Empty Places," should be opening in New York soon (it might already be
there, of course; I've been meaning to post this for a while). We had the
good fortune to see its World Premiere in Charleston over the summer (back
when there *was* a Charleston, of course), and I can heartily reccommend it
to all Laurie Anderson fans.

    I didn't find it *quite* as stunning as "United States," but then, this
*was* the shakedown cruise, so to speak; Laurie was plagued by equipment
problems throughout her several shows there (it left its mark, too: When we
saw her, she would occasionally preface portions of the work with "with any
luck, we'll see....." and the like). The Spoleto Festival version was a
one-woman show; I have no idea if she'll have her usual coterie of
sidekicks and cronies on hand for the NYC edition. Similarly, I have no
idea what, if any, changes she might have made to the show.

    One surprise (to me, at least) was the musicality of the show; her
songs seemed much more melodic than before, and she did a lot more
*singing* than she has done in the past [moving closer to Jane Siberry in
style? :-)].

    If you are already a Laurie Anderson fan, you will definitely want to
take in the show; if not (or if you want to drag along a nonbeliever), you
may find it more "accessible" (the dreaded "A-word"! Aiiieee!) than some of
her earlier stuff. Or maybe not.


    There. I've got that off my chest. Now it's back to waiting. T minus
One Day, and counting.

                                            -Ray R.


PS - Does anyone have any idea when Larie's associated album, "Endless
Night," will be released? I mean, since I'm giving my wife "The Sensual
World" for her birthday, maybe she can give me "Endless Night" for mine...




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