Soundcheck

The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island (illustration by Ben Katchor)

The New Operetta

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

You might call it Neo-Operetta. It's a growing genre that's cropping up around Downtown arts spaces and today we feature two prominent examples. "The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, or the Friends of Dr. Rushower," is a musical theater work that combines the images and words of cartoonist Ben Katchor ("The Jew of New York" and "Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer") and the music of Mark Mulcahy (former lead singer for Miracle Legion and Polaris). Scored for a rock band and featuring Katchor's drawings as backdrops, it depicts the efforts of a New York philanthropist to bring the modern poetry to a group of exploited island workers. We get a preview in advance of the musical's run at The Kitchen. We're also joined by singer and composer Cynthia Hopkins, whose new operetta "Accidental Nostalgia," explores the pros and cons of amnesia. The piece unfolds as a story about a woman who suffers from severe memory loss and embarks on an investigation of her own history, only to find it might be better left unremembered.