Astronome @ St. Mark's Church 2/22/09

I don't like to commit to stuff like this. I know I wanted to go, and really didn't know what it would be like. I thought this would be a good night - nothing else was pulling me and I figured I had a better chance of getting in without already having a ticket. I got there and was told it's $17 and I could have a "cushion seat", which meant I would be giving a cushion to sit on the steps. I was also told it was only an hour, so I could deal. But, at 8, about 17 people with tix hadn't shown, so I got a regular chair. They said there's usually about 5 seats open a night, but most of it is pre-sold.

It's a nice small theatre. I had no idea what it was, I was just curious enough to want to go. I was going on the DMG listing below.

I did think it was going to be something like live music. Most of the sounds were pre-recorded and played loudly. Still, the music was great and it was an interesting thing for me to see. A lot of the symbolism was beyond me, but I got some idea of what was going on. I did just google "Astronome" and read some of the reviews about this theatre piece. I don't know what I can say about it, but if you want to know more, you should do the same.

I liked it and it reminded me a lot of Secret Chiefs 3 stuff. The music and theatrics were somewhat dark. I think it had a happy ending, but I'm not quite sure. It also wasn't THAT dark. It's the kind of stuff that appeals to my own dark side, at least on the music end of things.


The listing:
A VERY SPECIAL EVENT!
Richard Foreman is one of the most important theatre directors in the world, and has been a personal hero of John Zorn's for over 30 years.
This theatre/music piece is the historic first-time collaboration for two masters of the bizarre (both MacArthur geniuses) who individually have challenged, enlightened and entertained adventurous audiences for decades.
ASTRONOME: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is a work dominated by ecstatic groans, grunts and babbling, and explores the initiation of a group of people into a world where ambiguous behavior alone leads to freedom--perhaps under the tutelage of the necessary "false messiah." This is one of those events that can only happen downtown - culminating from a chance meeting in the street - independent of any special grants, funding, institution or administration.
Based on ASTRONOME, the intense second CD of a series featuring Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn and Joey Baron, Richard Foreman's staging of it is
absolutely stunning!
Please make a special effort to see this once in a lifetime event, opening FEBRUARY 5th and RUNNING FOR ONLY TWO MONTHS through APRIL 5th at
the ONOTOLOGICAL-HYSTERIC THEATRE
@ St Marks Church in the East Village, 131 East 10th St on Second Ave!
to purchase tickets, go to:
https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/633735