Pat Towne stages Frank Zappa's 'Joe's Garage'
ZapRatz
September 21, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-zappavaultside21-2008sep21,0,6255989.story
BACK IN the '70s, Pat Towne was one of those boys who was out there
listening -- listening for something out of the ordinary, something
with substance. "I was the kind of kid who didn't dance in lock step
to the disco beat, because it looked like everybody was marching in
step and becoming mindless," Towne says.
As a prog-rock guy into Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes, Towne was
fascinated by Frank Zappa's abstract expressionist musical canvas. But
there was something else, an anti-conformist message, that he found
intriguing: "His music attacked those kinds of people and that kind of
thinking. It instantly appealed to me. As well as it being great
music."
He'd first connected with Zappa's 1973 album "Over-Nite Sensation" in
high school, but when a friend visited his dorm room with a copy of
"Joe's Garage" a few years later, Towne was hooked. It was a concept
album that took on sweeping themes -- religion, overzealous
government, sex, consumer culture and was "full of all these funny
snippets and side remarks. When I saw that the album said 'Act I,'
that stayed with me. I had images in my head of what scenes would look
like. It existed in my head as a pipe dream."
Towne finally is getting a chance to bring that dream to life on
stage. This week, the Open Fist Theatre will present the world
premiere of "Joe's Garage," Zappa's three-act rock opera, adapted by
Towne (who is directing) and the show's producer, Michael Franco. It's
been an obstacle course of sorts to say the least -- from gaining Gail
Zappa's consent ("I did a PowerPoint presentation and acted out scenes
in front of her!") -- to evoking just the right mood. "I told the
design team, 'This is the palette, the album cover. Let this stimulate
your conversation.' "
Chance put Towne in contact with the Zappas' daughter, Moon (the voice
of "Valley Girl"), in 2005. She played a part in a play that Towne had
directed, and he worked up the nerve to ask her about approaching her
mother to stage the piece.
"Gail said he'd actually meant to have it performed," Towne says, but
money and time were issues. "He could make a . . . lot more money
doing rock 'n' roll."
For a piece conceived nearly 30 years ago, it retains a topical
immediacy and shock value, producer Franco says. And what did Zappa
see? "Through satire [he] showed people what they really were: You
know people right now who are making love to machines, Internet porn?
We know people like this. That's something that Frank Zappa wrote
about in 1979.
"The idea of government eavesdropping and mandating the behavior of
its citizenry? Really, really in play," he says. "I think he feared
that America would turn into a fascistic theocracy, and, lo and
behold, we're awfully close."
While a couple of actors begged off early, saying that some of the
content went "against their religious beliefs," casting wasn't the
biggest hurdle. Getting the music down has been the top priority.
"There was no score," Towne says. "We had to hire someone to listen to
the album and transcribe the whole thing, first for voice and piano so
the actors could rehearse."
Now they are fine-tuning the seven-piece band and are considering
adding a horn section. There are other splashes of verisimilitude:
Franco has secured Carvin amps, the brand Zappa used, and, at press
time, he was still trying to find a Stratocaster with a whammy bar.
And still, there is Gail, and her ultimate approval.
"We're trying to be as authentically Frank as possible," Towne says.
"But it's complicated music with weird rhythms and odd harmonies. But
it has to be absolutely right because it's about the music. Even
though I keep telling everyone that it's the show of 'Joe's Garage,'
we'll get a lot of feedback: I know we'll have the Frankophiles."
Lynell George
--
As of the day this message is being posted there are,
lacking an unexpected alternate outcome, 119 days
remaining in the imperial presidency of George W. Bush
Frunobulax
This is difficult? Where are these people - on the moon?
Martin Gregorie
>> still trying to find a Stratocaster with a whammy bar
>
> This is difficult? Where are these people - on the moon?
That just might be a joke......
--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |
Frunobulax
And I think I've effectively proven that I have no sense of humor.
=)