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Tue, Mar 27, 2007
Award-Winning Hopkins Shares Stage with Her Acclaimed Band Gloria Deluxe
“...blurs the edges of confession and performance, concert and play, memory and creation...Hopkins pulls off the impossible.”—Timeout New York
Columbus, OH—Cynthia Hopkins brings her high- spirited musical journey Must Don’t Whip ’Um to the Wexner Center Performance Space Thursday–Saturday, April 19–21 at 8 pm. Both a prequel and a sequel to Hopkins’s Accidental Nostalgia, a surprise hit at the Wexner Center last season, Must Don’t Whip ’Um travels further back into the life of 1970s’ cult singer Cameron Seymour and looks forward into the adventures of her filmmaking daughter. Full of delightfully circuitous narratives, the show depicts a life spiraling out of control and the friction between artists’ ideals and the drag of commercial support systems. Backed by her band Gloria Deluxe, Bessie Award–winning singer/actor Cynthia Hopkins, called “avant–garde with a twang...a little bit country and a little bit Wooster Group” by the New York Times, captivates the audience with her terrific voice, great songs, and marvelous stagecraft, and in the process reinventing multimedia music theatre. The show, full of contagious humor and dramatic plot twists, draws the audience in and “intrigues with its magic, innocence and lack of pretense” (Minneapolis Star Tribune). Must Don't Whip 'Um was produced by Arts at St. Ann's in association with Accinosco, with commissioning support from the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival through the generous support of Ted and Stevie Wolf, and On The Boards (Seattle).
Tickets are $16 for the general public, $13 for Wexner Center members, and $10 for students and are available now at the Wexner Center (614 292-3535) and Ticketmaster (614 431-3600).
RESIDENCY ACTIVITIES
While at the Wexner Center, Cynthia Hopkins and her collaborators, a collective known as Accinosco will meet with students from The Ohio State’s Department of Theatre to discuss their unique approach to storytelling through musical theatre. During the session students will analyze the balance of songs and sections with text in the production Must Don’t Whip ‘Um as well as the high impact but lo-fi aesthetic the collective employs for props, costumes and projections that lend the show its uncanny sense of do-it-yourself exoticism.
ABOUT GLORIA DELUXE
Gloria Deluxe was formed in 1999 and has since produced five full length albums (the most recent of which was an album of songs from Accidental Nostalgia) and played at numerous venues throughout the country. Gloria Deluxe is Cynthia Hopkins on guitar and accordion; Kristin Mueller on drums; Josh Stark on upright bass; Philippa Thompson on violin, saw, and percussion; Karen Waltuch on viola and percussion; and everyone on vocals. They are frequently joined on stage and recordings by Curtis Hasselbring on trombone and Ben Holmes on trumpet. All Gloria Deluxe recordings are self-produced, and available through Amazon and CD Baby: visit www.gloriadeluxe.com for more information.
ABOUT ACCINOSCO
Accinosco is a collective of performing artists, designers and musicians dedicated to creating groundbreaking original works that meld music, text, technical and theatrical design, and video with unbelievable fact and outrageous fiction. Accinosco is Jim Findlay, Cynthia Hopkins, Susan Oetgen, Jeff Sugg, and the members of Gloria Deluxe: Kristin Mueller, Josh Stark, Philippa Thompson, and Karen Waltuch; as well as a roster of collaborating artists which includes Jason Boyd, Jim Dawson, Curtis Hasselbring, Ben Holmes, Margot Kingon, Diane Madden, DJ Mendel, Brooke O’Harra, Annie B Parson, Reut Regev, Jordana Che Toback, and Tara Webb. Accinosco emerged through the creation of their seminal and acclaimed work, Accidental Nostalgia, which premiered at the Wexner Center in March 2004.
EVENT SUPPORT
Major support for the Wexner Center’s 2006–07 performing arts season is generously provided by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Columbus Foundation, and Huntington Bank.
Significant contributions are also made by Altria Group, Inc., Morgan Stanley, and Nationwide Foundation.
Additional season funding is provided by the Ohio Arts Council, the Corporate Annual Fund of the Wexner Center Foundation, and Wexner Center members.
Accommodations are provided by The Blackwell Inn.
CALENDAR INFORMATION
DESCRIPTION: Wexner Center presents Cynthia Hopkins and her band Gloria Deluxe in Must Don't Whip 'Um, her latest multimedia theater work.
DATE: 8 pm, Thursday–Saturday, April 19-21, 2007
LOCATION: Wexner Center Performance Space, 1871 North High Street
TICKETS: $16 general public, $13 members, and $10 for students. TICKET OUTLETS: Wexner Center Ticket Office (614 292-3535) and Ticketmaster (614 431-3600) or Ticketmaster.com.
