1000 Airplanes on the Roof

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1000 Airplanes on the Roof
melodrama by Philip Glass
Philip Glass in Florence, Italy - 1993.jpg
Glass in Florence, 1993
Premiere
July 15, 1988 (1988-07-15)

1000 Airplanes on the Roof is a melodrama in one act with music by Philip Glass, text by David Henry Hwang, and projections by Jerome Sirlin. Glass described it as "a science fiction music drama".

Contents

The work was commissioned by the Donau Festival, Krems an der Donau, the American Music Theater Festival, Philadelphia, and West Berlin City Council in 1988. It premiered on July 15 of that year at the Vienna Airport in Hangar #3. The performance featured vocals by Linda Ronstadt and was conducted by Michael Riesman. The US premiere took place in September 1988 at the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia and went on to play in 40 North American cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago and Toronto, as well as Glasgow during that city's celebration as European City of Culture.

Synopsis

The drama is set in New York City with a sole character, "M", who recalls encounters with extraterrestrial life forms, including their message:

It is better to forget, it is pointless to remember. No one will believe you. You will have spoken a heresy. You will be outcast.

In the staged production, "M" performs in the midst of a three-dimensional, holographic set. In the classic sense of the word melodrama, the role is performed by an actor in a spoken monologue over music. In the world premiere, "M" was played by a male actor; in many of the US performances, the character was played alternately by female actor Jodi Long [1] and male actor Patrick O'Connell. [2]

Discography

Book

The libretto and images of the original set are published in:

References

  1. "Jodi Long by Michael McClard". Bomb. January 1, 1989.
  2. FOB and Other Plays, Plume, 1990

Further reading