Premiere US Premiere
Production Language English;German
Country of Origin Germany
Description This musical theater piece, which takes as its subject the creative works and biography of Edgar Allen Poe, marked another major collaborative effort between Wilson (who provided design and direction) and Lou Reed (who wrote the text, music, and lyrics). For the performance Wilson against enlisted the Thalia Theater ensemble members, with whom he developed and staged many of his major works during the 1980s. Reed's songs are sung in English, but the text of the piece is spoken mostly in German, and the text retells classic Poe works including “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”, among others. The visual elements of the work also harken back to Wilson’s German Expressionist-influenced pieces of the early 1990s, with an element of the macabre expressed through Jacques Reynaud’s signature costuming and makeup. This work premiered at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, on February 13, 2000, with following performances in Paris, Amsterdam, and BAM through the winter of 2001.
Identifier 2001f.00733
