WOODY GUTHRIE AT MARIN THEATRE COMPANY

Marin Theatre company presents
WOODY GUTHRIE’S AMERICAN SONG
Extended until June 26, 2010

A folk song is what’s wrong and how to fix it
Or who’s hungry and where their mouth is…
Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie wrote songs about hard times , about the Great Depression , unemployment and war. He was one of our most astute social commentators and he made his point with music. Peter Glazer adapted his songs and writings into a two act production that traces Guthrie’s life and the stunning result is Marin Theatre’s production: WOODY GUTHRIE’S AMERICAN SONG. Glazer directed this musical and the result is a beautifully staged, moving melodic drama, sung by Lisa Asher, Berwick Haynes, Sam Misner, Matt Mueller and Megan Pearl Smith with a three piece band. The pace is perfect, the audience appeal immense. The plot carries Guthrie from his beginnings in Oklahoma and follows him coast to coast from California to New York. The show features over two dozen of his most famous songs blended into a dramatic piece that is unforgettable. It reflects Guthrie’s love of all humanity, his empathy with those who suffer needlessly under an impersonal system that punishes those who lack opportunity.

Guthrie was a figurehead for the folk music movement and inspired musicians like Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger. He sang about social injustice and he sang about the trials of the common man. "I hate a song that makes you think that you're not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose,” he said. “Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are either too old or too young or too fat or too slim or too ugly or too this or too that....songs that run you down or songs that poke fun of you on account of your bad luck or your hard traveling. I am out to fight those kinds of songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood."

“When the country was rocked by the financial crisis and people began losing their homes, Woody’s music felt immediate, important, urgent, ‘of the moment,’” said Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis.

Don’t miss this beautifully produced musical drama. It is all Woody Guthrie would have wanted to celebrate his name and carry on the tradition of song that he began. Guthrie has been called the voice of the people. He wrote over 1,000 songs and did more than any other musician to endear American folk music to us all. He is a national treasure and everyone who loves music and believes in its power to heal and to comfort owes it to himself to experience this heartwarming production. This singing is perfection, the melodies infectious, the direction superb: a perfect entertainment on a summer’s night.

IF YOU GO :
Marin Theatre Company
397 Miller Avenue
Mill Valley, CA
415 388 5208
www.marintheare.org