Event

MURDER: a Ballad

Murder and Love are part of a trilogy of ballad cycles (Murder, Love, Labor) written between 2010 and 2014 by composer Tucker Fuller and poet Megan Levad. Each cycle is inspired by a popular song idiom: Murder: murder ballads; Love: torch/love songs; Labor: work songs.

Murder, written for two singers and piano, loosely tells the story of two women who go on a killing spree in an old Cadillac with a mix tape full of Johnny Cash, Schubert, Marlene Dietrich, and Jacques Brel. At the end of the night, one gets the bullet, one gets the noose. In addition to blues and country, Murder incoporates elements of hymn, pre-1930s jazz standards, as well as some of American musics most popular songs (like 9 to 5 and St. James Infirmary''). Singers Mary Townsend and Meryl Zimmerman join pianist Justin Snyder October 21, 2022 at 8pm (doors at 7:30pm) at Happyland Theater.

Love is a series of torch songs inspired by the Great American Songbook tradition. Each song in Love is written from the perspective of a lonely personality, a personality whose way of loving is, to many, thought of as distorted, perverted, or disturbed. Love incorporates elements of the Baroque and doo-woop, as well as contemporary musics most-sung songs (like Wild is the Wind '' and Nothing Compares 2 U). Other influences include Rodgers and Hart, Schubert, and sad guys like Glen Hansard, Colin Meloy, Will Oldham, and Damien Rice. Singers Mary Townsend and Meryl Zimmerman join cellist Philip von Maltzahn and pianist Justin Snyder October 22, 2022 at 8pm (doors 7:30pm) at Happyland Theater.

*NOTE: special advance pricing $15 per night. $20 per night at doors