Interesting Facts
Marfan’s Syndrome: The condition which may have contributed to Jonathan Larson’s aortic aneurysm. It is a disease of the connective tissue. Those with the condition are usually tall and long limbed. It usually becomes apparent with a weakening of the tissue in the aorta, which causes the aortic aneurysm. There is no cure. Also took the lives of, among others, Olympic athlete Flo Hyman, musician Joey Ramone, and bluesman Robert Johnson.
ACT UP: stands for AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. An activist organization formed in March 1987 in NYC. Branches now exist across the nation.
Life Café: Opened in 1981by Kathy and David Kirkpatrick, former residents of Lansing, Michigan. Located at 343 E. 10th Street at Ave. B in NYC, it started as a coffee house catering to locals who gathered for poetry, art and coffee. It has blossomed into a full menu restaurant with two locations. The name came from the Life Magazines used in the very early days to cover the exterior walls. www.LifeCafe.com
AZT: Originally developed in 1964 as an anticancer drug, azidothymidine was never approved for cancer treatment. By 1984, it was discovered to be effective as an antiviral drug. The FDA approved it for use in AIDS treatment 20 months later – much faster than the usual many, many years needed for approval. It does not cure nor prevent AIDS but does slow down the virus’ ability to reproduce.
Village Voice: the free weekly paper in NYC. Started in 1955 in Greenwich Village, it is considered to be the first alternative weekly. Presents the annual Obie Awards, or Off-Broadway Awards.
Maya Angelou: poet, educator, author and playwright. Born April 4, 1928, she was San Francisco’s first African American female cable car conductor at age 14. Studied dance with Martha Graham. Author of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”.
Susan Sontag: b. 1933. d. 2004. Essayist, film critic, human rights activist. Entered the University of California at age 15. Also attended Harvard University, St. Anne’s College at Oxford, and the University of Paris. Her dual essays “Illness as a Metaphor” and “AIDS and its Metaphors” analyzed the stigmas and fears associated with illnesses, AIDS in particular.
Stephen Sondheim: born in NY, raised in Pennsylvania where he was a neighbor of Oscar Hammerstein II. At age 25, he wrote the lyrics to “West Side Story” followed shortly by “Gypsy”. In 1990, he won the National Medal of Arts. Winner of multiple Tony Awards, he was awarded a Tony for Lifetime Achievement in 2008. Mentor to Jonathan Larson.
Allen Ginsburg: b. 1926. d. 1997. Poet and activist. Parents were members of NY literary counter-culture. At Columbia University he became friends with Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. Considered the Father of the Beat Generation.
Bob Dylan: Born in 1941 as Robert Zimmerman. He took the name Dylan after the poet, Dylan Thomas. A poet and songwriter, he started playing the NY coffeehouses in the 1960s.
Merce Cunningham and John Cage: Mr. Cunningham was a choreographer and dancer. His career started with Martha Graham’s dance company but eventually he started his own company with his partner, John Cage, a poet, activist and innovative composer. Mr. Cunningham revolutionized the world of dance while Mr. Cage was a pioneer of electronic music.
Lenny Bruce: b. 1925. d. 1966. Comedian, writer, and satirist. Arrested in 1961 for obscenity, later acquitted though many other arrests would follow. His autobiography is titled “How to Talk Dirty and Influence People.” His image is featured on the Beatles’ album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
Langston Hughes: b. 1902. d. 1967. Poet, playwright and novelist. Raised by his grandmother until age 13. His first book, “The Weary Blues” was published in 1926. His writing was embraced for his insightful portrayals of life in America for blacks. He shaped the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.
Uta Hagen: actress and educator/coach. Winner of multiple Tony Awards, she made her professional debut at age 18 as Ophelia. Taught acting for many years at her husband’s school, the Herbert Berghof Studio. She wrote “Respect for Acting” in 1973 and “A Challenge for the Actor” in 1991. A few of her students: Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Broderick, Jason Robards, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.
Buddha: Siddhartha Gautama is the founder of Buddhism and the first Buddha. Born a prince in what is now Nepal, he gave up his wealth and many palaces to search for a simpler life and to study how to achieve enlightenment – which is, among other things, embracing all living things without discrimination.
Pablo Neruda: Chilean poet and political activist. Won the 1971 Nobel Prize for literature.
Gertrude Stein: b. 1874. d. 1946. Poet, writer and expatriate. With her partner, Alice B. Toklas, she lived in Paris. The ladies embraced and cultivated a lively art community in their salon for other ex-pats and their friends.
Michalangelo Antonioni: Italian filmmaker of films with themes of alienation and counterculture. His 1970 film, “The Zabriskie Point” was set in the US and featured the music of Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones.
Bernardo Bertolucci: Italian director and poet. Among his films are “Last Tango in Paris” (1972), “The Last Emperor” (1987) and “Little Buddha” (1993).
Akira Kurasawa: Japanese film director, screenwriter, producer and editor. His attention to detail and expressive visuals have made him one of the greatest directors of all times. Hollywood has loved his films so much that remakes abound. His “Hidden Fortress” was used as a basis for George Lucas’ “Star Wars” and “The Seven Samarai” was remade as “The Magnificent Seven”.
Carmina Burana: “Songs of Benediktbeuern” A set of medieval poems dealing with the joy & pain of love and the inevitability of death. Set to music in 1935 by Carl Orff.
Bohemia: Since the 16th century, “bohemian” has been used to refer to Gypsies and was based on the erroneous belief that they came from Bohemia – a region in what is now the Czech Republic. Bohemian has been associated with a wild and free life style separate from rigid society.
Vaclav Havel: Czech playwright, essayist, former dissident and politician. He was President of Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and the first President of the Czech Republic (1993–2003). The 1989 "Velvet Revolution" launched Havel into the presidency. His years in office saw radical change in the country.
There was also a version of “La Boheme” written by Ruggiero Leoncavallo, of “Pagliacci” fame. Writing both lyrics and music, his opera also followed the story of Parisian starving artists. This version premiered at Teatro LaFenice, in Venice, on May 6, 1897.
In 1990, Baz Luhrmann, produced a new version of the opera. Set in 1957, it was commissioned by Opera Australia. It was restaged for Broadway in 2002 and was a seven time Tony Award nominee.
