David Byrne's American Utopia

Hi everyone,

In December, I took a luxurious weekend trip to New York City, mainly to attend the Rainforest Foundation Fund's charity concert at Beacon Theatre. (I'll have more on that experience in my next post.)

When in New York City at Christmas time, go see the tree at Rockefeller Center. 

But since that concert took place on Monday, December 9, I decided to spend a couple extra days in the city and picked two other shows to see before the big event.

Dear Evan Hansen, the 2017 Tony Award winner for best musical, was on my mind since I missed seeing its original cast production on Broadway and its recent tour stop at the Kennedy Center. I bought a ticket to see the matinee performance on Sunday, December 8. It's a great, emotional show that's well worth seeing, whether you like musicals or not. The story is important and relevant, the songs are poignant, the cast is wonderful, and the resolution is satisfying. But I didn't think this through: a musical about high school bullying, suicide, and the craziness of this social media age didn't match the rockstar extravaganza I had paired it with. Still, don't let the scary words in my description stop you from seeing Dear Evan Hansen. It's real, relatable, moving, and unforgettable.

This is Broadway, David Byrne style.

I was hoping to kick off my New York weekend by seeing To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway (which wouldn't have matched well with my rockstar extravaganza either). But I couldn't find a good seat, gave up, and began browsing for something else.

David Byrne's American Utopia intrigued me because I've always liked that guy. Even though I don't follow his career closely, I've always liked his voice and music, and I jumped at the chance to attend a local book signing years ago for his book, How Music Works. I had that same feeling about this event: David Byrne's on Broadway? I think I need to see that. David Byrne is interesting like David Bowie in that you never know what he's going to do next: it could be weird, it could be wonderful, or it could (most likely) be both.

What convinced me to buy this ticket was the fantastic soundtrack, which is available for free listening on the show's website. The synopsis doesn't really explain what the show is about; rather, David Byrne encourages you to come and see what you think for yourself. I was browsing through other show options while bouncing in my chair to American Utopia's music, which is so full, unique, and complete with David Byrne's distinct musicality, lyrics, and voice. By the time the soundtrack was over, I was already sold and couldn't wait for this experience.

It's almost showtime. 
Named after David Byrne's 2018 album, American Utopia, this Broadway stint is a stop on the show's international tour. Moving it to Broadway called for a more intimate experience than arenas can provide, so more content with a storyline was developed and the songs connect to whatever he talks about on stage.

David Byrne does two shows on Saturdays, one at 5:30 and one at 9 p.m. While I prefer early shows, I picked the later one in case anything delayed my arrival. The ticket noted to arrive an hour ahead of time to enjoy the bar area and beat the line to be seated. The bar did not excite me, but getting to my seat did, so I arrived as instructed.

To my surprise, the bar area was lined with David Byrne memorabilia from his personal collection, including several concert and special event posters. One that stuck out to me was a poster for an art installation he provided that toured in various middle America museums. It involved a piano that visitors could play to trigger sounds and movements in different areas of the room. See? He does what he wants.

The Hudson Theatre is old and beautiful with cream ornate carvings on the walls. Entering the performance space felt like stepping into fresh air because birds were singing, and the show's custom-made white curtain, by illustrator/author Maira Kalman, brightened the room with its colorful hand drawings of people, animals, trees, and other objects.

I don't know what it means, but I like it. 

Over the loud speaker, David Byrne made the pre-show announcement discouraging the use of cell phones, flash photography, and recording: "It's pretty distracting to the performers, and we think you'd enjoy the show more if you didn't watch it through your phone." People cheered at that because it's the truth.

Let's get this party started. 
The sparse stage was surrounded by a sparkly silver fringe curtains on three sides. David Byrne, wearing a plain grey suit and no shoes, sat at a table, examining a plastic model of the human brain. (Oh, this is why they were selling little model brains in the lobby.) He starts the show talking about how babies are born with brains that have millions of connections that are never fully used. As we get older, these connections and capabilities weaken or disappear. He then launches into the first song, called "Here," which explains the brains different areas and functions. As the song builds, new musicians show up on stage – all like him, in bare feet and wearing plain grey suits – dancing, singing, and carrying and playing their instruments.

Photo: Catalina Kulczar

All together, including David Byrne, there were sometimes 12 singers/musicians on stage, including several percussionists, a few guitarists, a keyboardist, and a couple singers/dancers. (At one point, they sang acapela and sounded just as vibrant without their instruments in hand.)

At the end of this first song, the crowd roared so loudly that David Byrne said, "Wow, Saturday night, huh?" When we cheered again after the next song, he said, "Thank you! Thank you! There's more..." It's fun to see shows like this with an audience full of fans. We were all happy to be there and knew it would be special because it came from this artist we all admire.

It's oh so arty. 
Seeing this performance was like watching modern art. The lights would create stark graphics, shining spotlights only on select performers or creating boxes of light on the stage in which a performer would stand.

After one song, the performers froze in their poses, creating interesting shapes and shadows. Sometimes, the musicians were shadows behind the fringe curtain with only their arms, hands, and instruments fully visible as they played through the curtain's silver strands on all three sides of the stage. (Sometimes, a single hand would stick out one of the side curtains, holding a guitar for David Byrne to take. It would reappear after the song for him to return it.) During one song with arms and instruments sticking through the curtains, David Byrne with his guitar, a drummer, and two dancers were occupying different spotlights on the stage. During another song, "Everyday is a Miracle," the lights somehow created giant shadows of those on stage. Each song created some kind of memorable image or moment.

Photo: Catalina Kulczar

I was not familiar with American Utopia's music, but I loved it anyway. I appreciated David Byrne's introductions to some songs too. For example, he described one song as a song about a guy who is not excited about having everyone coming over to his house. And, to introduce the story behind another song, he explained that, in the '70s when he was still figuring things out, he thought, "to help with that, I should watch more TV." I can relate to these things.

The music itself was fantastic: it was new to me but also familiar because of David Byrne's unique sound and writing style. It's full of wonderful instrumentation, melodies, harmonies, and interesting lyrics. All of the voices and pronunciation were clear and precise, which may also be thanks to the theatre's great acoustics.

Photo: Andrew Whitton

David Byrne told us that some people don't believe that so much sound can be created on stage by these musicians every night; they assume that some of it is recorded and played back during each performance. (How pessimistic!) He dispels this theory by demonstrating how each musician builds on each other. One by one, they came out playing their instruments, layering each sound or beat on top of the last one until they were all playing together in full force.

Another rousing number  involved a huddled group of six drummers on one side of the stage and a smaller group of three guitarists in another area. All the musicians get their moments to shine in this ensemble.

Does this capture your imagination? 
My favorite moment was when a song ended abruptly and David Byrne walked off the stage through a door-shaped light shining on the right-side curtain. The theater was dark, except for this door, and all of the other musicians faced right, silently watching the door as it got smaller and smaller and smaller. A bit later, David Byrne reappears, having crouched down to fit through the small door of light to come back out on stage. Once he was through it, he casually straightened out and walked around, talking about his next topic without addressing what he just did. American Utopia is in constant motion with full, fantastic music and memorable imagery.

During a song called, "I Dance Like This," the stage lights flicker on, showing all the performers lying sporadically on the stage with their instruments. David Byrne is the first to sit up and stand as he sings the first verse. Everyone follows suit, one by one, until they are all standing in time to dance through the chorus with simple consistent movements. (The lyrics explain, I dance like this / It feels so damn good / If I could dance better / You know that I would.)

At one point after a later chorus, the song abruptly paused, but the performers continued with their dance moves in silence. After a few seconds, the chorus started up again, this time with a strobe light flashing to the music. When the chorus ends, so does the song. Everything is silent again and only David Byrne is on stage in a single spotlight, showing his last dance pose with one change – two thumbs up.

Photo: Matthew Murphy

At the other end of the spectrum were heavier songs, like "Bullet," which describes someone getting shot. David Byrne stood in the center of the stage as the song started, and someone moved a light bulb next to him. It was on a stand with wheels so that the light bulb was next to his head. As he sang the song, the musicians played while pacing slowly in unison in a wide circle around him. As the song came to a close, they paced off stage in a single line, and – with David Byrne still singing at center stage – the last musician pulled the the light behind them, rolling it to the edge of stage left, where it stopped and shut off at the end of the song.

Another moving moment was when the group covered Janelle Monae's protest song, "Hell You Talmbout," which calls attention to police brutality and pays tribute to many of its recent victims. (This is the song she broke into after her speech at the Women's March on Washington in 2017.)

David Byrne also talked about the importance of voting, noting that participation in local voting averages around 20% by people who are the median age of 57. (This was clarified when a light spotlighted the small section of the audience that 20% would cover. Once the light was on these people, they screamed, and David Byrne pointed out how happy they were to be deciding the futures for the rest of us. He said we have to do better than this and mentioned his efforts to get people registered to vote, including how we can easily do it too. We all have to vote, he said; local elections matter.

Don't let this short mention of politics dissuade you from seeing this show! American Utopia is about life and humanity in general. Voting happens to be part of that and one of the many topics covered throughout the performance.

Photo: Matthew Murphy

And, don't worry, he didn't forget what we all wanted. Talking Heads classics "Once in a Lifetime" and "Burning Down the House" are included! He even threw in his arm chop dance moves at some point, which made some of us joyfully squeal.

We all got it. 
In the end, David Byrne pondered that what humans like most is to watch other humans, and that's what he wanted this show to be about: them and us,  human connections. He provided a hopeful quote from writer James Baldwin, someone who suffered lifelong discrimination and oppression, "I still believe that we can do with this country something that has not been done before."

David Byrne agreed that, despite all that has happened and is happening around us, the world is full of possibilities; its still a work in progress. He returned to the topic of newborn baby brains that have millions of connections. Maybe, he said, the connections that were lost somehow get reestablished and are now on the outside, between us and other people.

Photo: Catalina Kulczar

With that, he left us all with something to think about, and I exited the theatre feeling exhilarated, hopeful, and lucky. This show was weird, wonderful, and so David Byrne.

American Utopia is at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway until February 16. Catch it live while you can! And, if you can't, we're all in luck: I just read that Spike Lee is going to create a film version of it. Score!