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Cartwheeling
in the footsteps of masters Spike Jones, Firesign Theatre, and Tom Lehrer
comes Polygraph Lounge.
Conceived
in the musical hotbed of New York City’s Lower East Side, Polygraph Lounge
is the result of a truly warped and wild collaboration of extraordinary
musicians Rob Schwimmer and Mark Stewart. Joined by the fabulous soprano
Melissa Fathman, Polygraph Lounge strip mines the common cultural currency of
our time.
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
as Gregorian chant, Led Zeppelin meets Aaron Copland, an audience of hundreds
of nostrils flaring and blaring on nose flutes in The Good, The Bad and The
Ugly. Polygraph Lounge is a place where Purple Haze, Green Acres and
Stravinsky’s Firebird live happily together. Be it current events, Herman
Melville’s Moby Dick or Mozart, all are fodder for Polygraph’s cannon of
hilarity. Sensing a dearth of mirth in the music of today, Polygraph Lounge
provides the cure. Quirky, smart, way out in right field and not to be missed.
Rob
Schwimmer and Mark Stewart are well known in the rock and new music scene and
have appeared and/or recorded with Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson, Wayne Shorter,
Bang on a Can, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich and Musicians, Paul McCartney, Bob
Dylan, Willie Nelson, Queen Latifah, Bette Midler, Adam Guettel, Ornette
Coleman and The Everly Brothers. Most recently they performed with Simon and
Garfunkel on their 2003-04 tour where, to the delight of millions of audience
members world wide, Rob and Mark shed their respective roles in the 7-piece
band and emerged as Polygraph Lounge, literally stopping the show with their
wild antics in “Feeling Goovy.”
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Inside the Lounge - Lecture/Demonstration
Members
of Polygraph Lounge offer an open discussion and demonstration of instruments.
The session consists of demonstrations and background information about
various unusual instruments that are featured in a Polygraph performance
including the theremin, daxophone, clavioline, shaladoo, and uboingee, among
others. Each participant will be given a nose flute (provided by
Polygraph Lounge) with instructions on how to play it.
Session concludes with a nose flute group improvisation and Q & A.
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No. of participants: |
depends on space |
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Approximate length: |
60 minutes |
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Appropriate
level: |
junior or senior high
school students, family audiences with older children, adults, teachers, college
students, and arts professionals |
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Requirements: |
Same as full-length
show. Please refer to the Polygraph
Lounge tech rider. |
Building Your Own Sippa-phone
– Workshop
Members
of Polygraph Lounge begin the workshop by taking participants on a journey
through a world of homemade instruments, exploring the rich textures and sounds
that can be made from everyday items like pvc pipes, bed springs, carpet tubing,
Popsicle sticks, and vacuum cleaner hoses. Each participant is then given the opportunity to make their
own instrument—including the cranial kalimba, rubberband kora, or the sippa-phone—with
provided materials. Next,
participants will learn how to use their newly-created instruments to compose a
“sound piece,” which may be based on a given text—Haiku, recipe, travel
book excerpt, historical letter, or humorous rhyming scheme.
The workshop will culminate with a group performance including members of
Polygraph Lounge.
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No. of participants: |
10 – 30 (content will
be tailored to the size of the group) |
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Approximate length:
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60 – 90 minutes
(depending on age of the group) |
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Appropriate level: |
Age 8 to adult;
students and/or teachers of all levels welcome
Chaperones needed:
For children age 10 and under, one adult per 5 students
For children ages 11
– 17, one adult per 8 students |
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Requirements: |
Enough space, supplies,
tables/desks, and chairs to accommodate the size of the group.
1 black board or large
dry erase board (with appropriate writing/erasing supplies)
Supplies: the final
supply list should be discussed with a Polygraph Lounge member, but will include
items such as bendable drinking straws, thin wooden coffee stirrers, rubber
bands, blocks of wood, scissors, large pieces of paper, markers |
Student
Program
Polygraph
Lounge has created an abridged version of their main performance that is
tailored for student audiences.
Approximate
length: |
45 minutes
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Appropriate
level:
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Grade 3 and up
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Requirements: |
Same as full-length show. Please
refer to the Polygraph Lounge tech rider. |
Masterclasses
Masterclasses
may also be scheduled with individual members of Polygraph Lounge as follows:
Rob Schwimmer – theremin or piano/keyboard, Mark Stewart – electric guitar,
and Melissa Fathman – voice.
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Please contact Baylin
Artists for technical information.
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