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Tom Waits

TOM WAITS

  
Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

He's somewhere between George Gershwin and a carnival barker, somewhere between Leadbelly and a guy selling vacuums from the trunk of his car. And Tom Waits -- playwright, well-known character actor, scorer of films, writer of stage musicals, Academy Award nominee (for the score to Francis Ford Coppola's 'One From the Heart'), devoted husband and dad -- is comfortable with that considerable breadth. First and foremost, though, Tom Waits is a songwriter. He's had hit songs -- they've just been recorded by others, including Bruce Springsteen ('Jersey Girl') and Rod Stewart ('Downtown Train'). Recording a Waits song is a badge of honor for musicians in the know. Artists such as Beck, Los Lobos, Ani DiFranco, A.J. Croce and Eddie Vedder cite Waits as a major influence. He's won two Grammys, this year for best contemporary folk album for 'Mule Variations' and in 1992 for best alternative album for 'Bone Machine.' He also was nominated for a Grammy this year for best male rock vocal performance for the song 'Hold On.' Yet Waits is, in essence, a bluesman. He cites Leadbelly and countless other blues artists as inspirations. Several songs on 'Mule Variations' are well within the realm of the blues ('Get Behind the Mule,' 'Chocolate Jesus,' 'Filipino Box Spring Hog' and 'Come On Up to the House'), and Charlie Musselwhite and John Hammond both appear on the album. Waits is in the process of producing an album for Hammond. The son of schoolteachers from National City, Calif., has come a long way.

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below is a list of Tom Waits's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Alice         Black Rider, The         Woyzeck

Alice

Alice
Lewis Carroll's relationship with Alice Liddell

Notes:
by Paul Schmidt; music by Tom Waits; lyrics by Tom Waits And Kathleen Brenan

1st Produced:
Thalia Theatre, Hamburg    1992

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Yale School Of Drama Magazine" volume 26 number 3 1996   -

Music:
Original cast recording: Epitath (6632-2) 2001

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Black Rider, The

Black Rider, The
"the starting point is a story about a clerk who inadvertently kills the forester's daughter he hopes to marry with one of the magic bullets he has been offered by the devil. there are strong echoes of Faust and Peer Gynt. But Burroughs highlights the tale's hallucinogenic qualities, telling us that "the magic bullets lead to devil's work like marijuana leads to heroin". He even throws in an extended verbal riff comparing the pact-making hero, Wilhelm, to Hemingway, who sold out to Hollywood", Guardian

Notes:
Original Playwright - Georg Buchner. By William Burroughs, Tom Waits (music And lyrics)

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
Studio cast recording: Island (16822) 1993

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Adaptation Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Woyzeck

Synopsis:
Woyzeck is a lowly soldier who is in love with Marie. To be able to support her and their child, Woyzeck performs odd jobs for the Captain and lets the Doctor conduct medical experiments on him. the pressure on Woyzeck is so great that his thoughts begin to drive him mad. then Marie meets the Drum Major and quickly recognizes that with him she could lead a much different, more carefree life. the physical and mental torture, others' sexual desires, the humiliation, loneliness and madness - it all becomes too much for Woyzeck and he stabs Marie to death. Tom Waits' songs ingeniously add another layer of meaning to Buchner's script. His music conveys the characters' hurt, pain and longing in a different way, complementing and interacting with them, and revealing their innermost feelings.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Georg Buchner. music by Kathleen Brennan And Tom Waits, director Robert Wilson

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Betty Nansen Theatre (in association with Cultural Industry)

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  21 characters

Further Reference:
-

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