Rock band meets opera, 'The Carbon Copy Building' is a 72-minute work for four singers and winds, keys, guitar and drums and is the first major collaborative work from the Bang on a Can Co-Artistic Directors, Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe.

 

The music is minimalist in style, with both vocal and instrumental parts made up of short repeating phrases. The revolutionary stage show won the Village Voice 2000 OBIE Award for Best New American Work, and embraces the dark, witty humour of celebrated New York comic-strip artist Ben Katchor, known for his cult classic underground comic, Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer.

 

The UK première by New York's ultra-innovative Bang-on-a-Can took place at Liverpool's Royal Court in October 2006. After many years, this work is finally out on CD, accompanied by beautifully illustrated libretto; in a limited edition hard-bound book.

 

The plot revolves around a pair of buildings constructed from the same architectural plan. One stands on a wide, wealthy avenue and the other on the forgotten alley of a fringe neighbourhood. Architecturally, the buildings and their plans are identical, but their uses and the people and businesses that inhabit them could not differ more. Combining the striking projections of Katchor's comics with powerful virtuoso performances, the production inventories the contents of the buildings, explores the parallel yet opposite lives of their inhabitants, and uncovers the strange and hilarious places in which the two worlds overlap, finally bringing together the odd lives of each building over a single piece of cherry cheesecake.

 

"The Carbon Copy Building is made to be read as much as heard... [the music is] translucent and unhurried, it allows the audience to linger and contemplate Mr. Katchor's urban otherworld." The New York Times

 

"Radical...demands to be heard." The Guardian 

 

Theo Bleckmann (Porter, Delivery Boy)
Tony Boutté (Emetine, Chewing Gum Remover)
Katie Geissinger (Emanuel Majuscule, Semele)
Toby Twining (Architect, Manager, Waiter)