(photo via 27 by New Paradise Laboratories Tickets in Philadelphia, PA, United States)
In Nirvana, Everything is Fine
On August 7 I cited an advertisement for an ice cream parlor as evidence that. “yes, we are still the town that broke David Lynch. …and don’t you ever presume to think otherwise.” In my defense, it really was an exceptional example of the viral advertisement that succeeds by being so strange that it almost repels, without (hopefully) quite crossing the line and causing true revulsion.
I really should have known better, though. After all the time I have spent involved as a patron, volunteer, and staff member at Live Arts and Philly Fringe, I really should have remembered there were far more deeply weird, deeply thoughtful forces at play in this city than just Little Baby’s Ice Cream.
So yes, we are still the town that broke David Lynch. The name of the force that brought this reality home to me on Saturday night is New Paradise Laboratories. The specific project is called 27.
Imagine the Radiator Lady kicks her way out of her little stage behind the wall, grabs a Stratocaster, drops a pair, and starts wailing Nirvana lyrics in Jim Morrison’s voice. Imagine, in fact, that this new icon actually is Jim Morrison, and that he is joined by Janice Joplin, Amy Winehouse, and the real Curt Cobain — all somehow mysteriously trapped in their own circles within some confusing nether world.
Into the role of the hapless Henry Spencer, substitute an equally hapless 27-year-old woman who isn’t quite sure what just happened, and definitely isn’t ready to face what happens next.
Well, you really just have to see it to believe it. Only one performance remaining, Sun, September 16 2012, 4:00PM – 5:30PM. If you already made it past the age of 27. go see it. You’ll remember how hard it was.
