HOUSTON THEATER COMPANY
MAKES THE NEW YORK TIMES

From the New York Times courtesy of This is not a compliment:

Infernal Bridegroom Has a Hit With 'Speeding Motorcycle'

The punk-rock club where Infernal Bridegroom Productions stages its shows is in a rough neighborhood, far from this city's velvet-curtained theater district. So it is not surprising that the troupe's latest offering, "Speeding Motorcycle," is equally far from some of the traditional fare offered at the city's more conventional sites.

An original rock opera, "Speeding Motorcycle" consists entirely of songs by Daniel Johnston, a musician and artist whose childlike and hallucinatory work chronicles his mental illness.

"We have stranger tastes than the norm," said Anthony Barilla, Infernal Bridegroom's artistic director. The company's founder, Jason Nodler, wrote and directed "Speeding Motorcycle," which features several actors playing the role of Joe Boxer, a man who has lost his mind after being rejected by the woman he loves. Flat-top, plasticine headgear gives the impression that the crowns of their heads have been chopped off, leaving a black, felt-lined nothingness inside. Captain America and Casper the Friendly Ghost make cameo appearances. The score, meanwhile, ricochets from toe-tapping, feel-good songs to discordant, despairing dirges, a reflection of Mr. Johnston's bipolar disorder.

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Wow. I'm definitely impressed. Of course, it took a music critic who likes Daniel Johnston to notice them--the article appeared in the music section instead of the theater section; I guess the Times theater people are too snooty to write about any Houston theater other than the Alley. But that doesn't really matter: the IBP folk definitely deserve this. I've watched from the sidelines for over a decade as the once rag-tag band of thespians slowly but surely created a large audience of non-traditional theater goers, while taking on some of the most edgy and challenging material performed in the Bayou City. Along the way, I got the opportunity to perform with them, which was a very pleasant experience. And now they're being lauded in the Times. Kickass.

Congrats guys. You've worked hard for this.

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