neal learner

Join musician-poets Neal Learner and Martin Graff for an entirely unique, moving, and inspiring multimedia experience of opera, piano, spoken word, and projected artwork to move your soul and light your imagination. Admission is free

Program First Half The Face Zone: Surreal Daydreams to Trip Your Imagination...

Martin Graff performs his solo, multimedia spoken-word act of poetic-prose vignettes with matching artwork about every topic from the stigma of liking scrapple to the meaning of life. What connects the pieces is that they each start with a projected image of a face—human, animal, alien, abstract—to prompt reaction and thought, and to act as a catalyst for the material that follows. The show is punctuated by original piano compositions from his album Trips for Piano to further deepen the experience. Graff’s imaginative humor, insightful commentary, unconventional artwork, and compelling music offer a uniquely engaging respite that cuts through the noise of our information-age lives with concise, essential truths certain to entertain and inspire lasting reflection.

For more: thefacezone.com; tripsforpiano.com

Program Second Half

World premiere live staged reading.

Get Me Home: A 30-Minute Travel Opera in Three Acts
Music and libretto by Neal Learner

Maxine T. Heart lives overseas but needs to get back to America immediately. Her beloved father is hovering between life and death after being hit by a falling tree branch while riding his bike. Maxine has bought her ticket and is ready to jump on the plane. There’s only one problem: in her shock at the family news, she gave the foreign travel agent her nickname, rather than full name, and failed to clearly enunciate her “ts” and “ds.” On her passport, she’s “Maxine T. Heart.” But on her ticket, she’s “Max D. Heard.” Problems ensue.

Director: Ruben Vellekoop Cast: Neal Learner, Cathy McCoskey, Marissa Papatola, and Eric Yeh Accompanist: Paige Rammelkamp