Elliot Sharp . Binibon
BINIBON is a work of both musical theater and alternative history based on the 1981 murder by Jack Henry Abbott of Richard Adan. Richard was a waiter and the night manager at the Binibon, a cafe and 24-hour hangout on 2nd Avenue at 5th Street in the East Village, a nexus for artists, musicians,neighborhood characters and bohemians true and faux. It was a place that E# spent many an hour drinking bottomless cups of terrible coffee during 1979-81.
Abbott was a talented writer, as well as an imprisoned killer who became the protege of famed author Norman Mailer (Mailer sponsored his release into a halfway house on 3rd Street.) The killing was a an important cusp-point in the history of the neighborhood, its culture, its daily life, its real-estate, and its future. E#’s music draws upon his own compositional and performance innovations that he developed during the time of these events with ties to punk, No Wave, noise, dance, industrial and exotic sounds. Jack Womack is famed for his “Dryco Series” of novels portraying a post-Apocalypse NYC.
Exerpt from BINIBON, a work of music/theater.
Concept by Elliott Sharp, text by Jack Womack. Directed by Tea Alagic.
BINIBON premiered at The Kitchen in New York City, May 2009.
Produced by Beth Morrison Projects
Scenic Design by Zane Pihlström
Costume Design by Jennifer Moeller
Video Design by Janene Higgins
Lighting Design by Gina Scherr
Sound Design by Elliott Sharp
Jack Henry Abbott: Jedadiah Schultz
Ted/Rich: Joe Tapper
Contessa/Suzy: Sonja Perryman
Johnny/Fabulucious: Ryan Quinn
Dramaturgy by Jane Malmo
Stage Management by Kathleen Munroe
Technical Direction by David Taylor
Wardrobe by Jessa-Raye Court
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