Such Strange Gravity: Songs of Gotham

Music & Concept: Jeff Tang

Words: Matt Boresi, John Gregor, Deepali Gupta, Daniel Levin, Evie Shockley, Jeff Tang, Nathan Tysen, and more

AWARDS & RESIDENCIES

NATIONAL SAWDUST SUMMER LAB RESIDENCY

SOKOLOFF ARTS CREATIVE FELLOWSHIP

SPACE ON RYDER FARM CREATIVE RESIDENCY (FINALIST)

Such Strange Gravity: Songs of Gotham is a theatrical song cycle that explores and deconstructs the mythology of home from first European contact with the indigenous Lenape tribe to the near future. Composer Jeff Tang collaborates with lyricists, playwrights, and poets to interrogate how the identity of a city is created and evolves, the question of whose stories and histories persist or are expunged, and how the process of naming and renaming affects the dominant cultural memory.

Rigorously researched and inspired by factual events, the project uses some as jumping-off points to create new mythologies. Stories include the “sandhogs” who built the subway system, the spectacular 1911 fire that destroyed Coney Island’s Dreamland amusement park, the demise of the Collect Pond, once the primary life-source for generations of the island’s inhabitants, and more. Narratives both large and small from across time will form a mosaic of our great metropolis.