The m a g n ETic F IE L DS: #----# 50 S O NG MEMOIR #--# Stephin Merritt Writer José Zayas Director Arnulfo Maldonado Set designer Alex Basco Koch Projections designer Mark O’Maley Lighting designer Dan Bora Sound designer
The Magnetic Fields 1 (songs 1–25) 25 Aug 8pm | 1hr 40mins (one interval) The Magnetic Fields 2 (songs 26–50) 26 Aug 8pm | 1hr 40mins (one interval) Special Offer Buy tickets for both concerts in one transaction and save 20% King’s Theatre £20 – £32 fees apply, details p110 Co-commissioned by Edinburgh International Festival, BAM, the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, The Barbican Centre and the Melbourne Festival
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Leftfield pop’s answer to Stephen Sondheim, Stephin Merritt has been called one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th and 21st centuries. And to celebrate his 50th birthday, Stephin has created a brand new set of 50 songs – one for each year of his existence. In this magical mystery tour through Merritt’s life – from the Vietnam War to New Romantics in London, from painful medical conditions to his ups and downs in love – some things are true, others less than true. He divides the 50 numbers in his 50 Song Memoir across two separate concerts. Merritt is the master craftsman behind US indie band The Magnetic Fields, whose epic 1999 triple album 69 Love Songs has been described as one of the great songwriting feats of the 20th century. He is joined on stage by a specially expanded Magnetic Fields septet, in a spectacular staging featuring 50 years of artifacts – both musical and decorative: from vintage computers and reel-toreel tape decks through to a tiki bar and vintage magazines for the persual of idle musicians.