The Town Hall & Todd Abramson Present | Bonnie “Prince” Billy + Jonathan Richman

THE TOWN HALL & Todd Abramson PRESENT Monday, March 9, 2020

123 West 43rd St NYC 10036 | THETOWNHALL.org

THE TOWN HALL PRESENTS | THU. + FRI. JUNE 25-26 • 8PM

Monday, March 9, 2020 The Town hall & Todd Abramson Present

Bonnie “Prince” Billy featuring Emmett Kelly +

Jonathan Richman featuring Tommy Larkins

THE TOWN HALL 123 W 43rd st nyc LARRY ZUCKER, Executive Director

CINDY BYRAM PR, Publicity

M.A. PAPPER, Artistic Director

BILL DEHLING, Technical Director

JEFF MANN, Marketing Director

CARL ACAMPORA, Production Manager

MELAY ARAYA, Associate Artistic Director & Archivist

ALEX KOVEOS, Digital Media Manager LEIA-LEE DORAN, Principal Designer

THETOWNHALL.ORG | @TownHallNYC

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ABOUT THE ARTISTs

Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Jonathan Richman, two distinctive and poetic American voices, join forces in a unique double-bill at The Town Hall.

Throughout their unusual careers, both have explored and probed a broad range of music styles and approaches.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy, once an alt-country artist with his particular take on folk music, took detours as a performer to celebrate The Everly Brothers, Merle Haggard, and a Norwegian singer before establishing himself as a deeply original voice in roots music. Meanwhile, Jonathan Richman, who started as an unusual, suit-and-tie leader of protopunk band The Modern Lovers, turned to an acoustic sound, better fitting his evolving writing style, before emerging as a lyrical balladeer as adept at singing in Spanish, French, and Italian as in English.

Their winding musical travels have resulted in two very personal and deeply affecting bodies of work.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy is just one of the alter-egos of Louisville, Ky. native Will Oldham. Trained as an actor, he worked in film and television in the 1980s and early 90s. He debuted as a musician in 1992, using the name Palace and several variations on that moniker. But since 1998, most of his work has been under the name Bonnie “Prince” Billy.

“His artistic trajectory has been as gnarled and twisted as his mountain-man beard, traveling in and out of one quintessential American genre after another, noisy and raw one moment, bright and polished the next,” noted Stereogum magazine. It’s a career chronicled on over 50 album releases since the early 1990s, from studio and live recordings to compilations.

Billy has defiantly followed his own path, taking time to pay tribute to the Everly Brothers (What the Brothers Sang), Merle Haggard (Best Troubador) and, for good measure, Norwegian singer Susanna Wallumrod (Wolf of the Cosmos). In a review of his 2019’s, I Made a Place, Billy’s first in release in eight years, Loud and Quiet magazine marveled he had reached the “kind of musical status that’s difficult to achieve now,” becoming a songwriter “prolific, well-respected, influential and very in tune with what’s happening around us – both socio-politically and musically.”

At The Town Hall, Billy will perform with singer, songwriter, and longtime collaborator Emmett Kelly.

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Photo © Mickie Winters

ABOUT THE ARTISTs After his band The Modern Lovers broke up in the mid-70s, Jonathan Richman “got tired of rock volume, streamlined his song structures, and added hints of music from other cultures, “ write Pitchfork. “But he also started peppering his albums with…tracks like ‘Ice Cream Man’ and ‘Buzz Buzz Buzz,’ which sounded like Eisenhower-era novelties for grammar schoolers.”

It’s a peculiar and wonderful evolution that has resulted in more refined songwriting and streamlined live shows.

For this performance, Richman will be joined by drummer Tommy Larkin, a longtime musical partner.

“Richman is one of America’s most unique and dynamic songwriters,” noted The Nashville Scene. “He has evolved from an angry young man driving past the Stop & Shop into a sorcerer-poet who understands that the chords to ‘Louie Louie’ are a form of ritual magic. Today’s Richman has the benefit of wisdom and awareness. More than anything, Richman’s career has been about finding the beauty and the joy in simple moments.”

Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Jonathan Richman are the kind of storytellers who can make the extraordinary sound easy — and vice versa. This special Town Hall show brings them together for one night, doing what they do best: finding beauty, humor, pathos, and a touch of the absurd in ordinary life.

Photo © Angelina Castillo

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The Town hall Presents Friday, March 20, 2020 • 8pm

Miguel Poveda With guest dancer Antonio Molina “El Choro” The Greatest Flamenco Voice of his Generation

Thursday, April 2, 2020 • 8pm

Brooklyn Rider: Healing Modes Debuting 5 new commisioned works, exploring the subject of healing from a wide range of historical and cultural perspectives

Friday, May 8, 2020 • 8pm

The Lord Is Listenin’ To Ya, Hallelujah!

Celebrating Carla Bley Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra with Carla Bley, Steve Swallow and other Special Guests

Saturday, May 9, 2020 • 8pm

Django A Go GO 2020 Stephane Wrembel Presents a Celebration of Guitar Through the Music of Django Reinhardt “Perhaps the most creative improviser in Gypsy jazz today, Mr. Wrembel plays the guitar with a rich and colorful lyricism.”

–The New York Times

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The Town Hall is searching for: • Programs & Stagebills • Photos • Performance Recordings & Films featuring the Hall • Ticket Stubs • Show Posters • Memorabilia from moments in our history Please contact: Melay Araya / Archivist 212-997-1003 ext. 22 | m.araya@thetownhall.org

1935 Marian Anderson makes her New York operatic debut

1944 Langston Hughes discusses the race question on air at “America’s Town Meeting”

1945 Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker debut Bebop in a formal concert hall

1957 Ravi Shankar performs here 9 years before he meets The Beatles

1961 Bob Dylan holds his first major concert at age 21

1964 Coretta Scott King debuts her Freedom Concerts @TownHallNYC | 6

THE TOWN HALL FOUNDATION The Town Hall’s mission is to provide affordable world-class entertainment by new and established artists to a diverse audience; to inspire the youth of our community to appreciate and participate in the arts at The Town Hall and in schools through our Education Outreach Program; and to preserve and enhance The Town Hall as a historic landmark venue for the enjoyment and cultural enrichment of generations to come.

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FIRE NOTICE The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency please do not run, WALK TO THAT EXIT. Thoughtless persons annoy patrons and endanger the safety of others by lighting matches or smoking in prohibited areas during the performances and intermissions. This violates a city ordinance and is punishable by law.

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The photographing or sound recording of any performance or the possession of any device for such photographing or sound recording inside the theatre without the written permission of the management is prohibited by law. Violators may be punished by ejection and violations may render the offender liable for monetary damages.

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DIRECTORY OF THEATRE SERVICES ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: 212.997.1003 Mon-Fri 9:30 am to 5 pm, for rental & membership info BOX OFFICE: 212.840.2824 Mon-Sat 12 noon to 6pm. 24/7 Recording TICKETMASTER: 800.982.2787 to charge tickets by phone.online Ticketmaster.com LOST AND FOUND: 212.997.0113 CELL PHONE POLICY Cell phones should be silenced prior to the performance as a courtesy to the performers and audience.

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MAJOR GIFTS, CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT This program is supported, in part, by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Town Hall’s Education Outreach Program and Global Icons Series are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. We would like to thank the following foundations, corporations, and government institutions for their support:

The Achelis and Bodman Foundation

Garber Atlas Fries & Associates The Hearst Foundations, Inc.

New York State Council on the Arts

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The Hyde & Watson Foundation

New York University

Apple Inc.

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Consolidated Edison Company of New York

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Office of the President, Borough of Manhattan, Gale A. Brewer

Council Member Ben Kallos

Local One

The Reed Foundation

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The Mansfield Family Foundation

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Morgan Stanley

The Shubert Foundation

Cravath, Swaine & Moore

Nesenoff & Miltenberg, LLP

The Shubert Organization, Inc.

Robert Evanson

New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

Theatre Refreshments

Dr. Charlotte K. Frank

Pricewaterhouse Cooper

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As of Mar 2, 2020

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TOUR THE HISTORIC TOWN HALL Town Hall has played an integral part in the electrifying cultural fabric of New York City for more than 90 years.

A group of Suffragists’ fight for the 19th Amendment led them to build a meeting space to educate people on the important issues of the day. During its construction, the 19th Amendment was passed, and on January 12, 1921 The Town Hall opened its doors and took on a double meaning: as a symbol of the victory sought by its founders, and as a spark for a new, more optimistic climate. In 1921, German composer Richard Strauss performed a series of concerts that cemented the Hall’s reputation as an ideal venue for musical performances. Since, Town Hall has been home to countless musical milestones: The US debuts of Strauss, and Isaac Stern; Marian Anderson’s first New York recital; in 1945, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker introduced bebop to the world; Bob Dylan’s first major concert in ‘63; and much much more.

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