Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Catatonic Baby & Staten Island Politics


Years ago I wrote a musical comedy titled "Catatonic Baby" about a young woman madly in love with a catatonic patient. That was my ideal perfect relationship at that time.


It contained catchy R.D. Laing-inspired lyrics such as:

I love the way
you sit and stare
and act like
I'm not even here.

For 7 years
My heart's been numb
My head gets hot
Coz you're the one

You're my catatonic baby


We performed it at New York's Club 57 and Danceteria in 1982. It was a blend of punk, Leslie Gore and performance art. The male lead who played the catatonic and co-composed the music was Fran Powers. Fran recently made headlines for running against his father Frank Powers in the recent Staten Island elections. LOL


The New Yorker covers this compelling story in their latest issue:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/06/23/080623on_onlineonly_howe

The photo is from Pasolini's classic film Oedipus Rex (1967).







2 comments:

Cranky Pressman said...

Hello Suzie. I remember at the time what I liked most about your Catatonic Baby piece was the sincerity and honesty you put into it!

Susan said...

Hi JB,
Thanks. That was a fun time too.