Daniel Johnston’s SPEEDING MOTORCYCLE

Daniel Johnston’s SPEEDING MOTORCYCLE

We have the preview tonight and open tomorrow...
but the preview and opening night are sold out.
You want to see this show?
of course you do.
I'd make reservations soon as I expect us to sell out most of the run.


here's more on the show:

Unrequited love is a major theme in the music of Daniel Johnston, a Texas singer-songwriter who is known as much for his erratic behavior over the years as his wonderfully ebullient pop songs. Countless articles and a recent full-length film documentary have recounted his personal demons. Throughout his life, Johnston has channeled his swirling emotions and desires into his music, which bears the mark of his daily struggle. Johnston’s prolific catalogue of songs is one of extremes; it is heavily weighted in both the depths of dejection and ecstatic joy. Recurring characters make appearances: Captain America, the Beatles, Joe the Boxer, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and the Devil.

Somewhere among these sprawling episodes, a narrative was lurking. The recurring episodes told a story about a boy who loved a girl, but everyone knows love can be an earth-shattering emotion, both hellish and heavenly—maybe even literally. In Daniel Johnston’s music, Heaven and Hell are very real places.

The supernatural is a realm quite suited to rock music and live performance. As longtime fans of Johnston’s work, Infernal Bridegroom Productions approached Johnston for the opportunity to set his music to stage and tell his passionate, supernatural love story. “I thought it sounded like a cool idea,” says Johnston, “and then I saw some videos of IBP shows, and my heart jumped for joy, because the shows were really entertaining and really put together well.” With Johnston’s blessing, IBP applied for, and was awarded, a prestigious MAP Fund grant by the Rockefeller Foundation to develop the production. After over a year of development, with Johnston supplying his songs and concepts and IBP founder Jason Nodler arranging the story and providing additional text, Johnston’s hidden narrative is ready to be told. And a tale born of rock music naturally demands the appropriate vessel: a rock opera. Its title, taken from one of Johnston’s songs: Speeding Motorcycle.

Daniel Johnston’s SPEEDING MOTORCYCLE
Preview performance May 24 Sold Out
Opening Night May 25 Sold Out
Remaining performances: Fridays and Saturdays, 8pm, May 26, 27; through June 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24 - $15
All performances at the Axiom, 2524 McKinney. For reservations, call 713-522-8443 or purchase tickets online