Joe Barna writes (9/21/07):
Here’s the flyer info for a one-night one-man show I’m doing Oct 4, to which I’m inviting any or all classmates who might be in the area. Not solely about the years at Yale, but they will be part of it.
SPUTNIK – A Personal Journey
Fifty incredible years and the satellite that launched them.
What do a UFO, Little Red Riding Hood, the Fillmore East, a
rollercoaster-riding dog, the Yale School of Drama, the gay political
underground in the Soviet Union, and hundreds of funny signs have in
common? Come to this monologue performance piece on the perfect
randomness of life, a Spaulding Gray meets Garrison Keillor
look at the joys and mysteries of hurtling through space on a fragile
ball of rock, as lived, written, and performed by Joseph T. Barna.
Sometimes, something happens that drives the rest of your life.
For me, that moment was seeing Sputnik.
8:00 pm Thursday, October 4, 2007 $5.00
at The Medicine Show Theater, 249 W. 52nd Street (between 10th and
11th Avenues.)
10:30 abbreviated late show for those in other productions
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Hi,
I don’t think any of the 71ers made it (some thought they might) but my friend, David Willinger, who is head of the theater program at the City College of NY made it and sent this comment for you….
Joe Barna displays enormous histrionic skills in a one-man performance piece about his own life. In his quirky, totally engaging style, he tugs us hither and yon through his checkered career as techie, inventor, and photographer par excellence in a narrative that takes the flying of Sputnik over his home town as its central image. His family didn’t believe him when he told them he’d seen it, and this lack of comprehension for a clear-sighted Cassandra organizes his quest throughout his life — that and his passion for tinkering with ingenious devices. Joe is the genuine article — folksy, vulnerable, and witty — an American oddball folk hero in the tradition of Mark Twain and Garrison Keillor.
And the guy really can act; I’m going to cast him at my earliest opportunity!
and I want to add that I really did see Sputnik before it was announced. Having spent 42 years in silence about it I did the play to tell people once I felt I had accomplished enough to have the credibility so that people would know it was true. Ironically, a plaque was just erected in New Haven (at SCSU) where the “first sighting” took place, 5 days after the launch. I’m going to go have my picture taken by it with a sign saying “WRONG!” and I’ll send you the picture once I’ve taken it. The show was recorded, so maybe some of the class will get to see it someday.
Thanks
Joe.
Hi Joe,
I couldn’t get into town on Oct 4 but hope other 71ers attended. Any audience members I might prevail upon to craft an “I was there” item for the yale71.org site?
Katherine