Mummers the Word!

Writer Beau Willimon told me about the sublime annual New Years  Mummers Parade in Philadelphia.  I love this!! Talk about cultural fusion!!! Check out the history on the wikipedia link -- wow!  It is a bit like a rugby match meets Star Wars and Lord of the Rings meets the the Wizard of Oz with a little bit of urban celtic Lion King thrown in with the the Parade of Roses and Mardi Gras to  boot.  Imagine the ingenuity for Galileo's 400th...

A Global Premier from Multiple Cities: June 10, 2010

What If Musicians from Around the World Premiered A Rock Opera from Multiple Cities on June 10, 2010

Target Cities:

New York: Opening Night for World Science Festival (Medley)

Florence: Playlist -- Areopagitica, Mathematician, Everything's Gonna Be Fine, Buy this Book, Lights of Heaven, Everywhere, Natural Order of Things

Pisa: Playlist: Starry Messenger, Livin in the World, Save the World

Padua: Playlist--Rules by Fools, Livin' in the World, On the Moon, Friars Roast

Venice: Playlist--Last Kiss in Venice, Father I'm Sorry, Boys in the Bar, 95 Bottles, Glassblowing Craftsman

Rome: Playlist- Save the World, Head of a Pin, City of God, Imprimatur, Faith or Truth and Reason, And Yet It Moves

David Beal tuned me onto this very cool Chinese Acrobatic Ballet Company

Playing for Change: One Love and Stand By Me

I am indebted to  Jimmy Buffett for turning me on to Playing for Change

The Other Marley and Me: One Love

Stand By Me:

Random Staging Thoughts

Meet "The Stargazer": Every Rock Opera Needs a Car Named After It.

Designing the Car of the Future Past: If Galileo Had Designed a Car What Would It Have Looked Like Today

Galileo Chronicles to Host A Global Competition Among  Whatever Carmakers Are Left;  Requests for Proposals for Designing the Car of the Future Are Now Being Accepted

We are looking for filmmakers who can make a 1 minute commercial  (15 second and 30 second cuts also required) that will be used to launch the announcement  of  new vehicle  on June 10, 2010 in celebration of  the 400th Anniversary  of Galileo's major discoveries:

Here is an example of an adrenalin pumping commerical for Ford's new Mustang Drift

The Ceramic Symphony

Public Performance at Antwerp Station

(Sound of Music)

 Here is a variation of the theme from Improv Everywhere-- this has 17 million views on youtube

But this No Pants Subway Ride is a little edgier (only 8 million views)

Rules by Fools Song #1.1

Prologue

Supertitles projected on a screen as the opera begins  :

Einstein said:

"Only the universe and human stupidity are infinite. And I am not too sure about the universe." 

Sometimes the course of history seems riddled  with human stupidity committed often by very smart people.  Maybe it's not studipity but bad communication, arrogance  or just the perfect storm. Here's the story of what maybe the result of all three.

Rome...the Eternal City... March 1630.

It is the reign of Pope Urban VIII—the most vilified figure in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

It is widely believed that Urban persecuted Galileo Galilei... the greatest scientist of his age...for his heretical Copernican beliefs...that the sun is the center of center of the universe.

The “Galileo Affair” set in Motion the great conflict between Science and Religion.

But a story always has at least two sides... sometimes an infinite number of sides.

As the stage falls dark, thousands of stars become visible. All is calm. But then out of the blue, dozens of comets streak across the sky; an ominous new star appears. Slowly, the tapestry of celestial wonders starts to turn, the music begins, and Galileo Galilei appears from behind the star. Galileo swings through the audience on a giant pendulum singing. (Galileo sings “Rules by Fools.” Disc 1 Song 1)

Galileo wowed his students at the university of padua by delivering lectures in vernacular italian as opposed to latin, refused to wear the scholarly robes (think leather pants) and shook up the other professors by destroying their arguments with a razor sharp tongue and devastating wit. 

Lyrics:

Intro Vamp:

(Ooh hey hey na na na na)

Verse 1:

What’s all this fuss about?
It’s upside down and inside out
I’m givin’ them a heart attack
Black is white and white is black

Chorus:

Destiny is callin’ out my name
Greatness a heart beat away
Nothing’s ever gone be the same
Cause I changed the rules of the game

Verse 2:

When I was back in school
My every thought would break the rules
My teachers scolding turned me on
Because I was right and they were wrong

Chorus:

Destiny is callin’ out my name
Greatness a heart beat away
Nothing’s ever gone be the same
Cause I changed the rules of the game

Bridge:

(Hey ow-ay na na na yeah)
Ain’t it cool?
Breakin’ rules by fools
Ain’t it cool?
I got the tools
To change the rules
Rules by fools

Double chorus out:

(Yeah)
Destiny is callin’ out my name
Greatness a heart beat away
Nothing‘s ever gone be the same
I finally found fortune and fame

Destiny is callin’ out my name
Greatness a heart beat away
Nothing’s ever gone be the same
Cause I changed the rules of the game
(Oh... of the game)