During last year's Toronto Film Festival, Guy Maddin's latest deranged silent-movie homage Brand Upon The Brain! premiered as a one-night-only special live presentation, featuring an 11-piece orchestra, a five-person team of Foley artists, and a narrator. It was pretty much the hottest ticket in town, so hot that your intrepid A.V. Club critics didn't even bother trying to get a seat. Normally, we don't like to use this space to shill for events, but Maddin's "Cinema Spectacular" show is touring through a few theaters in the U.S.— namely, New York's Village East from May 9th to May 15th, Chicago's Music Box from May 18th to May 20th, and Los Angeles' Egyptian Theatre from June 8th to June 10th. Though this information will appear in my review next week—and to prove I'm not a total shill, I don't consider Brand! to be one of Maddin's best (though the show will still be amazing)—tickets are on sale now and I wouldn't want to our readers to miss out on this opportunity. The narrator(s) for the L.A. engagement has yet to be determined, but Crispin Hellion Glover will be performing all the Chicago shows and New York is loaded with talented narrators. To wit:
Wed. May 9: 7 pm & 9:30 pm: Crispin Glover
Thur. May 10: 7 pm: Anne Jackson; 9:30 pm: Eli Wallach
Fri. May 11: 7 pm: Joie Lee; 9:30 pm: Glover
Sat. May 12: 7 pm: Laurie Anderson; 9:30 pm: Lou Reed (!)
Sun. May 13: 3 pm: Justin Bond; 7 pm John Ashberry (poet laureate); 9:30 TV On The Radio's Tunde Adebimpe
Mon. May 14: 7 pm Edward Hibbert; 9:30 pm Peter Scarlet
Tues. May 15: 7 pm & 9:30 pm: Isabella Rossellini
Regular theatrical engagements with a pre-recorded soundtrack will follow in all cases. (The narrator is Rossellini, who's terrific.) Follow the links to get ticket information.