More Theater Monday - Magnificent Bird and Book of Travelers

We were given complimentary tickets to Magnificent Bird and Book of Travelers for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own. 

What: Magnificent Bird and Book of Travelers

Where: Playwrights Horizons

             416 W. 42nd St.

             New York, NY

When: This event took place from 9/24 - 10/13

Gabriel Kahane is a singer-songwriter who writes story-filled songs similar to Sufjan Stevens. The latter's music formed the basis and background for the musical, Illinoise, based on his album of the same name, which recently concluded a run on Broadway. Now, Kahane's music has provided the basis for not one but two musicals which recently finished a run at Playwrights Horizons. However, these were small intimate song cycle musicals that just involved Kahane talking to the audience and singing his songs rather than a full cast big production musical with an underlying plot like Illinoise.

The first of these musicals was Magnificent Bird. This show was mostly full of songs from Kahane's album of the same. Written following a move to Oregon, in the middle of the pandemic and at the end of a year of self-imposed isolation from social media, this album thoughtfully reflects on these things. The other, Book of Travelers, was written after a series of train trips that took him across the country and back again. He embarked on the trip because of his dissolution due to the 2019 election. He needed a reset and wanted to connect with people, and he found that traveling by train was the best way to achieve his goals.

The first show was full of more personal music while the latter was more about other people; the people he had met along his journey. Kahane is quite personable. His songs are full of poignancy and sometimes a little bit of humor. Both of these albums were started because he was concerned about how disconnected people were from each other, and wanted to address this in some way. He certainly accomplished his goal of connecting with people at least for the duration of these two concerts.

And that's our view. For more about Gabriel Kahane's music, go to gabrielkahane.bandcamp.com. For more about what's currently playing or coming up next at Playwrights Horizon's visit www.playwrightshorizons.org.

Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.

All pictures used in this post are our own. If there is a problem with any image, contact us here and we will look into the matter.