BAM to Present Howard Fishman's A STAR HAS BURNT MY EYE

A Star Has Burnt My Eye, written by Howard Fishman with music and lyrics by Connie Converse and directed by Paul Lazar, will play BAM Fisher (Fishman Space, 321 Ashland Pl), November 9-12 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $25.

Featuring dramaturgy by James Harrison Monaco, set and costume design by Christopher Heilman, and lighting design by Megan Lang and Megan Estes.

A play with music, A Star Has Burnt My Eye is inspired by the extraordinary true story of Connie Converse. An unknown musician living in Greenwich Village in the early 1950s, Converse wrote and self-recorded original music-by turns beautiful, poetic, funny, and haunting-that was far ahead of its time. A quarter of a century later, long despairing of finding an audience for her art, Converse left goodbye letters that weren't quite suicide notes, and vanished.

A tribute to this remarkable lost artist, the setting for Howard Fishman's A Star Has Burnt My Eye is both simple and illuminating: in a Brooklyn apartment, a contemporary musician (played by Fishman) has gathered collaborators to prepare for a concert of Converse's music. Over the course of a single afternoon, they attempt to get inside her life and songs, examining notions of success, alienation, passion, and the ways in which genius can lead to salvation or self-destruction. The play features live performances of Converse's songs, readings from her personal letters and journals, previously unheard music, and recreations of firsthand recollections from those who knew her.

Internationally-acclaimed Brooklyn songwriter, guitarist, singer, and bandleader Howard Fishman has been a fixture on the New York music scene for nearly 20 years, headlining at such venues as Lincoln Center, Celebrate Brooklyn, Merkin Concert Hall, and Joe's Pub, as well as touring in the US and abroad. His oratorio "we are destroyed:" A Meditation on the Donner Party Tragedy of 1846, has had workshop showings at Abrons Arts Center and at The Pasadena Playhouse; his original score for Buster Keaton's The Frozen North was performed as part of the New York Guitar Festival; and his New Orleans-inspired brass band regularly performs in Europe (most recently in Estonia and Finland). His eleventh recording, Uncollected Stories, was released in 2015. Howard received his BA in Dramatic Literature from Vassar College. As an actor and director, he studied with Jose Quintero and Estelle Parsons. Fishman has recently been an artist-in-residence at the Hotchkiss School, Skidmore College, and Castleton University. For more on Howard, visit www.howardfishman.com.

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). Both locations house Greenlight Bookstore at BAM kiosks. BAM Fisher, located at 321 Ashland Place, is the newest addition to the BAM campus and houses the Judith and Alan Fishman Space and Rita K. Hillman Studio. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn's only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, offers a dinner menu prior to BAM Howard Gilman Opera House evening performances. BAMcafé also features an eclectic mix of live music for BAMcafé Live on Friday and Saturday nights with a bar menu available starting at 6pm. For ticket information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.

Photo Credit: Marina McClure