Compagnia de' Colombari Presents MORE OR LESS I AM at Joe's Pub

Compagnia de' Colombari, an international collective of performing artists founded and directed by Karin Coonrod, presents More Or Less I Am: a music-theater piece drawn entirely from Walt Whitman's revolutionary free verse long poem, "Song of Myself,"one of the original twelve pieces that comprise his 1855 collection Leaves of Grass. One of the next performances in this series, spanning multiple venues throughout the five boroughs, will take place on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, at 9:30 pm (doors at 9pm) at Joe's Pub: 425 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10003. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at https://joespub.publictheater.org/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/Joes-Pub/2019/C/Compagnia-de-Colombaris-More-or-Less-I-Am/?SiteTheme=JoesPub.

Compagnia de' Colombari returns to Joe's Pub to celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of America's most influential poet, Walt Whitman, with a revival of their acclaimed production More Or Less I Am, a music-theater piece drawn entirely from Walt Whitman's revolutionary free verse long poem, "Song of Myself." Conceived and directed by Karin Coonrod with original music by Colin Jacobsen, Kyle Sanna, Eric Jacobsen, and Alex Sopp, the piece involves fifteen performers of various ages, genders, and ethnicities (six instrumentalists and eight actor/singers, one child). More Or Less I Am includes passages spoken and sung in Spanish, among many other languages.

"More Or Less I Am speaks-sings aloud and embodies the voice of Walt Whitman: to experience our individual greatness and our great commonality," said director Karin Coonrod. "Whitman takes the vision of America to a new level: a place we are still reaching for today. More Or Less I Am vitalizes Whitman's call to us, then and now, a declaration of interdependence, an awakening of the American consciousness."

Compagnia de' Colombari (Company Colombari) is an international collective of performing artists, generating theater in surprising places. Colombari intentionally clashes cultures, traditions and art forms to bring fresh interpretation to the written word--old and new--and commits to using any means possible to flesh it out. Colombari brings performers and audiences together, thereby transforming strangers into community. Colombari is founded on the twin principles that the magic of great theater can happen anywhere and be made accessible to everyone.