MUSIC USA

The Magnetic Fields

50 Song Memoir

Australian Exclusive

Sat 21—Sun 22 Oct

Arts Centre Melbourne

$59—$79

Part 1, Songs 1—25
Part 2, Songs 26—50

50 spins around the sun is something to sing about.

As writer, singer and producer of The Magnetic Fields and countless other projects, Stephin Merritt has long chronicled the human condition through song, and in celebration of 50th birthdays the famously mysterious artist is finally turning the spotlight around.

Performed over two nights amid a meticulous recreation of his childhood bedroom, 50 Song Memoir has been co-commissioned by Melbourne Festival and is a bubbling crockpot of new work with fragments of the past; earlier musical recordings and compositions, notes and fantastical notions from an extensive career.

Joined on stage by a specifically expanded Magnetic Fields septet playing 50-odd instruments—surrounded by 50 years of ornaments and gadgets—Merritt invites you to bear witness to the weird patchwork wonderland that gave birth to such a prolific musical prodigy.

Learn more about the show before you go. Browse the house program →

Writer and arranger
Stephin Merrit
Performed by
The Magnetic Fields
Production
The Magnetic Fields in association with Nick Schwartz-Hall
Director
Jose Zayas
Set Designer
Arnulfo Maldonado
Lighting Designer
Mark O’Maley
Sound Designer
Dan Bora
Monitor Engineer
Mike Amacio
Projections Designer
Alex Basco Koch
Projection Animators
John Erickson, Roger Miller, Alexander Petrowsky
Projection Editor
Stephanie Beattie
Assistant Scenic Designer
Anshuman Bhatia
Management
Claudia Gonson
The Magnetic Fields
Voice
Stephin Merritt
Cellos
Sam Davol
Keyboards
Christopher Ewen
Guitars
Anthony Kaczynski
Percussion
Quince Marcum
Bouzouki
Shirley Simms
Violas
Pinky Weitzman
  • Media Partner

PHOTO | Marcelo Krasilcic

×