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 →
A highly entertaining summary of pop culture of the past half-century... 50 Song Memoir is a treat.
Stephin Merritt is a genius.
- 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
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Media Partner
PHOTO | Marcelo Krasilcic
