The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island Or, The Friends of Dr. Rushower

Libretto & Drawings by Ben Katchor
Music by Mark Mulcahy
Directed by Bob McGrath
With Stephen Lee Anderson, Tom Riis Farrell, Jody Flader, Peter Friedman, Matt Pearson, Bobby Steggert, Will Swenson

Enter the imagination of acclaimed cartoonist Ben Katchor in this delightfully off-beat new musical. Set against an animated landscape, THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND weaves together the lives of eight unlikely individuals in their journey from a New York penthouse to a tropical island of exploited factory workers. Featuring a striking indie-rock score by composer Mark Mulcahy, SLUG BEARERS is a darkly funny, politically sharp, and wildly original music-theatre event.

Awards

Winners
Lucille Lortel Award – Jim Findlay and Jeff Sugg, Outstanding Scenic Design
OBIE Award – Best Design
Henry Hewes Design Award for Notable Effects
Nominations
Lucille Lortel Award – Outstanding Musical
Lucille Lortel Award – Bob McGrath, Outstanding Director
Drama League Award – Distinguished Production of a Musical
Drama League Award – Distinguished Performance: Bobby Steggert
Drama Desk Award – Outstanding Musical
Drama Desk Award – Bobby Steggert, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Drama Desk Award – Bob McGrath, Outstanding Director of a Musical
Drama Desk Award – Ben Katchor, Outstanding Book of a Musical

Drama Desk Award – Outstanding Lyrics

Drama Desk Award – Jim Findlay and Jeff Sugg, Outstanding Projection and Video Design

Jody Flader in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Peter Friedman in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Jody Flader in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Bobby Steggert in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Peter Friedman and Stephen Lee Anderson in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Peter Friedman and Bobby Steggert in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Peter Friedman in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Jody Flader in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Bobby Steggert in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Peter Friedman and Jody Flader in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Peter Friedman, Jody Flader, and Will Swenson in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Jody Flader and Matt Pearson in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Matt Pearson in THE SLUG BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND OR, THE FRIENDS OF DR. RUSHTOWER. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

Artists

Ben Katchor

(Libretto & Drawings) Ben Katchor’s picture-stories and drawings appear in The Forward, Metropolis Magazine, and The New Yorker. His weekly strips include: Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer, The Jew of New York, The Cardboard Valise, Hotel & Farm and most recently Shoehorn Technique. He was the recipient of a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1995), a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (2000), was a fellow at The American Academy in Berlin (2002) and the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library (2007). Katchor’s libretto and drawings for The Carbon Copy Building, a collaboration with Bang on a Can and Bob McGrath of Ridge Theater, received an OBIE Award for Best New American Work in 2000. In addition to The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, Katchor and Mulcahy have collaborated on The Rosenbach Company, a sung-through musical biography of Abe Rosenbach, the preeminent rare-book dealer of the 20th century. The Rosenbach Company is currently touring. Katchor and Mulcahy’s next show, A Checkroom Romance, is scheduled for workshop performances in the fall of 2008. He is an Associate Professor at Parsons, The New School for Design. For more information visit www.katchor.com.