The Black Rider: Creators

William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs ’ stream of consciousness writings emerged from the Beat Poet movement, giving us such contemporary classics as Queer, Junkie, and Naked Lunch. Naked Lunch was adapted into a major motion picture by David Cronenberg. Burroughs found renewed acceptance in the 90’s from artists within the alternative rock movement who collaborated with Burroughs until his death in 1997. As well as recording with artists like Laurie Anderson, Sonic Youth and Kurt Cobain, Burroughs released his own powerful spoken word albums. Burroughs was revered as a junkie poet icon, and often made cameos in movies such as Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and Drugstore Cowboy. Burroughs was a member of the American Academy and Institute for Arts and Letters, a Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.
Tom Waits
Tom Waits’ solo recording career has spanned 4 decades and 3 record labels. His songs have been performed by artists like The Eagles, Marianne Faithfull, Bruce Springsteen, Holly Cole, The Ramones and Sarah McLachlan. He’s won Grammy Awards for “Best Alternative Music Album” for Bone Machine, and “Best Contemporary Folk Album” for Mule Variations, while his single, Hold On, was nominated for “Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.” Waits’ film score for Francis Ford Coppola’s One From The Heart was nominated for an Academy Award. Tom Waits received critical acclaim for the composition and performance of his earlier operetta, Frank’s Wild Years, at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. In 2003, Waits released the recordings of his score for two recent Robert Wilson theatrical collaborations: Alice, based on Alice and Wonderland, and Blood Money, based on Woyzeck. His latest album “Real Gone” will be released October 5th.
Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson is an experimental theatrical creator who explores the uses of time and space onstage. Wilson has presented numerous acclaimed productions throughout the world including: the seven day play KA MOUNTain and GUARDenia Terrace in Iran, a 12 hour silent opera called The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin, and the first of his numerous collaborations with Phillip Glass, Einstein On The Beach. Wilson ’s multi-national epic, the CIVIL warS, was the only theatrical piece that even received a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1985. Wilson has just finished working with Tom Waits on adaptations of Woyzeck and Alice in Wonderland.