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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

David Byrne's American Utopia

Sept 17, 2021 – Apr 3, 2022
246 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036

As former lead singer and artistic mainspring of the band Talking Heads, David Byrne has come a far piece from the hallowed squalor of CBGB’s. Once a jittery Anthony Perkins type, today a genial snow-haired gent, Byrne has achieved grandmaster status as a multi-creative: film director (True Stories), dance composer (The Catherine Wheel), pop musical inventor (Here Lies Love), and roving ambassador for world music. What’s left? Broadway, baby! Byrne and company have moved from the Hudson Theatre to the St. James for this concert staging of his 2018 album, American Utopia. Gospel uplift with a funky beat—that’s the ticket. —J.W.

Angie Swan and Bobby Wooten III. Photo: Shira Friedman © 2021.