bfk's Oedipus (compliments from a charter member of the fan club)

Aristotle, who knew about these kinds of things, was so taken with Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus that he became a charter member of the first fan club. And now, twenty-five centuries later, you can sing along with it.

-from Introducing a New Operatic Musical, home page of bfk's Oedipus

I don't know much about these kinds of things, but I am so taken with bfk's Oedipus that I've been visiting the website and singing along with an amazing new work, a new operatic musical, that I think is brilliant.

Even if the musical itself was less than remarkable (but it is remarkable), the website is noteworthy for artistic and navigational excitement, and could/should win awards on that front alone. Ah, but the music...original, dazzling, and also (all so) fun. The cast...accomplished, excellent vocalists all. The chorus...ONE OF A KIND. How so? Let a portion of the website explain, and tantalize.

What's that? Less than perfectly synchronized? What do you expect from a demo of a demos? These are plague sufferers not the goddamn '33 Gold Diggers. An excellent way to achieve this natural effect is to not let the cast sing together. Indeed, our Chorus have never even met each other. Though some might think this a grievous break in tradition, and Choregus (exposition financier) worth his salt (salary), would immediately see the cost-benefit of this arrangement. Once again Art is sacrificed at the cruel foot of Commerce.

So complete is the website that the Virtual Tour presents all the songs performed in the Production. What I love so much about this is that you can spend as much time as you want or as little time as you have -- and I have been doing both in my visits -- and leave feeling like it was time very well spent.

bfk's Oedipus is a groundbreaking work, an ingenious leap across centuries, and a modern musical masterpiece from the brain of one mind-boggling writer and singular artist. Or, as he describes himself in his About the Author page of the website: bfk is a satirical writer living in New York City. When he's not busy writing opera, he's busy not writing satire.

While you are at the About the Author page, be sure to move your curser over the graphic at the top left of the page to uncover a picture of bfk as a tot with his Dalmatian, titled "Portrait of the Artist with a Young Dog." I didn't know bfk when he was that tot..........

.......However, I've known him since 8th grade when we were in Herr Bradley's German class together in Reno! He is one of the old friends I've recently reconnected with via Facebook, the kind of friend who, no matter the length of time since last contact, when asked "What's new?" always has a fascinating response. Composing an operatic musical more than qualifies as a fascinating response, and, that his turned out to be one of such structure, musicality, innovation, and artistic expression shouldn't have been astonishing, either. Except it was. Astonishing. Because he's still doing it, after all these years.....living a creative life. Being that creative former middle-and-high school classmate/college iconoclast idol/guitar jamming buddy to ex-husband/best original x-mas card creator ever/world traveler/follower of dreams/maker of dreams come true/romantic friend-with-benefits for a short while/author of bfk's Oedipus/Facebook and Forever Friend.


I wish great things for bfk's Oedipus, mainly that it be appreciated by a wide audience. So I'm publishing this blog post with much enthusiasm and high hopes that my readers will share it with others. I guess you could call me a charter member of the fan club.

Now, bfk, take a bow.

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