A solo piece many years in the making, Surviving Twin is what the singer-songwriter calls a “posthumous collaboration” with his writer father. Part concert, part dramatic reading, part family slide-show, it is a hybrid theatrical form consisting mainly of songs written by Loudon III, along with readings of magazine columns written by his late father, Loudon Jr., and photographs that span four generations of the Wainwright clan. Despite a troubled past in this father-son relationship, Loudon III has carefully chosen, arranged, and rehearsed these pieces, taking the best of his own and linking them with samples of his father’s best
Surviving Twin
Intro
A solo piece many years in the making, Surviving Twin is what the singer-songwriter calls a “posthumous collaboration” with his writer father. Part concert, part dramatic reading, part family slide-show, it is a hybrid theatrical form consisting mainly of songs written by Loudon III, along with readings of magazine columns written by his late father, Loudon Jr., and photographs that span four generations of the Wainwright clan. Despite a troubled past in this father-son relationship, Loudon III has carefully chosen, arranged, and rehearsed these pieces, taking the best of his own and linking them with samples of his father’s best self, then bringing them to a polish with the help of director Joseph Haj and UNC Playmakers Rep.
Loudon Wainwright, Jr. (1924-1988) was most widely known as an editor and columnist for LIFE. In 1963 he started the magazine’s first personal column “The View From Here” which, despite interruptions, he was still writing up until his death. In 1988 Charles Champlin, then The Los Angeles Times Arts Editor wrote, “The column was always a pleasing paradox, a self-revealing and even confessional voice, thoughtful, concerned and unpretentious amid the grandeurs of photojournalism.”
Loudon Wainwright III (b. 1946) has carved out a distinguished career as one of our most original singer-songwriters, a six-string diarist with material that is by turns, tongue-in-cheek, tender, sarcastic, heart-wrenching, and always deeply personal. Along the way, he’s released over twenty albums, won a Grammy, acted in film and TV, and had his songs recorded by artists including Johnny Cash, Mose Allison, Bonnie Raitt, and his own son, Rufus Wainwright. His latest album, Lifetime Achievement (2022 Story Sound), has 15 new and original songs and establishes his singular talent as our foremost six-string tragicomedian, not only undiminished but hitting new heights. The album was co-produced with Stewart Lerman (Last Man on Earth, I’d Rather Lead a Band) and Dick Connette, Loudon’s partner on his Grammy-winning High Wide & Handsome. The orchestration varies from solo performance to trio work with his longstanding musical cohorts, Chaim Tannenbaum and David Mansfield, to Nashville and Memphis-style big bands, to a full-blown string arrangement by Rob Moose (Bon Iver, Amos Lee, Paul Simon). On his latest, Loudon lives up to a legacy the New York Times calls “rich, complicated and often surprisingly dark,” sounding as engaged and passionate as ever, richly displaying what NPR calls his “unmatched wit and wisdom.”
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FORMATS
Standard Performance
One-man theatrical hybrid of pulp, picture, and song starring Loudon Wainwright III.
PROMO ASSETS
Documents
> “The Principle Ghost: Thoughts on Loudon Wainwright III’s ‘Surviving Twin'” (by Mark Perry, Dramaturg/ PlayMakers Repertory Company) | PDF
> Artist Bio (rev. 9/2021) | PDF | DOC
> Press Reviews | PDF
Images
< Surviving Twin/Netflix Key Artwork | ZIP
Media
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Label
StorySound Recordsinfo@storysoundrecords.com
Featured Media
Reviews
London Evening Standard
"*****( 5 stars) - Wise and witty, funny and sad, Surviving Twin is an inspired investigation into the complicated, conflicted relationships between fathers and sons. Read Review
Los Angeles Times
"Wainwright is unsparing, on himself and the others he references in this stabbingly funny, deeply moving piece." Read Review
The New York Times
"Surviving Twin, a bristling, acerbic, ultimately affecting family album of a show." Read Review
Judd Apatow & Christopher Guest release Netflix Special
Filmed live in N. Hollywood at the Historic El Portal Theatre, executive producer Judd Apatow and director Christopher Guest premiere Loudon Wainwright III’s special “Surviving Twin” available only on Netflix. Watch Trailer