Sam's Enchanted Evening

Sam's Enchanted Evening is a theatrical performance by Randy Rose, lead singer of The Residents. It was performed between October 2011 and March 2012 in Berkeley, California and New York City. Rose's only companion on stage was long-time Residents collaborator Joshua Raoul Brody on piano.

A one-man cabaret performance consisting largely of re-interpreted renditions of popular songs from the mid-to-late 20th century, interpreted by Rose in the guise of "Sam the Stranger", it was the first Residents-related performance piece to be credited to an individual member of the group.

A double CD live album, The Residents Present Sam's Enchanted Evening, featuring a Berkeley performance from November 10th 2011 was released in October 2023 by Klanggalerie.

History[]

Sam's Enchanted Evening was performed at The Cabaret at The Marsh (over 38 nights), Berkeley, California in October and November 2011, and at Abrons Art Center, New York City in March 2012 (over four nights). An earlier iteration of the piece had been performed as a one-off show in Berkeley on June 4th 2010, under the provisional title So Long Sam (1945-2006).

It was the first Residents-related live performance project to be credited to an individual member of the group. The show starred the group's singer Randy Rose as Sam the Stranger, who tells stories of his life along with songs (mostly popular hits from the mid-20th century) which have the most meaning to him.

On stage Rose was accompanied by Joshua Raoul Brody on piano. Brody, best known for accompanying improvisational theater, is a long time friend of The Residents, first appearing with them in the mid-1970s in their unfinished feature film Vileness Fats.

Related releases[]

The October 20th 2011 performance at The Marsh is known to have been recorded in full, however it has not yet been officially released. Four songs from the show were later overdubbed and mixed, and released as the EP So Long Sam through the group's digital only label Robot Selling Device in 2010. Five studio demos of songs from the show were released on a fan Tumblr blog (supplied by Rose himself) in 2011.

A double CD live album featuring a recording of the November 10th 2011 performance at The Marsh, The Residents Present Sam's Enchanted Evening, was released October 4th 2023 by Klanggalerie, featuring an additional bonus track, a rehearsal of the song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry".

Set list[]

Hound Dog / Out ^{(Leiber/Stoller/Residents)}
Teddy Bear's Picnic ^{(John Walter Bratton/Jimmy Kennedy)}
September Song ^{(Kurt Weill/Maxwell Anderson)}
Sixteen Tons ^{(Merle Travis)}
September Song (Reprise) ^{(Kurt Weill/Maxwell Anderson)}
Ode To Billie Joe ^{(Bobbie Gentry)}
Ring of Fire ^{(June Carter Cash/Merle Kilgore)}
True Love Never Runs Smooth ^{(Burt Bacharach/Hal David)}
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry ^{(Hank Williams)}
Willow Weep For Me ^{(Ann Ronell)}
Livin' la Vida Loca ^{(Draco Rosa/Desmond Child)}
Who Do You Love ^{(Ellas McDaniel a.k.a. Bo Diddley)}
Moon River ^{(Johnny Mercer/Henry Mancini)}
Walk On By ^{(Burt Bacharach/Hal David)}
Tracks Of My Tears ^{(William Robinson Jr/Warren Moore/Marvin Tarplin)}
Born To Be Wild ^{(Mars Bonfire)}
Chinatown My Chinatown ^{(Jean Schwartz/William Jerome)}
Mack The Knife ^{(Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht)}
Paint It Black ^{(Mick Jagger/Keith Richard)}
The Windmills of Your Mind ^{(Michel Legrand/Alan+Marilyn Bergman)}
Happy Trails ^{(Dale Evans)}

Dates[]

So Long Sam (1945-2006) (2010)[]

June 4th 2010 - Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA

Sam's Enchanted Evening (2011-2012)[]

2011[]

October 20th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
October 21st 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
October 22nd 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
October 27th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
October 28th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
October 29th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 3rd 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 4th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 5th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 10th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 11th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 12th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 17th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 18th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 19th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 25th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California
November 26th 2011 - The Cabaret at The Marsh, Berkeley, California

2012[]

March 24th 2012 - Abrons Art Center, New York City, New York
March 25th 2012 - Abrons Art Center, New York City, New York
March 26th 2012 - Abrons Art Center, New York City, New York
March 27th 2012 - Abrons Art Center, New York City, New York

Press release[]

Berkeley shows[]

San Francisco (August 29, 2011) – The Marsh Berkeley, in association with the legendary avant garde performance group, The Residents, is delighted to present SAM’S ENCHANTED EVENING, featuring the group's singer, Randy Rose, accompanied at the piano by Joshua Raoul Brody. The impossible-to-pin-down Residents add yet another facet to their long career as innovators in pop music, performance art, video and new media: a stage play! But nothing in a Residents show is simple, or simply described, or even the same when you're reading this as it was when it was written...

With little hope and less redemption, SAM’S ENCHANTED EVENING, piles its pungent pathos deep into the naked nooks and crannies of the Bay Area’s performance hotbed, The Marsh. Laboring behind a walker, an older man painstakingly moves out onto center stage and introduces himself as Sam the Stranger. With self-effacing humor, he prepares the audience for an evening of songs and stories, outlining the contours of his life, from a youth of privilege to the war in Vietnam. With a tone alternating between bitter and apologetic, he hobbles about the stage, slowly revealing the raw residue of lost love, lost privilege and lost opportunity.

Directed by Jim Cave, the show plays Thursday and Friday at 8:00 pm and Saturday at 8:30 pm from October 20 through November 26, 2011 (at this time it has not been determined if the show will be open for review) on the TheaterStage at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way (near Shattuck). The public may visit www.themarsh.org or call 415-282-3055.

THE RESIDENTS (script, arrangements) have been regarded as icons in the world of experimental music for nearly forty years. In addition to their groundbreaking work in the areas of trance, world fusion, electronica, punk, industrial and lounge music, the group has also been credited with being among the originators of performance art and music video. Two of their videos are in the permanent collection of the NYMOMA and their Freak Show CD-Rom has recently been featured in MOMA’s Looking at Music 3.0 exhibition. Their four-decade-long career has also taken them into the world of film and television music, having scored several episodes of the Pee Wee Herman Show, Hunters (for the Discovery Channel), The Census Taker (1985), Condo Painting (1997), Thomas Pynchon - A Journey into the Mind (2001) and Strange Culture (2007). They recently returned from a 70-date world tour.

RANDY ROSE (performer) prefers to tell this story about himself and Sam, his best friend in high school, in place of a personal bio: Back in the 60's, Randy had pimples, obsessively read science fiction and defined the idea of "socially challenged" while Sam was tall, handsome, rich and the life of the party. On the surface, the two had little in common, but somehow they clicked—listening to Bo Diddley and bass fishing on summer afternoons. On the rare occasions that Randy dated, the two friends went out together in Sam's Pontiac GTO. Over the years, they became estranged until one night, approaching middle age, they ran into each other in a bar and filled the air with the events and feelings of a two-decade separation but, ultimately, Sam's story left Randy stunned and speechless and haunts him to this day. Randy’s performance is dedicated to the memory of Sam.

JOSHUA RAOUL BRODY (piano, music direction), best known for accompanying improvisational theater (BATS, True Fiction Magazine, Three For All, and many others), has also worked with artists ranging from Robin Williams to Tom Waits, Florence Henderson to Nina Hagen, Penn and Teller to Felix the Cat. He currently plays with Tango No. 9 and Orchestra Nostalgico. His experience with The Residents dates back to 1976 when he appeared as a 1-armed dwarf waiter in their sci-fi epic Vileness Fats. Since then he has colored carrots on an early album cover, schlepped backdrops on their Mole Show tour and arranged vocals for their notorious cover of "Satisfaction." He has been a consultant on SAM'S ENCHANTED EVENING since its inception, work for which he won a Subito grant from the American Composers Forum, and is thrilled to be playing piano for this version. You can tell he is not a Resident because Residents don't brag. He wishes he was good enough to be that humble.^{^[1]}

Resources[]

The Marsh press release, August 29th 2011 (PDF file, 146 KB)

External links and references[]

↑ The Marsh, "Sam's Enchanted Evening Press Release", August 29th 2011

[1] The Marsh, "Sam's Enchanted Evening Press Release", August 29th 2011

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