Woody Sez

Woody Sez, The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie is playing at the Irish Repertory Theatre located at 132 West 22nd Street. It runs two hours five minutes with one intermission. The musical closes on July 23, 2017.

Woody Guthrie was born in Oklahoma on July 12, 1912 and died October 3, 1967. Woodie was a singer and song writer know for such songs as This Land Is Your Land and So Long It’s Good to Know You.

The cast warms up before the show.

David M. Lutken plays Woody.

We are told in the beginning we are being told parts of his life.

Woody’s childhood is filled with tragedies. As an adult he rooms around looking for work. When his father goes to Texas he goes with him.

At nineteen he marries his first of three wives. He has eight children.

Among the things that plays a part of his life are the depression, dust bowl and World War ll. Woody was a Merchant Marine. When he comes out of the service he sings for a living on the street, clubs and other places. He writes about the injustices he sees in his travels across the United States.

Woody said a folk singer tells what injustices are happening and what should be done. He sang with Pete Seeger.

Mr. Guthrie music had an influence on Joan Baez, Theodore Bikel, Bing Crosby, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan and many more.

This is a low key show, nothing fancy but well done and entertaining. The performers beside David are Megan Loomis, Helen Jean Russell and Andy Teirstein. All play different instruments during the show.

If you never heard of Woody Guthrie or know a little about him you will want to know more after you see this show.

They have a gallery on the second floor but it was only open during intermission. The gallery has pictures and more information on Woody. It was too short of a time to read everything, too bad.

Review by Rozanna Radakovich.

Photos by Annazor.

To read a candid interview with the cast, scroll down to the bottom for recent photos. Click on a photo, then click back to album and finally back to the gallery for this and other shows.