LIVE from NYPL: THE ROSENBACH COMPANY: A Musical A Story of Bibliomania by Ben Katchor & Mark Mulcahy

BIBLIOMANIA is brought to vivid life at the Library in this pop-musical account of one of the world's pre-eminent rare-book dealers of the last century, Abe Rosenbach, and his brother Philip. Libretto and animated, projected illustrations by current Cullman Fellow and graphic novelist Ben Katchor, and music by composer and singer Mark Mulcahy.

This event is co-presented with

About Ben Katchor

Ben Katchor is a graphic novelist whose books include Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: Stories; The Jew of New York; and The Beauty Supply District. His picture-stories and drawings appear in the Forward, Metropolis magazine, and The New Yorker, and his current weekly strip, "Shoehorn Technique," appears in the Forward and The Chicago Reader. He has created several music-theater productions, including The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island and The Rosenbach Company, both with composer Mark Mulcahy, and The Carbon-Copy Building, with Bang on a Can/Ridge Theater, which won an Obie for Best New Production in 1999. He has received fellowships from the MacArthur and Guggenheim Foundations and was a fellow at The American Academy in Berlin. He is currently a Fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center of the New York Public Library.

About Mark Mulcahy

Mark Mulcahy is a composer and singer-songwriter who has recorded several albums with Loose Records, including In Pursuit of Your Happiness and Smile Sunset. He is co-creator, with Ben Katchor, of two musical theater pieces, The Rosenbach Company and The Slug-Bearers of Kayrol Island. Mulcahy previously fronted the New Haven-based band Miracle Legion, and later, Polaris; a house band for the early 1990s alternative television series The Adventures of Pete & Pete that gained renown for the songs "Hey Sandy" (featured in the opening credits of each show), "Waiting for October" and "Saturnine." As a solo artist, Mulcahy has opened for many notable performers including Oasis and Jeff Buckley, and received homage from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, who dedicated a song to Mulcahy at a Boston show. Mulcahy's song "Hey, Self-Defeater" was featured in Nick Hornby's 31 Songs.