Tony Nominee Sarah Stiles & Gary Lucas to Perform Fleischer Brothers Tribute at Museum of the Moving Image

Renowned guitarist Gary Lucas (of Captain Beefheart fame) and Broadway star Sarah Stiles (Tony nominee for Hand to God) present a delightful and loving tribute to the swinging soundtracks of New York animation genius Max Fleischer and his surreal Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons of the 1930s. The live vocal-and-guitar performance, on Sunday, February 7, at 2:00 p.m. at Museum of the Moving Image, will also feature screenings of six great Fleischer cartoons, almost all in 35mm prints from the UCLA Film & TV Archive: Ain't She Sweet, Koko's Earth Control, Swing You Sinners!, Snow White, Betty Boop for President, and Popeye the Sailor. The program will include a 45-minute set of live music, interspersed with screenings of six cartoons. (The total running time of the program is 85 minutes.)

The Museum's event coincides with the release of the new album Gary Lucas' FLEISCHEREI: Music from Max Fleischer's Cartoons (Cuneiform Records, 2016), a melting-pot of jazz, Tin Pan Alley torch songs, raucous vaudeville turns, and Dixieland, with a touch of Klezmer. The album, and the live event, feature songs from Fleischer Studios cartoons originally delivered by actress Mae Questel, who provided the voice and vocals for two beloved but very different characters: the eternally sexy Betty Boop and Popeye's sometime 'goilfriend' Olive Oyl.

Tickets for Fleischerei with Gary Lucas and Sarah Stiles are $15 ($11.25 members at the Film Lover and Kids Premium levels / free for Silver Screen members and above). Advance tickets are available online.

Gary Lucas is one of the great spelunkers of contemporary culture, a fearless explorer who delves into forgotten and overlooked crevices and returns bearing exquisite treasures. A breathtaking guitarist whose dauntingly eclectic career encompasses a formative stint with Captain Beefheart, a crucial collaboration with Jeff Buckley, and an abiding passion for film scoring, Lucas enlisted trombonist/arranger Joe Fiedler to craft zingy, kinetic, and historically grounded arrangements for Sarah Stiles, a fiercely intelligent actor and singer best known for her work on and Off Broadway (in Hand to God and Avenue Q, respectively). Loose-limbed and girlish, sensuous and soulful, Stiles taps into the raw, unsentimental energy that animated Max Fleischer's angsty animation, which provided street-smart East Coast alternative to Walt Disney's California confections.

For more information about Gary Lucas, visit garylucas.com.

Photo by Jesse Winter