Tag Archives: off off broadway

What people are saying about Caravan to Oz – D.S. Ripley

What people are saying about Caravan to Oz – D.S. Ripley
By D. S. Ripley on August 31, 2014
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

“Caravan to Oz” is the collective story of an irrepressible family with dazzling energy, unbreakable optimism, and unflagging creative spirit. But it isn’t just that: it’s a history of the decades through which the family has lived, persevered and grown, and even helped to shape events, in theatre and in the broader American culture. It can almost be challenging to believe that so many stories – some of which will be familiar to you, some that you will hear for the first time – could come from the experience of a single family. It’s as though George, Sr., Ann, George III, Walter Michael, Fred, Jayne Anne, Eloise and Mary Lou were the love children of Lewis Carroll and L. Frank Baum, midwifed by J. M. Barrie. However, that’s not quite it – there are certainly fabulous and fantastical elements to the story, but they have all worked very hard, all their lives, to turn their magical vision into reality.
And it’s all, or mostly, there, told with humor, love, grace and honesty. From the early “Let’s put on a show!” days in Florida, to the risky transplanting of the whole tribe to New York, to the beginnings of the Theatre for the New City, the family-written and produced shows at La MaMa ETC, the groundbreaking and culture-changing phenomenon of “Hair”, to the founding of the Cockettes in San Francisco, the journeys through Europe, a monastery, and Bay Area communes, to the shattering new reality of the AIDS epidemic and the maturity and mellowing of seasoned performers with an amazing range of talents and accomplishments. They renewed themselves with each success, setback, and new inspiration, began new families and, through it all, retained their devotion to each other. The Harrises were, and are, in and of their times in a way that very few, if any, other families could have been. It’s a remarkable ride through a time that must have looked very different on the inside of the magic mirror, as they were. I found this ride to be enriching as I looked back over the years they describe, and saw those times from a fresh and exhilarating perspective.
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50th Anniversary of The Harris Family coming to NYC and off off Broadway

50th Anniversary of The Harris Family coming to NYC and off off Broadway

harris family

 

George Harris II scouted out New York City in 1963 and found an apartment (no easy feat with six kids!) with the assistance of Ellen Stewart founder of off off Broadway’s La Mama ETC. The apartment was at 319 East 9th Street in the East Village and La Mama had the basement space. George Harris II and Jayne Anne Harris followed in August of 1964 and November 1 1964 is the day the rest of the Harris family arrived in New York City. Read more in the book “Caravan To Oz” . #caravantooz Available on Amazon:

Amazon – Caravan to Oz

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