PREMIERE

The Public Theater, 1980

“Mr. Breuer’s lyrics shift from declarations of love (”Through this night flight, be my bright light”) to goofy puns on actresses’ names – ”Natalie Wood you would you” – all delivered with deadpan aplomb by Fourteen Karat Soul. The songs are more atmospheric than literary; they give Fourteen Karat Soul a chance to display the nonsense syllables that gave doo-wop its name – ba-dooms, woo-wah-wah-wahs – and to revel in the contrasts of solo voices with groupharmony. The video ”Sister Suzie Cinema” has just the right, light touch, with only a few lapses. Ben Halley Jr., as various authority figures from ticket-taker to stewardess, overdoes his shticks, although the effect is to make Fourteen Karat Soul seem even dreamier.”

– NY Times By Jon Pareles July 7, 1986

 “Being an artist is a real thing. Loving, being afraid of dying, is a real thing. But I think there are very few real things that I understand. What I understand very well are the clothes that real things hide in, the coats and hats, the illusion and the covers: This is the theatre of the world, this is the illusion of the world, and my part as a craftsman is to understand illusion, to be able to create illusion. In a way, I feel that in terms of the world my job is to be a magician, in an attempt to perceive the truth.”
          –  Lee Breuer from an interview with Nicoletta Cherubini in Paris, (while on tour in Milan, Paris, and Brussels, 1980)