Bright Lights, Big City

Bright Lights, Big City premiered off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop on 24 February 1999. Directed and staged by Michael Greif, the production featured Patrick Wilson, Jerry Dixon, Napiera Daniele Groves, Annmarie Milazzo, John Link Graneyl and Natascia Diaz.

A Note from author Paul Scott Goodman
On a breezy beautiful August day way back in ’96, I stood upon the deck of a modern country house near Woodstock and banged out the opening riff of Bright Lights, Big City on my Ovation 12 string guitar. I came back to Manhattan and over the next few weeks welcomed many other songs, all directly inspired by the heightened poetry of Jay McInerney’s novel. As the tunes continued to tumble, I remember thinking, “This is very rock and roll.” So now, more than a decade later, I would like to say to whoever decides to present this piece of work: thank you for doing so, don’t change the words or the music, but in matters of acting, singing, lighting, staging, dance, tone, sound, bravado, feel free to be brave, to break barriers and attempt to give the audience something they’ve never seen before. Be fresh and inevitable. Rock and roll!