Burning Man opera soundtrack now available

A couple years ago, I posted that BB pal Erik Davis, author of Techgnosis and Visionary State, wrote the libretto for a critically-acclaimed rock opera about Burning Man. How to Survive the Apocalypse: A Burning Opera returns to Los Angeles on November 20 while Reno and Vegas (!) staging are in the works! Erik informs us that CDs are also available of all the music available as MP3s and a CD for sales at CDBaby. I like how on CDBaby, it says that the soundtrack is recommended if you like Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hair, and Jesus Christ Superstar! Git yer freak on!

A Burning Opera: "CDs are Done; Shows Coming in LA, Reno & Vegas!"

• [fxnerd88]

  If only someone these days could actually write a song that’s as good as any from the classic shows to which you compared this.

• [Brian Cain]

  “Boob-tacular!” raves the Cainville Press.

• [Adam Parfrey]

  Go Erik!

• [franko]

  it looks authentic as far as the costumes and attitude go. i guess this sort of thing was inevitable, but it makes me kind of sad. and, just like the real burning man, it needs less feathers.

• [UncaScrooge]

  Is there no one living who can best the musical genius that is Andrew Lloyd Weber?  Truly, in those days, a lyrical giant strode the Earth:
   
  Oh/Once upon a looking-for-Donna-time/There was a sixteen year old virgin/Oh Donna oh oh/Donna oh oh oh/Looking for my Donna/I just got back from looking for Donna/San Francisco/Psychedelic urchin/Oh Donna oh oh Donna oh oh oh/Looking for my Donna

  It says so much and with such a remarkable economy.

• [mesocosm]

  The John Law-Larry Harvey duet, contesting their incompatible visions of Burning Man, is breathtaking. Seriously. It’s extraordinary.

• [Jim Nelson]

  Costumes are spot-on, made me laugh in appreciation. I’m not so sure about rock opera, though… but I’m not a fan of musicals anyway.

  I end up feeling a bit dubious about the whole thing. It’s impossible to do Burning Man on stage – you lose that most critical part of the experience – participating. Turning it into a stage act, with minimal audience involvement, seems like a pale and weak revenant of the playa.

• [Susan Carley Oliver]

  Not only is it recommended for you if you enjoyed Jesus Christ Superstar, the cover art is a direct knock off of the JCS album.

• [mesocosm]

  Participation is, of course, an integral part of the performance, Jim. Not only is the audience enrolled to participate in various ways, but the musical itself is an open and collaborative endeavor with an evolving and shifting repertoire of performers adding their unique and idiomatic contributions. Of course when you’re in a theater you’re not on the Playa, but the sense of the thing, that it could very easily be a performance you stumble upon at two in the morning in the middle of nowhere, is pretty extraordinary. Before I saw it, I would have said it couldn’t be done.

  In case anyone’s wondering, I’m not affiliated with the opera in any way, I just really admired it, somewhat to my own surprise.