J. EDGAR KLEZMER: Songs from My Grandmother's FBI Files (musical documentary theater)

"J. EDGAR KLEZMER: Songs from My Grandmother's FBI Files" is a musical documentary theater adventure, researched and written by grandchild and bandleader Eve Sicular (Isle of Klezbos/Metropolitan Klezmer). From klezmer to jazz, baroque to boogie woogie to gospel, from The New York Times clipping on Hazel Scott's cancelled TV show to derelict theories of homosexuality, J. Edgar Klezmer's exploration of surveillance files lead in even more directions than the Department of Justice could have foreseen.

J. Edgar Klezmer is based on the true story of the late Dr. Adele Sicular, pianist/psychiatrist/activist and grandmother of drummer, lyricist/composer and bandleader Eve Sicular. Using documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act filing, plus a myriad of other archival findings and family gossip, this piece investigates the surveillance of Adele by the FBI during the McCarthy Era and beyond, through live theater, multi-media projections and live band.
- See more at: http://Klezbos.com/JEK

"A lively score — klezmer, jazz, boogie-woogie ...Smartly written and well structured, J. Edgar Klezmer draws clear parallels between the surveillance of Hoover’s America and our own" – The New York Times

Featuring Yelena Shmulenson (OITNB, A Serious Man, Boardwalk Empire), lead vocalist Melissa Fogarty, drummer/grandchild Eve Sicular, and bandmates from Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos.