BIG BANG
Project Research
& Creation

Big Bang is a new work of concert theater for narrator, live musical ensemble and projections, written and directed by composer/performer Patrick Grant.
This work is the result of a collaboration between the composer and astronomer Charles Liu with input from physicist Brian Schwartz.

These pages are meant to document the creation and resultant performance of this piece.

The piece tells the story of the creation of our Universe as best as we understand it today. It is narrated by a central character known as The Astronomer. This role will be performed by Charles Liu and like all astronomers do, in order to understand what happened at the beginning, he will "run the film in reverse," that is, the story starts out in our present day and moves backwards to, quite literally, the creation of Time.

Projections of stellar bodies, scientific diagrams and art will add a visual component to the work.

Big Bang will have its premiere at the CUNY Graduate Center in NYC on Monday, May 15 at 6:00 PM. There will be another performance at THEATERLAB on Sunday, May 21 at 4:30 PM with yet another performance, again at CUNY, as part of The 26th International Colloquium on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics on Tuesday, June 27at 5:00 PM.

More info at www.strangemusic.com

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1. Initial Notes with Astronomer Charles Liu

2. Conversation with Physicist Brian Schwartz

3. Conversation with Astronomer Charles Liu

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The Powers of Ten

Big Bang
Timeline (Text)

"Big Bang" from Wikipedia

Big Bang Timeline (Graphical)

Big Bang and the Fundamental Forces

"Eureka" - a Cosmological Essay by E. A. Poe

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Creation of the Narrative

BIG BANG SCRIPT

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This work was commissioned by the CUNY Graduate Center Science & the Arts performance series, an initiative of the Science Outreach Series, presenting programs in theatre, art, music, and dance that bridge the worlds of art and science. Most programs are free, but please reserve your seats in advance by phone or email. Please refer to the reservation number listed with the event. Supported in part by the National Science Foundation and the Lounsbery Foundation..

All events are held at The Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave (at 34th Street)

For further information on Science & the Arts please contact:
Brian Schwartz, Director, Science and the Arts, (212) 817-7521, bschwartz@gc.cuny.edu
Adrienne Klein, Co-Director, Science and the Arts, (212) 817-7522, aklein@gc.cuny.edu
Web site: http://web.gc.cuny.edu/sciart/