Hear my reading of Lord Buckley's version of "The Raven" on WBEZ-- by clicking here and sliding the RealAudio control to 1 hour 3 minutes into the program (you'll hear a Scott Joplin rag just before the segment).

Charles Pike's
"The Return of
The Hip Messiah"

James Eldrenkamp as Ed Sullivan and Richard Henzel as Lord Buckley

The story of legendary comic Lord Richard Buckley's last "Cosmic Tour" across America.

Written by Charles Pike

Story by Oliver Trager and Michael Monteleone*

Directed by Aaron Freeman

Music composed and performed by Jonathan Menchin

Featuring

Eli Goodman as Prince Louis

Tania Richard as Lady Bunny

Amy Wilhoite as Lady Elizabeth

James Eldrenkamp as Ed Sullivan

Peter DeFaria as Del Close

Jonathan Lavan as Severn Darden

with

Richard Henzel as Lord Buckley

Produced by Jonathan Lavan and Scott Vehill

Jonathan Abarbanel Dramaturg

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Reviews
"Richard Henzel gives an astonishing performance that seems more an act of channeling than character portrayal. His swirl of words and concentrated physicality is one of the season's great accomplishments."
Andrew Patner, Chicago Sun-Times

"...as depicted in an intensely impressive stream-of-consciousness performance from the superbly cast Richard Henzel, Buckley was also an arresting performer who peppered his monologues with equal measures of Shakespearean quotation and drug-induced nonsense."
Chris Jones,The Chicago Tribune

"Henzel's Buckley comes off as a sort of cross between minstrel-show clown, jazz poet, and Frank Morgan's Wizard of Oz--an enigmatic eccentric whose grandiose airs mix put-on with self-delusion."
Albert Williams,The Chicago Reader

"As his Lordship, Richard Henzel is a powerhouse performer, capturing Buckley's magnificent mania with every tireless breath.

Nicole Bernardi-Reis,Chicago NewCity

Listen to WBEZ's broadcast of "The Bugbird" in RealAudio by clickingHERE--when it opens, slide the scroller to 1 hour 3 minutes to skip to Buckley's "Hip Semantic translation" of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven").

first presented under the title "The Seven Ply Gasser" as part of "NEW PLAY '99", hosted by The Prop Thtr Group in conjunction with the National New Play Network

 Also seen at Marc Kelly Smith's Chicago Poetry Slams at The Green Mill and Fitzerald's

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Who was Lord Buckley? Check out these great sites devoted to His Lordship...

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Lord Buckley Online
Michael Monteleone, Curator
A complete guide to everything Buckley--including extensive transcriptions!

also:
Lord Buckley's Mind Bubbles
More texts, a brief chronology,