Artists like Wyclef Jean and the Wallflowers don’t know what to expect when they’re booked for concerts at the Westport Library.
But when they take the stage, plug into the great sound system and look out at hundreds of fans packed into the Trefz Forum, they get it. Our library is also a music hall.
Westporters have grown used to the venue — maybe even a bit blasé. We’re proud though that Library director Bill Harmer had the vision, creativity and chops to make it happen.
Wyclef Jean, at Verso Fest. (Photo/Kerry Long)
However, this is not his first rodeo — er, round as a concert promoter.
He’s done it for nearly a quarter century, since the start of his library director career in Michigan.
And on May 30 (7 p.m.) those two worlds meet, in a special, multi-media event.
Josh Malerman brings his show “From Bird Box to the Stage: A Live Horror Experience” from the Midwest to Westport.
He’s an author. But this is the furthest thing from a book reading imaginable.
Malerman is also a musician. The evening features an immersive horror performance based on his new novel, “Incidents Around the House.”
His troupe, Wow Town, will offer what Harmer calls “something between a radio play, concert and stage production.” Wow Town has performed almost all of Malerman’s launches, in chapels, gyms, theaters, bars (and libraries).
Wow Town shows include actors, live music, props, backdrops and original scoring. Malerman takes center stage.
This giant head — part of the Wow Town show — is operated by Josh Malerman’s wife, Allison Laakko.
When Harmer first met him, Malerman had been on the road for years with his band, The High Strung. The group opened for another one, who Harmer had hired to perform for teenagers in the library where he worked.
That meeting sparked Harmer to create a “Rock & Roll Library Tour.” For 3 summers, The High Strung played 220 concerts in public libraries around the country. They performed in 48 states (and Cuba).
The project garnered plenty of press, and was featured on “This American Life.”
All along, Malerman wrote. He stashed unpublished manuscripts in a seaman’s chest.
“I’ve never met a harder-working artist, or a more persistent and committed optimist,” Harmer says.
As the band’s life on the road wound down, Malerman kept writing. His persistence led to the 2014 publication of “Bird Box.” The post-apocalyptic horror novel became a Netflix film, starring Sandra Bullock.
Harmer says that Malerman’s cross-media work is compelling. “It brings together literature, music, horror, performance, and the kind of creative risk that has become central to what we do here.”
Meanwhile, Malerman admires Harmer’s work as director.
Bill Harmer (Photo/Ryan Allen)
“I’ve followed his ascension in Connecticut,” the writer/musician says. “I’m not surprised he’s involved in a great library, doing things like Verso Fest and hosting Keith Richards.”
That’s not all. Harmer hopes to sign The High Strung to a deal with Verso Records — the Library’s studio arm — and work with the community to produce an album.
“That may sound a little crazy,” he admits. “But so did sending a rock band to perform in libraries around the country.”
(“From Bird Box to the Stage: A Life Horror Experience with Josh” Malerman will be performed at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 30 in the Westport Library’s Trefz Forum. The free event is supported by the Irma Schachter Legacy Venture Fund, which makes innovative and community-responsive Library programs possible.)
(“06880” regularly covers the Westport Library, entertainment — and their intersection. If you like stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
