The Residents have a long history of story-based music
projects, starting with 1974's Not Available, continuing
with God in 3 Persons in 1988, and more recently The River
of Crime in 2006. With The Voice of Midnight, The
Residents have now taken a bold step, crossing a line into
the world of music theater.
For The Voice of Midnight, The Residents have adapted a
short story, Der Sandmann, by Prussian writer E.T.A.
Hoffman. The story was first published 190 years ago.
On the surface, Der Sandmann is a simple story of
madness. However, it has been recognized as
addressing the conflict between the age of reason and the
romantic era by scholars who have studied the tale.
It has been adapted, in parts, by Jacques Offenbach for his
opera The Tales of Hoffman, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky for
The Nutcracker Suite, and for the ballet
Coppelia. Freud extensively interpreted Der Sandmann
in his famous essay Das Unheimliche in 1919. Freud
was fascinated by Hoffman's obsession with eyeballs.
The protagonist of the story is Nathaniel (Nate) who
carries a deeply-seated fear that the childhood fable
character, the sandman, is stalking him. The
character of Nate is superbly performed by Corey Rosen who
first worked with The Residents on River of Crime in
2006. Nate's fiance, Clair, a steadfast realist,
is performed by Gerri Lawler who also worked on River of
Crime as well as Tweedles. Long time Residents
collaborator Carla Fabrizio performs the role of the other
"woman," Olympia (who in the original story is a robot).
The Residents embody the other characters, and perform the
music, assisted by soloist Nolan Cook, whose guitar work
for the Residents over the last eight years is legendary.