"Possibility Junkie" is a new musical theater work by David Ippolito
(music, lyrics, book) and directed by Gretchen Cryer ("I'm Getting My Act
Together and Taking It On the Road"), who co-authored the book. The story is
based loosely on the career of David Ippolito, who is known to hundreds of
thousands of people across the country and around the world as "That Guitar Man
from Central Park." Part singer/songwriter, part storyteller, part
social-commentator and humorist, Ippolito has become famous for his simple catch
phrase, "It's just us," and his ability to turn a large crowd of strangers into
a group of friends. Theater for the New City will present the world premiere
September 28 to October 20, 2013.
Since 1992, David Ippolito has established himself as perhaps the City's leading
troubadour. Articles have described him as an "organic celebrity," meaning that
his following congealed spontaneously after he turned up in Central Park 22
years ago, shirtless and shoeless, with nothing but precise musicality and
boyish good looks (and a small amplifier). His performance space--a lakefront
area a few blocks north of Strawberry Fields and West 72nd Street--is now
indicated on Central Park maps and his reputation as a New York attraction is
international. Regulars join in, "Rocky Horror" style, for spirited sing-alongs
to many of Ippolito's own compositions and cover tunes like "American Pie" and
"Country Roads." When his playing and that of many others were blocked
(temporarily) by zealous City officials, "That Guitar Man" brought his sounds
indoors to venues including Merkin Concert Hall and The Leonard Nimoy Thalia for
regular sold-out performances. Other recurring venues have been Soho Playhouse
and Hudson River Park's Pier 45 at Christopher Street. Among the New Yorkers
he's won over was Sid Bernstein, the late rock manager who brought the Beatles
to NYC in 1964 and was a fan for years.
Ippolito's own songs are unabashedly liberal but not heady, relying on Stephen
Schwartz-like rhymes and Beatles-like melodies. They include folksy attacks on
plastic pop culture ("Tom Cruise Scares Me") and middlebrowism ("This is a…
Stupid Country"). He's a sometime actor and once (about ten years ago) appeared
on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," winning $64,000. He calls himself a
"possibility junkie" because of his addiction to trying anything that could be
wished for.
