Woody Guthrie Returns To Coney Island

Guthrie. Dylan. Springsteen. For many this is the chronological lineage of the popular anti- hero American singer/songwriter.   After World War II midwestern folk singer Woody Guthrie became a Coney Island resident. Like Walt Whitman and Herman Melville he found inspiration spewing from the sand and surf of Coney Island. Eventually Guthrie’s ashes were poetically scattered over Coney Island’s beach.

After a long bout with depression Mr. Guthrie was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease. While being treated at a New Jersey hospital he was visited by a young fan by the name of Robert Zimmerman (later known of course as Bob Dylan). Guthrie sent Zimmerman to his home in Coney Island looking for poems that Guthrie himself had written. According to Bob Dylan’s autobiography post war Coney Island was a bit swampy. After arriving via the F train Mr. Zimmerman had to walk through swampy land eventually arriving at 3520 Mermaid Ave. Upon arriving Zimmerman was greeted at the house by Guthrie’s son Arlo. The two of them fruitlessly searched the house for these poems. Eventually many years later these same poems somehow landed in the hands of a band called Wilco. Guthrie’s lyrics were recorded on their appropriately titled two volume album called Mermaid Avenue.

The spirit of Woody Guthrie is set to return to Coney Island this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, December 13th and 14th Coney Island USA will be hosting Hard Travelin’ With Woody, a multimedia solo show featuring the music and art of Woody Guthrie. Written and performed by Randy Noojin the show is $10 and will be starting at 4pm both days.

For video, audio and more, please visit www.HardTravelinShow.com

Bio:
Randy Noojin’s plays have been commissioned and produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, Bloomington Playwrights Project, Circle Rep Lab, as well as nationwide and internationally; they are published by Dramatic Publishing Company. Randy holds an M.F.A. from The University of Iowa’s Playwrights Workshop. The feature film based on his play Unbeatable Harold premiered on Showtime, starring Dylan McDermott, Charles Durning and Henry Winkler. Hard Travelin’ with Woody was originally produced at FringeNYC. Randy has acted in hundreds of plays regionally and in New York at La Mama, E.T.C., Circle Repertory, Circle-in-the-Square, Circle Rep Lab, and The Drilling Company. Film: Die Barkley, The Bench; Television: Boardwalk Empire, Royal Pains.

Can anyone guess where our featured black and white image of Woody Guthrie was taken(not Coney Island)? Hint: the bar turned 160 this year, women weren’t allowed in until 1970 and the editor of The Coney Island Blog works there part time. Post your answers in the comments section below.