Imitation of Life: Musical Treasures from the Silver Screen

Imitation of Life: Musical Treasures from the Silver Screen is  a performance/concert of brilliant music from vintage films, performed live with imagery and stories from the movies themselves. What makes a song become a ‘Standard?’ Most originated in Broadway shows or films. Some were so immediately compelling that they effortlessly lodged themselves in the public’s imagination, perhaps never to leave. But quite a few incredibly good songs, from films or plays that you didn’t even necessarily know had songs in them, fell by the wayside for one reason or another. The moment wasn’t right. It didn’t catch.  Imitation of Life highlights a selection of these under-known gems–– as well as some more familiar songs whose origin stories are fascinating in and of themselves–– in combination with clips from the films themselves, their trailers, as well as other complementary material. Designed for the HPAC cinema’s movie screen Driver and his colleagues create a hybrid musical / visual experience that is both informative and emotionally engaging.

Special Guest performances by…

*** Adam Owens (DJ for Bold Gold Media) Maggie Moore (actress/singer) Julia Joseph (NYC-based singer/songwriter) & AJ Lumalcari (Sullivan County singer) ***

About David Driver

David Driver (b. 1962) is an American singer, performer, songwriter, and video artist. A staple on the downtown New York City music scene, he first achieved prominence in the mid-1990s, with his band MEOW, his role in Roy Nathanson’s Fire at Keaton’s Bar and Grill, and a stint as the understudy for the roles of Roger and Mark in the original Broadway cast of RENT. The Village Voice’s Rob Tannebaum credited Driver with creating “an oblique Downtown twist on saloon singing, devoid of melodrama, like Jerry Vale dreaming of Chet Baker.” The Advocate’s Andrew Velez wrote that Driver’s voice “is as bracing as a double Bourbon.” Driver has worked with luminaries like Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, Debbie Harry, Heidi Rodewald, Stew, Richard Butler, and Roy Nathanson & The Jazz Passengers, and was in the the cult Off-Broadway rock opera PEOPLE ARE WRONG! He’s been featured on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and The Late Show with David Letterman.

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