Warhol Films make world premiere

‘ ‘ ‘ Live music will combine with Andy Warhol’s pop-art films this Friday at the Byham… ‘ ‘ ‘ Live music will combine with Andy Warhol’s pop-art films this Friday at the Byham Theater. ‘ ‘ ‘ To conclude The Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts, Pittsburgh will set the stage for the world premiere of 13 of Andy Warhol’s screen tests titled ’13 Most Beautiful.” ‘ ‘ ‘ The event will showcase 13 of the more than 500 screen tests that famous pop artist and Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol filmed of guests who visited his famous Factory workshop in the mid-’60s and add live musical performances to the previously silent films. ‘ ‘ ‘ The subjects of Warhol’s screen tests ranged from filmmakers to musicians to actors to unknowns. Anyone who exuded glamour or piqued the artist’s curiosity was asked to sit in front of Warhol’s video camera while he focused a close-up angle on their face. ‘ ‘ ‘ Some of the most well-known subjects include Bob Dylan, Edie Sedgwick, Dennis Hopper and Salvador Dali. ‘ ‘ ‘ Until this Friday, the screen tests have only been shown in galleries, without audio accompaniment. ‘ ‘ ‘ The 13 chosen screen tests for this event will be shown with a live musical score composed and performed by Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, who scored several other films, including ‘The Squid and the Whale’ and ‘Just Like the Son.” ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Wareham’s first involvement with a Warhol-related project arose in 1996, when he composed a song for the film ‘I Shot Andy Warhol.” ‘ ‘ ‘ More than a decade later, Wareham’s career led him to a second encounter when he and Phillips were approached by The Andy Warhol Museum to score the project ’13 Most Beautiful … Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I’m a huge Warhol fan,’ said Wareham. ‘Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I realize that I’m doing this.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Joining them on stage will be Anthony LaMarca and Matt Sumrow, who complete the foursome sometimes billed as Dean and Britta with the Back Numbers.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Together, the musicians will provide the first musical accompaniment to the Pittsburgh legend’s short films. ‘ ‘ ‘ Wareham and Phillips put together 13 separate pieces ‘mdash; eight songs with lyrics, five without ‘mdash; to complement each short film.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ They chose to include covers from The Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan. ‘ ‘ ‘ The four musicians will perform Dylan’s song, ‘I’ll Keep it with Mine,’ during the screen test of Nico, a German actress/singer/model, to whom Dylan actually gave the song. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I did research on each character that we were trying to do music for,’ said Wareham. ‘I tried to figure out the mood of each. Some of them are very somber, some are quite playful, some are sad and some are funny. So what’s going on on the screen kind of dictates.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ To prepare for scoring the pieces, Wareham also did extensive research on Warhol. Through the movies and documentaries he watched and the books he read, he developed an even greater interest in Warhol and the different people who frequented the Factory. ‘ ‘ ‘ Throughout the process of scoring the event, Wareham contemplated what Warhol himself would think of the musical accompaniment. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s like taking these great films and adding music to them, and you wonder if you’re allowed to do that. But the more you read about Warhol, you realize he’s always OK with anything. He was like ‘Oh yeah, that sounds glamorous, let’s just do it,” explained Wareham with a laugh. ‘ ‘ ‘ The event will be performed in other cities next year, but the choice of Pittsburgh as the premiere site was deliberate.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I think it’s probably going to look better in Pittsburgh ‘mdash; I know we’re doing the show other places ‘mdash; but the level of attention and detail that’s being brought to the production there, it’s just going to look better in Pittsburgh than it is anywhere else,’ said Wareham. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I guess in Pittsburgh, you’re lucky. You’ve got The Warhol Museum there, and sometimes they show these [films], but you won’t get to see them with music [at the museum],’ he added. ‘Basically this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The co-commissioners for the project are The Warhol Museum, along with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, which also organized the Festival of Firsts. ‘ ‘ ‘ Veronica Corpuz, of the Cultural Trust, reiterated Wareham’s excitement for premiering ’13 Most Beautiful in Pittsburgh.” ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s kind of a great event to close this festival of interdisciplinary and genre-bending performances and events,’ she said.