View source for A Tour Of The City (Part 1)

{{Infobox
|bodystyle = width:30em;
|headerstyle = background:var(--infobox-header-color);
|labelstyle = background:var(--infobox-header-color);
|header1 = Series
|header3 = Original Broadcast Date
|header5 = Cast
|header7 = Format
|label10  = Preceded by: 
|label11 = Followed by: 
|data8 = [[:Category:Scripted_Actors|Scripted Actors]], [[:Category:Sound_Effects|Sound Effects]], 55 minutes
|data4  = 3/6/[[:Category:1984|1984]]
|below = [https://www.joefrank.com/?s={{#invoke:URLEncode|encode|{{PAGENAME}}}} Purchase]&nbsp;/&nbsp; [https://www.joefrank.com/streaming/shows/?jfsearch={{#invoke:URLEncode|encode|{{PAGENAME}}}} Stream]
|belowstyle= border-top: 1px solid #333;padding-top:5px;
|data6  = [[Alan Hunter]], [[Marilyn Casky]], [[Barbara Sohmers]], [[Arthur Miller]], [[Brother Theodore]], [[Richard Bauer]], [[Tim Jerome]], [[Mark Hammer]], [[Joseph Palmieri]], [[Larry Block]], [[Sharon Dennis-Wyeth]], Joe Frank
|data2  = [[WBAI And NPR Playhouse]]
|data10 = [[Questions]]
|data11 = [[A Tour Of The City (Part 2)]]
|
}}

''You're in a commercial jet, circling above a city.''

'''A Tour Of The City (Part 1)''' is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series [[WBAI And NPR Playhouse]]. It was originally broadcast in [[:Category:1984|1984]].

This program was broadcast in two parts, the first is 60 minutes long. The [[A Tour Of The City (Part 2)|second part]] is 30 minutes.

== Synopsis ==

Joe (using second person) tells about landing in a plane, looking down
on the city.  Pilots land the plane safely despite engine failure.
Joe compares how the city looks on the ground with how it looked from
the air.

2:50: Guy with German-ish accent ([[Brother Theodore]]) talks about
suicide.  'Each of us has contemplated suicide&hellip;'

4:20: Joe describes walking along Vladeck (sp?) avenue.  A guy
([[Larry Block]]?) begs change; a woman invites his attention;
squatters live in vacant lots; chickens and goats graze.

6:20: A fellow with a German-ish accent ([[Tim Jerome]]) remembers
winter in Erf&uuml;rt.  A woman broke her leg skiing.

7:20: A woman recalls dinner, seeing an acrobat with no arms
and legs in San Nemo; she was engaged to John.

8:10: A man remembers the summer they (apparently he and a
woman) went to the sea.

9:00: Joe tells about the star worshippers, their equipment,
their gowns, dancing to drums.

9:20: Voltgen, founder of the Electricist religion ([[Arthur Miller]]?), one of the many sects that have sprung up in the city,
talks to Alex, a novice; he explains Electricism, ruminates on
darkness and light.
 
12:00: Joe tells of Voltgen ushering Alex into a worship
service.  Voltgen leads a service, which features a large filament,
culminates with electrical arcs.

14:40: Alex arrives home; his wife Eva ([[Barbara Sohmers]]) greets
him.  They have a drink.

17:30: Someone ([[Tim Jerome]]) tells about Glemp (sp?) who had a
camera, took pictures of everything.  At the end of the season he took
his film to the lab, which destroyed them, leaving only memories.

18:30: Joe tells of the rain falling on everyone in the
streets.

19:00: Eva tells what she did during the day to Alex.  He bathes her.
(Accompanied by "Peace Piece" (Bill Evans)).

20:20: Joe tells of a fellow walking on a mountain path, who
sees a speck rising above the desert.  It turns into a giant wave that
forms the shape of giant white horses, then a giant man.

21:50: Having prepared Eva's bath, Alex puts her in the water.
(She can't walk.)  She wonders why they haven't made love in months,
wonders if he still wants her.

24:40: The first fellow with a German-ish accent ([[Brother Theodore]]) recalls the soldier who attacked the enemy armed with only
a can opener, suggests he may have been suicidal, not heroic.

25:30: Alex recalls returning to the same hotel by the sea
years later.

26:20: Joe tells of a helicopter flying overhead, a man in a
phone booth.

27:10: Joe describes images of the city at night, the tree-folk, the
people of the law (who recite laws that sound like parody Leviticus).

28:40: Joe tells of 'wrestling' matches, the first between a
caveman with a tree and a baron who weighs 2,695 stone (about 20
tons), the second between a giant beetle and an Irish washerwoman.

32:20: Joe tells of a convoy of army trucks outside; a
presidential address follows.

34:10: Eva tells Alex he talked in his sleep last night.  She
wants him to tell her how he feels, he's gone so much.

35:10: Joe describes the picaresque, cites classical examples,
wonders where modern heroes travel.

36:00: Alex tells of walking through the city, wondering where
he's going.  Voltgen responds, tells him he has to give up on love.

38:40: Voltgen gives Alex a hooded gown, leads Alex into the
temple, leads a service, accompanied by choral chanting, inducts Alex
into Electricism.

42:00: Olga ([[Marilyn Casky]]), Alex's other wife, talks about Alex
spending time at Voltgen's temple, says he'll leave it as he's left
all the other sects he's joined.

43:00: A fellow leaves an ominous message on their phone.
Olga's scared, Alex says it's nothing.  They argue.

45:00: The president tells of driving a few days ago, saw 2
children making earthcakes near their hut, recalls a song from his
childhood, hums it for us.

46:20: 'Sometimes I sign out a chopper...' The president looks
at girls sunbathing on the roof.

47:10: Eva hears the helicopter, asks Alex what it's doing;
it's looking into their window.

49:30: The president calls on citizens to report strangers to
the authorities.

50:10: Alex tells of physicians treating some woman.

51:20: The president talks about burying oneself up to the
neck to stay warm during the winter.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:95%; overflow:auto;">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Legacy Synopsis</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

Second person monologue: You arrive in a plane which nearly crashes.  Cab driver talks about suicide methods.  Scenes from a street.  The principals are introduced in monologue.  Voltgen gives an electrocism lecture to a novice.  Electrocism ceremony.  A man bathes his disabled wife.  Seeing a speck in the desert that becomes a wall of water and a giant drawn by horses.  Religious orders and commandments.  Bizarre boxing matches: a knight and a caveman, a housewife and a giant bug.  The president addresses the public via loud speakers.  The mans wife confronts him.  Hero mythology.  Discussion with Voltgen about love. Electrocism initiation.  Man argues with his wife, gets a threatening phone call, is watched by a helicopter.  President hums a childhood song over loudspeakers.  Sounds of an explosion.  A man talks about watching people from a helicopter. President asks people to spy on their neighbors.  
</div></div>

== Music == 
{{Remote Viewing (Tangerine Dream)}} [3:54] <!--percussion ID @8:55-->
{{Höre, der du wagst (Popol Vuh)}} [11:54]
{{Brüder Des Schattens (Popol Vuh)}} [12:50]
{{Peace Piece (Bill Evans)}} [19:16]
{{Music For Mallet Instruments, Voices And Organ (Steve Reich)}} [27:40]

== Shared material ==
* Material from this program was later included in [[Black Hole (Remix)]].

== Additional credits ==
The original broadcast credits state: "Directed by [[Arthur Miller]], and mixed by Jim Anderson. The performers were [[Alan Hunter]], [[Marilyn Casky]], [[Barbara Sohmers]], [[Arthur Miller]], [[Brother Theodore]], [[Mark Hammer]], [[Joseph Palmieri]], [[Clark Gordon]], [[Larry Block]], [[Sharon Dennis-Wyeth]], [[Richard Bauer]], and [[Tim Jerome]]."

== Miscellanea ==
* The later program [[Nightride]] happens in the same 'world'; Alex is the same person; the mood is the same.  The material is new.
* The text from this program was published in the form of a play.

In the NPR Playhouse version an announcer includes
Sharon Dennis-Wyeth in the cast; joefrank.com's summary doesn't.  I
e-mailed her at [https://www.SharonDennisWyeth.com her website].  She
replied, 'Was in something of his that I recorded.'

[[Category:Scripted_Actors]]
[[Category:Sound_Effects]]
[[Category:Alan Hunter]]
[[Category:Marilyn Casky]]
[[Category:Barbara Sohmers]]
[[Category:Arthur Miller]]
[[Category:Brother Theodore]]
[[Category:Richard Bauer]] 
[[Category:Tim Jerome]]
[[Category:Mark Hammer]]
[[Category:Joseph Palmieri]]
[[Category:Larry Block]]
[[Category:1984|Tour1]]

[[Category:WBAI And NPR Playhouse]]{{Series|series=WBAI And NPR Playhouse}}{{Cast|cast=[[Alan Hunter]], [[Marilyn Casky]], [[Barbara Sohmers]], [[Arthur Miller]], [[Brother Theodore]], [[Richard Bauer]], [[Tim Jerome]], [[Mark Hammer]], [[Joseph Palmieri]], [[Larry Block]], [[Sharon Dennis-Wyeth]], Joe Frank}}
[[Category:Show]]
[[Category:Show_by_date|19840306]]	{{Airdate|airdate=1984-03-06}}