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A world premiere musical based on the true story of visionary artist J.B. Murray. John Bunion Murray was an illiterate farm worker living in a shack in Glascock County, GA without water or electricity when, at age 70, he had the first of what he called his “visions from the Holy Spirit.” Over a period of 10 years, Murray’s vision-inspired paintings and non-semantic script, initially on scraps of writing paper, envelopes, adding machine tape, poster board, wood paneling, old stove tops and televisions picture tubes, and eventually on archival art paper, would capture the imagination of his friends and neighbors ...Read More
A world premiere musical based on the true story of visionary artist J.B. Murray. John Bunion Murray was an illiterate farm worker living in a shack in Glascock County, GA without water or electricity when, at age 70, he had the first of what he called his “visions from the Holy Spirit.” Over a period of 10 years, Murray’s vision-inspired paintings and non-semantic script, initially on scraps of writing paper, envelopes, adding machine tape, poster board, wood paneling, old stove tops and televisions picture tubes, and eventually on archival art paper, would capture the imagination of his friends and neighbors — and, ultimately, of an international community of museums, galleries and collectors.
“I’ve always seen such beauty in his story,” says playwright Mary Padgelek. “It is a story of mystery. A story of hope. Most of all, it is a story of one person following his call with persistence, courage and faith. From my first introduction to the strange art of J.B. Murray in 1993, I believed his passion and vision made his story ‘sing and dance.’ The mystery and power of his story need more than mere words. I could imagine a string of songs led by ecstatic dancing to a finale of choral explosion.”
Born in Mitchell, Georgia in 1908, John Bunion Murray spent much of his life as a farm worker where he raised eleven children with his wife Cleo Kitchens. A deeply religious man, he could neither read nor write and exhibited no artistic aspirations until he experienced a transformative spiritual vision as he watered his potatoes one evening. Believing that God had charged him with an evangelical mission, Murray became a scribe in the service of the Lord, creating and proliferating a vast body of drawings and paintings he referred to as “the message of the Holy Spirit direct from God.” These cryptic works feature a visually dense writing system indecipherable to most viewers — the artist himself was only able to translate the texts by peering through a bottle of “holy water.”
Visionary Man opens on July 26 and continues on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m through Aug. 31. There will be two preview performances, on Thursday, July 24 and Friday, July 25, both at 8 p.m. General admission is $28. Student price (with valid ID) and previews are $15. The Hudson Mainstage is located at 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038. For information and to purchase tickets, call (323) 960-7787 or go to www.plays411.com/visionary.
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