Woody Sez is a joyous, toe-tapping, musical portrait, rich with the words and songs of America’s great troubadour, which transports the audience through the fascinating, beautiful, and sometimes tragic life of Woody Guthrie. With songs like “This Land is Your Land” and “So Long It’s Been Good To Know Yuh” a talented group of four actor/musicians bring to life the many people who formed the fabric of his story. Not only was Woody a seminal influence on Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, he also inspired generations of Irish folk singers like the Clancy Brothers and Christy Moore. His songs may have told the stories of the disenfranchised in the Dust Bowl, but his recurrent themes speak of famine, workers’ rights and emigrant strife. His legacy defined an American era of social consciousness and political expression that is alive and palpable today.

Woody Sez (at the Irish Repertory Theatre through July 23) tells the story of American folk-protest singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie in his own words. The show features over 30 of Woody’s songs, played on a range of instruments, from the guitar and violin to the dulcimer and the spoons. David M. Lutken, who co-devised the show, stars as Woody, supported by a cast of equally talented, high-energy musician actors. In a rare moment of downtime, Lutken spoke to us about creating Woody Sez, playing the show for audiences around the world, and maintaining high energy for every performance. Of course, we also talked about Woody Guthrie himself. Can you tell us a little bit about the process of creating Woody Sez? I’ve been a musician all my life, playing folk music and all other kinds of music. And in 1988, I met Harold Leventhal, who was Woody Guthrie’s old manager. Of course, there are many shows that have been done over the years about Woody Guthrie and his music. And I met Mr. Leventhal in 1988 doing another one of those shows. It’s a great show, still out there, and gets done quite often. And over the years of knowing him for the next twelve or fifteen years, he decided that he liked …Read more