The Black Rider

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The Black Rider
The Casting of the Magic Bullets
Canadian Tour Program
Music	Tom Waits
Lyrics	Tom Waits
Book	William S. Burroughs
Basis	German folktale Der Freischütz
Productions	1990 Hamburg 1998 Betty Nansen Teatret 1998 Edmonton International Fringe Festival 1998 Det Norske Teatret 1999 New York International Fringe Festival 2005 American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco 2008 November Theatre 2009 Barcelona 2012 Schaubühne 2015 Betty Nansen Teatret 2017 Melbourne Festival 2018 Theater Regensburg 2019 Theater Koblenz

The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets is a self-billed "musical fable" in the avant-garde tradition created through the collaboration of theatre director Robert Wilson, musician Tom Waits and writer William S. Burroughs. Wilson, in the original production, was largely responsible for the design and direction. Burroughs wrote the book, while Waits wrote the music and most of the lyrics. The project began in about 1988 when Wilson approached Waits. The story is based on the German folktale "Der Freischütz", which had previously adapted as an opera by Carl Maria von Weber. It premiered at Hamburg's Thalia Theatre on 31 March 1990, and was performed at Paris's Théâtre du Châtelet on 9 October 1990. November Theatre produced its world English-language premiere in 1998 at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival in Canada. Det Norske Teatret in Oslo staged a Norwegian (Nynorsk) version in 1998, with Lasse Kolsrud as Pegleg.^[1] Only the dialogue was translated by the dramaturg and key collaborator of the entire creative process, Wolfgang Wiens; the songs were performed in English.

Waits recorded much of the music from the play in different arrangements as The Black Rider.