Somerville Symphony Orkestar will bring their unique musical stylings to the Kurt Vonnegut tribute show at Precinct Bar on Thursday, September 22.

‘Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt’

By Jim Clark

The late, great writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was famously quoted as once saying, “A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.” This sentiment comes full circle as a well-rounded gathering of artists, poets, and musicians come together this week to pay tribute to and share their love of the iconic author.

Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt: A Tribute to Kurt Vonnegut Jr. will be presented at Precinct Bar, 70 Union Square, on Thursday, September 22, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Described as a labor of love by the show’s producers Meghan Chiampa, of Desert Race Boston, and Jade Sylvan, local poet and songwriter, the event will feature readings and performances by more than a dozen participating groups and individuals including Space Balloons (Michael J. Epstein and Sophia Cacciola), Somerville Symphony Orkestar, touring author Daphne Gottlieb, (Dear Dawn, Soft Skull Press), Boston Poetry Slam-master, Simone Beaubien, and poet James Caroline (Boston Phoenix Poll Best Local Author).

Co-producer and performer Jade Sylvan has variety show sawdust in her bones.

Acts will include tribute poems, songs based on stories, and a re-enactment of Harrison Bergeron from Vonnegut’s Welcome to the Monkey House. Poetry, music, interactive digital visual art, paintings, and even live puppet theater will enliven The Precinct stage, along with a half-time variety show that promises to be a highlight of the evening.

Chiampa and Sylvan came up with the idea for the event after a series of conversations revealed that Vonnegut has been a major influence in both of their artistic styles.

Chiampa says she first read Vonnegut (Slaughter-House Five) after dropping out of high school and then “read all the books I should have read if I had stayed in school.” Ultimately, she wrote her college thesis on Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions. She is a web designer, painter, poet, promoter, and booker in Cambridge, MA. Her art and style are inspired by colors. Her motto for web design is “anything is possible.” Her motto for painting is “more sparkles.”

Sylvan, who attended the same grade school as Vonnegut in Indianapolis, sixty-odd years later, says she loves the variety show format. “My great-grandparents were vaudeville performers, so I think this type of show is in my blood. It’s a great way to come at one idea from a bunch of different angles. Plus, it’s more entertaining.” She is a nationally touring author, poet, and songwriter. Her first full-length collection of poetry, The Spark Singer (Spuyten Duyvil Press), was published in 2009, and her work has appeared in Word Riot, Decomp, The Pedestal, Radius, the November 3rd Club, and OVS magazine.

Vonnegut is considered to be one of the most highly regarded and influential writers of the 20^th century. His humanism and skepticism of authoritarian systems were important components of his writing style, and particularly resonated with younger readers over several generations. The humor and social commentary infused in his writings has been compared to that of Mark Twain, another great American author whom Vonnegut himself held in high esteem. Vonnegut passed away in 2007.

The tribute show at Precinct Bar will present a sweeping celebration of the influence that Vonnegut has made on this largely youngish group of writers and performers. In addition to the above-mentioned artists, readings and performances will be made by Charles Coe, The Duende Project, Woellert & Clark, Scarlett Strawberry, Connor Wood, Army of Mars, and co-producers Jade Sylvan and Meghan Chiampa.

Whether or not one is an avid Vonnegut fan, this one-of-a-kind gathering of local talent should provide an unforgettable evening of art and entertainment. For those who number themselves among the faithful admirers of one of the most original and creative minds in recent history, an especially uplifting and cathartic experience is sure to be in the offing.

So it goes…

Ten memorable quotations
by Kurt Vonnegut

“All persons, living and dead, are purely coincidental.”

“A sane person to an insane society must appear insane.”

“Since Alice had never received any religious instruction, and since she had led a blameless life, she never thought of her awful luck as being anything but accidents in a very busy place. Good for her.”

“Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.”

“There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.”

“There is no order in the world around us, we must adapt ourselves to the requirements of chaos instead. It is hard to adapt to chaos, but it can be done. I am living proof of that: It can be done.”

“Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?”

“I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t see from the center.”

“There’s only one me, and I’m stuck with him.”

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”