The Pope of Pop died alone while a nurse napped with scripture—now his ghost throws a 40-minute fever dream.
In February 1987, American artist Andy Warhol checked himself anonymously into New York Hospital for a routine gall bladder operation. As he lay recovering from this standard procedure, the nurse who was meant to watch over him fell asleep reading a bible. Thus neglected, Andy Warhol died and entered the land of legend. 25 years later film-maker Jim Sharman, writer Stephen Sewell and composer Basil Hogios interweave verse, song and imagery into a unique and dreamlike 40 minute exploration of this great artist's life, death and legacy. With Andy Warhol every yes contained a no and every beginning an end. Welcome to the mysterious and wonderful world of ANDY X.
Production
Sharman's theatrical staging turns hospital death into operatic spectacle.
Score
Hogios's music bridges 80s synth and liturgical mourning perfectly.
Acting
Harbridge shape-shifts through Warhol's women like a one-woman factory.
Director
Jim Sharman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jim Sharman directed both this AND The Rocky Horror Picture Show—explaining the camp-corpse energy.
Sewell's verse structure deliberately mirrors Warhol's own 'a: a novel,' where the banal becomes sacred through repetition.
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