Podcasting

In 2018 I launched Nobody Knows, a comedic question-and-answer podcast with Mason Rosenthal. Each short episode begins with a listener's question to which Mason (in his title role as "Nobody") records an answer and then sends me the recording to edit, sound design, and release online. The series began as a sequel to our play, Nobody's Home, and drew in over 1,000 listeners within its first month of release.

Sample episodes:

Above: Shots from the Nobody Knows installation at the 2018 Fun-A-Day Art Show in Philadelphia.

Aisle

In 2018 I designed sound for Aisle, an immersive theatre experience for an audience of one that took place inside of an actual supermarket in Philadelphia. Performers I-Chia Chiu and Mason Rosenthal communicated with each participant via phone, text message, and in-person monologue as they pushed a shopping cart around the store's grocery aisles. Upon exiting, patrons received a recording that they listened to while Chiu and Mason finished the performance in the supermarket's parking lot, the lines of dialogue in their ears refraining phrases heard during Aisle's various scenes. Here is that recording:

Aisle Chiu Mason.jpg

My Dad & His Guru

Photo of Guru Sheikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in Philadelphia during the 1970s courtesy of the Fellowship Press. Photo of my dad and me from a super-8 reel that my mom shot around the same time.

Photo of Guru Sheikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in Philadelphia during the 1970s courtesy of the Fellowship Press. Photo of my dad and me from a super-8 reel that my mom shot around the same time.

In 2015 I made this piece for a sound production course with WHYY reporter Elisabeth Perez-Luna. During the first week of the class, my dad had a heart attack. I went to visit and cook for him during his recovery. He asked me what I was working on, and then began talking about his own experience delving into sound production at the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, a Sufi centre in Philadelphia where he and I lived during parts of my childhood. So I pulled out my phone, recorded an hour of his stories, and brought this piece to class a few days later.

Oud music at the start is by Hamza El Din, a Sufi musician from Nubia who was affiliated with the Fellowship. Vocal music is by Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, a recording negotiated by my dad with Moses Asch for Folkways Records. The voices of Dr. Carroll Nash and Bawa Muhaiyaddeen,.with Dr. M.Z. Markar translating, are from a1973 archival tape (full transcript here).The sole current-day voice in “My Dad & His Guru” is that of Patrick Andrews, whose voice sounds a lot like mine.

A note about my own name: “Morgan FitzPatrick Andrews” means “Morgan, son of Patrick Andrews.” It’s a name that celebrates a patrilineal Scots-Irish heritage, but conceals German, Jewish, Arabic and Indian names elsewhere in my family—names that I intend to explore in a future project…

Mostly Hairless Ape Dreams

Scene from the 2005 toy theatre edition of “Mostly Hairless Ape Dreams”

Scene from the 2005 toy theatre edition of “Mostly Hairless Ape Dreams”

In 2005 I wrote a number of short stories and adapted them into a touring toy theatre show. Among these were the “Mostly Hairless Ape Dreams,” performed as a three-part dream sequence with shadow puppets and chance music. These originally appeared in book form at the first Fun-A-Day happening in Philadelphia, then as part of a theatre piece that toured to festivals around the U.S. with puppeteer Eli Nixon. In 2007 I remounted “Mostly Hairless Ape Dreams” with shadow artist Erik Ruin as part of “Mushroom Music,” a show inspired by the writings of John Cage that toured the East Coast. More recently I recreated these stories as this 8-minute experiment in audio storytelling. The opening bit about the butterfly is from John Cage’s one-minute collection, Indeterminacy:

Appearances:

  • Part of “The Little Books” at Fun-A-Day Philadelphia (2005)

  • In the “Where Do Things Belong?” East Coast tour with Eli Nixon (2005)

  • In the “Going Nowhere” East Coast tour with Erik Ruin (2007)

  • At Goddard College’s IBA Winter Cabaret (2007)

  • At Great Small Works’ “Sound & Shadow” Spaghetti Dinner, Judson Church, NYC (2007)