The proposals for the 1907 Centennial Celebration are in, and what wonderful performances they'll be! We are so very pleased to host some of our favorite folks in a night dedicated to remembering the Los Angeles of one hundred years past.

When you join us at Bedlam on Thursday night, March 22, this is what you'll being thrilling to, in order of appearance:

The invocation of Zuckerman the Potato King (Kim Cooper and Kelly Kuvo)
The strange tale of  A. Victor Segno, Mentalist with Beautiful Hair (Larry Harnisch)
A description of life in 1907 L.A. (George Garrigues)
The song stylings of Miss Figueroa Daguerre
Witty period readings from George Ade's "Fables In Slang" (Brooke Alberts)
J. Stuart Blackton's comic short film "The Starving Artist, or: Realism in Art" (American Vitagraph Company, 1907, live accompaniment by Laura Steenberge, presented by Ross Lipman)
Fortunes told in Madame Pamita's Parlor of Wonders
And the lovely Miss Janet Klein accompanied by Tom Marion revealing the next secret year to be blogged at 1947project, in song and patter.
 
The fun starts at 9pm sharp, and we anticipate about one hour for the show, with a potluck party to follow. Please bring an old fashioned recipe to share, dress in period duds if you've got 'em, and join us as we bid a centennial adieu to this great and endlessly surprising year of 1907 and welcome in the next year which we're certain will prove every bit as worthy of obsession. Will it be 1967? 1887? Shhhh... you just have to come to Bedlam to find out!

Where: Bedlam Arts, 1275 E. Sixth Street, downtown L.A. 90021
When: Thursday, March 22, show starts at 9pm sharp
Cost: Free, but it would be neat if you brought an old timey potluck dish to share (recipe links are here)

See you then!
Kim & the 1947project gang 

Reminder, you have until February 5 to submit your proposals for the 1907 Centennial celebration. We've already received some fascinating submissions--including one for the first public appearance in more than a decade of a legendary L.A. postpunk band, presenting a live score to a Melies Brothers short -- and would love to have you be a part of it. So send over your ideas, half-baked or cooked straight through, and join us on March 22 at Bedlam.

1907 Centennial - open call for performers

For the past year, the bloggers at 1947project.com have been immersed in the weird old L.A. of 1907, a city of open sewers and Mexican revolutionaries, 15mph hot rodders and prankster firemen, holy rollers and hollow earthers. As the calendar strikes March and the conclusion of twelve months of 1907 research, we're hosting a special centennial celebration, and we'd like YOU to be a part of it.

Writers, musicians, actors, artists, comics, storytellers, vaudevillians, curators, filmmakers, historians, poets and others are invited to propose a 3-10 minute presentation on a theme inspired by 1907-era Los Angeles (or the wider world). Your piece can be original or an adaptation of something you've read on 1947project.com or elsewhere. All media are welcome (we can provide amplification and video projection). The only requirements are that it be entertaining and respectful to any crime victims involved.

Prospective presenters should provide the following:
1) A one paragraph creative bio, 200 words or less, suitable for publication
2) A description of what you propose to do at the 1907 Centennial event, noting any source material that you have been inspired by
3) Length of proposed performance
4) Contact info
5) Your website or other helpful links

Event curators Kim Cooper, Larry Harnisch, Lucinda Michele Knapp and Nathan Marsak will be collecting proposals through February 5 and announcing the line up shortly afterwards. The '07 celebration will be held on Thursday, March 22 at Bedlam Art downtown, and will culminate in the festive revelation by a very special musical guest of which historic year will next get the archival treatment from 1947project. The event will be free, with refreshments and libations on hand. Vintage recipes will be provided for those who enjoy cooking to contribute pot luck offerings to share.

Need more info to stoke the fires of your creativity? Visit www.1947project.com/1907 for some helpful historic resources.

Please submit your proposal for The 1907 Centennial by February 5 to Kim by email or mail to PO Box 31227, Los Angeles CA 90031.

Helpful hints for those wishing to attend the 1907 Centennial celebration, March 22, 2007  

WHEN: March 22, 2007, 9pm+
WHERE: Bedlam Arts, 1275 E. 6th Street off Alameda, downtown LA
COST: Free 

Coming in period costume is encouraged, circa 1907 or whatever delightful obsolete garb you can pull together.

Food makes every gathering especially sociable, and the organizers will be providing a small selection of historic dishes to sample. We invite anyone coming to the show to make something old fashioned to share (again, circa 1907 or from some other past time), and direct you to the following websites for recipe ideas:

Sweets and savories from the pages of Food Heritage Press reproduction cookbooks.... things Jane Austen might have eaten... treats of Roman and Medieval Britain... an array of edible riches from the archives of The Old Foodie.

If bringing something to share, please contact us before cooking so we can catch any duplicate dishes, and help answer any of your questions. Please note that the evening is dedicated to Maurice Zuckerman, the Potato King, and so dishes featuring the noble spud are especially welcome.  

For more background on 1907 in Los Angeles and elsewhere, the following sources are helpful. 

• Google News archival search for "Los Angeles, 1907" (you can search within these results by adding keywords)

• If you have a Los Angeles Public Library card, use it to log in to their database archive and search "Los Angeles Times, Historical Archives (ProQuest)" for day by day local coverage from 1907.

• UCSB has a digital collection of Edison cylinder recordings, including this nifty little ditty from 1907. 

• George Garrigues maintains a delightful website about Los Angeles in the '00s. Here's his material on 1907. 

• Wikipedia's year 1907 in review. 

Stay tuned to this page for new resources as they occur to us, and please add your favorites in the comments below.