The Great Morgani (aka Frank Lima) is an American
street performer and
performance artist
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
from
Santa Cruz, California. Although he is an experienced accordionist with 60 years of experience, he is most noted for his spectacular costumes which sometimes take up to 100 hours of work.
Life and career
Frank Lima was born in 1942 in
Los Banos, California.
"Frank Lima, the Great Morgani - Santa Cruz County Stories", ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', May 23, 2011, retrieved December 23, 2012 His family moved to Santa Cruz in 1946.
Lima started performing at age 11, mostly in trios at Portuguese events. He enjoyed success in his first career as a stockbroker, but retired when he was 35. Almost two decades later in 1995, he embarked on a second career playing accordion as a street performer.
In the first few years of his street performing, he performed with his face uncovered. Gradually, he developed more elaborate costumes, relying on the sewing skills he learned from his mother, a master seamstress. Although he performs barefaced privately, he currently performs in public with face covered, often by the material used in the rest of his costume.
Current Performances
The Great Morgani has performed a dozen times at the
Cotati Accordion Festival and other festivals including the
Gilroy Garlic Festival
The Gilroy Garlic Festival was a food festival in the United States, held annually from 1979 to 2019 at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy, California, on the last full weekend in July. After cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a drive-t ...
. He regularly performs at farmer's markets throughout
Santa Cruz County and
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
, as well as downtown shopping areas in Santa Cruz and
Los Gatos
Los Gatos (, ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franci ...
.
He has collected 42 accordions and assembled more than 130 costumes, which he entitles with names such as "Touluse Morgani" and "Glyn-duh", reflecting themes inspired from literature and historical figures. In February 2014 Lima announced his retirement from street performing in downtown Santa Cruz due to city ordinances that regulate artists and vendors.
File:Great Morgani Toulouse Aug 2012.jpg, "Toulouse" captivating an audience of one.
File:Great Morgani Flower Powered Jul 2012.jpg, "Flower Powered"
File:Great Morgani Catch Of The Day Oct 2012.jpg, "Catch of the Day"
See also
Purple Mark
Mark Wirth, better known as Purple Mark, is a Seattle, Washington (state), Washington resident who has become locally known, especially around the Capitol Hill (Seattle), Capitol Hill neighborhood where he lives, for his colorful attire and his equ ...
References
External links
Official Website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgani, The Great
American street performers
American accordionists
American performance artists
Musicians from Santa Cruz, California
Living people
1942 births
People from Los Banos, California
21st-century accordionists