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The DramaBook shop re-opened, thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda and others. New location near Times Square, 266 W. 39th St. Lots of places to sit, read, have coffee. Lovely!
2023
Theatre is back after Covid closures! And so am I, retired from ASU/Arizona and returned to full time in NY.
AUGUST
cont. through Sept. 10 DARREL ELLIS: REGENERATION a retrospective of visual artist Ellis' work. The Bronx Museum Deep exploration of his use of multiple formats to reconfigure imagery of family and friends. He's gone through a kind of rediscovery since his death from AIDS in the early 1990's. Also look at the show he is featured in below:
LUX, CALME VOLUPTE Candice Madey Gallery through August 11. Something like 70 works by artists, including Darrel Ellis, working in NYC in the 1980's. Curated by Allen Frame and Antonio Sergio Bessa. A portrait of multiple interconnections during that time in a beautifully conceived exhibition. 1 Rivington St.
4 INFINITE BEAT featuring Each Other (DJ) + Muscle Memory (Steven Reker/Michael Tapper-Live/DJ) + w0rmh0les (Live/DJ). 8pm Public Records, 233 Butler St., Brooklyn. ticks via DICE
through Sept. 17 PEPÓN OSORIO: MY BEATING HEART/MI CORAZÓN LATIENTE The New Museum "Informed by his background in theater and performance as well as his experiences as a child services case worker and professor, Osorio’s richly textured sculptures and installations are deeply invested in political, social, and cultural issues affecting Latinx and working class communities in the United States."
SEPTEMBER
cont. through Oct. 8 INFINITE LIFE. Annie Baker's newest! Directed by James Macdonald. Atlantic Theater Company
7 ALL OF A SUDDEN: SEKOU @ 75. Celebrating the Legacy of Sekou Sundiata. A remembrance of this brilliant poet/musician and story teller. With Craig Harris, Lisa Jessie Peterson, Carl Hancock Rux, Samita Sinha, David Thomson, Aisha Jordan, Frantz Jerome and others. Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, The New School. 7pm 66 W. 12th St. RSVP
8-13 CROSSING THE LINE Annual dance festival at French Institute/FIAF. Always good stuff. From the curators: "As we are writing these lines, we have learned that the iconic Under the Radar, a festival that echoed Crossing The Line, would not return — limiting opportunities for foreign artists on our shores. In curating the 16th edition of Crossing The Line, we looked to bring artists who could offer new perspectives from the entire Francophone world to New Yorkers, allowing all of us to expand our minds. Their shows, presented in partnership with artistic powerhouses across the city, address some of the most pressing issues of our time — gun violence, climate change, race, sexism, and artificial intelligence — as they explore new ways to make art today. We are proud to present this talented group of artists and are hopeful that these performances will spark new artistic dialogues, across genres and borders."
9-10 6pm. NEWTOWN ODYSSEY World premiere of a floating opera set in an industrial canal (Newtown Creek) in Brooklyn. Performers will be on floating stages observable from shore and from boats. Collaborators musician Kurt Rohde, writer Dana Spiotta, artist Marie Lorenz.
13, 15 ART21 AT THE MOVIES Metrograph Theatre on 13th, SVA Theatre on 15th. Featuring the premiere of “Friends & Strangers,” the third and final episode of Season 11 of Art in the Twenty-First Century; the 3D film premiere of “Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea,” a film on the life of artist H.C. Westermann; an hour of films curated by Miranda July; and a collection of films that pay homage to art and artists. Guests including Cannupa Hanska Luger, Miranda July, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Aaron Curry, and Chiemi Kawarasa. Info
15-22 HEART OF BRICK Joyce Theater. "a theatrical dance and music production that captures the multi-generational spirit of the Black queer community" Choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly and with music by serpentwithfeet. Direction/design by Wu Tsang. My thoughts after seeing: clearly a concept to take the musician's work into live theatre, but with a very weak book/script flawed by vagueness and sentimentality. Dramatically inert. The dancing is strong but feels like back-up dancers for a headliner.
15-Oct 1 PROMETHEUS FIREBRINGER Hybrid performance/lecture written, directed and performed by McArthur awardee Annie Dorsen (after Aeschylus) Theatre for a New Audience Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Pl Brooklyn. Dorsen looks deeply into AI and how it affects art and performance. See her article on AI intoxication in American Theatre
15-16 UNRAVELING REALITIES: THE FILMS OF JANIE GEISER Museum of the Moving Image. I have not seen her recent films, but if it's as fascinating as the work she was doing in 1980's-90's in NYC (she's been teaching at CalArts for many years) then this should be amazing.
21 CULTURE WARS THEN AND NOW presentation by John R. Killacky, former curator at Walker Art Center (1988-96) where he was very involved in the cultural battles of the time (which continue) Later he was Exec Director of Flynn Center and Yerba Buena. He went on to serve two terms in the Vermont House of Representatives. And much more! Free but RSVP
22-Jan. 7. CHRISTIAN WALKER: THE PROFANE AND THE POIGNANT curated by Noam Parness/Jackson Davidow. Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art "surveying the work of artist, critic, and curator Christian Walker (1953-2003). Active in Boston and Atlanta from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s...Black, gay photographer who made compelling and experimental work about queer sexuality, race, and their intersections."
23, 30 COVID VORTEX ANXIETY OPERA KITTY KALEIDOSCOPE DISCO a new work by Karen Finley! Produced by SpincycleNYC at Laurie Beechman Theater, 420 W. 42nd St. 7pm
25-Nov. 19 UNITED SOLO THEATRE FESTIVAL 15th year of this annual festival. 410 W. 42nd St.
27 Smaïl Kanouté NEVER TWENTY ONE presented by NYLA and FIAF at Florence Gould Hall, 55. E. 59th St. 7:30pm Inspired by Black Lives Matter #Never21 paying tribute to young people of color who lost their lives to gun violence. Krump, popping, baile funk.
27 The BOBcast: A celebration of the Life for Robert Patrick. online/live event celebrating the life of Off-Off Broadway playwright. "Guests, performers, and participating artists include: Magie Dominic, Carol Nelson, Bonnie Young, Kristina Wong, Ross MacLean, Michael McGrinder, Harvey Perr, Jason Wittman, Justin Elizabeth Sayer, John Fleck, and more TBA! Reserve your ticket Online to tune in anytime throughout the 10 hour livestream or join us in-person at La MaMa at 7pm ET."
OCTOBER
cont. through Oct. 8 INFINITE LIFE. Annie Baker's newest! Directed by James Macdonald. Atlantic Theater Company
cont. through Nov 19 STEREOPHONIC by David Adjmi. Songs by Will Butler (Arcade Fire). Directed by Daniel Aukin. Playwrights Horizons. A rock band in the 1970's in the midst of recording.
2. FIRST MONDAYS READING SERIES: Bushra Rehman, Alejandro Varela, Daisy Hernández. 7pm Performance Space/NY 150 First Ave. Curated by Sarah Schulman
4-7 CURRICULUM II Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. NYLA
4-14 DRUIDO'CASEY: SEAN O'CASEY'S DUBIN TRILOGY 16 actors doing all three plays (TH PLOUGH AND THE STARS, THE SHADOW OF A GUNMAN, JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK) in one day. Directed by Garry Hynes. NYU Skirball co-pro with The Public Theater.
19 EMERGENCE 15 QUEERCEAÑERA EmergeNYC celebrates year 15. With DJ Chata (Bushwig), River L. Ramirez (Los Espookys) Live music by Las Mariquitas. Drag Acts & Performance Art by Emerge artists and friends. BAX/Brooklyn Art Exchange. 421 5th Ave. Brooklyn. EmergeNYC is "an incubator and network for socially engaged artists"
21-23. L'ETANG/GISÈLE VIENNE. NYLA An adaptation of an early work by Swiss writer Robert Walser
19-22 HEBEL Pavel Zustiak and Palissimo. LaMama
26-27 MAILLES. Dorothée Munyaneza NYLA brings together 5 Black, African, Afro-descendant artists
26-Dec 3. SCENE PARTNER a new play by the fearless ASU grad John L Caswell (Wet Brain). Directed by Rachel Chavkin and starring Dianne Wiest. Vineyard Theatre
NOVEMBER
6 FIRST MONDAYS READING SERIES at Performance Space New York/PSNY (former P.S. 122) 7pm curated by Sarah Schulman. Featuring Karen Finley, Laurie Stone, Jeff McMahon.
cont. through Dec. 3 SCENE PARTNER a new play by the fearless ASU grad John L Caswell (Wet Brain). Directed by Rachel Chavkin and starring Dianne Wiest. Vineyard Theatre
9-11 MICHELLE ELLSWORTH-EVIDENCE OF LABOR & POST-VERBAL SOCIAL NETWORK. Chocolate Factory dance/performance/installation piece featuring the sound and visual design of my very talented ASU colleague, Max Bernstein
16-18 JUNI ONE SET Boy Mother/faceless bloom presented with Dia Art Foundation as part of Performa 2023. NYLA Juni Set collaboration with Senga Negudi, eddy kown, Haruko Crow Nishimura & Joshua Kohn of Degenerate Art Ensemble
DECEMBER
4 BILL CHATS with Marc Bamuthi Joseph. NYLA 7pm. Bill T. and Bamuthi is a conversation worth hearing any day.
4 FIRST MONDAYS READING SERIES: Steven Thrasher, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Penny Arcade. Performance Space/NY 150 First Ave. 7pm Curated by Sarah Schulman