Showing posts with label Big Dance Theater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big Dance Theater. Show all posts

Saturday, August 30, 2014

10 Exciting Shows For Fall 2014


Axis Theater
SOLITARY 
LIGHT 
directed by Randy Sharp 
music and lyrics by Randy Sharp and Paul Carbonara 

September 10 - October 4, 2014  
Axis Theater

Solitary Light tells a story through the eyes of those who witnessed New York's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire that resulted in the death of 146 people in 1911. It depicts the lives of Frank and Louise, two young politically minded immigrant workers in love, as they navigate the financially strapped owners and the incredibly rich families of 1911 New York who had little concept of the horrors of the working class experience. 

Info: CLICK HERE


Nature Theater of Oklahoma 
THE GREAT 
NATURE THEATER 
OF OKLAHOMA 
IS CALLING YOU!

Fri, Sept 12 at 7:30pm
Crossing The Line Festival/FIAF: Tinker Auditorium   

New York’s Nature Theater of Oklahoma spent the summer of 2013 in a wildly creative residency culminating in the Berlin premiere of Life and Times Episodes 1–5 and a work-in-progress showing of Episode 6. In the midst of this artistic frenzy, the company filmed an intimate documentary about their creative process, exposing with humor and heartache the reality of negotiating life, work, collaboration, institutional politics, and the public. 

Info: CLICK HERE


Soho Rep
GENERATIONS  
by debbie tucker green 
directed by Leah C. Gardiner 
composition, arrangement and music direction by Bongi Duma 

September 30 - October 26
Soho Rep

You’re invited into a kitchen in a South African township where a fragrant meal is being prepared. As they cook, three generations of a close-knit family banter, share stories and food. Both urgent and exuberant, debbie tucker green’s formally daring play tackles what’s transmitted and lost through generations of a family—and a nation. Generations reunites playwright debbie tucker green and director Leah C. Gardiner following their 2011 Obie award-winning production of born bad and features a 12-person community chorus led by Bongi Duma (Broadway’s The Lion King). Join us after every performance to share South African music, drink, and food from Madiba Restaurant.

Info: CLICK HERE


Big Dance Theater 
ALAN SMITHEE 
DIRECTED THIS PLAY 
directed by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar 
choreography by Annie-B Parson and the company 

September 30 - October 4, 2014
BAM/Next Wave  Astronauts, Bolsheviks, and middle-American families mingle on a stage littered with lawn chairs, telephones, fur coats, and pistols in this collision of early-20th-century Moscow, midcentury Paris, and late-20th-century Houston. Big Dance Theater directors Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar sample fragments of iconic film scripts and novels, divorced from their narrative contexts, to create a kinetic collage of political rhetoric, pathos, paranoia, and suburban love. With a titular nod to the Hollywood pseudonym[1] for directors who disavow their work after creative interference, Alan Smithee Directed This Play contemplates the slippery nature of creative control, history, its fictions, and the inextricable link between the personal and the historical. 

Info: CLICK HERE


600 Highwaymen
EMPLOYEE OF 
THE YEAR

October 15th and 16th at 7:30pm
Crossing The Line Festival/ FIAF Florence Gould Hall

A child's house burns down, leaving everyone and everything she has behind. From this moment, a singular journey begins. Combining 600 Highwaymen's arresting theatrical style with original songs by David Cale, this New York premiere, performed by five young girls, intimately investigates the process of transformation over a lifetime. 

Info: CLICK HERE


Dynasty Handbag
DYNASTY 
HANDBAG

Friday, October 17th
BAM/Next Wave/Fishman Space

Dynasty Handbag offers a feminist gloss on Homer’s Odyssey as part of Brooklyn Bred, a performance art showcase curated by Franklin Furnace Archive founder and director Martha Wilson. 

Info: CLICK HERE


Dave Malloy
Ghost 
Quartet 
music, lyrics, and text by Dave Malloy 
developed and arranged by Ghost Quartet
directed by Annie Tippe 

October 8 - November 1, 2014
The Bushwick Starr  

A song cycle about love, death, and whiskey. A camera breaks and four friends drink in an interwoven tale spanning seven centuries, with a murderous sister, a treehouse astronomer, a bear, a subway, and the ghost of Thelonious Monk. 

Info: CLICK HERE



Sister Sylvester
THE MAID'S 
THE MAIDS

October 30 - November 9, 2014
Abrons Arts Center/Experimental Theater

A performance involving Jean Genet’s The Maids, two professional housekeepers, two professional actors, and a lot of Fritos. Performed in English, Spanish and Portuguese, the show is a tale of separate — but overlapping — cities, labor and language, parallel worlds, and the possible violence of contact.   

Info: CLICK HERE


Andrea Kleine
SCREENING ROOM, 
OR, THE RETURN 
OF ANDREA KLEINE
(as revealed through a 
re-enactment of a 1977 
television program 
about a ‘long and baffling’ 
film by Yvonne Rainer.) 

Dec 03 - Dec 06, 2014
Chocolate Factory Theater   

Andrea Kleine resurfaces as the choreographer/filmmaker Yvonne Rainer and Rainer’s lion-tamer-turned-dancer character “Kristina,” transforming a verbatim  talk show interview into an imaginary film recounting Kleine’s journey of disappearance.

Info: CLICK HERE


Motus Theatre
NELLA 
TEMPESTA
conceived and directed by Enrico Casagrande and Daniela  Nicolo

December 11, 2014 - - December 21, 2014 
Ellen Stewart Theatre

Motus Theatre Company explores questions of freedom, control and power in Nella Tempesta. Reflecting on the turmoil in our society: the impact of Hurricane Sandy, the consequences of the economic crisis and questioning of future landscapes, Nella Tempesta is created from fragments of novels by authors including: Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, Aldous Huxley as well as Shake- speare’s The Tempest and Une Tempête by Aimé Césaire. 

Info: CLICK HERE

















Wednesday, December 26, 2012

20 Favorite Shows of 2012

20 Favorite Shows of 2012:



1. Mission Drift 
(The TEAM/COIL Festival @ Connolly Theater)
The TEAM isn't afraid to tackle big issues, and their epic musical about the history of capitalism and home ownership in the US was no exception.  The fabulous music by Heather Christian was the icing on the already delicious cake! 

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2. The Big Meal 
(@ Playwrights Horizons)
Dan LeFranc's unofficial update of Thornton Wilder's The Long Christmas Dinner was absolutely perfect and the cast and the production equaled it in every way.

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3. We’re Gonna Die 
(Young Jean Lee @ LCT3)
Young Jean Lee did it again, and this time she did it front and center as the lead of a rock band called Future Wife.  The songs complimented the text perfectly. Lee is certainly wise way beyond her years!

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4. What Rhymes With America 
(@ Atlantic Theater)
 Melissa James Gibson's latest play may just be her best to date. Director, Daniel Aukin once again guides another excellent cast through Gibson's unique diologue.

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5. Ich Kurbisgeist 
(Big Dance Theater@ The Chocolate Factory)
It seemed like the cast of  Ich Kurbisgeist was having just as much fun as the audience at The Chocolate Factory.  This production was magical.


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6. 3C 
(Rattlestick Theater)
You either loved  David Adjmi's 3C, or you hated it.  We loved his brutally honest and hilarious interpretation of the famous 70s sitcom, Three's Company.

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7. Broke House 
(Big Art Group @ Abrons Arts Center)
Originally presented as part of the American Realness festival, Big Art Group's Broke House actually got better upon second viewing when it was re-staged in the Spring.  We can't think of a more accurate portrayal of life in 2012 America.


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8. Three Seagulls or MASHAMASHAMASHA! 
(Theater Reconstruction Ensemble @ HERE Arts Center)
This Chekhovian mashup was smart and funny, our two favorite attributes.  John Kurzynowski is a director to watch. 


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9. Rapture, Blister, Burn 
(@ Playwrights Horizons)
Gina Gionfriddo's latest play was a sober look at several generations of women, feminists if you will, and the unintended ways in which life choices have a way of sneaking up one.  It was a pleasure to see Amy Brenneman back on stage.


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10. Uncle Vanya 
(Target Margin @ HERE Arts Center)
David Herskovits' wide open take on Uncle Vanya make you feel as though you were watching a brand new play.  The terrific cast  played gamely along, most notably Edward O’Blenis as Astrov.


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11. David Gordon: The Matter 
(@ Danspace Project)
Whether it was watching Valda Setterfield dance along with a video of her younger self, or watching dozens of NYU students simultaneously perform The Chair with Ms. Setterfield, David Gordon: The Matter may have been the most moving evening we spent in the theater this year.


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12. The Past is a Grotesque Animal 
(@ The Public)
This Argentinian import that was part of both Under The Radar and COIL festivals was a pure theatrical delight.  Performed on a continuously rotating turntable, the nimble cast of four portrayed multiple characters as smoothly as the set spun.

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13. Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 
(@ Ars Nova)
Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 was more fun that any musical adaptation of War and Peace has any right to be.  It was thrillingly theatrical turn performed by the best ensemble this year.

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14. Through The Yellow Hour 
(@ Rattlestick Theater)
Adam Rapp's dystopian portrayal of a near-future Manhattan never wavered in its commitment or intensity.  From the moment you entered the theater, the set cast, sound and lighting and text grabbed you and never let go.

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15. You Better Sit Down 
(The Civilians @ The Flea)
Sub titled Tales From My Parents Divorce, The Civilians made and uncomfortable topic both touching and funny.  The cast of four, recounting their own stories, were perfect.


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16. Uncle Vanya 
(@ Soho Rep)
The second Vanya on this list couldn't have been more different that the Target Margin version.  But Annie Baker's casual adaptation worked perfectly in this quiet and intimate production.  Reed Birney, Maria Dizzia and Georgia Engel stood out in this tight ensemble.

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17. Mies Julie
(@ St. Ann’s Warehouse)
Hot, is the first word that comes to mind when thinking about Mies Julie.  Hilda Cronje and Bongile Mantsai were the steamiest couple on the NYC stage this year, and Yael Farber's production, set in South Africa, made Strindberg's play supremely contemporary.

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18. Five Lesbians Eating A Quiche 
(@ FringeNYC)
This Chicago import was probably the outright funniest play of 2012.  The ensemble was hilarious and Five Lesbians had, hands-down, the best stage effect or the year!



19. Gob Squad’s Kitchen (You’ve Never Had It So Good) 
(Under The Radar @ The Public)
Winner of the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience,  Gob Squad’s Kitchen hilariously recreated the famous Andy Warhol films Kitchen, Sleep and Screen Test until the actors invite audience members to take their place on stage and on screen.  We usually hate audience participation, but Gob Squad almost makes us want to reconsider.

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20. Port Out, Starboard Home
(@ LaMama)
A creepy cruise may either sound oxymoronic or redundant depending upon your point of view.  In a way Port Out, Starboard Home by Sheila Callaghan makes a case for the latter but definitely letting you laugh (often) throughout.

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