Moscow, 1938. A dangerous place to have a sense of humour; even more so a sense of freedom. Mikhail Bulgakov, living among dissidents, stalked by secret police, has both. And then he’s offered a poisoned chalice: a commission to write a play about Stalin to celebrate his sixtieth birthday.
Inspired by historical fact, Collaborators embarks on a surreal journey into the fevered imagination of the writer as he loses himself in a macabre and disturbingly funny relationship with the omnipotent subject of his drama.
Killing my enemies is easy. The challenge is to change the way they think, to control their minds. And I think I controlled yours pretty well. In years to come, I’ll be able to say: Bulgakov? Yeah, we even trained him. He gave up. He saw the light. We broke him, we can break anybody. It’s man versus monster, Mikhail. And the monster always wins.
John Hodge’s blistering new play depicts a lethal game of cat and mouse through which the appalling compromises and humiliations inflicted on any artist by those with power are held up to scrutiny.
Following its successful run in the Cottesloe Theatre, Collaborators is transferring to the Olivier Theatre on April 30 for a limited run.
Composer John Supko's s_traits, created in collaboration with media artist Bill Seaman, comes out Tuesday, November 4 on the Manchester-based Cotton Goods label. It is the second album devoted to Supko's music, following drawn only once on New Amsterdam in 2011. A live performance event is planned in conjunction with the release; watch this space for details.
The Seoul-based video and performance collaborators Hyung Su Kim and Hyo Jin Kim, who awed audiences at the 2013 Edinburgh International Festival, will present the U.S. premiere of their immersive piece Madame Freedom at REDCAT, CalArt's Downtown Center for Contemporary Arts today, October 2 and October 5, 2014.
According to Variety, London theatre critic David Benedict will soon pen a new Stephen Sondheim biography for Random House, titled: "How Did It Happen: The Life and Career of Stephen Sondheim." The book will include interviews withe the man himself, as well as information gathered from his frequent collaborators.
Random House expects Benedict's first daft by December 2017.
The 29-year-old 2011 Best New Artist Grammy Award winner (the only jazz artist to ever win it) is described as totally cool. The fact that she sings and is a bass and cello virtuoso is totally awesome. Her 2012 jazz-chart-topping, Grammy-winning Radio Music Society is a testament to her immense talent, which is worthy of a live performance at The Ridgefield Playhouse tonight, October 1, at 8 p.m.
If you're a fan of Cazwell, you've been anticipating HARD 2 B FRESH since Nov. 8, 2011 when his single 'Unzip Me' was released. If you're not familiar with Cazwell, this album is a great introduction to him. Ranging in styles from house and electronica to rap and dance, Cazwell's HARD 2 B FRESH is 100% a contemporary hip-hop album that sounds like it was recorded in the early 1990s. #ThrowbackTuesday, anyone?
The Seoul-based video and performance collaborators Hyung Su Kim and Hyo Jin Kim, who awed audiences at the 2013 Edinburgh International Festival, will present the U.S. premiere of their immersive piece Madame Freedom at REDCAT, CalArt's Downtown Center for Contemporary Arts on October 2-5, 2014.
The 29-year-old 2011 Best New Artist Grammy Award winner (the only jazz artist to ever win it) is described as totally cool. The fact that she sings and is a bass and cello virtuoso is totally awesome. Her 2012 jazz-chart-topping, Grammy-winning Radio Music Society is a testament to her immense talent, which is worthy of a live performance at The Ridgefield Playhouse on Wednesday, October 1, at 8 p.m. It will be Esperanza Spalding's 'Thank-You October' tour, and she will be joined by long-time collaborators Leo Genovese and Lyndon Rochelle for an intimate performance that includes selections from her critically acclaimed releases Junjo, Esperanza, Chamber Music Society and Radio Music Society. No. 109 Cheese & Wine will serve a wine tasting at 7:15 p.m. during this evening of Art, Wine and Jazz. The work of local artist Pamela Hochstetter will be displayed courtesy of Watershed Gallery. This event is part of the No. 109 Cheese & Wine 'Art, Wine and Jazz' Series. Piccolo's Pizza & Pasta Jazzeria (24 Prospect St., Ridgefield) will pour a complimentary glass of wine with dinner the night of this show when ticket is presented.
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is thrilled to open its 2014/15 Chan Centre Presents series with renowned musician/composers Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 at 8pm in the Chan Shun Concert Hall. The award-winning MacArthur “Genius” Fellows and longtime collaborators will present a high-flying, fast-picking evening of largely original music that blurs boundaries between bluegrass, classical, and pop lyricism.
In the world of theater, collaboration is essential to success. The director-writer partnership in solo theater is, for many, the most important partnership in the process of developing a show for a successful performance or run. Yet how do solo theater artists identify what collaborators their show needs, connect with these professionals at the most appropriate stages of their show's development, and properly evaluate who might be the best fit for the production's highest success?
The 2013-14 Playwrights' Center McKnight Theater Artist Fellows Sun Mee Chomet, Denise Prosek and Stephen Yoakam, along with their collaborators, will present selections from works in progress on June 16 at 7 p.m. at the Southern Theater. The event is free and open to the public; advance reservations are strongly recommended and can be made at www.pwcenter.org. The Southern Theater is located at 1420 S Washington Avenue in Minneapolis.
Berkeley Repertory Theatre welcomes back Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner for the West Coast premiere of his latest play, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, an epic tale of love, family, sex, money, and politics. Kushner reunites with one of his favorite collaborators, Michael Leibert Artistic Director Tony Taccone, to bring this sweeping drama to the Roda Theatre. With his trademark mix of soaring intellect and searing emotion, the legendary writer unfurls a poignant story about an Italian family in Brooklyn. When retired longshoreman Gus Marcantonio decides to die, his kids come home with a raucous parade of lovers and spouses to find that even the house keeps secrets. A portrait of a dysfunctional family filled with weighty dialogue, humor, and passion, Kushner's four-act play previews Friday, May 16, opens on Wednesday, May 21, and runs through Sunday, June 29, 2014.
Art of Time Ensemble's unprecedented and engaging production I Send You This Cadmium Red returns to the stage this spring. The critically acclaimed show is an exploration of the senses, merging music, theatre and striking visual projections to kaleidoscopic effect. Originally presented in 2011 to unanimous rave reviews, the remount features additional, never-before-heard music by composer Gavin Bryars (The Sinking of the Titanic), direction by Daniel Brooks (House, Possible Worlds) and musical direction by Andrew Burashko. Julian Richings (Helmlock Grove, Orphan Black) and John Fitzgerald Jay (True Crimes, Half Life) reprise their original roles, performing alongside ensemble musicians playing Bryars' music and visual projections created by Bruce Alcock. On stage from today, April 9 to 12 at the intimate Enwave Theatre, I Send You This Cadmium Red promises to be a stunning return.
The CSO's last Luken Holdings Pops Series concert of the 2013/14 season pays tribute to the greatest team of collaborators in American music history – George and Ira Gershwin. Here to Stay: The Gershwin Experience is a multi-media concert with a top-notch touring party, including Grammy Award-winning soprano Sylvia McNair. This concert event provides an unprecedented insider view into the legendary duo, and offers rare audio and video footage of the Gershwins.
Internationally renowned director Peter Sellars returns to the Canadian Opera Company this spring with a new company production of Handel's Hercules that propels the Greek myth into the modern day, giving voice to the untold horrors of war and the unspoken complications faced by veterans returning home. The COC premiere of Hercules reunites Sellars with celebrated conductorHarry Bicket and the all-star cast that presented this co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago to unequivocal praise at its debut in Chicago in 2011. Hercules is sung in English with English SURTITLES and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts today, April 5, 11, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, 2014.
Friends and collaborators violinist/violist Pinchas Zukerman and pianistYefim Bronfman perform in recital at Walt Disney Concert Hall, tonight, April 4, at8 pm. As part of their eight-city duo tour, the music powerhouses perform Schubert's Sonatina in A minor, D. 385, Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2, and Brahms' Viola Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1, which is the composer's own adaptation of a work he originally composed with the clarinet in mind. The performance is part of the LA Phil's 2013/14 Colburn Celebrity Recitals series.
Friends and collaborators violinist/violist Pinchas Zukerman and pianistYefim Bronfman perform in recital at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Friday, April 4, at8 pm. As part of their eight-city duo tour, the music powerhouses perform Schubert's Sonatina in A minor, D. 385, Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2, and Brahms' Viola Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1, which is the composer's own adaptation of a work he originally composed with the clarinet in mind. The performance is part of the LA Phil's 2013/14 Colburn Celebrity Recitals series.
The CSO's last Luken Holdings Pops Series concert of the 2013/14 season pays tribute to the greatest team of collaborators in American music history – George and Ira Gershwin. Here to Stay: The Gershwin Experience is a multi-media concert with a top-notch touring party, including Grammy Award-winning soprano Sylvia McNair. This concert event provides an unprecedented insider view into the legendary duo, and offers rare audio and video footage of the Gershwins.
Art of Time Ensemble's unprecedented and engaging production I Send You This Cadmium Red returns to the stage this spring. The critically acclaimed show is an exploration of the senses, merging music, theatre and striking visual projections to kaleidoscopic effect. Originally presented in 2011 to unanimous rave reviews, the remount features additional, never-before-heard music by composer Gavin Bryars (The Sinking of the Titanic), direction by Daniel Brooks (House, Possible Worlds) and musical direction by Andrew Burashko. Julian Richings (Helmlock Grove, Orphan Black) and John Fitzgerald Jay (True Crimes, Half Life) reprise their original roles, performing alongside ensemble musicians playing Bryars' music and visual projections created by Bruce Alcock. On stage from April 9 to 12 at the intimate Enwave Theatre, I Send You This Cadmium Red promises to be a stunning return.
Ripe Time, the Brooklyn-based company led by Rachel Dickstein, has garnered acclaim for creating physically charged, visually powerful adaptations of classic and contemporary stories by authors raging from Edith Wharton to Jhumpa Lahiri. Conceived, written and directed by Dickstein, the play The World is Round epitomizes the company's work, creating from Gertrude Stein's book a fable (for grownups and mature children) full of original, live music by Heather Christian and aerial movement choreographed by Nicki Miller. Ripe Time's first new show since its celebrated Mrs. Dalloway adaptation Septimus and Clarissa (2011), The World is Round makes its world premiere April 17 - 30 at BAM Fisher (Fishman Space, 321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn).
Internationally renowned director Peter Sellars returns to the Canadian Opera Company this spring with a new company production of Handel's Hercules that propels the Greek myth into the modern day, giving voice to the untold horrors of war and the unspoken complications faced by veterans returning home. The COC premiere of Hercules reunites Sellars with celebrated conductor Harry Bicket and the all-star cast that presented this co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago to unequivocal praise at its debut in Chicago in 2011. Hercules is sung in English with English SURTITLES and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 5, 11, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, 2014.
Internationally renowned director Peter Sellars returns to the Canadian Opera Company this spring with a new company production of Handel's Hercules that propels the Greek myth into the modern day, giving voice to the untold horrors of war and the unspoken complications faced by veterans returning home. The COC premiere of Hercules reunites Sellars with celebrated conductorHarry Bicket and the all-star cast that presented this co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago to unequivocal praise at its debut in Chicago in 2011. Hercules is sung in English with English SURTITLES and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 5, 11, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, 2014.
Comedic collaborators Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann join Will Arnett, Channing Tatum and Judas Priest's Rob Halford as guest-voices in the all-new “Steal This Episode” episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Jan. 5(8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
La MaMa kicks off 2014 with two offerings by Split Britches, New York's premiere lesbian performance troupe: 'Ruff,' Peggy Shaw's performance about life and art following her 2011 stroke, and 'Desperate Archives,' a gallery show of installations made from remnants of the company's last 20 years of work. 'Ruff' is performed by Peggy Shaw; it is written by Shaw and Lois Weaver and directed by Weaver. 'Desperate Archives' features contributions by Vivian Stoll, Stormy Brandenberger, Susan Young, Lori E Seid, Matt Delbridge, Helaine Gawlica, Eva Weiss, Saskia Scheffer, Jo Palmer and the Man Meat Collective.
Today, Monday, December 16 at 7:00 p.m. in Zankel Hall, the Carnegie Hall Notables-a membership and ticket program for music enthusiasts in their 20s and 30s-hosts Chris Thile and Friends, a special Notables-only performance featuring mandolin virtuoso, composer, and vocalist Chris Thile alongside frequent collaborators Michael Daves and Edgar Meyer and additional artists to be announced.
After 16 years, George Bernard Shaw returns to the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) stage in a sumptuous production of one of his most witty and richly invigorating works - Major Barbara. Salvation Army officer Major Barbara gets in an intriguing tangle of morality and religion when her church accepts money from her estranged father-a wealthy armaments manufacturer. If the price of supporting the poor is complicity with the country's most successful gun factory, who has the right to be righteous about saving the poor? Timely and topical, Major Barbara is a devilishly funny satire exploring themes of business, faith, family, and philanthropy. In the wake of highly successful Canadian productions, including No Exit, The Overcoat and Vigil, Major Barbara is co-produced with one of A.C.T.'s favorite Canadian collaborators, Theatre Calgary, which hosted A.C.T.'s visionary Tosca Project during its 2011 tour. Directed by Theatre Calgary Artistic Director Dennis Garnhum, Major Barbara features an international cast of both Canadian and American actors. This is the first staging of Major Barbara during A.C.T.'s tenure at The Geary Theater. Major Barbara runs January 8-February 2, 2014, at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Press night is Wednesday, January 15, 2014. Tickets ($20 -$140) are on sale now and may be purchased online at act-sf.org or by calling 415.749.2228.
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