The Contrast - 2006 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 7

Thanks to new technologies, artists can now make 3D films and play them like melodic, texture-based visual instruments in real time, performing in duets with acoustic musicians. A new genre of collaborative performance is in the making, as demonstrated in 'Minimus 3D Arkestra,' a visual-sonic concert by Ikuo Nakamura (film) and Hayes Greenfield (sax/voice/effects rig). This pioneering fusion of disciplines will be revealed in a five-week run, today, June 30 to July 30, at the intimate 13th Street Repertory Theatre, 50 West 13th Street.

Screen Actors Guild Foundation and BroadwayWorld.com have partnered for a filmed Conversations Q&A series to recognize and celebrate the vibrant theatre community in New York City and the actors who aspire to have a career on the stage and screen. On June 10 (6PM) please join us for a Conversations screening of LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER: THE NANCE, Q&A with Nathan Lane?. Moderated by BroadwayWorld.com's Richard Ridge, the event will take place at The New School - Tishman Auditorium (63 Fifth Ave).

Thanks to new technologies, artists can now make 3D films and play them like melodic, texture-based visual instruments in real time, performing in duets with acoustic musicians. A new genre of collaborative performance is in the making, as demonstrated in 'Minimus 3D Arkestra,' a visual-sonic concert by Ikuo Nakamura (film) and Hayes Greenfield (sax/voice/effects rig).

The play Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind, which was written in Germany in the late 19th century was censored for a time due to its frank portrayal of masturbation, abortion, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide. Exposing the rocky sexual coming of age of a group of teenagers, its helter-skelter but life-affirming journey is again explored in the 2006 Tony Award winning musical of the same name Spring Awakening through folk based and alternative rock, and boasts some expertly staged storytelling, singing, choreography and exuberant performances at the Wallis Annenberg through June 7 only. This is a brief return of Deaf West's critically-acclaimed production from last fall 2014 directed by Michael Arden.

Pacific Symphony has reunited with Academy Award-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal to release the world-premiere recording of his “Symphony in G# Minor” on the Zarathustra Music label Tuesday, May 12. Goldenthal wrote the 22-minute work for Pacific Symphony and Music Director Carl St.Clair as part of the orchestra's 2014 American Composers Festival. This collaboration comes 20 years after the orchestra commissioned Goldenthal to write a piece for the 20th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Entitled “Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio,” the hour-long work for orchestra and SATB chorus with soloists and a cello obbligato, was premiered in 1995, with the recording released in 1996 on Sony Classical Records, featuring renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

The Public Theater welcomes Tony Award nominee Jonathan Groff to the cast of HAMILTON as 'King George' tonight, March 3. Groff, who performed in The Public's recent revival of Hair as well as The Bacchae and The Singing Forest, is replacing Brian d'Arcy James, who will be starring in Something Rotten on Broadway this spring.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the Humanities Center of Carnegie Mellon University announce the launch of the inaugural Pittsburgh Humanities Festival, scheduled for March 26-29, 2015. The Festival will take place throughout Pittsburgh's Cultural District and neighboring locales.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced today that Tony Award nominee Jonathan Groff will join the cast of HAMILTON as 'King George' on Tuesday, March 3. Groff, who performed in The Public's recent revival of Hair as well as The Bacchae and The Singing Forest, is replacing Brian d'Arcy James, who will be starring in Something Rotten on Broadway this spring. The world premiere musical HAMILTON, inspired by the book 'Alexander Hamilton' by Ron Chernow, with book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and directed by Thomas Kail, has been extended three times at The Public due to sold-out demand and will close as scheduled on Sunday, May 3 prior to a Broadway transfer to the Richard Rodgers Theatre beginning July 13 and opening August 6.

'Kafka's Quest, a.k.a. Kafka/Samsa' is a quasi-realistic play by the late playwright Lu Hauser that imagines the family life of Gregor Samsa, the tragic victim of Kafka's 'Metamorphosis,' and his friendship with an historic Yiddish Theater actor and actress in Prague, prior to the events of the famed novella. Set in Prague in 1912, it portrays Gregor Samsa (the name Kafka personified himself with in the book) as torn between his father, who wants to keep him on the straight and narrow with a full time job, and his friendship with artists of the Yiddish Theater, who want him to join and write for them. His father's bankruptcy forces Gregor to become the breadwinner of the family, which has been forced to take in two mysterious lodgers to make ends meet. The back and forth between the two poles of Gregor's life will culminate in 'The Metamorphosis.' Theater for the New City will present the play's world premiere February 26 to March 15, directed by Manfred Bormann.

September 13, 27, 29 and October 2, 2006. These forgotten dates inherit new meaning when Milwaukee Rep stages Jessica Dickey's The Amish Project in the Stiemke Studio. Each of these four dates represents a school shooting--and one occurred in a tiny Wisconsin town-- while debut playwright Dickey focuses on October 2. October 2, 2006 the local neighborhood milkman walked into Pennsylvania's Nickel Mines schoolhouse with a gun and shot ten girls, five who survived..

'Kafka's Quest, a.k.a. Kafka/Samsa' is a quasi-realistic play by the late playwright Lu Hauser that imagines the family life of Gregor Samsa, the tragic victim of Kafka's 'Metamorphosis,' and his friendship with an historic Yiddish Theater actor and actress in Prague, prior to the events of the famed novella. Set in Prague in 1912, it portrays Gregor Samsa (the name Kafka personified himself with in the book) as torn between his father, who wants to keep him on the straight and narrow with a full time job, and his friendship with artists of the Yiddish Theater, who want him to join and write for them. His father's bankruptcy forces Gregor to become the breadwinner of the family, which has been forced to take in two mysterious lodgers to make ends meet. The back and forth between the two poles of Gregor's life will culminate in 'The Metamorphosis.' Theater for the New City will present the play's world premiere February 26 to March 15, directed by Manfred Bormann.

On Friday, March 20, 2015, 8 pm, BARGEMUSIC presents celebrated Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks in a recital featuring the world premiere of Clarice Assad's Godai, five movements for speaking pianist with poetry by Steven Schroeder, paired with two monumental works by Johannes Brahms, rarely heard together on one program: Piano Sonata No. 2 in F-sharp minor, Op. 2 and Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5. Also featured on the program is Clara Schumann's Romance, Op. 21/#1, “To my friend Brahms.”

Producer Larry G. Spangler and The Spangler Group announced today the creative team for HAPPY TRAILS, a new musical based on the life and career of American icons Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Evans. The musical will feature original music by Tony and multiAcademy Award-winner Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Sister Act), lyrics by Tony nominee Glenn Slater (Sister Act, Tangled, ABC-TV's Galavant, upcoming School of Rock), a book by Academy Award-winner Marshall Brickman (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Jersey Boys, The Addams Family), and direction by two-time Tony Award-winner Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys, Big River, Tommy).

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the lineup for the 15th edition of Film Comment magazine's essential, eclectic festival, taking place February 20 - March 5, 2015.

Juilliard Dance, under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes, opens its 2014-15 season in December with New Dances: Edition 2014 featuring four world premieres by innovative choreographers: Juilliard alumnus Austin McCormick (1st-Year Dancers); alumna Loni Landon (2nd-Year Dancers); Kate Weare (3rd-Year Dancers); and Larry Keigwin (4th-Year Dancers). Mr. Keigwin is returning to Juilliard where he previously choreographed and premiered, in December 2008, Runaway, a large-scale piece that riffs on the high fashion runway scene, and, in December 2009, Megalopolis.

From turbulent, agitated and ominous to lyrical and tender—it's a passionate journey the audience won't soon forget when Pacific Symphony and guest pianist Haochen Zhang deliver Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in all its glory. Following Zhang's BBC Proms debut, The Telegraph (United Kingdom) called the international piano sensation “one of those hot young Chinese virtuosi everyone's talking about.” Led by Bulgarian-born guest conductor Rossen Milanov, the orchestra then performs a work by Brahms, as the composer steps out of Beethoven's shadow with his rich, ingenious Second Symphony. The cheery and almost pastoral mood of the piece often invites comparisons with Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. Rounding out the versatile program is Thomas Adès' “Three Studies from Couperin,” of which The Jerusalem Post wrote: “Such a combination of enchanting, sensitive lyricism and hypnotizing forcefulness is a phenomenon encountered very rarely.”

Despite the fact that I am a great lover of cinema, the film version of ONCE (2006) somehow eluded me; now, the musical stage adaptation, with music by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova and a book by Enda Walsh, is affording Memphians an 'off season' 'pub crawl' at the historic Orpheum Theatre - and though I have never been particularly fond of Irish whimsy (Barry Fitzgerald's coy old priest in GOING MY WAY is probably the source of that), and though PBS repeats of performances of clarion-voiced Irish lasses sawing away at violins and Riverdancers send me reaching for the remote, I am happy to report that . . . I finally 'get it.' ONCE is a refreshingly 'laid back' vehicle for a musical; its often wistful, incisive, perceptive numbers are an intimate alternative to the often overblown showstoppers of larger musicals.

Monday, October 27 at 9:00 pm there will be a special performance at State 72 / The Triad, 158 West 72 Street (just off Broadway). Written and performed by Jon Peterson, "He Wrote Good Songs" is the story of Anthony Newley, the legendary British actor, singer, song-writer, director.

From turbulent, agitated and ominous to lyrical and tender—it's a passionate journey the audience won't soon forget when Pacific Symphony and guest pianist Haochen Zhang deliver Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in all its glory. Following Zhang's BBC Proms debut, The Telegraph (United Kingdom) called the international piano sensation “one of those hot young Chinese virtuosi everyone's talking about.” Led by Bulgarian-born guest conductor Rossen Milanov, the orchestra then performs a work by Brahms, as the composer steps out of Beethoven's shadow with his rich, ingenious Second Symphony. The cheery and almost pastoral mood of the piece often invites comparisons with Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. Rounding out the versatile program is Thomas Adès' “Three Studies from Couperin,” of which The Jerusalem Post wrote: “Such a combination of enchanting, sensitive lyricism and hypnotizing forcefulness is a phenomenon encountered very rarely.”

Monday, October 27 at 9:00 pm there will be a special performance at State 72 / The Triad, 158 West 72 Street (just off Broadway). Written and performed by Jon Peterson, 'He Wrote Good Songs' is the story of Anthony Newley, the legendary British actor, singer, song-writer, director.

The New York Philharmonic will present the second season of THE ART OF THE SCORE: Film Week at the Philharmonic September 16-20, 2014, offering two concert programs of film music - La Dolce Vita: The Music of Italian Cinema and Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times: The Tramp at 100 - that highlight some of the genre's most distinctive uses of music. Music Director Alan Gilbert opens the New York Philharmonic's 2014-15 season on September 16 with the Opening Gala Concert, La Dolce Vita: The Music of Italian Cinema, with special guest Martin Scorsese, Oscar-winning director and film preservation proponent, who will deliver welcoming and introductory remarks. Award-winning actor, Philharmonic Board Member, and Philharmonic Radio Host Alec Baldwin returns as Artistic Advisor of THE ART OF THE SCORE.

Houston Grand Opera's U.S. premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Passenger- the long-suppressed Holocaust opera that Shostakovich declared 'a perfect masterpiece'- earned virtually universal acclaim earlier this year. The Chicago Tribune declared The Passenger to be an 'engrossing, thought-provoking experience,' while the Houston Chronicle praised the presentation for 'ingenious storytelling, potent music, commanding performances and vivid, fast-paced staging.' Now HGO brings the David Pountney production of The Passenger for its New York premiere in three performances- today, July 10, 12, 13 -at the Park Avenue Armory as part of the 2014 Lincoln Center Festival.

Houston Grand Opera's U.S. premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Passenger— the long-suppressed Holocaust opera that Shostakovich declared “a perfect masterpiece”— earned virtually universal acclaim earlier this year. The Chicago Tribune declared The Passenger to be an “engrossing, thought-provoking experience,” while the Houston Chronicle praised the presentation for “ingenious storytelling, potent music, commanding performances and vivid, fast-paced staging.” Now HGO brings the David Pountney production of The Passenger for its New York premiere in three performances— July 10, 12, 13 —at the Park Avenue Armory as part of the 2014 Lincoln Center Festival. Pountney's staging was inspired, in part, by the soaring space of Park Avenue Armory's massive Wade Thompson Drill Hall, where he produced Zimmerman'sDie Soldaten for Lincoln Center Festival in 2008. HGO artistic and music director Patrick Summers will conduct the HGO Orchestra and Chorus; reviewing the Houston performances, the Wall Street Journal praised Summers for the way he “shaped the evening with enormous care.” The Dallas Morning News commended all the singers – headed by mezzo-soprano Michelle Breedt in the title role – by saying: “Top to bottom, the cast is excellent.”

Houston Grand Opera's U.S. premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Passenger-the long-suppressed Holocaust opera that Shostakovich declared "a perfect masterpiece"-earned virtually universal acclaim earlier this year