October 13, 2008

Project Runway Meets Oedipus Rex

New Greek Tragedy Based On Fragments Of Lost Plays Opens in Los Angeles October 26, 2008.
An Elizabethan/Mycenaen/Kabuki fantasy filled with wit, humor and emotion on one of the great lost plays of Antiquity. Peter Wing Healey, dancer, actor, writer, choreographer, director, known for his portrayal of female characters, will be featured in his new play, THYESTES' FEAST, based on fragments of lost Greek plays set in a high fashion version of the culture of ancient Mycenae. Mr. Wing Healey is known especially for the role of Mrs. Stahlbaum in Mark Morris's ballet "The Hard Nut" as seen on Great Performances on PBS and on Ovation TV. Octavio Roca of the San Francisco Chronicle called Wing Healey, "a cross between the dance goddess Isadora and the late movie star Divine." Says Wing Healey. "I stumbled on the fact that Euripides, Aeschylus and Sophocles had all written trilogies on the subject. But all their full plays are lost. However, enough pieces of the original plot have survived to recreate the story." Mr. Wing Healey decided to write his own version of the play. "Of course, there is shrapnel; fragments of whatever was in my brain: a recipe for chicken stew, a bit of Levi-Strauss, some Game Theory, old Hollywood movies, the situation in this country, etc. etc.." However, myth lovers of every stripe may rest assured that the play contains a faithful account of the original story. SYNOPSIS: Atreus is king. His wife Aerope betrays him, becoming lovers with, and giving the throne, which is in her power to give, to his younger brother Thyestes. Thyestes, generous, benevolent ruler, beloved of the people, is ousted when his predilection for seducing the young virgins of the court comes to light. He and Aerope are exiled in the forest for ten years. When they return the people are anxious to forgive and reinstate them. Atreus must think of a way to get rid of them. He murders Thyestes' two sons and has them cooked into a stew. Aerope takes poison and dies. When Thyestes eats he is doomed to perpetual banishment. He calls down a curse on the House of Atreus. When the Sun sees what Atreus has done She retreats, furious, plunging the Earth into darkness. The Golden Ram and The Sun will be played by former New York City Ballet dancer, Bridgette Trahan. Atreus will be played by Michael Serrato, recently of the Groundlings and Big Gay Sketch Show produced by Rosie O'Donnell, alternating with Clint Steinhauser, a member of Rachel Rosenthal's Fauve Conspiracy. Mr. Wing Healey will play the tormented Queen Aerope. The Facts: What: Thyestes' Feast, written and directed by Peter Wing Healey, co- directed by Russell Ellison, Costumes by Karolyn Kiisel, sets by Tanya Kovaleski When: Saturdays at 8, Sundays at 7, Opens Sunday, October 26 and runs through November 30, 2008 Where: Whitmore-Lindley Theater Center, North Hollywood 11006 Magnolia near corner of Magnolia and Vineland Running Time: 2 hours plus 15 minute intermission, light refreshments available Parking: Free, street Price: $20 at the door or $22.50 if charged in advance Tickets: charge or reserve at 323 960 7745 or www.plays411.com/feast. Web: www.mesopotamianopera.org.
COMPANY HISTORY: Peter Wing Healey, performer, librettist, choreographer, director and founder of The Mesopotamian Opera Company, Inc., whose original operas have been presented in New York at P.S. 122, The Judson Church, The Vineyard Theater, The Middle Collegiate Church, The R.A.P.P. Arts Center, H.E.R.E., The Greenwich House and Alice Tully Hall, LATC, Highways and The Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock in northeast Los Angeles.
Mr. Wing Healey has lived and worked in Los Angeles since 1996. He has a long association with The Mark Morris Dance Group both as a performer and as rehearsal director. He worked as a soloist in The Hard Nut, as rehearsal director on The White Oak Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov and has been balletmaster on the John Adams/Peter Sellars opera Nixon in China. In Los Angeles he has danced original works at The Getty Center, 2100 Square Feet, U.C.L.A., L.A.T.C. and Highways. He has received support for his work from American Opera Projects, TWEED Productions, The Gilman Foundation, The Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, The Department of Cultural Affairs of the city of Los Angeles, The Jim and Elaine Marcus Foundation and The Noah Wyle Foundation. 1n 2006 he received the coveted James Irvine Foundation New Connections Grant of $25,000 for his urbanist opera, The Tree. Rounding out the cast will be Pat Lach, a veteran Los Angeles actress, Nathalie Broizat also of Fauve Conspiracy, Bruce Andersen of The Invisible Theater, David Anthony Hernandez, Robert Long, and Michael Griffith.
For Television, Radio, & Press Interviews, & REVIEWER RESERVATIONS Contact:
INTEGRITY PUBLICITY
L.A.: Robert Axelrod (213) 483-1449 N.Y.: Sheryl Mandel (718) 352-5976

October 9, 2008

A Unique Expression of Freedom II

Francisco Simoes Souren Mousavi's exhibition 'A Unique Expression of Freedom II' featuring a selection of work from Francisco, runs frun 21st - 31st October 2008 at the Flawless Gallery 105 New Bond Street London and is open daily from 10am -6pm; free entry. private viewing sessions can be arranged in advance. For further information visit www.fineartpromotions.com or email info@fineartpromotions.com or telephone Julie Badrick on 079 412 712 44.
Francisco Simões will be exhibiting in support of Women Rights in Iranian Souren Mousavi's forthcoming exhibition - A Unique Expression of Freedom II Carving with a Chisel or a Magic wand? "But...these marbles are my poetry..." were the words of David Mourão Ferreira, one of the greatest poets of our times while, with tears in his eyes he walked through Francisco Simões' studio.
'I still remember exactly how small the experience made me feel when I first stepped into the same magic place - it was just before an exhibition and the studio was filled with an abundance of sculptures. I was with the artist who politely stepped aside in order to make me feel at ease, but his efforts were in vain - I wasn't comfortable! ''Why?'', I asked myself? Why do I feel overwhelmed, invaded - it is just stone I said to myself, I've been in quarries... but no, it wasn't just stone. Something else was perturbing me. I was intimidated. Overcoming this initial feeling I started to look more closely at one of the sculptures near me - a dark piece of extremely polished marble. It was the figure of a lady, a straight torso looking forward, looking lost. As I circled her I forgot my reflection on the shining surface and now I could see her form. Then my eyes met hers - she was not stone anymore. Her eyes spoke to me. She wasn't lost, she wasn't just staring or gazing into the infinite; she was looking for me. She was alive. For a few moments while our eyes met she told me about herself. She made me feel alive'.

Continue reading "A Unique Expression of Freedom II" »

July 20, 2008

LA Playwright Sinner Living with MS Captures FringeNYC

Theatre Revelation Presents 2 by Sinner: Unburthen (To My Soul's Delight!) & If Water Were Present It Would Be Called Drowning premieres at FringeNYC 2008!!! New York, NY,July 14, 2008 -- Theatre Revelation is proud to present "2 by Sinner: Unburthen (To My Soul's Delight!) & If Water Were Present It Would Be Called Drowning" as part of the 11th annual New York International Fringe Festival - Fringe NYC. This is Theatre Revelation's first time performing in New York and the world premiere of both works being performed together, will be playing at The Connelly Theatre 220 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10009 on Friday, August, 08, 2008 at 5:00- 6:00 PM, Tuesday, August, 12, 2008 at 7:00 - 8:00PM, Saturday, August, 16, 2008 at 10:0011:00PM, Tuesday, August, 19, 2008 at 3:00 - 4:00PM and Saturday, August, 23 at 5:00- 6:00PM.Tickets are $15 and can purchased at www.FringeNYC.org .
Sinner describes he works as "A two-actor diptych that is a modern take on Adam and Eve, trapped in various forms of a deteriorating Garden of Eden. First presented as Brother and Sister (after all, Eve was "created" from Adam's rib; doesn't that make them related?) in stylized white face, part gothic kabuki, part slapstick vaudeville, living in their own isolated apocalyptic playground, the siblings play, bicker, sing and dance as frantically as they can to ward off their own psychological endgame. The second piece explores the couple as Husband and Wife, with the wife's subconscious attempts to liberate herself from the classic "Doll's House" Syndrome. She short circuits before us while delivering a monologue, sharing her fantastical sexual yearnings and interior life while disconcerting voice-overs and music cues bombard her as her husband snores."
The show is written and directed by Los Angeles native John Sinner, who is the Producing Artistic Director of Theatre Revelation.
ReviewPlays.com wrote in April 2006 - "John Sinner has been one of the prominent exponents of surrealistic theatre in Los Angeles... Sinner is the kind of playwright that goes for the throat-"
John is a gay artist living with multiple sclerosis, who has had work performed at REDCAT at Disney Hall, amongst others. Both works star Los Angeles Bay area native Betsy Moore and John Sinner, in the modern Eve and Adam roles. Matt Richter, the former Tech Director at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica is the Lighting and Sound Designer.
Theatre Revelation is a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) theatrical production company whose artistic mission is to create, nurture and produce new theatrical works that focus on the original, inventive and experimental, in order to reveal and illuminate our human existence within the community and world at large. For Ticket info: 212.279.4488 For more info please visit: www.fringenyc.org, www.TheatreRevelation.com, www.myspace.com/johnsinnerny For Media Interviews for John Sinner Contact : Sheryl Mandel Integrity Publicity New York, NY 718-352-5976 - ssshekkie@aol.com , www.myspace.com/integritypr.

July 13, 2008

Nature Interrupted

The Chelsea Art Museum, Home of the Miotte Foundation, is proud to present Nature Interrupted. The urgent and imperative message to restore health to the environment must be conveyed in every possible form of media and communication, and more so in art, for it is one of the most powerful languages humans have ever created. Even in prehistoric times, peoples sought to transform the environment, through their cave paintings, megaliths and stone circles--seeking ways to connect with the force of nature. From those early beginnings, artists have been profoundly influenced by the images, colors, patterns, structures and systems of nature around them. At various times of turbulent change in our history, such as in Hellenistic Greece, medieval Japan, and Europe at the time of the great political and industrial revolutions, new art forms have emerged in order to address the changing relationship between nature and society. From the turn of the new millennium, world concern over environmental issues such as pollution and global warming, species depletion, new genetic technologies, sustainability and global pandemics has increased. Artists, in turn, are responding by answering collective cultural needs and developing active and practical roles in environmental and social issues. In this exhibition, Nature Interrupted, eleven artists show very diverse aspects of their concern. They may focus on a rare species in danger of extinction, such as the eagle in Osmo Rauhala's captivating video images, or the preservation of trees threatened by decease, as in Joan Backes's paintings of tree bark, which could, in the future, become a points of reference to a species no longer in existence. Another metaphor is Katie Holten's artificial tree made of refuse such as recycled cardboard, wire, newspaper, and black tape. The emblem of a tree in distress is a perfect symbol for the environmental crisis we are experiencing. Anya Gallaccio's installation Like We Never Met (2003) includes a series of doors with flowers pressed behind glass. Over the course of the exhibition, the flowers blacken and decay, highlighting the opposition between the instability of the natural materials and the permanence of the cast objects. Dannielle Tegeder's drawings depict a certain geometric growth as in the constructions of ants' colonies or mole hills - it is up to the viewer's imagination to decide whether Tegeder's "city" is above or under the ground. Soazic Guezennec transfers the African jungle to a suburban surrounding, embellishing it with colorful billboard images resembling a tree house, giraffe or field of orchids. Soazic Guezennec's installation shows a tent, an umbrella and a mosquito net painted with Africa's tropical flora and fauna, yet covered with holes and rips and no longer useful and protective. These objects are a metaphor for environmental problems such as dirty water, acid rains and pollution that destroy Africa's natural environment. Alexis Rockman in his series of paintings "American Icons" shows an apocalyptic vision of American national monuments such as the U.S. Capitol and Mount Rushmore. Even such bastions of frivolity and greed as Hollywood suffer the same leveling fate when it comes to the status-blind and whimsical response of our planet. Equally the drawings in Helen Brough's series "Cataclysmic Hypotheses" generate imaginary visions of iconic contemporary architecture that will eventually become ruins. These drawings serve as a translation of vague unconscious dreams of catastrophes mixed with the haunting recollections of disasters seen in film, television, newspapers or on the web. The installation by Jade Townsend prompts us to reconsider our current vision of an "ideal" and "successful" life - in the wake of increasingly common violent natural disasters that can instantly obliterate all we have striven to achieve in a lifetime. Jon Brumit focuses on corn as an evolving instrument for litigation and intellectual property issues. By way of critique of the current corporate influence over food production, his sound installation using recycled plastic bags and counterfeit corn resembles sonic architecture and violent instruments more than anything remotely edible. Chus Garcia-Fraile in her photographs and videos inserts escalators and other examples of modern technology into pristine jungles and landscapes - a vision that is disturbing and enchanting at the same time. Is that the future of nature - will it be saved or destroyed by modern technology? Artists in the show: Joan Backes (USA), Jon Brumit (USA), Helen Brough (England), Anya Gallaccio (England), Chus Garcia-Fraile (Spain), Katie Holten (Ireland), Soazic Guezennec (France), Osmo Rauhala (Finland), Alexis Rockman (USA), Dannielle Tegeder (USA), Jade Townsend (USA). Image: Anya Gallaccio, Like We've Never Met, 2003. Found mahoghany glazed doors two parts each. 231.5 x 68.5 cm. Courtesy Lehman Maupin Gallery.
The Chelsea Art Museum 556 West 22nd Street (at Eleventh Avenue) New York, NY 10011 Tue-Sat 11am-6pm, Thurs 11am-8pm www.chelseaartmuseum.org
Contact:
Nicollette Ramirez
212.255.0719 x108
nicollette@chelseaartmuseum.org

June 28, 2008

METRO's Far Flung Perceptions

Pointillism Jazz Consort will assemble from different parts of the world just days prior to their opening performance in "METRO: in the state of mind "at the Capital Fringe in Washington DC on July 10, 2008. But can a group that is spread from Texas to Ohio to New York to London to D.C. effectively prepare for such an unusual theatre project? (and, moreover, a project which requires a seamless blending of individual perceptions in a strong ensemble piece?) Impossible, you say! Nope - even the choreography can be learned in different cities at the same time. The minimalist music score is created in Akron by composer, Ron Hazelett and rehearsed in D.C. The costume design is conceptualized by Andy Jordan in New York by watching performers in rehearsal from disparate parts of the globe. But, HOW can this be?!! Modern technology is bringing these artists together through scheduled internet conferences and webcam rehearsals in their different time zones. In this way these professionals (dancers, actors, This ensemble embodies the very essence of the company's name: Pointillism. The painting technique of combining dots of pure color which then become blended in the viewer's eye perfectly reflects the way this dance company functions. "Individual expression is very evident in each of us. And when we blend those expressions together in a single vision - POW! It's pretty intense stuff," comments Chace Coulter, an active collaborator in Pointillism Jazz Consort for the past two seasons. Experimental theatre usually refers to the performance, rather than the rehearsal process. But, in METRO even the rehearsal process has an element of experimental boundary stretching. Interestingly, this living art piece looks at modern technology and how it affects us daily. As Pointillism explores the perceptions of the information age, it is clear that without electronic technology this project would not be possible. The concept for "Metro: in the state of mind" was hatched eight years ago by co-creators, Ron Hazelett and Suzanne Winland, and finally comes together with this most diversely gifted cast. The show runs from July 10 - 13 and July 19-20 in the Baldacchino @ Fort Fringe at 607 NY Ave NW, Washington DC. You may stretch your perception even further by visiting the project website at http://metrostateofmind.org Tickets can be bought either through a link on that site or by calling the Capital Fringe Festival office at 202.737.7230

Categories

To POST a New Article or a Comment to an Existing Article
Click Here


Current Issue of
Scene4 Magazine