Results tagged “Art” from Blogway Baby

Despite the Super Bowl and beautiful sunny weather yesterday afternoon, the Bagley Wright Theatre at Seattle Repertory Theatre was packed. Not surprising, because the closing performance of Bill Cain's HOW TO WRITE A NEW BOOK FOR THE BIBLE was playing. I was excited to get a rush seat, since the last Bill Cain play I saw at the Seattle Rep was EQUIVOCATION, which is one of my favorite plays of all time.

This production HOW TO WRITE A NEW BOOK FOR THE BIBLE, beautifully directed by Kent Nicholson, was a world premiere co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Everything about this production was amazing -- I laughed, I cried -- no really, I did! The play featured an awesome cast -- Linda Gehringer, Tyler Pierce, Aaron Blakely and Leo Marks (who deftly played a number of roles). Also fabulous scenic design by Scott Bradley and lighting design by Alexander V. Nichols.

From the website:

Writers are told to write what they know. But as Bill Cain discovers in writing about his own family, sometimes those we are closest to are the biggest mysteries of all. From the writer of Equivocation comes a beautiful new play taken from Cain’s own experiences caring for his dying mother. He asks the questions that speak to the heart of every family: What will never change…and what has to? A Jesuit priest as well as a playwright, Cain brings a fascinating view to this simple, powerful illustration of why the details of our lives and loves matter.

Hopefully it will be headed to Broadway in the future. If you get a chance to see this beautiful, touching, funny, true play, then run, don't walk to get tickets!

Road trip to London! Yeah, baby!

BIBA THE MUSICAL sounds ultra cool, I wish I could go to the London Showcase on October 25!

BIBA THE MUSICAL was written by Anthony Barry, David Foster-Smith and John Renoir, with set design and styling by Andrea Dunne.

Here's the 411 on the show from the website:

It’s the story of a fantasy that became a fantastic reality. It’s the story of fashion, of the Swinging Sixties, of beautiful people, of a musical and cultural coming of age. London 1964. Biba started as a tiny boutique in a Kensington sidestreet and grew to become a huge department store – unlike any that had been seen before or ever will again. Biba’s ethos was to be affordable but chic, to be so very very cool it almost hurt. All who were so very cool hung out there, from Brigitte Bardot to the Rolling Stones. Flamingoes strutted their stuff on the Roof Garden, while the louche and glamorous sipped exotic and often illegal cocktails in the Rainbow Room.

By the mid-seventies, Biba, by now an icon in its own time, found itself struggling to survive in a world that had turned cold and grey, a world of strikes, power cuts and recession. Glam was gone, and the angry voice of punk was on the streets. Suddenly it was all over, almost as suddenly as it had started. But the memories lingered in the minds of the tens of thousands who had been touched by the style, the music, the hedonism and the beautiful decadence that was Biba.

When I read the words "children's jazz puppet show", I just had to post this press release that I got!

Culture Project Presents The Cat Who Went To Heaven,

Captivating Jazz Puppet Show at The Harlem School of The Arts

with Music And Lyrics By Nancy Harrow

Based On The Newbery Award-Winning  Book By Elizabeth Coatsworth

Directed By Will Pomerantz

Six Special Performances Begin Wednesday, May 13, 2009 (suggested donation $10)

New York, NY, April 13, 2009 —  Culture Project  (Allan Buchman, Artistic Director), who brought to the stage the successful, seven season run of the children’s show Maya the Bee, has announced a special, six-performance run of the acclaimed children’s jazz puppet show The Cat Who Went to Heaven at The Harlem School of the Arts Theater (647 St. Nicholas Avenue @141^st Street). Directed by Will Pomerantz, with music and lyrics by Nancy Harrow (creator of the Maya the Bee production), this delightful show is based on the 1931 Newbery Award-winning children’s book by Elizabeth Coatsworth.

The Cat Who Went to Heaven features notable instrumentalists Clark Terry, Kenny Barron, Frank Wess and the voice of Grady Tate.  The delightful tale is about the intertwined fates of a struggling Japanese artist, his housekeeper, a Buddhist priest from the local temple and an inspirational cat named Good Fortune. The story’s timeless message of compassion for all beings resonates with people of all ages.

The Cat Who Went to Heaven brings together contemporary jazz and the traditional Japanese art of “Bunraku” puppetry. The full cast includes the singing voices of Ms. Harrow (as the title cat), Grady Tate (as the Artist), Anton Krukowski and Daryl Sherman, with Kameron Steele as the narrator. The puppeteers include Matt Brooks (as the Artist), Melissa Creighton (as the Cat), with Anna Sobel, Lara MacLean, Kate Katz and Eric Wright.

The full design team includes Jane Catherine Shaw and Amanda Maddock (puppet design and construction), Amanda Maddock (costume design) and Joseph Silovsky (set design).

“The show is a perfect introduction to jazz for children,” said Allan Buchman, Artistic Director, Culture Project. “For more seasoned jazz lovers, the show is an opportunity to enjoy Harrow’s beautiful score while soaking in the visual feast of Japanese Bunraku Puppetry.”

The six performances will take place at The Harlem School of the Arts Theater, 647 St. Nicholas Avenue between West 145th and 141st Streets, New York, NY 10030 as follows:

Suggested donation is $10.  Reservations can be made at 212-479-0829.

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at The 5^th Avenue  Theatre

Putting It Together (and by “it” I mean a fabulous show!)

I was lucky enough to attend opening night of The 5^th Avenue Theatre's production of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (April 21 – May 10). Written by Stephen Sondheim (Music and Lyrics) and James Lapine (Book), directed by Sam Buntrock with musical direction by the 5th Avenue's resident musical genius Ian Eisendrath, this is a not-to-be-missed, only-in-three-cities-ever (London, New York, Seattle), stuffed-to-the-celing-with-talent-cast event!

From the 5^th Avenue Theatre website:

Only three cities in the world will experience this exciting new production of Stephen Sondheim's musical masterpiece Sunday in the Park with George. Developed in London and transferred to Broadway, this Pulitzer Prize-winning love story (inspired by the life and work of impressionist painter Georges Seurat) comes to Seattle April 21-May 10. Featuring revolutionary state-of-the-art scenic design the New York Post hailed "Unmissable! One of the most visually amazing shows ever!" this moving story answers the question: What does it take to create a masterpiece? Everything you have.

In a Parisian park on a Sunday afternoon in 1884, artist Georges Seurat does a study of his model and mistress Dot. He is obsessed with how the eye translates points of individual color into different hues, but his work is decried by critics and other artists as having "no life." For her part, Dot is obsessed with Georges, and frustrated that he's more connected to his studies of people in the park—a nurse, a servant, a fellow artist—than her. The scene shifts to Georges' apartment, where Dot powders her face for a trip to the Follies, and Georges paints her, enraptured by her beauty. But she's shocked when he announces he can't go out: he has to finish his painting. She leaves, and the scene returns to the park, where Georges does other studies: a boatman, a pair of soldiers, some dogs. Dot arrives with her new boyfriend Louie, hoping to make Georges jealous, but he ignores them and continues with his painting. Still later, Dot comes to Georges at his studio, pregnant with his child. She again entreats him to tell her not to go, but he won't, and she announces that she and Louie are emigrating to America. Later in the park, the dramas and conflicts of the people George has been sketching come to a head, with arguments and recriminations flying. Then Georges' mantra is repeated: "Order. Design. Tension. Balance. Harmony." With that, the artist moves each of the figures into position—the masterpiece is complete, and before us is "Sunday in the Park of La Grande Jatte."

As the second act begins, a century has passed, and we see the painting on the wall of a museum, where the figures are caught in a perfect moment forever. Georges' great-grandson, also an artist named George, presents his multimedia sound and light art piece, "Chromalune #7." At the cocktail party afterwards, George engages in the real "art of making art:" high-powered cocktail schmoozing. As the crowd leave, George's grandmother Marie reminds him that the true legacies in life are children and art. Weeks later, George is in Paris in the Park of La Grande Jatte, commissioned to create another art piece. But his heart's not in it; Marie has died, and in the dark lonely park, he feels no inspiration. A woman approaches as he sits reading his great-grandmother's notebook—a woman wearing a distinctive and familiar dress...

The cast includes Hugh Panaro as George and Billie Wildrick as Dot. They were absolutely magnificent! The supporting cast is phenomenal and includes (to name a few) such Seattle luminaries as Carol Swarbrick, Rich Gray, Anne Allgood, Chad Jennings, Allen Fitzpatrick, Patti Cohenour, and Keaton Whittaker.

The set really is stunning. Watching the show unfold with moving animation behind, and around it, is thrilling. You literally have to see it to believe it! And if you are a high school student, that means you can see it for ten dollars!

I also had the pleasure to participate in the “connect the dots” cross promotion with local galleries! The opening night gallery was SAM Gallery, located at the corner of 3rd and University. The reception started at 5:30pm and I had a chance to meet the artists who had been commissioned to create new works based on Seurat's "Sunday in the Park of La Grande Jatte", see other new work, and drink wine and eat cheese catered by Le Pichet. It doesn’t get much better than that. Each night has a different gallery reception, so check the website!