CROSSING THE LINE 2010
Ryoji Ikeda’s “datamatics (ver. 2.0)” kicks off FIAF’s Crossing the Line festival on September 10-11
FIAF FALL FESTIVAL
French Institute Alliance Française and other locations
Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
Le Skyroom and FIAF Gallery, 22 East 60th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
September 10-27, free- $45
212-355-6160
www.fiaf.org/crossingtheline
The fourth annual Crossing the Line Festival, a multidisciplinary international celebration consisting of cutting-edge music, dance, film, theater, art, photography, lectures, and even a fair, will take place September 10-27 at FIAF as well as such other venues as the Joyce, the Invisible Dog Art Center, 3rd Ward, the Red Hook Community Farm, Dance Theater Workshop, Columbia University, the ISSUE Project Room, and Anthology Film Archives. Ryoji Ikeda kicks off the festival with “datamatics [ver. 2.0],” in which the Japanese artist and composer uses computer data, an electronic score, and strobes to present a visually dynamic performance; Ikeda’s multimedia installation “the transcendental” will be on view in the FIAF Gallery for free from September 11 through October 16. There will be a pair of exciting site-specific performance pieces, with locations to be announced, with Arthur Nauzyciel’s HETERO running September 11-14 and Daniel Pettrow’s THE SEA MUSEUM scheduled for September 18-19. Former Pina Bausch dramaturg Raimund Hoghe and Congolese dancer-choreographer Faustin Linyekula team up on September 16-18, Buddhist monk and teacher Matthieu Ricard sits down with Philip Glass on September 13 to engage in a “Conversation on Contemplation and Creativity,” and Willi Dorner will lead “Bodies in Urban Spaces,” a pair of free performance walks in Lower Manhattan scheduled for sunrise on September 27 and sunset on September 27. In addition, “Farm City: Where Are You Growing?” will explore urban agriculture around the city with a fair, film screenings, a farm tour, and an afternoon forum. The festival will also include performances and appearances by Jérôme Bel, Bertrand Bonello, Bouchra Ouizguen, Richard Garet, and Eliane Radigue. Tickets for the 2010 edition of Crossing the Line are on sale now; please note that some of the free events require advance RSVPs.
BAM NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL
Don’t get washed out of getting tickets to see Pina Bausch’s VOLLMOND at BAM (photo by Laurent Philippe)
Brooklyn Academy of Music
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Ave.
BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St.
September 23 – December 19, $20-$85
718-636-4100
www.bam.org
Now in its twenty-eighth year, BAM’s Next Wave Festival is, as always, a terrific collection of productions scouted from around the world. Single tickets go on sale Monday, August 30, for Laurie Anderson’s phantasmagoric DELUSION and Pina Bausch’s VOLLMOND, an extremely strong one-two punch to get the season going, featuring a pair of longtime BAM favorites; we recently caught Anderson at (le) poisson rouge, and she’s still at the top of her game, while VOLLMOND is the final piece from the inventive, innovative, and endlessly entertaining Bausch, who passed away in June 2009, leaving behind a BAM legacy that included the thrilling BAMBOO BLUES, NEFÉS, and FUR DIE KINDER VON GESTERN, HEUTE, UND MORGEN, among other splendid shows. The rest of the series goes on sale September 7, with such highlights as Ralph Lemon’s HOW CAN YOU STAY IN THE HOUSE ALL DAY AND NOT GO ANYWHERE?, Stew’s BROOKLYN OMNIBUS, Julia Stiles in the Ridge Theater’s PERSEPHONE, Sasha Waltz’s GEZEITEN, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s version of Akira Kurosawa’s THRONE OF BLOOD, Thomas Ostermeier’s take on Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN, Gísli Örn Gardarsson and Nick Cave’s experimental exploration of Franz Kafka’s METAMORPHOSIS, and Mikel Rouse’s multimedia extravaganza GRAVITY RADIO. Subscription tickets are available right now; if you buy seats to four or more shows, you can save up to forty percent and receive such benefits as priority access to future seasons, flexible scheduling, and discounts for additional tickets.
CHARLES BUSCH — A BIRTHDAY EVENT
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF HIS FABULOUS CAREER
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
208 West 13th St.
Monday, August 23, $50 (VIP $75), 6:00
212-620-7310
www.gaycenter.org
www.charlesbusch.com
Charles Busch, the mastermind behind such cutting-edge plays as THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST’S WIFE, VAMPIRE LESBIANS OF SODOM, and SHANGHAI MOON and the star of such films as PSYCHO BEACH PARTY and DIE MOMMIE DIE! will be honored on the occasion of his fifty-sixth birthday August 23 at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center for a twenty-five-year career that has brought LGBT issues to the forefront in New York City and across the country. The event begins at 6:00 with a private VIP reception, followed at 7:00 by a screening of the documentary THE LADY IN QUESTION IS CHARLES BUSCH (John Catania & Charles Ignacio, 2005) with the filmmakers present. Busch will then talk about his life and career at 8:30 and perform a scene from THE DIVINE SISTER with Julie Halston, Alison Fraser, and Amy Rutberg; the play is reopening September 12 at the SoHo Playhouse. All proceeds benefit the Center and the Ark: the LGBT Stories Project. The event’s star-studded honorary host committee includes Christine Ebersole, Paul Rudnick, Angela Lansbury, Cheyenne Jackson, Joan Rivers, Dan Butler, and Kathleenn Turner.
AN EVENING WITH MICHELLE KRUSIEC
Michelle Krusiec is feeling a bit trapped in MADE IN TAIWAN (photo by Mark Turek)
FREE THURSDAYS
Museum of Chinese in America
215 Centre St. between Howard & Grand Sts.
Thursday, August 19, free with RSVP to education@mocanyc.org, 7:00
212-619-4785
www.mocanyc.org
www.michellekrusiec.com
Since 2001, actress Michelle Krusiec has been performing and expanding her one-woman show, MADE IN TAIWAN, a seriocomic autobiographical examination of her own coming-of-age as an Asian American, focusing on her relationship with her Taiwanese mother. The play is one of the highlights of the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival, where it can be seen at the New School for Drama Theatre on August 20, 23, and 24 at 9:30 (tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door). But you can catch a special abbreviated free presentation of MADE IN TAIWAN on August 19 at 7:00 as part of the Museum of Chinese in America’s weekly First Thursdays program (advance RSVP required to education@mocanyc.org). Following the performance, Krusiec, who has appeared in such films as SAVING FACE, NANKING, and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, will participate in a Q&A session with the audience. Admission to the museum is free all day, from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm, so be sure to check out the current exhibits as well, including “With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America” and “Here & Now: Chinese Artists in New York.”
TWI-NY TALK: ELISSA LERNER
Elissa Lerner investigates religious differences in unique ways in ABRAHAM’S DAUGHTERS, part of the 2010 Fringe Festival (photo by Kaija B. Braus)
ABRAHAM’S DAUGHTERS
New York International Fringe Festival
SoHo Playhouse
15 Vandam St.
Sunday, August 15, 7:15; Tuesday, August 17, 5:45; Saturday, August 21, 4:45; Wednesday, August 25, 9:45; Saturday, August 28, 6:00
Tickets: $15-$18
866-468-7619
www.abrahamsdaughterstheplay.com
www.fringenyc.org
Forest Hills native Elissa Lerner headed south for college, graduating cum laude in religion and theater studies from Duke University. She put those disciplines together for her honors thesis, ABRAHAM’S DAUGHTERS, a provocative play that has been selected to be part of the fourteenth annual New York International Fringe Festival. Produced by Lerner and directed by Niccolo Aeed, ABRAHAM’S DAUGHTERS follows the changing personal and sexual relationships among a group of students at a southern university, including the Jewish Sara (Rebecca LaChance), the Muslim Ranya (Déa Julien), the Methodist Kate (Keely Flaherty), and the atheist Will (Ayreh Lappin). Earlier this week, Lerner, who is also a freelance journalist working on her master’s at NYU, took a break from her hectic production schedule to discuss Duke, religious politics, and being at the Fringe.
twi-ny: ABRAHAM'S DAUGHTERS has been influenced by stops in Qatar and Israel, among other locations. Currently, in New York City, there is a debate going on about the potential building of a mosque near Ground Zero, and there are more and more protests against Israeli actions, especially on college campuses. Where does the play fit in the ongoing battle over religious freedom and interfaith dialogue?
Elissa Lerner: That’s a great question, and an important one. One of the things the director and I have talked about with regard to ABRAHAM’S DAUGHTERS is that the play is about interfaith dialogue but it’s not a conversation full of buzzwords and catchphrases, ie., Muslims have lives that don’t have to circuitously relate to 9/11 just as Jews aren’t necessarily defined by Israel around the clock (and Christians have lives that are not reduced to fundamentalist caricatures). Where the play succeeds, I hope, is that it tells an honest story of individuals and their relationships to each other and how their faiths influence them in both conscious and unconscious ways. I think this is where the audience will be able to relate to the characters — not because of a shared religious ideology masquerading as politics (or vice versa) but because all of us have personal relationships to our religious (or irreligious or areligious) backgrounds, and hopefully this will be a welcome forum to turn a critical eye and sensitive ear.
twi-ny: What does it mean to you to be part of the New York Fringe Festival?
EL: It’s incredibly exciting to be a part of the Fringe. I had a few friends involved in the Fringe last year and I thought, wow, this seems like a great opportunity, I wonder if I could make it? So when I found out ABRAHAM’S DAUGHTERS made it in this year, it was very gratifying to be considered among a pool of extremely talented artists from around the city, the country, and even the world. I’m just really proud and honored to have the chance to be a part of that.
twi-ny: What was a nice Jewish girl like you doing in a place like Duke? You seem to have shaken up both the religion and theater departments while you were there. What was that experience like?
EL: That’s funny! There is certainly a lingering perception among northern Jews about Duke, but I found it to be, well, unfounded. One of the things I loved most about my time there was that Duke brings together students from all over the country — Jews included. It was great meeting Jews from places like Texas and Alabama and comparing notes. But at the same time, for example, I relished getting to know grad students who had gone to bible colleges and were preparing for Christian ministry. It was just completely different exposure than what I had known growing up in New York City. And as for shaking up departments — one of the first things I was told as a freshman was that Duke is proud of its traditions but equally proud of creating new ones. With that in mind a few years later, I thought perhaps the religion and theater studies departments would be open to an unusual honors project proposal. It did take some convincing — but any viable honors project should take some convincing to prove to faculty that you’re serious. And at the end of the day, it was (and continues to be) extremely rewarding to see that this crazy idea really does have legs.
NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL
Irreverence is all part of the fun at the Fringe Festival, which takes aim at contemporary society in such shows as POPE! AN EPIC MUSICAL
Multiple venues
August 13-29, $15-$18
Fiver Pass $70, Flex Pass $120, Lunatic Pass $500
www.fringenyc.org
One of our favorite things to do when the Fringe Festival, now in its fourteenth year, comes to town is to check out some of the coolest, most absurd, and craziest titles. Among the finest this time around are THE ALTOONA DADA SOCIETY PRESENTS THE VELVET GENTLEMAN, AMSTERDAM ABORTION SURVIVOR, THE BATTLE OF SPANKTOWN, HEADSCARF AND THE ANGRY BITCH, JEW WISH, MACCHIN: THE LAMENTABLE TRAGEDIE OF JAY LENO, OMARYS CONCEPCION LOPEZ PEREZ GOES TO ISRAEL (TO SPEAK TO GOD AT THE WAILING WALL), TERMS OF DISMEMBERMENT: A MUSICAL WITH HEART . . . AND OTHER BODY PARTS, and BUTTERFLY, BUTTERFLY, KILL KILL KILL! As always, there will also be numerous takes on Shakespeare, with this year’s victims being HAMLET, AS YOU LIKE IT, JULIUS CAESAR, and RICHARD III. Of course, the Fringe is about much more than just impressive names; it gives alternative, cutting-edge, and experimental theater a chance to shine at such downtown venues as Dixon Place, the Kraine Theater, La Mama, the Lucille Lortel Theatre, the SoHo Playhouse, HERE Arts Center, and other locations. Among the shows we’re looking forward to are Susan Dworkin’s ALL DAY SUCKERS, set in the maelstrom of the health-care system; HEARTS FULL OF BLOOD, from Chicago-based company the New Colony; Edinburgh Fringe Festival fave WEST LETHARGY, about an Old West pioneer couple on their way to California; Stephen Padilla’s political drama PICKING PALIN; Elissa Lerner’s ABRAHAM’S DAUGHTERS, which investigates interfaith dialogue; Seth Sikes’s BUNKED!, a musical following the exploits of five summer-camp counselors; and the Contasia Players’ STRANGE LOVE IN OUTER SPACE, which promises an alien princess, a mad-scientist worm, a bloodthirsty merman, and a doggish pirate.
SECRETS OF THE TRADE
Andy Lipman (Noah Robbins) and Marty Kerner (John Glover) have a complicated relationship in SECRETS OF THE TRADE (photo by James Leynse)
Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters
59 East 59th St. between Park & Madison Aves.
August 10 – September 4, $60
“Artist/Audience Talkback” follows August 12 & 19 performances
www.primarystages.org/secretsofthetrade
Primary Stages begins its second quarter-century with Jonathan Tolins’s refreshing, vastly entertaining SECRETS OF THE TRADE. Inspired by actual events from Tolins’s (TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDS) own life in the theater, the play begins with sixteen-year-old Andy Lipman (Noah Robbins) writing a letter to Tony-winning director Martin Kerner (John Glover), asking for advice and an internship. Two years later, Kerner finally responds, becoming a mentor to the ambitious Andy, who is now at Harvard. As Kerner prepares to mount a new musical based on the film NETWORK and Andy explores his sexuality and creativity, the relationship between the young student and the older teacher goes through a fascinating, emotional series of ups and downs that can turn with a sudden crash via razor-sharp dialogue. Glover, with a gorgeous mane of 1980s big hair and a finely grizzled beard that instantly announces his tortured experience, is a magnetic presence as the complex Kerner, who ranges from being loving and tender to acerbic and witty to mean-spirited and ruthless, often at the same time. Robbins is appropriately nerdy as Andy, who dreams of a life in the theater but discovers it is a lot more complicated than he imagined. Bill Brochtrup is solid as Kerner’s beautifully blond right-hand man, a fiercely protective assistant who hides a secret or two of his own. And Amy Aquino and Mark Nelson are a riot as Andy’s parents, who love him deeply but also worry about his growing ties to Kerner; they also play a series of minor characters, the best of which is Nelson’s comic bit as a Café des Artistes waiter who tings a glass every time Kerner name-drops while dishing to Andy. Director Matt Shakman’s staging is simply marvelous, making the most out of the small venue as he cleverly blocks letter readings and phone calls, has certain characters address the audience directly, and uses funny backdrops to set up new scenes. The play has been gestating with Tolins since he began writing it back in 1996, setting it in the 1980s, so it does occasionally seem dated, with the underlying arrival of Reaganism and AIDS unnecessary subplots in what really is a timeless story. You don’t have to love the theater to love SECRETS OF THE TRADE, a triumphant tale of love and hope that won the 2009 GLAAD Award for Best New Play.
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