THE NOSE
THE NOSE is making its long-awaited Met debut this month, directed by William Kentridge and conducted by Valery Gergiev
The Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center
Between West 62nd & 65th Sts. and Columbus & Amsterdam Aves.
March 18 & 25, $15 standing room - $375
212-362-6000
www.metoperafamily.org
Prior to the March 11 performance of THE NOSE at the Metropolitan Opera House, artist and mensch William Kentridge could be seen in the Met lobby greeting friends and fans as everyone awaited the second night of his production of THE NOSE, which had made its highly anticipated Met debut on March 5. Kentridge brings that same mensch spirit to his absurdist version of Dmitri Shostakovich’s absurdist opera, based on Nikolai Gogol’s absurdist short story about a young man who wakes up one day to discover that his nose has disappeared. The story, which deals with political hierarchy, social division, and the perils of bureaucracy, is set in 1830s St. Petersburg, but it also relates to Kentridge’s native South Africa under apartheid. Kentridge’s multimedia production features black-and-white animation, lofty sets that suddenly appear well off the ground or are dragged around by characters, and a Russian constructivist collage that serves as a backdrop for much of the action.
Kentridge, who designed the stunning sets with Sabine Theunissen, infuses the opera with the same playful humor evident in Shostakovich’s controversial score, which ranges from classical to folk to polka and includes a three-minute percussion intermezzo, all under the inventive baton of Valery Gergiev. Paulo Szot, who won a Tony for his role as Emile De Becque in Lincoln Center’s production of SOUTH PACIFIC, plays the noseless Kovalyov, but it is often difficult to hear his too-soft delivery. The cast of more than seventy also includes Andrei Popov as the police inspector, Vladimir Ognovenko as barber Ivan Yakolevich, and Gordon Gietz as the Nose. The English subtitles are projected onto the bottom of the set, sometimes hard to read or blocked by the performers, although they are also occasionally blasted onto the backdrop collage in unusual ways. THE NOSE is an unconventional opera, with unconventional sets, an unconventional score, and an unconventional length, clocking in at a mere 104 minutes, and it is playing to an unconventional audience of regular opera aficionados as well as fans of Kentridge, whose work is being celebrated all over the city this month, with a retrospective at MoMA, a drawing show at Dieu Donné, screenings with live music at the World Financial Center, and other special events and appearances. Be sure to stop by Gallery Met before the show to see “Ad Hoc,” a small display of Kentridge’s preparatory sketches, notes, costume cutouts, and a three-dimensional sculpture of Shostakovich.
ROY HAYNES
Roy Haynes will be celebrating his eighty-fifth with a series of special guests at the Blue Note
85th BIRTHDAY WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
Blue Note
131 West Third St.
March 17-21, $20-$35, 8:00 & 10:30
212-475-8592
www.bluenote.net
www.myspace.com/royhaynes
Born in Boston in 1925, drummer extraordinaire Roy Haynes has enjoyed a long, influential career, having played with the likes of Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charlie Christian, Miles Davis, Lester Young, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Pat Metheny, Eric Dolphy, and just about every other jazz giant. Haynes turned eighty-five on March 13, and he will be celebrating that milestone birthday at the Blue Note, with special guests joining him for eight shows. On March 17, Kenny Garrett will sit in on alto sax with Haynes’s regular band (keyboardist Martin Bejerano, bassist David Wong, and saxophonist Jaleel Shaw), along with emcee Bill Cosby; March 18-19 features trumpeter Roy Hargrove and bassist Christian McBride; and Chick Corea will tickle the ivories on March 20. The special guests have not been announced yet for the finale on March 21. Tickets for all performances are only $20 at the bar and $35 for tables, a ridiculously cheap price to see one of jazz’s true legends.
WILLIAM KENTRIDGE & THE NOSE
The Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center
Between West 62nd & 65th Sts. and Columbus & Amsterdam Aves.
March 5-25, $15 standing room - $375
212-362-6000
www.metoperafamily.org
In spring 2007, William Kentridge’s magical production of Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE dazzled audiences at BAM. Now, as part of numerous events across the city celebrating the multifaceted career of the South African artist, his highly anticipated adaptation of Shostakovich’s version of Gogol’s 1836 short story THE NOSE will have six performances at the Metropolitan Opera this month. The multimedia presentation, conducted by Valery Gergiev and featuring baritone Paulo Szot as Kovalyov and tenors Andrei Popov as the police inspector and Gordon Gietz as the Nose, was designed by Kentridge with Sabine Theunissen. Tickets are going fast in the lower-priced sections, so act quickly if you’d rather pay $150 or less rather than as much as $375. In addition, Kentridge’s NOSE-related drawings and collages are on view at the Gallery Met, his limited edition SHEETS OF EVIDENCE book is on display at Dieu Donné through March 27, he will be in conversation with Paul Goldberger discussing “Learning from the Absurd” at the New York Public Library on March 12, “Sounds from the Black Box: The Music of Philip Miller for the Films of William Kentridge” screens at the World Financial Center, with live music by Ensemble Pi, March 21-22, and the major retrospective “William Kentridge: Five Themes” runs at MoMA through May 17.
COU-COU BIJOUX: POUR VOUS
Cou-Cou Bijoux will perform pour vous at Dixon Place this weekend
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie St. between Rivington & Delancey Sts.
March 12-13, $10-$12, 9:00
212-219-0736
www.dixonplace.org
Chanteuse Cou-Cou Bijoux, one of the stars of this past winter’s Magnetic Cabaret at the Bubble Lounge, goes solo for two nights at Dixon Place this weekend, presenting a two-act show directed by Luke Harlan, with musical direction by Brooks “Babyface” Hartell. Written and performed by Cou-Cou alter ego Raquel Cion and with original songs by Dan Kilian, POUR VOUS promises an evening of bawdy burlesque and torch songs as Cou-Cou takes on “love and other misfortunes.” As she says, “It’s all pour vous!”
THE WILD DEER
The Wild Deer will run free at Local 269 on March 11
The Local 269
269 East Houston St. at Suffolk St.
Thursday, March 11, free, 8:00
212-228-9874
www.myspace.com/thewilddeernyc
www.myspace.com/thelocal269
The Wild Deer — singer Heath Mensher, guitarists Anthony Mullin and Ed Fingerling, bassist Ron Oestreicher, and drummer Brad Gunyon — take audiences on a bluesy ride through soulful classic rock sounds on such tunes as “Rise,” “River of Soul,” “God’s Eyes,” “Grass,” and “Your Way.” Not necessarily avid hunters, their name comes from poems by William Blake and Hafez and, according to songwriter Fingerling, “symbolizes our defenselessness to predators like corporate or government aggression.” Lead vocalist Mensher, who plays the blues harp in the band, also sings the blues about fatherhood on his Web site, Having a Baby Totally Sucks, or the Things They Are Scared to Tell a New Father, where he describes how much he loves his wife and daughter while sharing the hidden truths that come with being a new dad.
UNDER GREAT NORTHERN LIGHTS
THE WHITE STRIPES UNDER GREAT NORTHERN LIGHTS (Emmett Malloy, 2009)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at Third St.
Wednesday, March 10, 8:00, and Thursday, March 11, 7:00 & 9:00
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.whitestripes.bside.com
In the summer of 2007, Jack White and Meg White, better known as the White Stripes, celebrated their tenth anniversary as a band by touring Canada for the first time, intent on playing every province. Their cross-country journey was documented by video director Emmett Malloy, with guitarist Jack and drummer Meg often setting up their instruments in offbeat, surprising venues, including their infamous one-note show. Although the film is having its official U.S. premiere this week at the SXSW festival in Austin, there will be sneak peeks at theaters across America, including three screenings at the IFC Center, in advance of its March 16 release on Blu-ray and DVD and as a live CD. One of the best bands in the world, the White Stripes recently saw several of their records (ELEPHANT, GET BEHIND ME SATAN, ICKY THUMP) named to numerous best-of-the-decade lists; now you can see them before everyone else does in what promises to be one damn cool concert film.
ARMORY ARTS WEEK: SITE FEST ’10
Multiple locations in Bushwick
March 6-7, 1:00 – 9:00 (music continues past midnight)
Suggested donation for certain events $5, day pass $10, weekend pass $20
www.artsinbushwick.wordpress.com
For something a little different during Armory Arts Week, head out to Brooklyn for two days of open studios, gallery openings, live performances, and more at the second annual SITE Fest. Organized by Arts in Bushwick, the festival has three primary theater, dance, and performance art hubs — 3rd Ward on Morgan Ave., Chez Bushwick on Boerum St., and the Grace Exhibition Space on Broadway — while Goodbye Blue Monday will be home base for much of the live music, curated by ionSOUND. Among the performers scheduled to appear are Kung Fu Crimewave, Larkin Grimm, Meng-Hsuan Wu, Homunculus Mask Theater, Yoo & Dancers, Jenny Vogel, Synthesis Dance Project, HoverBound, the Movement Farm, Ling-Fen Chien, and the Omen Project. There will also be site-specific installations, interactive performances, artist talks, film screenings, sketch comedy, and panel discussions at such satellite sites as the Bushwick Starr, English Kills Gallery, the Petri Space, Bushwick Music Studios, House of Yes, Brooklyn Fireproof Gallery, and many others.
