this week in literature

WHITE LIGHT FESTIVAL

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s SUTRA will make its U.S. premiere at Lincoln Center’s music-centric White Light Festival

Lincoln Center
Alice Tully Hall, Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, Church of St. Paul the Apostle, Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, Rose Theater, Avery Fisher Hall, David Rubenstein Atrium
October 28 – November 18, free – $90
www.lincolncenter.org

A sort of extension of July’s annual Lincoln Center Festival, in which the vaunted institution stages more experimental works from around the world, the inaugural White Light Festival consists of three weeks of dance, theater, and concerts “focused on music’s transcendent capacity to illuminate our larger interior universe,” as explained by vice president for programming Jane Moss in the festival’s chic booklet. The series begins October 28 with Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble’s free performance of THE SOUL’S MESSENGER in the David Rubenstein Atrium at Broadway and 63rd St. at 8:30 and continues with such eagerly anticipated programs as the U.S. premiere of Belgian-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s SUTRA, Katarina Livljanić’s JUDITH (A Biblical Story from Renaissance Croatia), Tallis Scholars’ unique take on Arvo Pärt’s MAGNIFICAT, and Roysten Abel’s inventively executed THE MANGANIYAR SEDUCTION. Other highlights include Antony and the Johnsons teaming up with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Hilliard Ensemble and saxophonist Jan Garbarek playing OFFICIUM NOVUM at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, and the Hilliard Ensemble, the Latvian National Choir, the Wordless Music Orchestra, and Alex Somers and Jonsi from Sigur Rós performing CREDO at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle. There will also be free panel discussions on “The Sound of Silence” with Karen Armstrong and John Luther Adams, Janet Cardiff’s free sound installation “The Forty-Part Motet” at the Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman Rehearsal and Recording Studio at Broadway and 60th St., and several postshow White Light Lounges in which ticket holders can mingle with the artists.

SPINE TINGLING & TRUE: GHOST STORIES OF THE MERCHANT’S HOUSE MUSEUM

The elegant Merchant’s House Museum will be transformed for a ghost-story funeral on Halloween

Merchant’s House Museum
29 East Fourth St. between Lafayette St. and the Bowery
Sunday, October 31, $25 (VIP $100), 7:00 & 9:00
212-777-1089
www.merchantshouse.com

On Halloween night, the Merchant’s House Museum will hold its annual ghost-story reading, led by Anthony Bellov and Dayle Vander Sande, who will delve into scary nineteenth-century texts. Bellov has compiled the booklet “Some Say They Never Left: Tales of the Strange and Inexplicable at the Merchant’s House Museum,” so you never know who else will show up at the event, taking place in one of the parlor rooms, which will be rearranged for a funeral. (VIP tickets include a signed copy of the booklet.) The museum will also be holding Candlelight Ghost Tours October 28-30 ($13).

EAR TO THE EARTH 2010: WATER AND THE WORLD

Charles Lindsay and David Rothenberg’s “Western Water” features the Mermaid Bar as part of the Ear to the Earth Festival (photo by Charles Lindsay)

Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow St., $5-$15
White Box, 329 Broome St., free-$15
Frederick Loewe Theater, 35 West Fourth St., free
Kleio Projects, 153 1/2 Stanton St., free
October 27 – November 1, Festival Pass $30
www.emfproductions.org

The Electronic Music Foundation’s fifth annual Ear to the Earth Festival of Sound, Music, and Ecology will examine water and the environment in a series of special events taking place at the Greenwich House Music School, White Box, and the Frederick Loewe Theater, including discussions, concerts, poetry, and multimedia art installations. “We are heading towards a crisis in managing the waters of the world,” explains Joel Chadabe in his curator’s statement. “To address the crisis, we need to reach an understanding of the issues we face with water. And we need to become aware of the ways we use water in the context of the physical realities of our changing environment.” Ear to the Earth begins October 27 with “An Encounter with R. Murray Schafer,” in which the Canadian composer will delve into acoustic ecology and environmental sound art, and continues on October 28 with Bernie Krause’s “Fish Rap: The Life-Affirming Soundscapes of Water” and Yolande Harris’s “Fishing for Sound.” On Friday night, Kristin Norderval presents the world premiere of her interactive “Tattooed Ghosts,” inspired by Dina Von Zweck’s FLUDD — VIRTUAL POLAR ICECAP MELTDOWN; also on the bill is Matt Rogalsky’s sound installation “Memory Like Water.” On Saturday afternoon, Sheila Callaghan, Katie Down, Leah Gelpe, and Daniella Topol collaborate on “Water (or the Secret Life of Objects),” which was developed following the Katrina disaster. Saturday night features a trio of New York Soundscapes world premieres: Miguel Frasconi’s “Inside-Out,” Aleksei Stevens’s “Standing Water: Sound Map of the Gowanus Canal, 2010,” and Paula Matthuson’s “Navigable.” Sunday includes two shows at the Frederick Loewe Theater, beginning at 5:00 with David Monacchi’s “Stati d’Acqua / States of Water,” Maggi Payne’s “Liquid Amber,” and Matther Burtner and Scott Deal’s “Auksalaq,” followed at 8:00 by Phill Niblock and Katherine Liberovskaya’s “Sound Delta,” based on sounds from the Rhine and the Danube, and Michael Fahres’s “Cetacea,” which combines Senegalese Sabar drumming with dolphin sounds. The festival concludes on November 1 with Charles Lindsay and David Rothenberg’s live multimedia “Western Water” and Andrea Polli and TJ Martinez’s documentary “Dances with Waves.” In addition, Jennifer Stock’s “At Water’s Edge” and Liz Phillips’s “Here/Hear: Manhattan Is an Island” will be on display at White Box throughout the festival, while Andrea Lockwood’s “A Sound Map of the Housatonic River” will be up at Kleio Projects, with free admission to both venues. Ear to the Earth 2010 combines science and sound, ecology and music, the environment and film, and other media to offer a fresh and innovative perspective on the world’s water crisis.

MICHAEL CAINE

Barnes & Noble
555 Fifth Ave. at 46th St.
Tuesday, October 26, free, 6:00
212-697-3048
www.michaelcaine.com
www.us.macmillan.com

In his new memoir, THE ELEPHANT TO HOLLYWOOD (Holt, October 26, $28), Sir Michael Caine confesses his hatred of going on publicity tours for books and movies. But that shouldn’t stop you from checking out the charming actor at B&N on Tuesday, when the former Maurice Micklewhite will be signing copies of the tome, which focuses on the low point of his career, the 1990s, when he thought it might be all over. “I had reached the period of my life I called the twilight zone,” he writes. “The spotlight of movie stardom was fading and although the slightly dimmer light of the leading movie actor was beginning to flicker into life, it all seemed very gloomy. There were some bright spots. Out of the blue I was made CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List—a great honor and a beautiful medal. I was now a Commander of the British Empire and very proud of it, although an unkind journalist pointed out that I’d been made a commander of something that no longer existed.” Caine will be at the Midown B&N signing copies of the book only; he will not sign any other memorabilia.

REVEALING MEXICO WEEK

Rockefeller Center
47th to 50th Sts. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
October 25-30
www.revealingmexico.com
www.rockefellercenter.com

In 1810, Mexico declared its independence from Spain. One hundred years later, the Mexican Revolution began, seeking political and social change in the country. In honor of the two events, one celebrating its bicentennial, the other its centennial, Mexican culture will be invading Rockefeller Center this week, built around a photography exhibit and book signing for John Mack and Susanne Steines’s REVEALING MEXICO (powerHouse, September 2010, $75). “Both the good things and the bad things have shown themselves to us within a short amount of time, and both have shown themselves with extreme intensity: the marvelous magic of Mexican culture and the gruesome social reality of the country,” Mack and Steines write in the book’s authors’ note. “We discovered very soon that the reasons for Mexico’s contradictions are highly complex. We also understood that it would be difficult for anybody having lived in this country for longer than ten years to still be able, after such a time span, to borrow power from the amazement that Mexican culture inspires and to use this power to call for an overcoming of anything that keeps Mexico from moving toward a dignified future.” While states such as Arizona have clamped down on foreigners, New York City will once again be opening its doors; in addition to the photo display, there will be Mexican opera and Mariachi music in the skating rink, a free concert by the Nortec Collective’s Bostich + Fussible, a meet-and-greet with Mexico’s soccer captain, Rafael Márquez, and specially prepared Mexican cuisine at the Rock Center Café, Iguana, Toloache, Yerba Buena, Café Frida, Crema, El Aquila, Casa Vieja, Barrio, Hecho en Dumbo, the Taco Truck, and La Palapa.

DANBERT NOBACON

Danbert Nobacon will be spreading anarchy in Brooklyn with new book and song cycle (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Word Brooklyn
126 Franklin St. at Milton St.
Saturday, October 23, free, 7:30
718-383-0096
www.danbertnobacon.com
www.wordbrooklyn.com
www.exterminatingangel.com

Anarchist, writer, musician, comedian, and activist Danbert Nobacon might not be dumping ice buckets on British deputy prime ministers these days (as he famously did to John Prescott in 1998), but that doesn’t mean the former Chumbawumba lead singer and keyboardist still isn’t fighting the power. Born Nigel Hunter in Leeds in 1959, Nobacon, now a father of ten-year-old twins and living in the quiet, rustic environs of Washington State, will be at the Brooklyn indie bookstore WORD on Saturday night, reading from his brand-new book, 3 DEAD PRINCES (Exterminating Angel, October 2010, $13), and performing songs from his latest record, WOEBEGONE (Verbal Burlesque, October 2010). Billed as “An Anarchist Fairy Tale,” 3 DEAD PRINCES follows the trials and tribulations of thirteen-year-old princess Alexandra Stormybald Wilson, who finds herself at the center of a potentially epic battle between the Oosarians and the Morainians after accidentally killing Mercurio, the future king of Morainia who, unfortunately for him, got way too fresh with the teenager known as Stormy. Ordered to protect her, the Fool takes Stormy on a magical adventure where she meets the Gricklegrack, the Witch in the Ditch, Giggle Monkeys, and various other smakobbed probbers, nymphemoms, quizzleprinks, blasfenemies, wangodmatists, and gatoriles with differing views on transkinkery, regaliocol, and other pompiffery. Accompanied by black-and-white illustrations by film director Alex Cox (SID & NANCY, REPO MAN), 3 DEAD PRINCES also manages to comment on religion, politics, evolution, and the environment in clever and playful ways and concludes with a fascinating Author’s Response that delves into the anarchist theories of Peter Kropotkin and scientist E. O Wilson and David Sloan Wilson, making it a fun read for adults and children alike.

Nobacon creates a much darker fantasy world in WOEBEGONE, a song cycle for a futuristic noir novel he hasn’t written yet. Traveling from 1620 Jamestown to 1993 Chicago to 2025 Leeds, Nobacon, joined by the Seattle Gothic folk band the Bad Things, tells the tale of poor Johnny Woebegone, who is “mixed up in the head” in a “natural world recoiling in horror,” as Nobacon describes in a short story that comes in the twenty-four-page lyrics booklet. Constantly besieged by the devil and his minions, Johnny shares his sad tale of woe in such songs as “Frank Woebegone’s Lament,” “Lilithiana Red,” and “Lost Lost Weekend,” with Jimmy “Pickpocket” Berg, Gregory “Captain Panto” Miles, Beau Stanislov “the Gypsy” Herbert, Austin “Mad Wilcox” Quist, “Lord” Steve Kamke, and Funi “La Fantastica” McLaughlin joining him on mandolin, organ, banjo, dobro, saw, accordion, sousaphone, and other instruments, resulting in a compelling atmosphere that mixes Kurt Weill with Tom Waits, all built around Nobacon’s gruff, throaty voice. But don’t let all the darkness and devilry scare you off; Nobacon is an excellent live performer with a wry sense of humor, if you couldn’t tell, so this rare appearance in Brooklyn should make for quite a night.

NEW YORK COMIC CON & ANIME FESTIVAL

Comic Con will team up with the New York Anime Festival this weekend at the Javits Center (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
11th Ave. between 34th & 39th Sts.
October 8-10
Weekend Pass: $50 (Friday Pass $30, Saturday Pass $40, Sunday Pass $30)
www.newyorkcomiccon.com
www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/NYAF

This year New York Comic Con teams up with the New York Anime Festival for a three-day party of the best in comic books, graphic novels, superheroes and villains, animated shorts and features, artists, writers, filmmakers, video games, collectibles, live music, and so much more. A lot of the fun comes from just watching your fellow attendees, many of whom show up in elaborate costumes. Among the many guest on hand to sign autographs (some free, some ticketed, some paid) and/or participate in panel discussions, concerts, and sneak-peek screenings are Adrien Brody, Michelle Forbes, Bruce Campbell, Joyce DeWitt, Cary Elwes, Lou Ferrigno, Maggie Q, Morgan Spurlock, Boom Boom Satellites, J. Michael Straczynski, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Seth Green, VAMPS, Stan Lee, Todd McFarlane, Frank Miller, Puffy AmiYumi, M. Knight Shymalan, Tricia Helfer, Eric Bana, Priscilla Barnes, William Katt, Tara McPherson, Noah Wyle, Echostream, and James Marsters. (Sorry, folks, but Gil Gerard canceled.) Below are just a handful of recommended events by day.

You never know what or who you’ll enounter at the annual New York Comic Con and Anime Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Friday, October 8: Oyama X Nitta Shamisen Concert, Room 1E09, 2:00

Friday, October 8: Remembering Harvey Pekar, with Jeff Newelt, Dean Haspiel, Peter Kuper, Rick Parker, Joseph Remnant, and Danny Fingeroth, Room 1A22, 4:30

Friday, October 8: Robot Chicken, screening and panel with Seth Green and Matt Senreich, IGN Theater, 6:45

Friday, October 8: MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD, Room 1E02, 7:45

Friday, October 8: Dash Shaw and Chip Kidd in Conversation, Room 1A14, 8:15

Saturday, October 9: MTV Geek with Stan Lee and Bill Plympton, Room 1A08, 11:00 am

Saturday, October 9: Mort Walker and Beetle Bailey, with Mort Walker and Tom Spurgeon, Room 1A15, 1:00

Saturday, October 9: Spotlight on Dean Haspiel, with Dean Haspiel, Walter Simonson, Nick Bertozzi, Joan Hilty, and Jonathan Ames, moderated by Christopher Irving, Room 1A23, 2:45

Saturday, October 9: Minori Chihara Concert, IGN Theater, 7:30

Saturday, October 9: Roddenberry Is Back! with Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry Jr. and Trevor Roth, Room 1A23, 9:00

Sunday, October 10: Castles, Forests, and Bath Houses: The Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki, Room 1E13, 11:00 am

Sunday, October 10: Welcome to the Space Show, Room 1E03, 1:00

Sunday, October 10: The Walking Dead on AMC, with Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Frank Darabont, Robert Kirkman, and Gale Anne Hurd, IGN Theater, 2:15

Sunday, October 10: Voice and Art — Veronica Taylor and Misako Rocks!, Room 1E12, 3:00

Sunday, October 10: Bruce Campbell Spotlight, with Bruce Campbell, Room 1A08, 4:00